City and community leaders celebrated a grand opening in the River District of a mobile restroom facility called the Pit Stop.
The pilot program aims to provide access to a safe and clean bathroom for those who need it. The portable restrooms will be staffed by an attendant to ensure that the toilets and sinks are well maintained and used for intended purposes.
“The people experiencing homelessness in Sacramento have limited access to toilets and lavatories,” said Councilmember Jeff Harris. “As we work towards more permanent solutions to end homelessness in our City, this program is complementary in that it addresses an urgent need.”
The Pit Stop facility, located at Ahern Street, between North A and North B Streets, will provide toilets, sinks, used needle receptacles and dog waste stations. The goal of this effort is to not only provide people a place to take care of their needs with dignity, but to capture measurable data of those who use the facility, and how the City can further address homelessness in the surrounding region.
Harris pushed for $100,000 in the budget to partnered with FAS Services, a San Francisco based organization, that provides staffing and facilitation of the attended restrooms. The restrooms will be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The pilot program will run for six months allowing staff to fully evaluate the impact and efficiency of such a program.
The Pit Stop program has gained success in San Francisco and has more than a dozen locations in San Francisco.
Thousands of inner city students in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. will have the opportunity to see HAMILTON, thanks to a $6 million grant from The Rockefeller Foundation.
HAMILTON creator Lin-Manuel Miranda announced on June 23 the Foundation’s commitment to expand the educational partnership that has provided students with tickets to the Tony-award winning show in New York City. The #EduHam program will now reach 100,000 public school children across the United States.
The musical production blended hip hop, dance, and rap, with the Revolutionary War, to create the hottest ticket on Broadway— and one of the coolest American history lessons one is likely to get. (Watch a preview below)
The funding will go to local school districts, and additional cities will be announced as HAMILTON tours the country. As part of their American History studies, students will experience history and see the show for just $10. They will attend special matinee performances and interact with cast members during the program.
The partnership between The Rockefeller Foundation, HAMILTON, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and the New York City Department of Education was announced in October 2015 and was initially funded through a $1.5 million grant to bring 20,000 public school students from the five boroughs—with large numbers of students eligible for free and reduced price lunch—to see the Broadway sensation. Students in New York benefited from an integrated curriculum developed by Gilder Lehrman that enhanced their experience of the play. The program was such a success, that The Rockefeller Foundation.
“Our initial partnership was such a monumental success, we wanted to fund the partnership nationwide as HAMILTON toured across the country,” said Judith Rodin, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. “Our goal is to not only bring history to life for students, but to have them relate to the actors who make this show what it is; demonstrating that everything is possible for them, no matter what neighborhood they live in, what school they attend, or where they come from.”
The educational program includes a HAMILTON Student Performance and Study Guide and an online HAMILTON portal for students and teachers that offers students a creative platform for developing and producing their own original performances of poetry, rap, songs, scenes and other art expressions, to be performed at the theater prior to watching a performance of HAMILTON.
“The HAMILTON student matinees on Broadway have been such a rewarding experience for all of us at the theatre, thanks to the creativity and the passion the students bring to them,” said Lin-Manuel Miranda. “The performances that they come up with are unbelievable!”
“Rooted in research, the student projects are creative, personal, and inspiring… Kids who didn’t before suddenly care about America’s past, and see their own connection to it,” said James Basker, President of the Gilder Lehrman Institute.
The room was filled with 6,400 fans, and the Dalai Lama didn’t disappoint.
The Buddhist leader returned to Indiana on Saturday for a public talk on “the potential for harmony and the usefulness of compassion.”
The speech quickly sounded more like a personal conversation than a presentation—and, as happens in conversation, he stumbled into many amusing moments.
(WATCH the video above or READmore from USA Today –Note: page auto-plays so adjust speakers)
A week after losing the Indiana 4-A baseball championship, he remembers most vividly the moment when an opponent, instead of celebrating with his teammates without abandon, came over to console him, the pitcher who’d dropped to the mound, face down in defeat.
