Jeanette Fordyce

“A Brush with Kindness,” a Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity program, pairs homeowners who do not have the means to properly repair their homes with supplies and volunteers to help do the work. When basic living expenses exceed monthly income for homeowners, home maintenance can fall casualty. Years of deferred maintenance can cause a downward spiral of home deterioration and unsafe living conditions. MORE »

“I am in big trouble! Someone has stolen my truck” phoned Steve Johnson, an employee of local towing company to his girlfriend. Mr. Johnson was at the Minnesota State Fairground’s impound lot to help a customer pick up their car. He had left his diesel engine truck running as he went inside to do paperwork. The Vulcans had moved his truck around the building. Mr. Johnson was much relieved to see the flashing light of his vehicle. The Vulcans had written “property of Vulcans” and “V’s” all over his truck. MORE »

In Ethan Buckner’s junior year at Hopkins High School, his four-member Earth Club put on a concert called “Earth Jam.” Buckner’s commitment to environmental issues continued through his senior year and graduation. Now he and a group of high school and college students will stage the Minnesota Powershift 2008 conference at Washburn High School on October 3-5. They hope to unite farmers, inner-city residents, labor leaders, small businesses, students and local government around a vision for clean economy (use of wind and solar energy) and sustainable future. MORE »

By rejecting the car and the assembly-line production that goes along with it, Old Order Mennonites have kept their way of life on their farms and in their churches for 80 years. As industrialization transformed American society from rural-farming to city-factory, these Mennonites looked to the past for guidance. The Mennonites trace their lineage back to the Anabaptist movement in southern Germany and Switzerland in the wake of the Protestant Reformation in 1517. The Wenger Church (Old Order Mennonites) was formed in 1927 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania when their leader and bishop, Joseph O. Wenger, led their formation after a controversy over the car with other Mennonites. Today, the U.S. is home to 18,000 Mennonites in 49 congregations in Pennsylvania, New York, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Iowa, and Michigan. MORE »

Char Madigan will be praying for peace during the RNC this year, a continuation of a career of prayer and protest that goes back more than thirty years. MORE »