Stories of Hope (Part 2)

Young Racinians take to the air, thanks to volunteer pilots and

a community policing mindset

By Dee Hölzel, Racine Journal Times, July 5, 2022

RACINE — It all began over Thanksgiving dinner.

Sue Schwaab, who was a pilot with United Airlines for more than 30 years, was talking about how recent research determined that only approximately 10% of commercial airline pilots are women and approximately 7% are of minority descent.

She is now retired and promoting aviation — especially for women — with her program Wings to Fly.

Officer Travis Brady, a COP House officer, was at the table listening to his aunt talk about giving women and minorities opportunities in commercial aviation.

As she spoke, Brady wondered, “What would it take to bring Wings to Fly to Racine?”

Within months, it was Brady (and others) who pulled it off.

Pilot Kenny Mejia-Cruz pins wings on Melanie Figuereo-Colon. Meijia-Cruz felt so passionate about

the project that he rented a plane in order to take a teen flying. (photo by Dee Holzel)

After months of extensive planning, on June 4, members of the Racine Police Department and Racine Unified School District escorted eight young people to the Batten Airport for a day in the sky, accompanied by lessons on the physics that make flying possible. To read more and see more pictures, click on this link: https://journaltimes.com/news/local/young-racinians-take-to-the-air-thanks-to-volunteer-pilots-and-a-community-policing-mindset/article_80d1199a-fa20-11ec-b1f9-97bc45869a68.html?utm_source=journaltimes.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter-templates%2Fdaily-headlines&utm_medium=PostUp&utm_content=01bd8f4bbd87b1b8e02791bc07ac6336d5dd61a8

STORY OF HOPE/A TEACHER OF HOPE

This past April, I was part of a program at Alverno College in Milwaukee, WI. The program was sponsored by the Wisconsin Character Education Partnership https://wicharacter.org/ WCEP promotes character education as a key to student success in and out of the classroom and in their communities.

The keynote speaker for the event was Dr. Michele Borba.

Dr. Borba is an educational psychologist, best-selling author, and TODAY show contributor who has spoken to over one million participants on five continents and to countless media about child development issues. She blends 40 years of teaching and consulting experience with latest science to offer sound, realistic advice to parents, teachers, and child advocates about helping children thrive. Her most recent book is Thrivers: The Surprising Reasons Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine. To read more, click here: Michele Borba, Ed.D.

One of the topics she discussed at Alverno is Mentally strong kids understand the value of hope

Research shows that hopefulness can dramatically reduce childhood anxiety and depression. Hopeful kids have an inner sense of control. They view challenges and obstacles as temporary and able to be overcome, so they are more likely to thrive and help others.

Yet despite its immense power, hope is largely excluded from our parenting agendas. The good news? Hope is teachable. One of the best ways to increase this strength is by equipping children with skills to handle life’s inevitable bumps.

Here are nine science-backed ways to help kids maintain hope — especially during tough times. To read more, click on this link: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/04/psychologist-shares-the-top-skill-that-sets-mentally-strong-kids-from-those-who-give-up-easily.html

From ‘Public Nuisance’ to Public Servant: A Nonprofit Group Helps Previously Incarcerated Firefighters Secure Careers

By Eden Stiffman, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, May 11, 2022

Photo by Ed Kashi of TALKING EYES MEDIA

Firefighters from the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program in the Angeles National Forest.

For years California, Florida, Oregon, Washington, and other states have relied on prisoners to fight wildfires. These men and women are trained to perform grueling work while earning just a few dollars, sometimes as little as $2 a day.

As wildfires have become more frequent and intense, the U.S. Forest Service has struggled with staffing shortages due in part to low pay. Incarcerated workers who serve as volunteer firefighters have helped contain and combat the blazes.

Nonprofits like the American Civil Liberties Union have advocated for increasing wages and protections for these workers. And now philanthropies are backing another approach to support this labor force: efforts to help incarcerated people who have been trained as firefighters secure careers in the profession once they leave prison.

