Foundations
Here's a look at documents from U.S. foundations
Featured Stories
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Partners With Jed Foundation to Strengthen Mental Health Support of Members, Community
BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 22 (TNSrpt) -- The Jed Foundation issued the following news release on May 21, 2026:* * *
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Partners with The Jed Foundation (JED) to Strengthen Mental Health Support of Members, Community
Initiative offers expert support and guidance to promote young adult emotional health and prevent suicide.
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[BALTIMORE, MD & NEW YORK] -- Fraternities and sororities shape the college experience for hundreds of thousands of students, and they can have a powerful impact on the emotional well-being of their members and broader campus communities. ... Show Full Article BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 22 (TNSrpt) -- The Jed Foundation issued the following news release on May 21, 2026: * * * Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Partners with The Jed Foundation (JED) to Strengthen Mental Health Support of Members, Community Initiative offers expert support and guidance to promote young adult emotional health and prevent suicide. * [BALTIMORE, MD & NEW YORK] -- Fraternities and sororities shape the college experience for hundreds of thousands of students, and they can have a powerful impact on the emotional well-being of their members and broader campus communities.Today, The Jed Foundation (JED) announced its new partnership with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. to protect the mental health and prevent suicide among its members through participation in The JED Greek-Letter Organizations (GLO) programs. The Fraternity is a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), also known as the Divine Nine (D9), comprising nine historically Black Greek-Letter Organizations.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 20-24. Among young Black men ages 20-24, the suicide rate increased by 47% between 2018 to 2024, and for the first time in history, the suicide rate among young black men surpassed that of their white peers in 2024.
JED GLO provides evidence-informed guidance to fraternities and sororities committed to promoting emotional well-being and preventing suicide. JED's GLO partnerships with fraternities and sororities -- including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity, alpha Kappa Delta Phi International Sorority, Inc., Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. -- and other university partners represent nearly 1.2 million lifetime and college members. These partnerships aim to:
* assess and strategically plan organizational needs and priorities.
* strengthen substance misuse and hazing prevention training for staff, volunteers, alumni, and members using JED-developed workshops.
* support implementation tools, strategies, and techniques for measurable mental health improvements.
Founded at Cornell University, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established by African American men. The fraternity was initially established as a study and support group for minority students. Since its founding in 1906, Alpha Phi Alpha has grown to a membership of over 290,000 and more than 1,000 chapters nationwide.
"As part of our promise to confront mental health challenges within our Brotherhood, we have partnered with The Jed Foundation to create programs designed specifically for Alpha men," said Lucien J. Metellus, Jr., general president of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.. "When the opportunity was presented in December, we acted quickly and secured Board approval in January. We are now moving to address these real issues impacting our members. This partnership gives us hope, strength, and a path to support every Brother."
JED GLO builds on the JED report, Fraternities and Mental Health: Supporting Emotional Well-Being Among Members and Across Campus, which highlights how fraternities can impact mental health on college campuses. The report provides key recommendations for improving the emotional well-being of fraternity members and other students on campus. While fraternities can positively impact mental health by providing belonging and social connection, fraternity membership can also increase certain risky behaviors such as alcohol misuse and hazing participation, highlighting the need for programming that provides support for building healthy fraternity environments.
"The Jed Foundation recognizes that fraternities and sororities are powerful communities for connection, leadership, and identity development. This makes them essential partners in advancing student mental health and well-being on and off campus," said Dr. ShirDonna Lawrence, senior manager of JED's Greek-Letter Organization Programs. "This partnership strengthens Alpha's enduring mission and advances JED's work in culturally responsive, community-centered mental health promotion. Together, this collaboration demonstrates how intentional engagement with fraternity and sorority life can drive meaningful impact at both the individual and organizational level."
To learn more about JED's Greek-Letter Organizations Programs, email greek@jedfoundation.org or visit JED's website.
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About The Jed Foundation
JED is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation's teens and young adults. We're partnering with high schools, colleges, school districts, and youth-serving community-based organizations to strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems. We're equipping teens and young adults with the skills and knowledge to help themselves and each other. We're encouraging community awareness, understanding, and action for young adult mental health.
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About Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc.
The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African American men, was founded on December 4, 1906, at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and is headquartered in Baltimore, MD. The Fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African American community's fight for civil rights through Alpha men such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; late former Congressman Adam Clayton Powell; late former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; legendary activist, actor and performer, Paul Robeson, former Ambassador Andrew Young; late former Senator Edward Brooke; scholar, Cornel West; Senator Raphael Warnock; Congressman Steven Horsford, former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus; General CQ Brown, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; seven other members of the U.S. Congress, numerous state, and local lawmakers across the United States, as well as President of Liberia, His Excellency Joseph Boakai, Sr. The fraternity, through its more than 720 college and alumni chapters and general-organization members, serves communities in the United States, and other parts of North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
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REPORT: https://jedfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Fraternities-and-Mental-Health-Report_Final_Dec-3-2024.pdf
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Original text here: https://jedfoundation.org/alpha-phi-alpha-fraternity-inc-partners-with-the-jed-foundation-jed-to-strengthen-mental-health-support-of-members-community/
WLF Urges Supreme Court to Stop Boulder, Colorado from Subverting the Constitutional Order
WASHINGTON, May 21 [Category: Law/Legal] -- The Washington Legal Foundation issued the following news release:* * *
WLF Urges Supreme Court to Stop Boulder, Colorado from Subverting the Constitutional Order
Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a Colorado Supreme Court order allowing an unconstitutional state proceeding against two energy producers, Suncor and ExxonMobil, to go forward. WLF was joined on the brief by the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center and the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.
The ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, May 21 [Category: Law/Legal] -- The Washington Legal Foundation issued the following news release: * * * WLF Urges Supreme Court to Stop Boulder, Colorado from Subverting the Constitutional Order Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a Colorado Supreme Court order allowing an unconstitutional state proceeding against two energy producers, Suncor and ExxonMobil, to go forward. WLF was joined on the brief by the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center and the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. TheCity and County of Boulder, Colorado wants to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions and "tax" the energy industry by obtaining a multi-billion-dollar verdict under Colorado tort law against the targeted companies for contributing to global climate change. And Boulder isn't alone-thousands of local governments stand ready to bring copycat suits against the whole worldwide energy industry if this gambit succeeds.
