Awesome Foundation - Projects

Kingston – Build Bridges, not Walls (BBnW)

2017-02-18T00:00:00Z

Taking Donald Trump's election in the United States as a call to action, 'Build Bridges, Not Walls' is a newly-formed collective of Kingstonians whose goals include working on building community, encouraging a culture of resistance (as opposed to acquiescence), and developing skills around having difficult conversations with folks outside people's subcultural 'bubbles'. We want to work on strengthening local organizations and their important work by building capacity and bringing in new members. We are currently planning two events! These are: 1) February 2, 2017- A panel and community discussion on Trump and the rise of authoritarians: There will be a brief panel discussion, after which people will have the opportunity to strategize about local action in break-out groups and will be able to connect to representatives of different local political groups for long-term local involvement. Speakers include Burcu Baba, Brea Hutchinson, and Aric McBay, with fourth panel spot- maybe David Pugh, maybe someone else. 2) February 28, 2017- A workshop: Having tough conversation across the political spectrum: There will be an opening activity/warm-up, then breakout skill-building groups. People can select to join one of three groups- understanding bias & logical fallacies, role-playing across political spectrums, strategies around self-care. Facilitators may include (pending) Barb Danielewski, Kayley Marsh, and one other spot to be filled.

Miami, FL – Liberty City Bee Girls

2017-02-17T00:00:00Z

Liberty City Bee Girls is a project of CombCutters: Live Bee Removal & Education Service - a small business owned and operated by two female beekeepers dedicated to preserving South Florida’s honeybee population through relocation of wild beehives and education on importance of honeybees. The Liberty City Bee Girls program seeks to bring 7-10 year old girls from Liberty City - a historically lower to middle income black neighborhood - together, to learn the art of beekeeping. The Bee Girls will learn the inner workings of a beehive and why bees are integral to our survival, through crafts, games, and other bee/pollination centered activities. Each week they will don beekeeping gear, and open up the hives, first getting comfortable with the bees, and later actually doing the work of tending the hives. Beekeeping is a powerful educational tool that these beekeepers use to cover topics that reach far beyond the bees, themselves. Using bee society as a model, the Bee Girls topics of learning will range from food systems, to geometry and engineering, to communication and social skills. The Bee Girls will meet with CombCutters’ beekeepers on a weekly basis for 2 hour sessions. This program will run for six weeks and will be free of charge to all participants. Liberty City Bee Girls creates a safe and empowering environment for girls from frontline communities to gain knowledge in a relevant, accessible and fun way. The program gives participants direct avenues to understand and change their environment and food systems, while they build confidence and confront fears and stereotypes they are faced with. By the end of the six week series, the Bee Girls will be able to handle bees with confidence and lead tours through the apiary, for other kids and community members while sharing pertinent information about the bees. And who doesn't love seeing kids smiling big in bee suits?!

Miami, FL – Sensie - measuring intuitive response of the body

2017-02-17T00:00:00Z

Working with researchers out of Oxford University and UC Berkeley we have developed a neuromuscular signal that represents the intuitive response of the body to any topic a person would like to explore. We use sensors on smartphones combined with machine learning techniques to track the fluidity of movement in an active whipping gesture. By measuring the response of the golgi tendons in the wrist we are able to detect when a topic is in balance or out of balance for a person's overall well-being. Topics include: food allergies/sensitivities, well-being methods such as different meditation techniques, mindfulness techniques, positive psychology, etc. We've spent the last year and half researching and developing the core signal. Majority of our research has been conducted on mindfulness, meditation and other well-being methods. We just recently completed two preliminary studies on food sensitivities/allergies and we had fantastic results - we were able to accurately detect foods that were in balance / out of balance for participants as corroborated by widely accepted blood testing exams. We are now preparing to bring the product to market focusing solely on food sensitivities/allergies. Imagine what it could mean for us if our choices for our own well-being were self-guided based on the bodies innate guidance.

Miami, FL – The Legend of the Pink Elephant

2017-02-17T00:00:00Z

Luckner “ Lucky “ Bruno here and I hope all is well with you. I am writer, director, choreographer of the “ The Legend of the Pink Elephant”. It is a circus , theater, musical hybrid show with a message. It debuted on the main stage at the Miami Theater Center (MTC). It was thrilling to see the house so full of happy and enchanted little faces. The show ran for 2 and a half weeks . In that short time it played for a little more than 3000 people. We had not only second graders come to the show , but also a great number of high schoolers attended our production. Young and old were able to connect with the show, and more importantly our message. We are doing another run of the show! We will be playing again at MTC this coming spring 2017. In our play an elephant is born different from the rest of the heard. He is born with pink skin, and is bullied out of the heard by the other elephants for this. He runs away and finds colorful characters that love his difference. Eventually they get him to appreciate and love his different -ness. Now a more confident elephant ,he decides to go back home. When he returns he finds his home is not how he left it. Humans are there hunting elephants for there teeth. This is a piece of living theater. In this hybrid show actors have trained in circus arts. I felt this was important as this is not a ‘circus show’ with a lose story tagging along. This is a message of love and respect for the world. Such a journey needs good storytellers with amazing skills. We want to have more runs of the show as well as a tour. We would love to create a school tour of the show, so that we can take this show and it’s beautiful message to all of Dade county and abroad . We are also planning to make a children’s book of our story. It is important for the next generation to see that different is not a crime . “The Legend of the Pink Elephant” is more than a show. It is a message of love and compassion .

Awesome Without Borders (Inactive) – Name that Bone!

2017-02-17T00:00:00Z

Imagine you are out for a hike in the woods, and come across a pile of bones. Or perhaps you are a student of archaeology or forensic anthropology, and need a quick reference. Or a teacher in a K-12 classroom who desires to give students an interactive science lesson. Name that Bone! will be a bone identification app, allowing the public, students, scientists and professionals a quick and easy guide to compare a multitude of species, including H. sapiens and common North American animals. Our app will utilize GIS technology, which allows us to create photogrammetry (combine photos and create a 3D image), for optimal identification. First, we will photograph each bone from multiple angles. Software will then allow us to perform the needed photogrammetric triangulation, create a dense point cloud, calculate measurements, and provide the 3d models. With this technology, we can create a highly accurate and extremely detailed image of the bones. The app will lead the user through a series of questions designed to rapidly assess type of bone and size, before providing a selection of photos which match the specified criteria. Additionally, users can browse photos by selecting species or bone type. For students or amateurs interested in more in-depth studies, the app will also provide a list of additional sources and references. These photos will be taken from bones in our personal collections, and from collections at local institutions. Why an app? Although multiple textbooks have been published with similarly detailed photos, these are often expensive. Providing an electronic version will allow participation of a much wider audience, as well as promote science. We anticipate our app finding an audience in public and private sectors, from classrooms to museums, and be used in a wide variety of settings. We are also applying to Boulder, Plano, and San Antonio chapters in the hope that one of you will find our project as fascinating as we do!

