Classy Achievements

Fighting Terrorism Head-On: Healing the Emotional Wounds of Mass Violence in Post-Conflict Countries

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:54:49 +0000

One billion people, a sixth of humanity, have experienced torture, terrorism or mass violence. Many survivors develop traumatic depression so severe that they cannot work, care for themselves or tend to their families. With proper treatment, 90% of victims can be returned to productive lives.

After losing their 25-year-old son, Peter, to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Elizabeth and Dr. Stephen Alderman decided to honor Peter’s life by responding to terrorism with love: helping people recover from the emotional wounds of mass violence. In 2003, the Aldermans donated their Victims Compensation Fund moneys to establish the Peter C. Alderman Foundation (PCAF) to help survivors of terrorism and mass violence in post-conflict countries return to function.

The Aldermans learned of the millions of survivors suffering from untreated traumatic depression and PTSD. They learned that in post-conflict countries there are almost no mental health services: PCAF works to fill this treatment gap by training indigenous health care workers and establishing trauma clinics. PCAF partners with governments and trains and employs only indigenous health workers who deliver mental health care using individual and group therapy, psychotropic drugs, psycho-education and psycho-social support.

PCAF operates eight mental health clinics: in Cambodia, Uganda, Liberia and Kenya. Each clinic costs approximately $30,000 a year to run. The organization sponsors annual conferences in East Africa and New York City and has trained thousands of doctors and mental health workers from around the world. PCAF clinics and PCAF-trained personnel have treated more than 100,000 victims of terrorism and mass violence.

PCAF operates four clinics in Northern Uganda where, after Joseph Kony’s 20-year reign of terror, debilitating traumatic depression has emerged as the region’s single largest public health problem. Some 70% of Uganda’s 31 million people suffer from war-induced psychological trauma.

In 2011, PCAF Uganda treated 1,482 patients: 35% are orphans; 60% live in IDP camps; 56% have a family history of trauma; and 44% had lost a family member to violence. Thirty-three percent of men, 29% of women, 16% of boys and 13% of girls had been abducted by Kony. Women and children made up 64% of patients: 42% are victims of domestic violence and 31% have suffered sexual violence or rape. For these vulnerable groups, the most common psychiatric diagnosis was depression.

PCAF’s treatment brings results. A year-long study of PCAF’s therapy model at its Gulu trauma clinic included outcomes for 113 patients. The study, which used repeated psychiatric assessments, demonstrated that all patients had an excellent sustained decrease in depression and PTSD symptoms and a sustained increase in social functioning.

But PCAF’s impact is best described by KBO, a former child soldier from Gulu, who had returned to his community “with the loss of hope due to the traumatic experience I went through. The PCAF clinic restored back the hope and now I feel light in life. I wish the program of this clinic could be extended, I beg that it be scattered all over the world. Because this problem is not only in Uganda…it is all over the world.”

More About This Charity

Region

Northeast

Category

Health and Well Being

Name

Peter C. Alderman Foundation

Mission

The mission of the Peter C. Alderman Foundation is to heal the emotional wounds of victims of terrorism and mass violence by training indigenous health workers and establishing trauma treatment systems in post-conflict countries around the globe.

Impact

Treated Over 100,000 Victims of Terrorism and Mass Violence.
Operates Eight Mental Health Clinics in: Cambodia, Uganda, Liberia and Kenya
Clinic Patients Show a Sustained Decrease in Symptoms of Depression and Increase in Social Functioning.

Works In

Uganda, Liberia, Kenya and Cambodia

Learn More

http://www.petercaldermanfoundation.org/

Donate →

Homeboy Industries Provides Hope, Training, and a Future for Formerly Gang-Involved Men and Women

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:46:19 +0000

There are more than 80,000 active gang members in LA. Gang violence is a symptom of the complex interactions between deep poverty, lack of education, and little access to social services. Homeboy Industries seeks to remove the many barriers facing gang-involved youth as they work to change their lives.