Although the Constitution gives the power to regulate interstate and international commerce solely to Congress, the Colorado Supreme Court denied an effort by the companies to shut down the litigation on constitutional grounds. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review that decision earlier this year-but Boulder argues that the Court made a mistake is agreeing to hear the case before Boulder secured a verdict from a jury.
WLF's amicus brief explains why that's wrong. The Colorado Supreme Court decision wrongfully deprived Suncor and Exxon of a valid and correct constitutional defense to vexatious litigation. That's sufficient injury for the Court to hear the case now and end Boulder's unlawful regulatory ambitions. As the brief notes, doing otherwise "would have cataclysmic consequences for the Nation-indeed, the world."
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Click here to read WLF's brief (https://www.wlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/WLF-NFIB-NAW-Amicus-Brief-Suncor-21may2026.pdf).
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Original text here: https://www.wlf.org/2026/05/21/communicating/wlf-urges-supreme-court-to-stop-boulder-colorado-from-subverting-the-constitutional-order/
Strengthening Community-led Research: RSE Awards Over pound sterling339K to 24 Initiatives in Healthy Planet, Healthy People Awards
EDINBURGH, Scotland, May 21 -- The Royal Society of Edinburgh issued the following news:* * *
Strengthening community-led research: RSE awards over pound sterling339K to 24 initiatives in Healthy Planet, Healthy People Awards
Across Scotland, 24 community research projects will receive a share of pound sterling339,464 funding through the RSE's Healthy Planet, Healthy People Awards, developed in partnership with and funded by the Williamson Trust.
First initiated in 2023, the Healthy Planet, Healthy People Awards are now offered under two strands:
Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Catalyst Awards ... Show Full Article EDINBURGH, Scotland, May 21 -- The Royal Society of Edinburgh issued the following news: * * * Strengthening community-led research: RSE awards over pound sterling339K to 24 initiatives in Healthy Planet, Healthy People Awards Across Scotland, 24 community research projects will receive a share of pound sterling339,464 funding through the RSE's Healthy Planet, Healthy People Awards, developed in partnership with and funded by the Williamson Trust. First initiated in 2023, the Healthy Planet, Healthy People Awards are now offered under two strands: Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Catalyst Awardsare designed to enable community-led research across any discipline that promotes the health of individuals by fostering healthy communities, environments, and food.
Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Change Awards are a new expansion of the Catalyst Award, offering major funding to standout Catalyst Award-winning projects to grow and scale their work.
These awards encourage knowledge exchange and collaborative research practices amongst and between local communities. The resulting findings and outputs are often scalable, producing valuable insights that can be used by similar groups working in other areas of the country and beyond.
Professor David Salt FRSE, Chair of the Williamson Trust, said,
"The trustees at the Williamson Trust are delighted to fund 20 exciting community-led projects from across Scotland in the third round of the Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Catalyst Awards. As this community-led work continues to grow, there can be no doubt that communities across Scotland can build local solutions to the ongoing challenges to our environment, our communities, and our food. This round, we have projects spanning seed saving, community growing, fermentation and composting, coppicing, tree identification, accessing green space, transhumance, and repair cafes. An amazing array of projects.
This year, the Williamson Trust have introduced the Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Change Awards. These larger awards allow successful Catalyst awardees to take their learnings and experiences and develop solutions to deliver broader impact and sustainable outcomes. The Williamson Trust is funding four Change awards in this first round on sustainable tree guards, flax and the new textile commons, closing the island's food loop and a community food hub. It will be so exciting to see these projects grow and develop.
The Trust hopes that with these new awards we continue to build a movement of committed people to find solutions to the challenges faced by local communities, and that these solutions can have a wider impact."
RSE Vice President, Research, Professor Anne Anderson OBE FRSE commented,
"This marks the third successful round of Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Catalyst Awards, which were introduced to expand the type of research the RSE supports. At this time, we are also very pleased to announce the first recipients of the Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Change Awards; a new development of the Healthy Planet, Healthy People Programme, which extends the support offered to grassroots groups and demonstrates the Society's commitment to empowering community-driven research focused on positively impacting sustainability, health, and community resilience. I congratulate all those awarded under both schemes, and I look forward to following their progress and achievements over the coming year."
Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Catalyst Award recipients:
Community: Upper Ballaird Farm Co-op with Lauriston Farm
Project: UnBEANlievably tasty
Location: Stirlingshire and Edinburgh
Taking place at two market gardens--Upper Ballaird Farm Co-op, Stirlingshire and Lauriston Farm, Edinburgh--the UnBEANlievably Tasty project aims to investigate which bean varieties can perform well in market garden conditions whilst also providing tasty, nutritious legumes for local consumers.
Over 20 varieties suitable for producing beans with good drying properties will be grown at the two sites during the 2026 season. Flavour, yield, pest and disease resistance, and processing qualities will be assessed using the Organic Seed Alliance's on-farm trial framework.
Alongside collecting agronomic data, local community members will be given the opportunity to participate in events to test taste, appearance, and cooking quality. This combined approach will help identify varieties that are both productive and desirable to eat.
By focusing on market gardens--where barriers faced at field scale are reduced--the project aims to accelerate learning and adoption. The results will be shared with growers, researchers, and food networks to support the expansion of locally grown, diverse, and climate-friendly protein-rich crops in Scotland.
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Community: Edinburgh Agroecology Co-operative CIC, Sustainable Kirriemuir and Upper Ballaird Farm Co-op
Project: Seeds of change
Location: Edinburgh, Fife, and Stirlingshire
The Seeds of Change project will support the development of the Scottish Seed Hub; a co-operative of growers aiming to increase the production and dissemination of locally-adapted, open-pollinated seeds grown using optimal agroecological practices. By improving access to seeds suited to this country's climate, the Hub hopes to enhance the biodiversity and resilience of Scotland's food system.
The lead investigators, in collaboration with colleagues at Sustainable Kirriemuir, Lauriston Farm, Upper Ballaird Farm and Beth Webb in Galloway, will use a participatory action research approach by engaging growers, seed savers, and community stakeholders as co-researchers. Through surveys, focus groups, collaborative workshops, and learning from similar initiatives--such as the Gaia Foundation's Seed Sovereignty Programme, Seeds of Scotland, and Wales Seed Hub--the Hub's project will explore effective organisational structures, governance models, and strategies for sustainable growth.
