The feature below is brought to you by Global Conservation Corps, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. The Future of African Conservation The shrill cry of an African Fish Eagle pierces the peaceful morning silence, and a group of unseen birds begins chattering noisily. The sun has just risen, and the temperature increases with it, but there still remains a faint pink glow on the horizon, with a waterbuck grazing not far into the bush. This is the setting at the Timbavati Foundation, which has joined forces with the Global Conservation Corps, to develop the Future Rangers Program. Set just outside Kruger National Park in South Africa, the center is teeming with wildlife and it is impossible not to feel the wonder of nature here. This is truly a place to build a connection with the natural world, and that’s what the children have come here to do. We sit in the classroom before the children arrive. It’s bright, well lit and clean, and covered from wall to wall with stuffed and mounted South African wildlife, along with detailed descriptions of the natural history of their live counterparts. For a child who has never seen their native wildlife, alive or dead, this classroom is a learning paradise. When you look out one sliding glass door, there’s a beautiful garden and reflective pool leading to a widely branching Amarula tree, an icon of Africa. Behind that, there’s a waterhole that regularly attracts wildlife. Look out the other side of the building, and you see a garden with displayed skulls, the most prominent being a massive rhino skull, a stark reminder of what’s a stake. The facilitators, bright eyed and smiling, tell us their favorite part of environmental education. Karen tells stories of growing up with animals, and following his father, a ranger, through the bush looking for tracks. He says what drives him in this field is the opportunity “to have an imprint on someone’s life”. Chico tells of how she grew up with no connection to nature, following the example of many and throwing trash on the ground. Once she connected with the natural world at the Southern African Wildlife College, it changed her life. She doesn’t want the students to miss out of the love she feels for nature, that she discovered later in life (and is also adamant to her students about throwing trash in the appropriate bins). The passion of the people positioned to change these children’s lives is overwhelming and contagious. If you don’t love something, you won’t work to save it. That’s the underlying message of the Future Rangers Program, and one that is increasingly urgent and important in our current time. The children in the communities surrounding the national parks often never see the wildlife that their continent is known for. It is many times too expensive and unobtainable to go into the national parks. Growing up without this connection, there is no investment to protect the wildlife, and why should there be? The Future Rangers Program is working to fix this problem at its root. Using an environmental curriculum that builds over a young person’s lifetime, the program helps to build passionate leaders in conservation, from the ground up. If a child shows the initiative, Future Rangers has the potential to lead to internships and jobs in the environmental sector, letting them pursue their passion while supporting themselves or their family. Even if the student decides to pursue a different career path, that love of wildlife and nature that was instilled early on is potentially with them forever. Ask any career conservationist. It all started when we were kids. With wildlife rapidly declining and many species, such as the iconic African rhino, disappearing due to human greed, there is no better time to invest in people to save wildlife. Without the inclusion and involvement of the communities who surround conservation areas, there will be no wildlife left to speak of. Children possess an inquisitive demeanor and an open mind, and are fascinated by the natural world. There is no better place to start building a passion for wildlife and nature than during childhood, and this is what Future Rangers aims to do. Written by Matt Lindenberg, President and Founder of Global Conservation Corp
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The feature below is brought to you by The Peaceful Project, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here.   Discovery, Trust, and Living from Your Values In fourth grade, his face was a rigid mask. Throughout the exercise where the students related to experiences where they had felt sad, hurt, happy, scared, and mad, he only related to mad. He said that he felt angry all of the time. It was later in the small group, when we were talking, that he began to cry. He sobbed, surrounded by supportive classmates, and shared how his two-year-old brother had died. He had no one to talk to about it. He was afraid to talk to his father. His mother was out of the country. We spent two hours with his class, and when it came time to leave, his face was alive with a brilliant smile. He hugged me goodbye and wouldn’t let go. This was the most profound time of gratitude for me in teaching The Peaceful Project’s Community in Unity Program. There are more stories about fourth and fifth graders seeing how courageous they are: stories of students sitting at The Peace Table learning to respectfully resolve