Homeboy Industries has been serving high-risk, recently incarcerated, and formerly gang-involved youth looking to change their lives for nearly 25 years. Located in gang-neutral territory in Downtown Los Angeles, Homeboy Industries’ headquarters are home to social enterprises that provide job training as well as a multitude of free services for those in need.

Close to 12,000 people walk through our doors every year, seeking services and a path out of gang life. Homeboy strives to confront immediate needs for our clients, such as employment, while simultaneously addressing underlying issues including deep poverty, mental health disorders, substance abuse and lack of education.

Homeboy Industries’ model of job-training positions, combined with comprehensive wrap-around services, all in a community of acceptance and growth, is recognized as a success by leaders in research, government and law enforcement. Former First Lady Laura Bush, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, Former California First Lady Maria Shriver, and California Attorney General Kamala Harris are among those who have visited our headquarters and praised the work that we do with a population that many overlook.

Each month at Homeboy:

30 volunteer doctors perform more than 800 tattoo removal sessions

120 clients receive mental health therapy

Up to 20 students engage in GED tutoring

95 students under 19 work toward their high school diploma at LearningWorks! Charter High School

130 clients receive on-site guidance from our in-house legal team

400 community clients and trainees can take more than 40 classes every month, from Baby and Me to Anger Management, Computer Basics or Substance Abuse

Up to 50 students enrolled in Solar Panel Installation and Certificate Training

More than 30 clients placed in outside employment through our Employment Services Department

More than 250 trainees gain vocational skills in our job training program, with a case manager for each client, starting on day one

1,000 men and women walk through our doors, hopeful that we can help them to change their lives

Homeboy is the largest gang intervention and re-entry program in the world. Because of our successes, delegates from around the globe visit us every year to seek assistance in replicating our services.

Besides this far-reaching impact, we also measure our success by the individual stories of transformed lives that we see, every day, as we work with those who have decided to become leaders.

Trainee Louie asked to speak to the hundreds gathered in our lobby. Louie has been working in the tattoo removal clinic and recently secured a great position outside Homeboy. On his last day, he came before us to say “I will never be able to pay Homeboy back with money, but I will pay them back – with my success.” He pointed at every trainee and the folks seeking services that day and said, “You are all diamonds, covered in dust. Let Homeboy wipe off that dust so you can shine.”

More About This Charity

Region

West

Category

Human Services

Name

Homeboy Industries

Mission

Homeboy Industries provides hope, training, and support to formerly gang-involved and recently incarcerated men and women, allowing them to redirect their lives and become contributing members of our community.

Impact

This Achievement raised $9,825,000

This Achievement helped 12,000 people

This charity helped 16,000 people in the past year

More than 300 former gang members were hired in job-training and received critical support services

Works In

Los Angeles, CA

Learn More

www.homeboy-industries.org/

Learn More →

Nearly a Million Acres of Amazon Rainforest Protected in New Indigenous Reserve

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:02:21 +0000

Attempts to save rain forests have traditionally been top down and rigid. Governments and international organizations circle areas on a map that they wish to conserve, often without examining the reality on the ground. For conservation to last, it must be done locally, and benefit local populations.

In February, after years of efforts by Nature and Culture International, the Maijuna People and the government of Loreto, Peru, culminated in the declaration of an enormous new Amazon reserve called the Maijuna Regional Conservation Area.

This 970,000-acre protected area is larger than California’s Yosemite National Park, and consists of a vast rainforest wilderness that conserves extraordinary biological diversity and endangered species. The area is also of great social value – as it will protect an area traditionally used by the indigenous Maijuna people, who live in four adjacent villages and today number fewer than 200 adults and their children.

The proposal to create the reserve was prepared in cooperation with Nature and Culture International and the Maijuna People. The act declaring the area was ratified by the Loreto Regional Council and announced by Ivan Vasquez, Regional President of Loreto, at a ceremony in the remote native community of Sucusari.

This new declaration designates a vast primary rainforest for the conservation of both biological and cultural diversity and adds to two adjoining reserves, creating a combined protected area of more than 4 million acres.