The Roncalli high school catcher told WTHR ”I saw the heartbreak and the stress on all their players but especially him laying almost lifelessly by the mound. It just really got to me and I just wanted to go over there and tell him everything was going to be alright.”
And so he did.
(WATCH the moment below or READmore from WTHR) –Photos via WTHR video
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A Memphis teen’s offer to carry groceries to a man’s car in exchange for some doughnuts has led to a wave of online donations for him and his disabled mother that have totaled $278,000 in 13 days.
Two weeks ago Matt White met Chauncy Black, a “straight-A student” who was just trying to get some food to eat in exchange for menial work.
The boy struck White as someone who deserved a break, and he is getting so much more than that, after a GoFundMe page was started to raise money to purchase him a lawn mower for starting a business.
Through videos shot by Matt, people learned Chauncy slept on the floor, had tattered clothes, and a courteous attitude and willingness to do anything to earn money.
Donations poured in and now a legal trust is being set up to manage the money. The pair have been moved to an undisclosed hotel, and Matt White has got himself a new family, with the top priority to do the right thing with a sudden windfall of kindness for a poor kid with a bountiful work ethic.
On Friday, one hundred underprivileged children were invited to the Dallas Cowboys football stadium for a giant overnight sleepover party.
Lined up on the field were 100 beds, each outfitted with blue and silver Cowboys swag, cuddly quilts and teddy bears. Not only did the kids get to eat pizza and hang out with NFL football players and cheerleaders, they got to watch a movie on the giant screen, at the end of the night they were told they get to keep the beds, too.
None of these children had a bed at home to sleep in, but now, thanks to Ashley Furniture with their Hope to Dream program, they are in for some sweet slumber.
Mary Ann Downey Kirby was on the field to experience the fun in Arlington, Texas and posted these photos on Facebook, saying Ashley Furniture would be delivering the beds to each child’s home, and she would be the one seen on the sidelines “bawling”.
On its Hope to Dream webpage, people can nominate families in need of beds for the program’s consideration when there is a participating store in their area.
The final game of Argentinian football player Diego Milito was a must-see for soccer lovers here, and when a boy needed a boost to view the departing athlete, a 10-year-old on crutches had just the ticket.
A photo of the pair taken on the sidelines grabbed headlines after Santiago Fretes lent one of his crutches to another Argentine fan so he could watch the game – one Racing team fan helping another.
Frete’s mother, Sabri Bonomo, took the picture that quickly went viral and stirred emotions outside of sporting circles.
“I saw Milito walking around the field and my friend couldn’t see him because of a billboard, so I lent him one of my crutches so he could enjoy with me,” Frete told the newspaper, El Argentino Zona Norte.
The boy’s right leg had been amputated due to a disability at birth, but despite always being on crutches, Santiago is well known at Racing’s youth division trainings.
His mother says he is quite skillful playing soccer. “I usually make videos of his moves when he plays indoor soccer at cidade Pillar”, says Sabri Bonomo referring to a city located 58km (36 miles) outside the nation’s capital, Buenos Aires.
According to Santiago’s mother, the family is awaiting the arrival of a prosthesis from the government.SHARE the Perfect Picture of Friendship… Pass it on.
The legendary New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham died on Saturday, but he leaves a legacy of observations that changed the way many people think about clothes and created an historical record spanning decades.
For his weekend photo spread in the paper, and corresponding video series, the 87-year-old, who tooled around Manhattan on his bicycle, could be counted on to spot the latest trends by looking at the creative ways New Yorkers used fabric, accessories and clothing to create their own fashion statements.
For Cunningham, the Paris runways were certainly interesting, but “it was what happened to the clothes afterward — how they were used, or not used — that really mattered,” according to one cohort at the Times.
“He was among the first to recognize the value of observing what people wore in their everyday life, and to understand that it was a reflection of identity and culture, a means of communication used by all, and thus a crucial historical record,” wrote Vanessa Friedman, in a final tribute.
