In Austin, ConnectATX Makes COVID-19 Resources Easy to Find

First Book Marketplace, which makes quality, new books affordable for children in low-income families, is providing not only improved access to engaging educational materials, but a sense of dignity and self worth that a hodgepodge of used, donated books cannot. Additionally, the books are often used by nonprofits to further create opportunities for family bonding and to stimulate children's development.

In the Middle East, refugee camps are expensive to run-- particularly because shipping food aid is expensive, and the refugees feel victimized in an environment where they have no agency or purchasing power. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has moved refugees in Jordan out of camps and has given cash instead of in-kind aid, and new possibilities emerge with mobile money by the aid of new technology. The results have shown that refugees feel more empowered and the costs associated with their aid are reduced.

Solving the homeless crisis in San Francisco requires many different initiatives, some of which can be costly. North Beach Citizens is a small non-profit, founded by Francis Ford Coppola, has managed to offer temporary housing and peer support for the homeless. Since 2005, the organization has found permanent housing for over 100 clients and has operated with mostly private donations.

In low-income districts, the school nurse is often a family’s first health care provider, and the role at places like Wildwood High School and Glenwood Avenue School has expanded to provide everything from warm coats and food donations for children and their families living in hunger.

One in five seniors reports cutting back on basics like food or heat to afford prescription drugs - for many, cutting back on medicine led to faster health declines, increased hospitalizations and premature death. Sirum, a new nonprofit, was designed to make it easy for institutions to donate medicines with the assurance that they would be safely transported and dispensed to people who needed them.

Global social and economic problems are difficult to change. However, fan-activism fuels the interests of fans of popular young adult fiction. Books such as Harry Potter and the Hunger Games have inspired activist groups that raise awareness of global hunger, reading, and relief supplies to impoverished nations, among others. Being a fan has served as a bridge to become politically active and solve the world’s problems.

Largely unbeknownst to the public eye, Cleveland has been battling human trafficking in various forms for many years. Recently, the city has become a leader in trying to eradicate this longstanding problem. Thanks to a small group of activists and nonprofits, using billboards and gift bags as well as other creative methods, these groups are raising awareness, conducting strip club outreach, and creating a victim support network to help make human trafficking an issue of the past.

Many argue that the Burning Man festival has become an exclusive and wasteful indulgence for the wealthy - an opinion that was exacerbated this year when thousands of perfectly good bicycles were left among the debris in the desert. But a few enterprising individuals and organizations saw an opportunity to aid the victims of hurricanes Irma and Maria by rescuing, fixing, and transporting the abandoned bikes to communities where many people had lost all other forms of transportation, stifling their recovery efforts. Now hope is being restored for some, two wheels at a time.

The USA wants to reduce its infant mortality rate by educating parents about how to keep their child safe while they sleep. Baby Box Co has put together boxes for new parents with tutorials, baby supplies and a mattress, to help prevent infant death.

In response to a decline in city services, local Detroiters have begun providing for neighbors out of a sense of goodwill. Detroiters Helping Each Other distributes donated items, ranging from school supplies to beds and winter clothing. The Detroit Mowers Gang is another local group that cleans up the city by caring for vacant lawns. There are other similar organizations that rely on community buy-in and a sense of care to succeed, and recipients of donations pay it forward by volunteering on other community projects.