PROSOCIAL
LINKS
(last updated: May 2000)
INTRODUCTION
PROSOCIAL
LINKS
(last updated: May 2000)
INTRODUCTION
When I wrote The Banality of Good and Evil: Moral Lessons from the Shoah and Jewish Tradition (Washington, DC, Georgetown University Press: 1999), I inserted a "List of Prosocial Sources on the Web," feeling that the Internet would become the major source for knowledge in the next generation. My suspicions proved correct; students readily submit papers with URLs as footnotes. This is a good thing, for the Internet allows us to discover new knowledge more quickly as well as to update the knowledge we offer more efficiently.
Some of the sources I listed in Banality in 1998 when that section was written became obsolete; others disappeared; and many more new sources developed as the web sprouted like Jack's beanstalk. Accordingly, when I taught this material in the fall of 1999, a scant few months after publication of the book, I asked students to check my list, to offer new listings, and then to draw up categories. This website, entitled Prosocial Links represents the work of their hands modified by me. I wish to thank the students of my "Evil" class for their help in this and, at the same time, invite anyone who visits this site to send me corrections and additons which I will put up as soon as I have time (reldrb@emory.edu).
In grouping these websites into categories, I have had to create rubrics and make decisions about what belongs where. To be sure, many of these wonderful organizations should be categorized under two or three rubrics, and I have done so for a few. Further, as the list expands, new categories will have to be created to keep the individual rubrics from becoming too big and for the purpose of clarity. The work is far from perfect or systematic. I expect to keep this page updated and I welcome suggestions.
Most importantly, I hope that this website will serve as a source of knowledge and inspiration to those who visit it.
BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPY
HUNGER, POVERTY, AND HOMELESSNESS
BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPY (see also VOLUNTEERING)
Website detailing Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) for individuals, corporations, universities, hospitals, foundations, insurance companies, nonprofit organizations, churches, and synagogues. SRI incorporates the investor's financial needs as well as the investor's impact on society. This site details how one can get information and consultation on SRI, as well as some statistics about the socially responsible investing movement and its growth.
Site of Business for Social Responsibility, an organization for businesses concerned with demonstrating respect for ethical values, people, communities, and the environment through socially responsible business policies and practices. They hold very good conferences with business leaders who speak on their work. It is expensive to join, though not for a corporation.
Echoing green applies a venture capital approach to philanthropy by providing seed money and technical support to individuals creating innovative public service organizations or projects that seek to catalyze positive social change. The concept is to invest in projects at an early stage and provide support to help the organizations grow beyond start-up. Goals include improving the leadership of nonprofit organizations, encouraging business leaders to contribute to society through social enterprise, and to educate more people about social enterprise.
http://www.hbs.edu/socialenterprise/
Harvard Business School initiative to create two way learning between the business and the social sector. Strategies such as practice based research, educational programs, products for nonprofit organizations and their leaders, learning and service opportunities for the School's MBA students, and programs for HBS alumni and other business leaders are employed to support lifelong engagement in social enterprise. Site mostly details HBS's effort towards this goal, but can be a model or an associate for schools interested in starting similar programs.
Literally a world bank made up of five closely associated financial institutions, the World Bank provides loans and other financial services only to the poorest countries. The World Bank organization strives to help people help themselves and to stimulate economic growth. Their goals are big, but they are dedicated to long term help and development, not short term fixes.
America's Charities' goal is to provide member charities with the necessary resources to meet needs impacting human service, health and education, civil and human rights, and the environment.
Web home of the, American Institute of Philanthropy which provides a charity watchdog service and gives tips for giving wisely. If you become a member, they send a quarterly report on how about 400 charities spend their donated money.
http://www.guidestar.org/index.html
A database of over 620,000 nonprofit organizations in the United States, with info about their operations and finances. You can donate online and also find charities that need volunteers.
This is the website of the United Way of America. It contains links to local United Way organizations, and it shows how the United Way system works.
http://www.giraffe.org/ziv_tzedakah.htm
Site of the Ziv Tsedakah Project which combines the Giraffe philosophy with Jewish charity. This site needs to be developed.
http://www.slip.net/~scmetro/empower.htm
This is the beginning of a major website by and about non-profit organizations, researching and funding, how to write letters of intent and grant proposals, working with volunteers, various forms of direct mail and tele-fundraising efforts and publications, networking with other non-profits and much more.