Chicago, IL – Operation Evergreen: Guitars Over Guns Program

2017-02-17T00:00:00Z

Last year, I began working as a music mentor with an organization called Guitars Over Guns (GOGO), an arts-based youth development non-profit that provides high-quality music instruction and mentoring to kids in challenging environments. In partnership with two co-teachers, I directed a group of 9 students in an ensemble setting, teaching the habits & mindsets of excellent musicians. In December of 2015, GOGO was awarded a $7,500 grant to fund in-school programming to supplement our already existing after-school music program at Evergreen Academy MS in McKinley Park. Our Guitars Over Guns mentors worked collaboratively with the in-house music teacher to create and implement units for 317 6th-8th graders over the course of 12 weeks, emphasizing a unique blend of National Arts & Social-Emotional Learning standards. During these lessons, students explored the cultural & historical contexts for different eras of popular music as well as performance-related skills, working collaboratively with their peers to build relationships & persevere through challenges. Each unit culminated with a concert, which for some students, marked their first ever public performance. Under our leadership, the GOGO after-school program at Evergreen tripled in size over the course of the 2015-16 school year. Participating students cited improvement in their self-image, confidence, & discipline, and 88% agreed by program's end that working in a musical group could help them make positive decisions both in and outside of school. Due to lack of funding, we learned the same $7,500 grant will not be renewed this year. Through end-of-year fundraising projects and a generous contribution from Evergreen's administrators who believe in our program, we've recouped $6,100 of the lost funds for this particular program, leaving our deficit at $1,400. We are applying to the Awesome Foundation because of their commitment to excellent ideas & to make an investment in some of Chicago's most deserving kids.

Minas Gerais (Inactive) – Bloco da Judite

2017-02-17T00:00:00Z

O Bloco da Judite foi criado com a intenção de diversificar ainda mais os ritmos tocados no carnaval de Belo Horizonte, trazendo a cúmbia, tecno brega, carimbô, calypso, arrocha, pagode baiano e reggaeton, além de destacar bandas/cantoras(es) autorais do cenário musical brasileiro que compõem grande parte do reportório do bloco. ***A apresentação do bloco será no dia 03/03/2017, as 20h no NECUP (Av. Nossa Sra. de Fátima, 3312 - Prado, Belo Horizonte)*** A Música, por meio de manifestações culturais, eventos religiosos, apresentações e festas ou por meio das diversas mídias eletrônicas, está sempre presente no cotidiano das pessoas. Acompanha os contextos históricos e é uma ferramenta de comunicação e educação. A percussão e seus ritmos, principalmente as derivadas da cultura popular, são a base estrutural de nossa cultura musical, que se origina dos guetos, quilombos, praças e salas de concerto. Nesse sentido, o desenvolvimento da prática de atividades musicais percussivas propostas nesse projeto, visa atender cerca de 20 ritmistas, 300 foliões e 270 crianças, adultos e idosos com oficinas percussivas em Belo Horizonte, possibilitando vivências lúdicas de uma manifestação artística tão rica e tradicional, além da conscientização sobre a importância da valorização da cultura popular , e nela o nosso carnaval, festa que carrega consigo uma tradição de resistência do povo. Nosso objetivo é despertar, por meio da música, o sentimento de pertencimento dos beneficiados, sendo o carnaval e a música os representantes das diversas manifestações culturais populares do Brasil. Nesse sentido, reconhecerem a música e essa festa como um movimento de estímulo à apropriação dos espaços públicos, espaço de (con)viver, de ressignificar, de se tornar protagonistas de uma cidade que (re)conhece sua diversidade cultural.

LA South Bay, CA (Inactive) – The Rhymecology Game

2017-02-16T00:00:00Z

The Rhymecology Game is the first hip-hop self expression game. It is a card game created to act as a bridge between therapists, counselors, teachers and the hip-hop loving youth that they serve. I recognized that one of the main disconnects between therapists and "at-risk" youth is the inability to find a common language in which to discuss deeply personal issues. More importantly, they need to find a safe way to discuss them. Through years of work in mental health as well as the music industry, I discovered that in the client's eyes, hip-hop was always an inviting topic to discuss and that it would often lead to deeper, therapeutic conversations. I figured out how to create "Rap Rapport" with kids who often don't allow much rapport to be developed at all. So with an old wooden box, scissors, scotch tape and a hell of a lot of hip-hop knowledge, I was able the first game which I brought around to my sessions (in South Bay, LA and Long Beach) and started to see more and more children open up to me in ways that they had not before. Even kids who were not "in" hip-hop culture would ask me for the game. "Can we play the Rhymecology game Mr. Jeff??" I smile and say, "Well if you are going to twist my arm!!" Seeing the need, seeing the results (from both research and field study), I knew I had to make this a tool available to others. There is no game on the market. No game that uses hip-hop as a self expression tool, no game that teaches youth to think critically about hip-hop, and no game that gives children pause to self-reflect while in full hip-hop mode.

Orlando, FL – “From Orlando With Love” book project

2017-02-16T00:00:00Z

“From Orlando With Love” is a creative writing contest, book publication, and art project featuring 15 Orlando high-schoolers and 15 Orlando artists. For the last 5 years, Page 15 has held a county-wide writing contest for local high school writers. Hundreds of submissions are evaluated and the best 15 are published in a printed book. This year, our book theme is L-O-V-E. Inspired by the incredible outpouring of love in our city following the Pulse shooting, we’d like to honor and celebrate that love in this year’s anthology. Page 15 received a total of 179 submissions of poetry, essays, and short fiction that explore love in all its manifestations! Additionally, this year we’d like to match each of the 15 final pieces with a different Orlando artist who will create a custom work of art to be published alongside the writings in the book. The finished book featuring all 15 authors and 15 artists will be released at a book release party with a gallery showing on Third Thursday at the Gallery at Avalon Island in spring 2017. Each of the authors will read their pieces and artists will have the chance to sell prints of the art. The final published book will be available for purchase through Page 15’s website as well as partner venues across Orlando.

Cass Clay – Goats = Opportunities for ND

2017-02-15T00:00:00Z

What is the most popular meat in the world? Did you guess chicken? How about beef? While those are very popular choices here in the US, the most popular meat in the world is.... goat! Approximately 63% of the world's population eats goat meat. It is mainly considered an ethnic dish here in the US, but is gaining a foot-hold in other markets as health-conscious consumers are beginning to take note of this nutritious protein source. According to the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, 3 ounces of goat meat contains 122 calories (chicken = 162, beef = 179). It is lower in cholesterol (63.8) than chicken (76) or beef (73.1), but contains nearly equal amounts of protein (goat = 23, chicken = 25, beef = 25). Approximately 97% of goat meat consumed in the US is imported. Recent estimates indicate that the US is more than 750,000 head deficient in meeting current demand for goat meat. Goat meat is popular, nutritious, in demand, and... environmentally friendly! Goats efficiently convert noxious weeds and low quality pasture to high quality meat and milk. Compared to cattle, they require far less feed supplementation, promote female participation in agriculture due to their ease of handling, and many of their health needs can be addressed by the producer vs. professional consultants such as feed specialists. I am interested in humanely raising goats for local consumption. According to current census data, ethnic and cultural diversity is growing in our state, up 1.4% since 2010. Many ethnicities have traditionally incorporated goat meat into their diet, but finding locally raised, quality goat meat can be difficult in our area. I have been contacted by individuals from Fargo looking for local, humanely raised goat meat on several occasions. Besides filling a need in our community, my enterprise will benefit the local economy by providing business for local meat processors, veterinarians, alfalfa/hay/straw producers, and agricultural retail stores.

Piqua, OH (Inactive) – Making holidays happier

2017-02-15T00:00:00Z

Taking photographs of people around Piqua engaged in the everyday tasks and, later, surprising them with a photograph of themselves in action and letting them know that they matter, and they are part of the reason that Piqua is awesome.