The Maijuna People are now working with the government of Loreto and Nature and Culture to develop and implement the conservation management plan for the new reserve.

Nature and Culture and their collaborators, with support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Wilson Trust and the Blue Moon Fund, have worked to implement conservation and sustainable development efforts with the Maijuna communities since 2008. The Field Museum conducted the biodiversity assessment that supported establishment of the Regional Conservation Area.

“Congratulations to the Federation of Native Maijuna Communities (FECONAMAI) and its president, Romero Ríos Ushiñahua, and to president Ivan Vasquez and the Loreto Regional Government – for taking action to conserve this remarkable Amazon rainforest,” said Ivan Gayler, founder of Nature and Culture International, an organization known for the productivity of its on-the-ground conservation model.

Maijuna leaders, recognizing the growing threats to their culture and the forest that sustains them, are committed to preserving their language, cultural traditions and natural environment. This commitment motivated their request for assistance to Nature and Culture to help protect the rainforest that is their homeland.

Nature and Culture International is dedicated to the conservation of biological and cultural diversity. It has offices in the US, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru and provides financial resources and local expertise to advance the conservation of threatened ecosystems that have among the highest levels of species diversity on the planet.

More About This Charity

Region

West

Category

Environmental Protection

Name

Nature and Culture International

Mission

Nature and Culture International’s mission is the conservation of biological and cultural diversity. Our philosophy is to carry out this program by developing and strengthening local institutions and assisting communities to preserve their way of life and traditions.

Impact

This charity raised $3 million in the past year

This Achievement helped 5,000 people

This charity helped 750,000 people in the past year

This Achievement saved 1 million acres of Amazon rainforest, the home of an endangered tribe

Works In

Peru

Learn More

www.natureandculture.org/

Donate →

Who’s Involved

The Doe Fund’s Ready, Willing & Able Program Provides the Homeless with a Hand Up—Not a Hand Out.

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:58:46 +0000

Every night, well over 40,000 New Yorkers sleep on the streets, in the subways, and in shelters. The Doe Fund has developed an innovative solution to this escalating problem, pioneering a transitional work movement in New York City and beyond while ushering the homeless back into the workforce.

The inspiration for The Doe Fund’s greatest achievement – Ready, Willing & Able – began in the mid 1980s when Founder and President George McDonald fed the homeless of New York City’s Grand Central Terminal for 700 nights. They appreciated the sandwiches, but what they really needed was “a room and a job to pay for it.”

In response, George founded The Doe Fund in 1985, and soon a small team – including his wife Harriet Karr-McDonald – huddled around his kitchen table to help solve one of the City’s most dire issues. In 1990, The Doe Fund launched Ready, Willing & Able, thwarting the vicious cycles of homelessness, crime, and addiction. Today, the program serves 700 individuals each day in New York City and Philadelphia, and it has become a model for replication in cities nationwide.

Ready, Willing & Able’s premise is simple: work works. If you want to avoid being homeless tonight, you need shelter. But if you want to avoid it for good, you need work. Ready, Willing & Able is a 12-month program that provides formerly homeless and incarcerated individuals with transitional jobs and housing, nutritious meals, occupational training, education classes, and job readiness and placement assistance. Trainees graduate with full-time jobs, their own housing, sobriety, and renewed relationships with their families.

Social enterprise is one of Ready, Willing & Able’s most distinctive features, providing jobs for trainees and graduates, important services to communities, and diversified revenue streams for the organization’s operations. The most visible of these enterprises is the Community Improvement Project, which cleans more than 150 miles of city streets and parks every day in New York City and Philadelphia. Known as the “men in blue,” participants acquire soft skills that are sought after by employers in almost every industry.

Beyond skills like time management and peer-to-peer communication, the “men in blue” also build character. 2011 graduate Dallas Davis had this to say about his time in the Community Improvement Project: ‘I wasn’t just picking up trash from the street. I was picking up integrity. I was picking up values. And when I would look back at the block I had just cleaned, I would see what a great job I had done – and I picked up pride.’