Site of the Giraffe Project. One of the best site for prosocial resources on the net. The Project, designed to give publicity to people "who stick out their necks" to do good, is described together with profiles. The K-12 curriculum for prosocial education is also displayed alongside television programming and publications. They also have great links to individual "Giraffes" and other organizations dealing with: the dangers of tobacco, environmental hazards, performers who go to hospitals, prevention of sexual abuse and abduction, racism, the arts, disabilities, and hunger. The links page (/links.html) also includes a section for children!
Campus Compact is a coalition of college and university presidents committed to helping students develop the values and skills of citizenship through participation in public and community service. The organization's intent is to make the goal of colleges and universities to prepare students to be active, committed, and informed citizens and leaders in the community. Presidents, faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to promote a renewed vision for higher education, support the civic development of students, and make the campus an active and engaged member of its community.
The American Institute for Public Service presents the Jefferson awards which were started to rebuild public trust and encourage community involvement by saluting the "Best of America" -- today's heroes. The award is presented on two levels: locally and nationally. On the local level the award is presented to people who do extraordinary things without expectation of reward. They are nominated through a nationwide network of 51 media sponsors, radio stations, newspapers, and cable systems. These media sponsors solicit nominations of individuals who work to better their communities through volunteer and community service. On the national level the recipients are individuals whose public service has impacted the country as a whole.
http://www.alternativebreaks.com/
Break Away's mission is to promote service on the local, regional, national, and international levels through break oriented programs which immerse students in often vastly different cultures, heighten social awareness, and advocate life long social action. This nonprofit organization serves as a national resource on alternative break programs. Break Away's vision is to have every college student in the nation participate in an alternative break program during their undergraduate careers.
Dr. Chuck Wall, Ph.D. promotes committing random acts of kindness as a way to end senseless violence. They recognize that kindness does not need to be premeditated or planned, but people should commit to perform at least one random act of kindness daily. This program is promoted and modeled in classrooms.
http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/comatt/ghome.html
This site is the home for the largest literacy organization. This organization believes that improving the reading skills of adults con help make major changes within their communities. These major changes stem from the adults' higher self-esteem and feeling of self-worth, as well as a better economic situation, and better education for their children.
The National Society for Experiential Education works towards changing the face of education as we know it. This organization emphasizes experiential learning as the best way for kids to learn not only required material, but also key concepts for living a prosocial life. This website discusses its service learning ideals, and provides many links for the different facets of the long-standing organization.
http://www.nicsl.coled.umn.edu/
Site of the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. The method of learning through doing service is discussed, the partners are listed, as are publications including bibliographies, and dozens of organizations scattered throughout the US.
http://www.crossculturalsolutions.org/projectindia/human-prog-abroad-lycos.html
The Cross Cultural Solutions program fosters a reciprocal sort of learning. Workers are sent abroad in order to make a real difference in their areas and, at the same time, to bring this teaching style back to the United States in order to implement it in the schools and communities in which they live. This empowers local communities towards prosocial action and promotes these humanitarian ideals.
Home page of the Ethics Resource Center -- dedicated to being "a leader and catalyst in fostering ethical practices in individuals and institutions." They have a Character Development program for schools and a Consulting and Technical Assistance Program designed to inject ethics into the workplace, community, and industry.
http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/FrameSet.asp
This site is aimed at collecting and providing information of great tutors/mentor programs for at-risk youth. It also makes sure these programs are where they are most needed and that there are enough of them. The site also serves to ensure there are enough volunteers, money, training, equipment, and media attention for both current programs and those that are in the making. The site agrees that it truly does "take a village to raise a child" and strives to help build the village.
http://groupweb.com/cc/cousins.htm
Community Cousins is a non-profit organization that aims to break down racial barriers. Black, White, Latino, Asian, and Middle Eastern families are paired with a family of a different ethnicity and are encouraged to exchange material items that one family outgrows with the other. The passing of these items serve to instigate contact that eventually grows into a friendship, especially among the children. Also, the entire community of "cousins" together regularly for outings and mutual support.
