Category Archives: Society

The Latest news about what is effecting Society in North America, These PR articles, bring the newest technologies, initiatives and helpful tools to those who need them.

Society: Disabled Issues / Disabilities

Clearinghouse CDFI Secures $1.6 Million from FHLBank Subsidy Program to Finance Affordable Housing on Tribal Lands in Nevada and California

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Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians – Bi’du Khaale
The Bi’du Khaale project will build 24 new affordable housing units for extremely-low and low-income seniors to serve the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians in Cloverdale, California. The project will have a service coordinator and onsite amenities including a community building, garden, sports court, playground, and catering kitchen. Green building features include solar panels. The grant was secured through FHLBank San Francisco’s 2023 AHP General Fund competition for projects.

“We’re incredibly grateful to FHLBank San Francisco for selecting our sponsored projects,” said Douglas Bystry, President and CEO of Clearinghouse CDFI. “We have long standing, successful working relationships with both the Washoe Housing Authority and Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians and are proud to work with them to build high-quality affordable housing for their communities. The lack of Affordable housing has become a longstanding issue in the American West and are proud that we can work with Indian communities to address a pressing need.”

Under the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, each FHLBank must establish an Affordable Housing Program and contribute 10 percent of its earnings to this program. These funds are to be used for financing the purchase, construction, or rehabilitation of housing for low- or moderate-income households (AMI of 80% or less). Funds may also be used for the purchase, construction, or rehabilitation of rental housing where at least 20% of the units are affordable for very low-income households (AMI of 50% or less). FHLBank San Francisco’s Affordable Housing Program General Fund works to expand access to affordable housing to underserved communities. Grants are awarded annually through a competitive application process to FHLBank San Francisco’s members in partnership with housing developers and community organizations.

AHP grants contribute to the development, preservation, and rehabilitation of single-family and multifamily housing that serves people in need, including the chronically unhoused, families, seniors, veterans, at-risk youth, people living with disabilities and mental health challenges or overcoming substance abuse. Grants are delivered through FHLBank San Francisco member institutions partnering with nonprofits and affordable housing developers to submit applications for grants for specific projects in an annual funding competition.

Since 1990, FHLBank San Francisco has contributed over $1.14 billion in AHP General Fund and Nevada Targeted Fund grants, making them the largest privately-owned source of affordable housing funding in their three-state region.

About Clearinghouse Community Development Financial Institution (Clearinghouse CDFI)
Clearinghouse CDFI addresses unmet credit needs throughout the U.S. and in Indian Country through direct lending, equity investments, and financial assistance. For 27 years, Clearinghouse CDFI has helped bridge the gap between conventional lending standards and the needs of low-income, distressed, and communities of color. Clearinghouse CDFI is also a B Corp—a certification received from the nonprofit B Lab. B Corps are companies who meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability, and use business as a force for good.

Clearinghouse CDFI has funded $2.2 billion in total loans for over 2,600 community projects over the past 27 years. These projects have created or retained more than 40,000 jobs and benefit over 3.9 million individuals. Clearinghouse CDFI loans have also created 12,000 affordable housing units since inception.

In 2022, 64% of Clearinghouse CDFI financing benefited projects in low-income communities. These projects served 2,686 African American clients; 7,868 Latino/Hispanic clients; and 510 Native American/Native Alaskan Clients. Overall, 40% of projects financed in 2022 are minority owned/controlled or primarily serve a minority population.

More information is available at http://www.ccdfi.com.

Media Contact

Ron Demeter, Partner, Vectis Strategies on behalf of Clearinghouse CDFI, 310-614-1059, [email protected], www.ccdfi.com

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SOURCE Clearinghouse CDFI



Society: Social Services

Kinetic Advantage Teams Up with Auction Partners for Summer of Service

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This summer, floorplan financing company Kinetic Advantage partnered with independent auto auctions across the United States on volunteer projects to give back to local communities, including fighting hunger, supporting women in crisis, and bringing resources to nonprofits. Through collaborations with auctions like DAA Seattle, Metro Auto Auction Phoenix, AutoNation Orlando auction, Carolina Auto Auction, and Metro Auto Auction Dallas, Kinetic Advantage made a difference and plans to continue teaming up with auctions nationwide on community service efforts. The volunteer initiatives raised money, packed food, distributed pantry bags, and supported women’s shelters.