New York City, NY – Women Who Build: Artist Who Own

2017-02-14T00:00:00Z

Women Who Build: Artist Who Own is a project that empowers women to build their construction skills, grow their networks, and increase their confidence. Women and girls are stereotyped as being helpless when it comes to building and using tools. Women Who Build; Artist Who Own is a project that brings women and girls together to fight and prove these stereotypes wrong. This project is giving us confidence when it comes to using machinery, installing a roof, installing flooring, and more. The skills we learn will help us go back to our homes and communities, feel empowered, and have stronger women networks to draw strength from. The way we are accomplishing this is by having monthly meetings. In these monthly meetings, women are broken up into groups: fundraising, sourcing, design, project management, skill building, marketing and volunteer coordination, and documenting. Each woman is responsible for volunteering at least 6 hours a month to accomplish the task assigned during the meeting. After each meeting, women from ages 14-70+ participate in a 1 hour skill building class designed by the skill building team. This project started in October and will be completed at the end of August. In June, the women participating in the project will build an actual tiny house on wheels at knockdown center in maspeth. Any woman can participate as long as she signs up online at meetup for a new member meeting. We love this project, both for its grassroots nature, and because our funds will help buy power tools that participants in the workshop will use to make a very small house. Power tools are Awesome. If you would like to participate, check out their Meetup group.

San Francisco, CA – The Banana Peel

2017-02-13T00:00:00Z

I enjoy absurd humor and the surreal. This is an attempt to combine the two into a single project. The idea is to produce as realistic a 5-6' tall banana peel as I can out of available materials. (Preliminary research leads me to believe I may be able to do this with thick foam padding, latex or vinyl, and paint.) The original idea for this project was to produce many of these large banana peels, and install them through the city of San Francisco. Attempting to install these large, cartoonish peels drooped over street signs, hanging from street lights, flopped over the corner of a building's roof, or just splayed out on a park side bench. Unfortunately, due to a lack of materials and resources, I have yet been able to more forward with this aspect of the project. As a possible beginning (and a way to help find further funding for the more elaborate project), I would like to create just one large banana peel. I would then photograph the peel in different locations. At first, I would attempt to make the banana peel seem somewhat to scale, or in mostly banal places. As the photo series continues, I would begin to place the peel in more unusual situations, perhaps even anthropomorphizing it into some sort of sentient being. My hope would be that the peel begins to do normal human things, like taking a walk, enjoying coffee, watching a movie with a cuddling friend. I may even attempt to leave the peel, posed as if reading a book, at a local coffee shop and record how passerby react to its presence.

Singapore – Bottle Cap Art

2017-02-13T00:00:00Z

The creation of my BOTTLE CAP ART came about as a result of my interest in collecting bottle caps during my holidays and my interest in working with resin. By combining the hollow of a bottle cap, the use of recycled paper as the background, a charm and resin, I was able to create a beautiful piece of miniature art. These ubiquitous beer and soda bottle caps destined for the bins are given a new life through these Bottle Cap Art creations. With a good eye for composing a picture-story, old magazines, flyers, cards or hong baos packets from my children are used to form the background of the artwork. These bottle caps have been turned into Bottle Cap Magnets and the responses and feedback I get from visitors have been truly encouraging. From elicited smiles and head turning re-look at what they just saw, to comments like "What a clever idea!", "How did you get the idea to make these?" and "Do you conduct workshops?", these responses have validated the many hours I have put in to this project. It served to reinforce how an overlooked object like a discarded bottle cap can be recycled, reused and re-purposed with a little imagination and creativity!

Awesome Without Borders (Inactive) – Girls Onstage!

2017-02-13T00:00:00Z

An all girls production of Pippin?? YOU BET. The Young Women's Leadership School is a title 1 school located in Astoria, New York and we have a passion for performance. The TYWLS of Astoria Drama club has been growing over the past 8 years. We started with small productions in our gym across the street and we've started to expand to renting ACTUAL theater spaces with casts of 20-30 students. We aim to not only perform our productions with zest and aplomb but each aspect of the show is student run and created. Set design, costume design, sound design, lights- the list goes on and on. However, affording this level of production can be a real struggle. That doesn't stop us, in fact working hard to create something we love without very much money can really lead us to some excellent innovation. Cardboard and hot glue go a very long way and we are masters of scenic painting and quick clothing alterations! There is a PR team that works for the drama club to help fundraise but each year we are faced with a gap that is very hard to fill. We have started to come up against this gap as we get closer and closer to production.

Moscow (Inactive) – Связующая нить

2017-02-11T00:00:00Z

Связующая нить - это связь между поколениями. Подростки вместе с представителями старшего поколения (бабушками и прабабушками) занимаются продуктивным рукоделием. Учатся вязать, создавать вещи своими руками. В процессе происходит обмен опытом между поколениями, улучшается взаимопонимание, укрепляются семейные ценности. Созданные в процессе вещи - передаются в дома престарелых, нуждающимся пожилым людям. Реализуются через интернет площадки и благотворительные акции-ярмарки.

Moscow (Inactive) – VETKA

2017-02-11T00:00:00Z

VETKA - это международный благотворительный арт-проект, в рамках которого художники, организаторы, волонтёры объединяются и делают художественное оформление мест, психологически и эстетически в этом нуждающихся. НАША МИССИЯ Мы мечтаем сделать мир красивее, вернуть веру в добрых людей, в бескорыстное желание помочь. Мы вместе станем сильнее и покажем, что можем влиять на настроение в обществе, привлечём внимание к социальным проблемам и поможем их решить. Мы покажем на сколько сильно может влиять искусство на жизнь людей, как оно может помогать. Это места, которые психологически нуждаются в художественном оформлении и не имеют возможности его себе позволить. Мы не рассматриваем коммерческие площадки (развлекательные учреждения, рестораны, частные интерьеры) Мы базируемся в Санкт-Петербурге, но работаем по всему миру. Проект VETKA не ограничен пространственными рамками, нам интересно рисовать в различных уголках нашей планеты. Вы можете тоже поддержать проект, перечислив любую сумму его команде или став волонтером - http://www.artvetka.com/blank-5

San Jose, CA – theCodeMatrix

2017-02-10T00:00:00Z

theCodeMatrix is a nonprofit organization that strives to introduce club members in grades K-8 to coding. Through a series of games, activities, and projects, members explore the fundamentals of coding and application of computer programming in the real world. Our high school level student-volunteers teach and mentor club members with an emphasis on creativity, communication, collaboration, and community. Our leadership crew is divided into 3 groups: media, marketing, and technical. Technical team teaches our club members using our curriculum and develops our website, upcoming apps, and VR experiences. The Marketing team manages our budget and handles communication with sponsors, speakers, and coordinators of our branch locations. The Media team creates our content for our social media and writes articles for our blog. During the summer of 2016 we started a pilot program with 8 officers, and we taught 30 club members in grades 3-7 the basics of how to write code and how to create a static webpage using HTML5 and CSS. It turned out very successful with acclaims from the parents and the staff at the library who have expressed interest for us to return next year and expand as well. Since then, we have recruited 14 more club officers and plan to expand to 3 branches this year around the San Francisco Bay Area. We have also initiated a new project called Code + Infinity in which we introduce our club members to the connection between computer science and a variety of other fields, such as movies and philosophy. As part of this project, we are hosting a technology conference for middle schoolers next fall centered around these connections. Overall, the matrix is an environment in which something develops and our goal is to provide access to CS education in an encouraging and stimulating environment. Ultimately, what sets us apart is that we emphasize interaction, creativity, collaboration, and leadership and use code as a tool to teach those important life lessons.