conflicts, and of children discovering their core values and examining how they will handle challenging situations from those values. There is such gravity in this work. We applied to See Beautiful to further Community in Unity in Ferguson, Missouri, where we have been working with fourth and fifth graders. Community in Unity is The Peaceful Project’s social-emotional learning program focused on peaceful conflict resolution, developing trust, understanding feelings, and discovering values. Discovery In many character-building programs, traits are laid out as something lofty to aspire to and something that is ever so slightly out of reach. Students are encouraged to display a particular character trait over a course of time, and there are awards given to a select group. We approach values and character traits as the beginning of a great, continuing discovery! In Community in Unity, all students discover those traits within themselves. They begin by identifying the traits they highly admire in someone else. It could be their mother who is loving, devoted, and kind. It could be Martin Luther King who was compassionate, patient, and eloquent. It could be a cousin who is supportive, funny, and smart. They use three of those traits in an “I AM Statement” that they will then practice. That statement is a springboard for their relationships and for how they show up at home, with friends, and in the classroom. They learn that those traits admired in others are actually within them and are indeed who they are! Teachers have the children read their statements before tests or at challenging times as a reminder of who they are. The “I AM Statement” not only sets the foundation for the classroom community, but it is also a powerful tool for teachers to use throughout the year. When there is an argument, teachers can guide students to remember their statement and choose how to respond from their values. Trust During Community in Unity, every student makes a Trust Agreement with one another. They agree to respect one another, to come directly to the individual with a problem rather than talking about it with others, and to honor each other’s opinions. This agreement sets the tone for the classroom. Knowing that others commit to being trustworthy makes a huge difference in how students view their classroom lives and in the level of safety and comfort they feel. When there is gossip, the teacher can discuss the value of the Trust Agreement and how gossip creates mistrust, judgement, and fear without solving the problem. Teachers can have the class remake their agreement throughout the year, especially when new students join the classroom. Students learn to hold themselves and each other accountable. Living from Your Values The students live from their values through The Peace Table, where they come together to peacefully resolve conflict. Everywhere we have introduced The Peace Table, students have loved it and have always reached resolution, sometimes after long standing feuds. The Peaceful Project’s mission is to guide young people to live their unique lives’ purposes. A large part of that is recognizing the beautiful in themselves as well as the beautiful in others. It is a shift in the way they view the world. Others become compatriots rather than adversaries. Students become their own advocates as well as compassionate advocates for one another. Our programs provide opportunities for participants to experience the often unexpected power of peace in their lives and to connect to a vision of the future that they truly desire. We have worked with young people in the juvenile justice system, members of the LGBTQ community, and students in elementary through high school. Each heart that opens to new possibilities is a chance for peace. Community in Unity is a heart-opening experience that embraces peace building from the inside out. Written by Maggie Macaulay for The Peaceful ProjectEdited by Rachel McLeroy for See Beautiful The feature below is brought to you by Empowered Readers, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here.  Who We Are We are the Empowered Readers Literacy Project, a non-profit dreamed up by a 5-year-old little girl who set out to tackle illiteracy by helping families build strong reading rituals and by getting kids excited about reading. With this See Beautiful grant, we will fund Project 500. We take a holistic, emergent approach to literacy. We believe that literacy is more than a set of skills that enables a child or adult to memorize words and sound out phonics. We believe that literacy is not something that is simply taught, and it does not start when a child begins school. Literacy is a complex process that starts at birth and requires family and community connection. We are helping kids and families change the focus of reading by engaging them in imaginative adventures and tapping into their creativity. We believe that books with diverse and engaging content, shared in connection with real human interaction, will get kids excited about reading on their own and with their families. The Work We Do "Every kid deserves to read." - Selah Nicole We create hope and inspire dreams in the hearts of at-risk children (ages 0-9) and their families through the empowerment of reading and providing access to books. We achieve this through our 4 core programs that impact families and children at key intersections that are at the