College Prep Center at St. Marcus Lutheran School -- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Joquori, a senior in high school, was devastated when his two closest friends were killed last spring. Lonely and despondent, Joquori nearly gave up on school. His 3.7 grade point average plummeted to a 1.9.  Read more...

"Strong Connections" Gives Foster Youth a Voice -- Chicago, Illinois
Plastic grocery bags bring back painful memories for April. They remind her of the many trips she took from one foster home to the next, all her meager possessions crammed into a plastic grocery sack. Although her 18 years in foster care weren't easy, neither was leaving the system.  Read more...

Health Education for the Navajo -- Rock Point, Arizona
Mosi (not her real name) hobbled into the Navajo Evangelical Lutheran Mission (NELM) Community Health Clinic at Rock Point, Arizona, with one shoe on, the other shoe off. Her left foot, ripe with odor, was too swollen to fit into her shoe. Marina Elliot, a Certified Nurse’s Aide at the clinic, examined Mosi’s foot and asked her some questions: Are you diabetic? Have you been taking your insulin? Did you kick something with your foot? Do you wear shoes while in the house?  Read more...

Young Hurricane Victims Plant Giving Gardens -- New Orleans, Louisiana
They remember what it's like to be at the epicenter of a natural disaster. Five years after Hurricane Katrina and the resulting floods destroyed most of their city, students at St. Paul Lutheran School in New Orleans, Louisiana, grieved with the people of Haiti struggling to rebuild life following the January 2010 earthquake. The students' grief turned into action.  Read more...

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