LITANY OF HOPE

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We have been living through a year or more of rancor, fear, accusations, and a certainty that there is only one way to go about life…my way, or your way but certainly not both ways.  We have endured a period where our collective sin is certainty.  I, for one, am tired of it.  But I have to own the fact that if I am not part of a solution, I am at least complicit in the problem. 

In the process of researching how non-profits/social enterprises work, I have been struck by the number of people and organizations – in this country and around the world - working bit by bit to make positive change for the common good.  We just seldom hear about them.  To change that, I am creating a Litany of Hope, listing organizations doing great work in sometimes-small ways, sometimes-big ways.  If you want the needle of your internal “Hope-O-Meter” to start ticking upward, take a look at one or more of the following links.  Read about them, support them, pray for them, and, perhaps most of all, let them inspire you and restore your faith in our common humanity.  This list barely scratches the surface.  Share your own good news stories, if you are moved to.  Share hope!

Opening Doors   (www.openingdoorsdbq.org)    
Sojourner Family Peace Center (www.familypeacecenter.org)  
Transitions (www.help4women.org)         
Dominican Center for Women (www.dominican-center.org)     
www.350.org
Center for Women in Transition (www.cwitsl.org)          
Mary Ryder Home (www.maryryderhome.org)   
Roots of Success (www.rootsofsuccess.org)          
Presentation Lantern Center (www.presentationlanterndbq.org)
Café Reconcile (www.cafereconcile.org)
Living Lands and Waters (www.livinglandsandwaters.org)       
Girl Rising (www.girlrising.com)     
Earthlinks (www.earthlinks-colorado.org)
Women’s Bean Project (www.womensbeanproject.com)
Work Options for Women (www.workoptions.org)         
Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners (www.iocp.org)
Just Bakery (www.emum.org/justbakery)            
The Tomorrow Project (www.tomorrowproject.org)
Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County (www.ncjc.org)
Malala Fund (www.malala.org)                  
Women Make Movies (www.wmm.com)               
St. Isidore Catholic Worker Farm (www.stisidorecatholicworkerfarm.org)
Veterans for Peace (www.veteransforpeace.org)
Teen Talking Circles (www.teentalkingcircles.org)          

www.chicago.cubs.mlb.com  (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself!)

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