http://www.hospitalaudiences.org/
Hospital Audiences, Inc. (HAI) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1969. The goal of HAI is to provide access to the arts by bringing people who are isolated from the cultural mainstream as a result of a medical condition to cultural institutions, or by presenting the arts directly to them while they are in the institutions. HAI has a second goal that it wishes to accomplish through the arts. Using the arts as its medium, HAI wishes to bring life-saving information and decision-making skills regarding critical public health issues, (such as HIV / AIDS, TB, violence prevention and homelessness) to the public as well as those living in housing for special populations, mental health facilities, hospitals, and shelters.
http://www.adbusters.org/home/
http://www.6seconds.org/index.shtml
http://www.americaspromise.org/
http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/ieo/bibs/characte.html
A good bibliography in character education.
The site of Wise Skills, a character education program for K-8.
Site of Facing History and Ourselves, an organization, with a regular journal, that draws up school units on human rights and social justice based on material from the shoah. They are sometimes attacked for "using" the shoah but their efforts are highly to be commended.
http://www.splcenter.org/teachingtolerance/tt-index.html
Site of Teaching Tolerance, a magazine devoted to fighting antisemitism, homophobia, race hatred, and religious bigotry. It is published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit organization founded by Morris Dees, which also maintains a Klanwatch and pursues hatemongerers in court. Teaching Tolerance has resources including poster, video and text kits, etc. especially for K-8. It also administers a one year fellowship program to enable people to join their staff for a year, as well as grants up to $2000 for K-8 instruction.
http://www.humboldt.edu/~altruism/altru.htm
Site of the Altruistic Personality and Prosocial Behavior Institute run by Professors Samuel and Pearl Oliner. The project, which is the main source for systematic knowledge of people who rescued Jews during the holocaust, is described, publications listed, and plans displayed.
http://www.humboldt.edu/~altruism/further.htm
Links page of the Altruistic Personality and Prosocial Behavior Institute. Very broad range of interests, biographies, studies, etc.
http://davidblumenthal.org/index2.html
A collection of my own articles on the subject of doing good and evil. Some precede the publication of The Banality of Good and Evil: Moral Lessons from the Shoah and Jewish Tradition, and some grow out of that work.
http://caster.ssw.upenn.edu/~restes/praxis.html
PRAXIS is the international development homepage of Prof. Richard J. Estes of the University of Pennsylvania. PRAXIS provides access to a vast array of archival resources on international and comparative social development. The intellectual commitment of PRAXIS is to the promotion of positive social change through informed action.
FOR CHILDREN (see also EDUCATION)
http://www.connectforkids.org/
Guide for parents who want to help their kids do prosocial acts. The site gives advice and lists local chapters all over the U. S.
Child Welfare League of America is the oldest and largest national nonprofit organization developing and promoting policies and programs to protect America's families. This site contains the web's first National Data Analysis System (NDAS), housing child welfare statistics. Includes links to: Publications, Programs, Conferences & Trainings, Consultations.
The National Head Start Association is a private not for profit membership organization representing the 835,000 children, upwards of 170,000 staff and 2,051 Head Start programs in America. The website provides information on membership, meetings & events, research & evaluation, government affairs and publications. The NHSA's main concern is with early childhood development.
Are you into it? is a program for kids who care. It provides ideas about how to volunteer and also gives categories that might be of interest, i.e., violence, racism, hunger, education, etc. This is a place for children, young and old, to post their volunteer stories and make their own web page. It is linked with the 4-H organization which was designed to teach better home economics and agricultural techniques.
This center conducts research, develops programs, and supports educational change that fosters children's ethical, social, and intellectual development.
http://www.caseyfamilyservices.org/
This organization serves children, families, and communities in need in various activities.
http://www.conductdisorders.com/
NICHCY is a national information center that provides information on disabilities and disability related issues. Children and youth, from birth to age 22 are their primary focus.
Leadership, Education, and Athletics in Partnership, Inc has been formed to help improve academic and social success for young children in urban and highly impoverished areas. These children ore from 7-14 years old and intervention is year-round.