Outputs of the research will include the development of a flexible organisational framework, insights into the systemic opportunities for Scotland-based agroecological seed producers, case studies, and resources for use among wider seed networks, and a validated pathway for scaling the Hub's work across Scotland.
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Community: Rhyze Mushrooms Co-op
Project: Protecting crops and soils using waste
Location: Edinburgh
Vermicompost--a nutrient-rich product of the decomposition process that uses worms to aid and accelerate composting to create a mixture of decomposed food waste and worm castings--has been shown to outperform traditional compost and reverse soil damage from synthetic fertilisers.
Working with local food businesses, the Rhyze Mushrooms Co-op will explore how vermicomposting can prevent business waste from ending up in landfill by transforming it into high-quality soil improvers that enhance the health, yield, and nutrition of crops.
The Co-op's research will also assess whether different waste types--brewers' grains, coffee chaff, agricultural waste, and food scraps--produce a variety of vermicomposts with varying benefits for crops.
The waste products will be processed in separate worm bins, then analysed through lab testing and field trials with local growers under real-world conditions. By combining both types of analysis, this research hopes to develop optimised vermicompost "recipes" suited to different crops. The findings will support sustainable waste management, improve soil health, and help communities produce more nutritious food, while sharing practical knowledge with growers and volunteers.
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Community: Northmavine Community Development Company
Project: Northmavine community composting project
Location: Shetland
The Northmavine Community Development Company (NCDC) will use their Catalyst Award to launch a new community composting scheme to boost food resilience, reduce waste, and support sustainable living in rural Shetland.
The challenges of remote location result in many residents importing soil to the Islands at a high financial and carbon cost, while organic waste is often underutilised or sent to landfill. Using an industrial composter generously gifted by COPE Ltd., local food and garden waste will be converted into nutrient-rich compost for households, schools, and businesses. This circular system will improve soil health, reduce reliance on landfills and transport-related emissions, and foster outdoor community participation.
The project will start at a social housing estate and expand to schools and local businesses. The group will test the balance of carbon-rich materials such as cardboard and tree prunings for optimal composting. The resulting compost quality will be compared with commercial alternatives using test plots. NCDC will also run workshops and develop a household composting toolkit to encourage participation and education around soil health and sustainable practices.
Through measuring compost production, waste diverted from landfills, and community engagement, the project aims to create a replicable model for other rural areas to inform future circular-economy initiatives.
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Community: Lady Lane Community Garden
Project: Demonstrator micro-greenspace for nature, wellbeing, and environmental engagement
Location: Paisley
The Lady Lane Community Garden group in Paisley has been awarded to develop a temporary, modular micro-greenspace, designed to assess and refine ideas that will inform the future permanent regeneration of the Argyle Street/Lady Lane site.
The demonstrator garden will include raised beds, pollinator planting, and solar lighting. The community will also deliver youth engagement activities, group design sessions, food-growing workshops, and events on biodiversity monitoring. The community also hopes to create a hydrochromic environmental sculpture--a rain-activated artwork--to provide a unique educational component on climate awareness that could become a signature element in the eventual permanent design. All structures will be designed to be fully dismantled and relocated to ensure that the site can be cleared for permanent landscaping works without loss of investment.
The project aims to improve access to nature, enhance well-being, and generate data on the environmental and social impacts to help inform the long-term design of the garden. It is also hoped that the outcomes will support wider use by Renfrewshire Council, the University of the West of Scotland, and local partners, and contribute to evidence-led community placemaking across Paisley.
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Community: Green Aspirations Scotland CIC
Project: Aberfoyle Coppice Creatures
Location: Stirling
Coppicing is a traditional woodland management technique that was popular before the First World War but has been underused in Scotland since. Coppiced trees are cut at their base to encourage stronger, straighter regrowth, allowing more light to reach the forest floor and potentially increasing biodiversity by supporting a wider range of plant and animal life.
The Green Aspirations Scotland group will use their Healthy Planet, Healthy People award to investigate whether restoring traditional hazel coppicing can enhance biodiversity in a woodland that has been unmanaged in certain areas for over 25 years.
In collaboration with local primary school pupils, the community will survey areas of the woodland at different stages of the coppice cycle to identify any variances in biodiversity. Engagement with schoolchildren will include input from Dr Angela Newton, an experienced research scientist, and Kirsten Milliken, a Scottish folklore storyteller. Through classroom visits and field surveys, the pupils will support the research and follow-up analysis and assist in presenting the findings.
This project aims to engage local young people in ecology, cultural heritage, and storytelling traditions. The group also hopes its findings will help inform future woodland restoration projects and give coppicing a prominent role in climate policy.
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Community: Ieva Chaleckyte and the Mandala Garden Project
Project: Fermenting community
Location: Nairn
Through the Fermenting community project, Ieva Chaleckyte, a fermentation revivalist, will work with the Mandala Garden Project in Nairn to utilise overabundant seasonal fruit and vegetables, increase fermented food consumption, and build a strong community network through group production of fermented food.
The health benefits of fermented food products are widely documented. This project responds to the growing interest in fermented foods for improved well-being and aims to better understand the barriers that prevent wider production and consumption--perhaps a lack of time, knowledge, confidence, or access to organic foods--and how they can be minimised.
Participating community members will be surveyed during the workshops, and economic viability data will be collected by looking at the time and effort required to process the surplus food.
A key outcome of the project is to foster a strong local community around the Mandala Garden that encourages active participation, enhanced community connection, and future collaborative working.
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Community: Community Champignons in partnership with Govanhill Baths Community Trust
Project: Community Champignons: Embedding sustainability in peer-led community projects
Location: Glasgow
Community Champignons is a wellbeing initiative centred on supporting participants--many from disadvantaged or isolated backgrounds--to develop skills and confidence through oyster mushroom cultivation. Founded in 2024 as a response to local interest in growing sustainable food and community enterprise, the project investigates whether urban mushroom cultivation can be scaled and diversified to benefit the wider community.
The Healthy Planet, Healthy People award will be used to continue the project's twice-weekly training sessions in mushroom cultivation, harvesting, and food hygiene. It will also enable the development of research into whether the production of multiple mushroom varieties is feasible in an urban community context, and to what extent project sustainability can be achieved via selling mushroom grow kits via local shops and farmers' markets.
