Ideas In Action

News: A shelter from the storm: Ground-breaking event held for center to serve Visalia's homeless (Visalia Times-Delta, May 26, 2010)

"The $1.9 million center, nestled between two huge oak trees off Santa Fe Street and N.E. First Avenue, will offer the homeless a safe, temperature-controlled space to find refuge, officials said."

Program helps homeless find their footing (The Boston Globe, May 23, 2010)

"This was no fun run. They were asked to be the first members of the new Boston chapter of Back on My Feet, a nationally recognized nonprofit that uses running to help the homeless rebuild their lives."

News: Transitioning to the do-gooder (The Boston Globe, May 16, 2010)

"Margaret Harrison spent almost two decades at Bank of New York Mellon Corp.... When she decided to retire at 60, she wasn't ready to stop working. She adapted skills acquired in the corporate world to help low- and middle-income families buy homes."

News: Wal-Mart to help fight hunger (The Washington Post, May 13, 2010)

"Wal-Mart announced plans Wednesday to donate $2 billion over five years to food banks and hunger relief organizations, one of the largest charitable efforts that the nation's largest grocer has undertaken."

News: 'Dying' wish: Free minds (The Washington Post, May 11, 2010)

"The council and the library system distributed more than 2,500 copies of the book to programs for the homeless, juvenile correctional facilities and to schools, where questions raised by the story were explored."

News: As Camden's Tent City closes, residents get spa treatment (The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 6, 2010)

"Camden's Tent City, a homeless encampment on an I-676 exit ramp that has become a source of fascination for reporters and donors - and a dilemma for government and social service agencies - prepared to shut down Wednesday."

News: Be creative in bringing healthy food to the public (The News Journal, May 4, 2010, Editorial)

"For two decades, big lot grocery stores have followed the population shifts to the suburbs. Left behind are 'food deserts,' where low-income residents' cheap and convenient food choices are the growing glut of fast-food restaurants."

News: Citing Obesity of Children, County Bans Fast-Food Toys (The New York Times, April 28, 2010)

"In what it described as a blow against the fattening temptations of fast food, the board of supervisors in Santa Clara County, south of San Francisco, voted Tuesday to ban the promotional toys that often accompany child-size portions of cheeseburgers..."

News: Panel to work on suggestions for homeless (Des Moines Register, April 27, 2010)

"Members of the Des Moines City Council and Polk County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Monday to create a Homeless Coordinating Council in response to one of the consultant's recommendations."

News: Homegrown idea for health takes root in Sterling community (The Greenville News, April 25, 2010)

"Fewer supermarkets in urban, low-income communities mean less access to healthy foods. Not only are low-income residents' food purchases limited by financial constraints, but residents also don't have ready access to fresh, high-quality, affordable foods."

News: Homeless traveler is hitting 50 states in 50 weeks (Contra Costa Times, April 25, 2010)

"A year ago, Shay Kelley had a marketing job at AT&T. Today, she is homeless and traveling to 50 states in 50 weeks to draw attention to the plight of homeless people."

News: Bid to Make Banks Fix Crumbling Bronx Properties (The New York Times, April 21, 2010)

"But now, tenants and housing lawyers have hit upon a novel strategy intended to make the bank that owns the mortgage responsible for upkeep and repairs. The approach has been embraced by housing advocates and backed by City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn..."

News: Jobless woman roams U.S. on mission to help the homeless (The Philadelphia Daily News, April 7, 2010)

"Shay Kelley may look like she's taking it easy, photographing Tray, a seemingly longtime friend, on the courtyard of the Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Co. But the truth is far different. Both homeless, Kelley and Tray had never met before."

News: Magazine makes cooking a tool in fight against child obesity (The Boston Globe, March 23, 2010)

"The magazine offers very basic, simple instructions - such as `throw the shells away' after cracking an egg - and inexpensive ingredients that can be found even in small urban grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods."

News: Forget Goofing Around: Recess Has a New Boss (The New York Times, March 15, 2010)

""It has placed recess coaches in 170 schools in low-income areas of nine cities, including Boston, Washington and Los Angeles, and of Silicon Valley. Playworks schools are not the only ones with organized recess games.""

News: Tees with a message (The Boston Globe, March 11, 2010)

"Well, we try. We donate 2 percent of every tee sold to the Acumen Fund. It's a nonprofit that uses a business-like approach to solve problems of poverty."

News: Calif. library reaches out to homeless patrons (The Boston Globe, March 7, 2010)

"The main branch of the San Francisco Public Library, where hundreds of homeless people spend every day, is the first in the country to keep a full-time social worker on hand, according to the American Library Association."

News: ‘Poor for a day’ simulates area’s challenges (The Bradenton Herald, March 4, 2010)

"The first step in fighting poverty is understanding the struggle of the poor, according to the organization charged with leading that fight in Manatee County."

News: Teacher finds words have power with students (Chicago Tribune, February 22, 2010)

"Chambliss told students she joined the Army after barely graduating from high school -- having waited too long to finally take it seriously -- and then finding herself homeless and with few options."

News: Taste of College Keeps Students In High School (The New York Times, February 8, 2010)

"With a careful sequence of courses, including ninth-grade algebra, and attention to skills like note-taking, the early-college high schools accelerate students so that they arrive in college needing less of the remedial work that stalls so many low-income and first-generation students."

News: Whites-only scholarship, courtesy of minorities group (The Oregonian, February 8, 2010)

"She rejects the idea that Oregon lacks qualified people of color to lead committees, serve in office or otherwise shape public policy. Members of minority groups need to lead discussions on poverty, discrimination and schools, she said."

News: Group teams students and mentors for success (The Washington Post, February 4, 2010)

"Campbell and Chapman were matched through Capital Partners for Education, a nonprofit organization in Northwest Washington that provides students from low-income families with mentoring and academic and enrichment support."

News: Jefferson Awards: Doctor's family provides shoes for homeless (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 2, 2010)

"Each year on the day before Thanksgiving, a charity run by local orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon Stephen Conti and his family gives new shoes to homeless people and provides them with free foot care."

News: The new W Hotel complex is one part Hollywood vanity and one part subway plaza (Los Angeles Times, January 29, 2010)

"It has provided the Red Line's Hollywood and Vine station with an attractive new yellow-glass canopy... On the other side of the complex, the apartment block includes 78 units set aside for low-income tenants."

News: Program teaches men to be better fathers (San Antonio Express-News, January 28, 2010)

"The program, funded by the United Way, focuses on working families with dependent children whose incomes are at or below 200 percent of the poverty level and residing in and around San Antonio's Southwest Side."

 

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