CARMEL, Ind., Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — During the summer of 2023, Kinetic Advantage the fastest-growing floorplan company in the industry collaborated with independent automotive auctions across the United States on volunteer projects that gave back to their local communities.

The team effort started in early June, when Kinetic joined the annual Helping Hands Auction at DAA Seattle hosted by McConkey Auction Group where during the event a total of $60,000 was raised for the Auburn Food Bank, The Arc of King County and Adult and Teen Challenge.

“At McConkey Auction Group, it is our mission to provide superior vehicle remarketing services and establish long-term relationships; our success allows us to serve the greater community through our ethical, socially conscious and financially strong company,” says Chris Bradley, Business Development for McConkey Auction Group. “This is why our yearly Helping Hands Auction at DAA Seattle is so important to McConkey Auction Group. Through the years, our business partners have had direct involvement in helping us raise funds during this particular sale and this year we welcomed Kinetic Advantage to our fundraising family!”

Next in July, Kinetic partnered with Metro Auto Auction Phoenix to pack over 1,900 emergency food boxes for St. Mary’s Food Bank. The food provided meals for hundreds of Arizona families in need.

“Volunteers are the heartbeat of our organization, and they help us pack 100,000 boxes monthly which are then distributed throughout Arizona. We are thankful to have Kinetic Advantage as one of our community partners and appreciate all the support provided to our food bank,” says Jennifer Gonzalez, Volunteer Services Manager for St. Mary’s Food Bank.

Later in July, Kinetic volunteers joined the AutoNation Orlando auction to assemble grocery bags from 20,000 pounds of food that were distributed that same day to clients of The Sharing Center.

Kinetic Advantage also spent a day working with Carolina Auto Auction distributing food pantry bags at Anderson Interfaith Ministries in South Carolina.

To wrap up the summer, Kinetic teamed up with Metro Auto Auction Dallas to support the Genesis Benefit Thrift Store, which funds Genesis Women’s Shelter and Support.

Through these community collaborations, Kinetic Advantage and its auction partners made a difference by fighting hunger, supporting women in crisis, and bringing resources to local nonprofits. Kinetic Advantage plans to continue teaming up with auctions nationwide to create positive change in communities across the country.

Media Contact

Stefani Stout, Kinetic Advantage, 1 317-741-1334, [email protected], https://www.kineticadvantage.com/

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SOURCE Kinetic Advantage

Society: Social Services

BluSky Partners with Housing Industry Foundation To Revitalize Youth Transitional Housing

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This revitalization overhauled the aging space by reimagining CHC’s Santa Clara campus with new flooring, completely remodeled bathrooms, brand new amenities, an up-to-date career center, workstations for the youth, four refurbished bedrooms, seven additional beds, an outdoor seating area, new HVAC systems, and more. A ribbon cutting ceremony, spotlighting the revitalization’s impact, occurred at the completion of the project, where local business leaders and community partners toured the facility refurbishments and heard from representatives within the organization and its partners.

BluSky worked alongside many industry partners to complete this project, including: Equity Residential, Sherwin Williams, Benchmark Environmental Engineering, VCS Inc Construction Company, Advanced Home Energy, HD Supply, Moen, Urban Surfaces, American Asphalt, and the Interior Logic Group.

