Aurora Warms the Night (AWTN) is a non-profit organization focused on preserving the life and well-being of homeless men, women, and children in Aurora, Colorado. AWTN provides shelter and comprehensive services that meet homeless families' and individuals' most basic needs. These include paid vouchers for motel rooms, transportation to motels, food, blankets, warm clothing, hygiene products, heatstroke prevention, and referrals to partner agencies. In addition, all clients are matched to Aurora Mental Health Care's PATH program to help them transition out of homelessness.
AWTN's other community partners like Hunger Free Colorado, Aurora Community Outreach Team, Metro Care Providers Network, Denver Department of Veterans Affairs, Aurora Arts District, and more also help provide mental health and substance abuse counseling, job coaching, veteran services, and food stamp application assistance. All services offered by AWTN and its partners are free of charge.
Aurora Warms the Night is a GuideStar Exchange Gold Participant and has received the Great Nonprofits Top-Rated Award for two consecutive years.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Inheritance of Hope: Hope for Families With a Terminally Ill Parent
Based in Pisgah Forest, North Carolina, Inheritance of Hope is dedicated to inspiring hope in young families facing the loss of a parent. To this end, the charity provides quality books and literature; life-changing family retreats; and ongoing emotional, financial, and spiritual support for individuals and groups.
Inheritance of Hope believes that preparing for the death of a parent while they are still alive yields significant long-term benefits for children and families. A faith-based organization, Inheritance of Hope serves under Christian core beliefs while welcoming families of all backgrounds.
Inheritance of Hope was founded by Kristen and Deric Milligan, whose passion for helping families living with a terminally ill parent was born out of firsthand experience. After being diagnosed with liver cancer in 2003, Kristen looked for children's literature to help her kids cope. When she couldn't find anything suitable, she wrote her own book, A Train's Rust, a Toy Maker's Love. In the book, the mother of a train family starts to rust, prompting the toy maker to ask questions about what will happen next.
In 2007, Kristen and Deric launched Inheritance of Hope, which began selling Kristen's books. The following year, the non-profit hosted its first all expenses paid Legacy Retreat in Lake George, New York. Since then, Inheritance of Hope has given more families the opportunity to enjoy a worry-free, cost-free vacation. Legacy Retreats also provide a chance for families with a terminally ill parent to interact with other families facing similar challenges, creating a community of support that can be maintained long after the event is over.
Kristen died on October 26, 2012 after enduring her illness for almost a decade. She has written three books, two for children and one for adults. Deric, who holds an MBA with distinction from NYU's Stern School of Business, continues to serve as Inheritance of Hope's executive director.
Inheritance of Hope believes that preparing for the death of a parent while they are still alive yields significant long-term benefits for children and families. A faith-based organization, Inheritance of Hope serves under Christian core beliefs while welcoming families of all backgrounds.
Inheritance of Hope was founded by Kristen and Deric Milligan, whose passion for helping families living with a terminally ill parent was born out of firsthand experience. After being diagnosed with liver cancer in 2003, Kristen looked for children's literature to help her kids cope. When she couldn't find anything suitable, she wrote her own book, A Train's Rust, a Toy Maker's Love. In the book, the mother of a train family starts to rust, prompting the toy maker to ask questions about what will happen next.
In 2007, Kristen and Deric launched Inheritance of Hope, which began selling Kristen's books. The following year, the non-profit hosted its first all expenses paid Legacy Retreat in Lake George, New York. Since then, Inheritance of Hope has given more families the opportunity to enjoy a worry-free, cost-free vacation. Legacy Retreats also provide a chance for families with a terminally ill parent to interact with other families facing similar challenges, creating a community of support that can be maintained long after the event is over.
