The Most Successful Rehab Program in the World
Nestling in the shadow of San Francisco's Bay Bridge the Delancey Street Foundation looks more like an upscale Mediterranean resort than a commune for ex-cons. Inside the place is immaculate. This foundation puts hardened criminals in charge of their own recovery and it doesn't take a penny in grant money from the United States government. Instead the residents support themselves -- and each other... posted on Nov 27, 3564 reads

In Copehagen: A 15-year-old's Call to Action
15-year-old Mohamed Axam Maumoon, a Climate Ambassador from the Maldives, is in Copenhagen this week, asking world leaders to take on climate change. Maldives is one of the countries on the front lines of climate change -- eighty percent of the land lies three feet or less above the waves. The predicted sea level rise caused by global warming could wipe the country off the map. Democracy Now inter... posted on Dec 16, 3144 reads

Mystery Couple Start A Chain Reaction
It played like a scene from a holiday movie -- a mystery couple, who didn't leave their names or numbers, walked into a restaurant, finished their meal and then set-off a chain reaction of generosity that lasted for hours. That's just what employees at the Aramingo Diner in Port Richmond said a man and a woman did during their breakfast shift last Saturday morning. "It was magical. I had tears in ... posted on Dec 15, 9387 reads

Proven Power of Giving
Volunteering in her local natal intensive care unit, Chris Haack doesn't need to see scientific evidence of the benefits of giving. For her, it is just about helping children. She says, "I get more out of it than I probably give." Nevertheless, a recent book documents several studies that show a correlation between giving and health benefits, like lower blood pressure and less depression. Read... posted on Jan 3, 1962 reads

Spontaneous Smiley Face
When we smile, does the whole world smile back at us? Ruth Kaiser, founder of the Spontaneous Smiley Project, says yes. Kaiser, who grew up when the smiley face was just gaining popularity -- the iconic yellow smiley was invented in the 1960s and paired with "have a happy day" in the 70s -- sees smiley faces in everyday life: macaroni salad, playground equipment, tree branches, and sourdough bread... posted on Dec 22, 4201 reads

A Child Poet's Inspiration Lives On
It's standing room only at the Borders bookstore in Bethesda, where Jeni Stepanek is talking about her new book, "Messenger." The book is about her son Mattie, the inspirational poet who died five years ago at 13 after battling a rare form of muscular dystrophy. Because of the same disease, Jeni Stepanek now uses a wheelchair. In his short life, Mattie wrote six books of poetry and a collection of... posted on Dec 24, 3462 reads

The Long Term Effects of Short Term Emotions
"The heat of the moment is a powerful, dangerous thing. We all know this. If we're happy, we may be overly generous. Maybe we leave a big tip, or buy a boat. If we're irritated, we may snap. Maybe we rifle off that nasty e-mail to the boss, or punch someone. And for that fleeting second, we feel great. But the regret-- and the consequences of that decision -- may last years, a whole career, or eve... posted on Jan 11, 7077 reads

A Miracle Cure
Richard Lueker, MD is a gentle giant with huge hands and a large heart. An encounter with a stranger and the unexpected healing of his son more that 35 years ago changed his life and laid the ground for his life's work. Recently, a magazine editor caught him in Berkeley for an insightful interview. ... posted on Jan 1, 4329 reads

Ben Kennedy: Living Frugal, Giving Big
Unless you live in Helena, Montana you're unlikely to have any notion of who Ben Kennedy was. And even if you live in Helena, you may have never knew his name. You might have seen him on the street or in the alleys behind buildings downtown, collecting cans and flattening cardboard boxes for recycling. On Dec. 16, the anniversary date of his birthday, there was a posthumous celebration of Ben Kenn... posted on Jan 14, 5109 reads

A Mideast Bond Stitched of Pain & Healing
He can be impulsive. She has a touch of bossiness. Next-door neighbors for nearly a year, they talk, watch television and explore the world together, wandering into each other's homes without a second thought. She likes his mother's eggplant dish. He likes her father's rice and lamb. Friendship often starts with proximity, but Orel and Marya, both 8, have been thrust together in a way few elsewher... posted on Jan 30, 2548 reads