San Francisco, CA – Why Fish Don't Exist

2017-02-10T00:00:00Z

I am a science reporter who is working on a book about taxonomy and when the desire to order the word becomes madness, all told thru the real-life adventures(!) of a 19th century fish collector who battled lightning, hurricanes, and earthquakes, never believing for an instant that the World would overcome him. What I wondered about this man is, what does behaving like this do to you? Is it heroism to believe you can conquer all earthy Chaos? Or is it delusional? The mark of someone deeply out of touch with his place in the world? What I found is that, on one hand, he achieved incredible success. He discovered more fish than nearly anyone alive on earth at that time. He won peace prizes, had buildings named after him, even a mountain peak. This desire to control got him ahead. But at the same time, there is a lesser known side of this widely celebrated man. His passion for ordering world slipped over from fish into people. He became one of the country's most prominent eugenicists, helping to order the sterilization of thousands of people in California. He has even been posthumously accused of murder. I want to fly to California to explore his legacy, walk through his home, explore his archives, and interview those who can help fill in his tale.

Birmingham, AL (Inactive) – Futureproof Bama

2017-02-10T00:00:00Z

Futureproof Bama was formed to ensure education and innovation are the driving forces as Alabama stares down a massive paradigm shift where up to a million jobs will be lost to robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI) driven autonomy. In 2015, AL.com reported that the top job on Alabama job boards, more than four thousand job postings, were for truck driving. Truck driving is incredibly important to the types of industries found across Alabama, especially when you consider the states focus on manufacturing. With this job being in demand, it is enticing more and more Alabama residents to commit the often significant investment in purchasing a personal truck. A proud moment for many, but will it end up be a wise investment? Jump to 2016, and now the LA Times is now reporting that Autonomous Trucks like those created by Uber owned startup, Otto, are set to displace more than 1.7 million truck drivers across the country. This displacement could be devastating to Alabama. According to Indeed, at the time of this posting, the average salary for truck drivers across the state is about $52,000 and is 1% higher than the nationwide average. This number easily moves these families into the middle class. This same idea about the dangers to the middle class was recently echoed by Stephen Hawkings when he said that the middle class would be decimated by these latest innovations. So where does Alabama go from here? Our nonprofit paperwork has been filed to start our mission aimed to help all of Alabama, with our Futureproof Bama initiative and we are currently awaiting 501(c)(3) status. With this initiative, we will firstly focus on the state of Alabama. Secondly, we look to raise awareness for a pending workforce crisis, encourage businesses to continue to innovate and do so in-state and get Alabama ready for working in the new economy. Just as bulletproof vest protects its wearer, together we will futureproof Alabama together.

Rio de Janeiro (Inactive) – Passageiro.org

2017-02-09T00:00:00Z

O projeto se resume em um SITE - passageiro.org - e um APLICATIVO MOBILE (APP) que, interligados entre si, será uma grande ferramenta para ajudar os usuários dos modais de transportes, bem como auxiliar as empresas e os órgãos de fiscalização a direcionar melhor, como já dissemos, os recursos para essa área, pois enviaremos para ambos, relatórios das problemáticas nos transportes. O projeto se justifica pelo quadro de degradação que está havendo hoje nos transportes do Rio de Janeiro. Estamos tendo muitos problemas relacionados a retiradas de linhas e remanejo de outras, confundindo os usuários e prejudicando seu direito de ir e vir; aliado a um serviço já precário e de péssima qualidade, vimos nesse projeto uma maneira de concatenar os problemas e ver onde ele é mais grave e, com essas informações, passar para as autoridades para que eles possam redirecionar melhor os recursos para área de transportes. Serão beneficiados pelo projeto: usuários de transportes públicos em todo o estado do Rio de Janeiro, não importando raça, cor, crédulo ou condições sociais; mas, por óbvio, nossa defesa sempre atinge as pessoas menos abastadas da sociedade carioca.

Liverpool (Inactive) – Thanks

2017-02-09T00:00:00Z

Thanks is a reward scheme that attempts to engage students in a way not achieved by any other. It does this by being built around thanking others for their help rather than on teachers deciding who should be rewarded. It allows students and teachers to decide who should be rewarded together by thanking those who have helped them. As a result it is not limited to just students who can be rewarded but teachers also. This can allow a school to gain a sense of community by bringing everyone together in an attempt to help each other out. The system is designed to display all thanks publicly for everyone in the school to see. This helps to stop misuse (on top of our sentiment analysis checks) as well as give people the public recognition they deserve for being a good member of the community. Not only does the system handle the giving and display of thanks but also has built in statistical and raffle systems. The raffle system allows those who have been thanked more frequently to have a higher chance of winning prizes that the school is offering. This all comes together to allow the school to reward those who help out the most within the school.

Ann Arbor, MI – SMILE

2017-02-08T00:00:00Z

I founded the SMILE program for the children in my low income neighborhood, Sycamore Meadows, along with another parent, Sentra. SMILE stands for Sycamore Meadows Introducing Literacy Engagement and is a reading group that I do at my house every other Wednesday where the children ages 2-8 are invited to eat a healthy snack along with my children and listen to a story. We do sight words, ask questions about the book and the children each get to pick out a book from the donated book shelf to take home with them. There are usually between 15-20 kids at every session. I track attendance each time (name and their age - and when they come 4 times they get to pick a prize from the treasure chest). If they read a book to the group then they automatically get to pick a prize and they get a Superstar Reader certificate.

Rio de Janeiro (Inactive) – Festival da Mulher Trabalhadora

2017-02-07T00:00:00Z

Fruto da experiência da CAMTRA com as comerciárias do Centro Comercial da SAARA, centro, Rio de Janeiro/RJ, onde realiza um trabalho desde 1999, nasce a proposta de realizar o Festival da Mulher Trabalhadora. Neste período, a CAMTRA acumulou experiência em desenvolver ações nas áreas de direitos, saúde sexual e reprodutiva e violência contra as mulheres, com estas trabalhadoras que têm uma jornada de trabalho de 8/9 horas diárias, enfrentam cerca de 2/3 horas entre casa-trabalho-casa e ainda arcam com a dupla jornada de trabalho. Desta forma, não possuem tempo e condições para participarem de oficinas, debates e seminários. Entre nossas estratégias de aproximação com as mulheres, destacamos a metodologia da Barraca de Direitos, realizada no meio da rua, com aulas públicas distribuídos preservativos masculinos e femininos, materiais informativos sobre direitos básicos, violência contra as mulheres e outros. Esta ação já beneficiou diretamente 48.274 pessoas, sendo na sua maioria mulheres. Em nosso site temos um documentário com estas trabalhadoras: www.camtra.org.br/index.php/midia/videos?ygstart=16 Porque no Centro Comercial da SAARA? Porque este é um um local privilegiado para dialogar com as mulheres trabalhadoras, visto que tem 1200 estabelecimentos comerciais, sendo 700 lojas, onde circulam diariamente cerca de 70.000 pessoas e a mão de obra empregada é constituída em sua maioria por mulheres. Como seria o Festival da Mulher Trabalhadora? Um dia de mobilização voltado para os direitos das trabalhadoras do Centro Comercial da SAARA, de forma a ampliar e aumentar o alcance das ações desenvolvidas pela CAMTRA. Assim, além de nossas ações com a Barraca de Direitos, haveria a participação de outros órgãos e instituições de atendimento às mulheres, como Delegacia Especial de Atendimento às Mulheres, Núcleo de Assistência Jurídica, além de apresentações culturais de mulheres e/ou grupos de mulheres, como grafitti, rap e outros.

