This truck is making sure the homeless have clean clothes

Harsville, South Carolina is trying to better its educational program. But first it must change the standard of living in the town to provide greater examples of success for the children to follow.

For-profit companies are making good private schools available even to Africa’s poor. They can do it – and can do it on an enormous scale – by hiring neighborhood residents to teach, and scripting out every word of every lesson on an e-reader.

Attending college is not always a given option for gifted teenagers from less-than-wealthy backgrounds. National organization QuestBridge creates a way for low-income and minority high-achieving students to go to their dream colleges free of cost.

In combatting poverty, a giant informal economic system has quietly emerged in Africa. Women participate in micro-finance organizations that loan money in order to allow them to create businesses and become self-managing.

The minimum wage issue has been debated endlessly, with arguments both for and against its effectiveness. An increase, tested in some states and enacted in others, immeasurably betters the quality of life for low-income families.

Refugee camps save lives in emergencies – but often refugees languish there for decades. Two columns on programs that allow refugees to live normally in cities, with an ATM card taking the place of a camp.

Washing hands in between contact with patients is one of the most important things a healthcare worker can do to prevent the spread of disease and reduce the rise of superbugs like MRSA. A new technology is increasing rates of hand washing by displaying, via a sensor in an employee's badge, whether the healthcare provider has washed their hands recently.

Ecological toilets that use natural composting to break down waste are simple to construct, waterless and are easy to fix. But as philanthropists are finding, getting these to those that need it most is harder than anticipated.

Access to electricity in India takes a huge economic, educational, and health-related toll. A small company called Husk Power Systems has created an innovative system that is turning rice husks into electricity and illuminating India’s poorest state.

Clean water and healthy ecosystems are becoming increasingly difficult to come by. With floating islands and other inventions, eco-entrepreneur Bruce Kania thinks that biomimicry - such as reconstructing wetlands and growing biofilms - can tackle the toughest of water problems.