Community Champignons aims to turn local participation into community impact. The project has already produced over 100kg of mushrooms for The People's Pantry, directly benefiting the local community. Over the funded period, the group hope to maintain the established growing environment and community workshops, to scale production and develop the volunteer-led enterprise, creating a sustainable model that continues beyond the award.
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Community: Fixing for a Future
Project: How green is too green?
Location: East Lothian
Promoting climate action using a narrow 'green' or environmental frame can limit public support and engagement. Fixing for a Future, a circular economy project initiated in 2020, runs a tool library, repair cafes and volunteer-led sewing skills workshops at schools and libraries across East Lothian.
This research will explore the motivations of volunteers, tutors and participants at Fixing for a Future to reveal the extent to which their ongoing involvement has been influenced by framing climate action as being about social and economic rather than explicitly environmental benefits: empowering people by teaching skills to repair belongings so they can save money; improving health and well-being by providing opportunities for people to work together towards shared goals: and delivering social events where people can expand support networks.
Through in-depth interviews and focus groups, this research will gain valuable insight into what motivates people towards and what puts people off climate action to determine 'How Green is Too Green?'. Findings will inform the basis of a toolkit to be used by groups and organisations seeking to engage new audiences in climate action and contribute to amplified engagement and impact.
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Community: Lizzie MacKenzie, in collaboration with researchers at UHI Inverness
Project: Becoming wild: Transhumance to support the well-being of people, animals, and nature
Location: Oban/Highlands
This awarded pilot project will explore the concept that the well-being of people, animals and the land is interconnected. The researchers will employ small-scale community transhumance--a traditional practice of moving with animals through seasonal grazing areas--to determine whether the custom can support wellbeing across all three. By walking alongside native animals, it is hoped that participants will build connections and deepen their relationships with the land and animals. The group will also monitor whether the animals benefit from natural movement and herd life, and whether the land gains from their grazing patterns, which can open scrub, enrich soil, and support biodiversity.
Using participatory methods, this project will document early signs of interlinked benefits, imagining a future in which people, animals, and land thrive together. Short interviews and informal conversations will explore feelings of connection, benefits of outdoor activity, and the sharing of intergenerational knowledge. Observations of horses and cattle will provide an opportunity to note social interaction, movement levels, stress behaviours and grazing patterns. To assess any benefits to the land, ecological observations such as visual soil assessments, vegetation notes, and photographic monitoring will be used to identify visible changes in ground cover, scrub, and biodiversity after grazing cycles.
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Community: Unicorn Markets CIC
Project: The Bathgate Repair Cafe: A community sustainability study
Location: West Lothian
The Bathgate Repair Cafe is a 6-month, community-led pilot project designed to research and deliver a practical solution to household waste and the cost-of-living crisis. The awarded group will establish a monthly repair hub at their community market, where a skilled fixer and volunteers will repair broken items for free, diverting them from landfill.
The research will collect data on the weight of items saved, types of repairs, and financial savings for families. The researchers will also gather qualitative data on how learning repair skills improves community resilience, wellbeing, and feelings of social isolation. The findings will be used to create a "Community Repair Hub Toolkit", a practical, scalable guide for other communities to replicate our model.
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Community: North Glasgow Community Food Initiative
Project: Community-led insights into gardening, cooking, and pantry participation at the Royston Food Hub and their effects on well-being
Location: Glasgow
Royston, North Glasgow, is considered a food desert, where residents face economic disadvantage, limited access to fresh produce, and social isolation. The North Glasgow Community Food Initiative will explore how the Royston Food Hub's connected activities--community gardening, local food growing, cookery classes, and the community pantry--together influence health, wellbeing, and food security.
This RSE award will support a series of Food Hub Groups, where residents can share their experiences, priorities, and ideas for how local food spaces can better meet community needs. The research will combine feedback from participant discussions, health and wellbeing surveys, and creative participatory methods to understand what works, what barriers remain, and what changes people want to see. By placing community voices at the centre, this project will generate new knowledge about how integrated, community-led food hubs can support healthier diets, stronger social connections, and a more sustainable local food environment--informing future development across North Glasgow.
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Community: Orkney International Science Festival
Project: Can rock dust improve soil and crops?
Location: Moray
UK food self-sufficiency has declined to 62%, with a heavy reliance on imported food from regions that can be vulnerable to drought, fire and flood. Scottish Islands, once able to survive for weeks without a boat, are today at the end of the distribution line and need to rebuild food security.
This funded project, inspired by the story of an 1845 Icelandic eruption, which coated Orkney with volcanic dust, resulting in the improved flavour of that year's potato crop, aims to explore whether locally sourced rock dust--currently a large, unused quarry by product--can enhance crop flavour and support greater community food resilience.
Building on small-scale trials with potatoes in 2023, tomatoes in 2024, and carrots in 2025, the next phase, supported by this award, will see potatoes grown by local community groups, including the Westray Development Trust, the North Ronaldsay Trust, Stromness Community Garden, the Eday Partnership, NHS Orkney, and St Colm's Day Centre. The crops grown with the Orkney quarry dust will be compared against control soils. Soil microbiome analysis by Durham University will investigate how rock dust supports soil health, and taste testing will be conducted at the Orkney International Science Festival.
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Community: Blairgowrie & Rattray Development Trust
Project: Finding and overcoming the barriers to choosing to eat locally grown vegetables in Blairgowrie & Rattray
Location: Perth and Kinross
The Blairgowrie & Rattray Development Trust's project aims to understand what prevents local residents from choosing to eat locally grown vegetables, despite several community initiatives--such as the BaRI Store, a volunteer-run shop stocking surplus food from supermarkets to help reduce food waste and to increase the use of refill--promoting local, healthy food.
Through a community wide survey, the group's research hopes to explore which vegetables people currently buy and eat and to identify barriers such as limited availability, uncertainty about preparation, or lack of awareness of local options.
The findings will help to inform planting decisions for a new 0.5 acre growing space, adjacent to the established Rattray Community Garden. By aligning production with community preferences and needs, the project will also support two of the Blairgowrie & Rattray Development Trust's current initiatives--the BaRI Food Project and Biodiversity Blair, a volunteer group which aims to improve the environment for all species by growing food around Blairgowrie and Rattray-- in their shared goal of increasing local food access, reducing waste, and encouraging healthier choices.
