Hope-Filled Organizations

From battlefields in Iraq to the Nashville music scene,

 how a Marine veteran is using art to heal

By Meg Dunn, CNN, Published Thu August 11, 2022 Nashville, TNCNN —

Growing up, Richard Casper always knew he wanted to serve others. When he was a junior in high school, the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened, and he realized how he would fulfill that calling.

“I had this urge inside of me,” he said. “I joined the Marine Corps infantry. … I wanted to be the first person going overseas and fighting.”

During basic training, he was selected for a special duty of guarding then-President George W. Bush at Camp David. Once he received clearance and completed that 14-month assignment, he was still determined to deploy.

“When I touched down in Iraq, I was prepared to die,” Casper said. “I was just ready to do my job.”

Within the first four months, his Humvee was hit by IEDs four separate times. During one mission, his good friend and gunner, Luke Yepsen, was shot by a sniper and died beside him.

“It was so hard to comprehend what happened because we go to work the next day like nothing happened,” Casper said. “When you’re in the infantry, they have to strip away all your vulnerabilities. They have to, because (otherwise) you’re not going to survive in war.”

Casper was forever changed after serving in Iraq, and he struggled with the transition home. He started failing the college business courses he had enrolled in and developed crippling anxiety.

“I couldn’t do it,” Casper said. “But I knew I was smart. You had to have a certain IQ to guard the President.”

He went to his local VA hospital and learned he had post-traumatic stress, degenerative disk disease, and tinnitus, among other medical issues. To read more, click on this link:  https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/11/us/nashville-music-art-veterans-therapeutic-cnnheroes/index.html  

To view a 9 minute video about Richard Casper and his work, please click on this link: https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/11/us/nashville-music-art-veterans-therapeutic-cnnheroes/index.html

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Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin

Based in Racine, WI, Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin (VOW) works to make a difference in the lives of at-risk Veteran households in every community across Wisconsin. We were founded by community members who recognized a need and took action. What began as a group of volunteers in 2013 has blossomed rapidly into a growing organization. Our program expanded in 2017 to include a village of 15 tiny homes, a food market, and trauma-informed programming. We are looking to expand our services in Racine and serve Veteran households in Milwaukee.

As the first and most successful project of its kind in Wisconsin, VOW has been recognized nationally as a model for other communities. Our Milwaukee expansion will be a village of 42 tiny homes, a 10,000 sq ft community center, and a complimentary Veterans Food Market. Located at 6767 N. 60th Street, the Milwaukee development will emulate the programming services offered in Racine. Working with collaborative partners will increase capacity across our service network to care for our local heroes and their families. Our holistic approach to recovery is a blueprint for how communities can come together and support our heroes in need.

                               

                           Tiny Homes Veterans Village                                             The Veteran Market

To learn more about the Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin, click on this link: https://vowvillages.com/

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Who we are

A national project working to ensure that children and teens in foster care get

safe, loving, permanent families.

AdoptUSKids educates families about foster care and adoption and gives child welfare professionals information and support to help them improve their services. We also maintain the nation’s only federally funded photolisting service that connects waiting children with families.

Our Mission:

• Raise public awareness about the need for foster and adoptive families for children in the public child welfare system
• Assist US states, territories, and tribes to recruit, engage, develop and support foster and adoptive families

Serving families: We help families with the adoption process—every step of the way.

Helping professionals: We provide an array of resources to caseworkers and agency managers and administrators

To read more about this organization, click on this link: AdoptUSKids

To view and listen to three, separate, one-minute stories about AdoptUSKids families and children, click on these links:  

 https://youtu.be/F4nMIEt1ALg        https://youtu.be/AaW-ybG6oX0         https://youtu.be/iaVvCePdoVc

 

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Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to protect and expand voting rights and ensure everyone is represented in our democracy. We empower voters and defend democracy through advocacy, education, and litigation, at the local, state, and national levels. To learn more about the League of Women Voters, click on this link: Home | League of Women Voters (lwv.org)

Our members are passionate activists who support our work in all 50 states and in more than 700 communities. 

Joining the League of Women Voters is a great way to get involved in your community and play an active role in our democracy. Click on this link if you are interested in joining a LWV member in a group near you  To become a League member, join one of the 700+ state and local Leagues. 

 

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Empowering Urban Talent to Reach Their Potential

Learn New Skills to Launch Your Career

Year Up’s Job training is tuition free, and offers access to today’s best companies,

and a proven path to career success.