Trainees also pick up industry skills through an assortment of social enterprises and occupational training tracks – from pest control and maintenance to food services and an innovative waste cooking oil-to-biodiesel recycling venture.

While The Doe Fund has helped thousands of individuals to build brighter futures for themselves, their families, and their communities, it recognizes that the graduates are the ones who do the real work. Matt Lauer sums up the core philosophy in this way: “At the center of all of The Doe Fund’s accomplishments is an essential optimism that everyone has the potential to become a contributing member of society.”

More About This Charity

Region

Northeast

Category

Hunger and Poverty Relief

Name

The Doe Fund

Mission

The Doe Fund’s mission is to develop and implement cost-effective, holistic programs that meet the needs of a diverse population working to break the cycles of homelessness, addiction, and criminal recidivism.

Impact

Guided thousands of formerly homeless and incarcerated individuals to full-time jobs, housing, and sobriety
Put $93 million in work stipends into the pockets of its trainees
Enrolled 353 trainees in occupational training tracks and 413 trainees in GED, pre-GED, or adult literacy classes last year
Raises $12 million in private donations and $9 million in earned revenue each year as a $45 million organization

Works In

New York, Philadelphia

Learn More

http://www.doe.org/

Donate →

50,000 Students Now Attend ‘Heart Safe’ Schools

admin — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:27:02 +0000

Most schools do not have Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s). I lost my youngest son Travis in 2005 simply because his school did not have the one tool the school nurse needed to save his life – an AED. Over 325,000 people die each year from Sudden Cardiac Arrest – about one every 2 minutes.

Robert Roy lost his youngest son Travis to Sudden Cardiac Arrest in June, 2005 at the age of 14. On May 20, 2005 Travis collapsed at his middle school in Murrieta, California. He had suffered a Sudden Cardiac Arrest caused by a previously undiagnosed heart condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). Travis was eventually airlifted to Children’s Hospital in San Diego where he spent four weeks in the Intensive Care Unit. An MRI was performed to ascertain the extent of damage to Travis’ brain. The MRI revealed massive brain cell death and damage. Travis had gone 23 minutes without circulation the day he collapsed. He was blind. He was completely paralyzed. He could not speak and he could not chew or swallow. Travis died a week later on June 25th. Robert and his wife Diana were with him and were holding him when he took his last breath.

Since Travis died, Robert has become an advocate for the placement of AED’s in schools and public facilities. He formed a non-profit organization in Travis’ name. The Travis R. Roy Sudden Cardiac Arrest Fund (The Travis Fund) was created in memory of Travis. Their motto reflects their mission “Raising awareness so others may survive”.

Since 2006, The Travis R. Roy Sudden Cardiac Arrest Fund has been responsible for the placement of 117 Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s) in Riverside and San Diego County schools. We have raised awareness about America’s number one killer – Sudden Cardiac Arrest (kills more than AIDS, prostate and colon cancer and automobile accidents COMBINED). We have taught hundreds of people CPR and have even had our first ‘save’. A teacher at a local school took a CPR class to learn CPR and how to use the new AED her school had. One day she was working out at a gym after school and the man next to her collapsed. Having been recently trained in CPR she new exactly what to do. She rolled him over, assessed him and began CPR. That man is alive today because of her quick reaction due to CPR training. A life saved in my son’s name.

More About This Charity

Region

West

Category

Health and Well Being

Name

Travis R. Roy Sudden Cardiac Arrest Fund

Mission

To raise public awareness about Sudden Cardiac Arrest – the Leading killer in America; to encourage at-risk people to have heart screenings; to protect kids from Sudden Cardiac Arrest and death by encouraging people to learn CPR and by the placement of Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s)in California schools and public facilities.

Impact

Placement of 117 Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s) in Schools
Taught Hundreds of People CPR
Directly Saved a Person’s Life Through CPR Training

Works In

Temecula

Learn More

http://www.thetravisfund.org/

Donate →

CureDuchenne Gives Hope to Boys Suffering From a Devastating Muscle Disease

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 22:21:21 +0000

CureDuchenne funds research to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a lethal muscle disease that impacts 1 in 3,500 boys. Boys are usually diagnosed by the age of 5, in a wheelchair by 12 and most don’t survive their mid-20s. Duchenne affects more than 300,000 boys worldwide.