Back On My Feet: Running For A New Life
Imagine driving to work on the first day of your dream job, seeing a few homeless folks on the street, and giving it all up to help them. Anne Mahlum began "Back on My Feet" to encourage the homeless to join her in running through the streets of Philadelphia. By using running as a means to build confidence and self-esteem, combined with job training resources, Mahlum has given many homeless people... posted on Jan 16, 3738 reads

What Do You Want to Do Before You Die?
Four college-age friends wrote a list of 100 things they wanted to experience before they died -- and took off in a Winnebago to do them. Along the way they asked other people, "what do you want to do before you die?" For each item they accomplished on their own list, they helped a stranger accomplish their own dream. They helped a lonely man in San Francisco cope with a terminal illness by brig... posted on Jan 17, 3425 reads

Hope In A Changing Climate
Flooding, forest fires, and droughts are only some of the many problems that affect poor farming communities across the globe. A new film, Hope in a Changing Climate, documents the uplifting story of how ecosystem restoration helps stabilize climate, reduce poverty, and support sustainable agriculture. It hopes to prevent communities from over-farming and depleting their natural resources while ma... posted on Jan 29, 3330 reads

The Doctor Who Would Cure Haiti
Over 20 years ago, Dr. Paul Farmer graduated from Harvard Medical School, and promptly moved into a local church with his wife and daughter. The reason? He wanted to reduce his expenses so he could treat the homeless in Boston for free. Watch how this man systematically has changed the medical profession by focusing on one place, Haiti, for over 20 years -- and in the process has rekindled what it... posted on Jan 25, 4198 reads

Gladiators Were Vegetarians!
The figure of gladiators recalls the ideas of strength, hard training, endurance, and deadly efficiency: a perfect fighting machine. Historically, a gladiator was a sort of sport hero; statues and paintings of the ancient Roman period tell us of this astonishing world of fighters. Perhaps akin to the modern-day Mohammad Ali or Mike Tyson, these gladiators endured long sessions of physical training... posted on Mar 16, 5721 reads

Inmates Take Yoga to Reduce Jail Sentence
Prisoners in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh are being freed early if they complete yoga courses. For every three months spent practicing postures, balancing and breathing, the inmates can cut their jail time by 15 days. The authorities say the lessons help to improve the prisoners' self-control and reduce aggression. Some 4,000 inmates across the state are benefiting from the scheme, and many ... posted on Feb 14, 3268 reads

Project H, Designing For Humanity
"People were starting to talk more about sustainability, but I felt it lacked a human factor. Can we really call $5,000 bamboo coffee tables sustainable?" Since founding the humanitarian design network Project H Design in January 2008, Emily Pilloton has been involved with dozens of projects tackling social and environmental problems. They range from developing water transportation devices for use... posted on Feb 27, 2987 reads

Fastest Growing Minor at Cal
Engineering and History are still popular majors at UC Berkeley, but they aren't growing nearly as fast as a minor that has only been in existence for two years. In 2009, "Global Poverty and Practice" was the fastest growing minor on campus! The courses in the minor help provide students with the knowledge and experiences necessary to combat global poverty. Some students design affordable water f... posted on Feb 20, 1889 reads

Good News Travels Faster Than Bad?
Sociologists have developed elaborate theories of who spreads gossip and news, but they've had less success measuring what kind of information travels fastest. More recently, though, researchers at Penn dived deep into the archives of NY Times articles and found a surprising result -- good news travels faster than bad. "If I've just read this story that changes the way I understand the world and ... posted on Mar 22, 4083 reads

When Potholes Bloom
As the water seeps into the cracks in the road and freezes, potholes on the road get worse. This is a big problem in Oxford, England. According to cycling organization CTC, potholes went from 750 in December 2009 to 3500 in January 2010 -- and this is after the government filled almost a million of them last year. Roger Geffen, at CTC, estimates that only 30-40% of the reported potholes are han... posted on Mar 20, 3890 reads

