Recognizing Real People and Real Solutions for Eliminating Poverty in America
The Elfenworks Foundation (TEF), whose mission is to bring domestic poverty to the top of the American public’s agenda, has announced that the 2009 commemoration of hope will honor: Gregory Boyle, founder, Homeboy Industries, Robert Egger, founder, DC Central Kitchen and V3, and Peter Young, founder, Peter Young Housing, Industries & Treatment.
On October 15, 2009 at 7 pm Pacific Time at the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View, California, these three individuals were honored for outstanding contributions towards eliminating poverty in America with the In Harmony with Hope Awards.
The third year of the In Harmony with Hope Awards is even more crucial based on recent information released from the U.S. Census Bureau’s poverty data showing an increase in poverty in America.
The award pays tribute to three mission-focused individuals whose examples prove that innovation can create new opportunities to integrate the poor and the marginalized and elevate us all:
- Father Gregory Boyle, founder and director of Homeboy Industries (homeboy-industries.org) for his work promoting nonviolence and creating training and jobs for thousands of LA’s gang members;
- Robert Egger, founder of the DC Central Kitchen (dccentralkitchen.org), for his food distribution program that repurposes excess food into nearly 5,000 meals each day and provides skills training and job placement for the poor. Through V3, Egger is giving voice to and galvanizing the nonprofit industry; and
- Father Peter Young, founder of Peter Young Housing, Industries and Treatment (pyhit.com), for his innovative rehabilitation programs that provide a path to self‐sufficiency for more than 3,000 people across New York State every day.
“All three of our honorees grasped the big picture and recognized the interconnectedness of issues,” says Elfenworks Foundation CEO Dr. Lauren Speeth. “And then they went about fearlessly implementing new solutions that work. That’s exactly what’s needed right now.”
The awards are the vision of Dr. Lauren Speeth, who believes that recognizing and partnering with individuals and organizations that are leading the charge to make substantive change will help lift people out of poverty. The work is even more urgent today, as our income inequality continues to grow and with an increasing number of Americans finding themselves on poverty’s doorstep.
About The Elfenworks Foundation
The Elfenworks Foundation was created to support non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) in innovative and unconventional ways. We strive to be In Harmony with Hope by shining light on causes that benefit humanity. In affiliation with U.S. centers of academic excellence, our multi‐faceted, creative and hardworking team of social entrepreneurs and advisors draws on expertise in communications, technology, film, music, law, and business administration to empower the nonprofits we serve; we remove obstacles, help strengthen program and business‐model capacities, build infrastructures, forge alliances, and raise awareness about these organizations and our shared agenda. In this way we work in harmony towards our common goal of positive, measurable, and sustainable change. Our current goal is to ameliorate domestic poverty and provide new hope for the disenfranchised here at home. For more information, visit www.elfenworks.org.
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