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Community: Sustainable Kirriemuir
Project: Kirrie Community Farm - Meadowland
Location: Angus
For decades, the intensification of farming has contributed to severe biodiversity loss in Scotland. This, coupled with increasing climate instability, is making it more difficult to grow food in this country.
Recognising the importance of enabling biodiversity to support food security, Kirriemuir Community Farm has recently taken on a 17-acre plot where, with the support of the Catalyst Award, they plan to explore how regenerative land management can support both local food production and nature recovery.
As part of the planned 12 month participatory action research project, the volunteer group will sow meadow and wildflower areas to support a rapid transition to regenerative local food growing. Working with native wildflower grower Scotia Seeds, the group will examine different meadow management practices and assess how a mosaic of habitats can improve biodiversity, ecosystem services and resilience.
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Community: Lochaber Environmental Group
Project: Seed Circle Lochaber
Location: Highlands
Seed Circle Lochaber is a community-led research project that explores how a locally organised seed-saving network can strengthen food resilience, food cultures, biodiversity, and community wellbeing in Lochaber. It will involve food growers of every scale, from people who grow herbs and vegetables on a windowsill to crofters, small producers, and community food-growing projects.
The project will map the use of open-pollinated seed within the local food system, gather stories and traditional knowledge related to food growing in the region, and run a pilot Seed Circle that supports people in growing, saving, and sharing locally adapted food seeds. Using participatory research methods, the project will record the practical, cultural and environmental benefits of food seed saving, identify the barriers faced by new community food growers and assess how food seed diversity can be strengthened in Lochaber.
By working with Scottish seed initiatives and Seed Sovereignty Scotland, the project will generate new knowledge, practical resources and a tested model that can be expanded locally or adapted by other communities seeking to build resilient food systems.
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Community: Loch Ken Trust
Project: Citizen-led research on potential impacts at Loch Ken, with implications for the wider catchment
Location: Dumfries and Galloway
Residents of New Galloway have longstanding concerns about pollution in the town's main freshwaters, particularly from sewage effluent and other inputs. This was identified as the top issue in a recent Community Council survey, which will inform the forthcoming Local Place Plan.
The awarded research project will establish a community baseline on pollution sources and water quality by:
* Mapping inputs: Collating information on public and private wastewater infrastructure in and around New Galloway to provide essential sub-catchment context.
* Citizen-science monitoring: Tracking aquatic invertebrates and analysing water chemistry upstream and downstream of effluent discharges into the Water of Ken, while piloting a novel lakefly monitoring system.
* Supporting constructive dialogue: Convening positive, iterative conversations to share stories about the freshwater ecosystem, highlight best practices, and discuss emerging findings. The project will also identify and prioritise potential measures to improve water quality, where appropriate, and establish a steering group, with key stakeholders, to guide ongoing work.
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Community: Jennie Martin, in collaboration with Scottish Forestry and the International Conifer Conservation Programme at Royal Botanical Gardens, Edinburgh
Project: Conifers aren't just for Christmas!
Location: Scotland-wide
Conifers make up 30-35% of our world's forests; however, despite originating in the late Palaeozoic period and surviving major mass extinctions, they often dominate recovery ecosystems, yet 34% of the species are under threat today.
Recognising that there is no accessible, simple field guide in Scotland (or indeed the UK) to help readers recognise and appreciate conifers' diversity, origins, and cultural significance. The Conifers are not just for Christmas project aims to change this.
Jennie Martin will collaborate with Scottish Forestry and the International Conifer Conservation Programme at Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh to develop the guide. Afterwards, additional research will be collected through workshops, during which participants can use the guide and provide feedback.
With an accessible field guide full of colour photographs and accompanying workshops, the researchers hope this project will kick-start a more conifer-literate society amongst forest school leaders, ecological surveyors, wilderness guides, and nature lovers alike.
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Community: Unity for Integration Project
Project: Our Food, Our Health, Our Future
Location: Glasgow
Access to healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate food is vital for good physical and mental well-being. Despite this, many minority families in Scotland face structural barriers and find their voices are missing from health and food policy discussions.
Over the next year, the Unity for Integration Project will engage with local families through focus groups and surveys to understand the barriers they face in making healthy food choices, such as cost, availability, and cultural fit.
The researchers hope the findings will propose solutions shaped directly by those most affected, as the participants will co-design actions to improve access, such as community cooking sessions and local food-growing opportunities.
By centring lived experience, this project aims to improve health, strengthen community integration, and provide evidence for more inclusive food policies that reflect the realities of diverse communities in Scotland.
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Community: Scottish Youth Parliament
Project: Green spaces for everyone: Youth-led research into intersectional access to green spaces
Location: Edinburgh
Through the awarded Green Spaces for Everyone project, the Scottish Youth Parliament will coordinate youth-led research into young people of colour's safe access to and meaningful participation in the design and development of green spaces locally and nationally.
The research will take an intersectional approach, exploring additional challenges, including gender and rurality. Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament will act as co-researchers to design and lead the investigation.
Through this project, the Scottish Youth Parliament aims to challenge the structural barriers faced by young people of colour when accessing natural spaces and provide evidence and tangible actions to decision-makers on what needs to change. Young people involved in the project will gain skills and knowledge, as well as building a supportive network of peers.
Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Change Award recipients:
Community: Bat's Wood, Growing Space & Bike Track
Project: Willow Worlds 2: Cut and plant
Location: Kirkcaldy, Fife
In Spring 2024, funded by a Catalyst Award, the Willow Worlds project was established in a public park in Fife, growing willow branches to protect young trees from deer. The project aimed to assess whether living structures could offer a natural, attractive alternative to plastic tree guards.
Today, the original Willow World structures are thriving and providing the foundation for the next phase of work. With the Change Award, Willow Worlds 2: Cut and Plant will explore how willow's ability to grow from cuttings can drive expansion. Environmental workers will harvest local willow and create new Willow Worlds across Fife and the Forth Valley, building skills while reducing costs, capturing carbon and supporting wildlife, all without the use of plastic.
Through gathering findings from across multiple sites, the group hope to demonstrate how this approach can be repeated further afield. All their findings will be documented openly and supported by short films that share their progress and reflections in an accessible way.