Web home of Big Brothers Big Sisters International, a program promoting caring relationships between two people. In this program people learn how to be intimate with someone and how to foster a loving, caring relationship.
http://www.standupforkids.org/
An organization dedicated to helping get kids off the street. The program runs entirely on volunteer work. You can register to volunteer online. There are a lot of good stories about how kids are helped posted on the site.
CASA's (Center Against Sexual Abuse) Second Step program is a violence prevention curriculum aimed at children from preschool through the eighth grade. The program is presented once a week and lasts for twelve weeks. The goal of the program is to reduce impulsive and aggressive behavior in children. It also wishes to promote the development of problem-solving and prosocial skills. Teacher and, parent service are also part of the curriculum in order to reinforce the lessons at school and in the home.
This website deals with a different CASA than the one listed above. Here, CASA is actually the National CASA Association, which stands for the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association. This organization began as a result of concern over making decisions about abused and neglected children's lives without sufficient information. It utilizes trained community volunteers to speak for the children's best interest in court.
Take A Stand for Kids serves as a message site describing the programs of this organization. This group does community programs and educational lectures teaching others about the signs and forms of child abuse.
http://www.stopschoolviolence.com/
This group supports improvement of the "zero tolerance" rule as well as enforcement of it within every high school. They teach tolerance to students in order to suppress school violence, providing advice and seminars on mediation.
VOLUNTEERING (see also BUSINESS AND PHILANTHROPY)
The Campus Outreach program has initiated in order to get college students involved in community service and prosocial action and ideals. The premise is that college students have the abilities and the energy to do great things for the future world in which they will live. Instead of living inside a the university bubble, they spread the sense of urgency necessity for students to participate in the development of these ideals in our society, and provide a forum in which to become active.
Site of an organization that cultivates and aids volunteering on line, including a matching service for volunteers and those in need -- a real data base of volunteers.
This site is committed to the ideals of service, empowering individuals and strengthening institutions. It wishes to become a resource center for 200+ organizations committed to increasing the quantity and quality of opportunities for youth to serve locally, nationally, or globally. Provides youth service organizations and media with information and research on the best practices, resources, and opportunities in the field of youth service nationally, or globally. Provides youth service organizations and media with information and research on the best practices, resources, and opportunities in the field of youth service.
Idealist is a "project of action without borders." You can search or browse through a database of 20,000 nonprofit organizations in 140 countries, learn about jobs and internships with these organizations, learn about volunteer opportunities, and learn of different tools for nonprofit organizations.
A commercial site that produces books on internships and temporary employment in various places in the United States.
Site of Volunteers of America, one of the oldest human service organizations in the US with roots in Christian mission. They service the elderly, poor, disabled, victims of substance abuse, and ex-offenders.
http://www.nicsl.coled.umn.edu/
Site of the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. The method of learning through doing service is discussed, the partners are listed, as are publications including bibliographies, and dozens of organizations scattered throughout the US.
This is the site for the Internet Volunteer Initiative. The site functions as a resource for both those interested in doing volunteer work as well as organizations that are in need of volunteers. It has a database for both groups of people in order to supply both parties with thc information they need to either do volunteer work or find volunteers to help out.
http://www.guidestar.org/index.html
A database of over 620,000 nonprofit organizations in the United States, with info about their operations and finances. You can donate online and also find charities that need volunteers.
http://www.cns.gov/americorps/
Corporation for National Service. Contains news and information on AmeriCorps programs as well as ways to get involved and serve your community.
http://www.peacecorps.gov/home.html
Home of the United States Peace Corps, a body that enables young people to spend two years abroad helping in underdeveloped countries. Thousands of graduates have gone on to distinguished careers in public service.
http://www.HandsOnAtlanta.org/home/
Site of one of the Atlanta volunteer-coordinating groups. They organize volunteers around holiday programming, tutoring, leadership development, gathering and distributing clothing, seniors, housing renovation, homelessness, AIDS, literacy, etc. They also have internships and organize the annual MLK Summit which brings people together to celebrate the work of Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as to go forth and actually volunteer a day.
