Action in Africa: Student-Founded Non-Profit Empowers Ugandans

Based in Aspen, Colorado and Bbira, Uganda, Action in Africa Incorporated is a small non-profit organization dedicated to empowering Uganda by educating its youth and inspiring its communities. Action in Africa believes everyone has the right to education, no matter where they live. Through scholarship programs, the organization has put hundreds of children back into the school system, giving them the opportunity to get a well-deserved education. Additionally, Action in Africa collaborates and develops meaningful relationships with locals to bring about lasting change in communities. Action in Africa encourages and supports sustainable programs that are initiated by Ugandans and not dependent on its contribution. The non-profit believes that improving the whole community leads to positive long-term outcomes.

Action in Africa began as a small high school club in 2005. After watching a documentary on child soldiers, a group of Aspen High School students, assisted by their geography teacher, formed a school club to help fight this practice. Four years later, Action in Africa became an NGO with a mission to provide the children of Bbira with proper health care and education and thus nurture the country's next teachers, doctors, and politicians.

After graduating from Aspen High School, the founders of Action in Africa took their cause with them to the college campuses of Chapman, Dartmouth, and Stanford. Over the years, the non-profit has organized various events to raise money and awareness on behalf of Bbira. Through concerts, movie screenings, auctions, and a vow of silence, Action in Africa has raised more than $200,000 and gotten the entire town of Aspen involved. So far, Action in Africa has built or funded a public library (the sixth in Uganda), a girls' dormitory, widows' homes, improvements to St. Johnson's Primary School, and more than 250 school sponsorships. Every year, the organization runs a service trip to Bbira to ensure that the money is being spent efficiently.

Trees, Water & People: Helping Communities Preserve Their Natural Resources

Headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, Trees, Water & People (TWP) is a non-profit organization that helps communities protect and manage their natural resources. Founded in 1998 by Stuart Conway and Richard Fox, TWP is composed of a group of conservationists dedicated to equipping people with the skills and knowledge they need to conserve the natural resources on which their long-term well-being depends. TWP believes that natural resources are best protected when locals are actively involved and that preserving local ecosystems results in the ongoing social, economic, and environmental health of communities everywhere.

Trees, Water & People works with local NGOs and community leaders, as well as designs and implements community-led projects. The non-profit's community-based development model stems from the philosophy that the best way to help those in need is by inspiring them to play an active role in caring for their natural resources.

Because TWP engages with local residents and respects their culture, its projects have been well-received in several Latin American communities and on Native American Reservations. TWP has won the Energy Globe Award and the Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy, among other accolades.

WonderRoot Harnesses the Power of Art to Create Change

Founded in 2004 by a group of friends and artists/activists, WonderRoot is an Atlanta, Georgia-based non-profit arts and service organization that seeks to unite artists and community to bring about positive social change. Beginning its work in schools, community centers, and public spaces, the charity opened the WonderRoot Community Arts Center in early 2008. Named the “Best Place to Create Art and a Better World” by Atlanta Magazine, the center hosts arts education programs and artistic performances, serving as a community gathering space and a launching pad for artists.

Over the next few years, WonderRoot launched various signature programs such as 75 Blue Doors, Art on the BeltLine, and the Walthall Artist Fellowship. Now regarded as one of Atlanta's leading cultural organizations, WonderRoot continues to empower artists while providing arts-based solutions to issues of environmental justice, social justice, and health and youth development. WonderRoot believes that artists of all mediums have the potential to change the world.

Wherever the Need Puts Sanitation First

Around the world, 2.6 billion people still don't have access to a toilet. Without toilets, water is polluted with sewage, spreading illness and disease. In fact, poor sanitation kills more people than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and measles combined – every 17 seconds, a child dies from a sanitation-related illness. Those who are most affected by this issue are some of the world's poorest. And when they are sick, they are unable to work or go to school, thus remaining trapped in poverty.

