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According to a 2019 point-in-time count, there are more than 612 unsheltered homeless individuals in the Coachella Valley. A Southern California company, Renova Energy, has handed out a few dozen cell phone solar chargers to homeless individuals living in Sunrise Park in downtown Palm Springs to power their phones while living unsheltered so they can reach public safety, caseworkers, family members, doctors and friends.
Renova Energy CEO Vincent Battaglia believes that any business no matter how large or small has the responsibility to give back. And he's not alone.
Companies around the country are doing more to tackle homelessness. Some companies, like Microsoft, are providing loans for affordable housing in Seattle. Others are small start-ups like The Giving Keys, an L.A. jewelry company that hires homeless individuals, or Detroit's Empowerment Plan, which hires homeless women to sew jackets for people on the streets.
According to experts, there are several ways businesses can work toward being socially responsible: philanthropy, volunteering, using company skills to create human-centered products or services, or providing innovative opportunities for community members.
For any business wanting to be sustainable and mission-based, it needs to be innovative. Abby Fifer Mandell, a University of Southern California business professor and the Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab director, requires the need for business models that are "financially sustainable, which means they have to be clever, creative and innovative, and are also digging deep on pressing problems by addressing long-term solutions."
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
If you're in Nashville and want to help fight climate change, there's a program you can sign up for for free. The Climate Innovation Accelerator is a 10-week program from Vanderbilt University's...more
"Education, a fundamental right, is a powerful catalyst for development worldwide." That's what Kenyan social entrepreneur Mumbe Mwangangi has to say about her new startup, Nyansapo AI, which...more
"The future of our nation hinges upon its young,educated, and socially conscious demographic," State Bank of India CEOjay Prakash says in a press release. Prakash is referring to the roughly 1...more
The director of the Flanders Architecture Institute in Belgium has been named an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Guardian reports. Sofie De Caigny, who took over...more
If you're an expert in geographic information system (GIS) technology, you may want to consider attending the annual Esri User Conference in San Diego next month. The event, which runs from July...more
"I was working in corporate America for one of the world's largest retail companies, and it was challenging and wonderful in many ways. But I was finding my truest fulfillment on Saturday...more
Foundation: Whitefish Community Foundation
"Through our collective efforts, we're not just providing financial support, but we're investing in Montana's vitality and resilience." That from Mike Smith, president of Glacier Bank, which...more
If you're looking for a way to boost your community's sense of place, researchers at Gustavson University in Sweden have just the thing. They've developed a set of five principles that community...more
Seri Roth is an entrepreneur "with a passion for empowering communities and fostering positive change," according to her website. She's just launched Boston Queers, an online directory and...more
The new president of the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tenn., says he'll bring a "keen appreciation for the arts and Appalachian history" to the job, the Knoxville News Sentinel...more
Community Building News from...
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Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Calgary Social Enterprise Offers High-Tech Services by People with Autism
Meticulon, a project of Autism Calgary Association in partnership with the federal government and the Sinneave Family Foundation, operates as a social enterprise that renders high-tech services provided by people with autism, leveraging their natural abilities at requiring attention to detail, repetition, and sequencing.