Imagine having a beautiful baby boy. For four years, your child thrives and is the light of your life. One day, you notice he has difficulty standing up. His calves are swollen, and he can’t keep up with other children. You take him to his pediatrician, who says he’s probably just a slow starter and not to worry.

At five, you finally find a specialist that gives a proper diagnosis: Duchenne muscular dystrophy. You’re told his muscles will die and not regenerate. You have never heard of Duchenne. Then, you find out pharmaceutical companies do not invest in it because the number of potential users does not make it profitable enough.

This is Paul and Debra Miller’s story. They founded CureDuchenne in 2003 after their son was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The Millers applied their professional backgrounds to create a fiscally responsible and strategically focused business model, and assembled a seasoned staff and an expert Scientific Advisory Board, to lead the charge for a cure.

Today, CureDuchenne, a nonprofit that raises awareness and funds to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is a national leader in affecting change worldwide.

CureDuchenne is raising public awareness about Duchenne including:

Secured 2011 NFL Super Bowl Champion and Green Bay Packer Clay Matthews as spokesperson. Matthews was featured in PSAs, media interviews and national events

Cadillac donated their corporate Super Bowl tickets in 2011 and 2012 to support CureDuchenne in a charity auction

Secured media coverage on Discovery Channel’s American Choppers, Inside the Vault, Ellen DeGeneres Show, Washington Post, among others

The funds CureDuchenne raises support the most promising research projects aimed at treating and curing the disease with the help of its distinguished panel of Scientific Advisors from around the world. The accelerated push to move research from the lab into clinical trials could save the lives of those afflicted and give them hope for halting the progress of the disease.

Impact:

Seven research projects have made their way into human clinical trials with support from CureDuchenne

CureDuchenne’s research investments have leveraged more than $100 million from government agencies and pharmaceutical companies to fund research to find a cure for Duchenne

In 2011, reached more than 15 million people worldwide through awareness campaigns

Significant progress has been made with CureDuchenne funding projects. Prosena will move forward with its plans for three additional exon-skipping projects, GSK has presented positive data for its two-year extension trial and AVI Biopharma just released its top line results for exon skipping trial, all showing promising results.

“The research that CureDuchenne funds can be applied to many other diseases,” said Debra Miller, CureDuchenne founder. “CureDuchenne’s business model can be replicated in other disease groups to accelerate a cure for a host of debilitating and fatal diseases.”

More About This Charity

Region

West

Category

Health and Well Being

Name

CureDuchenne

Mission

CureDuchenne is a nonprofit that raises awareness and funds to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. CureDuchenne has the leading scientists in the world helping to determine the most viable research projects, accelerate the clinical trial process and bring potential life-saving drugs to help this generation of Duchenne boys. Our vision is our name…to cure Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Our mission is to save this generation of Duchenne boys.

Impact

Seven research projects have made their way into human clinical trials with support from CureDuchenne

CureDuchenne’s research investments have leveraged more than $100 million from government agencies and pharmaceutical companies to fund research to find a cure for Duchenne

In 2011, reached more than 15 million people worldwide through awareness campaigns

Works In

United States

Learn More

www.cureduchenne.org

Donate →

“Me Too” Offers a Great Education

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:42:10 +0000

Acromegaly is a rare disorder involving a tumor in the pituitary, causing excessive growth hormone release into the body, with an average lifespan of 30-50, if the disease remains untreated. Since it is rare, diagnosis can take years. After diagnosis, life can be difficult for patients and family.

Being diagnosed with a rare disease is an overwhelming experience. When it is a disease that few have heard of, and even fewer can pronounce the name of, the feeling is absolutely daunting!

It wasn’t that long ago that when new Acromegaly patients researched their diagnosis, they only leaned of Andre the Giant’s death. Such knowledge was not helpful for one’s information base, or self-assurance. The initial frustration and loneliness patients feel can be overwhelming. Acromegaly Community is dedicated to answering, “what do I want and need to know as a new patient?”

