@GRASSROOTS.ORG/The Far West

Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010

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GROUPS THAT CHANGE COMMUNITIES

THE FAR WEST

Fosters change for Alaska's disabled people through both advocacy and service.
Bean's Cafe

From the back of a station wagon to one of the nation's top soup kitchens, Bean's offers a hand up ... and a hearty lunch.
Crossover House

Going out where the street people are with open arms, they give the mentally ill homeless a reason to ask for help.
EARTH

Teach a man to fish? This guy gives people fish (that would otherwise be wasted), and he raises hell.
Oomingmak Musk Ox Cooperative

They rescued the native ox from near extinction, harvest his beautiful wool, and weave it into lovely garments. The products are pumping money into an impoverished rural economy.

CALIFORNIA
Berkeley Cares

Don't want to give a homeless guy cash? Buy him a Berkeley coupon that he can use for food ... but not booze.
California Emergency Foodlink (CEFL)

A vivid demonstration that a major emergency-food distribution center can go far beyond charity to use its programs to create jobs and teach poor and homeless people how to fill them.
Chrysalis

An employment agency of last resort, this amazing program helps homeless people find jobs and keep them.
Clinica Msr. Oscar A. Romero

Free clinic in a teeming immigrant community of Los Angeles offers free, no-questions-asked medical and dental care to everyone who comes in the door.
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)

A clearinghouse of information and services to new immigrants in Southern California, CHIRLA works to ensure rights and justice for Latino day laborers and housekeepers.
Columbia Park Boys and Girls Club

One of the most unusual Boys and Girls Clubs in America, its many innovative features include a profit-making graffiti-cleanup operation owned and operated by the youngsters themselves.
Delancey Street Foundation

San Francisco initiative wins national headlines for its remarkable residential program that has turned hundreds of homeless people into working, tax-paying citizens.
Food From the 'Hood

Savvy youngsters in a huge high school in South Central LA are learning entrepreneurship and pride alongside the Three R's.
Fresh Start Farms

Homeless men learn urban gardening, and earn their salaries by selling produce to San Francisco's fanciest restaurants.
Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries (FIRM)

Organizes Fresno's church community to provide alternatives to gangs, emergency services for immigrants, and, best of all, effective training to help new citizens start small businesses to serve their community and create jobs.
Homeless Garden Project

Outstanding Santa Cruz program uses community gardening to create jobs for homeless folks.
The Garden Project

A gentle, guided step back into the community for ex-offenders, who staff a pretty urban herb garden and sell the produce to local eateries.
L.A.'s Best

Outstanding model mobilizes parents and volunteers to create safe alternatives to the streets with after-school activities in the city's public schools.
Los Angeles Men's Project (LAMP)

More than just a homeless shelter, it also operates non-profit businesses that provide residents job training and a way to start earning a few bucks.
Rural Development Center

Literally unique, this three-year training program turns migrant farm workers into family farmers equipped with skills and a startup stake.
San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG)

One of the nation's top model urban gardening programs sows the seeds of restoration through all the city's neighborhoods.
Solar Box Cookers International

Even a homeless person, or a Third World peasant, can cook in these simple and inexpensive boxes.
U.S. Mexico Border Program (Border Watch)

Keeping a watchful eye on the Border Patrol to make sure that our cops aren't crooks.
From the Wholesaler to the Hungry

National program seeks to build links between food producers and distributors and emergency-service providers to keep usable food from being wasted.
Young & Healthy

This idea from Pasadena is so good that it is already spreading: Organize a community's physicians and ask each to volunteer just a little help to provide quality medical care for youngsters whose families don't have insurance.

HAWAII
Angel Network Charities

An angel may have started this project, but it's humans who keep it going, providing help and housing for Honolulu's homeless.
Hawaii Self Help Housing

In the nation's most expensive housing market, "self-help housing" brings together groups of families to support each other as they build their own subdivisions.
The Institute for Human Services

Top-notch shelter (originally "The Peanut Butter Ministry") offers Honolulu's most down-and-out street people dignity and respect in a strict but supportive setting that helps them pull themselves back into the mainstream.

OREGON
Oregon Food Bank

This food bank stands out as more than just a food provider. Active in advocacy, it has been historically eager to try new ideas.
Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN)

A grassroots effort to help agricultural workers insure their rights, PCUN provides individual legal assistance and works with groups seeking collective-bargaining agreements with the growers.
Sisters of the Road Cafe

One of downtown Portland's most popular eateries, it hires and trains homeless people as employees in a setting where peace and communication are prized.

WASHINGTON
El Centro de la Raza

With its roots in protest and its present in service, El Centro serves Seattle's "barrio without walls."
Community Technology Institute (Community Voice Mail)

Stunning in its simplicity, this nationally replicating project provides homeless people with voice mail boxes that they can use for job-seeking and getting access to services.
Martin Luther King Center

Another top national model, this Tacoma institution provides a complete range of emergency and transitional housing services aimed at getting homeless people off the street and back into decent, permanent homes.