Three steps to a new job: Learn…..Intern…..Land a Job

To learn more, click on this link: Job Training to Close the Opportunity Divide | Year Up

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Finding and implementing new ways to improve and measure wellbeing is the top priority of our readers. Gross National Product (GNP) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) related to the stock market are the two most commonly used measurements of how well the economy is doing. Supposedly, the higher both GNP and DJI are, the better off we all are. Most of the time, that is not true. There have been new indexes focusing on a broader base of measuring wellbeing at the national, state, and local levels around the world. Here is a link to an article on the Hope From the Bottom Up website which I published a short while back: https://hopefromthebottomup.com/sites/default/files/inline-files/Survey%20Results%20Article%202_0.pdf

An organization on the west coast is working with individuals and organizations to use wellbeing as a tool to improve and measure wellbeing in their communities. The group is called Civic Wellbeing Partners. Here is some information about them.

WELLBEING MICROGRANTS 

Funding people, purpose, & possibility with grants for action-oriented projects in

Santa Monica and the West LA area.

Civic Wellbeing Partners is a startup project whose mission is to develop and promote civic innovation through engagement and partnerships. We harness data and create equity-focused solutions to improve the quality of daily life in Santa Monica and beyond.

Our work began within the City of Santa Monica's pioneering Office of Civic Wellbeing and transitioned out of city hall in June 2020.

We thank the Santa Monica Bay Human Relations Council, fiscal receiver for the Wellbeing Microgrant program, for ensuring the continued advancement of local community wellbeing outside of city hall.

To learn more about this group and their work, click on this link: https://www.wellbeingmicrogrants.org/

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STUDENT PLEDGE AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE

The Pledge:

I will never bring a gun to school.

I will never use a gun to settle a personal problem or dispute.

I will use my influence with friends to keep them from using guns to settle disputes.

My individual choices and actions, when multiplied by those of young people throughout the country, will make a difference.

Together, by honoring this pledge, we can reverse the violence and grow up in safety.

The Student Pledge Against Gun Violence is a national program that honors the role that young people, through their own decisions, can play in reducing gun violence. This campaign against youth gun violence culminates each year on a Day of National Concern about Young People and Gun Violence. The program provides a means for beginning the conversation with young people about gun violence. It refers teachers, counselors, and community leaders to valuable resources, includes curriculum suggestions that can be integrated with existing academic programs, and contains information about how your school can participate.

                                         

Since 1996, over 10 million students have signed the pledge! To learn more, click on this link: The Pledge

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Capuchin Community Services - Milwaukee

Our Mission:  Inspired by the gospel of Jesus and the example of Francis of Assisi, the Capuchin friars of the Province of Saint Joseph, together with our partners in ministry, prayerfully build sister-brotherhood in the world.  We attend simply and directly to spiritual and other basic human needs, especially those of people experiencing poverty and disenfranchisement, promoting justice for all.

St. Ben’s Community Meal site serves a hot, home-made dinner six nights a week, Sunday to Friday, 5:15 – 6:30 pm. Over 90,000 meals are served each year. All are welcome and are considered family in a community that shares a warm, safe environment.

Capuchin Community Service’s housing program, the Capuchin Apartments, partners with Heartland Alliance, and offers affordable supportive housing.  The 38 apartments  showcase high-quality, low-cost homes for people who are low-income, chronically homeless, and dealing with mental health issues. The Capuchin Apartments resident on-site services focus on helping residents maintain housing stability and maximize their independence. 

Capuchin Apartments is a unique collaboration between city, county, state and federal agencies along with several non-profits that funded and launched the project. To read more, click on this link: Capuchin Community Services

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The Chicago Tool Library

Chicago Tool Library gained popularity during the pandemic. And now it’s expanding. Dia Gill, Chicago Tribune, August 3, 2022

Anthony Nicholson and his wife have embarked on a number of home improvement projects over the past couple of years, from fixing up the family’s front porch to 3D-printing household items with their three kids, all with the help of tools borrowed from the Chicago Tool Library.

“They have a 3D printer, which has been really fun to borrow once in a while, and the kids have a lot of fun just playing around with it,” he said. “We have an older house that has the old-school locks ... and there was no lock on the bathroom, but there was a little keyhole — and so we 3D-printed a key for the bathroom.”

Tessa Vierk, co-founder of the Chicago Tool Library, at the Bridgeport location on July 27, 2022.

Photo by  Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Opened in the Fall, just before the pandemic, the Bridgeport-based Chicago Tool Library has become a resource for many residents who want to tackle home improvement projects for the first time but lack the tools. The library’s mission is to “provide equitable access to tools, equipment and information to allow all Chicagoans to learn, share and create.”