Acromegaly Community works to answer questions for all members: patients, loved ones, and medical industry professionals. The open flow of information between all parties can greatly impact a patient’s level of care and support. Our focus is mutual support and education, providing the best non-medical support possible: “Me too.”

While drugs are essential, knowing that others can relate to your circumstance is also crucial, so we work to bring together people who can bond in the face of fear. Since education has no price tag, we make sure our services do not either. Anyone who wants or needs support can join in the dialogue at no expense.

The average new patient will go undiagnosed for about a decade before diagnosis, when they may be diagnosed by accidentally getting in front of the right professional with an interest in this rare disease. Besides medication, how do people survive from day to day? Even if the patient has great medical care, professionals cannot provide the empathy that “Me too” provides; especially to loved ones, who are frequently ignored in the medical universe. Acromegaly Community specializes in offering “Me Too.”

The goal of Acromegaly Community is to make sure we defeat the loneliness of a rare disease, while still making sure that knowledge is ample for all. The greater everyone communicates and learns from each other, the more successful we will all be in defeating this rare disease.

Among our Health & Wellness services provided to members around the world are:

Conference Calls (Informational calls led by medical professionals and “Me Too” Calls for mutual reassurance and knowledge)

Online Chat Rooms for bonding around the world

AcromegalyCommunity.com: with detailed information and discussion boards

Regional & National meetings for patients, loved ones, and professionals to talk and compare notes in an informative and social environment

Patient-written book with 12 different patient contributions (Alone in My Universe: Struggling with an Orphan Disease in an Unsympathetic World)

Dealing with a rare disease is scary and frustrating. Receiving such a diagnosis is usually worse than a person thought they could ever feel. It is Acromegaly Community’s dedication to pairing people in need of support, but also pairing medical experts with patients, in hopes that the sharing of knowledge will improve everyone’s well being.

More About This Charity

Region

Northeast

Category

Health and Well Being

Name

Acromegaly Community

Mission

The mission of Acromegaly Community is to provide an emotional and communal support network for people touched by Acromegaly. We offer a central location for medical information on issues including surgery, medication, radiation and post diagnosis support. Most importantly, we provide a network of emotional support for Acromegaly patients, their friends and their family.

Impact

This charity raised $100,000 in the past year

This Achievement helped 500 people

In an effort to cure the loneliness of a rare disease, Acromegaly Community has united patients with a rare disease around the world.

Works In

United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, Israel, France, Norway, Netherlands, Japan, Malaysia

Learn More

www.AcromegalyCommunity.com

Donate →

Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse Dare to Dream of Hope, Healing, and Support

admin — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:42:31 +0000

1 out of every 10 men in the US has diabetes, 1 out of every 8 men has heart disease, but 1 out of every 6 men has been sexually abused. Abuse survivors are at higher risk for substance abuse, depression, and suicide. Most survivors live in isolation because they don’t know that they are not alone.

In April, MaleSurvivor celebrated Sexual Assault Awareness Month by holding the most successful awareness events in its history. The Dare To Dream campaign brought hope and healing to hundreds of people whose lives have been touched by the scourge of sexual abuse. Over the course of the month, more than 500 people participated in training sessions, film screenings, and talkbacks. At some events, survivors took the courageous step of speaking publicly, often for the first time, about having been abused.

When the Sandusky scandal broke, MaleSurvivor worked patiently with officials at Penn State to be able to come and provide help to the community. In April these efforts came to fruition at events in Altoona and State College, PA. Students and staff saw the documentary, “Boys and Men Healing” and participated in talkbacks after with therapists and male survivors. In addition, Dr. Howard Fradkin and Jim Struve, LCSW (co-chairs of MaleSurvivor’s Weekends of Recovery) conducted training sessions with members of the Penn State Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) staff. These training sessions, shared via webcast with counselors at all 19 Penn State campuses statewide, highlighted the best therapeutic strategies for working with male survivors of sexual abuse. CAPS director Dr. Dennis Heizmann said “Malesurvivor’s brief visit had an important impact in furthering our efforts to be informed professionals, to heal individuals and our campus at large.” As a result of our efforts, the first support group for male survivors of sexual abuse in the Penn State community was just announced.