Kristen died on October 26, 2012 after enduring her illness for almost a decade. She has written three books, two for children and one for adults. Deric, who holds an MBA with distinction from NYU's Stern School of Business, continues to serve as Inheritance of Hope's executive director.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Pharrell Williams' From One Hand To AnOTHER Gives Kids the Tools to Succeed
Musical artist and producer Pharrell Williams believes every child could be successful if they had the right tools. As he was growing up in the Seatack neighborhood of Virginia Beach, Williams faced difficult times with his family but they stayed strong and he was lucky enough to find his tool for the future, music. He attributes his success to that discovery and believes that if every community with underserved youth had a community center dedicated to augmenting the learning experience and providing exposure to different resources, arts, and technologies, children could find their own tool and create a successful future.
Thus in 2008, Williams founded From One Hand To AnOTHER (FOHTA), a non-profit organization to support the Pharrell Williams Resource Center (PWRC), whose learning programs are developed for underserved youth ages 7 to 20 in at-risk communities across the US. FOHTA aims to change the world one kid at a time by providing the tools and resources to help them reach their unique potential.
The first in a series of Pharrell Williams Learning Facilities, PWRC in Virginia Beach, Virginia currently offers educational STEAMM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics, and motivation) tools to children in the city's schools, churches, and parks and recreation facilities. Looking to modernize the community center concept, PWRC provides project-based learning activities, life coaching, tutoring, and motivation lessons in a safe and technologically enhanced environment.
Today, a quarter of Americans who start high school do not graduate. Several countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom have a larger percent of college graduates than the US. A largely uneducated workforce will lead American corporations to look for employees overseas in the next 20 years. FOHTA is dedicated to reversing this trend by developing a prepared workforce and the nation's future leaders.
Thus in 2008, Williams founded From One Hand To AnOTHER (FOHTA), a non-profit organization to support the Pharrell Williams Resource Center (PWRC), whose learning programs are developed for underserved youth ages 7 to 20 in at-risk communities across the US. FOHTA aims to change the world one kid at a time by providing the tools and resources to help them reach their unique potential.
The first in a series of Pharrell Williams Learning Facilities, PWRC in Virginia Beach, Virginia currently offers educational STEAMM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics, and motivation) tools to children in the city's schools, churches, and parks and recreation facilities. Looking to modernize the community center concept, PWRC provides project-based learning activities, life coaching, tutoring, and motivation lessons in a safe and technologically enhanced environment.
Today, a quarter of Americans who start high school do not graduate. Several countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom have a larger percent of college graduates than the US. A largely uneducated workforce will lead American corporations to look for employees overseas in the next 20 years. FOHTA is dedicated to reversing this trend by developing a prepared workforce and the nation's future leaders.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Introduces Kids to the Magic of Reading
In 1996, singer-songwriter Dolly Parton founded Dolly Parton's Imagination Library to foster a love of reading among the children and families of her home county in East Tennessee. By sending a hand-selected, high-quality, age-appropriate book directly to their home each month, Parton wanted children to be excited about books and ensure that they would have books at home regardless of their family's income.
The program was such a huge success that in 2000, Parton offered it to any community that was willing to partner with her to support it locally. Today, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has mailed approximately 40 million books to children in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. More than 1,600 local communities are currently participating in the program, sending books to over 750,000 kids every month.
According to independent studies, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has helped improve early childhood literacy and literacy scores for the children enrolled in the program.
The program was such a huge success that in 2000, Parton offered it to any community that was willing to partner with her to support it locally. Today, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has mailed approximately 40 million books to children in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. More than 1,600 local communities are currently participating in the program, sending books to over 750,000 kids every month.
According to independent studies, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has helped improve early childhood literacy and literacy scores for the children enrolled in the program.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Create: Transforming Lives Through the Creative Arts
Create believes that everyone deserves the chance to fulfill their potential. The London-based charity uses the power of the creative arts to help the UK's most disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals develop creativity, social skills, learning, and self-esteem. Create mostly works with community partners that understand the locality and know where assistance is needed the most. The non-profit focuses on seven priority groups – young patients, young and adult carers, schoolchildren and teachers in underserved areas, disabled children and adults, young and adult offenders, marginalized children and adults, and vulnerable older people.