A Gym Powered By Sweat
A US gym has installed specially-adapted exercise bikes that recycle energy generated by people as they work out. The Green Microgym in Portland, Oregon, aims to be a carbon neutral exercise facility through the use of solar power and human-generated energy from clients as they pedal and run. Thus far, it helps power things like the DVD player and air conditioning, but owners are soon expecting t... posted on Feb 17, 4270 reads

CEO Gifts His Company To Employees
Scores of employees gathered to help Bob Moore celebrate his 81st birthday this week at the company that bears his name: Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods. Moore, whose mutual loves of healthy eating and old-world technologies spawned an internationally distributed line of products, responded with a gift of his own -- the whole company! By unveiling a new Employee Stock Ownership Plan, Moore's 209 em... posted on Mar 4, 4904 reads

What Makes Couples Happy?
What makes marriages last? It's the small stuff, it turns out: telling him he looks great in his jeans, bringing her coffee in bed in the morning, sneaking off without the kids from time to time, taking turns doing the laundry. Terri Orbuch, a Michigan-based research professor and a family therapist, spent decades charting the love lives of 373 married couples in the U.S. -- the longest-running st... posted on Feb 26, 9974 reads

Asking Better Questions
Everyone has a need to connect honestly with others, and a very expedient way to foster improved connections is by asking good questions. Whether you are talking to customers, interviewing job candidates, talking to their bosses, or even questioning staff, we often need to draw people out. And so often, it is not a matter of what you ask, it is how you ask it. John Baldoni suggest that being cu... posted on Feb 28, 2725 reads

Meditate Like a Marine
The moments just before deployment can be highly stressful for those in the military, but a new study published in the journal Emotion finds that meditation improved mood and bolstered working memory -- the short-term memory used for managing information, controlling emotions, problem solving and complex thought. By just meditating 12 minutes a day, the Marines were able to boost their scores on m... posted on Mar 6, 5917 reads

Palestinian Translating an Israeli Book
Six years ago, Elias Khoury's 20-year-old son, George, was killed in a Palestinian terrorist attack. The Khourys are Palestinian, so the murder of George -- who was out for a jog and shot from behind by gunmen in a car -- produced an apology. Sorry, the killers said, we assumed the jogger was a Jew. Now, in memory of his son, Mr. Khoury did something that shocked many in his community. He paid fo... posted on Mar 7, 1758 reads

Happiness At Work
He teaches them to be grateful and he wants them to meditate. But Prof. Srikumar Rao's isn't a spiritual teacher: he teaches at some of the world's top business schools! In his gentle voice, he asks his students to stop living in a "me centered" world and start living in an "other centered" one. At a conference in Copenhagen, he spoke of breaking free of the "I'd be happy if ..." mental model, and... posted on Mar 25, 8157 reads

An Artist Who Photographs Weeds
For Doug Burgess, weeds are constant companions. As a kid, Doug was given the task of removing weeds from the front lawn, but his task extended through his teen-age years and beyond. "As a middling bureaucrat," he writes, "I often pulled weeds as a form of therapy." He adds that after more than a half-century of weeding, he still did not have a single weed-free patch to show for his efforts. ... posted on Mar 26, 3673 reads

Five-Star Chef Feeds Hungry
Narayanan Krishnan's day begins at 4 a.m. He and his team cover nearly 125 miles in a donated van, working in temperatures topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Once a five-star chef on his way to an elite job in Switzerland, the 29-year-old now spends his day personally preparing and delivering meals to nearly 400 homeless individuals everyday. "I saw a very old man eating his own human waste for food,... posted on Apr 5, 5440 reads

Newark Turns It Around After 44 Years
When the clock struck midnight on April 1, Newark reached a milestone: its first homicide-free calendar month in 44 years. Compared to the first quarter of 2009, the city has reduced crime by 13 percent! "We have made major strides in reducing crime in Newark and providing our residents with a safer, stronger, and prouder community," says Mayor Cory Booker. "This has been the result of new allianc... posted on Apr 7, 2359 reads