Here is one of his videos from spring 2016, which exemplified his story-telling style and his use of untouched photos depicting fashionistas on the streets of New York.
After serving meals to the needy in Kansas City for more than three decades, Episcopal Community Services recently switched to the restaurant model of waiting on their homeless clients.
And the regulars were thrilled.
(WATCH the video above from NBC News) –File Photo via WBZ video
American Family Insurance created a short film for Father’s Day that has attracted 3.5 million views on YouTube and caused quite a few tears to flow.
“Here’s to all dads out there supporting their kids’ dreams,” the company wrote.
The father in the story knows his son wants dance lesson, but provides a little “insurance,” so the boy won’t be bullied for it, in the form of a confidence boosting regimen.
A tiny newborn chipmunk fell 20 feet from its nest, so a family in India called on animal rescue volunteers who decided to scale a building in order to reunite it with its mother.
Grabbing a lot of rope, Animal Aid Unlimited saved the day and recorded a video of the daring rescue.
The mother’s nest was perched on an air conditioner unit, with nothing but flat wall around it, so volunteers on the roof hoisted the man up—all while the mother frantically chirping maternal warnings at the approaching stranger.
The baby, with its eyes still closed from birth, was returned to its family, where the Indian aid group said its brothers and sisters were “going nuts”.
After public outcry following a media investigation, the interim President of Brazil, Michel Temer, announced that the Brazilian Armed Forces will provide a plane exclusively for transporting organs for transplant patients.
That decision comes after one of the biggest Brazilian media outlets, O Globo, reported that between 2013 and 2015 the Air Force authority declined to transport 153 organs, and rather prioritized the transportation of government officials instead.
After hearing the report and talking to his assigned staff, the president decided to equip an airplane exclusively for the transportation of patients or their life-saving cargo.
A chauffeur was driving in New York last week when he saw a car stopped in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge. He noticed a little dog limping underneath the vehicle, and pulled over his limousine to hurry over and help.
“The dog was nervous and didn’t want to move from under the car so I went back to my limousine to find something I could use as a leash,” said Garrick Quinones. “Thank God I quickly found my phone cord and went back under the car to get him.”
After a few tries the stray allowed Quinones to put a cord on him, and lead him slowly out—all while cars were rushing by and honking.
The driver scooped up the pup and went searching for the nearest police officer. He could see the dog was thirsty and bought a bottle of water.
Quinones, who works at Limousine of New York, brought him to the 19th police precinct and was told they would scan the red-haired dog for a chip because it didn’t have collar. He told Good News Network wanted to stay with the dog, which looked like Toto from the Wizard of Oz but, the officer assured him they would give him water and take care of him.
For most brides, the father-daughter dance is such a special moment.
Julie Finkel from Ohio wanted to make it especially memorable for her dad who’s deaf, so she signed the song lyrics earlier and projected them on a screen above the dance floor.
It’s a miracle the driver made it out alive because the flames were towering before firefighters hosed down his SUV in a California shopping plaza parking lot.
Minutes earlier, a man can be seen on video shouting at the driver to get out of the vehicle before it burst into flames, but no one emerged.
The stranger, worried about the threat as black smoke billowed from the car, pulled the driver from the front seat, dragging his unconscious body along the pavement in a daring rescue.
The sheriff’s department is working on getting him a plaque to honor him from his bravery.
(WATCH the video from Inside Edition) —Hail the Rescue… Share it!
The adult raccoon leans over the wall to grab the baby while another raccoon holds onto its legs. A police officer in Missouri spotted the nocturnal animals making a break for it near a high school.
(WATCH the video above) —SHARE this video with Animal Lovers…
The owner of a gas station in Canada says he is “blessed with a team that ‘saves the world from the ordinary’ every day,” and he posted an adorable moment caught on surveillance camera to prove it.
At the Milne Court Petro-Canada in New Minas, Nova Scotia, employees love the customers and the customers love them back.
Owner-operator Scott Fraser hears the stories everyday, “Ken will say, ‘I just saved another motor’ or he will find another senior with a safety inspection expired, or about to expire.”
