Sometimes you feel helpless and hopeless.
But, there is always something to do. Always work to do.
If you can’t personally be out there at a march, or in the hospital as a front line worker, or even in another country volunteering to just do good, you can always get involved in other ways.
Yes, I am a holistic health & wellness coach. But, I am also a Black woman, a mom, and an Earth dweller.
If you feel like you want to help save the world, then this list is for you.
Remember, change and hope starts with you.
1. Friends of the Earth
This non-profit exposes those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. They organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of the economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature.
They work to:
-Defend the Environmental Protection Agency and strengthen other agencies’ work to protect public health from attacks by corporate polluters
-Protect organic agriculture and work to make sustainable and healthy food available to all
-Fight against trade deals that undermine democracy and expand the power of international business
-Promote clean energy solutions that are community-controlled and help alleviate poverty
-Empower people to hold financial institutions accountable for destroying tropical rainforests
-Push public institutions – both bilateral and multilateral – to improve the lives, livelihoods, and environments of people throughout the world
-Support community efforts to protect our oceans from fossil fuel projects, including export terminals and coal plants
Visit Friends of the Earth
2. World Child Cancer
Their motto is supporting children with cancer, and their families worldwide. They believe that every child with cancer, wherever they live in the world, should have equal access to the best possible treatment and care.
-They partner specialized healthcare professionals from high income countries to those in low income ones to improve treatment standards.
-They pair hospitals in resource rich countries with those with limited resources to train healthcare workers and improve the quality of care available to children with cancer regardless of where they are born.
-They provide financial and emotional support to children and their families at diagnosis and beyond, to limit the damage cancer causes.
-They educate primary healthcare professionals on spotting the early warning signs of childhood cancer to enable quicker referrals to hospitals so even the most vulnerable children have access to adequate healthcare.
-They raise community awareness that childhood cancer is treatable and improve their trust in healthcare systems.
-They campaign to ensure national and international stakeholders are aware of the importance of investing in improving the access and quality of healthcare, including essential medicines, for children with cancer worldwide.
Visit World Child Cancer
3. Women’s March
The mission of Women’s March is to harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change. Women’s March is a women-led movement providing intersectional education on a diverse range of issues and creating entry points for new grassroots activists & organizers to engage in their local communities through trainings, outreach programs and events. Women’s March is committed to dismantling systems of oppression through nonviolent resistance and building inclusive structures guided by self-determination, dignity and respect.
They believe that Women’s Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Women’s Rights. We must create a society in which women – including Black women, Indigenous women, poor women, immigrant women, disabled women, Jewish women, Muslim women, Latinx women, Asian and Pacific Islander women, lesbian, bi, queer, and trans women – are free and able to care for and nurture their families, however they are formed, in safe and healthy environments free from structural impediments.
Visit the Women’s March
4. Hope for Justice
Hope for Justice exists to bring an end to modern slavery by preventing exploitation, rescuing victims, restoring lives, and reforming society.
Modern slavery is where one person controls another by exploiting a vulnerability. It is often linked with human trafficking, where a person is forced into a service against their will – usually forced work or prostitution. The control can be physical, financial or psychological.
*40.3 million people in forced labour, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude and forced marriage worldwide
*$150 billion made each year from forced labour, that’s over $4,750 a second
*They have rescued hundreds of people, including babies younger than one year old and adults up to the age of 63
“Human trafficking is one of the most serious and barbaric crimes, profiting from human misery. Our response is a strategic one: focus on excellence, professionalism and outcomes to help victims find healing, hope and justice. Now is the time for all of us to act and end suffering.” – Neil Wain, International Programme Director, Hope for Justice
Visit Hope for Justice
5. Black Women’s Health Imperative
The Black Women’s Health Imperative is the first nonprofit organization created by Black women to help protect and advance the health and wellness of Black women and girls.
If we lived in a society where health equity was a reality, here’s what we know about Black women:
-There would be 2,400 fewer deaths due to breast cancer each year
-Infant mortality rates would drop by 35%
-The average life expectancy would rise from 78 years to 82 years – exceeding that of white women
-High school and college graduation rates would increase by 50% and 25%, respectively
-The poverty rate for Black women and their families would be cut in half
-The net impact to the U.S. economy would be $250-$300 billion
Presently, the organization continues to be dedicated to promoting physical, mental and spiritual health and well-being for the nation’s 19.5 million African American women and girls.
