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"I was determined to go out into the world to find the'medicine' to heal my community," says Lena Miller, a white woman who grew up in San Francisco's historically African-American Hunters Point neighborhood.
A school board member at the time, Miller would go on to found a number of charities based on her ideas about the role of trauma in African-American communities, the San Francisco Standard reports.
Her efforts are premised on the psychology of violent criminals, and have generated controversy amid accusations of harassment and assault by her workers, which she and her staff say is part of a bogus narrative meant to falsely villainize them.
Miller is executive director of Urban Alchemy, a fast-growing nonprofit organization at the nexus of public safety and homelessness.
Its slogan: "transforming the energy in traumatized urban spaces."
It employs former long-term offenders Miller has described as people convicted of'murder and attempted murder.' She says this makes Urban Alchemy's ex-convict workers better at interacting with people suffering the types of emotional wounds accompanying poverty, violence, or addiction.
More recently, Urban Alchemy was selected for a $2.5 million contract to replace police in responding to 911 calls relating to homelessness, the Department of Emergency Management told the Standard in a Jan...
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
"Having a purposeful job actually does transform someone's life," says Edwin Walsh, who runs a social enterprise in Australia called Assembled Threads. "You actually are moving someone from...more
Foundation: Community Foundation of Southern Indiana
"When you see the kids interacting and them building communitythat's what it is," says Camp Quality Kentuckiana executive director Eddie Bobbitt. "It's bigger than fishing and pie fights." The...more
Foundation: Hawaii Community Foundation
If you're in your 60s or older and looking for adult day care in Maui, you're in luck. The nonprofit Maui Adult Day Care Centers lost its West Maui Center in the Lahaina fire last August, but...more
A Missouri State University student has won an Emmy for his behind-the-scenes look at a Springfield zoo, the Springfield News-Leader reports. Jon Mabee taught film and television students to film...more
When Bill Bone was hit by a car while riding his bike in Florida last year, he didn't know it at the time, but the accident would prove to be the final nail in his coffin. His wrongful death suit...more
"We are committed to being an industry leader in creating a culture where every individual is valued, respected, and can fully contribute their best selves." So says Hillary Wirtz, the senior...more
Foundation: Rockefeller Foundation
John Kerry has a new gig, and it's not as high-profile as his old one, but he's still making headlines for it. The former secretary of state announced Tuesday that he'll serve as honorary chair...more
It's been a decade since a group of nations agreed to work together to combat climate change, and on Tuesday, the Climate Technology Center and Network (CTCN) celebrated its 10th anniversary with a...more
"The future of our nation hinges upon its young,educated, and socially conscious demographic," State Bank of India CEOjay Prakash says in a press release. Prakash is referring to the roughly 1...more
A Connecticut nonprofit that provides after-school programs for at-risk girls is getting a big boost from a local business group. The Chamber of Commerce of Eastern CT Foundation has awarded the...more
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Community Foundation of Southern Indiana
Hawaii Community Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
Community Foundation of Western North Carolina
Community Foundation of Broward
Changemakers
Luzerne Foundation
California Community Foundation
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Gates Foundation
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Building a Million Dollar Company Where Everyone Counts
Ganesh Natarajan is the Founder and Chairman of 5FWorld, a new platform for funding and developing start-ups, social enterprises and the skills eco-system in India. In the past two decades, he has built two of India’s high-growth software services companies – Aptech and Zensar – almost from scratch to global success.
