upworthy

Sarah Watts

Health

Is safe and stable housing the key to our health and wellbeing? This docuseries says yes (and has the footage to prove it).

A moving docuseries explores housing, equity, and personal health and well-being through the lens of three unforgettable stories.

Photo by Ryder Haske, People's Television, Inc.

Four Bands Community Fund helped Tammy Granados (pictured here) navigate systemic barriers that are common among Native homebuyers.

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When you think of a home, what comes to mind? For many, it’s the classic vision of a house—four walls, some doors, a roof. But research has shown that home ownership is so much more than just a physical structure. Instead, it’s an opportunity for families to have stability, a way to build and pass down wealth to future generations, and a foundation for a healthy life.


In a three-part docuseries from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), filmmakers explore the systemic barriers that keep safe and accessible housing out of reach for many Americans, such as racial discrimination, access to credit, and poverty. The docuseries, From Hope to Home, follows the story of three families affected by these barriers and shows how, with the help of community organizations, they are able to break free from these barriers and access safe housing—something RWJF believes is essential for health and wellbeing.

Four Bands Community Fund helped Tammy Granados (pictured here) navigate systemic barriers that are common among Native homebuyers.

Photo by Ryder Haske, People's Television, Inc.

In the first part of the docuseries, entitled “What We Came Here For,” viewers meet Tammy Granados, a young mother of four children, who experienced housing insecurity when the rent was raised on her family’s two-bedroom apartment.

Granados reached out to Four Bands Community Fund, a community development financial institution (CDFI) that helps create a path to homeownership for underserved communities and individuals—something that is particularly complicated for Native Americans.

“Most of the issues our homeowners face have to do with barriers set up around the land that we have no control over, that were set up through treaties with the US Government,” says Lakota Vogel, executive director of Four Bands Community Fund. Native communities, for instance, work through the Bureau of Indian Affairs to buy and sell tribal land rather than a traditional realtor, which can make home ownership seem even more out of reach.

“Who do you call when you want to buy a house?” says Vogel, of the typical home buying process for Native communities. “We don’t have realtor companies.”

These kinds of structural barriers, Vogel explains, put a significant strain on the health of Native communities.

“It’s like a chronic stress that’s overtop all of us, and our populations experience these unprecedented health disparities,” she says. “We adopt this scarcity mindset and our bodies sort of respond by increasing a stress hormone called cortisol. Having a home decreases that stress response.”

Four Bands not only understands these particular barriers and the harm they cause—they’re also able to help Native communities break through them.

“The first thing we do within a Native American reservation is sort of demystify the process,” Vogel says in a panel discussion led by RWJF, in partnership with Upworthy. “We look at the land site with the community member and talk them through every step of the process.” Four Bands then matches them with any available capital that will help them purchase the home.

Through a partnership with Four Bands, Granados was able to move her children into safe, secure, and affordable housing where they’re able to thrive.

“Becoming a homeowner gave me freedom to show my kids that you don’t just have to work to survive,” says Granados in the film. “You can work to thrive, you can work to live, you can work to grow your spirit, you can work doing something you enjoy. This is what your spirit came to Earth for.”

“What We Came Here For” is part one of From Hope to Home, a three-part docuseries from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Emmy®-nominated creative studio People’s Television. It is available to stream here.

Shala Staple and her daughter outside their home in New Jersey. Staple was able to secure an affordable house in a safe neighborhood thanks to a 1975 New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that mandated each municipality set aside housing for lower-income homebuyers.

Photo by Ryder Haske, People's Television, Inc.

“Moving Day,” the second part of the docuseries, shines a light on discriminatory housing practices in New Jersey, one of the most diverse areas in the nation—and also one of the most segregated.

“People want to be able to control where other people, especially people of color, live,” says Adam Gordon in the film, who works as the Executive Director of the Fair Share Housing Center. “The KKK didn’t want black residents to be in the same town, and yet these are still the same [rules] we use to govern our communities today,” he explains.

These discriminatory practices, known as “exclusionary zoning,” kicked off years of activism that eventually led to the New Jersey Supreme Court’s watershed Mount Laurel ruling in 1975. The ruling found that exclusionary zoning practices were unconstitutional, and declared that every town in New Jersey must provide their “fair share” of each region’s affordable housing. Organizations like the Fair Share Housing Center help enforce these housing laws and compel municipalities across New Jersey to set aside housing units for lower-income families.