In addition to basic household tools, the library offers camping equipment, sewing machines, craft supplies, kitchen equipment, folding tables and more.

The library, which has emerged as not only a resource hub but a collaborative community, has a “pay what you can” annual membership model that allows members to pay nothing or as much as $400 per year to borrow items, according to co-founder and Executive Director Tessa Vierk. To read more, click on this link: Chicago Tool Library gained popularity during the pandemic. And now it’s expanding. (msn.com)

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Allies for Community Business' Neighborhood Entrepreneurship Lab

Supporting small businesses. Strengthening communities

Our Mission is to provide the capital, coaching, and connections entrepreneurs need to grow great businesses that create jobs and wealth in their communities.

Our Values

Accountability

• We set clear expectations and achievable goals to create measurable impact for our clients and our community.
• We embrace our professional roles and responsibilities, and we effectively deliver on our commitments.
• We own up to our mistakes, rapidly repair them, and learn from them with humility.

Collaboration

• We work together to serve all entrepreneurs holistically and creatively.
• We are transparent with and responsive to each other, our funders, our partners, our clients, and our community.
• We listen carefully and patiently to each other, our funders, our partners, our clients, and our community.

Respect

• We empathize with the struggles our entrepreneurs and our own team may be facing.
• We value diversity in our team, our funders, our partners, our clients, and our community.
• We speak considerately and directly with each other, our funders, our partners, our clients, and our community, sharing praise and suggestions for improvement in order to build trusted relationships.

Passion

• We share our enthusiasm for this work with each other, our funders, our partners, our clients, and our community, and we celebrate the successes of our clients and our team.
• We welcome difficult challenges and work hard to find bold and innovative solutions to tough problems.
• We are excited to do this work every day and are committed to working alongside our partners to create real change.

To learn more about Allies For Community Businesses, click on this link: About • Allies for Community Business (a4cb.org)

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Join others from around our world in a pause for Peace every day at noon.

Let us make Peace Day every day

WHO WE ARE: Pathways To Peace (PTP) is an International Peacebuilding, Educational and Consulting organization dedicated to making Peace a practical reality through both local and global projects. Incorporated in 1983, PTP is an official Peace Messenger of the United Nations and has Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and works with the U.N. Centre for Human Rights, U.N. Centre for Human Settlements, UNESCO, UNICEF and other agencies. PTP is a tax-exempt, Social Profit, Non-partisan 501(c)(3) Corporation, (tax exempt ID# 68-0015625).

WHAT WE DO: Pathways To Peace works locally and globally to promote Peacebuilding, Education and to collaborate with other organizations in initiatives that help further our Culture of Peace Initiative (CPI). Our founder Avon Mattison developed CPI with then-Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations Robert Muller in 1983. The annual highlight of this initiative is the International Day of Peace (Peace Day), held annually on September 21. To learn more about Pathways to Peace, click on this link: Pathways To Peace – Together, Building a Sustainable Culture of Peace Along Diverse Pathways

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Corporate Social Responsibility Meets Meetings & Incentives

Today more than ever before, companies are looking for new ways to motivate employees, increase employee engagement and give back to the community. Impact 4 Good, a corporate team building company created specifically for the meetings and incentives industry, offers clients the opportunity to participate in meaningful and worthwhile community service-oriented activities with a unique twist: we bring community service to our clients at hotels and resorts across the country and abroad, and even to the virtual world!

Impact 4 Good has facilitators in cities across the US, and a worldwide network of partner community service organizations. Our teambuilding activities are portable and can go wherever your meeting will be based! What sets us apart from other corporate teambuilding companies?

• We are a team building company offering community service programs built by staff that actually spent time in the non-profit/community service world!
• We offer a more personalized service, working closely with you to customize your event around your team’s requirements.
• We offer a unique selection of activities and beneficiary organizations.
• Our team works across the country and abroad, within your budget.
• Most programs are 2 hours or less, and we can accommodate any size event, from 10 to 10,000!
• Can’t meet in person? Our VIRTUAL options can engage dispersed teams in a meaningful manner and make a difference in communities that need it most.

By maintaining close ties to local, national and international non-profit organizations, Impact 4 Good ensures activities benefit both participating employees and the community at large, while integrating core business objectives. When possible, Impact 4 Good leverages existing client relationships with non-profit partners to make for more meaningful community service experiences. To read more, click on this link: Impact 4 Good – What Difference Will You Make Today?