heart of the DNA of a creating a good habit. Adventure Time Readers Club After-school Program Our free after-school program for K-3rd grade students at Title 1 schools within the Atlanta Public Schools District. We gamify reading for kids, engage them in readers’ theatre, and provide them with free books monthly to add to their Project 500 Library at home. Project 500 Our initiative to give families access to the necessary tools to literacy by helping them build an in-home library of 500 books. Studies show that when kids have 500 books or more in their homes, their education is boosted 3.2 years on average. Adventure Bag of Books -- Pediatrician Partnerships Building strong reading rituals starts early. Our initiative to get books in the hands of new parents and young, non-school-aged children (ages 0-3). Children and Parents receive an Adventure Bag of Books at their Well Visit doctor’s appointments to add to their Project 500 Libraries at home. Out of the Margins Our initiative to eradicate library deserts and help move communities out of the margins of literacy. We identify library deserts and build and maintain Little Free Libraries, giving under served communities access to books. The Beauty We Create We are creating beautiful in children, beautiful in families and beautiful in communities. The joy that children experience when books comes to life for them is beautiful. The unity that families share when they build reading rituals together is beautiful. The empathy exhibited by a community of children and adults giving back to help their neighbors learn to love reading is beautiful. If you are passionate about reading, family and community, contact us today to see how you can help us positively impact people's’ lives. Contact: [email protected] Written by Nicole E. Thompson, Executive Director of Empowered ReadersEdited by Rachel McLeroy for See Beautiful The feature below is brought to you by Diversify Dietetics, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. Registered dietitians nutritionists (RDNs) are the nation’s nutrition experts. We are the healthcare providers you come to in order to learn how to navigate eating out when your child has a life-threatening food allergy, when you’re diagnosed with gestational diabetes during your first pregnancy, or when your friend is in a traumatic car accident and placed on a feeding tube as his only source of nutrition. We can be found in every hospital caring for patients, every school system creating healthy meals for kids, and pretty much at any other community organization or corporation that has anything to do with food. If you’ve eaten a meal anytime lately (read: all of us!) an RDN has influenced your food choices somewhere along the way. But here’s the problem: our profession is comprised of only 9% professionals of color. We do not reflect the diverse populations that we serve. This lack of diversityin our profession has persisted for years. For some groups, such as for African Americans, the number of students choosing to study nutrition in accredited programs (the only pathway of becoming an RDN) has fallen in recent years. This lack of diversity affects the quality of care that we give to the clients, patients and students that we serve. When there is less diversity amongst healthcare professionals, research has shown that the care for patients and students of color also suffers. Our patients and students are more receptive to taking recommendations from providers that look like them because they feel that the provider or educator might understand them and their needs better. The nation’s population is rapidly becoming more diverse and needs its food and nutrition healthcare experts to reflect its diversity.  How do we create a more diverse RDN workforce? It’s simple: by increasing the number of dietetics students of color. Except that it’s not so simple: the educational pathway to dietetics is not an easy one. It requires a student to complete a bachelor’s degree in a science-heavy curriculum, with courses such as biochemistry, metabolism, microbiology, organic chemistry (I and II!). Students must also compete to be accepted into a post-baccalaureate internship, where only about 50% of students who apply are accepted. These internships are not only unpaid, the students usually have to pay tuition to attend. This all culminates to the largest exam any of us RDNs ever take: The Registration Exam for Dietitians. If you don’t pass this exam, you don’t become an RDN. Oh yes, and in 2024, a master’s degree will become the minimum requirement to become an RDN. All of this means: barriers along the way for students of color who want to become RDNs. This is where Diversify Dietetics comes in. After all of this seemingly bad news for students of color it was time to See Beautiful! Diversify Dietetics’ mission is to increase diversity in the field of nutrition by empowering students and young professionals from underrepresented minority groups to join the next generation of nutrition experts. We are aiming to achieve this by creating a community for students, professionals and educators, dedicated to increasing ethnic and racial diversity in the field of nutrition and dietetics. In just our first few months of launching, we have connected with hundreds of current students and dietetic interns of color, finding them where students are these days: on Instagram and Facebook. We are offering free or low-cost, high quality programming that uses social media and technology to extend our reach. Some of the programs are our RDN Spotlight Series, where we highlight RDNs of color, because we believe representation matters. We are also recruiting mentors and mentees for our 2018-19 Mentor Program. Our program is a little different from other mentor programs, because where we don’t see success in a current method, we always aim to go beyond the status quo and find a more effective way. We have also launched our “Feed Me the Facts” Facebook Live Series, which covers topics and offers resources critical to the educational success, specifically targeted to students of color.  