What does the phrase, “education should be a right, not a privilege” mean to you? If you believe that access to education is not a privilege, but a right as is the human rights law guarantees, then, why are 61 million children not in school, and most of them girls? Educating children no matter where they are is one of the biggest factors toward ending extreme poverty.
Dr. Denise McCain responded to a 2012 request from the Los Angeles City Library for a homeless youth resource guide, Dr. McCain developed and published a comprehensive, citywide Directory of Services for Homeless Youth, known at that time as: Our Children LA.
This effort was SO successful that expansion was both sought after and necessary, evolving into the nonprofit, Our Community LA, Or OCLA, with the tagline: Technology, Empowerment, Connections, Hope and their mission is to leverage technology that connects youth, families, and adults experiencing homeless or in need to easily connect to essential resources that can help them make positive changes in their lives;.
When the typical person thinks of Hollywood, they think of fame & fortune, the whirlwind of celebrities, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the celebrity hand and foot cement impressions, Groman’s Chinese theatre, The Hollywood sign, and many more iconic symbols of glamor, representing the rich and famous…there is another part of Hollywood though, the real people who live there, and some of those real people are disadvantaged and marginalized, and don’t often have the opportunity to reach their potential.
Established in 2007, The Isabella Santos Foundation (ISF) is dedicated to eradicating pediatric cancer’s devastating impact while honoring the legacy of Isabella Santos, her courageous fight against neuroblastoma.
About a year ago, we had a fabulous Small & Gutsy episode that featured Jazz Hands For Autism, a nonprofit organization that provides wrap-around artist education, development, promotion and placement for learners and aspiring artists on the autism spectrum enabling them to explore and express their talent. Services offered include: The Jazz Hands Concert Series: a semi-annual concert series and performance platform for neurodivergent artists, The Jazz Hands Musicians Academy: an individualized post-secondary music education and vocational program that prepares aspiring musicians on the autism spectrum for careers in music, and The Jazz Hands Junior Academy: in home and virtual music lessons taught by RBT (Registered Behavior Technician), meaning trained musicians and graduates of the Jazz Hands Musicians Academy
Join them in celebrating their 10-year anniversary on May 25th!
Get Tickets here: JHConcert21.eventbrite.com
If you’ve ever been pregnant or been in the process of adopting or engaging in a surrogacy, you know the milestones set for each month of that journey and the belief of trusting the process, medical and emotional, that everything will work out as it should, meaning you will have a beautiful little life to whom you will love, cherish, and tend forever; that amazing feeling of anticipation just before the arrival, making sure the nursery is set, all the loose ends are tied up…and that moment comes, and then, there is silence..utter silence. That is the experience of so many who have lost a child along that path, and so much harder and lonelier the closer you are to what should be the end of one journey and the beginning of your parental journey…this is just unnatural and unfair, and so, so very heartbreaking. Anderson Cooper does an episode on his podcast, Is This All There Is featuring a mother who experienced the Greatest Loss…beautifully shared and deeply painful to hear…
Check out their website: www.bornintosilence.org
Did you know that Black Youth are Almost Five Times As Likely To Be Incarcerated As their White Peers?
The following are some data points from the Sentencing Project, captured by Josh Rovner and Ashley Nellis
For a decade, incarceration disparities between Black and white youth have remained stubbornly high. As of 2021, Black youth were 4.7 times as likely to be placed, meaning detained or committed to juvenile facilities as their white peers. Forty-two percent of youths in placement are Black, even though Black Americans comprise only 15% of all youth across the United States. Since, Black and brown youth are more likely to be in custody than white youth, going to prison is a major life-altering event that creates obstacles to rebuilding lives in the community, such as gaining employment and finding stable and safe housing after release. Imprisonment also reduces lifetime earnings and negatively affects life outcomes among children of incarcerated parents. These are individual-level consequences of imprisonment but there are societal-level consequences as well: high levels of imprisonment in communities cause high crime rates and neighborhood deterioration, thus fueling greater disparities. This cycle both individually and societally is felt disproportionately by people who are Black and Brown.
So what do these statistics and social work brokering have to do with one another? You will soon find out by listening to this episode.
For more information, please visit their website: www.legendlegacies.org
About a year ago, we had a fabulous Small & Gutsy episode that featured Jazz Hands For Autism, a nonprofit organization that provides wrap-around artist education, development, promotion and placement for learners and aspiring artists on the autism spectrum enabling them to explore and express their talent. Services offered include: The Jazz Hands Concert Series: a semi-annual concert series and performance platform for neurodivergent artists, The Jazz Hands Musicians Academy: an individualized post-secondary music education and vocational program that prepares aspiring musicians on the autism spectrum for careers in music, and The Jazz Hands Junior Academy: in home and virtual music lessons taught by RBT (Registered Behavior Technician), meaning trained musicians and graduates of the Jazz Hands Musicians Academy
Join them in celebrating their 10-year anniversary on May 25th!
Get Tickets here: JHConcert21.eventbrite.com
My two guests today know this all too well as their passion for helping kids learn to read began as a young married couple when they joined a USC alumni program reading with students every week at the USC “School of Five” inner-city elementary schools. They quickly became aware of the alarming number of students […]
Journalists and those who represent news platforms are generally trained to report on factual information; in a recent visit to the Shorenstein Institute, I was exposed to the incredible work they do to ensure that journalists have tools to accurately interpret the information that is coming at them so quickly - most journalists, I believe, […]
