Ibis Reproductive Health Promotes Women’s Reproductive Rights Worldwide

Ibis Reproductive Health, a global non-profit organization, has placed itself at the forefront of the fight for women’s reproductive rights. With its mission of improving reproductive autonomy, choices, and health for women regardless of their social status, race and religion, the organization focuses on social and clinical research on several issues including abortion, contraceptives, and HIV. These areas of research have been identified due to the inadequate attention given by researchers, which resulted in evidence gaps.

The organization’s agenda including its programs is driven by the priorities of women and, thus, its focus on increasing effective and efficient access to healthcare services. By establishing strategic partnerships with organizations and stakeholders, the results of its research are used toward the improvement of policies and the delivery of women-focused services across several countries.

Ibis Reproductive Health focuses in social and clinical research on these areas:

• Abortion

Ibis’ top priority is increasing access to safe abortion. Its work prioritizes documenting the impact of abortion bans and restrictions; researching on second-trimester abortion; evaluating implementation models for increased abortion access; and building alliances with maternal health advocates and networks toward placing safe abortion on the government’s maternal health agenda.

• Contraception

Ibis’ top priority for contraception includes coordination of the efforts in the public and private sector for greater access and use of a wide range of contraceptive methods especially in family planning programs. It is also working toward identifying and removing barriers to contraception in several countries.

• Linking Reproductive Health and HIV

Ibis works toward broadening the integration of women-centered healthcare services by linking the wide range of reproductive and sexual health services with HIV services. It focuses on increasing effective access to reversible contraception for women diagnosed as HIV-positive. Its previous focus on HIV/STI prevention has been integrated into this research area, too.

Ibis Reproductive Health works in several countries including the United States and South Africa as well as in countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Brazos Valley Food Bank Works Toward Alleviating Hunger

The Brazos Valley Food Bank is a non-profit organization that maintains a central distribution site for food items collected by volunteers, donors and hunger relief agencies. The food items collected are used in feeding needy individuals and families across the Brazos, Grimes, Madison, Robertson, Burleson, and Washington Counties. The food items are mostly canned goods with over 30% in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables, which are crucial in combating the widespread prevalence of chronic degenerative diseases like childhood obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.

Aside from its role as supplier of donated food to its partner agencies, the Brazos Valley Food Bank also oversees several related programs including Children’s BackPack, Mobile Food and School-Based Food Pantries, Senior Bags, and Social Service Outreach and Family Box programs.

According to its website, the food bank aims to reduce food waste through effective and efficient food reclamation programs; distribute food to individuals in need through an effective network of accredited partners; and increase community and individual awareness and action regarding hunger and its potential solution.

All Faiths Food Bank Fights Hunger Through the Community

All Faiths Food Bank is a non-profit organization that fights hunger in the communities that it serves by harnessing the resources of these communities, too. Basically, it operates in a three-step process with proven cost-efficient, results-effective outcomes:

• The food donations are secured from a wide range of organizations including government agencies, food and grocery companies, and local growers as well as from compassionate individuals and from food drives.

• The food items are inspected for safety purposes, which are then safely stored before distribution to the needy communities. To date, the organization has distributed more than 7.1 million pounds of food items from its warehouse every year.

• The food items reach those who are in need. The food bank distributes the food items to pantries, soup kitchens, senior centers, homeless and emergency shelters, youth organizations, veterans’ programs, and schools.

As one of the leaders in ending hunger in its community, All Faiths Food Bank has set an ambitious goal for itself – To establish an effective, efficient and visible regional food distribution system, which meets the high standards set by the US Department of Agriculture, Feeding America, and AIB.

All Faiths Food Bank’s distribution center will pick up the donated food, sort it according to categories, and fill the orders of its partner agencies; the food items are delivered to the 95-plus organizations that distribute the food to their beneficiaries. The food bank also hosts mobile pantries across the DeSoto and Sarasota Counties, which directly give the food to people in need.