Wherever the Need is working to alleviate poverty by focusing on sanitation. The charity was founded in 1997 by David Crosweller and Andrew Barrs to provide humanitarian aid to those in need. Over the next eight years, Wherever the Need learned that the underlying cause of poverty was poor health due to lack of sanitation. In 2005, the organization was introduced to a long-term solution to the problem: ecological sanitation, or ecosan for short. Since then, Wherever the Need has focused on providing ecosan, clean water, and livelihood programs that allow people to find their own way out of poverty and improve their lives.

Ecosan toilets are toilets that make compost, turning waste into something useful. Capturing waste also prevents raw sewage from being dumped into water sources and the local environment, limiting contamination and the spread of disease. Ecosan toilets can be used for decades and do not require any sewer infrastructure, making them ideal for both remote and overpopulated areas.

Now one of the biggest providers of ecosan in the developing world, Wherever the Need has impacted the lives of more than 50,000 people in India, Kenya, and Sierra Leone to date. In India alone, more than 30,000 people use the organization's ecosan toilets daily. With sanitation in place, Wherever the Need carries out water projects to make clean drinking water locally accessible to everyone, as well as works closely with communities to ensure a sustainable future for them.

The Center For Counseling and Health Resources - Hope in Times of Need

The alternative name of The Center For Counseling and Health Resources says it all: this Seattle-area treatment and therapy facility for mental, physical, and emotional conditions is also known as A Place of Hope. The Center was founded in 1984 by Dr. Gregory Jantz, a licensed mental health counselor dedicated to bettering the lives of individuals in need by helping them rediscover hope and restore balance to the mind, body, and spirit. Today, nearly 30 years later, The Center continues to pursue its simple mission to provide inspired health care, and has become a valuable refuge and resource for struggling individuals from across the country and around the world.

While its mission may be simple, The Center’s offerings and operations are highly detailed. In order to have as broad a reach and to help as many people as possible, The Center runs a wide range of programs for women, men, and adolescents, each targeting a specific issue, disorder, or condition. While general program areas include addiction, anxiety, eating disorders, abuse, and spiritual renewal, all patients receive customized treatments to suit their particular challenges or needs. These personalized plans focus on all aspects of an individual’s health and well-being, including physical health, emotional well-being, spiritual peace, and intellectual growth, and provide a highly integrated treatment experience. The Center’s comprehensive care team includes licensed counselors, psychologists, dieticians, medical personnel, chemical dependency professionals, and fitness trainers, all committed to The Center’s overall goal of hope and healing for each individual.

The significant impact that The Center For Counseling and Health Resources has made on the field of care and healing is evident in the many positive testimonials from former patients, most of whom speak of their time at the facility as transformative, life-affirming, and full of self-discovery. The Center’s treatment philosophy and activities are also strongly endorsed by notable medical and mental health experts such as Dr. Abram Hoffer, one of the world’s leading psychiatrists, and certified master psychopharmacologist Dr. Timothy R. Jennings.

ORAM: Advocating on Behalf of LGBTI Refugees and Asylees

Founded in 2008, the Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration (ORAM) is the only international organization dedicated to advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) refugees fleeing persecution due to gender identity or sexual orientation. An official partner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), ORAM helps those who have been shunned by their families, ostracized by their communities, and criminalized by their governments. ORAM draws upon its deep roots and extensive ties within the refugee and LGBTI spheres to bring about institutional changes that help create a safer path and more receptive environment for refugees. The organization researches and documents abuses faced by LGBTI refugees, advocates and educates on their behalf, and collaborates and lobbies with governments and other NGOs.

ORAM's accomplishments to date include the suspension of the physically invasive practice of phallometry, faster consideration of LGBTIs applying for refugee status, and the first community guide helping LGBTI refugees and asylees integrate into new communities.