Because of that ruling, more than 400,000 New Jersey citizens—like Shala Staple, who is featured in the film—can now access secure housing in neighborhoods that would otherwise be out of reach.

“Affordable housing made me feel able to provide for my children,” Staple says. “I’m just really excited for their futures.”

However, “Moving Day” shows that there is still more work to be done, as several New Jersey communities continue to push back against affordable housing mandates. Fair Share Housing Center and other advocacy groups will continue to fight to ensure every community is accessible to New Jerseyans.

“No community should be closed to anyone,” says Gordan in the post-screening panel discussion. “Every community has to do its fair share of [providing] affordable housing, and every town, even the wealthiest ones, have to be part of the solution.”

“Moving Day” is part two of From Hope to Home, a three-part docuseries from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Emmy®-nominated creative studio People’s Television. It will be available to stream here starting April 15.

Ashleigh Bowman (pictured here with her three children) was able to secure her home with help from a community land trust, which allows her to build wealth while keeping her home affordable long-term.

Photo by Ryder Haske, People's Television, Inc.

Finally, in “Roses and Thorns,” director Milena Mikael-Debass shows viewers how community land trusts, or CLTs, can improve access to housing in Lynchburg, VA.

A CLT, the film explains, is a regionally-based nonprofit organization that acquires land, holds it in a trust, and then leases out the land for home-building, farming, and more. CLTs were first created in 1969 as a response to segregation under Jim Crow laws, allowing black farmers to gain equal access to farmland and black families to secure affordable housing. These trusts continue to help people like Ashleigh Bowman, a single mom of three kids, participate in home ownership when they normally would not be able to access it. Home ownership through CLTs also help marginalized communities build generational wealth.

“If something happens to me, I will be able to pass on this home to my children,” says Bowman in the film, who purchased her house through a community land trust after a life-altering event. “[They will] be able to afford it because the community land trust guarantees that this land will not be volatile with the market.”

Organizations like Grounded Solutions Network are looking to scale this type of shared equity home ownership model across the country, says Alex Cabral, Senior Principal of Innovative Finance at Grounded Solutions Network.

To do so, Grounded Solutions Network partners with other organizations and provides support like policy advocacy, education, research, and housing technology solutions to help them implement these models all over the U.S. Their latest goal is to produce one million affordable houses within the next ten years, acquiring corporate-owned rental homes and transitioning them into affordable housing opportunities across the US. This will help ensure a safer, more secure, and healthier country.

“Everyone has the right to a safe and secure home,” Cabral says. “And those who seek to be homeowners deserve that opportunity.”

“Roses and Thorns,” is part three of From Hope to Home, a three-part docuseries from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Emmy®-nominated creative studio People’s Television. It will be available to stream here starting April 22.

Former medic and single mom Leah Moore and her children being honored during the 2024 Keys to Progress event.

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In 2023, Leah Moore was struggling. A single mom and former medic in the Texas Air National Guard, Leah had no family support where she lived in Seattle, WA, which made raising her two girls and working full-time a significant challenge. When her only car broke down, Leah found herself struggling more than ever.

But in 2024, Leah’s burden became a little lighter. Moore is now one of many veterans that have been honored during this year’s Keys to Progress event, an annual giveaway that took place in over 60 cities across the country. Along with Moore, close to 100 other veterans and their families recieved the keys to free, reliable transportation as a thank you for their military service.

Providing reliable transportation to deserving veterans who’ve protected our country

According to the US Department of Transportation, approximately 40 percent of veterans live in rural areas where affordable transportation options are limited. Limited transportation can greatly affect a veteran’s quality of life, since reliable transportation is necessary for work, medical care, and other services.

Gail Nicholson, a veteran who served in the United States Army during the Persian Gulf Crisis from 1993 - 1997, knows this challenge personally. Gail relied on public transportation as she supported her family since the COVID-19 pandemic when her mother fell extremely ill. As a senior citizen, traveling by bus, with schedules and lines that are not always accessible, it has not always been easy.

With veterans like Gail Nicholson in mind, Progressive founded the Keys to Progress event in 2013, hoping to alleviate some of these common struggles that veterans face every day. Now, Gail will be able to care for her family and travel freely without the need for public transit.

Veteran Gail Nicholson at the 2024 Keys to Progress event.

How the dream of independence becomes a reality

There’s no doubt that access to a car can make anyone’s life easier—but it also comes with additional expenses that require additional financial commitment. To help with this, multiple organizations have come together with Progressive to make Keys to Progress possible.