Donors are encouraged to conduct their own food and fund drives into their special occasions, such as game day parties, weddings, birthdays, corporate events, and holiday gatherings. For example, local schools and corporate organizations have established creative “Can-Structio” drives, peabut butter and jelly drives, and friendly competitions. Donations can also be dropped off at the Sarasota County Goodwill branches while people in need can avail of free food at the food assistance sites.

Greater Newark Conservancy Promotes Environmental Stewardship

The Greater Newark Conservancy (GNC), a non-profit organization with headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, has an ambitious goal of promoting environmental stewardship among stakeholders. In the process, it aims to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life in the urban communities of New Jersey. In line with its goal, it implements several programs and projects including:

• Educational programs on youth education as well as nutritional health and healthy cooking. Examples include the Demonstration Kitchen program where participants learn cooking with dishes and desserts with high nutritional values and the Newark Youth Leadership Program where students learn sustainable practices in horticulture.
• Urban farming programs where urban farms are created so that participants can grow their own food in private plots. The GNC-administered urban farms have generated over 5,000 pounds of fresh produce, which are sold in the local farmers’ markets.
• Job training wherein GNC partners with the City of Newark in the latter’s prisoner re-entry programs. In it, ex-offenders are provided with job training in its Clean and Green program.

The GNC is also known for its Judith L. Shipley Urban Environmental Center and Prudential Outdoor Learning Center.

Friends of the High Line Are the Advocates of the High Line

In 1999, Robert Hammond and Joshua David established Friends of the High Line as a non-profit organization. Together, they advocated for the preservation of the abandoned West Side Line spur, which formed part of the New York Central Railroad, into a linear park in Manhattan. The High Line, as it was also called, was reused as a public open space characterized by an elevated greenway.

The path toward the creation of the High Line Park was marked by passionate support from several influential companies and people. The owner of the High Line, CSX Transportation, gave Joel Sternfeld permission to take photographs of the area for a year; the photos were then used as evidence of the need for perseveration at public meetings. Diane von Fürstenberg and her husband, Barry Diller, organized several fundraising events for the preservation campaign as well.

With the increased public awareness, the New York City government pledged $50 million in 2004 for the creation of the proposed park. Among the important supporters of the High Line Park were Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City as well as Gifford Miller and Christine Quinn, both of whom were City Council Speakers. High Line funders also raised over $150 million in the early 2000s for this purpose.

The construction of the elevated urban park began in 2006. The High Line Park was opened to the general public in several phases – the first phase in 2009, the second phase in 2011, and the third and final phase in late 2014. The park’s opening has also increased real estate development along the line while also encouraging more visitors to come; as o September 2014, for example, roughly 5 million visitors come to the park annually.

Today, the High Line Park is a 1.45-mile linear park in Manhattan, New York City that runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to 34th Street. It is known for its beautiful aerial greenway design and rails-to-trails park look.

Mesa United Way Works Toward Improved Core Services for the Vulnerable

Mesa United Way, a non-profit organization, is dedicated to its mission of increasing the ability of people to care for one another (i.e., uniting the community); ensuring the effective delivery of core services for children, the elderly, the disabled and the needy (improving lives) in the community; and inspiring donors to help the less fortunate. Through its years of trustworthy operations in the communities that it serves, the organization works in partnership with schools, businesses and faith organizations as well as government and non-government agencies.

Their common goal: To create the fabric and foundation of a liveable and healthy community. With this mind, contributions made to Mesa United Way are carefully invested in programs and projects that have been proven to work. The organization focuses its fundraising programs on its identified five core areas of needs, namely, food, shelter and safety, special needs and disabilities, growing strong children, safe and stable neighborhoods, and caring for the elderly.

Guide Dogs of the Desert: Helping the Blind Enjoy Better Lives

Founded in 1972, Guide Dogs of the Desert is a non-profit organization established with the goal of providing quality guide dogs for blind and multi-handicapped blind people. It was incorporated and licensed under the laws of the State of California and of the Department of Consumer Affairs with the assistance of the Cathedral City Lions Club.