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Our Vision: All Wisconsin students will demonstrate the knowledge, skills and dispositions of core universal values through a self-sustaining culture encouraged and modeled by teachers and administrators.

Our Mission: We promote, support, and advance the intentional effort by leaders to exemplify universal ethical virtues such as integrity, honesty, justice, kindness, and respect while assisting schools and community leaders with the development and delivery of character education through culturally relevant, comprehensive frameworks to positively impact schools and communities throughout Wisconsin.

Our Goal: Our goal is to ensure greatness to our posterity by raising the profile of goodness as our standard of public behavior, and integrity as the touchstone of all social interactions.

To learn more about WCEP, click on this link: Wisconsin Character Education Partnership | Enhancing a Legacy of Education Innovation (wicharacter.org) To learn more about the 11 Principles of Character Education, click on this link: The Eleven Principles | Wisconsin Character Education Partnership (wicharacter.org)

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“Improving the lives of the 5 billion people whose main concern is to stay alive by the end of each day on our planet is no longer an option for engineers; it is an obligation.”

Dr. Bernard Amadei, EWB-USA Founder

Engineers Without Borders USA builds a better world through engineering projects that empower communities to meet their basic human needs. Our highly skilled volunteers work with communities to find appropriate solutions for their infrastructure needs.

Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA) is partnering with communities around the world to meet their basic human needs. We’re building footbridges to provide pathways to opportunities. We’re installing solar panels to bring light where it is dark. We’re digging for water so hope can spring from the ground. Each project builds the foundation for a community to thrive for years to come.

But it takes more than materials to build a strong foundation.

EWB-USA’s volunteers are the heartbeat of our organization. These champions volunteer their time, their energy and their expertise in pursuit of our vision of a world where every community has the capacity to sustainably meet their basic human needs.

Our History: In April 2000, Dr. Bernard Amadei, professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, visited a community in San Pablo, Belize, to assess their water supply. He learned that the 950 Mayan Indians living in the heart of the Belize jungle lacked clean water and sanitation infrastructure, and that most of the community’s children did not attend school because their time was dedicated to collecting water from miles away.

While the community had the natural resources and motivation to build a reliable water supply system, they lacked the technical skills to design a lasting solution. Professor Amadei went home and consulted colleagues on potential solutions, then returned to the community with a prototype and fourteen of his students to put the plan into action. The team installed a clean water system supplied and powered by a waterfall a quarter-mile from the community. This simple and low-cost solution was the first EWB-USA project! To find out more about Engineers Without Borders, click on this link: https://www.ewb-usa.org/

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Mt. Pleasant, WI Lakeside COP House

The officer-staffed Lakeside COP (Community Oriented Policing) House located at 2237 Mead Street functions as a safe hub for services to residents in the Lakeside neighborhood. This space is used for community engagement and programing. Lakeside COP House also serves as a base of operations for the village-wide COP effort. 

Officers at the COP house have established and maintained meaningful partnerships with local government, community members and private organizations in order to bring services to the area that will improve the quality of life for area residents. Nuisance problems and criminal activity are often kept to a minimum due to tips from citizens combined with effective enforcement action. To read more about the COP House, click on this link: Lakeside COP House | Mount Pleasant, WI - Official Website (mtpleasantwi.gov)

The Mt. Pleasant COP House and Journey Church Disaster Response Team hosted their first resource fair and neighborhood block party for the Lakeside community and surrounding areas on June 25, 2022.

The Village of Mount Pleasant Police Department, South Shore Fire Department, Journey Disaster Response Team, Aurora Health Care, Latanyas Bags of Love, Food for the Soul – Nehemiah Project, Faith, Hope and Love, Racine County Veteran’s Services, Feeding America – SNAP, Second Chance Prison Ministry were all represented at the event.

                      

If you are a Facebook user, click on this link for more pictures and information about the June 25 resource fair:  

(20+) Village of Mount Pleasant Police - Lakeside COP House | Facebook

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RESTORING COMMUNITIES THROUGH

RADICAL HOSPITALITY, HOPE, & HEALING.

