We know it’s rough out there. There’s too much happening at once, and each day’s news seems worse than the last. That’s why, every other week, we bring you just good news. Behind the scenes, people are working for a better, kinder nation and planet.
- ICEBlock, a platform where users can safeguard their communities by sharing information about nearby ICE activity, becomes one of the Apple App Store’s most downloaded apps.
- Oregon State University purchases forest land formerly used for timber extraction in order to research the effects of logging practices and safeguard the forest’s ecological diversity.
- Activists rally in protest against the presence of ICE contractors in a Glendale, CA hospital and in support of patients’ right to heal free from intimidation.
- Environmental advocacy groups file a federal lawsuit to halt the building of an immigration detention camp until it undergoes an environmental review with a chance for public comment.
- A coalition of labor and civil rights groups organizes protests at multiple notoriously inhumane detention centers in Louisiana.
- Roman Catholic bishops across the U.S. take active measures to support aspiring Americans in the face of the administration’s mass deportation agenda.
- Major medical associations sue the secretary of Health and Human Services and other health agency leaders for limiting who can get COVID-19 vaccines going forward and for undermining overall confidence in vaccine safety and effectiveness.
- Health and medical experts launch the Vaccine Integrity Project as an unbiased informational alternative to the currently politically compromised CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
- In response to the president’s dismissal of hundreds of scientists working on national climate change reports, two major scientific societies collaborate to produce peer-reviewed research on climate change to keep communities and state and local governments informed.
- In response to drastic USAID cuts, Bill Gates commits $200B toward worldwide health and human development initiatives.
- The National Farm to School Network works to scale food forests across the U.S. to provide school communities with self-sustaining food-producing systems.
- An island-wide network of volunteers in Maui nurtures thousands of young trees that will be replanted to restore what was destroyed during the island’s fires two years ago.
- Through the Sounds Right conservation initiative, musical artist Hozier releases a song featuring nature sounds and donates 50% of the song’s royalties to conservation efforts.
- Nessel Housing, a subsidiary of Homes 4 the Homeless, works to repurpose accessory dwelling units into affordable housing for unhoused people and disaster survivors.
- The organization Dad Doula University provides education and support to non-birthing parents on their and their partners’ parenting journey.
- More than 200 veterans volunteer to attend immigration hearings to support Afghan allies facing deportation as the U.S. breaks our promise to protect them.
- U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Scott Ruskin saves more than 160 people from the deadly floods in Texas.
- First responders from Mexico join the search and rescue efforts in flooded Texas Hill Country.
- Against the wishes of Dodgers management but in solidarity with those being abducted by ICE, musical artist Nezza opens a Dodgers game with a performance of “El Pendón Estrellado”, a Spanish translation of the U.S. national anthem.
- Jimmy Kimmel Live guest host Diego Luna turns the show into a rescue mission to support Los Angeles Flower District workers in the face of ICE raids.
- More than 100 Los Angelinos who were former gang members receive their high school and college diplomas this summer through intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry programs.
- A Twin Lakes, CO community revives an iconic mountain pond, restoring water flow diverted by a developer.
- Close to 8,000 acres of forest in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta—one of the most biodiverse places in North America—will be preserved and dedicated to Alabama’s renowned biologist E.O. Wilson.
- Scientists introduce a pollen-replacement food source to safeguard honeybee colonies.
- Philanthropist Eric “Shake” James gives away 500 bikes to Milwaukee youths, along with free resources and food for families.
- A free service that sends alerts when pets go missing reunites more than 40,000 lost pets with their owners.
- Civil Eats, a news site dedicated to accessible journalism about the U.S. food system, is nominated for two James Beard Journalism awards.
- Kathleen Jensen’s Little Heart Project, featuring crocheted hearts and encouraging notes, grows into a worldwide effort.
- Switzerland sets an example for other countries on how to clean pollution out of their rivers and lakes.
- The success of an underwater turbine off the coast of Scotland proves promising for the future of tidal-generated electricity.
- Ireland becomes the sixth European country to completely end coal power generation.
Want to speak up this week? Open our most recent checklist of actions for a better democracy and equality for all.
Need a bigger boost? Read our founder and director, Jen Hofmann’s, latest uplifting message: How did we get here? And how are we going to get out of this mess?