Dance4Peace

Dance 4 Peace is an innovative, global curriculum that uses dance to inspire youth to be leaders and peacemakers in their communities. Founded in 2007 in schools in the outskirts of Bogota, Colombia, this civic education program demonstrates the power of corporal expression to change the lives of young people and the communities around them.

By expressing emotions, thoughts, experiences and reflections through movement, youth around the world are able to engage in a curriculum that promotes a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding, mediation, and anger management. Participants in the Dance 4 Peace program are empowered to feel confidence and a sense of global awareness as change-agents within their schools and neighborhoods. The Dance 4 Peace curriculum transcends countries, socioeconomic differences, and varying languages and cultures; it is being adapted and implemented in diverse communities and in unique contexts. Learn more...

 

Historic Green: One New Orleans neighborhood rebuilding as the nation's first Zero Carbon Community.

Historic Green is a cause near and dear to Serena's heart. It's a cause all about possibilities. About knowing a place. Respecting its rich heritage for future generations. And seeing the promise of sustainability to create healthier, safer, more livable communities. Historic Green represents a blending of the past, the present and the future. What was, meets what could be.

Historic Green is a registered non-profit working with the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association of the Lower Ninth Ward to provide the service and expertise to reclaim the damaged historic building stock left decimated by both nature and the slow degradation of society’s neglect.

New Orleans’ Holy Cross Neighborhood and the Lower Ninth Ward offer one path to what we’re calling “sustainable preservation”. Nowhere else could it happen on such a scale as here: an entire community brought to its knees in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Struggling to recover and rebuild. To restore in a way that makes it even better than before.

 

Crafting Change

Founder Emily Varga started this non-profit organization as a way for artisans from low-income communities to market their crafts online and to improve the communities in which they live.

Every product has a story. She want to show the consumer that each product is as unique as the artisan who created it.

Crafting Change utilizes the internet as a tool to expand the income potential of artisan cooperatives in low-income areas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The market will be entirely web-based, allowing us to reach a broad audience, keep costs down and funnel all the profits into improving social programs. Check out Crafting Change to learn more!

 

Soles4Souls

Soles4Souls Project Haiti

The 50,000 pairs in 50 Days Challenge
Make a monetary contribution to provide shoes for Haitian earthquake victims who desperately need appropriatefootwear. As little as $5 provides two pairs of shoes,

OR

donate a pair of flat-heeled or tennis shoes to a local Soles4Souls partner company to help those in need around the world.

 

Mary House transitional housing services, shelter and support programs

Mary House is a community based organization that provides transitional housing services, shelter and support programs to homeless and struggling families, and was founded on the concept that "smaller is better." The philosophy at Mary House has always been to help others as we ourselves would want to be helped, while providing a safe haven that allows families to reclaim their dignity. Mary House is run entirely on donations and grants, and accomplishes their service and mission through the generosity of people like you.

Mary House is on the verge of celebrating 30 years of serving immigrant and refugee parents and children in Washington, D.C. Mary House works with low-income Latin American families and recently expanded services to resettling Eastern European and Iraqi families. With thirteen sites in Northeast Washington D.C. and Takoma Park, Maryland, Mary House can serve up to 50 families with housing. Expanded support services of Mary House serve an additional hundred families every month. During its twenty eight year history, Mary House has sheltered and cared for hundreds of families. Learn more...

Dress for Success

The mission of Dress for Success is to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

Founded in New York City in 1997, Dress for Success is an international not-for-profit organization offering services designed to help our clients find jobs and remain employed. Each Dress for Success client receives one suit when she has a job interview and can return for a second suit or separates when she finds work.


Dress for Success serves clients by referral only, and women must have an interview scheduled before receiving clothing. Our clients come to us from a continually expanding and diverse group of non-profit and government agencies including homeless shelters, immigration services, job training programs, educational institutions and domestic violence shelters, among many other organizations. More than 3,000 organizations throughout the world send women to Dress for Success for professional apparel and career development services.

On her initial visit a woman receives a suit appropriate for the industry in which she is interviewing and, if available, accessories. After a woman finds a job she returns to Dress for Success for additional clothing that can be mixed and matched to make several outfits, providing her with the foundation for a professional wardrobe. Learn more...

Just the Roof Girls' Dormitory Project

As many Togolese families do not believe that education for their daughters and sisters is a worthwhile investment, at a very young age girls find themselves in situations in which they lack any control. Compounded with extreme rural poverty, families rarely think of the girls in their family as valued members of the community. As a result, girls are subjected to forced marriage-when the girl is given or sold to another family to be married into an often polygamous household to a man likely much older, in exchange for money. goods, or animals. Child trafficking is a huge problem, especially with girls. Poor families will sell their daughters to wealthier Togolese families or send them abroad into situations that often end up similar to slavery. These girls often want to be going to school or finding a way out of these situations. When families are unable to support their daughters financially to go to school or leave their villages, girls find other means to receive financial support. It is common for girls to meet an older man who can support her financially- but at a price. Perhaps the girl will receive a room and food to eat, but will be subject to the desires of the man at all times- leaving her little time to study, and giving her little agency in making wise decisions that would protect her from early pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, or AIDS/HIV. Furthermore, with only 1 high school (in the district capital called Guerin-Kouka) in the geographically huge district, many girls from far-away villages do not have the means to move into town to further their studies at the high school level. Discouraged by this lack of opportunity, they usually drop out of school and often find themselves in one of the above mentions circumstances.

This project will build a girl’s dormitory in Guerin-Kouka, the largest town in the district to house 38 girls each year that would otherwise be subjected to the above conditions if not for this center. In the right environment these girls will succeed- they are already smart, motivated, and strong. If this center is not constructed, this dangerous status quo will continue and these girls will continue to be subjected to these conditions. The goals of the center do not stop with the 38 girls living there yearly- it will be a source of programming for all girls in the town and district.

We encourage you to read all of the information on the Just the Roof website in the order that it is presented. The story it tells will allow you to understand the needs of my community, and what you can do to help meet these needs.