The Everyday Heroes project

Feature stories from the website that shows how charities, philanthropists and businesses are transforming their communities. 

Blackbox international helps rehabilitate boys rescued from human trafficking

Human trafficking, in which a person is forced to work for others, is one of the worst realities in the modern world. Whether it’s for cheap labor or sexual exploitation, the practice is perhaps most heartbreaking when you consider the number of children involved.

According to a 2002 report by the International Labor Organization, about 1.2 million children are trafficked each year. The U.S. State Department says that sexual trafficking comprises a significant amount of the overall issue. Many organizations exist to rehabilitate the girls trapped in the inhumane industry, yet, according to Blackbox International, few help the estimated 400,000 boys trafficked annually...

how one non profit is transforming this poverty-stricken chicago neighborhood

What will end the violence in Chicago? For Robbin Carroll, the answer is relationships.

Carroll is the founder and president of I Grow Chicago, a nonprofit dedicated to providing a safe place for kids and at-risk community members in Englewood, one of the most poverty-stricken neighborhoods in Chicago.

It began one day when Carroll was dropping her kid off at school in Hyde Park. She looked around and saw a neighborhood wracked with crime and little community development...

.

this organization cares for homeless female veterans

The harsh reality of homeless veterans sometimes hits the news. That people should serve our country, give their all, be honorably discharged and then face living on the streets is a horror. Yet, the situation often grows even more dire for female veterans.

Jas Boothe learned this firsthand while she served in the United States Army. In 2005, home from having deployed during the Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom campaigns, Boothe was preparing for another tour when she lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. A month later she was diagnosed with aggressive head, neck and throat cancer and began fighting for her life. A single parent of a son, Boothe found herself homeless due to Katrina, unable to deploy due to cancer and facing discharge from her military job...