Aging in America: The Years Ahead is a journey across the topography of aging in search of what it means to have a ‘good old age’. This film traverses the experience of our elders from the wellderly to the elderly, as told through a series of intimate vignettes of people who are living the new old age.
Five individuals have been awarded $100,000 for their work to improve their communities and the world. From promoting entrepreneurship in Detroit to uplifting the lives of thousands of Chinese orphans, this year’s Purpose Prize winners are working on community-based issues from the ground up—and getting results.
Every minute in the United States, an ambulance gets turned away from an emergency room because hospitals are simply too full. In Los Angeles, where the wait time in some ERs is as long as 48 hours, the entire 911 system is being challenged in ways that are alarming.
During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military sprayed some 12 million gallons of Agent Orange herbicide over Vietnam. This defoliant was used to immediately destroy crops, clear vegetation, and remove the dense forest that provided food and cover for Vietcong forces. At least 4.5 million Vietnamese, and 2.5 million American veterans, may have been exposed to the pesticide. Although the spraying ended 30 years ago, the dioxin from Agent Orange is still wreaking havoc on three generations of victims.
The California foster care system is set up in such as way as to march young adults into long-term, chronic homelessness. Each year in the San Francisco Bay Area, more than 600 youth age out of foster care when they turn 18 and lose access to all state-funded foster care services. Without housing, education or emotional support, 65 percent of foster youth will face imminent homelessness, 20 percent will be arrested or incarcerated, 46 percent will complete high school and only 1 percent will graduate from college.
While on patrol in Iraq in 2005, an improvised explosive device (IED) blasted through Juan Arredondo’s vehicle resulting in the loss of his left hand and much of the calf muscles from both legs. Now, four years later, Ret. Sgt. Arredondo struggles to overcome not only his physical injuries but the impact of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as well. Juan Arredondo is one of nearly 300,000 veterans of the United States’ war on terror suffering from invisible psychic wounds caused by the ubiquitous bomb blasts.
50 years ago oil was discovered in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Today, Nigeria pumps 2.1 million barrels a day, making it the sixth largest oil-producing country in the world and a major oil partner of the United States. Although its oil industry generates billions in revenues every year, the average Niger Deltan struggles to survive on less than $1 per day.
Where does your money go when you pay at the gas pump? Follow the Money, takes you on a fantasy voyage through the pipelines back to the source of the oil reserves. The harsh reality is that people who live in countries that are rich in natural resources often suffer extreme poverty. Poor communities have no say in the extraction of resources from their own land and receive little benefit from these projects.
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