In Ohio, more events were held at Toledo, Athens, Cleveland, and Columbus. Film screenings featured talkbacks with producer Simon Weinberg and Dr. Fradkin. Publicity for the events was strong, with feature stories running in a number of papers all across the state, as well as interviews on Ohio NPR station WOUB with Dr. Fradkin, Weinberg, and 4 brave male survivors. Turnout was so great at the events that at one location over 160 people packed the auditorium to capacity and still more people had to be turned away.

“At every venue, male survivors got up and spoke their truth, from a teenager in Athens who spoke of being gang raped and wanting to start a support to a retired gentleman who watched the film, and then asked, ‘okay, now what?’ said Dr. Fradkin. “The range of questions asked spanned every aspect of being a survivor.” Meg O’Brien, President & CEO of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center said, “These events showed the power of collaboration and what can happen when we join together in support of a common cause. It was such a wonderful privilege to be part of Dare to Dream and to witness so many people getting connected to support and healing.” And one survivor also shared the following, “Dare to Dream events would not be possible without MaleSurvivor. And I could still be dealing with the impact of abuse in isolation without MaleSurvivor.”

More About This Charity

Region

Northeast

Category

Human Services

Name

MaleSurvivor

Mission

We are committed to preventing, healing, and eliminating all forms of sexual victimization of boys and men through support, treatment, research, education, advocacy, and activism.

Impact

Over 500 Attendees for Dare To Dream events at Penn State and Ohio
Provide Support for Male Victims of Sexual Abuse

Works In

Washington DC

Learn More

http://www.malesurvivor.org

Donate →

PCI Helped to Eradicate Polio in India

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:43:47 +0000

According to the World Health Organization, India was one of four countries worldwide endemic for polio, meaning they had never successfully stopped transmission of the wild polio virus throughout the entire country.

Those condemned to endure polio infection can expect a lifetime of trying to make ends meet with disfigured and often useless limbs. Victims are often forced to beg on the street for survival. This is a reality made all the more painful because polio is entirely preventable.

On a trip to India, one PCI volunteer met Iada Shad and his son Sazid Shah, 26, both crippled by polio. Even though neither could walk or travel without a walking aid, both volunteered their time for PCI visiting local community members who had yet to take part in the polio immunization campaign.

As a lead partner of the Group Polio Project, PCI has been building enhanced community awareness and mobilization to increase participation in prevention and immunization in three high-prevalence districts in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

PCI recruits and trains community mobilization coordinators, assists in organizing and facilitating health camps where vaccines are provided by the Government of India as well as promotes hygienic practices to reduce new infections, especially in children under 5 years of age. The health camps also include malaria prevention, vitamin A supplementation, de-worming treatment, and provide access to physicians, nurses, and auxiliary nurse midwives. This creates a more holistic approach to improving the health of vulnerable communities.

Families in high-risk polio areas are reached via 650 Community Mobilization Coordinators (CMCs). They use various tools including one-to-one meetings, group meetings and meetings with community leaders. Since the mobilization members are from the same community, with the help of local supporters, printed FAQs, and appeals from religious leaders, they have been successful in converting resistance into acceptance. Today, more than 300,000 families are educated about polio, and monitored every month.

As a result of PCI’s and others’ tireless efforts, as of February 2012, there have been no confirmed cases of polio for the first time in twelve months in India.

PCI works in vulnerable communities to improve health and create long-term change by helping people help themselves. For 50 years, thousands of dedicated individuals and groups have worked to make this vision a reality.

