So you want to create a movement? by Wayne Centrone

I have been working in international health for almost twenty years. Our work, my own and the various groups I have had the fortune of working with, has changed a great deal in that time. The initial focus was on directly providing services. Whether it was working with street children in Lima, bringing teams down [...]

Take Shelter: Reflections on Film and Mental Illness by Wendy Grace Evans

This week I went to see the movie Take Shelter, written and directed by Jeff Nichols, starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. I wanted to see how mental illness was portrayed, as it is usually my experience that it is not portrayed with grace or dignity – which leaves me feeling rage, and a deep [...]

See? I am intelligent. by Claire Berman

He was sitting in a small enclave in the side of a brick building downtown, hands folded in front of him, with an overflowing plastic bag beside him that crinkled and rustled in the autumn breeze. It was chilly, but at the same time, unseasonably warm for November, and he wasn’t wearing a jacket. People [...]

Warts Shouldn't Matter When Communities Embrace By Steven Samra

Our company was recently awarded an important 5-year contract from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) to launch the Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy. I was invited to attend the kickoff meeting as a key staff member. On the flight to Washington DC, I had time to reflect on [...]

A Wake-Up Call for Social Media Slackers by Steven Samra

I turn 52 this year, and like so many other “mid-lifers,” I have been slow to enter the social networking scene. I frankly don’t care what most of my acquaintances and family are “gearing up for” on Facebook, and the terms “Twitter” and “tweeting” makes me sort of goofily embarrassed. But I confess that I [...]

It Could Have Been Me by Melissa Cogswell

There are times where I have gotten so caught up in the day-to-day work, the planning, the logistics, the scheduling, the data, the making-it-happen, that I forget precisely what it is that I am are doing here and who I am doing it for. Recently I helped implement “PATH to Housing” an 8 week, online [...]

Building Your Team by Kaela Gray

Prior to joining the Center for Social Innovation, I worked as a four-season backcountry guide – a role that taught me about team-building. When you’re on top of a mountain, the health and safety of the entire group depends on the relationships built within it. Developing trust, understanding, and compassion creates shared goals and team [...]

Lady Luck by Rachael Kenney

Have you played Spent yet? Spent is an online game created by Urban Ministries of Durham that shows you just how hard it is to get by with limited resources. It’s reminiscent of “chose your own adventure” books, which ask the reader to make a choice at the end of each chapter to determine the [...]

Can Technology End Homelessness? by Jeff Olivet

The easy answer is “of course not.” Homelessness is a deeply entrenched and complex social problem that has been decades, even centuries in the making. It will potentially take decades to solve. Homelessness is rooted in a profound lack of affordable housing and in the unequal distribution of income between rich and poor. It is [...]

Of All the Names… by Jeff Olivet

When we started the Center for Social Innovation in 2006, we wrestled long and hard with what to call ourselves. We wanted a name big enough to make space for the dreams and passions our team brought together, yet also descriptive of our ways of thinking…a name that would express our determination to bring new [...]