Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts tagged as “philanthropy”

Homeless Man Who Returned Ring Gets Over $175K in Donations, Reconnects with Family

By goodblacknews on March 7, 2013
Billy Ray Harris’ story has inspired a windfall of donations.
When Kansas City homeless man Billy Ray Harris returned Sarah Darling’s engagement ring last month after she accidentally dropped it in his cup, it could have been the end of the story.  Instead, the experience has changed his life.  In the weeks since his good deed went viral, Harris has gained national attention, and supporters have raised over $175,000 for him to find a new home.
Something even more valuable happened: Harris is back in touch with his family, from whom he was estranged for the last 16 years.  Amid the media storm around the engagement ring episode, Robin Harris, Billy Ray’s younger sister, happened to come across an article about her brother, and reached out to the local news station that first reported the story for help tracking him down.
“When I turned my head, I recognized the name, and I turned back around and I looked at the picture again, and it was my brother,” Robin told TODAY.com. “I called and I said, ‘that’s my brother. I’ve been looking for him for 16 years.'”  Robin, who still lives in Texas where the family grew up, said she made repeated efforts to find her brother over the years, but had heard varying reports about his whereabouts, and was even once told that he had died.

Boston's Housing Partnership Network Receives MacArthur Award To Create Affordable Housing

By goodblacknews on March 3, 2013

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwFEH_iaEAE&w=560&h=315]

Collaboration and entrepreneurship to help house America

America’s housing problems are daunting. Millions of families pay more than half of their income for a place to live. Rampant foreclosures have destabilized neighborhoods across the country and left millions of households owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. At the same time, federal, state and local resources for housing and community development are shrinking. As a result, organizations committed to affordable housing must be more entrepreneurial than ever.

The Housing Partnership Network improves the lives of millions of individuals, families and communities by sparking innovation and collaboration among 100 of the nation’s affordable housing and community development nonprofits. By incubating innovative joint ventures and creating ongoing opportunities for peer learning and collaboration, the Network helps its members realize significant economies of scale, achieve greater collective impact, and exercise greater influence on public policy. Collectively, the Network and its member organizations employ more than 13,000 people in nearly 200 offices, operating in 75% of the nation’s major metro areas and in every state in the country.
The Housing Partnership Network has a history of spotlighting critical problems and marshaling the expertise and resources needed to launch innovative, scalable solutions. For example, after the 9/11 tragedy, insurance premiums rose dramatically. The Network created a property and casualty insurance company that controlled costs for its members and now provides more than $7 billion of insurance covering 57,000 units of affordable rental housing.

Family Care International Receives $1 Million MacArthur Grant to Improve Maternal Health Globally

By goodblacknews on March 2, 2013

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zpqx3Y3KSNQ&w=560&h=315]

Making pregnancy and childbirth safer

Every two minutes, somewhere in the world, a woman dies from preventable or treatable complications of pregnancy and childbirth. For every woman who dies, 20 more experience serious illness or disability. And every year, three million babies do not survive their first month of life.

When Family Care International was founded 25 years ago, the world was paying little attention to the hundreds of thousands of women who were dying each year. The first international organization dedicated to reducing maternal death, Family Care International helped put the issue of maternal health on the map. Now maternal mortality has been cut in half, but much work remains to be done.
Headquartered in New York City with locally-staffed offices in three countries in Africa and two in Latin America, Family Care International works in close partnership with governments, civil society organizations, donors, communities, grassroots advocates, and women’s groups. Pairing efforts to strengthen the capacity of local organizations, advocates, and governments with a powerful advocacy voice on the global stage, the organization works to ensure that all women have access to the maternal and reproductive health care they need. Doing so saves the lives and protects the health of women and improves the well-being and prosperity of their children, families, and communities.

CEO Makes Difference In At-Risk Youth Against All Odds

By goodblacknews on February 21, 2013

aao_aboutus_founder
Christine Carter is the CEO of the Against All Odds Foundation, which provides educational programs and social services for at-risk youth, but she could be the organization’s charter member.
As a child, Carter says her mother, a teen prostitute, traded her out for sex in order to get drugs. Her father was also a drug addict. At 5, left alone home with her infant brother, Carter took him to school with her. That’s when she became a part of the foster care system.
When she was 7, Carter’s mother died of complications from HIV/AIDS, and she began bouncing between foster homes and relatives who lived in the rugged housing projects of Newark, New Jersey. Facing abuse and neglect, Carter describes herself as the “residue of the 1980s crack era.”
“My childhood was one that no child should endure. I was physically abused, neglected, and literally left for dead,” Carter told TheBlackManCan.
But Carter refused to let the troubles of her early life define her.
“The adversity that I faced as a child prepared me for life’s greatest challenges. Growing up as an orphan compelled me to become a social worker and give back to those most vulnerable. If it were not for my childhood, I would not be where I am, nor would there be an Against All Odds Foundation,” Carter said.

Homeless Man Returns Engagement Ring, Couple Starts Online Support Fund

By goodblacknews on February 20, 2013

homeless man billy ray returns engagement ring

Homeless Kansas City man, Billy Ray Harris, who returned an engagement ring a woman accidentally dropped in to his cup last Friday, is reaping the benefits of the mantra “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

For Sarah Darling and husband Bill Krejci, simply thanking Billy Ray Harris (pictured) for holding on to their ring wasn’t enough. Nor was giving the homeless man all the money they had the day he returned it to them. So days later, they decided to step it up, starting a financial support campaign for Harris.
“My wife was interviewed, and I noticed that on some websites people were asking how they could help Billy Ray,” Krecjci told the New York Daily News. “That’s when I got the idea to start the campaign.”