Atlanta, GA (Inactive) – Christian Family Adoption Aid (CFAA)

2017-02-07T00:00:00Z

Christian Family Adoption Aid(CFAA) is a fairly new non-profit that was created to assist families financially with their adoption process by awarding adoption grants. CFAA also coordinates annual mission trips to assist rural communities in Jamaica by providing food, school supplies, Vacation Bible School, and other various resources to help improve the community.

Paris (Inactive) – Changer le monde en 2 heures - Chaîne Youtube

2017-02-06T00:00:00Z

Je rêve d’un monde ou chacun puisse s’engager sur les causes qui lui tiennent à cœur. Or personne ne nous a appris à changer les choses. Mon but est de mettre en avant des moyens faciles et rapides d'agir pour les autres et la planète : microdon, bénévolat de compétences, nettoyer la planète en une journée... Je souhaite lancer une chaîne Youtube pour démocratiser l'engagement citoyen, partager plus de micro engagements et aider un maximum de jeunes à agir à leur échelle. Il y aura 3 catégories de vidéos : des interviews décalées de citoyens ordinaires qui changent le monde, des exemples de micro engagements simples à réaliser, des questions qu'on se pose quand on veut changer les choses. A votre avis, combien de milliers de personnes passeraient à l'action si on leur montre par où commencer ? I dream of a world in which everyone is able to support causes that matter to him/her. But nobody taught us how to change things. My goal is to highlight easy and simple ways to act for others and for the planet : micro-gifts, volunteering, cleaning the planet in a day. I want to start a Youtube channel to open civic commitment to all, share more micro-initiatives, and help a maximum of young people to act around them. There will be 3 categories of videos : interviews of ordinary citizens who change the world, examples of micro initiatives that are easy to undertake, answers to questions that people ask themselves when they want to change things. How many people do you think will take the leap if we showed us where to start from ?

Awesome Without Borders (Inactive) – Global Women's Water Initiative

2017-02-06T00:00:00Z

GWWI trains women in Sub-Saharan Africa to bring clean water and sanitation to their villages. Why women? Women and girls are the most affected by the lack of water in their villages because they can spend upwards of 8 hours a day fetching water and doing water-related chores so women can't work and girls can't go to school. They are also caretakers of their families, and when family members get sick, they spend money on clinic and medicine and lose productivity. The World Health Organization estimates that over half the hospital beds in the world are occupied by people with water related disease! In addition, 1 out of 10 girls drop out of school by the 8th grade because there are no sanitation facilities in school and they have no where to relieve or wash themselves when they have their periods. They are also at risk of being violently attacked and even raped when they have to fetch water or openly defecate. To make matters worse, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization found that the 'exclusion of women in water and sanitation projects, is the cause of their high rate of failure'. Despite their deep relationship with water, they aren't even included in decision making and so water projects fail because of it! GWWI is changing that. Not only are we training women to build water and sanitation technologies like rainwater harvesting systems, water storage tanks, toilets, clean water filters and more, we are making sure they know how to conduct water, health and hygiene workshops so people know how to reduce their risk of water related disease. The women earn money as water specialists building, training and making and selling hand made hygiene products. With our support, the women are also being asked to serve on their local water boards, ensuring that their voices are heard when it comes to issues that directly affect them. Our women are being transformed from passive recipients of failed water projects to water providers, trainers and leaders!

Singapore – MR HASSAN AND HIS SKETCHES

2017-02-05T00:00:00Z

Hello My name is Shaiful Risan. Mr Hassan is my father and I am writing this behind his back as a surprise. He is approaching retirement, and with an aging body he cannot do much physical work. However he is a great artist and i know deep down inside he would have loved to be an artist / illustrator. He had to shelf his dream and work regular jobs growing up to support his family; eventually marrying my mom and raising me. Fast forward, now I am 35, work in the arts/entertainment/education spectrum and roughing it out, but i wake up loving what i do. However being in Singapore is rather expensive and I also have a ton of debt to clear. Having said that this is not about me; this is about my father. I hope to get a kick start amount to get him going; by doing an exhibition for him that sells some prints/merchandize/shirts/tote bags based on his sketches. They are unique and are fast phasing out in an increasingly 'millenial dominated' world. His samples are here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AJeNmd2ewk I will be glad to show or detail more information if someone ends up being really interested in this.

Sarnia (Inactive) – Vision Buddies

2017-02-03T00:00:00Z

Annapolis, NS (Inactive) – Come Play with Us - Exploring Fibre Crafts

2017-02-03T00:00:00Z

April 22nd 2017, SOFAAR, the Society of Fibre Artists of the Annapolis River, will host a day long "Come Play with Us" event at the AR Firehall.  This event will invite members of the community for a full day of communal fibre crafting (knitting, hooking, weaving, embroidery, cross stitch, needlepoint, spinning, felting, beading, basketry, etc - if it is done with fibre, it will be there!). We will offer demonstrations of different techniques and a chance for visitors young and old to try their hands at these techniques and see what working with fibre is all about.  We would like to make this an inclusive event from school age children to seniors. A special visit will be made to area schools in advance of April 22nd to encourage participation. We will have some special hands-on projects designed especially for youth. Part of SOFAAR's mission is to promote and advance fibre-based art through educational activities and this community event will help us achieve this goal.

Oakland, CA (Inactive) – Resistance is Love in Action

2017-02-03T00:00:00Z

I have been leading fabric banner making workshops for the Women's March and other actions to unite our collective energies to resist the current political regime that undermines the rights and humanity of so many. The intergenerational, interracial, multigendered, intersectional beauty and power of the Women's Marches across the globe have inspired me to reproduce large scale color images of the signs and banners made by everyday people and collaborate with a local art organization to wheat paste a mural to put on the facade of a large building so that our collective resistance can be made visible all day, every day for at least the first 100 days of Trump in office. I am also working with participants in the banner making workshops to rig them so that they can double as window curtains to face out on to our neighborhood streets, so that communities can feel unified in our efforts to support one another, to bolster our spirits and know that we are not alone, that we will not be swallowed by this wave of hate, but that we can build bridges and come together with love as a unifying force. I currently have proposals in to Kala as well as 100 Days of Action to determine the best site for this project.

Adelaide – When Rosie Died

2017-02-01T00:00:00Z

My name is Stacey Hargroves and I am an independant filmmaker in Adelaide currently filming a short film about a young wife and mother of three who gets run down to the point where she literally turns into a Zombie... and nobody notices! This movie will hopefully give an insight into how it feels to live with post-natal depression or a mental illness and, similar to the movie 'Warm Bodies', show that there is hope at the end to return to the living. All who have read the script have related to Rosie and have been moved by her struggle and I am excited and determined to make something which will give others a new perspective on post-natal depression and mental illness.