Navigating the hurdles to a steady firefighting job isn’t easy. Brandon Smith knows those challenges firsthand. In 2012 he was at Wasco State Prison, near Bakersfield, Calif., about eight months into his sentence for nonviolent charges, when his prison counselor suggested he move to a fire camp. He would be able to live there and learn to fight fires while earning the same certifications as California’s seasonal firefighters.

At Bautista Conservation Camp in Riverside County, about 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles, Smith came to love firefighting. It was one of the first times he was out in nature, and he was good at what he did. He became the leader of his hand crew, wielding a chainsaw at the front of a team that cut back flammable brush and trees to create perimeters that contain fires.

“When you’re incarcerated, you have this stigma of being a public nuisance, but being a firefighter provided an opportunity for me to give back to the community and also give myself a sense of pride,” Smith said. “It was something that I wanted to continue as a way of giving back to the community once I came home.”

But after completing his sentence in 2014, the pathway to a firefighting job wasn’t clear. The certifications he received while incarcerated didn’t count, and he couldn’t even apply for some positions due to his criminal record. To read more, click on this link: From ‘Public Nuisance’ to Public Servant: A Nonprofit Group Helps Previously Incarcerated Firefighters Secure Careers (philanthropy.com)

While in prison, Derrick Seay Sr. turned his life around.

Now, he's a Credible Messenger for Racine's youth

Holzel, Racine Journal Times, Jul 16, 2022

Derrick Seay hands a meal to man on the morning of April 30, 2020, at the Styberg COP House on Anthony Lane. Three hundred meals were given out that day…through a collaboration between the Racine Police Department, Mt. Pleasant Police Department, SC Johnson, and Malicki’s Piggly Wiggly.

RACINE — Derrick Seay Sr. was 13 years old when he started dealing drugs and running with the Vice Lords on Racine’s north side in the early 1990s.

He was 14 years old when he was charged with homicide as a party to a crime for a shooting that occurred following a clash between the Vice Lords and a south-side gang where a bystander was shot. Seay did not pull the trigger, but he was with the gang when the shots were fired. He later received another prison sentence on drug charges.

Seay knows a lot about street life, juvenile crime and finding the way forward when there is no one to show you the way. In the time between his last prison sentence and now, 13 years, he has worked steadily mentoring youth.

“I truly believe that God took me out of there for this, what I’m doing now,” he said of his transition from street life to prison to mentoring at-risk youth.

He is one of three Credible Messengers employed by Racine County. They work with young people in the youth justice system, hoping to guide them out of trouble.

Maurice Horton, who manages Racine County Credible Messenger, explained that each of the other two mentors also fell into the criminal justice system, but now have turned their lives around and are working to guide the next generation.

The Credible Messenger model, which pairs justice-involved youth with mentors who have a shared, lived experience, was first used in New York City and is now being adopted in other U.S. cities — like Racine.

Credible Messenger, Seay explained, is not a program. It does not have a beginning or an end. It’s a movement to enhance restorative justice for at-risk youth. To read more, click on this link: While in prison, Derrick Seay Sr. turned his life around. Now, he's a Credible Messenger for Racine's youth | Local News | journaltimes.com

Being Part of the “Wretched Refuse” By Robert Beezat

Immigrants to the USA over the years have very frequently been attacked and considered to be a detriment to our country.

I was a “Dumb Polack” growing up in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Some of my friends and neighbors were “Dumb Dagos.” Others were “Shanty Irish.” Puerto Ricans were “Spics.” Mexicans were “Wetbacks.” The list goes on and on over the years as new groups of immigrants have come to our shores.

My grandmother was a Polish immigrant. My other grandmother and my two grandfathers were the children of immigrants from Poland. They were part of the “wretched refuse” who came to America for a better life for themselves, and, very importantly, for their children and grandchildren.

My great grandparents, grandparents, my parents, and to some extent, my sisters, brothers, and me, had to put up with and overcome demeaning images and ideas of who they were as immigrants in America.

But my grandparents, their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren have all been positive contributors to our country’s growth and well-being. All of us (Your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free…) have helped make America a beacon of light and freedom to the rest of the world.