First, local charities and Veracity Research Co. Investigations (VRC), a veteran-owned and operated company, help to identify deserving veterans in each region. Once the recipients are chosen, Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc. (IAA) provides a Powertrain 12-month protection plan for all donated vehicles, while 1-800-Charity Cars donates resources to help with vehicle titling and registration. Enterprise, a rental car company, pays for the insurance for each donated vehicle for the first six months, and Progressive writes the insurance policies funded by Enterprise. Finally, the gently used vehicles are donated through Charity Cars.

The result is a well-deserved gift that enables each veteran to get back on the road and move ahead in life as easily as possible.

Supporting veterans on the road and beyond

Sometimes too, a veteran needs an assist in getting their small business off and running as well. Through Keys to Progress, Progressive has also donated three tractor trailers to worthy recipients.

Lt. Colonel Rose a 30-year U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was the 2022 recipient of a commercial through the Keys to Progress program. He shared, “Since being selected as the 2022 Keys to Progress recipient, the vehicle has exceeded all expectations of being an owner operator. Myself, including so many others, have been blessed by this magnificent machine. This blessing has catapulted my business forward, the donation of operating costs has played a significant part in minor repair costs along with being able to forgo a truck payment.”

Lt. Colonel Rose has been able to grow his trucking business to a second truck and he is working to purchase a third due to the revenue made from being a Keys to Progress recipient. He has also taken his earnings to donate to various charities and is inspired by showing his appreciation and patriotism for the United States.

But Keys to Progress is truly a passion project, and one that has impacted many deserving veterans. Collectively, Progressive has been able to donate vehicles to more than 1,100 military families, in addition to gifting three fully-loaded commercial trucks to veteran truck drivers and 28 commercial vehicles to select veteran organizations.

Cars at Progressive's annual Keys to Progress event.

“Our Keys to Progress initiative is a wonderful example of Progressive's purpose to help people move forward and live fully," said Tricia Griffith, President and Chief Executive Officer of Progressive. "We're proud to be celebrating our 12th year of supporting veterans and will present almost 100 well-deserving veterans and their families with keys to a vehicle that will provide them reliable transportation to get on the road and move forward in life."

Whether it’s for veterans like Leah or Gail, Keys to Progress is continuing to showcase its commitment to driving progress on the road and providing transportation for veterans, military-related organizations, and veteran-owned small business owners across the country for years to come.

Whether it’s for veterans like Leah, Gail, or Lt. Colonel Rose, Keys to Progress is continuing to showcase its commitment to driving progress for veterans, military-related organizations, and veteran-owned small business owners across the country for years to come.

Blink, a new documentary from NatGeo, is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

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It’s December, and we’re all currently in the thick of it: Wrapping presents, baking cookies, and scouring the toy aisles for that must-have gift of the season. But in the middle of all the holiday chaos, it’s easy to lose sight on what the season is really about: making meaningful memories with our loved ones.

From volunteering to building a bucket list to watching maybe the most uplifting documentary we’ve ever seen, we’ve put together five simple and wholesome activities that will leave you and the entire family a little more connected and a whole lot happier. Ready to make memories that last? Let’s dive in.

Make a difference close to home

littlefreepantry.org

A 2023 analysis from the journal Frontiers in Psychology showed that people who regularly volunteered in their communities had greater self-esteem, more self-reported happiness, and a greater sense of personal fulfillment. (Um, yes, please.) If that sounds like something you want to experience as well, then you're in luck: There's no better time to lend a helping hand than during the holiday season. You could shovel a neighbor's driveway, buy presents for kids in need, or—who knows? You might want to be super ambitious, like setting up a food pantry or volunteering as an "interim parent" like this woman, who cares for babies and young children while their adoptions are being finalized. The sky is the limit.

Watch this feel-good, family flick

Get the tissues ready: This is maybe the most uplifting documentary you’re ever going to see. The film, “Blink,” follows a family with four children, three of whom have a rare genetic disease called retinitis pigmentosa (RP). With RP, the cells of the retina slowly die off, leaving a person with tunnel vision that shrinks until they are nearly—or totally—blind.

The parents, Edith Lemay and Sébastien Pelletier, decide to gift their children with incredible sights and experiences so that they can treasure them forever, even after their sight is gone. The film follows the Pelletier family as they make a bucket list and set out on a year-long journey across 24 countries to make some incredible memories.