OUR HISTORY: “What if we could create a place that works to build up a neighborhood impacted by violence and incarceration? It would be a place of healing and hope. This place would work towards a more healthy and restorative community where young people and families could thrive.” Father David Kelly

Our Mission: Rooted in the spirituality of the Precious Blood, we restore human dignity through hospitality, hope and healing. We work as agents of reconciliation to:

• Build relationships among youth and families impacted by violence and/or conflict
• Create safe spaces where people can experience radical hospitality, hope and healing
• Promote a restorative justice approach to conflict and build a sense of community

Core Values:

Radical Hospitality  We provide a safe and welcoming space for youth and families

Accompaniment  We walk alongside youth and families, supporting them through obstacles & life’s moments

Building Relationships with Youth and Families  We meet young people and families where they are and build relationships with them

Relentless Engagement of Systems & Stakeholders  The ability to effectively link youth and families to resources needed to be successful

Collaboration  We collaborate with other RJ Hubs and partners through genuine relationships to learn together

To Learn more, click on this link: Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation (pbmr.org)

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Vision: Religious diversity is a foundational America strength. Interfaith America is building a nation that achieves that promise for the common good.

Mission: Interfaith America’s mission is to inspire, equip, and connect leaders and institutions to unlock the potential of America’s religious diversity.

Interfaith America focuses its work in the following areas:

Higher Education                                                             Racial Equity                                         Emerging Leaders

Faith & Health                                                         Religion in the Workplace                              Policy

Faith and Civic Life                                         Religious Diversity & Bridge Building                     Tech & Interfaith

To find out more about Interfaith America, please click on this link: Interfaith America - Faith is a bridge

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HABITAT FOR HUMANITY - MILWAUKEE

Everyone deserves a decent place to live.

In Milwaukee, families are finding it harder than ever to afford a decent place to call home. In fact, nearly 60% of Milwaukee renters are currently living in unaffordable housing paying 40%, 50% and even 70% of their income just to cover the rent. For families living below Milwaukee’s median income, often times that means little is left over for education, savings, or even basic needs.

Milwaukee Habitat is here to combat our city’s affordable housing crisis by providing families with an affordable path to safe, stable housing. Affordable housing means more than a decent place to sleep at night. Studies show safe, affordable housing leads to improved health, education and financial stability.

By concentrating our efforts in targeted areas, Milwaukee Habitat is not just helping local families, but revitalizing entire neighborhoods. As we build block by block, we aim to decrease crime, increase community engagement, and create vibrant, sustainable neighborhoods.

Milwaukee Habitat offers a hand up, rather than a hand out as Habitat homeowners help build their own homes and pay an affordable mortgage. To learn more about Habitat for Humanity – Milwaukee, click on this link: Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity

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Wherever there’s a fight so hungry people may eat, we will be there – we must be there.

World Central Kitchen (wck.org)

WCK is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. We build resilient food systems with locally led solutions.

World Central Kitchen started with a simple idea at home with my wife Patricia: when people are hungry, send in cooks. Not tomorrow, today.

Everyone knows that food is central to life and family all over the world. What we learned very quickly was that food is even more essential in a crisis.

It all began in 2010 after a huge earthquake devastated Haiti. Cooking alongside displaced Haitians in a camp, I found myself getting schooled in how to cook black beans the way they wanted: mashed and sieved into a creamy sauce.

You see, food relief is not just a meal that keeps hunger away. It’s a plate of hope. It tells you in your darkest hour that someone, somewhere, cares about you.

This is the real meaning of comfort food. It’s why we make the effort to cook in a crisis.

We don’t just deliver raw ingredients and expect people to fend for themselves. And we don’t just dump free food into a disaster zone: we source and hire locally wherever we can, to jump-start economic recovery through food.

After a disaster, food is the fastest way to rebuild our sense of community. We can put people back to work preparing it, and we can put lives back together by fighting hunger.

Cooking and eating together is what makes us human.

To read more about World Central Kitchen, click on this link: World Central Kitchen | Story (wck.org) To watch a 2 minute video about WCK, click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WDab4g3uqo 

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The Collaborative For Spirituality In Education Is Housed At Teachers College, Columbia University in New York.

It Was Launched In Collaboration With Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors And The Fetzer Institute.

An Urgent Priority

There is a growing national understanding that success and well-being require a “whole child” approach to education. Social emotional learning, mindfulness, character education, values education, restorative practices, and other related programs seek to address the needs of children in a more holistic way.

Still, national data on youth reveal increasing rates of personal suffering and pathology. Collective understanding of citizenship wanes as does care of the environment. Within the leading whole child movements, in recent years, a question intensifies: How do we strengthen the deep inner core of the child? How do we help children access this inner core to support their sense of meaning and purpose, responsibility for others, and concern for the natural world?

      

To read more about this organization, click on this link: https://spiritualityineducation.org/   

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Home Page - NNEDV

Our Mission: The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), a social change organization, is dedicated to creating a social, political, and economic environment in which violence against women no longer exists.

