Archive for the News Category

When people think of doing “work that matters,” most think about pursuing a career to help people who are sick, poor, or have had disasters struck against them, and often forget about animals who are also in need.

The grassroots animal-rescue organization Nowzad Dogs rescues stray, sick, wounded and abandoned animals in Afghanistan and help find a safe home for them. It is obviously impossible to find every animal a home, but they also provide medical services for animals so they can live a healthy life.

The Asperger Syndrome Training & Employment Partnership was founded by Marcia Scheiner, who retired after 25 years of working for a financial services company and had $250,000 of her severance pay donated toward the organization.

The Asperger Syndrome Training & Employment Partnership is a non-profit organization whose mission is “to create and support programs that promote long-term employment for individuals with AS.” Scheiner told The Wall Street Journal that although patients have been working on their skills their whole life and go on to college, “there is still an 80% unemployment rate because of the challenges they face with social skills and sensory issues.”

The program partners with vocational programs to help patients adjust to a workplace environment, along with training for interviews and “educating employers about the benefits of hiring individuals with AS and the accommodations they may require.”

Ability Counts is a community non-profit public benefit corporation whose goals are to “provide meaningful employment and employment training for individuals with developmental disabilities.” They are based in Redlands, California and their purpose is to accept, sort and recycle e-waste. The recycling helps limit the amount of e-waste that would normally be thrown in the trash, and they re-assemble the parts to re-sell, re-use or recycle.

Stand for Children is a grassroots child advocacy organization that urges parents, teachers and the community to work together to build better public education systems for children and “create a better future for America.” Their mission is to reform children’s programs and education policies to give students the education and opportunities they deserve.