In addition to working extensively across London and the South, Create has delivered projects as far as Derby, Manchester, and Glasgow. Each project is designed to give participants a sense of self-worth and some programs bring different groups together to break down barriers and foster shared understanding. Create's programs are delivered by exceptional artists who are professionals in their field, passionate about their art form, and genuinely care about people.
In addition to working extensively across London and the South, Create has delivered projects as far as Derby, Manchester, and Glasgow. Each project is designed to give participants a sense of self-worth and some programs bring different groups together to break down barriers and foster shared understanding. Create's programs are delivered by exceptional artists who are professionals in their field, passionate about their art form, and genuinely care about people.
Rerip: Reduce, Reuse, Reride Surfboards
Based in Solana Beach, California, Rerip is a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping surfboards out of landfills. Founded in 2006 by Meghan Dambacher and Lisa Randall Carpenter, Rerip sets up locations for people to drop off their unwanted surfboards, fins, and wetsuits. The non-profit also advocates for a cleaner surf industry by hosting local events and awareness campaigns for surf and environmental education.
While surfing is often associated with a healthy lifestyle, clean oceans, and beaches, the industry has a “dirty little secret” that was exposed only recently. The number of surfers has grown from 5,000 to 23 million over the past 50 years. As the number of surfers continues to increase, so does the number of surfboards that they own. Many people use dozens of boards each year. These boards, however, are highly toxic due to foam cores and fiberglass resins.
Rerip decided to become a part of the solution to this problem. After experimenting with various business plans, models, and ideas, the team zeroed in on keeping boards out of landfills. With no viable recycling programs for the surfing industry, excess foam and unusable boards usually end up in landfills.
Rerip collects surfboards in any condition. Many boards given to the program are in great shape, and Rerip works with local ding repair craftsmen to ensure they are watertight. Several boards are donated to non-profit organizations or people in need. Some are resold for nominal prices and the funds are used to keep the program running.
Rerip also works with different local artists and organizations that use surfboards for art projects, signage, or displays, including Wade Koniakowsky, Cherrie LaPorte, Brenda Griffin, Solid Surf, and Bamboo DNA. Everything from whole boards to fins and broken bits have been salvaged and reused. Other collected boards are broken up and tested for research and development.
While surfing is often associated with a healthy lifestyle, clean oceans, and beaches, the industry has a “dirty little secret” that was exposed only recently. The number of surfers has grown from 5,000 to 23 million over the past 50 years. As the number of surfers continues to increase, so does the number of surfboards that they own. Many people use dozens of boards each year. These boards, however, are highly toxic due to foam cores and fiberglass resins.
Rerip decided to become a part of the solution to this problem. After experimenting with various business plans, models, and ideas, the team zeroed in on keeping boards out of landfills. With no viable recycling programs for the surfing industry, excess foam and unusable boards usually end up in landfills.
Rerip collects surfboards in any condition. Many boards given to the program are in great shape, and Rerip works with local ding repair craftsmen to ensure they are watertight. Several boards are donated to non-profit organizations or people in need. Some are resold for nominal prices and the funds are used to keep the program running.
Rerip also works with different local artists and organizations that use surfboards for art projects, signage, or displays, including Wade Koniakowsky, Cherrie LaPorte, Brenda Griffin, Solid Surf, and Bamboo DNA. Everything from whole boards to fins and broken bits have been salvaged and reused. Other collected boards are broken up and tested for research and development.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
More Than Wheels Uses the Car-Buying Process to Promote Financial Stability
Founded in 2001, More Than Wheels is an award-winning, non-profit car-purchasing program that helps struggling individuals and families break the cycle of poor financial decision-making by using the car-buying process to bring about long-term change, control, and financial stability. Headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire, More Than Wheels is dedicated to improving the lives of its clients by helping them get the transportation they need to take care of their families, at very low interest rates. The organization also provides educational opportunities that teach essential financial skills such as developing and managing household budgets, improving credit, and saving for the future.