“BluSky and Equity Residential have been essential to the impact of the Housing Industry Foundation’s programs. Their expertise and commitment to our mission is at the essence of how HIF partners with, and leverages, the Multifamily Housing Industry to help vitally important community agencies like Covenant House. Because of leaders like Ryan Rusler at BluSky and Mark Tremain at Equity Residential and the great team at Covenant House, more homeless young adults will have safe, stable and supportive housing,” stated Steve Sullivan, Executive Director, HIF.

“This revitalization project was a dream that became reality with the generosity of HIF, BluSky and Equity Residential,” commented Shelby Booker, Covenant House California (CHC). “Before this project, we were running at a much lower capacity due to the repairs that needed to happen that we couldn’t afford. Thanks to this project, we can safely house 30 young people every night in updated bedrooms that are dignifying and beautiful – exactly what they deserve!”

“This project was a true testament of what the Housing Industry Foundation can do when they bring two great companies together and those companies can leverage the resources they have to help rebuild much needed housing for young adults,” remarked Mark Tremain, Equity Residential.

“BluSky was honored to be a part of this project – we are a continuous supporter of the Housing Industry Foundation, and we believe it is our duty to serve the community in which we conduct our business,” said Ryan Rusler, Vice President, BluSky San Jose.

About The Housing Industry Foundation: The Housing Industry Foundation’s (HIF) mission is to help individuals and families remain in or return to stable housing through our Homeless Prevention Programs, including emergency assistance grants, shelter renovations, and affordable housing initiatives. Through extensive relationships with service agencies, nonprofits, and other community based organizations, HIF is able to evaluate and qualify recipients for emergency housing grants, identify priority renovations needs for shelters, and assist teachers, nonprofit, and other public sector workers in securing affordable housing.

About Covenant House California: Covenant House California (CHC) is a nonprofit youth shelter with locations in Anaheim, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Santa Clara that provides sanctuary and support for youth overcoming homelessness and trafficking, ages 18-24. CHC believes that no young person deserves to be homeless; that every young person in California deserves shelter, food, clothing, education, and most importantly, to be loved. Now serving almost 2,500 youth a year, CHC provides a full continuum of services to meet the physical, emotional, educational, vocational, and spiritual well-being of young people, in order to provide them with the best chance for success in independence.

About BluSky Restoration Contractors, LLC

Denver, Colorado-based BluSky Restoration Contractors, LLC is a full-service national restoration, renovation, environmental and roofing provider for properties damaged by water, fire, storms and other disasters across the nation. For more information about BluSky Restoration Contractors, please visit GoBluSky.com or call (800) 266-5677.

Media Contact

Candace Johnson, BluSky Restoration Contractors, 1 8009568844, [email protected], www.goblusky.com 

SOURCE BluSky Restoration Contractors

Society: Disabled Issues / Disabilities

Native Arts & Cultures Foundation Announces 2023 Lift Program Awardees

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The LIFT – Early Career Support for Native Artists program provides early career Native artists with professional development, marketing support, culturally appropriate evaluation, and a $10,000 award to develop and realize new projects. Support for burgeoning artists is critical in developing fresh voices and envisioning the future of our respective Native practices. In addition, LIFT encourages artists to uplift communities, advance positive social change, point courageously toward environmental sustainability, and foster communal meaning-making.

“These artists show courage and commitment to developing innovative artistic practices that strengthen communities and tell powerful stories to create connections, deepen understandings, and counteract historical injustices.” – Laura (Cales) Matalka (Chickasaw) Associate Director of Programs

Selected artists for the LIFT 2023 awards are as follows:

Film/Video

  • Alica “Sheyashi” Mteuzi (Black, Caddo, Cheyenne & Arapaho) – Narrative Film “BILA” is a sci-fi narrative set 50 years into the future.
  • Angelique Kalani Axelrode (Kānaka Maoli) – Performance “Kai Hali‘a” is a semi-autobiographical, live cinematic experience that incorporates interactive technology with digital and film footage, direct film animation, embodied movement and choreography, and generative animations spawned by movement.
  • Alana Tiikpuu (Nez Perce & Navajo) – Narrative Film “Goat Song” is a short film about a young Indigenous man who was adopted out of his family as a child and undergoes a spiritual transformation as he searches to reconnect with his community.