Krejci went to fundraising site Give Forward and started a donation’s page for Harris, which will remain active for the next 90 days. As of Tuesday evening, the page has garnered almost $14,000.  “A couple of days ago we noticed it was really starting to gain traction,” Nate St. Pierre, GiveForward’s director Of communications, told the News. “He (Krejci) put the goal at $1,000, and had no idea it would get so big.”

Fashion Week: Meet Models Committed to Making a Difference

By goodblacknews on February 13, 2013
Liya Kebede's Liya Kebede Foundation engages in a range of charitable projects that help improve maternal healthcare in her native Ethiopia. (Photo: Getty Images)

Liya Kebede’s Liya Kebede Foundation engages in a range of charitable projects that help improve maternal healthcare in her native Ethiopia. (Photo: Getty Images)

Fashion Week isn’t only about glitzy runway shows and star-studded front rows; nor is the industry solely about dreamy designer pieces most of us can’t afford and rich, skinny models. Some of those beautiful mannequins and marquee names are as much about substance as style.

As New York Fashion Week entered its fifth day on Monday, supermodel Liya Kebede explained to theGrio how she used her fame gained walking runways to raising awareness about maternal health. At an intimate gathering in the rooftop bar at Manhattan’s SoHo House, hosted by La Phête, a new online destination focused on spotlighting fashion’s philanthropic stars, Kebede shared her journey.

Chicago Woman Helps Minority Girls Access Careers in Science, Math, And Technology

By goodblacknews on February 4, 2013

Jackie Lomax girls 4 science

Jackie Lomax, Founder of Girls 4 Science

When Jackie Lomax learned that her daughter wanted to be a dentist, she was thrilled. But soon she found the resources weren’t available to help her daughter achieve her dreams. That’s why Lomax started Girls 4 Science in 2009. The non-profit organization helps minority girls from the ages of 10 to 18 develop an interest in science, math, and education. It is the only all-girls science program in Chicago.
“There is a big gap in underserved communities,” Lomax told ABC. “When we talk about resources, we talk about opportunity as well as the potential to see future role models.”  There is a persistent gender gap when it comes to careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Women hold only 24 percent of the jobs in those fields even though they hold 50 percent of the jobs in the country, according to the Commerce Department. Women also hold a disproportionately low amount of degrees in science, technology, engineering and math, especially engineering.

Timberland Helps Plant 2.2 million Trees in Haiti

By goodblacknews on February 1, 2013

In the three years since a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook up Haiti, the recovery process is still on going and today Timberland is at the forefront.
In the three years since a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook up Haiti, the recovery process is still ongoing and today the Timberland clothing company is at the forefront.
In partnership with a local non-governmental organization, the Smallholder Farmers Alliance, Timberland supports an agroforestry program to train Haitian farmers to improve crop yields and has planted 2.2 million trees along the way. According to Forbes.com, An additional 1 million trees will be planted this year as well as in 2014 and 2015.
The project will help improve the environmental, economic and social conditions in the Gonaives region. Timberland and Smallholder Farmers Alliance are helping local farmers learn how to improve crop yields, develop eight community tree nurseries and support agricultural training centers in the region.
article via thegrio.com
 

Patrice Motsepe: South African Billionaire Donates Half His Fortune To Charity

By goodblacknews on February 1, 2013

Patrice Motsepe

South African billionaire, Patrice Motsepe (PHOTO CREDIT: Forbes.com)

Joining Bill Gates’ and Warren Buffett’s Giving Pledge, South African billionaire, Patrice Motsepe, announced that he will be donating half of his company’s assets to combat South Africa’s poverty, advancing women, and reforming education, health and unemployment, reports Forbes.com.

“[My wife] Precious and I will contribute at least half of the funds generated by our family assets to the Motsepe Foundation to be used during our lifetime and beyond to improve the lifestyles and living conditions of the poor, disabled, unemployed, women, youth, workers and marginalised South Africans, Africans and people around the world.”

With a Forbe’s estimated net worth of $2.65 billion, Motsepe is South Africa’s richest Black man. His announcement Wednesday was attended by King Goodwill Zwelithini of the Zulu nation, South Africa’s Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and Rabbi Warren Goldstein, among others.

Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway Endows Jackson State University To Aid Foster Care Youth with Tuition

By goodblacknews on January 19, 2013

Vanessa Bell CallowayJackson State University in Mississippi has announced that foster care youth from outside the state of Mississippi can now enroll at the university and pay substantially lower in-state tuition. Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway has established an endowed fund at Jackson State to help these students pay for college.
Many students from the foster care system have great difficulty paying for college because once they reach the age of 18, they lose government benefits from the foster care program. Jackson State President Carolyn Meyers stated, “We want to remove as many barriers as possible so that students from all walks of life get the opportunity to succeed.”
In-state tuition for certain population groups outside of Mississippi was made possible by a new state law enacted last year. In addition to the new program for foster youth, Jackson State offers in-state tuition packages to high achieving students from urban schools outside of Mississippi, STEM majors, children of military families, and children of alumni donors.
article by jbhe.com