So have the many immigrant families I grew up with, along with the many newer immigrants with whom I have lived and worked with over the years.

Generations of immigrants since our country was founded have contributed to our country’s greatness.

The diversity of people, their ideas, their histories, their customs, and their hard work have helped make the America a beacon of light and freedom to the rest of the world.

I love my country.

I am glad and thankful that I was born, raised, and continue to live my life in the U.S.

But we are not perfect as individuals, and we are not perfect as a country.

Our light and lamp of freedom and opportunity are fading for many people within our country and to many people across the world.

We are the wealthiest country in the world. We need to invest some of that wealth to “Re-imagine and Re-invent” our country so that we continue to be and be seen as the “Golden Door” contributing to national and international peace and opportunity.

God Bless America

A song of hope and inspiration written by a Russian-Jewish immigrant to the USA, Irving Berlin.

Click on this link to see and hear an early version of this song: Kate Smith: God Bless America - 1943 - Bing video

Teachers are the start of much Hope From the Bottom Up

Three Racine Unified School District Music Teachers named quarterfinalists for special teaching GRAMMY award

Ryan Patterson Jun 19, 2022 in the Racine Journal Times

Amberleigh Cellak Elizabeth Steege Laura Shapovalov

Quote from Amberleigh: “All the music teachers are amazing in our school system,” Cellak said. “I am not more special than anybody just because of this award.” Cellak said she felt “pretty Zen” about the recognition but was honored to be nominated by colleagues who “appreciate what I do.”

Quote from Elizabeth: “So many kids tell me if it wasn’t for choir, they wouldn’t be there, or they would never have graduated,” Steege said. Steege said the best part of her job is connecting with students and seeing the crucial role music can play in their lives.

Quote from Laura: “It’s rewarding to see them work hard and achieve what they have worked hard on,” Shapovalov said. “It’s not what I’m doing. It’s what I showed them how to do, and they were able to do it themselves, and that’s really cool.”

To read more about the teachers and their GRAMMY award nominations, click on this link: Three RUSD music teachers named quarterfinalists for special teaching GRAMMY award | A+ | journaltimes.com

50^th Anniversary of Title IX Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1964

“No person in the United States shall, based on sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” This legislation passed by Congress and signed by President Nixon on June 23, 1972.

The purpose of the Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 was to update Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned several forms of discrimination in employment, but did not address or mention discrimination in education. Contrary to popular belief, the creation of Title IX had nothing to do with sports.

However, even though the law applied to many aspects of women’s lives, one area which stood out then and continues to be very important today is the impact it had, and still has, on the funding of school sports programs for women students and adults.

To read more about Title IX and its history, click on this link: Vintage Chicago Tribune: 50th anniversary of Title IX

A young woman enjoying playing competitive high school sports.

I have always enjoyed sports because it gave me the opportunities to enjoy physical activity, be part of a team, and to celebrate together the outcomes of sporting events.

When I was young, back in the 1940’s, 50’s, and 60’s, girls and women did not have the same opportunities to play and enjoy sports the way boys and men did.

There are still more positive things to be accomplished regarding equal opportunity for women but participating in sports has been a definite step forward which started from the bottom up.

First Choice Pre-Apprenticeship Training

The First Choice Pre-Apprenticeship Program was put on the Hope-Filled Organization section of the Hope From the Bottom Up website a couple of months ago. Here is a link to the website with information about First Choice https://hopefromthebottomup.com/hope-filled-organizations#first-choice

Below are brief stories about three of the participants.

Anna Fell Carlos Mateo Ricardo

Anna Fell is a Safety Professional at the moment working on various jobs in the Midwest. Anna enrolled in the program in 2009, got hired during the I-94 reconstruction project by Walsh Construction, and Hoffman Construction. She completed her apprenticeship becoming a journeyman in the industry.

Carlos Mateo followed his passion to become a carpenter apprentice. He is currently 2 years in his indenture as an apprentice with CG Schmidt. He is a face the city promotes as a model apprentice.

