Providing artistic outlets and college-level education to United States prison inmates significantly reduces their chances of returning to prison, a study by Rand suggests. The study investigated how inmate education affected prisoner life post-incarceration and found that those inmates who were educated while in prison had a 43% lower rate of returning to prison than […]
Houston Furniture Bank is a non-profit that works with a network of 80 other charities to help underprivileged people get furniture. Since their founding in 1992, they’ve helped over 21,000 families get furniture, allowing 50,000 children to sleep in beds instead of on the floor. Their mission is built on the principle that furniture is […]
People take the Tour de France very seriously, and it’s the purview of a certain kind of bicyclist and certain kinds of bicycles. Apparently, the Raleigh Chopper, a kid’s bike, is not the “right kind” of bike, but that’s precisely why Dave Sims rode one in the race this year. A lot of people were […]
Psychiatric and pediatric researchers have been arguing for some time now that poverty has a variety of negative impacts on children. Now, a study published in JAMA Pediatrics in July brings those arguments into greater focus. According to the study, and an accompanying editorial, living in poverty can have serious effects on the development of […]
Unless you were living under a rock last summer, you’ve probably heard of the virally popular ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The very first instance of the Ice Bucket Challenge is hard to pinpoint, though it certainly started receiving major media attention in the U.S. towards the end of June 2014, when hosts on the Golf […]
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a long-standing attempt to build affordable public housing near the Coliseum BART station in East Oakland is all but dead. Beginning in 2003, the plan was to turn a large parking lot near the light rail station into a housing village with shops. It was supposed to house 10,000 […]
In 2012, foundations around the world raised a total of $1.8 billion dollars in grants to promote human rights, a 6% increase over 2011. 774 foundations raised that money for 11,000 non-profits, for a total of over 19,000 grants. This information comes from a new report by the Foundation Center and the International Human Rights […]
According to the annual Giving USA report on charitable donations in the United States, in 2014, for the first time in seven year, donations in this country exceeded pre-recession rates. In 2014, adjusting for inflation, Americans gave $358.38 billion. That was a 7.1% increase over 2013, and giving was up in several categories. Individual giving […]
The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) announced Thursday, July 9th, that it is opening a new Lung Cancer Center—The Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller Center for Lung Cancer Research (DCLCR). The DCLCR was made possible by a $25 million donation from MSK board member Stanley Druckenmiller and his wife, Fiona. “Dramatic advancements have been made […]
Eddie Vedder, lead vocalist of Pearl Jam, is teaming up with Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey, guitarist and lead vocalist (respectively) of The Who, to help raise money for two charities. Using the crowdsourcing website Crowdrise, the musicians are selling raffle tickets for $10 each. The winner gets a private concert featuring Townsend, Daltrey, and […]