PCI is currently active in 16 countries, helping close to 7 million individuals across a broad spectrum of needs, including:

- Women, Children & Youth
- Disease Prevention, incl. malaria and HIV/AIDS
- Humanitarian Assistance
- Community Health & Development
- Food & Nutrition Security
- Economic Empowerment
- Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

More About This Charity

Region

West

Category

Health and Well Being

Name

PCI

Mission

PCI’s mission is to prevent disease, improve community health and promote sustainable development worldwide. Motivated by our concern for the world’s most vulnerable children, families and communities, PCI envisions a world where abundant resources are shared, communities are able to provide for the health and well-being of their members, and children and families can achieve lives of hope, good health and self-sufficiency.

Impact

This Achievement raised $6,967,394

This charity raised $33,000,000 in the past year

This Achievement helped 172 Million people

This charity helped 6.7 Million people in the past year

Polio is considered eradicated in India due in part to PCI’ s extraordinary efforts in some of the most endemic areas.

Works In

India

Learn More

www.pciglobal.org

Learn More →

Cooking Shouldn’t Kill

admin — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:39:33 +0000

The most dangerous activity a woman in the developing world can undertake is cooking for her family. Smoke exposure from open cooking fires causes two million deaths-primarily women and children-each year. More than four million women suffer debilitating burns each year.

Ten years ago Nancy Hughes was widowed, having lost her husband to cancer. An avid traveler, she had heard of medical missions to underdeveloped countries and had always wanted to join a team, so she signed up for a mission to Guatemala. On that trip, she was struck by the number of children suffering from life-threatening burns and babies who died because their throats were so choked with creosote they couldn’t be intubated.

She met Irma, a young woman whose hands had been burned shut at the age of two when she fell into her family’s cooking fire, and Nancy knew she had to do something to prevent these accidents. A year later she recruited a ‘stove team’ of volunteers to go to Guatemala with her and install clean cookstoves in families’ homes. The group of 15 installed 125 stoves.

After the trip she did more research, and was shocked to learn that more than six million stoves were needed in Guatemala alone. Realizing that installing individual stoves in families’ homes would not meet the need, she wasn’t sure how to continue.

In 2006 she had met Dr. Larry Winiarski and Mr. Ken Goyer, two of the top stove designers in the world. When she was feeling most discouraged, Ken and Larry arrived at her door and told her, “You can’t quit. This work is too important!” Larry said he would design a small, affordable, culturally appropriate stove for her, and find someone to produce it.

Within a few months, Larry had developed a safe, portable, cookstove and found someone in El Salvador to produce it. The Ecocina he designed reduced harmful emissions by 70%, produced almost no smoke, and was cool to the touch.

Now they had a stove, but how to get them to the millions of people who needed them? Nancy was over 65 and did not want to own or manage a stove factory. She realized that by establishing local factories owned by local entrepreneurs, the costs would be lower and more affordable stoves could be made and distributed. In turn, these factories could employ others, creating jobs and addressing one of the root causes of poverty – unemployment.

From there, she created the non-profit organization StoveTeam International and began establishing locally owned and operated factories. In the first four years, StoveTeam created six stove factories in five countries in Latin America, which have sold more than 25,000 stoves.

Nancy works more than forty hours a week as a volunteer and President of the Board of Directors of StoveTeam International. Thanks to Nancy, StoveTeam has made a huge difference in the lives of over 150,000 men, women and children in Latin America. Irma—the woman who inspired Nancy to start StoveTeam—has since married, had a child, and now cooks for her family.

More About This Volunteer

Region

West

Category

Volunteer of the Year

Name

Nancy Sanford Hughes

Mission

StoveTeam International addresses environmental and health issues associated with open-fire cooking in Mexico and Central America by promoting safe, affordable, fuel-efficient cookstoves by helping establish sustainable, locally owned factories in the developing world.

Impact

Nancy raised $550,000 for StoveTeam International through this Achievement

Nancy raised $150,000 for StoveTeam International in the past year

Nancy helped 150,000 people through StoveTeam International through this Achievement

Nancy helped 55,000 through StoveTeam International in the past year

Nancy helped establish six factories in five countries in four years, distributed 25,000 stoves and helped 150,000 people.

Works In

Mexico, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala

Learn More

www.stoveteam.org

Learn More →