Ricardo is a model pre-apprentice electrician. He completed the 3 month Professional Safety Development in addition to our 6 weeks pre-apprenticeship program. He was named a valuable employee for many months at Westphal & Co.

For some additional information about these people, click on this link

Door County Candle Sales Raise Half a Million Dollars for Ukraine

By Debra Fitzgerald, Door County Pulse, May 4th, 2022

Christiana and Nic Trapani of Door County Candle Company hold a check that represents the amount of money they have raised in little over two months to help the people of Ukraine.

Look no further for proof of the wild success that comes from gestures of the heart than the Candles for Ukraine campaign that Door County Candle Company owner Christiana Gorchynsky Trapani started two months ago.

The second-generation American Ukrainian began making the yellow-and-blue, vanilla-scented “Ukraine” candles at her Carlsville store shortly after Feb. 25, when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Moved by the fears she’d heard over the phone from her Ukrainian aunts and uncles, Trapani’s plan was to donate 100% of the profits to a Ukrainian nonprofit organization. Maybe she’d raise $5,000-$10,000, she thought.

As of Monday, Door County Candle Company has donated $525,000 to Razom for Ukraine.

“I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time,” said Trapani, in what is surely the understatement of the year.

They’ve not taken inventory since the candle campaign began, but Nic, Trapani’s husband, estimated they have sold some 60,000 candles to date.

“They like having a physical symbol that they’re standing behind Ukraine and are able to support it in this way,” Trapani said about the candle customers. To read more, click on this link: https://doorcountypulse.com/door-county-candle-sales-raise-half-a-million-dollars-for-ukraine/

A NEW PARTNERSHIP: 'We’re building a house for people'

Racine high school students construct a new Habitat for Humanity home

Ryan Patterson Racine Journal Times, May 26, 2022

Grant Buenger, Racine Habitat for Humanity executive director, center in green shirt, talks with Case students about a home they helped build on Thursday, May 19. Students are, clockwise from front left, junior Michael Blommel, junior Austin Sigrist, sophomore Erick Felix, junior Cade Hamilton and junior Rashawn Cobb.

MOUNT PLEASANT — Rashawn Cobb couldn’t stop smiling when he heard the news: that the home he and his Case High School classmates helped construct was for Racine Habitat for Humanity.

He felt overjoyed to know their labor would help a local family. “We’re building a house for people,” said Cobb, a junior. “We’ve never done anything like this, and for us to get the chance and show how good at working we are is amazing.”

The pilot project is a new partnership this year between Habitat for Humanity and the Racine Unified School District.

The idea came about last summer during a conversation between Grant Buenger, Racine Habitat for Humanity executive director, and Alex DeBaker, Racine Academies executive director. It was brought to life over the ensuing months, and students began hands-on work in February.

About 120 construction pathway students at Case, Horlick and Park high schools were involved. Students at each school built interior walls for three separate houses. Habitat supplied the materials, and students provided the labor over the last few months.

A Muslim ‘bridge-builder’ started interfaith work in his basement. Now he has programs on hundreds of campuses.

By Nara Schoenberg, Chicago Tribune, May 10, 2022

Eboo Patel established Interfaith Youth Core, which has been renamed Interfaith America. He is seen here at his office on May 6, 2022. (Youngrae Kim/for the Chicago Tribune)

Eboo Patel began his efforts to bring people of different faiths together for dialogue and service projects in a basement office on the Northwest Side.

He kept his day job and piloted a practical Chrysler Cirrus sedan through the streets of Chicago, delivering high school kids to meetings where they engaged in spirited discussions and packed meals for homeless people.

“I was like a Cub Scout leader,” Patel said with a chuckle.

What a difference 20 years makes. Today, Patel, who comes to interfaith work from a Muslim perspective, helms a nonprofit with a staff of 54, a budget of $14 million and programs on hundreds of college campuses. Interfaith America has advised presidents and helped Starbucks develop religious diversity education for employees.

And Patel, whose organization — formerly known as Interfaith Youth Core and is being renamed Interfaith America on Tuesday to reflect its broader goals, is still innovating.