Multi-Disciplinary Arts

  • Tomantha Sylvester (Citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians) – Theater “Kiindaash naa bndamwin webkaamgak – And so began the prophecy” is a site-specific theatre performance that explores the relationship between traditional Ojibwe cosmology and women from other ancient matriarchal societies.
  • Nanea Lum (Native Hawaiian) – Public Art “Nu’uanu Streaming” is a public art project that speaks directly to the issue of water diversion in Hawaiʻi’s post-contact society.
  • Golga Oscar (Yup’ik Nation – Kasigluk/Tununak) – Textiles

Oscar will create two forms of Yup’ik fancy parkas to share with community members and feature in fashion shows across North America.

Traditional Arts

  • Kyle “Hokona” Kootswatewa (Hopi) – Textiles/Weaving

Kootswatewa’s project will revitalize the ancestral Puebloan technique of yucca cordage weaving.

Visual Arts

  • Ayuthea LaPier (Hanis Coos, Blackfeet, Tlingit [Chookeneidi Clan], Metis) – Mixed Media

“Land Back : Fire Back” is a visual storytelling of Pacific Northwest Indigenous fire-practitioners’ Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) that will open conversations around the meaning of land rematriation and land defense.

  • Mikaela Shafer (Hopi, Coyote Clan) – Mixed Media

“Down Road 264” is a journey of memories and healing in a matrilineal culture through a collection of mixed media art and poetry.

  • Zoë Urness (Tlingit Alaskan Native) – Photography

“The Eternal Village and the Chilkat River” is a photographic exploration that examines the symbiotic relationship the Chilkat Tlingit Village of Klukwan has had with the Chilkat River for thousands of years.

  • Kanani Miyamoto (Hawaiian) – Mixed Media

“Weaving Angels” will be an immersive installation combining printmaking, woven materials and carved wood blocks that will serve as a symbol of community, cultural survival, and resistance against assimilation.

  • Jared Andreas (Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians) – Painting

“Illuminated” will consist of twelve large-scale oil portraits of tribal members from the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.

Other Disciplines

  • Agalisiga “chuj” Mackey (Cherokee Nation) – Music/Performance “ᏳᏩᏒᎢ ᎤᎾᏤᎵ (Yuwasv Unatseli)” will be a country-folk album entirely written, sung, and performed in the Cherokee language.
  • Ashley Young (Tlingit) – Music/Composition Young will write, perform, record, release, and promote a 3-6 track EP. Their process of lyric-writing will involve research and collaboration with fellow Lingít language leaners and teachers.
  • Kalikopuanoheaokalani Aiu (Kanak ʻŌiwi & Of many Islands and Seas) – Dance/Choreography

A collaborative multimedia performance that will center Native Hawaiian and Filipino Indigenous methodologies and concepts.

NACF is grateful to the Maxwell | Hanrahan Foundation, and The Rasmuson Foundation for their support of the LIFT – Early Career Support for Native Artists program.

About the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation

The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation’s mission is to advance equity and cultural knowledge, focusing on the power of arts and collaboration to strengthen Native communities and promote positive social change with American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native peoples in the United States. To learn more about the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, visit www.nativeartsandcultures.org.