Melbourne (Inactive) – Audio Description in Victoria

2017-01-31T00:00:00Z

Firstly, and truly most importantly: Dinosaur. Audio description is the practice of making the visual verbal. It makes art and media more inclusive and accessible for people who are blind or vision impaired. Do you have Netflix? Go load up "Daredevil" and select "English - Audio Description" from the languages menu to hear an example! Audio Description can work across any medium, but my work is primarily in theatres. Describers prepare a script that we read in set changes and pauses in the dialogue to tell people what is happening on stage. Patrons have a small FM receiver and headset, and describers speak into a portable FM transmitter. We also run touch tours of the stage before the show and develop pre-show notes that are recorded for use on client's websites to market the show. I trained as an audio describer in South Australia in 2013, and have been working as a freelance professional describer since. I moved to Melbourne last year, and found that the practice hasn't developed professionally in Victoria. I want to be the catalyst for that development. I am working to establish a professional, best practice audio description service in Victoria. Working with Arts Access Victoria and other industry partners, I have a plan to bring on board some of the state's leading arts institutions and train up a new crew of professionally-trained describers. I'm also setting up an audience reference group of people who are vision impaired to become advocates for the service and have a voice in its development. Currently I have local artist Ross De Vent on board as a collaborator, and CEO of Arts Access Australia Emma Bennison is acting as an adviser. Currently, I have to beg, borrow or steal the FM transmitter gear required to offer this service. My goal is to acquire a full set of gear so I don't have to pass on significant hire costs to cash-strapped arts clients and can invest more in training new people to offer this service.

North Minneapolis, MN – W.A.G.E. Presents B.A.E.

2017-01-31T00:00:00Z

W.A.G.E. = We All Gone Eat B.A.E. = Body Art Experience WAGE is a new collective of artists seeking to change the damaging narrative of the "starving artist". B.A.E. is a showcase of artwork in various genres and mediums that amplify the beauty of the human body and what it can do. Imagine a soundscape that shifts the energy toward exploration of the artistic mind of each artist participating. The space will be curated to included elements such as body movement artistry, live body paint, live figure model drawings, live jewelry making and presentation, circus arts, etc. The hope is to bring together various genres exploring body art in a cohesive and entertaining way. No nudity, though some implied nudity may call for this to be an 18 plus event.

Washington, DC – Women in Horror Month- D.C.

2017-01-31T00:00:00Z

Hello! I was shocked, maybe even *horrified* to recently discover there was no D.C. event for Women in Horror month! As of yesterday, I have secured a venue (Northeast Library, where I was a volunteer yoga instructor) and a locally-made, women-fronted horror film to screen. The event is February 28th. To go alongside the screening, I am working to compile short horror stories written by D.C. area women to go into an anthology. I want to represent as broad of a base of women as possible. The anthology would be an eBook which would be for sale for $5 leading up to the event and during. The proceed will be donated to Planned Parenthood Metropolitan Washington--of which I am volunteer. Readings from this anthology will serve as the "opener" for the film. For after the screening, I am working on a reception hosted at a local bar. There, patrons can enjoy discussion with the filmmakers, authors, and one another.

Awesome Without Borders (Inactive) – Services for Homeless Women in Portland, OR

2017-01-30T00:00:00Z

I want to support Laura Nees-Shugart, a residential case management supervisor at Transition Projects, a non-profit supported mainly by state and federal grants. They're mission is to help transition people from homelessness to housing - and they also provide severe weather shelter. In a given year, they help 10,000 people in the Portland area. But 2017 is off to a different start. Thanks to a winter storm and unseasonably cold weather for Portland, temperatures have been below freezing for 34 days since the first of December 2016. Severe weather shelters, normally open only 11 days in a year, have been open for 22 straight days. The team, including Laura, work around the clock to ensure there is a clean, safe, warm place for people to stay. And then they also do their normal jobs, helping people find permanent housing and providing other services. They need some help - supplies, staff and money - to meet the challenge this winter has posed. Let's get them a little extra relief!

Jumbos (Inactive) – Storytelling For Youth Activists

2017-01-30T00:00:00Z

Latin American Youth Center’s (LAYC) DREAMER Committee is a group of LAYC staff who conduct immigration advocacy and administer a scholarship fund to offset immigration fees for youth, particularly DACA applications. With the uncertainty of the DACA program, the committee has switched focus to support our youth activists in telling their stories. Our aim is to embolden our youth to share their personal connection to immigration and to be vocal activists for immigration justice in their communities. In this vein, our committee plans to create a Storytelling for Youth Activists workshop series. Ten LAYC youth will be selected to participate in a series of storytelling workshops to gain leadership, community building, and public speaking skills. Youth will learn to powerfully share their personal stories in connection to the ongoing fight for immigrant justice. A spoken word or storytelling specialist will guide each youth through developing their narrative, connecting with an audience, and successfully conveying their point of view. Trained youth will be invited to participate in larger immigration advocacy through: public speaking at rallies, testifying before city council, and/or in speaking to the media. Partner organizations, including Story District, have expressed enthusiasm in partnering with LAYC on this project. Storytelling for Youth Activists will amplify youth voices to lead our local immigrant justice movement. This project is strategically aligned with Latin American Youth Center’s overall mission to empower a diverse population of youth to achieve a successful transition to adulthood, through multi-cultural, comprehensive, and innovative programs that address youths' social, academic, and career needs. LAYC provides services and opportunities to approximately 4,000 individuals annually to support academic achievement, promote healthy behaviors, and guide youth toward successful adulthood.

Alaska (Inactive) – Stickers for Conservation!

2017-01-29T00:00:00Z

I've spent my entire life taking advantage of Alaska's wild lands, with very minimal effort to help preserve/conserve those lands. In light of the new Federal Administration, I'm getting proactive about conservation. I don't have many financial resources, but I do have a large group of friends and fans that appreciate my style of adventuring. I spend several months a year on wilderness trips, human-powered and creative. For example: we biked the Denali Park Road to climb Denali, then floated rivers out to Talkeetna. I've ice skated from Bethel to Goodnews Bay (150 miles), and skied from Yakutat to McCarthy over Mt. Logan, tallest peak in Canada (370 miles). These trips are all done on minimal budget, and presented in a way that is accessible to a lot of people. There isn't a lot of agro or ego involved. I'm leveraging the group of people that find my trips inspiring, sharing with them the need to get proactive about conservation. If those people step up their conservation game (by donating money to conservation campaigns, calling our Representatives, starting conversations, etc.), then I send them cool stickers. The stickers use artwork donated by various artist friends and connections who support this project. The stickers are unbranded, no hashtags or slogans, just clean art. This week I mailed 50 stickers. 10 people called their Reps. $5,000 has been donated to conservation groups.