In his new book, “We Need To Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy,” Patel pushes for a broader vision of American religious values that acknowledges not only Christians and Jews, but also Buddhists, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, Zoroastrians and nonbelievers, among others.

“The only way to have a healthy, religiously diverse democracy is for people who disagree on some fundamental things to work together on other fundamental things, right? It’s a remarkable achievement in human history for people of diverse identities and divergent ideologies to build a nation together, and we think religion has an awful lot to do with that,” he said.

Patel acknowledged that religion can be weaponized but noted that his Muslim parents obtained degrees from the University of Notre Dame and DePaul University, both Catholic institutions. His kids went to Catholic preschools. His sister-in-law’s children went to a Jewish preschool.

“We in America have this remarkable civic genius where communities of a particular faith build institutions as an expression of their particular faith identity, (and those institutions) serve everybody. I think it is one of the great, never-celebrated geniuses of America,” Patel said. To read more, click on this link: https://newsnetdaily.com/a-muslim-bridge-builder-has-started-interfaith-work-in-his-basement-now-it-has-programs-on-hundreds-of-campuses-chicago-tribune/

Married for 60 years,

Orland Park couple have delivered over 900 meals as hospital volunteers

By Melinda Moore Daily Southtown May 18, 2022

Bill and Lorraine Bonk, of Orland Park, have delivered more than 900 meals while volunteering through Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital. (Northwestern Medicine / HANDOUT)

Lorraine Bonk finds volunteering as natural as breathing.

“I started when I was 17 and have done something ever since,” she said. “It always gives us purpose no matter what age we are.”

Lately, she’s been volunteering with the home-delivered meals program at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital in Palos Heights, joined by her husband, Bill, who began volunteering for the hospital 11 years ago. The Orland Park couple, who celebrated their 60th anniversary in April, have delivered more than 900 meals for the program thus far. To read more of this story, click on this link: Married for 60 years, Orland Park couple have delivered over 900 meals as hospital volunteers – Chicago Tribune

Can The Promise lift 100,000 Philadelphians out of poverty by 2025?

The pandemic has shown how much is out of our control.

North Philly native Michael Banks is trying anyway.

By Christopher Wink

Michael Banks is leading a $10 million public-private partnership

Michael Banks first learned he was poor because his sneakers were different.

Growing up in North Philadelphia, Banks experienced “the five senses of poverty.” The smells were different at each of the stops on SEPTA”s #3 bus. The sounds were different outside his middle school in Kensington than back home west of Broad. But he most remembers that even in a neighborhood with high rates of poverty, other kids wore better sneakers than he did.

“I learned this doesn’t have to be a way of life,” Banks said. “I made it a personal mission to do something about it.”

In February, Banks was named the Executive Director of The Promise, a public-private partnership that has pledged to lift 100,000 Philadelphians out of poverty by 2025. He’s now leading the biggest anti-poverty campaign in the poorest big city in the country…

The Promise is billed as something different. It was born of $10 million in city funding directed toward the United Way of Greater Philadelphia in February 2021. That partnership built on an announcement a year earlier of the Philadelphia Poverty Action Plan, which was introduced by City Council President Darell Clarke as his signature initiative…Clarke frequently calls this a “moonshot,” summoning the space race of the 1960s. to read more, click on this link: https://generocity.org/philly/2022/03/31/promise-poverty-michael-banks/

Harvard students' site helping Ukraine refugees find housing

By RODRIQUE NGOWI, Associated Press

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Two Harvard University freshmen have launched a website designed to connect people fleeing Ukraine to those in safer countries willing to take them in — and it's generating offers of help and housing worldwide.

Avi Schiffmann and Marco Burstein

Moved by the plight of Ukrainian refugees desperate to escape Russian bombardment across the former Soviet republic, Marco Burstein, 18, of Los Angeles, and Avi Schiffmann, 19, of Seattle, used their coding skills to create UkraineTakeShelter.com over three frenzied days in early March.

Since then, more than 18,000 prospective hosts have signed up on the site to offer assistance to refugees seeking matches with hosts in their preferred or convenient locations. On a recent day, Burstein and Schiffmann logged 800,000 users.