6. No Kid Hungry
No Kid Hungry is a national campaign run by Share Our Strength, a nonprofit working to solve problems of hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world. After 25 years of successfully investing in local nonprofits and helping find the best approaches to eradicating poverty and hunger, Share Our Strength launched No Kid Hungry in 2010.
No Kid Hungry works directly with local schools and community programs across the country, helping them with the resources, support and know-how they need to feed kids.
-They give educators and lawmakers across the country the guidance and funding they need to make breakfast & after school meals a part of the regular school day for their students.
-To make sure every child gets the meals they need, they also run a national awareness campaign every summer with ads, events and billboards so that people know that free summer meals are available, and how they can find them.
They also work with elected officials and government agencies to strengthen and improve the programs that kids rely on, and making sure supporters have the chance to raise their voices on important issues.
Visit No Kid Hungry
7. Project C.U.R.E.
Since 1987, Project C.U.R.E has been delivering life-saving medical equipment and supplies to hospitals and clinics throughout the under-resourced world. They are the world’s largest distributor of donated medical relief—touching the lives of children and families in more than 130 countries.
On average, each week Project C.U.R.E. delivers three to five semi-truck sized containers packed with the medical equipment and supplies so desperately needed by local hospitals and clinics.
Each year, hundreds of healthcare professionals travel with Project C.U.R.E to provide medical treatment to communities in need and training to those dedicated to serving them.
They’re focused on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and Ebola. They also work alongside health experts to treat victims of earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters as well as societal crises.
Their programs are funded by grants from the U.S. government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and by the generous support of philanthropic foundations, corporate partners and individual donors from all walks of life.
Visit Project C.U.R.E.
8. Food Empowerment Project
Food Empowerment Project is a vegan organization founded by a woman of color.
They seek to create a more just and sustainable world by recognizing the power of one’s food choices. They encourage healthy food choices that reflect a more compassionate society by spotlighting the abuse of animals on farms, the depletion of natural resources, unfair working conditions for produce workers, and the unavailability of healthy foods in low-income areas.
By making informed choices, we can prevent injustices against animals, people, and the environment. They also work to discourage negligent corporations from pushing unhealthy foods into low-income areas and empower people to make healthier choices by growing their own fruits and vegetables. Food Empowerment Project seeks specifically to empower those with the fewest resources.
Their values include a stance against racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, ageism, and body shaming. These values also include supporting a variety of causes, such as boycotts called by farm workers and other impacted community members, as well as supporting and amplifying the voices of those in communities of color, women impacted by sexism or harassment and bullying in the animal movement, and those who speak out against violence to human or non-human animals.
Visit the Food Empowerment Project
9. WE ACT for Environmental Justice
WE ACT is a leading environmental health and justice watchdog in the United States.
The Environmental Justice Movement began in order to call attention to and organize against environmental racism.
WE ACT’s mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low income residents participate meaningfully in the creation of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices. WE ACT envisions a community that has:
-informed and engaged residents who participate fully in decision-making on key issues that impact their health and community.
-strong and equal environmental protections.
-increased environmental health through community-based participatory research and evidence-based campaigns.
WE ACT for Environmental Justice also works with the JustGreen Partnership and other groups to raise awareness of toxic chemicals such as PFAS and phthalates.
Visit WE ACT for Environmental Justice
10. The Bail Project
The Bail Project, Inc. is an unprecedented effort to combat mass incarceration at the front end of the system. They pay bail for people in need, reuniting families and restoring the presumption of innocence. Because bail is returned at the end of a case, donations to The Bail Project™ National Revolving Bail Fund can be recycled and reused to pay bail two to three times per year, maximizing the impact of every dollar. 100% of online donations are used to bring people home.
They believe that paying bail for someone in need is an act of resistance against a system that criminalizes race and poverty and an act of solidarity with local communities and movements for decarceration. Over the next five years, The Bail Project will open dozens of sites in high-need jurisdictions with the goal of paying bail for tens of thousands of low-income Americans, all while collecting stories and data that prove money bail is not necessary to ensure people return to court. They won’t stop until meaningful change is achieved and the presumption of innocence is no longer for sale.
Visit The Bail Project
Great organizations! Thanks for bringing attention to them.
Friends of the Earth is a wonderful charity. I always look forward to signing their petitions, knowing that the work they do is invaluable. I hope they can continue great works with the support of their loyal followers.