For some seriously wholesome holiday goodness, stream "Blink," now on Disney+ and Hulu.

Make your very own bucket list

person writing bucket list on bookPhoto by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

To fulfill their dreams, the Pelletier family in the National Geographic documentary "Blink" created a bucket list with every kind of memory they wanted to fulfill, from seeing a sunrise on a mountain to "drink[ing] juice on a camel." (Because, sure. Why not?) Spend some time thinking of your own dreams you'd like to fufill. This is the perfect activity if you're looking for something creative and family-friendly—just gather the kids around for a brainstorming sesh and let the ideas fly. You might not actually complete all of these items (or any of them), but dreaming them up and spending time together is half the fun.

Spread some holiday cheer


Whatever your family’s ages and interests, there are a thousand different ways to spread holiday cheer this season, whether you’re singing Christmas carols door-to-door or just exchanging a warm holiday greeting. If you need inspiration, look no further than John Reichart, 74, who (just like the Pelletier kids) wants to create new memories for his family while he's still able to. Following his wife Joan’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, Reichart set out to decorate every house in their neighborhood with lights and decorations purchased out of his own pocket. Simply inspirational.

Make someone's life a little easier. 

I need this goober in my life.
byu/kenistod inMadeMeSmile

The holiday season is all about giving and togetherness, but let’s be real, it’s no easy feat. Sometimes we can get stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted. One surefire way to make this world a better place is to think of ways to make someone’s life just a little easier, like this mom who picks up her teenager’s bedroom every morning after he goes to school. You could even send a note of encouragement to someone who needs it, or bake some treats and leave them out for a hangry delivery driver.

It’s probably easier than you think to spread the love and leave the world a little happier than you found it.

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Been stressed this week? Who hasn’t. That’s why we’re bringing you the latest in good news—five animal-themed stories we guarantee will put a smile on your face.

This week, we’re celebrating:

The most entertaining animal photos you've ever seen

Jason Moore/Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023 and © Tzahi Finkelstein /Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2023

Need a laugh? How about a dozen laughs? Look no further than the 2023 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, a competition started in 2015 that focuses on the lighter side of wildlife photography. More than 1,800 photographers from around the world submitted photos, and the finalists—from a kangaroo playing air guitar to an arguing set of greenfinches—will absolutely make your day.

Healthier, happier, rescued pets

Hundreds of thousands of pets are relinquished to shelters each year, and many vulnerable pet populations—such as disabled and elderly dogs—can be hard to place in loving homes. Fortunately, Subaru has sponsored the rescue, rehabilitation, and adoption of more than 134,000 of these pets through the Subaru Share the Love® Event. As the largest corporate donor to the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®), Subaru and its retailers are donating a minimum of $300 to charities like the ASPCA for every new Subaru purchase or lease during the 2024 Subaru Share the Love Event, happening now through January 2, 2025.

This animal-centric (and adorable) creative writing assignment 

Amy McKinney, a third-grade teacher in Pennsylvania, recently had a genius idea for teaching her class persuasive writing: Rather than have them formulate an argument for an imagined audience (boring!), McKinney partnered with a local animal shelter and had her class write persuasive descriptions of each animal to help them get adopted. Each student chose a pet to write about and sent their essays to the shelter to display and post to the shelter’s social media channels. Student engagement was “tremendous,” said McKinney, and there’s no doubt these persuasive paragraphs made a huge difference in these shelter pet’s lives. Adorable.

The dog who saved his owner with CPR (yes, really)

Dogs have made the news for saving humans before, but have you ever heard of a dog performing CPR? That’s exactly what Bear, a Siberian Husky-Golden Retriever mix, did in 2022 when he found his owner unconscious on the floor after suffering a major heart attack. Not only was Bear able to quickly call for help, he even jumped on his owner’s chest repeatedly while someone else called the paramedics. Thanks to Bear, the owner survived what should have been a fatal heart attack. Now that deserves some head scritches.

Bee populations have reached a record high

macro shot photography of beePhoto by Jenna Lee on Unsplash

Honeybees are essential to the planet, as they pollinate over 130 types of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. For years, honeybee numbers have been in decline—but happily, that’s starting to change. The US has added almost a million bee colonies in the past five years, with more than 3.8 million honeybees in total.

For more ways to smile, check out how Subaru is sharing the love this holiday season.