5.08.2013

May 8, 2013

White Dog and The White Dog Army
Wonderful World Wednesday 

White Dog shakes her head and wonders in discussions with the rest of the Army why humans have such misplaced priorities when it comes to spending money. “For the money that is spent on wars in just a couple of days, humans could overcome hunger all over the planet,” White Dog protests. “Why would governments ignore funding education that could change the world’s economy and add to the needed supply of doctors and researchers and problem-solvers?” gentle Quinn puzzles. And it is the same for all of the WDA, their lack of understanding of why those with the means to make a difference do not seem to be doing their part.

“Not so fast,” I counter. “There are people, organizations, and even government agencies that try very hard to direct money and efforts to areas that work toward making the world a better place. Take Harris Rosen, for example, he has changed the face and hopelessness of an entire neighborhood because he made an investment in the people. Check out his story…” 

Millionaire Buys Daycare and College for Crime-Filled Neighborhood, Turns it Around 
 By Good News Network Wednesday, April 17, 2013 

Harris Rosen owns seven hotels in Orlando, Florida, but hasn't always been wealthy. The 73-year-old grew up a son of poor immigrants in New York City. 

Twenty years ago, having amassed a fortune, Rosen decided to give back. He targeted the Orlando neighborhood of Tangelo Park -- a crime-infested place where people were afraid to walk down the street and the high school graduation rate was 25 percent. 

The first thing he did was provide day care for every parent. Next, he offered to pay the Florida state college tuition for any student from his adopted community of 2500 residents. 

It was amazing what Rosen's nine million dollar investment accomplished. Today, the crime rate has been cut in half and the graduation rate is near one hundred percent. 

“When people have the resources to go and succeed, there’s a ripple effect,” said one high school senior who was part of the first pre-K class in the Tangelo Park Program. “It becomes generational. No one in my family ever went to college before, but now, my baby sister can’t even picture a life without college. My mother even went back and got her degree. I showed her that she could do it.” 

“Granted,” I tell the WDA, “not every neighborhood is lucky enough to have a Harris Rosen, but imagine if everyone felt the same sense of giving back some of their good fortune and if the government could see that small (relatively) amounts of money go a long way to breaking patterns of despair and empowering the citizens.” The White Dog Army wagged their approval. “Now, THAT’S what we are talking about,” Oso added.
 
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3 comments:

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Brian's Home Blog said...

It is always so nice to read inspiring stories like this one!

meowmeowmans said...

Oh, that's inspiring and wonderful! Thank you for giving us something to smile about, dear friends!

Hugs!