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Community: Hyperborea Research Station, Bragar
Project: Annlan: Flax heritage and sustaining the new textile commons
Location: Isle of Lewis
Annlan--meaning sustenance--is a research project that blends oral tradition with contemporary technology to explore how flax could strengthen a local circular economy rooted in the commons.
Building on the earlier Catalyst Award-funded work, which explored the Uist food system and how the community could combine innovation with traditional crofting practices, with the aim of improving the resilience and sustainability, the Change Award-supported project will see the group grow a flax crop and build linen processing machinery based on designs created to be part of a textile commons. In collaboration with local wool producers, the community aims to use fleece--an abundant by-product of sheep farming--to produce a flax-wool blended fibre with a home-grown provenance. As well as fibre production, the project will also investigate alternative uses for flax, examine economic models to understand how flax production could interconnect with and sustain a local circular economy, and publish a practical flax growing guide.
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Community: Cupar Development Trust
Project: Cupar Foodstation: Community masterplan
Location: Cupar
Over the last decade, the Cupar Development Trust has grown from a volunteer led group into a registered charity delivering major community driven planning initiatives.
The charity's ambition is to become a self-sustaining Trust that delivers meaningful and long-lasting community benefit without relying on annual funding rounds.
Last year, with the support of the Catalyst Award, the Trust developed an outline business case for Cupar Foodstation, a food-themed enterprise and welfare hub in Cupar, offering a community-led solution and a people-centred approach delivered through local organisations and food producers.
The Trust now hopes to build on the momentum and use the Change Award to build a case for a community asset transfer with the Cupar Foodstation as its core, enabling public, third sector and private entities to work together as part of a unique community hub. The study aims to demonstrate community support, organisational viability, and best value. Its findings will help shape a strategy to deliver long term social, economic, and environmental benefits for Cupar and its surrounding communities.
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Community: Eday Partnership and Stronsay Development Trust
Project: Scraps to suppers: Closing the island's food loop
Location: Orkney Isles
Supported by a Change Award, the Scraps to Suppers project aims to explore how small island communities can create an affordable and sustainable food growing system by reducing waste and reliance on imported goods, and by closing the local resource loop.
Building on the previous Catalyst Award research into community composting, the new project aims to expand the compost initiative island-wide to support further waste reduction. Further to this, the groups will also investigate cardboard waste recycling between Eday and Stronsay to produce low-carbon fuel.
Through collaboration between the two island communities, the project will assess what food waste management processes are practical, affordable, and regulation compliant. By supporting residents and local businesses to grow more food locally, the project aims to reduce food miles, strengthen resilience during supply disruptions, and lower costs. Ultimately, the project seeks to create a replicable model for establishing and sustaining a circular food production and waste system in island and rural communities.
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Original text here: https://rse.org.uk/strengthening-community-led-research-rse-awards-over-339k-to-24-initiatives-in-healthy-planet-healthy-people-awards/
Schwab Investors Controlling $4.3 Trillion Demand Answers re: DAF Funding Prohibition
OAKLAND, California, May 21 -- As You Sow Foundation posted the following news release:* * *
Schwab Investors Controlling $4.3 Trillion Demand Answers re: DAF Funding Prohibition
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MEDIA CONTACT: Ryon Harms, ryon@asyousow.org, 310.730.9407
Sign-On Letter Delivered to Schwab CEO and Investor Relations Before Annual General Meeting; Shareholders Press Board on Unilateral Donor Advised Funds Policy Change
EL CERRITO, CA, May 21, 2026 - As Charles Schwab Corporation convened its 2026 Annual General Meeting today, a coalition of investors representing more than $4.3 trillion in assets delivered ... Show Full Article OAKLAND, California, May 21 -- As You Sow Foundation posted the following news release: * * * Schwab Investors Controlling $4.3 Trillion Demand Answers re: DAF Funding Prohibition * MEDIA CONTACT: Ryon Harms, ryon@asyousow.org, 310.730.9407 Sign-On Letter Delivered to Schwab CEO and Investor Relations Before Annual General Meeting; Shareholders Press Board on Unilateral Donor Advised Funds Policy Change EL CERRITO, CA, May 21, 2026 - As Charles Schwab Corporation convened its 2026 Annual General Meeting today, a coalition of investors representing more than $4.3 trillion in assets delivereda sharp rebuke to the firm's leadership over its abrupt decision (coordinated in apparent lockstep with Vanguard and Fidelity) to stop honoring DAF client funding directions for donations to Southern Poverty Law Center, currently a 501c3 non-profit organization in good standing. This abrupt change occurred after the recent indictment by the Trump DOJ for charges that appear to be politically motivated.
The sign-on letter was transmitted directly to Schwab's Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Secretary, and Investor Relations on May 20th, one day before the AGM, demanding transparency and accountability from executives and a board that has so far offered only a legal technicality in response.
Donor-Advised Funds are widely used by philanthropically minded investors to manage charitable giving with tax efficiency. Clients contribute assets, receive an immediate tax deduction, and rely on fund administrators like Schwab to execute grant recommendations to IRS approved nonprofits of their choosing. When Schwab's DAFgiving360, Vanguard Charitable, and Fidelity Charitable each announced (within hours of one another)that they would no longer follow client directions to certain organizations, the move struck thousands of account holders as a unilateral breach of the foundational promise of how those accounts were sold.
"When investors put money in a donor advised fund, they want their funding directives to be followed. Schwab, Vanguard, and Fidelity have breached this trust, limiting their clients' giving in what appears to be a coordinated action," said Andrew Behar, CEO, As You Sow. "Everyone should have a financial manager that they can trust to execute their decisions."
At today's AGM, shareholders submitted pointed questions designed to determine whether this Schwab DAFgiving360 decision was made unilaterally or whether Schwab was approached by outside interests, whether the board was consulted and approved of the decision to prohibit funding to the group, and whether the timing of the near-simultaneous announcements by all three firms reflects any form of coordination.
Schwab management has thus far responded to shareholder concerns by characterizing DAFgiving360 as a legally separate entity-a response that investors and analysts have widely dismissed as evasive. The corporate separation argument does not address the substantive governance questions: who approved this policy, on what legal or ethical basis was it implemented, and why did three major DAF sponsors align simultaneously without prior client notification.
