There’s a fitness club in Maryland that stands apart from your usual corner gym. At SPIRIT Club, individuals with physical and developmental disabilities are lifting weights, doing aerobics, and working with personal trainers in an environment that prizes diversity, respect and inclusion. SPIRIT (Social-Physical-Interactive-Respectful-Integrated-Teamwork) Club Founder Jared Ciner talks about how his work as a fitness instructor and with individuals with special needs coalesced into SPIRIT Club and the ancillary SPIRIT Club Foundation – a Good People Fund grantee – to ensure that physical health and socialization be accessible to all.

The Good People Fund in partnership with its grantees, helps to improve the lives and trajectories of Aspiring Americans – refugees, victims of human trafficking, and others – seeking safety, community, and opportunity despite enormous challenges. In this episode, Good People Fund Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger speaks with four change makers in this realm, who describe their unique experiences, observations, and approaches to uplifting newcomers seeking better lives for themselves and their families.  Our guests: Kristen Bloom, Founder and Executive Director of Refugee Assistance Alliance in Coral Gables, FL; Sloane Davidson, Founder and CEO of Hello Neighbor in Pittsburgh, PA; Kari Miller, Founder and Executive Director of International Neighbors in Charlottesville, VA; and Dr. Eva Moya, Associate Professor, Dept. of Social Work, The University of Texas at El Paso.

The Good People Fund visits with three of our change makers in Detroit. Each draws on intense personal journeys as they work to uplift and give hope to youth at risk – in a city once written off, but now benefiting from the creative visions of social entrepreneurs. Join Good People Fund Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger as she speaks with Sherelle Hogan, Founder of Pure Heart Foundation, David Silver, Founder of Detroit Horse Power, and Courtney Smith, Founder of Detroit Phoenix Center.

Walk through the inner city and other challenged areas and you’ll see a different food landscape than across town: fewer grocery stores, more fast-food places, and unhealthy choices. FEAST (Food – Education – Access – Support – Together), an LA-based organization supported by The Good People Fund, is changing that reality. FEAST Executive Director Dana Rizer describes how.

Ten Gav (Hebrew, “covering someone’s back”) uses a crowd-funding model and web platform to match donors with Israeli individuals and families facing hardship. Ten Gav is a Good People Fund grantee and its two founders, Naomi Brounstein and Vivi Mann, describe how technology and human connection can uplift lives and promote the Jewish practice of tzedakah.

College campuses are unpredictable environments for Jewish students, with rising levels of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. TribeTalk – a Good People Fund grantee – prepares and empowers students to navigate through it. We’re with TribeTalk Co-Founders Michelle Black, Robin Friedman, and Jude Sydney … along with Emmet Klein, a college student and TribeTalk Fellow.

Terrorists killed his brother, yet Yuval Roth turned his grief into hope. Road to Recovery has a corps of Israeli volunteers driving Palestinians from border crossings to Israeli hospitals for critical care. On the way, friendships form and mistrust falls away. We speak with Yuval and a colleague, Eli Sahar, to discuss the origins of Road to Recovery, its impact, and Good People Fund’s support.

David Baskin is CEO/Founder of Ani Shlishi, a Good People Fund grantee in Israel working with at-risk youth and instilling in them confidence, self-esteem, purpose, and community, by putting them to work in two used clothing stores. David describes how his personal journey brought him to a place of giving back and helping to uplift this vulnerable population.

In a cafe in Be’er Sheva, Israel, The Good People Fund visited friends from Inbar, a grantee empowering Israelis with physical and/or developmental challenges to achieve. At our table is Shoshi Margolin, Inbar’s passionate executive director, and Braha Cohen, one of Inbar’s inspiring community members. Their stories shout strength, determination and evolution. Grab a beverage, join us!

We speak with Good People Fund Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger about the impact of the pandemic on GPF and its community of grantees, and how GPF is responding with new initiatives to help those on the frontlines, and families and individuals struggling with illness, economic insecurity, and more.