Macdonald Youth Services offers volunteer and educational opportunities in Canada in the fields of government, non-profit organizations, social work, gang resources, foster care, family issues, and sexual abuse. A very thorough site.
Amnesty International is a worldwide campaigning movement that works to promote all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. In particular, Amnesty International campaigns to free all prisoners of conscience; ensure fair and prompt trials for political prisoners; abolish the death penalty, torture and other cruel treatment of prisoners; end political killings and "disappearances"; and oppose human rights abuses by opposition groups (drawn from the site). The site details information on the organization's activities and instances of human rights violations, as well as providing a place for people interested in getting involved to volunteer.
The International Fellowship of Reconciliation is an old interfaith peace and justice organization. IFOR has carried on programs and educational projects concerned with domestic and international peace and justice, nonviolent alternatives to conflict, and the rights of conscience. It has affiliates in over 40 countries. This website lists a series of programs, periodicals, education & training, as well as providing the list of affiliates by country.
Youth Action for Peace. Finally, a site designed for the younger ones! YAP has been around since WWI, and is an international movement. There are three main types of activities carried out by YAP: volunteer exchanges, seminars and training, and, peace and development education.
International Rescue Committee Atlanta, GA works on resettling refugees. It was founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein to assist anti-nazi opponents of Hitler. Its mission has been to help victims of racial, religious, and ethnic persecution and oppression, as well as people uprooted by war and violence to survive and rebuild their lives.
http://www.globalpeaceservices.org/
This site is about The Center for Peace and conflict Studies at Wayne State University. This area of study began 1965 in order to sponsor programs, activities, and publications in the area of scholarship related to peace, war, social justice, arms control, global issues, and conflict resolution.
PREVENTION AND PUBLIC HEALTH (see also CHILDREN)
Doctors Without Borders, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, is the world's largest independent international medical relief agency aiding victims of armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man made disasters, and others who lack health care due to geographic remoteness or ethnic marginalization. They have publications, areas on how to help this effort, volunteer information, and special reports of pertinent world news. When the medical assistance is not enough to save the lives, Doctors Without Borders will speak out against human rights abuses and violations of humanitarian laws.
Site of East Tennessee branch of the National Coalition Building Institute. The national office has no website at this time. The goals of the organization -- prejudice reduction, multiculturalism, antidiscrimination, etc. -- are explained and local workshops listed.
http://www.caseyfamilyservices.org/
This organization serves children, families, and communities in need in various activities.
http://www.conductdisorders.com/
NICHCY is a national information center that provides information on disabilities and disability related issues. Children and youth, from birth to age 22 are their primary focus.
http://www.familynetwork.org/wecare
Site of the Family Support Network which is devoted to encouraging mutual helping in the framework of family living.
http://www.crime-prevention-intl.org/
The International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC) is international organization that focuses on the reduction of crimes, violence and delinquency. This group works with other cities to implement programs to teach tolerance and crime prevention.
Drug Abuse is Life Abuse provides education and support for the youth in urban cities teaching them about the dangers of drugs and gangs.
A non-profit organization that takes the medical advancements of the western hemisphere and takes it to those in the east who are not as technically advanced and for those who cannot afford treatments of this kind. They claim not to be a "hit and run" service that comes in and leaves, but as a group that works with the community for as long as needed.
This site is about the Raymond Proffitt Foundation. Thc foundation is a public interest non-profit organization that is concerned with the enforcement of environmental protection laws. It helps both individuals and grassroots organizations understand and change government sanctions to protect the environment.
http://www.hospitalaudiences.org/
Hospital Audiences, Inc. (HAI) is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1969. Thc goal of HAI is to provide access to the arts by bringing people who are isolated from the cultural mainstream as a result of a medical condition to cultural institutions, or by presenting the arts directly to them while they are in the institutions. HAI has a second goal that it wishes to accomplish through the arts. Using the arts as its medium, HAI wishes to bring life-saving information and decision-making skills regarding critical public health issues, (such as HIV / AIDS, TB, violence prevention and homelessness), to the public as well as those living in housing for special populations, mental health facilities, hospitals, and shelters.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/dvp.htm
This CDC run program aims towards the prevention of violence. Included in their goals are youth violence, abuse, and suicide. Statistics are given to show the prevalence of these issues, and as a result, the impact this program may have on our societies. A list of current projects is given, as well as a list of links to articles and publications pertaining to these issues.
