Social Sites That Help

Social sites have become very popular. Many of us use a social site to stay in touch with family and friends. These sites include Facebook, Myspace and Friendster to name a few. Many of us also use social sites such as LinkedIn to keep in touch with business contacts and network to further our careers. What many people may not realize is that social sites can also be used to change the world, or at least make it a better place.

The internet has made it possible for you and I to get involved with organizations that were designed to improve the lives of the people around us. There are a number of social sites that help; many are not-for-profit though there are some that are for profit. There are social sites for everything from helping to make you smarter to educating people on the truth about alcohol and marijuana to ending world hunger and poverty. Our purpose here is to introduce you to those sites, and show you how to get involved from the comfort of your home.

The first site that we would like to introduce to you is the Marijuana Policy Project(www.mpp.org). Founded in 1995, MPP has 38 staffers, 29,000 members, and 100,000 e-mail subscribers. This social site is dedicated to educating people on marijuana. It is important that if you are going to take a stance on a topic that you become as informed as possible about it. MPP offers a quiz that will test your alcohol and marijuana knowledge. Do you really know what the dangers of those two substances are? You can take the quiz by clicking here. You may be surprised on what you thought you knew and the truth of the matter. The Marijuana Policy Project also offers news stories, blog posts and a number of ways that you can get involved with their cause.

Breakthrough- Bring Human Rights Home http://www.breakthrough.tv/  Breakthrough is an innovative, international human rights organization using the power of popular culture, media, and community mobilization to transform public attitudes and advance equality, justice, and dignity in India, the United States and other parts of the world.

Esperanza Community  http://esperanzacommunity.org/ Esperanza Community has a mission to provide instruction and services to people with disabilities to reach their fullest potential toward a productive and independent life in the community. Their vision is to be a premier agency that provides a full range of quality services for people with disabilities and to advocate on their behalf to enhance their quality of life and to increase community awareness and acceptance.  Hard work, perseverance and hope inspired a group of Mexican-American parents from Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood to create Esperanza School on April 25, 1969. These parents could not find schools with appropriate educational programs for children with developmental disabilities. One of the parents and a professor from Chicago State University, combined their efforts to create this special school called Esperanza which means "hope" in Spanish.

For animals lovers there are social sites such as the Best Friend Animal Society(http://bestfriends.org/).  This organization is devoted to educating people on proper pet care. The organization was established in the late 1980’s. Back then there were about 17 million cats and dogs that were euthanized in shelters on a yearly basis because then the belief was that there was little that could be done to help control the number of cats and dogs. Best Friends has a program that helps place pets that were considered unadoptable in safe homes where they will be loved and cared for.  This initiative alone has brought the number of euthanized animals down to 5 million a year, and their most worthy goal is to get it down to zero. They also have a pet sanctuary and they work all around the country to help find homes for every currently unwanted, lost or unclaimed pet. The site offers links for ways for you to get involved on a national level and in your own hometown through volunteerism or employment.

Friends of Animals (www.friendsofanimals.org) is a non-profit, international animal advocacy organization, incorporated in the state of New York since 1957. Friends of Animals works to cultivate a respectful view of nonhuman animals, free-living and domestic. Their goal is to free animals from cruelty and institutionalized exploitation around the world.  It is supported through its membership and friends from all walks of life throughout the world, each year they actively meet the needs of more animals on more fronts than any animal advocacy group of our kind.

Turn Your World Around(www.aandolan.org) is a social site that is dedicated to empowering youth all over the world. It is their belief that “youth are a movement – a powerful force that can combat climate change, increase access to education, improve global healthcare, promote peace, advocate for civil liberties and eradicate poverty.”  This organization was founded by a young lady, Tara Suri, who actually got started when she was 13. Her organization then HOPE was started after a trip to India where she was overwhelmed by the poverty and sexism that takes place there, that she wanted to find a way to offer the privileges we take for granted here in America to those that she met on her trip. Tara is now 17 and still very involved in the organization as well as other ways to empower youth. You can read her story by clicking here.

If you or someone that you love is struggling with addiction, then you may be interested in the social site Phoenix House(http://www.phoenixhouse.org).  This foundation was started by people who understood what addiction was, and they had the same desire to conquer their addictions and help others conquer theirs. The Phoenix House really started in 1967 by 6 heroin addicts who came together in a detoxification program in Manhattan. This site offers you ways to get involved, and what is more important, ways for you to understand what a person who is suffering from an addiction is going through. They offer assessments and family education and support groups as well as educational information on illicit drugs, and what the addiction process is. Their goal is to help take people who are living disrupted lives to leading stable, healthy and productive lives.  

Human rights are not rights that are limited to those that live in the United States. Each and every human being is entitled to respect, care, fair treatment and equal opportunities for education and advancement. The Global Human Rights Organization (www.globalhumanrights.org) is a social site whose mission. . .  “Securing basic dignity and freedom for people worldwide requires that front-line organizations challenge abuse wherever it occurs. The Fund finds and funds local human rights heroes who often work at great personal risk to strengthen and bring global attention to their struggles.”  They offer ways for you to get involved through donation and activism. Protecting the human rights of the people in the world and around us helps protect our own rights as well.

If you are looking for a reputable site that offers reliable information on not-for-profit organizations then GuideStar (http://www2.guidestar.org/Home.aspx) is the social site you want to look into, founded in September 1994. Their mission is “To revolutionize philanthropy and nonprofit practice by providing information that advances transparency, enables users to make better decisions, and encourages charitable giving.” Unfortunately in this day and age, there are many people out there that are running scams under the guise of not-for-profits. GuideStar was designed to give you the information you need before getting committed to a not-for-profit. They encourage you to donate and get involved but they want to make sure that the organizations representing themselves as charities are doing what they claim.