Veronika Scott is a twenty-one-year-old design student in Detroit, Michigan, but this young humanitarian wears many fine hats. A town of terrible winters, the homeless in Detroit suffer greatly at this time of year and Veronika created the Detroit Empowerment Plan to provide much-needed warmth to the city’s 20,000 street dwellers.

She could not eradicate the homeless situation, but as one single caring human being she could and did make a significant difference in the lives of these unfortunates by creating a coat called Element S. This self-heated sleeping bag is water-proof and doubles as a coat by day.

Created by the loving hands of a group of homeless women who are paid minimum wage for their efforts and are fed and housed while working, the end result of this empowerment program is not the product but rather the personal pride instilled in these workers by their accomplishments. Or put another way, it is not the coat useful though it may be, but rather the people behind the coat who shine and shine again under the auspices of this program.

A product design student at the College for Creative Studies, Veronika’s inspiration was actually a school project that directed her to “design to fill a need.” From there, she reached out to the 20,000 people living on the street of Detroit. She even worked for a while in a shelter. Soon after the idea for the coat took hold, it became much more than just a coat; it blossomed into a way to give back and benefit the community.

Veronika Scott is making a difference in the world of the homeless one Element S at a time.

Hooray for the Empowerment Program!

Photo source:

http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4713

Royal Oak, Mich. Dr. Richard Keidan, a surgical oncologist at Beaumont Hospital has dedicated his life to performing surgery on Detroit area patients, but he also helps needy people in Nepal by building schools and clinics.

Keidan runs the Miles Levin Nepal Foundation in dedication to 18 year old Miles Levin, who died of a rare form of cancer in 2007. The foundation helps impoverished children in Nepal.

Keidal says that the lives of the children of Khotang in Nepal are a far cry from Levin’s life and that his goal is to help bridge the gap between the health care and educational opportunities that he had and the ones the children of Khotang don’t have access to.

Keidan first visited Nepal in 1983 to mountain climb and ended up in love with the people and their culture. Now, he spends nearly three months every year there working with the children.

Keidan says there isn’t much resemblance to the Detroit suburbs in Nepal, as there is no communication, no phones, no power, no running water, no toilets, and no way to get anywhere except to walk.

Keidan helps in Nepal by building clinics, schools, and making sure there is clean water and toilets available. The people there help to manage the foundation’s work.

“We go and talk with the people in Khotang and their villages and instead of trying to tell them how to do things. Instead, we ask them what they need so that it’s their ideas, their proposals, and we want them to have a better life for them and their kids,” he said.