Best Career Advice: Take Poetry
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard...No one will care if you ever studied American poetry when you get a job." said James Martin's faculty advisor at Wharton School of Business. "Fortunately, I didn't take his advice," Martin announces with a smile, "And it's one of the few courses I remember very well from school." James Martin, Jesuit Priest and author of 'The Jesuit Guide to Almost Eve... posted on Apr 21, 6729 reads

Doctor's Kindness Restores Sight
When William Noriega developed cataracts in both eyes at age 40- and was unable to afford a simple operation to fix them- he never expected an ophthalmologist to restore not only his sight for free but also his faith in humanity. Dr. Bryant Lum gifted his services to Noriega after reading a letter in the newspaper from his father: "My 40-year-old son...can no longer drive or work. He has lost the ... posted on Apr 27, 3215 reads

Interior Designing for Kindness!
When Christina Van Blake lost her job in February 2009, she fought off depression by offering to design a room in exchange for her client initiating three acts of kindness, asking only that her client pay it forward. Since then, Van Blake has documented 80 clients and 240 acts of kindness in six months! She and fellow designer Joyce Heathcote now run "Design it Forward," a pay-it-forward interior... posted on May 1, 3963 reads

'Green' Exercise Boosts Mental Health
Ever feel happier when you enter a park or nature setting? Just five minutes of exercise in a 'green space' such as a park can boost mental health, researchers say. In the latest analysis, UK researchers looked at evidence from 1,250 people in 10 studies and found fast improvements in mood and self-esteem. Study leader Jules Pretty of Essex University suggests, "Employers, for example, could encou... posted on May 7, 3501 reads

Street-Corner Revolution...with Paint?
"That's public space. Nobody can us it." That was one Portland city official's response when Mark Lakeman and his neighbors first began building unauthorized gathering places in their neighborhood in 1996. To Lakeman, an urban designer, this seemed like a a fundamental misunderstanding of public space. Together with his neighbors, he formed the City Repair Project, a volunteer-run nonprofit that s... posted on May 18, 5003 reads

Dalai Lama on Buddhism in the West
When his brother died in Indiana in 2008, the Dalai Lama didn't make it to his funeral. When you believe in reincarnation, and that this life is just a doorway to the next, there's no great importance to funerals, his followers explained. Yet, two years later, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate finds himself standing at his brother's Indiana culture center, sharing insights on inner peace and happines... posted on May 17, 4121 reads

Monday is the New Sunday
During the school year, Mondays in Peach County are for trips to grandma's house and hanging out at the neighborhood community center. Don't bother showing up for school. The doors are locked and the lights are off. The rural Georgian community is one of more than 120 school districts across the country where students attend school for just four days a week, a cost-saving tactic gaining popularity... posted on Jun 7, 2864 reads

Bystanders Who Care
"It was pure adrenaline, I didn't think about it. I knew if the car stayed on him, he was going to die." And just like that, a life was saved. Off-duty Wayland Police Officer Tyler Castagno was in his truck in traffic when he saw a cyclist go by. Suddenly a car ahead turned to the right to enter a driveway, knocking the cyclist over and pulling him under the car. While his fiancee called 911, Cast... posted on Jun 12, 3177 reads

Athelete Defies All Odds
Four years ago, Yelandi Rivero was confined to his bed at home, paralyzed from the waist down. Rivero was seriously injured in an ATV accident. Doctors told him he would never walk again. But Rivero refused to accept that diagnosis, and was determined to return to the racquetball court. Using a walker after a year and a half of rehabilitation, he started showing up again at his outdoor racquetball... posted on Oct 20, 2483 reads

What They Don't Teach in Business School
When I started this journey, I just wanted to be a carpenter. But I surpassed my wildest dreams and became a builder, a distinction I didn't even know existed when I started. And this realization leads me to one overriding and inescapable truth, that a life well lived must be a creative endeavor. Whatever form that creativity takes whether it's carpentry, building, teaching, raising a family, or w... posted on Jul 12, 5819 reads

