[1] Year Here – Testing & Building Solutions
Just came across the organization Year Here which recruits fellow to tackle social issues. Go ahead and Meet The Fellows: Their Tenth Cohort of Year Here. Here are young leaders in the community coming together to see what social impact can test and launch in a year’s time.
[2] 20 Ways You Can Help Immigrants Now
I love ideas of how you can take action… and it’s frustrating watching the ineffectiveness of congress figure out a good solution for helping our fellow humans. So, this list is worth checking out.
I had no idea there was a platform like Room for Refugees, specifically for hosting an asylum-seeker or refugee in your home, or that you could donate air miles through a program like Lawyer Moms of America that will contribute these airline miles and funds to people in border shelters.
[3] Give Running to Give Runners Great Runs
They’ve donated 17,000 pairs of running and athletic shoes to disadvantaged youth and engaged more than 750 youth. Their founder Greg Woodburn, shares 10 lessons from his 10 years of Give Running. My favorite is 4 – Experiments are Better than Hypotheses, which rings true with our social enterprise Wild Tiger Tees… talking doesn’t create results, trying something out and then refining does.
[4] Shining a Light on Human Trafficking
Amber Runyon started Eleventh Candle Co, because she wanted a business she could start that would impact that lives of survivors of human trafficking, right here in Columbus, Ohio. They’ve partnered with CoHatch, a co-working space geared towards social impact, to magnify the change that they can have.
Right now, they are on fire and lighting a light everywhere they go, increasing the number of survivors they can employ, to create new lives and new experiences that lift us all up.
[5] No More Missed Opportunities on Youth Homelessness
I run a small work program called Wild Tiger Tees, where we provide work opportunities and training for youth experiencing homelessness in partnership with the Star House. But I’m still shocked when I come across research about the magnitude and complexity of what this looks like.
Groundbreaking research by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago found that across any 12-month period, more than 4.1 million young people between the ages of 13 and 25 experience some form of homelessness in America.
[In New York City], from 2005 to 2017, over 425,000 apartments renting for $900 or less (in 2017 dollars) disappeared from the market, while apartments going for over $2,700 per month more than doubled. The vacancy rate for units renting for $800 or less was a fraction of a percent in 2017.
But there are much fewer articles about what can be done to reduce this, and what assistance will be most useful for these youth. And that’s where the Star House really shines – born out of research, they are so quick to experiment and get feedback from the youth who come through their doors that they are figuring out new solutions and making real progress.
[6] World’s largest’ youth-led conservation scheme begins in Wales
I stayed in Brecon Beacons when I lived in London. A friend of mine took us to their house, and I remember hiking up the hills to look out over the countryside. Green rolling hills, and the kind of magic in the air that you’d expect from middle earth. So, it’s kind of exciting to hear that they’ve kicked off a youth project that will cover 2,000 acres of the park to protect the landscape and nurture the wildlife.