Tamara Melton with her students at Georgia State University We have also connected with hundreds of educators- which is critical to our mission. Educators are the gatekeepers- the ones who get to decide who is accepted into these accredited dietetics programs and internships. Using ideas stemming from our own lived experiences, and from the feedback from the students we’ve connected with, we are developing training webinars and workshops for dietetics educators to better prepare them for recruiting, retaining and supporting students of color. These professional development experiences will include such skills as unconscious-bias training for faculty, admissions committees and preceptors, will showcase effective recruitment techniques, and will offer examples for promoting cultural and structural sensitivity throughout the curriculum and in student advisement. If we are selected for to receive the See Beautiful grant, we will be using this support to host our first large-scale Educators’ Workshop during this fall’s Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE). FNCE is the largest annual conference for RDNs; it will allow us to offer this workshop to educators from all over the country. We will then tweak the workshop based on evaluations from our attendees and our own observations. The funds generated at this first workshop will provide us the capital needed to refine and offer an improved and more focused workshop to educators on their campuses all around the country. All of these initiatives will help us to increase the number of RDNs of color, and better serve all of our patients, clients and students. We are so excited to have found the See Beautiful community, and are thankful for this opportunity to share our story! You can read more about the co-founders of Diversify Dietetics, Deanna Belleny and Tamara Melton, here. Written by Tamara Melton, Co-founder of Diversify DieteticsEdited by Rachel McLeroy for See Beautiful The feature below is brought to you by Paint Love, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. Paint Love brings free, high-quality arts programming to youth facing poverty or trauma. “Sometimes when I feel mad at myself, I will say mean things about myself like I’m stupid, or I’m ugly. But since we did this Paint Love project, now I will think about myself that I’m smart, and unique, and perfect just the way I am.” Fourth grader at Powder Springs Elementary School, working with Artfully Made Club The ten-year-old girl smiles and goes back to creating a mosaic border around a mirror on which she has written “I am smart and quirky,” as a daily reminder to herself. Being a kid is hard enough- facing self-doubt, bullying, and peer pressure. But for the two thousand young people Paint Love works with each year, growing up is even more stressful. Most of the kids in this project, this school, and throughout other schools and nonprofits Paint Love serves, are growing up facing poverty or trauma.  Paint Love empowers kids through art. Our programs go above and beyond the ordinary. Paint Love projects introduce youth to new ways of seeing beautiful in the world, their community, and themselves. Through projects like screen printing, wax encaustics, collaborative murals, metal pours and metalsmithing, writing and storytelling, design and illustration, stop-motion animation, glass blowing, quilt making, sculpture, paper making, photography, and more, our programs teach new mediums while incorporating intentional themes and social-emotional skill building focused on seeing and creating beauty and goodness. Paint Love serves young people who often have the least access to the arts and creative self- expression, but could benefit the most. To reach youth who face, or risk facing, poverty or trauma, we pair local, professional artists with Title 1 schools and youth-serving nonprofits. Paint Love takes care of all the planning and provides all the supplies to create extraordinary projects that our partners wouldn’t be able to do on their own.  Our nonprofit partners serve children fleeing domestic violence, facing sexual abuse, grieving after the loss of a parent or sibling, homeless youth, new immigrants and refugees, and more. Our school partners are designated Title 1 by the GA Department of Education based on the number of students eligible for free/ reduced lunch (FRL). On average, 65-95% of their students are eligible for FRL. Over half of the art teachers have zero budget for supplies, and at best, serve between 500-1000 students with a supply budget of $1- $3 per student for the entire year. Since Atlanta is a hub for newcomer refugees and immigrants, most school partners have a high rate of English language learners and children who do not speak English as well as high numbers of transient students- including homeless children and those in the foster care system.  