The Beggar Who Gives Alms
It was an unusual sight. A man in tattered clothes limping through school gates with a bundle of brand-new clothes to give away. In an age of rapid technology and rising standards of living- a world where we are told to provide for ourselves before thinking of others- Khimjibhai Prajapati sure knows how to let go. After the downfall of his tea business, Khimjibhai sought refuge as a beggar outside... posted on Jun 29, 4275 reads

A Global Teacher
From a tiny closet in Mountain View, California, Sal Khan is educating the globe for free. His 1,516 videotaped mini-lectures -- on topics ranging from simple addition to vector calculus and Napoleonic campaigns-- are transforming the former hedge fund analyst into a YouTube sensation, reaping praise from even reluctant students across the world. "I think he rocks. I'm studying pre-algebra and I l... posted on Jul 1, 5579 reads

Five Practices for Cultivating Patience
Patience is one of those qualities that doesn't get much consideration -- especially in our fast-paced 21st century. But there is tremendous wisdom in it. Patience is what helps us let go of an unhelpful obsession with outcomes and with our limited identities. It is a recognition that our reality is in flux and we don't always know what is best. Practiced deeply, patience is what dissolves unexami... posted on Jul 6, 21833 reads

Eat to Prevent Cancer
Cancer researcher William Li presents a new way to think about treating cancer and other diseases: anti-angiogenesis, preventing the growth of blood vessels that feed a tumor. The crucial first (and best) step: Eating cancer-fighting foods that cut off the supply lines and beat cancer at its own game.... posted on Jul 11, 5619 reads

The Ripple Effect of Kindness
Being kind is nice. But why do it on a daily basis? Why do something for a total stranger when there seems to be nothing in it for you? One regular practitioner of small acts of kindness shares: "I had experienced a moment where I wanted to give out of habit; almost as if that was the only way I knew how to respond to the situation. For that moment, there was no difference between a stranger and a... posted on Jul 21, 3519 reads

Woman Behind a Movement
She's the woman behind Americorps and Obama's Corporation for National and Community Service. Radiating service from White House conference rooms to grassroots nonprofits, Shirley Sagawa is making community service a staple in the United States. Her belief? That it will change the nation, for the better. Named by author Steve Waldman as the "founding mother of the modern service movement," Sagawa ... posted on Jul 17, 2221 reads

A Course in Miracles
Arriving in a new city, I broke my leg shortly after starting graduate school. Feeling lonely and homesick, so many blessings I never expected came my way. Many small acts of kindness stayed with me. There were the bus shuttle drivers who gave me the luxury of being picked up from any place and made sure I got connections to wherever I was going. And the many people who held doors for me - small t... posted on Aug 5, 4164 reads

The Art of Effective Apology
We've all felt it. The dreaded blow to our gut or the blush of pride when we realize that we did wrong, we were at fault, and now it's time to own up. Though unpleasant at first, apologizing is actually a sign of strength, not weakness. Author John Kador notes, "Leaders who apologize are seen as confident, signaling the three qualities that most modern leaders desire to communicate: humility, tra... posted on Aug 2, 9356 reads

Forget Brainstorming, Boost Creativity
Brainstorming in a group became popular in 1953 with the publication of a business book, "Applied Imagination". But it's been proven not to work since 1958, when Yale researchers found that the technique actually reduced a team's creative output: the same number of people generate more and better ideas separately than together. In fact, according to University of Oklahoma professor Michael Mumford... posted on Aug 6, 5255 reads

Story of a Ballerina
"She lived in the shanties, the poverty-stricken shanties, but she had a desire far beyond the reach of her environment." Sibahle Tshibika, a ballet dancer from a poor township outside Cape Town, South Africa, is training with a United States ballet company--all because of a documentary, and an email from a caring viewer. "Ghetto Ballet" chronicles four dancers, including Tshibika, as they auditio... posted on Aug 1, 3237 reads