A film screenwriter who, after a round of mishaps and bad luck, had amassed a staggering $220,000 in credit debt was spending his days sparring with debt collectors, and doing all he could to keep bankruptcy at bay.
That was until an attorney steered him toward a path he never thought he’d travel: Debt settlement––essentially negotiating his debt directly with lenders.
A small group of grassroots activists in Midland, Texas has spread hope to homeowners in need, providing critical home repairs free of charge. Since its inspiring start 30 years ago, “Rebuilding Together” has grown to a nationwide network of 3.4 million volunteers who have delivered services worth $1.3 billion to families, the elderly, veterans and community centers.
Realizing their neighbors’ homes had fallen into disrepair, the original group in Texas with the help of local banks pooled their labor and skill and to set about to fix the problem.
This simple act of neighbors helping neighbors inspired others, spread slowly, and then across the country — with the help of larger corporate partners — which eventually led to the opening of the Rebuilding Together National Headquarters in 1988.
Today, Rebuilding Together consists of 200 chapters throughout the United States that have completed work on more than 100,000 homes, some left damaged by natural disasters.
The goodwill of volunteers is matched by the charity and energy provided by corporate partners, like TD Bank, Sears, Lowes, Safeway, which not only provide materials and financial support but enlist employees and their families to join the rebuilding army. The teams also retrofit homes to become more energy efficient for those who can’t afford their heating bills.
Governments too, support the effort through federal agencies and groups like the AmeriCorps service members. Even professional sports are involved, through NBA Cares and a partnership with the MLB All-Star Game.
Visit their website to learn how you can get involved in your local city by grabbing a paint brush or hammer: RebuildingTogether.org/how-you-can-help
WATCH both videos below which beautifully illustrate how corporations step up to help and how communities, like the one in Philadelphia, are uplifted in many ways — their spirits, their homes and their health.
A small group of grassroots activists in Midland, Texas has spread hope to homeowners in need, providing critical home repairs free of charge. Since its inspiring start 30 years ago, “Rebuilding Together” has grown to a nationwide network of 3.4 million volunteers who have delivered services worth $1.3 billion to families, the elderly, veterans and community centers.
George McGovern, the former U.S. senator from South Dakota, is nearing the end of his dignified life at age 90. As his family and friends say their final goodbyes, we remember and rejoice a life extraordinaire; a man imbued with compassion, humility, integrity, and faith in America.
Though he was a bona fide war hero, having flown 35 missions as a B-24 pilot in World War II, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for his bravery, George McGovern never spoke of it during his political career.
Following his military heroics, he returned home to continue his education, ultimately earning a PhD in history and became a professor…
(READ the story from Daniel Sullivan in Policy Mic)
Malala Yousafzai, the teenage education-rights campaigner who was shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan, has been able to stand for the first time since the attack and is communicating by writing, a British hospital official said Friday.
Malala, 14, was flown to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England this week to receive treatment after Taliban leaders targeted her for assassination because of her campaign in support of girls’ education in the Swat Valley, where the Taliban has at times banned girls from attending school.
Tim Farber was handed a sandwich at a drive-through window and told that lunch was free. The motorist who arrived before him paid his bill.
It was part of an infectious trend that’s been bringing smiles to Winnipeg coffee store patrons, and Tim was happy to participate. He offered to pay for the order of a total stranger in the car behind him. “It literally made my day,” said Farber. “Hopefully, the guy behind me paid. Maybe it went on for a few cars.”
It’s not clear when this wave of generosity started rolling through the Canadian prairie city.
(READ the story in Macleans.ca)
After a series of conflicting reports about whether vitamin pills can stave off chronic disease, researchers announced on Wednesday that a large clinical trial of nearly 15,000 older male doctors followed for more than a decade found that those taking a daily multivitamin experienced 8 percent fewer cancers than the subjects taking dummy pills.
A randomized, double-blinded clinical trial, the kind considered the most rigorous type of study, it was one of the largest and longest efforts to address questions about vitamin use. The reduction in total cancers was small but statistically significant.
Australian authorities are thanking the crew of an Air Canada flight for helping to locate a sailor in distress off the country’s east coast.
After an emergency beacon activation was received on Tuesday, Maritime officials asked the crew of an Air Canada Flight, a Boeing 777 en route from Vancouver to Sydney with 270 passengers, to divert to the area and see if they could spot the yacht.
