Giraffe Heroes Database
Letter "H"
Entries beginning with "H"
Consuello Harper of Montgomery AL was harrassed and even spit on for speaking out against government support of the poor, advocating instead the unpopular message of self-help. Founder and Executive Director of the Central Alabama Opportunity Industrial Center, Harper and her staff teach 16- to 21-year-old drop-outs the job skills they need to stay out of the welfare system.
Home when commended: North America, US, Alabama Home now: North America, US, Alabama Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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When some of her own children joined gangs, Alice Harris of Los Angeles CA "took to the streets," intervening in gang wars. The courageous mother of nine is founder and director of Parents of Watts, an organization with an extraordinary success rate in turning at-risk kids around.
Home when commended: North America, US, California Home now: North America, US, California Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Elsa Hart, a gems expert in New York City, spent over $20,000 of her own money and years of her time advising Apaches on how to mine and market stones from their reservation's gemstone mine.
Home when commended: North America, US, South Carolina Home now: North America, US, South Carolina Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Frances Close Hart of Columbia SC founded the Energy Research Foundation, which forced the Savannah River nuclear weapons facility to comply with environmental regulations. A full-time volunteer and major funder of the ERF, Hart has withstood attacks from the press and from community members who called her a rich woman with no concern for workers' jobs—only people's health.
Home when commended: North America, US, New York Home now: North America, US, Missouri Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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John Hatch started his own international aid program, FINCA (Foundation for International Community Assistance), making micro-loans directly to the poor. Using his savings as seed money, he worked four years without pay, setting up revolving loan funds in Third World villages. Hatch and his family moved to El Salvador, with a plan to start 1,400 village banks.
Home when commended: Central America, El Salvador Home now: North America, US, Florida Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Lorna Hawkins of Lynwood CA took her grief and anger public after her son was killed in a drive-by shooting. Hawkins spoke out against gang violence and rallied her neighbors into a block watch team. Ignoring threats from dealers, Hawkins started her own cable TV show, focusing on gangs, drugs and what to do about them.
Home when commended: North America, US, California Home now: North America, US, California Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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John Hayes of Winthrop WA quietly led his Methow Valley neighbors in a successful effort to keep the area beautiful and strengthen its economy. Hayes personally got hundreds of people of disparate viewpoints to take part and put his own time, money and credit rating on the line.
Home when commended: North America, US, Washington Home now: North America, US, Washington Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Ron Hayes of Fairhope AL was appalled when the death of his son in a corn silo cave-in led him to discover that private companies and public agencies were not protecting workers from injury and death. He gave up his career as an x-ray technician to launch a campaign for better on-the-job safety measures.
Home when commended: North America, US, Alabama Home now: North America, US, Alabama Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Gail Hayward of Boca Raton FL is fighting stage-three ovarian cancer and running a campaign for early detection and for better treatment of this often overlooked killer. Challenging the medical profession while in treatment herself endangers her own care and support, and uses her most precious resource—time.
Home when commended: North America, US, Florida Home now: North America, US, Texas Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Erin Healy of Chugiak AK needed to research "something controversial" for a class, so she looked into the district's policy prohibiting the distribution of condoms. To show her concern about teen pregnancy and AIDS, Healy wore a condom pinned to her dress the next day. The principal told her to take it off—every time that she was sent to his office. She was ridiculed and sexually harrassed by other students. But Erin continued to challenge the policy, even after her graduation.
Home when commended: North America, US, Alaska Home now: North America, US, Alaska Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Charlotte Heinrichs of Hilton Head Island SC, a former public health administrator, gave up the comfort of retirement when she discovered that most of Hilton Head’s African-American children had stomach worms from impure water. She organized the Deep Well Project which drilled more than 200 safe wells for the poor.
Home when commended: North America, US, South Carolina Home now: North America, US, South Carolina Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Dan Heinz of Bozeman MT quit the US Forest Service five years short of a full pension because he thought he could protect public lands better from outside the agency. On his own, Heinz monitored timber sales, appealing timber-cutting and road-building permits that threatened sustainable foresty. He was hanged in effigy by some loggers but the law was on his side; Heinz won 34 of 35 appeals.
Home when commended: North America, US, Montana Home now: North America, US, Montana Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Mark Helberg of Boston MA was a driving force in the creation of the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans, Inc. The shelter is open 24 hours a day to provide emergency food, clothing, shelter, counseling on VA benefits, rehab, job training and employment, housing, and referrals for drug and alcohol treatment. The shelter has 50 full-time employees, most of them former clients, and houses more than 150 homeless vets a night. (See also Ken Smith, Peace Foxx Jr., & Howard Levine.)
Home when commended: North America, US, Massachusetts Home now: North America, US, Massachusetts Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Trucker Dave Helzer and partner Sharon Sonner were blacklisted in the trucking industry for speaking out against the backhauling of toxic chemicals in food tankers. Their testimony helped assure House passage of the National Safe Transportation and Food Act of 1990.
Home when commended: North America, US, Oregon Home now: North America, US, Oregon Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Aja Henderson of Baton Rouge LA gave new meaning to the term "local library" when she was 12—she started one in her family's den. Her goal was to provide the kids in her neighborhood with access to books, with a place to do their homework, and an alternative to getting in trouble. After five years, her library had over 3,000 titles. The library is open seven days a week, at all hours.
Home when commended: North America, US, Louisiana Home now: North America, US, Louisiana Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Marsha Henkel and Dawn Jecs of Gig Harbor WA, professional dog trainers, started the Prison Pet Partnership, teaching inmates in the Purdy Corrections Center for Women to train dogs rescued from the euthanasia room of the pound to become assistants to disabled people.
Home when commended: North America, US, Washington Home now: North America, US, Washington Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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YOU & THE FOUNDER
From time to time, Ann Medlock, this Project's founder, does a brief but inspiring email called Heads Up. You can check out past copies here. They're so good (and so free) we bet you'll join the Heads Up circle and send them on to friends & family.
For further wit & wisdom from Ann, check out her speeches, radio commentaries and OpEds.
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