This Oakland Restaurant Was Developed in the Spirit of Mutual Aid

Comal Heritage Food Incubator trains immigrant and refugee women to start their own businesses in the food industry. Comal offers coaching, financial support, and connections to social services. It also pays trainees, which has been vital to endure the food industry shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. The group also ensures members have food, rent assistance, school supplies, or diapers for their children. They partner with the Denver Metro Emergency Food Network, delivering about 290,000 meals since the pandemic began. The model is working in other cities, including Seattle and San Francisco.

Building Markets, an NGO, has connected Haitian businesses with foreign NGOs who can funnel humanitarian aid through the local suppliers and manufacturers in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake of 2010. Typically, the majority of contracts are granted to international contractors which are easier for foreign NGOs to vet but when contracts are granted to local vendors, the "multiplier effect" allows more money to flow through the local economy and employ Haitians. A directory built by Building Markets allows foreign investors to easily find trustworthy local businesses.

A non-traditional program called the Family Independence Initiative (F.I.I.), uses a radically different approach from the traditional American social service model to empower entire families alleviate themselves from poverty. The results in multiple states thus far have been so striking, that this model of self-sufficiency may be able to have a significant impact reducing poverty nationwide.

The Restaurant Resiliency Program, which was adapted as a government initiative during COVID, tied up restaurants with charities with the aim of ensuring that vulnerable communities had access to meals while the restaurants were able to keep their business running in those uncertain times. However, when the funding abruptly ended on February 3 without reaching all the beneficiary restaurants, it showed how the much-needed program required better implementation and thought.

Black Girl Ventures levels the playing field for women of color who seek capital for their business ventures. Entrepreneurs are invited to pitch their ideas at crowdfunded sessions, which means the funding varies depending on the size of the crowd and its willingness to invest. In addition to capital, BGV recognizes the need for minorities to access a network, mentoring, and business coaching to navigate the systems necessary to build a business. The nonprofit has chapters in several cities and works with local organizations that are already in place helping black businesses.

Empowering young entrepreneurs fosters new, sustainable, and inclusive approaches to design and fashion. In Brazil, designers from Aglomerado da Serra, a favela in Belo Horizonte, are using up-cycling to make a more sustainable—and inclusive—fashion brand. The brand, Remexe, represents just one of the projects undertaken at Lá da Favelinha, a cultural center and showcase of novel ideas from the favela. With the support of grant funding, designers from Remexe also held a workshop in Bristol, helping their colleagues in the UK create a sister social enterprise group, Re:Wurk.

In Tucson, Arizona, a former Benedictine monastery is providing temporary shelter to asylum seekers. The space was temporarily donated to Casa Alitas, a nonprofit, following a sharp increase in asylum-seeker in the past year. The nonprofit provides the individuals and families staying there with shelter, food, clothing, and any other care they may need while they prepare for the next part of their trip.

In Durham, North Carolina, ReCity is bringing together various non-profit organizations, social activists, and mission-driven companies in a shared coworking space to meet, innovate, and collaborate with each other. This “WeWork for non-profits” encourages knowledge sharing (e.g., vetted technology vendors or other best practices) and mentorship among these groups, placing an emphasis on the benefits that come from sharing the same physical space, at a time when community groups are declining.

Hundreds of immigrants in Houston often have no access to any social aid. One community, East Aldine, exemplifies this. It lacks sewers, water, or trash collection. But, with the help of one nonprofit residents are bypassing the city, and getting the help they need.

The effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and hotter global temperatures, are already having drastic impact on many communities, especially the rural, agricultural regions of countries such as Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Mozambique. Earthrise explores how people in these communities are learning new skills, implementing new techniques, and are striving in every way possible to adapt to these environmental changes while creating hope for sustainable growth in the future.