San Francisco, CA – Resurrecting Lou Harrison's Lost Electronic Music

2017-01-28T00:00:00Z

Last year, I was handed a score for an electronic composition by American composer Lou Harrison. There were two peculiar things about this; 1. I had never heard of the piece (I am very familiar with Harrison’s work) and 2. Harrison famously hated electronics. After speaking to Larry Polansky, the composer who unearthed the score, I found that there is no record of it having ever been performed. The work requires that an acoustic ensemble perform the score, while electronic musicians record, and then play back these recordings at certain speeds that are specified in the score, as the acoustic instruments continue to play. I eventually contacted Daniel Steffey about performing the work with our trio Ctrl-Z. Dan, who has performed many of Harrison’s works before, examined the orchestration and found that there was only one collection of Harrison’s instruments capable of properly reproducing the piece. Amazingly, Dan is a member of an ensemble that has access to these instruments; The William Winant Percussion Group. After speaking with Mr. Winant, he agreed to perform the work as long as we could pay the performers in his group a minimal fee. The Harrison estate, has given us the rights to perform and record the work. We have a performance scheduled in Manhattan, NY, and are in talks with Bay Area colleges for local events. The only thing that is stopping us is a lack of funds. While I will be working on this project for free, this can only happen if we have concerts available and funds for the musicians. The centennial is our only chance to perform this work on a wide variety of concerts of Harrison's music and will allow us to offset some of the costs. We feel that the impact will be much greater as part of a retrospective of Harrison's work and this can only happen if we receive funding for this project now. Preparations for the concert will take at least a month, and if we are to make the deadline for our first concert, we need to start preparing in January.

Twin Cities, MN (Inactive) – The Free Black Table Open MIc

2017-01-26T00:00:00Z

BlackTableArts presents The Free Black Table Open Mic. Free of charge. All ages. Begun in January, 2015, The Free Black Table Open Mic is held at Illusion Theater in Minneapolis and is organized into three sections. First, The Open Mic: serving 500+ multigenerational artists as a free of charge all ages open mic. Dedicated to the writings of black artists and people of color, this open mic is open to the public, but only artists who identify as black and P.O.C can sign up to perform. Second, The Market and Social Hour Taking place in the lobby of Illusion Theater, The Social Hour is an event that offers free, catered food from a local restaurant—usually family owned—accompanied with music and conversation. It’s an opportunity to bring the artist community together to break bread and fellowship in an authentic way. The Market is designed to give access to entrepreneurs and community members looking to sell their products or spread information/resources. Nina Simone said "Freedom is no fear" come get free, and participate in the creation of another world through black art. "It has been amazing to watch the Free Black Table event grow. The first event felt so special, Keno Evol (Artist, poet and educator) established such an authentic and welcoming space of sharing and support. Since then it has grown; larger and more diverse audiences have attended and it continues to feel like a creative, vibrant and safe space. The thing I notice and enjoy the most about the Free Black Table is the support the event and attendees offer each other and the art being offered up. The work itself is fabulous—some of the performers are veterans of spoken word, and others are reading their work for the very first time—what a gift to be in the room for that!" —Ellen Fenster, Illusion Theater

Oahu, HI – 'Iliahi - Wahiawa's Giving Tree

2017-01-26T00:00:00Z

Wahiawa Community Church of the Nazarene, members of the Wahiawa Homeless Alliance and ALEA Bridge will be sponsoring the latest Joint Outreach Engagement, ‘Iliahi – The Wahiawa Giving Tree on December 18, 2016. This is a community Christmas event that will feature food, fun, fellowship and gift giving as our community comes together in the spirit of Christmas to help those who are less fortunate. The idea came from the members of the Nazarene Church who wanted to do something special for our homeless neighbors in the community. Beyond just providing meals and donated items, they wanted to provide a genuine Christmas experience to the homeless that will show how much the community cares about their struggles, and that the residents are committed to helping them through the process of transitioning out of homelessness. Wahiawa is a small rural community located in Central Oahu, with a rich and proud history in agriculture, and was once the focal point of the vibrant pineapple industry on Oahu. In the past few years, the Wahiawa community has experienced the largest increase of homeless population in the Hawaii, with a 17.5% increase from last year, and a staggering 123% increase from 2013. With the help of ALEA Bridge and member agencies of the Wahiawa, Homeless Alliance, we are working together to address the homelessness issues through open and inclusive participation, and develop coordinated and comprehensive solutions appropriate for the community of Wahiawa. In addition, we want to ensure that all of the at-risk and homeless persons are treated with dignity and respect, and valued as a member of the community. This event and will help to bring the community together to establish a support system that addresses the emotional and spiritual needs, as well as build a personal and meaningful relationship, with those that we aim to serve.

Oahu, HI – Bay of Dreams

2017-01-26T00:00:00Z

I give away free stand up paddling lessons. I have been doing it for 7 years. I share a story of how I overcame some health challenges by doing SUP surfing. I have a truck and trailer that I use to haul 28 boards to Pokai Bay in Waianae. To date I have given away over 11,000 free SUP lessons. You can find testimonies at my Bay of Dreams page.

Orlando, FL – Commemorative GDM 'From Broadway w/ Love' Painting

2017-01-25T00:00:00Z

On July 25, 2016, we produced an historical concert, 'From Broadway with Love', with a star-studded cast of Broadway talent to raise money for three Orlando organizations (The Center, Hope & Help & Zebra Coalition) in the wake of the Pulse tragedy. Together with a 100+ person local choir & the Orlando Philharmonic, we created our own piece of history in the name of love and community support...letting ART be our healer. As a former member of the Orlando arts community, NYC artist, Geoffrey Doig-Marx (www.gdmartist.com) has volunteered to create a one-of-kind, commemorative painting in the style of his "Subway" piece, including images of all the Broadway stars such as Chita Rivera, Jessie Mueller, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O'Hara and more. This piece will also include visual representation of the choir and Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. This concert not only represented the NYC arts community sending it's love and showing it's support for a grieving Orlando community, but also two arts communities creating their own piece of history together, as a team of one...ARTISTS! We want this piece to have a home & to be shared with the community it represents. It can be on a display rotation at all three organization's locations, but it can also tour the country to spread an overall energy of love & support. The only thing limiting the possibilities for this piece to have global impact is limiting our imaginations! :)

Portland, OR – Nightingale

2017-01-25T00:00:00Z

Where health and social justice intersect, nurses offer alternative modes of thinking. Nightingale is a web publication established by nurses and the populations they serve. We are a movement committed to social justice for nurses and those impacted by their care, within and beyond the healthcare system. This commitment extends across spheres of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, ability, socio-economic status, and health literacy. Nightingale is an emerging space for writers, artists, activists, healthcare workers, mothers, daughters, brothers, fathers, and Americans who want to help others as peers. We publish news, art, and features centered around health equity with the aim of connecting nurses to their communities. We are a group of women around the US from across disciplines that have connected to create a space for millenials working toward health equity. With various backgrounds our perspectives are diverse and cover a broad range of interests. Our work will speak to individuals from all levels of health literacy, and we are united in an effort to make healthcare more accessible and equitable for every person.

Orlando, FL – Dowtown Public Art Tour

2017-01-25T00:00:00Z

We want to initiate tours of public art in downtown Orlando by sponsoring a fleet of 8 to 10 electric carts that can be used for tours around Lake Eola Park and the Orange County Administration Center to view the growing number of public art sculptures and installations. The inaugural tour will showcase downtown’s public art to approximately 100 public art administrators and artists from around the state who will be in town for an industry conference. The knowledgeable guide will be Terry Olson, director of the Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs office, with help from SeeArt and members of the Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs Advisory Council’s Public Art Review Board. Once established, these tours could become an opportunity that is promoted to local and visiting groups looking for such an off-beat and arts-rich experience.