Studies show that constant stress (like growing up in poverty) or trauma (like losing a parent or being abused) impacts kids’ developing brains and has a permanent effect on their lifelong ability to do everything from have healthy relationships to manage emotions. Arts engagement is actually proven to reduce stress and teach skills that can help them live healthy, happy lives. Here is one example of how Paint Love’s art programs make a difference in kids’ lives: Cat Goolsby, a professional metalsmith and Paint Love artist, works often with teens from Wellspring Living, a residential program for girls who have been removed from sex trafficking. A young woman participating in Cat’s jewelry making workshop is trusted with real tools like a motorized drill and experiences how good it feels to earn trust, and even overcomes a little bit of fear operating the machine or stamping a piece of metal. When she gets discouraged that her pendant didn’t come out how she wanted, she is supported and encouraged to try again and she learns persistence. When she is finished, she gifted the necklace to a friend, and she feels pride that she created something beautiful and unique and happy to have something to give away. Through this project, she learns new skills and her mind is challenged in new ways with designing and creating. She acknowledges and manages tough emotions, and thinks of a way to do something kind for someone else. She sees that everyone’s projects came out differently and there is more than one way to do the project. She learns to control her anger and frustration, maybe she realizes that drawing designs is calming to her and recognizes that is something she can do next time she gets upset. She has fun and leaves feeling good about herself, and like she can successfully tackle new challenges.  Paint Love would use support from See Beautiful to bring empowering arts programming to new Title 1 school partners in the upcoming school year. We currently have a waiting list of teachers and principals from Title 1 schools across the Metro-Atlanta area who want to bring Paint Love projects to their students. Our school partners receive a minimum of 8-12 hours of programming, but sometimes, with funding support from the community, we have the capacity to offer even more, like the recent 200- foot mural artist Brent Coleman created with students at Clarkdale Elementary. At Clarkdale, 86% of students are economically disadvantaged and receive free or reduced lunch. Brent volunteered over 80 hours and worked with all 800 students during every stage from planning the mural to the final touches. The mural highlights the STEAM focus at Clarkdale and the international community at the school, as well as includes sections where the kids could paint anything they wanted to represent themselves and leave their mark on their school in a big way!  We believe every child should have access to programming that helps them see beautiful and encourages them to spread that beauty. Paint Love serves See Beautiful’s priorities of equity, inclusion, justice, and peace, as our core mission is built around providing opportunities to youth across the spectrum of access, ability, and privilege, with a special focus on those who are often overlooked and underserved. At Paint Love, we choose art as our tool because we know how transformational it can be, but our main priority is always empowering youth to create and see the beautiful in themselves and their world, even beyond the time they are holding a paintbrush.  Written by Laura Shaw, Operations Manager at Paint LoveEdited by Rachel McLeroy for See Beautiful The feature below is brought to you by Georgia Steppers League, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here.  The Georgia Steppers League Creates More Beautiful Youth Step League Highlights Individualism Through Creative Expression The world is just a bit more beautiful when it is colored with the creativity and comradery displayed by the members of the Georgia Steppers League. The Metro Atlanta-based league, now entering its tenth year, has served as the umbrella organization for more than 1,000 male and female step team performers ranging in age from kindergarten to college freshmen. Since its inception, the league has taken pride in providing leadership training, character building workshops, college scholarships and local competitions awarding cash prizes to winning teams from Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida. The Georgia Steppers League’s 2018-2019 initiative, “Bring Back Our Boys,” is in final grant review with See Beautiful and the league hopes to use the funding award to recruit and support more male participants during this year’s competitive season. With the funding, the league will continue its impact in area schools by developing student ambassadors who will provide leadership in their local communities. Any young man receiving funding through this source will be charged to conduct one culminating team event inspiring league members to see what beautiful in themselves and one another. The league’s goal is to provide a lens for students to use to see themselves as the beautiful individuals they are. In addition to serving area young men, the league provides ten months of services to any student wanting to be a part of a step team program. The league has been home to over fourteen teams who hold national titles as the best of the best in the country. As the league continues its mission and vision to Empower, Expose and Elevate is members, it is evident that a partnership with See Beautiful is a perfect, beautiful combination. Written by Clarisse Frazier of Georgia Steppers LeagueEdited by Rachel McLeroy for See Beautiful  In 2016 Terence Lester, co-founder of Love Beyond Walls, walked 648 miles from Atlanta, Georgia to Washington D.C. to be a voice for people living in poverty. Beyond a voice, the goal was to lift them above the status of poverty and bring together a community of you and I to become part of the story of empowerment, light and love.
