Real Stories: People in Making Connections Neighborhoods

Real Stories feature the people living in neighborhoods across the country where Casey is working to make change, specifically through its Making Connections initiative.

Real Stories, San Antonio: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

This brief highlights the work of Manuel Diaz Garcia who gathered the support of local residents and law makers to increase the educational opportunities for residents of the West Side of San Antonio. more >>

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Real Stories, Denver: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

This brief highlights the work of Metro Organizations for People—a nonprofit organization that recruits and trains residents as community organizers in Denver, Colorado. In 2001, members took on school reform by fostering relationships between parents, policymakers, and educators. Today, the organization is tackling children’s healthcare. more >>

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Real Stories, New Orleans -- Hope Community Credit Union: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

This brief highlights how the Hope Community Credit Union worked for residents of New Orleans after the fall of Hurricane Katrina. Prior to the opening of the Credit Union, no banks or credit unions had ever done business in Central City, New Orleans. To date, the credit union offers residents of Central City everything from checking and savings accounts to low-interest home and business loans. more >>

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Real Stories, New Orleans: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

This brief highlights the story of Nena Handy, a trained professional chef, who after Hurricane Katrina was able to purchase her first home through the New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative. After Hurricane Katrina, The New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative joined with other nonprofit developers to build and rehab 75 houses. more >>

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Real Connections San Antonio

This issue of the Real Connections series tells the story of San Antonio’s West Side neighborhood, where community partners, parents, and the school district work to transform schools into places where children and adults can develop the connections they need to succeed. more >>

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Real Stories, Shane Ray: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

This brief highlights the story of Shane Ray —a single mother of who found help for her and her son in Even Start—an Indianapolis-based preschool program that simultaneously allows mothers to pursue a GED. more >>

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Real Stories, Tameisha Johnson—Jobs and the Center for Working Families: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods:

This brief highlights the story of Tameisha Johnson, a local Hartford woman who at one point was a single mother with no job. Through the help with Hartford’s Center for Young Working Families, Tameisha is now on the path to job advancement. more >>

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Real Stories, Kim Jones: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

This brief highlights the story of Kim Jones—a local Indianapolis woman who runs a childcare center in her home and is a leader of SmartStart, a network of childcare providers. more >>

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Real Stories, Iris Martinez: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

This brief highlights the story of Iris Martinez, a local Hartford woman who helps low-income families claims the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and begin to save so that they can build family wealth and security. more >>

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Real Connections, Louisville: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

This brief highlights Louisville’s Network—a community of friends, neighbors, and partners who work together to expand opportunities and improve life in Louisville’s poorest neighborhoods, where fifty-seven percent of the families live in poverty. more >>

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Real Stories, Mio Serrano: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

This brief highlights the story of Mio Serrano, a local teacher in the Frog Hollow neighborhood of Casey's Making Connections neighborhood of Hartford, Connecticut. Serrano teaches school readiness classes in Spanish and English to immigrant parents to help their children succeed in school. more >>

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Real Stories, Nakisha Kirkendoll: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

This article tells the story of Nakisha Kirkendoll, a resident in Casey's Milwaukee Making Connections neighborhood who is helping her community understand the detriments of lead poisoning in young children. more >>

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Real Stories: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods, Jessaly Mendez/Community Schools (English Version)

This news brief tells the story of how one woman, Jessaly Mendez, brought parents and community members together to create a school environment that better connected Spanish-speaking parents to the education system.  more >>

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Real Stories, Mabel Fatialofa: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

This document details the work of Mabel Fatialofa-Magalei in Casey's Seattle/White Center Making Connections neighborhood where she worked with residents to improve the access and delivery of state social and health services. more >>

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Real Stories: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

The children of immigrants must fulfill the expectations of their home countries and American culture, an effort that is fraught with conflict. This is the story of how a high school language class is helping a mother and daughter bridge the culture divide and bring their family closer together. more >>

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Real Stories: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods-Ngy Hul/Trusted Advocates

Ngy Hul knew that if the people of White Center wanted a better life for themselves and their children, they had to have a voice--a say in their future. But organizing people is no small task, especially in a community where 40 languages are spoken. This is the story of how one man and a a group of bilingual organizers helped their community find its voice. more >>

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Real Stories, Earlean Collier: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods

This article tells the story of one resident of Casey's Milwaukee Making Connections neighborhood, Earlean Collier. In this document Earlean recalls her work as a day care provider in Metcalfe Park where seventy-five percent of children under 5 years live below the poverty line. more >>

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Real Stories: Meet the People Who Live in Making Connections Neighborhoods, Carl Wesley

This article details the challenges faced by one resident in Casey's Milwaukee Making Connections site, Carl Wesley. Wesley is one of more than a hundred-thousand residents who after having his license revoked and participation in an amnesty program for errant drivers had his life restored. Also included is information about ’s Driver’s License Recovery Program. more >>

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