Newmarket – Conversations With My Younger Self

2017-01-25T00:00:00Z

This awesome project allows art professionals and youth in the Newmarket Community to collaborate in designing and delivering high quality arts education outside of the traditional classroom. This 3-phased project emphasizes engagement by working with youth to co-create meaningful experiences that stretch their minds, bodies, and imaginations. Phase One - Three Spring Workshops • Workshops will have a minimum of 20 participants and two trainers Phase Two - Summer (Open) Rehearsals (25 hrs) • 12 to 15 youth will develop stories over the summer • The space will be ‘open’ for anyone who wants to observe the rehearsal process • Other youth may sit in as assistant directors, stage managers and dramaturges, offering and • sharing their perspectives and feedback Phase Three - Three Fall Public Performances in Public Spaces • Performances will be free for youth and a small ticket fee will be charged for adults ($5/$8) • All youth will have opportunities to share their talents and learn new skills, and be involved in some creative capacity • Youth may perform a song in between story-performances • Youth may host/introduce the new works • Youth may learn front of house or box office duties • Youth will participate in feedback and evaluation, collecting testimonials and blogging reviews Isolation is common for youth who feel they are tackling everything alone without the resources to connect to others. Performances will have interactive components where youth in the audience can share their concerns either publicly or anonymously. The end result is to develop skills and confidence in youth through the performing arts while working with experienced mentors. This project will foster a network for enriched creative exchange in thought and feelings whilst empowering youth participants to make difficult decisions.

Austin, TX – Wild Places

2017-01-24T00:00:00Z

Groundswell is a group of Austin theatre artists dedicated to making new plays with risk, rigor, and joy. Their latest project, WILD PLACES, is an immersive theatre experience about the ways we as Americans attempt to heal and control our minds and bodies, particularly through pharmaceutical medication, psychedelic drugs, gurus, and self-help. Running March 3-5, March 10-12, and March 17-19, each weekend's show will be unique. There might be trampolines, psychedelics, blood, snakes, and bouncy balls.

New York City, NY – The Itinerant Writing Workshop in Spanish

2017-01-23T00:00:00Z

The Itinerant Writing Workshop in Spanish is a group of poets and writers from the creative writing MFA in Spanish program at NYU who bring readings and short writing workshops to the Latino and hispanic populations in New York through cultural centers and bookstores such as Barco de Papel in Queens, Word Up in Washington Heights, and La Casa Azul in Harlem. The writing workshops bring these cultural experiences to communities that might not otherwise get the opportunity to participate due to language barriers. The idea of the Itinerant Writing Workshop in Spanish is to take literature outside the academy to build a bridge between writers and community. This group has already done 5 public readings (two at Word Up and three at Barco de Papel) and this Awesome Foundation grant will help fund their first round of free writing workshops that will give Latino communities the opportunity to tell their own stories, in their own words, and in their own languages, particularly in the current political climate in which stories of Latino immigrants need to be heard. The pilot program will include workshops in Fiction for Kids, Autobiographical Writing, and Poetry. In their own words: Writing and reading are very powerful tools, not only for learning. They improve people's reflexive capacity, stimulate their imaginations and give them an way to express and understand themselves and their stories. Most of the Latino community in the US struggles to make a life here. With this bridge to literature we want to give them the chance to dream, imagine and have a space for recreation too. We believe that will help in their self-esteem, self-empowerment and self-confidence.

Kingston – The ID Clinic

2017-01-22T00:00:00Z

Our awesome project is the ID Clinic, facilitated by Pro Bono Students Canada. The ID Clinic helps the homeless and marginally housed in Kingston obtain government-issued identification. In addition to assistance with identification, we provide free legal referrals if an individual requires legal assistance. Government issued identification is essential for individuals to access key community services such as health care and banking, and it is awesome when all members of society have an equal opportunity to access these services! The Clinic is run by six Queen's Law students and two lawyer supervisors from Cunningham Swan, and we conduct the clinic at Martha's Table in Kingston. This is the pilot year of the project in Kingston. Currently, we are able to assist with the paperwork for the Ontario Photo Card, which individuals can use for identification in place of a Driver's License. We hope to expand our services to assist with Health Cards as well in the future.The Clinic runs twice per month during the academic year, and we hope to continue the Clinic for years to come. We have run two sessions at Martha's Table so far, and have been approached by approximately 10-15 individuals who do not have a Photo Card or Driver's License, but would like to get a Photo Card. The major impediment for these individuals is the cost. They are very interested in getting the ID, but are unable to afford the $35 to get the card. Our clients come to learn about this service through word of mouth, and we estimate that once we are able to provide funding for these cards, interest will increase.

Santa Fe, NM (Inactive) – Foster Friends

2017-01-20T00:00:00Z

An alarming study published by New Mexico Voices for Children recently revealed that New Mexico has the highest rate of child poverty in the nation. Of children residing within Santa Fe County, nearly 34% live below the poverty line, 57% do not attend preschool programs, 75% wont be proficient in reading by the time they reach the 4th grade, and 15% will be reported as victims of child abuse. This data poses a real challenge to the children of our community and we find our work more relevant than ever. At the Santa Fe Children's Museum we believe it takes a village to raise a child and are launching a range of community-focused projects this year to help address the lack of support for at-risk youth. We've recently created a project benefiting a particularly vulnerable group in our community; the 80-100 children taken into short and long-term custody by the Children, Youth, and Families Department (CYFD) each year. Through two outlets, this program ensures free access to the Santa Fe Children's Museum and all of its supplemental programing for these at-risk children and their caregivers. The first outlet is through a Business Membership to be used by CYFD staff who are housing children on-site when they don't have foster placements or are pending investigations of abuse and neglect. The membership is valid for one year and provides an unlimited number of visits for an unlimited number of children and CYFD staff. This will allow the children in custody to leave the CYFD setting and visit the museum where they can engage in normal child behaviors in a supportive setting focused on creativity and play. The second outlet is through family passes to be distributed by CYFD to foster families. Each pass will allow the foster family free admission to the museum for the day. This is a valuable option for foster families because CYFD is unable to provide reimbursements for expenses such as museum admissions.

San Antonio, TX – Bexar County High School Film Festival

2017-01-20T00:00:00Z

The Right Light, San Antonio's only nonprofit video production company, is partnering with the San Antonio Area Foundation to produce the first-ever Bexar County high school film festival. Our goal is to give high school students a chance to try their hand at filmmaking while showcasing local nonprofit organizations. We're encouraging San Antonio students to learn more about communications and their community by connecting them with service organizations to tell the stories that change lives. Each high school team participating in the festival will be paired with a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in Bexar County. Then the teams will create a three-minute video supporting their nonprofit's mission. The students get the chance to explore careers in media production and the nonprofits get to tell the world about the work they do. Videos chosen by our panel of judges will be showcased at a premier night where we'll honor San Antonio's best young filmmakers. Then, all the videos produced during the festival will be donated to the featured nonprofit organizations to support their missions. Join us in giving high school students the opportunity to serve their community while learning valuable job skills and exploring career opportunities. By sponsoring the Bexar County High School Film Festival you're giving students and nonprofits a better future in San Antonio.

San Jose, CA – Dancing through the Decades

2017-01-20T00:00:00Z

We and Our Neighbors women's club, founded in 1892, will be celebrating our 125th Anniversary in 2017. In celebrating this great milestone we will introduce Dancing through the Decades inviting the community to learn a new dance from a different era every month. We have partnered with Dance Boulevard Professionals who will teach popular dances from the 1890s to the 2000s including everything from the Charleston to the Cupid Shuffle.