Second wind is focused on showing respect for and enhancing the quality of life of senior citizens.
Greenpeace creatively and constructively confronts global environmental issues.
Adult Children of Alcoholics World Service Organization is a nonprofit agency organized to maintain services for those seeking the means for dealing with the emotional disease of family alcoholism. The sites provides access to workshops, meetings, and literature.
The Public Health Foundation is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to achieving healthy communities through research, training, and technical assistance. Building on 30 years of experience, PHF assists health agencies and other community health system organizations by providing objective information in areas such as health improvement planning, understanding and using data, and improving performance.
http://www.stopschoolviolence.com/
This group supports improvement of the "zero tolerance" rule as well as enforcement of it within every high school. They teach tolerance to students in order to suppress school violence, providing advice and seminars on mediation.
This site is a task force designed to expose crimes of injustice. Visitors may share in their experiences of hate crimes and are given advice. This site also suggest programs to end hate crimes.
Home of the Southern Poverty Law Center which, among many things, keeps KlanWatch on the Klu Klux Klan and other hate groups.
HateWatch is an educational resource combating online bigotry. This site is a great source for going through the myriad sources of disseminated hate on the web. Although it raises issues about free speech and the darker side of the web, it is an excellent locator of sites to be concerned about.
HUNGER, POVERTY, AND HOMELESSNESS
http://www.thehungersite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/HungerSite
The Hunger Site allows a visitor to the web page to click on a button to donate free food to those in need (sponsors pay for your donations which you can make once every day). The donated food is distributed through the United Nations World Food Program. Additional help can be given if one decides to find more companies who are willing and financially able to sponsor the hunger site for ten days or more.
The Heifer Project offers hungry families around the world a way to feed themselves and become self-reliant by providing heifers and education as to their care. Children receive nutritious milk or eggs; families earn income for school, health care and better housing, and communities go beyond meeting immediate needs to fulfilling dreams. The project also teaches farmers sustainable, environmentally sound agricultural techniques. The program is designed so that a family's heifer's female calves are given to other needy families so that they too can become self sufficient. The program now offers more than just cows and the web site details the project, and offers an opportunity for volunteers to offer help financially or through service.
http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/hunger.html
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) supplies food for hungry people, seeds, tools and training for agriculture, and aids in the development of poor countries. UMCOR helps people start small businesses and supports water, reforestation, literacy, and health programs in its long term effort to eradicate poverty. The web site describes the organization and its goals, as well as providing information to those who are interested in helping or donating funds.
Bread for the World is a 25 year old Christian organization dedicated to ending world hunger. 44,000 members strong, they focus on the power of citizenry to positively affect support policies to eradicate the root causes of hunger. This site provides links to such issues, as well as providing links to publications and Congress. Included are tips on how to help, and the basic issues concerning hunger.
This organization strives to bring attention to those who are in need. This group tries to educate and motivate people to get involved in preventing hunger. They began after hearing about a story of a boy who was sad after a lecture on the food groups. When asked why he was sad, he said that he was hungry. When asked why he didn't eat the night before, he replied, "It wasn't my turn."
http://www2.HomesfortheHomeless.com/hfh/
Homes for the Homeless (HFH) works to reduce homelessness by providing families with education and training that will enable them to live self sufficiently. The program also aims to reduce nationwide homelessness through the development of other model programs. The site details the program and its efforts to help parents complete their education and instill education as a family value. Programs are also described that provide vocational training to adults.
Site of the National Coalition for the Homeless. It lists the myths about homelessness, NCH projects and publications, and has further links on this issue.
Site of Habitat for Humanity which builds houses for the poor all over the world.
Home of the Center for Neighborhood Technology. They develop self-sufficient neighborhood economies, teaching appropriate technologies to help create a sustainable environment on the local level. Rooted in Chicago, it has a housing abandonment warning system for Chicago's neighborhoods and an initiative to re-craft the relationship between metropolitan areas and the federal government.