“We’ve heard all sorts of amazing stories of hosts and refugees getting connected all over the world,” Burstein said in an interview on the Harvard campus. “We have hosts in almost any country you can imagine from Hungary and Romania and Poland to Canada to Australia. And we’ve been really blown away by the response.” To read more, click on this link: Harvard students' site helping Ukraine refugees find housing (boston.com)

Watch Now: Youthful Offender Facility honors Sister Lois Aceto's 91st birthday

By Alex Rodriguez, Racine Journal Times, April 21, 2022

RACINE — How do you celebrate 91 years of life and adventure?

The Racine Youthful Offender Correctional Facility answered that question Wednesday for a longtime volunteer and teacher.

Staff members and residents of RYOCF threw a surprise birthday party on Wednesday for Sister Lois Aceto, a 91-year-old volunteer who has been with the facility since its opening in 1998.

Sister Aceto has lived a life full of accomplishments. From receiving a bachelor’s degree from the now-defunct Dominican College in Racine in 1962, to spending 17 years doing missionary work in Bolivia, which included opening a new boy’s home in the city of Tarija.

She has been in the sisterhood of the Dominican Ministries for more than 65 years, and a member of the Racine ministry for more than 29 years. Sister Aceto, who said her actual birthday is April 21, teaches conflict-resolution and restorative justice classes at RYOCF on Wednesday mornings.

She’s also the author of the book “Journeying toward Justice,” in which she reflects on her decades of teaching and ministry work. To read more about Sr. Lois and her work and watch a short video, click on this link: Watch Now: Youthful Offender Facility honors Sister Lois Aceto's 91st birthday | Local News | journaltimes.com

An Environmental Step Forward

The City Of Racine Is Electrifying Its Transit System

The City of Racine is electrifying its transit system by rolling out 9 all-electric buses to serve the public. 25% of Racine’s transit fleet will be electrified, making it the largest electric fleet in the State of Wisconsin. The launch event on Wednesday, April 27 at 9:00 am at the Corinne Reid Owens Transit Center (1402 Liberty St. Racine, WI, 53403) will celebrate the sustainability, savings, and service benefits of modernizing our transit fleet. Special guests include Governor Tony Evers, Wisconsin Secretary of Transportation Craig Thompson, and Mayor Cory Mason.

The City of Racine received $6,190,906.00 from the Wisconsin Department of Administration's Volkswagen Transit Capital Assistance Grant Program to fund the purchase of six electric buses and related infrastructure. Additionally, the city was awarded $3,183,723 from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Authority (FTA) Low or No Emission Vehicle Program (“Low-No Program”) to buy three additional electric buses, bringing the total to nine. Racine was the only city in the state to receive this allocation, and 1 of only 41 other transit jurisdictions nationwide to receive this funding.

A Pandemic Step Forward: Healthy Food, Low Energy Use, Local Jobs

Local food producers insulated from national supply chain woes

flourish during pandemic

By Karen Ann Cullotta, Chicago Tribune, Mar 21, 2022

Gotham Greens Chief Greenhouse Officer Jenn Frymark the Gotham Greens facility in Chicago's Pullman neighborhood on Feb. 24, 2022. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

But as a fifth generation grain farmer whose family has witnessed the devastation wrought by droughts and floods dating back to the 19th century, the disaster that arrived in March 2020 prompted Riggs to pivot, not panic.

After locating a mobile canner, Riggs began transferring his kegged beer supply, which was originally headed to wholesalers, into aluminum cans, and before long, the company’s new retail product was on the shelves at central Illinois grocers, including Wal-Mart and Schnucks.

And since Riggs grows and harvests the grain for the brewery on 60 of the 316 acres at his family farm, the business managed to avoid supply chain disruptions that have hampered many food and beverage operations two years into the pandemic.

“The pandemic forced our hand, because I had always liked being draft only,” said Riggs, adding that the brewery is now seeing a resurgence in orders for its draft beer in kegs, due to stepped up demand from bars and restaurants.