Today, the organization provides its beneficiaries with trained guide dogs with the purpose of enhancing their quality of life. Beneficiaries usually include the blind and multi-handicapped blind as well as people with special needs with the guide dogs trained to assist them in enjoying independence, safe mobility, and companionship.

Guide Dogs of the Desert has remained true to its original mission of ensuring that every legally blind should be provided with the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of a guide dog. Through the years, furthermore, the organization has included people with multiple disabilities, prosthetics, balance issues, post-traumatic stress disorder, and a certain level of deafness into its programs. Many of the organization’s clients also have chronic degenerative diseases, such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and cataracts as well as people who are blind from birth or due to accidents.

Due to its commitment to its clients with special needs, its classes are small so that personalized focus can be made on the unique needs of each client. Clients also do not pay for the services provided by Guide Dogs of the Desert but they have to meet stringent requirements.

The requirements for getting a guide dog include: legally blind; at least 18 years old; able to walk 30-60 minute routes at least 2 times a day; have previous formal orientation and mobility instruction; with leadership capabilities for leading an effective guide dog team; and emotionally stable. Applications along with the supporting documents, such as references, and reports from primary care physician and ophthalmologist/optometrist as well as an application video can be submitted online.

Life Without Limbs: Nick Vujicic’s Inspirational Vehicle

Life Without Limbs is a non-profit organization founded by Nicholas James Vujicic, an Australian Christian motivational speaker and evangelist born with a rare congenital defect known as Phocomelia. He has no limbs (i.e., arms and limbs), which caused to struggle with his disability on physical, mental and social levels during his childhood and adolescent years. But he eventually accepted his disability to become one of the world’s most prominent motivational authors and speakers.

Vujicic established Life Without Limbs when he was just 17 years old and has not looked back since then. He gives motivational speeches in several countries – 54 so far and counting - with his main focus on finding meaning in life, seeking hope even in the most adverse circumstances, and enjoying life even with a disability. His organization continues to share deep hope and genuine love among men and women despite their own disabilities, which can range from the physical to the mental.

Mind & Life Institute: Convergence of Buddhism and Science

Initiated by Adam Engle in 1983 as the Mind and Life Dialogues when he arranged a dialogue between the 14th Dalai Lama and a group of selected scientists, the Mind and Life Institute is a well-known non-profit organization based in the United States. Its main focus is on exploring the convergence between Buddhism and science wherein the two are considered as different methodologies but with common concerns, namely, improving of human lives and of the planet as well as understanding nature and reality.

Participants of the initial dialogues agreed that science uses the scientific method and technology to achieve these goals while Buddhism applies the human nervous system for similar purposes. In case of Buddhism, the nervous system has been refined through a wide range of rigorous physical, mental and emotional training that result in a deeper understanding of humanity, nature and reality.

Until the original Mind and Life Dialogue, interested individuals did not have a venue and mechanism for meeting and sharing their findings. With Engle’s initiative, scientists and Buddhists were provided with a venue for this purpose while Engle also became a pioneer in the new cross-cultural interdisciplinary engagement.

The original dialogue, which was held at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala, India in October 1987, was a week-long event where the Dalai Lama and six scientists participated. They spent 5 hours each day discussing the science behind the mind and sharing views about life.

With the first dialogue a success, Engle and the Dalai Lama agreed to conduct a second 2-day event in October 1989 in Newport Beach, California. This was followed by a third dialogue in 1990 in Dharamsala, India.

The group decided to form the Mind and Life Institute to organize and fund more dialogues as well as initiate research programs into the topics. Engle was the first Chairman and CEO, a post that he held for 22 years until he retired in 2012.

Today, the Mind and Life Institute has conducted several dialogues, published many of these dialogues, and released several DVDs, too, among other activities including conferences, symposia, and research studies.