He often hears customers ask, “Where do you find all of these wonderful people?”
But even for Scott’s team, occasionally something will happen that “stands out–even from the extraordinary.” Scott described what happened on Sunday.
“An elderly lady came in and I am not sure exactly how the subject was broached but… one of the workers, Sean, was asked if he would mind dancing with the Petite Belle from Britain. He promptly agreed. He also explained that the customers in line were his priority however if she did not mind waiting he would love to dance with her.”
“She waited.
And then they danced.
She danced, twirled and even broke into song.
From beginning to end, Sean was a gentleman. Allowing the ‘Petite Belle’ to enjoy herself, while never breaking eye contact, or his engaging smile.
I love that he took the time to dance with her.
I love that the customers who were initially in line said ‘You dance with her, we’ll wait’.
Dr. Seuss once said ‘Why fit in when you were born to stand out.’
And stand out he did.
Bravo Sean.”
In the middle of America’s most urban metropolitan area, the world’s largest vertical farm is about to deliver its first harvest of sweet, leafy baby greens.
In a warehouse just outside New York City, near Newark, New Jersey, this 70,000 square-foot indoor farm will produce two million pounds of fresh produce every year once it is in full bloom
AeroFarm is using “aeroponic” farming to grow massive amounts of food, but instead of taking of acres of land and tons of water, it is all done in a confined space. Crops grow in shelf-like bins that rely on special LED lights instead of sunshine. Instead of soil, the plants grow in a reusable fabric made from recycled plastic bottles that can be easily cleaned and sanitized between crops– eliminating the need for pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides.
The vertical farm can grow 70 times more food per square foot than farmers can raise in an open field. Because the facility recirculates water, it uses only 5% as much water and half as much fertilizer, which often pollutes nearby streams.
AeroFarms achieves its high production by staggering crops throughout the year. The company is able to switch between 22 different crops featuring roughly 250 varieties of fruit and vegetables.
The crops will be marketed to people in New York City, less than an hour away, to cut down on both the cost and pollution of transportation. The first “planting” at the Newark facility took place in March and the first harvest will feature leafy summer greens.
The Newark facility is one of four vertical farms the company is operating, with more projects underway across the U.S. and abroad.
(WATCH the video below from WCBS News) — Images courtesy of AeroFarms
Celebrating a 100th birthday is rare enough, but when three lifelong friends do it together, it really is a cause for celebration.
Even Oprah Winfrey had to send birthday wishes to these three BFF centenarians.
Ruth Chatman Hammett, Gladys Ware Butler and Bernice Grimes Underwood were all born within a couple months of each other in 1916. They almost were a quartet reaching 100 (in this photo above), but one of them just passed, less than two months ago.
They met as children in Washington, DC attending Zion Baptist Church, where a birthday party for the ladies was attended by the mayor and D.C.’s congresswoman, and family members including great-great-grandchildren.
The fourth friend, Leona Barnes, was celebrated, too—with a framed photo that sat beside the three centenarians during the ceremony.
Butler told the Washington Post she prays every day, Barnes still lives independently and says she wants to go to college, and Underwood said she still dances, “Sometimes by myself,” as seen in the video below which shows her doing the Electric Slide.
(WATCH the video from Machinists News Network and READ more from the Washington Post) — Photo: Machinists News Network
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“Finding Dory” is breaking box office records while entertaining whole families— but it is also teaching children valuable lessons about how to treat people with disabilities.
The title character, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, is a fish who has suffered with short-term memory loss since her birth. The movie is filled with other characters who have disabilities, too, and they all overcome obstacles together.
The entire film shows how their assumed shortcomings actually give them qualities that provide unseen advantages.
“I love that message, too, that even your disability can be your biggest strength,” DeGeneres told Entertainment Tonight.
It also sends viewers the message that, while Dory’s mind works differently from others, those who aren’t willing to be patient or kind are the ones with the real problems.
(WATCH the video below from CBS News) — Photo: Disney/Pixar
