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By Varun Bihani, Image: Getty, Forbes, June 23, 2023 Microsoft, a titan in the tech world, took a bold step to prioritize the health and wellness of its workforce through technology. The outcome? An impressive 47% surge in physical activity and a 5% reduction in body mass index among their employees . This success story is not just a testament to the power of technology but a challenge to the status quo of corporate wellness programs. Microsoft's approach is a wake-up call for businesses...

In 2007, at the start of my son’s fourth grade year, the teacher who I will call Ms. L, gave the class an assignment. They were to write letters to their “future selves” outlining the things they envisioned and hoped for over the course of the coming year. Ms. L. would give the letters back to the children at the end of the year so they could see how their “future selves” aligned with the vision they held at the start of the year. Though my son, ten at the time, showed no outward signs of...

Living with adverse childhood experiences (ACE) is not just challenging due to the direct impact of trauma. It can also be quite isolating, particularly if there are no other children or adults around that have navigated similar situations or know how to provide effective support. One of the most valuable ways to help children with ACEs thrive is to build more resilient and trauma-informed communities. Trauma itself can be a complex condition and what one child may find helpful may not be...

Students at Brooklyn’s P.S. 958 gear up for a test run of their mock restaurant. The school’s mission is to serve any child in the surrounding community, including those with complex disabilities. Alex Zimmerman / Chalkbeat By Alex Zimmerman, Chalkbeat - New York, June 20, 2023 Outfitted with paper chef hats, a group of students at Brooklyn’s P.S. 958 were getting ready on a recent afternoon to launch a mock restaurant, wiggling on the classroom carpet in anticipation of their first wave of...

By Matthew T. Johnson and Elliot Johnson, Illustration: from article, Greater Good Magazine, June 16, 2023 In October 1936, 200 men marched from South Tyneside to London to protest against the poverty and unemployment in their town, Jarrow. Nearly a century later, Jarrow is taking part in a small pilot scheme to test how universal basic income (UBI) could tackle financial insecurity and health inequalities—which continue to plague the town. Under the scheme, two groups—15 people in Jarrow...

By Lizzy Ferrara, Photo: Manuela Durson/Shutterstock, Housing Matters, June 21, 2023 Access to safe drinking water is a globally recognized basic human right . But research shows US tribal public water systems (PWS) and the homes they serve are historically neglected in planning and response efforts, placing a disproportionate burden of disease and unsafe housing on Indian Country. This spring, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the first-ever standards for six...

A homeless encampment in San Francisco on June 6. A new study shows that at least 90% of adults who are experiencing homelessness in California became homeless while living in the state. (Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) By Angela Hart, California Healthline, June 20, 2023 California’s homelessness crisis is a homegrown problem that is deepening amid a shortage of affordable housing and emergency shelter, and it’s often the brutal conditions of living on the street that...

By Cory McCoy, Image: from article, Tri-City Herald, June 21, 2023 As the school year came to a close, staff at the Boys and Girls Club of Benton and Franklin Counties found they’ve also learned a lot this year. A year into a focused effort to put mental health at the forefront of their work, the staff members have learned as much about themselves as they have the kids they work with. That’s because their efforts to teach kids how to recognize and regulate their feelings is centering...

Older adults provide warm and safe relationships that help children grow into healthy adults, and these relationships with children and families benefit them as well. Intergenerational relationships keep tradition alive, help children connect to their background, and provide a safe space for children to be themselves. Many grandparents help with childcare or school pick up; community centers offer intergenerational opportunities; and neighborhoods hold residents of many ages. These are...

The California Department of Technology is seeking feedback from Californians in response to the State’s Digital Equity and Mobile Survey. The Digital Equity Survey is intended to identify the digital equity barriers and needs of California’s residents. The survey can be taken online or via mobile phone. It is accessible in 14 different languages and includes audio functionality for limited English proficiency and limited literacy residents. Below are links to the survey and an outreach...

Deanna Mirabal, 61, poses for a photo as she looks out a window of a reintegration home where she lives in Los Angeles on April 16. Mirabal spent almost 40 years incarcerated for a murder that she said she did not commit. (Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times) By Selene Rivera, Los Angeles Times, June 19, 2023 When Deanna Mirabal was released from prison seven months ago, after 38 years of being locked up, anxiety overtook her instead of happiness. The world that she left behind at 19 was...

By Giulia Carbonaro, Photo: from article, Newsweek, June 19, 2023 The land of the free is suffering from a "self-inflicted" injustice when it comes to poverty, experts say, as the rich are getting richer while thousands living without sufficient means die every year in the United States, as a recent study shows. The issue, according to an exclusive poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of Newsweek , worries a majority of Americans. Research by the University of...