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“Separately, we're strong, clever people. Together we’re a force.” -- J.D. Robb
Hello everyone! We know it’s true; by working collaboratively and together we are able to get more done. And not only that, we are able to problem solve on a higher level and take calculated risks in ways that lead to innovation, because we are not facing challenges alone. Our stories this week are filled with inspiration. Regular people, seeing a need, come together to overcome big problems, collectively becoming a ‘force’. We learn how Japanese mothers, facing their children's mental health challenges, create a first-of-its-kind ‘support group’. How a restaurant owner decides to feed, rather than ignore, panhandlers and sees food as an offering of love. And how a once illegal dump has become an 18-acre thriving, circular economy farm that nourishes an area that was once a food desert. We offer a hopeful message -- together we are stronger and we can become a force that can bring great good into our world. Wishing you well, dear friends!
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Generation 180
Comedy breaks through taboo and uses social critiques to encourage people to feel like they can take action on problems, according to the Climate Comedy Cohort, a joint project between American University's Center for Media & Social Impact and clean-energy nonprofit Generation180. Comedy can motivate feelings of hope and optimism, says Caty Borum, author of The Revolution Will Be Hilarious: Comedy for Social Change and Civic Power. "The goal of the program is not to have comedians tell more scary stories about climate change, but to really dig in on the solutions," she says. Nine comedians took part in a nine-month fellowship to learn about climate science and collaborate on new, climate-related material, producing shorts, touring, and pitching ideas to television networks.
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Alisha Jucevic | Los Angeles Times
When Chiaki's son was diagnosed with schizophrenia, she longed for a support network to help her find care for her son. As a first-generation Japanese mother, navigating the US healthcare system in an unfamiliar language and culture left her feeling isolated. So in 2012, she formed a Japanese-speaking family support group under National Alliance on Mental Illness South Bay that has for a decade served as a space for members, many first-generation Japanese mothers, to exchange experiences and learn how to talk within their families about mental illness. About eight to 12 people take part each month, sharing resources in Japanese. In March 2001, Naomi Mizushima founded 1000 Cranes for Recovery, which combats stigma through education and events such as workshops in which participants fold 1,000 origami cranes for mental wellness. It's a symbol of hope based on Japanese tradition.
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Eiliv Aceron | Unsplash
Soon after Collin Doran purchased the Homemade Café in Berkeley, California, US, he noticed homeless people would sometimes stand outside of his restaurant and ask customers for money or food. It pained him to see them go hungry, so he came up with a plan: He'd give anyone in need a free two-egg breakfast with the works, no questions asked. "Instead of ushering people away, I told them, 'If you're hungry, let us know and we'll feed you,'" said Doran. "Right away, people started taking me up on it." Twelve years and thousands of free breakfasts later, his offer still stands. But now, Doran's customers are also chipping in to keep the free breakfasts coming and on days when they run of out of sponsored free breakfasts, they keep serving meals anyway. "My belief is that society is only as good as its poorest person. To me food is love. I feel good when I go home at night, knowing I helped provide a meal to somebody who needed one. Everyone deserves to eat," Doran said.
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Society for Special Persons | Facebook
Zahida Qureshi, paralyzed after a bout of polio as a baby in Punjab, Pakistan, didn't get her first wheelchair until she was entering university. But now 41, she is helping others with disabilities to learn how to make their own, through the Society for Special Persons which she created in 2008. The nonprofit, dedicated to providing people with disabilities with social, economic, and educational opportunities, offers leadership workshops and training courses, helps members of the disabled community find jobs, and even has its own cricket league -- the Wheelchair Super League. Its has provided 6,000 people with free wheelchairs and receives almost 200 requests each week. In the first half of 2022, it built more than 500 chairs - each built to order based on its user's weight, gender, and specific disability, and built by people who themselves have a disability. "We've come a long way already since I was that little girl with a big dream," she says.
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Rid-All Green Partnership
Three childhood friends who set out to create an urban farm on an illegal dumping ground in a poor Cleveland neighborhood have built a thriving circular economy now located on an 18-acre campus. Food waste becomes compost, training and paid apprenticeships attract community members, and aquaponics and hydroponics generate local jobs. The farm has two greenhouses, six hoop houses, a commercial composting station, a rain catchment pond, and employs 18 people. The 7,200-square-foot fish farm grows 70,000 tilapia that are sold to local restaurants. Rid-All Green Partnership's circular economy was cemented when in 2020, it began operating a farmer's market in a nearby food desert, and in 2021, opened a community kitchen, market and restaurant on its campus. "This is a real Cleveland story," says co-founder Keymah Durden. "It's as local as it gets — three kids who grew up on the east side who now represent this good-faith and hopeful messaging around agriculture that shows what can be possible."
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