It’s a simple idea: Why not revitalize blighted communities by housing heroes in vacant homes?
In Pittsburg, California, a Bay Area town that’s come upon some hard times recently, disabled veteran J.R. Wilson is rallying the community by attempting to solve the problems of homelessness among local service members and neighborhoods full of abandoned houses.
Wilson, the executive director of the nonprofit Delta Veterans Group, told Angela Hart of the Contra Costa Times, “We are working with local leaders and the community to bring veterans into our neighborhoods and to fill our vacant houses. This will not only help fight our blight problems, but it’ll help veterans who are transitioning into civilian life and who may be facing homelessness or who could have suicidal thoughts.”
On June 28, the American Legion Post in Antioch, California hosted a “Veterans Home-Buying Triage” event, bringing together local veterans with real estate professionals, mortgage lenders, and city officials. Wilson helped organize a similar event in Pittsburg a few weeks earlier.
Wilson’s goal is to bring the area back to its former glory. “Growing up here, we never used to see this much vacancy or homelessness,” he said. “We really want to get the attention of asset managers and city officials, then work with code enforcement and get those houses on the market.”
The new programs come just in the nick of time for Army veteran Alan Johnson, who told Hart, “We just got married, and we found out we’re expecting.” After meeting with a local mortgage consultant at the Pittsburg event, Johnson is now well on his way to finding an affordable home for his growing family.
MORE: Minnesota Looks to a Historic Structure to Help End Veteran Homelessness
After the 2008 recession, cuts in educational spending left many teachers opening up their own wallets for basic school supplies like dry-erase markers and printer paper. In fact, a study found that 99.5 percent of teachers paid an average of $485 out of their own pockets last year (and we already know that our country’s teachers don’t make a lot of money).
But as Good News Network reports (via ABC 7), Google has alleviated this financial burden for 604 Bay Area teachers. How so? By forking out $600,000 to help these educators entirely fund special projects geared toward helping their students learn.
Some teachers hadn’t received money from their school district for new supplies for five years. After posting their requests on the website Donors Choose, Google stepped in with a donation that replaced the old stuff and dated material.
MORE: To Change Public Education, This Nonprofit Is Hacking the System
Oakland High School teacher Payton Carter received graphic novels to help his students get more interested in reading. “They want stuff that is interesting, where pictures tell the story, too,” he told the local TV station. “It can help them figure it out.”
Other gifts ranged from basic school supplies such as dividers, binders and white boards, to more technological gifts like iPads and even a remote-operated submersible for students to help build and study. Google’s gesture sounds like a wonderful way to help teachers the provide tools needed to help students succeed.
When Josh Laine returned from Iraq in 2007, a wounded and decorated Marine veteran, he had trouble finding a job. So he decided to employ himself — and other soldiers returning from the Middle East. Together with a fellow former Marine, he founded Lavish Laines Winery, a business that initially operated out of an old bus. Why winemaking? Laine wanted to create an opportunity for vets to do manual labor and spend time outdoors, two things he felt could help former servicemembers recover physically and psychologically in the aftermath of war. And being in northern California, a winery seemed apropos. Laine studied the wine industry at nearby Las Positas College and learned the ropes from Bay Area vintners.
As word of his enterprise spread and more returning veterans started coming to Laine for guidance in establishing their post-military careers, he founded the nonprofit Vets & Vines Foundation, which trains veterans in viticulture and helps them find jobs in the industry. In 2009, Lavish Laines became Valor Winery, and now employs veterans in all aspects of its business, from cultivating grapevines to bottling and labeling, then marketing and distributing the finished product.
The Bay Area recently passed a climate protection resolution that will slash carbon emissions in the region 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. If successful, the policy could dramatically change the city’s transportation landscape. According to Quartz, “The Bay Area has California’s most extensive public transportation system and its tech-savvy drivers have been earlier adopters of electric cars… But [in order to make this work] the [air district board] will also need to convert more of the region’s bus and truck fleet to carbon-free fuels and electrify diesel-powered ports.” Beyond getting more people in battery-powered cars and electric buses, the agency acts as an incubator for new technologies. “For instance, it’s helping to fund a pilot project to create an electric taxi service to link regional airports in San Francisco to the region’s cities,” according to Forbes. If these progressive measures to slash carbon emissions work in a car-centric city like San Francisco, the policy could serve as a model for the rest of the country.