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Media Contact

Mandy Yeahpau, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, 1 9714174836, [email protected], https://www.nativeartsandcultures.org

SOURCE Native Arts and Cultures Foundation

Society: Christianity

Veteran Benefits Guide Expands Management Team to Bolster Expertise Behind Its Commitment to Serving America’s Veterans

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Today’s management announcements include:

Alain Monroy, a U.S. Army Veteran, will serve as VBG’s new Director of Strategic Partnerships. He joins VBG from the Vegas Golden Knights (VGK), where he was the Director of Global Partnerships. Before VGK, Alain was an Associate Director of Corporate Partnerships at Year Up, a workforce development non-profit organization and previously a Vice President in Commercial Banking at JPMorgan Chase. Alain brings more than a decade of experience in developing strategic cross-sector partnerships. In addition to his many years of experience in the private sector, Alain also served as a captain in the U.S. Army at various locations, including Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty), North Carolina, Northern Afghanistan and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Airborne, Air Assault and Ranger Schools and earned a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A) from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Political Science and Military Science & Leadership from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Alain will report directly to VBG’s Chief Marketing Officer, Lisa Kalkes, and lead the strategic development and optimization of brand strategies through partnerships and other endeavors. He will also be responsible for aligning VBG with other like-minded Veteran organizations that put Veterans first.

Juan Molina has joined VBG as the Director of Operations. He recently served as an Operations Support Manager at National Veterinary Associates (Ethos) and brings nearly a decade of experience in healthcare and operations. Juan comes from a U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force Veteran family and holds a Master’s in Health Administration from Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Saint Louis University. He will report to VBG’s Chief Operating Officer, Donato Clay, and be responsible for managing VBG’s core operations, helping to ensure that VBG continues to meet and exceed its goals.

“We are thrilled to add Alain and Juan to the VBG team and to further tap Freddie, Jonathan and Preston’s combined expertise to help bolster several key areas of our organization,” said Josh Smith, CEO of Veteran Benefits Guide. “Their roles are foundational to the work we are doing to strengthen the company’s operations and Veteran-focused partnerships so that we can continue to provide best-in-class services in support of the Veteran community.”

VBG also announced the following promotions of high-performing employees:

Freddie DeYong has been promoted to Director of Business Operations. In this newly created role, he will help the organization set its goals, develop strategic plans, and manage production and business analytics. Prior to this promotion, Freddie served VBG as Director of Operations.

Jonathan Mills, a U.S. Army Veteran, has been promoted to Director of Training and Organizational Development. He will oversee VBG’s new hire product training, as well as its employee education, leadership development and health and wellness programming. Prior to this promotion, Jonathan served VBG as Manager of Training and Organizational Development.

Preston Ramirez has been promoted to Associate Director of Information Technology (IT). He will oversee the information technology of the organization, managing IT resources and improving processes to increase efficiencies for the company. Previously, Preston served VBG as Product Manager.

Headquartered in Las Vegas, with an additional office in San Diego, VBG’s workforce has grown to about 200 employees since the company was founded in 2015. VBG’s expertise has enabled the company to help 35,000 Veterans nationally receive an average increase in annual disability benefits of $13,000 — benefits they likely would not have received without VBG’s support.

About Veteran Benefits Guide

Veteran Benefits Guide (VBG) enables Veterans to receive the full disability benefits they have earned from their service in a timely manner. Since its founding in 2015, VBG has helped 35,000 Veterans to receive a combined increase of $5.5 billion in lifetime benefits. VBG’s trusted, national network of independent and credentialled medical service providers ensures that Veterans submit fully developed, accurate claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which avoids the need for appeals, speeds up the final benefits decision and reduces the VA case backlog. VBG is based in Las Vegas, Nevada and also has offices in San Diego, California. Learn more at vetbenefitsguide.com.

Media Contacts
Lisa Kalkes, VBG
[email protected]

Christine Dunn, Seven Letter
[email protected]
617.646.1044

SOURCE Veteran Benefits Guide

Society: Christianity

Si usted compró bolsas de reciclaje de marca Hefty o Great Value, puede ser elegible para recibir un pago en efectivo de una conciliación de demanda colectiva.

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WAUKEGAN, Illinois, 14 de septiembre de 2023 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Se ha llegado a una conciliación en una demanda colectiva contra Reynolds Consumer Products, Inc. y Reynolds Consumer Products, LLC (“Reynolds” o el “Demandado”). Los demandantes alegan que el uso de Reynolds de…