Luckily, one of the passengers had binoculars.
(READ the story from the CBC)
Cuba will scrap much-reviled travel restrictions starting in January, making it easier for its citizens to leave the communist-ruled island in the first major reform to its migration policies in half a century.
The changes reverse tough restrictions imposed in 1961 when the government tried to put the brakes on a mass migration of people fleeing after the 1959 revolution that put Fidel Castro in power.
After 3 1/2 days searching for his dog across the mountain trails in Santa Fe, N.M., camper Mike Stotts decided he had to accept what park rangers and fellow campers had been telling him:
That no 15-year-old house dog with diminished hearing could survive that long without food or water among the coyotes and mid-August heat.
Still grieving 66 days after saying goodbye to the dog that went with him everywhere, Stotts received a shocking telephone call on Monday.
After 3 1/2 days searching for his dog across the mountain trails in Santa Fe, N.M., camper Mike Stotts decided he had to accept what park rangers and fellow campers had been telling him:
That no 15-year-old house dog with diminished hearing could survive that long without food or water among the coyotes and mid-August heat.
Still grieving 66 days after saying goodbye to the dog that went with him everywhere, Stotts received a shocking telephone call on Monday.
U.S. production and permits of new homes surged in September to its fastest pace in more than four years, fueling the recent housing sector spark and supporting the wider economic recovery.
Newly released government figures reported a 15 percent gain in the pace of new housing construction and an 11.6 percent gain in permits issued, the strongest numbers seen in both categories since July of 2008.
U.S. production and permits of new homes surged in September to its fastest pace in more than four years, fueling the recent housing sector spark and supporting the wider economic recovery.
Newly released government figures reported a 15 percent gain in the pace of new housing construction and an 11.6 percent gain in permits issued, the strongest numbers seen in both categories since July of 2008.
The Botswana High Court overturned a customary law which prevented women from inheriting the family home, calling it “an unacceptable system of male domination.”
65 year-old Edith Mmusi and her two sisters have fought a five-year legal battle against their nephew who said he was the rightful owner of their house.
The judge ruled on October 12 that the law contravened the constitution, which guarantees equality for men and women.
“They walk around the park together like they’re in love,” reports Steve Hartman.
It all started when a gray goose named Maria started following Dominic every time he went to his local Los Angeles park. He wasn’t feeding her. He wasn’t coaxing her. He was just one of a thousand people who walk around the lake every day.
My 15-year internet career choice of focusing on good news has become a philosophy for the rest of my life. I came to realize how important it was to focus on good stuff all around me — in my own house, in my children.
To mark the website’s 15th anniversary, I launched a contest called “What ‘Good News’ Means to Me”. I now have my four winners to whom we will be delivering four fantastic prizes this week.
When Dolly Stringer was diagnosed with breast cancer in April, she decided to shave her head before beginning her chemotherapy.
Now, the woman, who lives in Georgia, believes she got cancer for a reason: to save her husband’s life.
To show solidarity with his wife, Bud Stringer, 48, decided to shave his head. His family members were curious about the black patch on his newly-shaved scalp.
A biopsy determined it was stage III malignant melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer.
(READ the story from ABC News)
A sturdy bicycle made entirely of cardboard is an eco-friendly way to bring transportation to developing nations for just ten bucks.
A coat of waterproofing resin and a layer of gray paint makes this cheap bike look slick and operate smoothly.
Its Israeli inventor, Izhar Gafni, 50, is an expert in designing automated mass-production lines. He is an amateur cycling enthusiast who for years toyed with an idea of making a bicycle from cardboard.
Two Virginia veterinarians reported missing while hiking in Glacier National Park were found alive yesterday, after their families raised the alarm Friday when they failed to catch a flight home.
Rescue teams located the men after as many as 50 people laboring in wintry conditions scoured back country near Two Medicine, Mont., for days by air, on foot and on horseback, aided by a dog team.
(READ the story from ABC News)
A six-year study of Britain’s drug laws by leading scientists, police officers, academics and experts has concluded it is time to introduce decriminalization.
The report by the UK Drug Policy Commission says no serious rise in consumption is likely if possession of small amounts of controlled substances are allowed.
