Resources

LISTEN to a podcast about how compassion impacts you: Hidden Brain - The Science of Compassion episode

Vegan:

The resources for aiding an aspiring or engaged vegan are vast. From recipes, to visiting animal sanctuaries, to vegan friendly clothes and products this is just a small sample. And vegan groups on Facebook, such as Vegan Travel, are a great resource.

Community:

Being out in real life rather than connecting online is a great way to grow your sense of community and bring together those near and far. These are a sampling of ways to get you off the couch and connecting in person.

• Serenflipity cards (a pack of cards to spark daily actions)

Activate:

From volunteering with animals to organizations that help foster youth to helping the homeless to the environment, there are countless ways to participate to match the level of involvement you seek. These represent just a small fraction of where you can spark your activisim.

Los Angeles area:

• LA Works, an extraordinary resource to find countess volunteer opportunities

• Downtown Women's Center (volunteer to work with the homeless)

• A Sense of Home (help create homes for those who age out of foster care)

• LA Animal Services (become an animal shelter volunteer)

• Countless animal rescue groups, just an online search away

• Reading to Kids (be a part of promoting reading & literary)

• Safe Place for Youth (SPY, helping homeless youth)

• Free Arts (free arts for abused children)

• Young Storytellers (with one-on-one mentorship, low-income students learn how to write original stories & see them brought to life on stage and film)

• WriteGirl (a creative writing & mentoring organization; promotes creativity, critical thinking and leadership skills to empower teen girls)

• DIY (“Do-It-Yourself”) Girls (increases girls’ interest and success in technology, engineering and making through innovative educational experiences and mentor relationships)

• Face Forward (providing reconstructive surgery & emotional support for survivors of domestic violence & human trafficking)

• Fulfillment Fund (dedicated to making college a reality for students growing up in educationally and economically under-resourced communities)

• Step Up For Mental Health (to support, educate and provide services to empower families living with the challenges of mental health disorders by providing a safe place to share stories and find support for others who are dealing with mental health disorders or caring for a family members with a mental illness)

• Pops the Club (to provide community and support teens with loved ones in prison)

• Volunteer Match

• The Art of Elysium (empowers artists and communities of need to join together and emotionally triumph over their circumstances through art, built on the idea that through service, art becomes a catalyst for social change)

• Sojourn (services for adult and child victims of domestic violence aims to)

• Braille Institute (art volunteer)

National and/or Worldwide:

• 826 (volunteer to tutor kids, 7 locations across the US - https://826la.org/ is the Los Angeles branch)

• Workaway (worldwide volunteer opportunities)

• Idealist (find countless volunteer opportunities)

• Community Emergency Response Team (learn how to help organize basic disaster response)

Transformation:

Sometimes our goals and good intentions need support. These inspiring speakers & teachers offer tools and ideas to help us get out of our own way and spur us on.

• Mel Robbins Creative Live class

• Elizabeth Gilbert "The flight of the Hummingbird: The Curiosity-Driven Life"

• Brene Brown

films:

• Minimalism

• What the Health

• Vegucated

Podcasts:

• You can explore endless inspiring podcasts to enjoy at home or easily on the go via the Podcast app or Soundcloud or any other means of discovering podcasts. If you use iOS, check out the Podcast app.

One podcast that demonstrates how to cross divides: Conversations with People Who Hate Me.  Oprah also facilitates some very good sessions: SuperSoul Conversations.