Food & Friends: Supporting People With Life-Challenging Illnesses for 25 Years

Founded in 1988, Food & Friends is the only organization in the Washington, DC area providing meals, groceries, and nutrition counseling to people living with life-challenging illnesses. Launched out of the basement of the Westminster Presbyterian Church, Food & Friends began with 20 volunteers delivering 15 meals per day to 60 clients. Today, the organization operates from a state-of-the art kitchen and pantry facility, employing a staff of professional chefs and community dietitians who design nutritious meals for persons living with HIV/AIDs, cancer, ALS, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, and other illnesses. Food & Friends serves men, women, and children of all ages, as well as their dependents and caregivers. At any given time, the organization serves nearly 3,000 individuals, most of whom consider Food & Friends as their only support.

Food & Friends offers a broad range of nutrition services, including home-delivered meals, home-delivered groceries, and nutrition counseling and education. Six days a week, even on holidays, Food & Friends delivers healthy and delicious meals directly to its clients' homes. Each delivery includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and, if needed, liquid nutritional supplements. For individuals who live outside the meal delivery area, the organization provides groceries to those who are able to prepare their own meals or have a caregiver to do so. Clients review food safety and nutrition with a dietitian and receive a recipe booklet that contains cooking tips and recipes based on the food included in their grocery deliveries. Food & Friends' community dietitians also offer individualized nutrition counseling, cooking classes, workshops, and more.

All services provided by Food & Friends are free of charge. Since its inception, the organization has delivered almost 16 million meals to more than 22,500 clients living throughout the District of Columbia, seven counties of Maryland, and seven counties and six independent cities of Virginia.

Larkin Street Keeps Homeless Youth Off the Streets

Larkin Street Youth Services helps San Francisco youth between the ages of 12 and 24 rebuild their lives. The non-profit was founded in 1984 by a group of local business owners, church members, and neighbors who were concerned about the increasing number of young people engaging in risky behaviors on the city's streets. Today, Larkin Street has 25 comprehensive programs in more than 15 sites across San Francisco, providing youth with a safe haven; restoring their sense of self-respect, self-confidence, hope, and trust; and teaching them school, life, and job skills. Serving thousands of individuals each year, Larkin Street has become an internationally recognized model for innovative and effective care for homeless and runaway youth.

A pioneer in its field, Larkin Street Youth Services is the only agency in San Francisco and one of a few nationwide to offer an extensive breadth of services with outstanding results. Three out of four youth who complete Larkin Street's programs stay off the streets for good.

La Casa de las Madres: A Refuge for Domestic Violence Victims in San Francisco

Based in San Francisco, La Casa de las Madres is California's first and the nation's second shelter dedicated to victims of domestic violence. Founded in 1976 by a group of Bay Area women, the once-quiet shelter is now the city's leading voice for women, teens, and children exposed to domestic violence. La Casa de las Madres responds to calls for help from victims of all ages 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Working to create a community where violence against women and children is not tolerated, La Casa provides survivors with the tools to transform their lives. In addition, the non-profit seeks to prevent future violence by educating the public and changing the community's perceptions about domestic violence.

La Casa de las Madres, which means The Home of the Mothers, was named so to honor the memory of one of the founders' mothers, who was brutally murdered by her partner in front of her teenage daughter. The founders of La Casa also wanted to convey the safety, nurturing, and unconditional acceptance within the shelter's doors, similar to the loving and comforting arms of a mother we all seek during a crisis.

Today, 15,000 individuals benefit from La Casa's expert intervention and prevention services each year. La Casa addresses both the immediate and long-term needs of individuals and families, responding to the unique needs of victims and survivors at every step of their journey towards healing. The free and confidential services offered by La Casa de las Madres include counseling; support groups; economic empowerment; crisis response and intervention; assistance with housing stability; safety planning and risk assessment; restraining order assistance; and information, advocacy, and referrals for medical, housing, legal, therapeutic, and child care issues. Moreover, the non-profit reaches over 50,000 community members annually through its education and outreach activities.