Our Vision: Making domestic violence a national priority. NNEDV is the leading voice for domestic violence victims and their advocates. As a membership and advocacy organization of state domestic violence coalitions, allied organizations and supportive individuals, NNEDV works closely with its members to understand the ongoing and emerging needs of domestic violence victims and advocacy programs. Then NNEDV makes sure those needs are heard and understood by policymakers at the national level.

Changing the way society responds to domestic violence: NNEDV offers a range of programs and initiatives to address the complex causes and far-reaching consequences of domestic violence. Through cross-sector collaborations and corporate partnerships, NNEDV offers support to victims of domestic violence who are escaping abusive relationships – and empowers survivors to build new lives.

Strengthening domestic violence advocacy at every level: NNEDV further supports the fight to end domestic violence by providing state coalitions with critical information and resources. From training and technical assistance to innovative programs and strategic funding, NNEDV brings much-needed resources to local communities. At NNEDV’s national and regional meetings, members share information and ideas with NNEDV staff and with each other, working together to develop comprehensive solutions.

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SPRING IS THE START OF THE GROWING SEASON & FEEDING THE WORLD IS TAKING A TURN TOWARDS

HEALTHIER FOOD…MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT AGRICULTURE… NEW JOBS…NEW FARMERS

Are women the future of farming? The Female Farmer Project thinks so

Meet the women leading us to a world with better food

By Dana Fouchia, Feature photo by Alex Workman, Mar 8, 2022

Sarah Hallstedt

Along with her husband Phil, Sarah Hallstedt plays a big part in Michigan’s 40% contribution to the country’s entire cherry supply. We traveled to the outskirts of Traverse City in Issue No. 22: Cherries to visit their 53-acre farm and learn more about the challenges of cherry growing in an area faced with climate concerns and rising real estate prices. Lucky for us, the Hallstedt's solution to these issues was to add an agritourism element to their business, allowing visitors the pleasure of a U-pick experience on the farm’s picturesque grounds. To read more, click on this link: https://feastandfield.net/read/lifestyle/meet-the-women-leading-us-to-a-world-with-better-food/article_f72a523c-9517-11ec-a555-77f958b5d3c6.html

 “The Female Farmer Project” is a multi-platform documentary project that chronicles the rise of women working in agriculture around the world. From in-depth stories, personal essays, photographic portraits and a podcast, the project gives a powerful voice to the fastest growing demographic in agriculture-- The Female Farmer. To view a 3 minute video, click on this link: http://www.womensworkdocumentary.org/ To learn more about the Female Farmer Project, click on this link: The Female Farmer Project

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VISION: Ending hunger. Transforming lives.

MISSION: To provide healthy food and impactful programs to promote self-sufficiency.

OUR CORE VALUES: Compassion, Dignity, Health, Hope, Service

OUR NUTRITION POLICY: Loaves & Fishes is committed to providing healthful foods that are important for the immediate and long-term well-being of children and adults. Click here to read our Nutrition Policy.

WE BELIEVE

…in the power of community to change lives. …that by working together we can accomplish great things. …that each person possesses inherent dignity. …in the nobility of the human spirit. …the opportunity to serve is a gift. …food is a right and not a privilege.

To read more, click on this link:  www.loaves-fishes.org

LOAVES & FISHES: NEXT GENERATION GENEROSITY 

As we look to the future, we are so encouraged by the involvement of the youngest generation in our vital mission. This year we had numerous children and teenagers step up to end hunger and transform lives. While we remain deeply grateful for everyone who makes our work possible, we’re especially touched by the young people who want to help. Here are a few examples of their generosity. To read more, click on this link: Loaves & Fishes: Next Generation Generosity - Positively Naperville

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What We Do: Higher Expectations engages community partners, aligns efforts, and maximizes resources to promote excellence and equity in education and employment outcomes in Racine County.

Our Vision: A Racine County workforce that is fully capable and employed.

Our Mission: Higher Expectations engages community partners, aligns efforts, and maximizes resources to promote excellence and equity in education and employment outcomes in Racine County.

Our Values:

Transformative: We work to disrupt the status quo, so that systems will support and shift power to low-income individuals and communities of color.

Community: We amplify community power by sharing our access to high level spaces and developing local leaders’ capacity to make collaborative decisions with the community.

Strategic: Through the use of data and analysis, and in partnership with community and key stakeholders, we prioritize major goals and initiatives that lead to systems transformation.