Helpline Fills Gaps in Local Housing Assistance

Funded by the Hear the World Foundation, Écoute-moi! provides audiological care in Chad. Working closely with children at a school for hearing loss, the group conducts audiograms to assess hearing loss levels, fits the children with hearing aids, and supports them afterwards with things like speech therapy. In order to create a sustainable model of care, the nonprofit has also trained four local audiological care technicians, the first in the country to provide services. Speech therapy is an important part of the follow-up support to help children speak after not hearing for years.

Investments into the arts serve as significant economic catalysts. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, legacy foundations like the Heinz Endowments, Benedum Foundation, and Richard King Mellon Foundation pooled their resources to create the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, which supports art and culture in the city’s downtown districts. By purchasing and refurbishing existing real estate, as well as lending support to smaller initiatives like the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, PCT’s investments have served as an engine of growth for the city.

A coalition of organizations in the Detroit region had “a goal of re-engaging the region’s 690,000 adults who had completed some college but hadn’t gotten a degree.” One of the programs they created was the Wayne State Warrior Way Back program, which allows students with school debt to re-enroll and “learn” off their debt at a rate of $500 for each semester completed.”

After learning her home city of Austin, Texas ranked the 48th most charitable city in the country despite its strong economy, Patsy Woods Martin launched I Live Here I Give Here (ILHIGH) in 2007 to encourage Austinites to better meet the needs of their community. In other words, she wanted her neighbors and community members to give locally. To get Austinites to be more charitable, ILHIGH uses games, competitions, clever marketing, and a sense of community.

New grassroots efforts often struggle to get off the ground due to lack of funding. In Baltimore, a group called CLLCTIVLY aims to fix this problem for black-led non-profit organizations by offering a $1,000 prize every month for a year through its Black Futures Micro-Grant program. CLLCTIVLY has also launched an asset map to connect these smaller efforts to each other.

Solar power projects at 2 UN refugee camps in Jordan are helping to save money and provide job opportunities for residents of the camps. The solar powered camps are also helping the quality of living, allowing residents to move freely in the evenings and complete tasks even when it's dark outside.

The Haitian nonprofit Life of Hope had faced chronic rental instability for years before developing a financing strategy using federal funds, bridge loans, and private donations to finally secure permanent ownership of a facility. Since purchasing a warehouse to house the organization in June 2024, the organization has solidified itself as a permanent pillar in the local Haitian community, providing English classes, cultural programming, and other community services to more than 60,000 people, serving as a model for other Haitian nonprofits.

A nonprofit created the Texas Water Action Collaborative to connect water quality conservation projects in need of financial support with companies that have related sustainability goals and will supply funding.

Funded by philanthropic organizations, the Justice40 Accelerator is providing technical support to Detroit nonprofits focused on environmental justice. The program helps nonprofits assess their challenges and needs, which can make them more competitive when applying for federal funding.

Single, non-related people are co-buying homes with the help of real estate organizations like Live Work Denver to make homeownership more affordable.