This year, Love Beyond Walls Documentary, Voiceless, will be released and we are honored that the $1000 See Beautiful Milestone Grant will be used to create a workbook used alongside the film to deepen conversation, move to action, and create more beautiful in the lives of those experiencing poverty. People experiencing poverty are often some of the most vulnerable, yet most worthy of love and kindness - two things that we are ever-free to give and cost nothing. Together we can use our voices and we are honored walk alongside you, Love Beyond Walls.  We have a lot of caregivers, educational stakeholders, and families in our See Beautiful Community. We also have an amazing opportunity for you to get kids involved in an art project that leads to more beautiful for an extraordinary non-profit: Helping Mamas! Short story: Your kid(s) creates a piece of art depicting "A Vision of Unity" and it will be on display at Helping Mama's Art Show!  More details: Helping Mamas is an amazing Atlanta non-profit doing incredible work to empower families and organizations in need. They're hosting an Art Exhibit called: A Vision of Unity. All of the art displayed will be student art work and YOUR kid(s) can create it! The art will be matted by Helping Mama's and on display at their event on Saturday, May 13th at The Hudgens Center for the Arts. Please let us, or Helping Mama's, know if you'd like to participate and we can get you additional details! Visit Helping Mama's invitation HERE. Know a non-profit we should partner with? Tell us about them on our nomination/application page. Inspired by this post and want to spread the word? Share away.... Author: Lydia Criss MaysFounder & Owner, See Beautiful “Love knows nothing of short hauls because it has committed itself for the long haul.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough We're in it for the long haul. Our love isn't going anywhere. I stare at the faces of these amazing, resilient, loving, trusting, hope-filled girls and they make me see beautiful. I listen to their conversations that empower each other and come together to plan ways to make the world - THE WHOLE WORLD - a better place and it gives me chills. I watch them turn dreams into action and I cannot imagine not having learned from them. Their lives have been filled with much fear as refugees, losing their home and all they know. Can you imagine? As a child? Their lives have been shaken in ways children should never experience. I love knowing that when they needed comfort and love our Country had open arms and provided a home of refuge - a place where children could run and play and feel safe. We are a people who love and serve and give. We love our neighbor. We love strangers. This is why we are here: To love everyone. Always. When our ability to love others is threatened, we dig in. We're strong and awesome like that. Love can't be stopped. The girls in our See Beautiful Clubs know this and I'm so glad they do. I'm so glad they'll never have to wonder if they're valued and loved here. They are. We work to reinforce this understanding all the time. We're a country of WE - a WE that brings love to the table and we're in it to win it. Love always wins.  Author: Lydia Criss Mays; Founder of See BeautifulThe beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." ~ B.B. King Join us in celebrating our newest giving initiative with the Kutemwa Foundation. The Kutemwa Foundation, alleviates the cost of schooling for young children in Lusaka, Zambia, by providing funding for required school supplies. Additionally, many children with whom they support are vulnerable to not being able to continue education or are orphans and must receive supplemental financial support to attend school. Since schools in Zambia work on a trimester schedule, there are three points during the year they look provide funding for school supplies including books, pencils, paper and more to the tune of $6-7 per child. Additionally, when the school year starts many children do not have the means to pay for tuition or school uniforms. And while this is only Kutemwa Foundation's first year of operation, they are working to collect livelihood gifts to bless children with for the coming year (i.e., soap, toothbrushes, etc). How your purchase helps: Your purchase provides a child with required school supplies for an entire trimester. Additional funding from this Giving Initiative will provide tuition for students who need the supplemental support. Connect with Kutemwa Foundation directly here, Facebook, & Instagram.
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