The financial stakes are considerable. According to DAF Research Collaborative, DAF accounts represent over $327 billion in assets and made over $64 billion in charitable giving in 2025. This is a significant and growing segment of philanthropic capital in the United States, and Schwab, Fidelity, and Vanguard collectively administer a dominant share of assets among 1,512 sponsors.
Institutional investors in the sign-on letter and hundreds of DAF holders who signed another letter put forth by Democracy Alliance, warn that Schwab's reputational exposure is material: clients who feel their giving autonomy has been compromised have many alternatives, and account migration risk is real. Several DAF account holders have already indicated they are evaluating independent community foundation sponsors and single-purpose DAF platforms that operate without the same conflicts of interest. An online workshop on how to move your DAF to another sponsor was held on May 14th and was attended by over 200 DAF holders. The website FreeYourDAF was also launched to assist the shift of capital that is now under way.
The investor coalition is calling on Schwab's board to publicly disclose the deliberative record underlying DAFgiving360's policy change, confirm whether any inter-institutional communications preceded the announcement, and articulate whether the board intends to restore client funding direction rights or establish a clear, viewpoint-neutral standard for any future restrictions. Shareholders will be watching closely to determine whether management chooses to engage substantively with these governance questions or deflect once again.
About As You Sow
As You Sow is the nation's leading shareholder representative, with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility. Its focus areas include climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, the Rights of Nature, racial justice, and workplace diversity. Click here to view As You Sow's shareholder resolution tracker.
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Original text here: https://www.asyousow.org/press-releases/2026/5/20/investors-controlling-44-trillion-demand-answers-at-schwab-agm-over-donor-advised-fund-funding-restrictionsnbsp
OMRF Board welcomes new directors, recognizes scientists
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, May 21 -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation posted the following news:* * *
OMRF Board welcomes new directors, recognizes scientists
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At its spring Board meeting and honors celebration on May 20, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation welcomed two new Directors and recognized scientists for their work.
Additionally, OMRF President Andrew Weyrich, Ph.D., honored a retiring school superintendent for his district's longtime support of OMRF.
The new OMRF Board members are Gary Brooks of Oklahoma City and Dori Smith of Duncan.
Brooks is a commercial real ... Show Full Article OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, May 21 -- The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation posted the following news: * * * OMRF Board welcomes new directors, recognizes scientists * At its spring Board meeting and honors celebration on May 20, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation welcomed two new Directors and recognized scientists for their work. Additionally, OMRF President Andrew Weyrich, Ph.D., honored a retiring school superintendent for his district's longtime support of OMRF. The new OMRF Board members are Gary Brooks of Oklahoma City and Dori Smith of Duncan. Brooks is a commercial realestate developer whose work includes the restoration of the downtown First National Center.
"My understanding of OMRF and its mission became much more intimate through my passion project of helping Oklahoma City become one of the healthiest cities in the nation," Brooks said. "That passion aligns perfectly with the goals of OMRF's healthy-aging research."
Smith is chief executive officer of Inland Empire Tech Center, a real estate investment company. She also is president of the H.M. Lewis Medical Research Foundation, which has provided significant philanthropic support to OMRF.
"The ability to serve OMRF, where research and clinical applications can move directly to the patient, is both exciting and deeply rewarding," Smith said. "I have worked with other research institutions where that has not been the case, which makes this opportunity especially meaningful to me."
Also rejoining the Board is Gary Pierson, who previously served from 2004 to 2019. Pierson, an attorney, served as president and chief executive officer of OPUBCO.
The Board gave its Distinguished Service Award to Harrison Levy, an OMRF Director since 1995. Earlier this year, Levy's $1 million gift established the Levy and Ray Family Laboratory for Alzheimer's Research at OMRF.
In addition, the Board honored the following Directors for their service: Dee Replogle, 50 years; Barbara Braught, 30 years; and Virginia Groendyke, 25 years.
OMRF presented the following awards to foundation scientists:
* Fred Jones Award for Scientific Achievement: Jacquelyn Gorman, Ph.D.
* J. Donald & Patricia H. Capra Award for Scientific Achievement: Tommy Lewis Jr., Ph.D.
* Merrick Award for Outstanding Medical Research: Courtney Montgomery, Ph.D.
* Stephen M. Prescott Award for the Best and Brightest David Hughes, Ph.D., and Amanda Sharpe, Ph.D.
* Edward L. & Thelma Gaylord prize for Scientific Excellence: Michael Beckstead, Ph.D.
Weyrich presented the President's Award to Dr. Fred Rhodes, who is retiring after a 50-year career in public education, primarily in the Putnam City School District. Since 2013 he has served as its superintendent.
OMRF's partnership with Putnam City Schools dates to 1975, when the district designated the foundation as beneficiary of its annual cancer drive. Since then, the effort has raised $4 million for research at OMRF. That research has led, among other things, to an experimental brain cancer drug now undergoing clinical trials.
"Dr. Rhodes has been an amazing advocate for biomedical research at OMRF that advances human health," Weyrich said. "We are extremely grateful to him and to everyone from the Putnam City district who has supported our efforts to make meaningful progress in the fight against cancer and other chronic diseases."
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Original text here: https://omrf.org/omrf-board-welcomes-new-directors-recognizes-scientists/
FFRF Supports AZ Students Protesting School-Sponsored Prayer
MADISON, Wisconsin, May 21 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release:* * *
FFRF supports AZ students protesting school-sponsored prayer
Students at El Capitan High School in Colorado City, Ariz., are protesting school-sponsored prayer that district officials are still scheduling in the graduation ceremony despite student objections and constitutional dictates.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation has told the Colorado City Unified School District to immediately remove prayer from the school's June 3 graduation ceremony after the school received complaints from ... Show Full Article MADISON, Wisconsin, May 21 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release: * * * FFRF supports AZ students protesting school-sponsored prayer Students at El Capitan High School in Colorado City, Ariz., are protesting school-sponsored prayer that district officials are still scheduling in the graduation ceremony despite student objections and constitutional dictates. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has told the Colorado City Unified School District to immediately remove prayer from the school's June 3 graduation ceremony after the school received complaints fromgraduating seniors who say administrators are attempting to force religion into what should be a celebration of students' achievements. According to the student complaint received by FFRF, El Capitan High School has long included official invocations and benedictions at graduation ceremonies, with students selected in advance to lead the audience in prayer. This year's graduation program was set to feature scheduled prayers led by two designated students despite clear Supreme Court precedent ruling such practices unconstitutional.