More Than Wheels works with individuals and families in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, helping them acquire the vehicle they need regardless of their credit situation. Prior to the car-purchasing process, clients receive customized one-on-one credit coaching, develop a personalized step-by-step plan with manageable goals, and participate in an interactive financial education course.
The second-largest low-income car ownership program in the US, More Than Wheels has helped thousands of families finance over $25 million in loans to date.
More Than Wheels works with individuals and families in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, helping them acquire the vehicle they need regardless of their credit situation. Prior to the car-purchasing process, clients receive customized one-on-one credit coaching, develop a personalized step-by-step plan with manageable goals, and participate in an interactive financial education course.
The second-largest low-income car ownership program in the US, More Than Wheels has helped thousands of families finance over $25 million in loans to date.
Reading Partners Transforms Struggling Students Into Confident Readers
Serving over 130 schools in low-income communities across seven states and the District of Columbia, Reading Partners is a leading non-profit literacy organization dedicated to improving students' reading skills and closing the reading achievement gap in the United States. Reading Partners works with under-resourced Title I elementary schools to support students who are reading 6 months to 2.5 years below grade level. The non-profit recruits and trains community volunteers to tutor students one-on-one for 45 minutes twice a week following a research-based curriculum.
Based in Oakland, California, Reading Partners was launched in 1999 by Molly McCrory, Mary Wright Shaw, and Jean Bacigalupi as a one-on-one tutoring program for children with the poorest reading skills at Belle Haven Community School in Menlo Park. The organization was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) called YES Reading in 2001 and was later renamed Reading Partners in 2008.
Strong reading skills are crucial to a child's success in school and life. In the fourth grade, students transition from learning to read to reading to learn, using their reading skills to explore new subjects such as geography, science, and history. Kids reading below grade level are four times more likely to drop out of school before graduation, and high school dropouts are more likely to be arrested or become a teenage parent.
In 2013, just 34 percent of the country's fourth graders could read proficiently. The statistics are more alarming among students from low-income families – 82 percent of kids eligible for free or reduced lunches cannot read proficiently.
Reading Partners works in schools with high percentages of children from low-income backgrounds, transforming an empty classroom into a reading center managed by a full-time staff member, complete with a library and teaching tools. Reading Partners recruits and trains volunteers to provide weekly tutoring using its easy-to-use, structured curriculum comprising lesson plans that range from phonics instructions to higher order comprehension strategies. To date, Reading Partners has helped tens of thousands of students become proud, confident readers.
Based in Oakland, California, Reading Partners was launched in 1999 by Molly McCrory, Mary Wright Shaw, and Jean Bacigalupi as a one-on-one tutoring program for children with the poorest reading skills at Belle Haven Community School in Menlo Park. The organization was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) called YES Reading in 2001 and was later renamed Reading Partners in 2008.
Strong reading skills are crucial to a child's success in school and life. In the fourth grade, students transition from learning to read to reading to learn, using their reading skills to explore new subjects such as geography, science, and history. Kids reading below grade level are four times more likely to drop out of school before graduation, and high school dropouts are more likely to be arrested or become a teenage parent.
In 2013, just 34 percent of the country's fourth graders could read proficiently. The statistics are more alarming among students from low-income families – 82 percent of kids eligible for free or reduced lunches cannot read proficiently.
Reading Partners works in schools with high percentages of children from low-income backgrounds, transforming an empty classroom into a reading center managed by a full-time staff member, complete with a library and teaching tools. Reading Partners recruits and trains volunteers to provide weekly tutoring using its easy-to-use, structured curriculum comprising lesson plans that range from phonics instructions to higher order comprehension strategies. To date, Reading Partners has helped tens of thousands of students become proud, confident readers.
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