Listen Now

Justin Rudd is the founder of Community Action Team and produces over 60 quality events within Long Beach, California, that benefit children, animals, and the environment. Raised in southeast Alabama, Justin moved to California in 1995, and he is a one-of-a-kind leader with a passion to make a difference in his community. He works from a paper calendar, his computer, and a landline - having never owned a cellphone. With his eye on Riley's Red Wagon Book Swap, Justin works from his living room most days - organizing his next event, inspiring people on Facebook, and taking time to help those in need. You can find Justin and his partner of 15 years, Ralph, eating out every night in Belmont Shores - oftentimes bringing POTUS along. In our conversation, we discuss... What has ignited a passion within him to help people without homes. How he rallies people in the community to donate supplies to give away. How he started a resource closet at his church. How he pulled together 21 organizations to hold a Compassionate Town Hall Meeting on Homelessness in Long Beach, CA. How he shares the stories of his encounters on Facebook. How he's able to pull off 60+ events a year. Before listening to the episode, you may want to watch these two videos about CAT's work: - The city threatened to shut down Riley’s Red Wagon Book Swap, and residents went crazy. - 

Catie Rohrig is the founder of Pen + Napkin, which has a mission to provide free professional design services to solve the needs individuals and families face in and around our community. She leads a family of creative professionals that have experience making spaces and products both beautiful and functional. In their own words: "We have devoted our lives to developing our craft and talent for the professional world, but now have chosen to dedicate a portion of our time to pour back into our local and global community. Pen + Napkin exists to serve others at a professional level, giving people access to creative professionals at no cost to those we have the opportunity to serve. We partner with charity groups and foundations in the local area to seek out needs in the community, but also create a network of people that can help with projects. We are purely funded by our committed sponsors and generous donations." In our conversation, we discuss how Pen + Napkin... - Partners with the Hope Gardens Family Center. - Provides free design services to the family in need. - Raises money and receives in-kind donations to fully furnish the family's home. - Makes a huge difference as families are transitioning out of homelessness into a place of their own.

Nathanael Welch is the founder of Different United, a community of people with and without disabilities that embraces our shared differences. One of the activities he has started are ArtWalks, events where persons with disabilities are encouraged to take pictures of the things they find beautiful and interesting in their world, whether in a park, a city street, or at the beach. This is followed by a pop-up gallery to showcase their photography, making visible not only their work and perspective, but making them visible to the community as well.

Today, I want to tell you about Jamil Blume. His story is featured in a short video on our website, and I encourage you to take a minute to watch it. Jamil volunteers as a barber on a Mobile Makeover bus with Love Beyond Walls in Atlanta, Georgia. Two years ago, a local church donated an older bus to Love Beyond Walls, and the founder of the organization, Terence Lester, had a vision to turn it into a makeover unit to provide free grooming and haircuts to those living on the streets of Atlanta. Terence spent an entire month on top of the van raising awareness and money for the project. The van was converted, and in the last two years, they've done 1,327 makeovers and referred over 2,500 to local social services. MORE STORIES: www.ProjectGreatNews.com GREAT NEWS FROM: www.LoveBeyondWalls.com