After student objections, district officials reportedly altered the program so that the prayer would occur before the ceremony officially begins and described participation as "optional." But the change misses the point.
"El Capitan High School's custom and practice of including school-sponsored prayers at graduation directly violates students' First Amendment rights," FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence writes. "The school cannot avoid a constitutional violation by assigning students to lead prayers, moving the prayer to the top of the ceremony, or proclaiming that the prayer is no longer mandatory."
As the school board itself has noted, the ceremony is under the school's control. A public school cannot constitutionally implement religious worship as part of a school activity.
High school graduation is a once-in-a-lifetime event that students spend over a decade working toward. As FFRF's student-complainant explained, the school forcing prayer on graduating students has caused the students "frustration" instead of allowing them to focus on their achievements. Including prayer at graduation puts many students and families in the unconscionable and unconstitutional position of choosing between exiting or foregoing the ceremony or else violating their conscience.
Plus, having prayer at graduation ceremonies and other school-sponsored events needlessly marginalizes students and families who are nonreligious or members of minority faiths. As many as 29 percent of Americans are non-Christian, including the almost 30 percent that are nonreligious. (Arizona even has slightly higher than average numbers of religiously unaffiliated adults at 31 percent.) More than half of Generation Z members (those born after 1996) are non-Christian, including 43 percent who are nonreligious.
"Students deserve to celebrate their achievements that came from hard work -- not be forced to show obeisance to someone else's religion," FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor says. "We expect this rogue school district to stop violating the constitutional rights of its students by canceling these prayers immediately."
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The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 41,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 1,000 members and a chapter in Arizona. Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
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Original text here: https://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-supports-az-students-protesting-school-sponsored-prayer/
[Category: Religion]
Boston Foundation: ADUs are Growing in Popularity in Mass., Report Finds, But Issues With Cost, Local Codes Blunt Statewide Permitting Impact
BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 21 -- The Boston Foundation issued the following news release:* * *
ADUs are growing in popularity in Mass., report finds, but issues with cost, local codes blunt statewide permitting impact
A new report from Boston Indicators, the research center at the Boston Foundation, and Abundant Housing Massachusetts finds that Massachusetts' new statewide permitting pathway for accessory dwelling units, known as ADUs, has sparked notable growth in the number of ADU permit applications and built units. But the report, ADUs Turn One: Regulatory Barriers to Production in Massachusetts ... Show Full Article BOSTON, Massachusetts, May 21 -- The Boston Foundation issued the following news release: * * * ADUs are growing in popularity in Mass., report finds, but issues with cost, local codes blunt statewide permitting impact A new report from Boston Indicators, the research center at the Boston Foundation, and Abundant Housing Massachusetts finds that Massachusetts' new statewide permitting pathway for accessory dwelling units, known as ADUs, has sparked notable growth in the number of ADU permit applications and built units. But the report, ADUs Turn One: Regulatory Barriers to Production in Massachusettsand Ideas for Further Reform, also notes that ADU production still lags the pace needed to reduce the state's housing shortfall, with construction costs compounded by local regulations that delay or derail homeowners' plans.
"The statewide approach to zoning reform has proven necessary to spark concrete results at a pace to make a real impact on housing supply," said Amy Dain, Senior Fellow at Boston Indicators and lead author of the report. "But while statewide ADU permitting is making ADU construction more possible, our fragmented, complex system of local fire, septic, stormwater and other regulations creates challenges that discourage homeowners and make ADU construction less likely."
The Commonwealth reformed the state Zoning Act as part of the 2024 Affordable Homes Act to legalize ADUs "by right" statewide, partially overriding local zoning prohibitions and other restrictions for ADUs of no more than 900 square feet of floor area or half the floor area of the principal dwelling, whichever is smaller. However, the Act does allow for "reasonable" local zoning regulations and for other local regulations.
The Act's passage unquestionably sparked an increase in ADU applications and permitting. To measure the impact, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities surveyed building officials in all 351 municipalities in Massachusetts. 293 responded, reporting receiving a total of 1,639 applications for ADU building permits and issuing 1,224 permits. Those numbers underestimate the real counts - as 58 communities did not respond and 65 others only provided numbers for the first half of the year. But they give some sense that the legalization did spark a wave of interest in ADUs across Massachusetts.
Boston, Plymouth, Lawrence, Nantucket, Lowell, Milton and Somerville led the list of communities granting the most permits in the survey, with at least 32 communities granting more than 10 ADU permits under state and local regulations in 2025.
Even with the progress, there are clear obstacles to ADU construction that have emerged which are slowly the process for applicants, particularly at the local level, where each of the state's 351 municipalities has its own sets of building, fire, septic, wetlands, energy and stormwater codes that complicate the permitting process for both property owners applying to build ADUs and communities managing the approval process.
"If we are to truly unlock the potential of ADUs to create new and much-needed housing in Massachusetts, we must recognize that the Affordable Homes Act was just a first step," said Jesse Kanson-Benanav, Executive Director of Abundant Housing Massachusetts. "Homeowners seeking ADU permits face a tangled web of local barriers related to zoning, building codes, fire codes, septic systems, stormwater, and wetlands that vary from community to community. Standardizing, regionalizing and coordinating regulations around ADUs are necessary next steps to build upon."
The report makes a series of recommendations to sustain the gains underway. They include:
* Clear, uniform state regulatory standards for ADUs, with minimal opportunities for municipal-level variation
* A review of state regulatory standards for ADUs and revision to support ADU production while protecting health, safety, and the environment.
* Regionalization of permit review processes to reduce the burden on applicants and the staffing and technical expertise requirements for cities and towns.
* Improved cross-departmental coordination at the local and state levels to make the system easier to navigate for applicants.
The report also spells out a series of recommendations for state-level regulatory reforms to clarify ADU requirements, reduce unnecessary or redundant regulations and provide consistent and strong safety, health and environmental protections.
The report is available now at bostonindicators.org.
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REPORT: https://www.bostonindicators.org/-/media/indicators/boston-indicators-reports/report-files/2026/adus-turn-one.pdf
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Original text here: https://www.tbf.org/news-and-insights/press-releases/2026/may/adu-one-year-report