“It’s been a weird couple of years, and I wish it would never have happened, but you have to deal with reality,” Rigg said.

Despite enduring two years of pandemic-era hardships, many Illinois farmers like Riggs say their decisions to take risks and embrace new business models two years ago have led to some silver linings.

From local growers who avoided supply chain and transportation troubles that continue to impede large companies importing products from overseas, to the surging popularity of home delivered fruits and vegetables, many Illinois food purveyors say they are surviving, and in some instances, thriving.

Plants that make up the Gotham Greens Gourmet Medley grow in the Gotham Greens greenhouse in Chicago's Pullman neighborhood. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

A Glimmer of Hope: How the World Community Supports Ukraine

Kathy Roman | March 12, 2022, Bahai Teaching Organization

Every day I wake up to news of war’s worsening tragedy, and each night I fall asleep with visions of a terrified Ukrainian population, fighting for their country and their children’s survival.

But last night was different – the news showed me uplifting images that renewed my hope in humanity.

I decided then that I would try to find positive examples of how the world community is stepping up to support the beleaguered people of Ukraine. With just a little looking, I found four wonderful examples. To read more click on this link: https://bahaiteachings.org/a-glimmer-of-hope-how-the-world-community-supports-ukraine/

Park Forest woman who overcame homelessness and now mentors young people wins Unsung Heroine Award

By JANICE NEUMANN DAILY SOUTHTOWN MAR 23, 2022

Park Forest resident Lamekia Davis, center, receives the 2022 Peggy A. Montes Unsung Heroine Award for her mentoring and otherwise helping young women, from Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, left, and 6th Dist. Commissioner Donna Miller during a recent ceremony. (Morgan Waller)

After overcoming her own obstacles that at one point included homelessness, Lamekia Davis didn’t kick back and relax. She got to work helping other struggling women.

Davis, of Park Forest, now spends her days mentoring young women, planning youth activities and staffing a hotline for young people who need a helping hand.

Residents and politicians have taken note of Davis’ accomplishments, but it was her mother who helped her win the 2022 Peggy Montes Unsung Heroine Award in Cook County’s 6th District.

Davis’ mother, Gloria Fields, recounted her daughter’s many accomplishments in the face of adversity in a letter to the nominating committee.

“I believe this award should go to her because she gives when no one is watching and needs no recognition, but everyone should know how awesome she is,” said Fields. To read more, click on this link: Park Forest woman who overcame homelessness and now mentors young people wins Unsung Heroine Award - Chicago Tribune

$1.5M available to help Racinians pursue training for careers

in the trades By Dee Holzel, March 25, 2022, Racine Journal Times

From left, John Anderson and Lindsay Blumer of WRTP/Big, Racine Mayor Cory Mason and Chelsea Powell of Higher Expectations for Racine County announce a new $1.5 million program aimed at helping Racinians achieve their high school equivalency diploma or receive necessary training to work in the trades.

RACINE — Hundreds of Racine residents will get financial help to complete their high school education or pursue a professional trade under a new city initiative called “GROW Racine.”

Mayor Cory Mason and community partners gathered at City Hall on Thursday to announce the $1.5 million initiative. Funding for the program will come from the federal American Rescue Plan Act COVID relief initiative.

Mason said the initiative sends the message that the city council and his office believes in the potential of residents.

“We want you to succeed and we’re investing in your future success,” he said.

The program will provide:

250 adult Racine residents with $1,500 scholarships to help them attain high school diplomas or equivalency degrees
Another 250 adult Racine residents with $1,500 scholarships to help them complete local pre-apprenticeship training for careers in the trades.
$600,000 to the Racine Financial Empowerment Center to sustain and grow the center, which provides free, confidential, one-on-one professional financial counseling.

To read more of this story, click on this link: $1.5M available to help Racinians pursue training for careers in the trades | Local News | journaltimes.com To read more about Higher Expectations of Racine County, click on this link: Higher Expectations for Racine County (higherexpectationsracinecounty.org) To read more about WRPT/Big (Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership/Big Step) click on this link: Welcome to WRTP | BIG STEP )