Thom Henley of Vancouver BC stood with the Haida nation in their successful battle against the Canadian government's destruction of their homelands. He also helped Penan activists escape Borneo to alert the world to the clearcutting of their rainforests.
Home when commended: North America, Canada, British Columbia Home now: North America, Canada, British Columbia Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Eddie Hernandez of New York NY was assigned to lower the dropout rate at William Taft High School in the South Bronx. Going way beyond his job description, Hernandez helped the parents of at-risk students find apartments, jobs or public assistance, and mediated family fights—even when the call came in the middle of the night.
Home when commended: North America, US, New York Home now: North America, US, New York Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Catherine Herne of Ithaca NY risked ostracism by her peers to speak out against homosexual discrimination in her school. Herne founded YEAH, Youth Educators Against Homophobia.
Home when commended: North America, US, New York Home now: North America, US, Michigan Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Sarah Herr of Bettendorf, Iowa risked her own position at the top of her high school’s social structure by insisting that kids with disabilities could be cheerleaders, like her. Despite all opposition, Sarah created and coached the new cheer squad, and went on to show other high schools how to follow her lead.
Home when commended: North America, US, Iowa Home now: North America, US, Iowa Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Jude Hersey of Wethersfield CT discovered when her son was hurt in an accident that neither her insurance nor the state provided post-trauma support services for accident victims. Hersey went into action on behalf of all such victims, quitting her job to work two years getting four bills passed that provided long-term services for accident victims and their families.
Home when commended: North America, US, Connecticut Home now: North America, US, Vermont Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Susan Hiatt of Mentor OH alerted the state government and others about unacknowledged hazards at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant after the plant experienced an earthquake stronger than the level it was built to withstand. A suit Hiatt filed paved the way for the Governor to withdraw state approval for the plant's emergency evacuation plans.
Home when commended: North America, US, Ohio Home now: North America, US, Ohio Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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The members of the Hiawatha Purchase Committee, mortgaged their homes and businesses to buy Hiawatha island in the Susquehana River and keep it "forever wild." The committee outbid a gravel company that wanted to mine the island, a place that legend claims as the birthplace of the Iroquois Nation. (see also Fran Dunbar)
Home when commended: North America, US, New York Home now: North America, US, New York Gender: G (group) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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David and Ilona Higgins of Honolulu HI gave up their fast-track careers in law and medicine to assist the people of the Marshall Islands to a better life. Using funds from the sale of their boat and mortgaging their home, they built a hospital ship to sail throughout the Marshalls, teaching preventive health practices, establishing health centers staffed by islanders and training islanders to sail the ship.
Home when commended: North America, US, Hawaii Home now: North America, US, Hawaii Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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David and Ilona Higgins of Honolulu HI gave up their fast-track careers in law and medicine to assist the people of the Marshall Islands to a better life. Using funds from the sale of their boat and mortgaging their home, they built a hospital ship to sail throughout the Marshalls, teaching preventive health practices, establishing health centers staffed by islanders and training islanders to sail the ship.
Home when commended: North America, US, Hawaii Home now: North America, US, Hawaii Gender: C (couple) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Ilona and David Higgins of Honolulu HI gave up their fast-track careers in law and medicine to assist the people of the Marshall Islands to a better life. Using funds from the sale of their boat and mortgaging their home, they built a hospital ship that is now sailing around the Marshalls, teaching preventive health practices and establishing health centers staffed by islanders.
Home when commended: North America, US, Hawaii Home now: North America, US, Hawaii Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Painting contractor Samuel Hightower of Mattapan MA invested all his savings and spare time in developing a music school for disadvantaged kids in Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury. Hightower recruits Boston area musicians to teach at his One Thousand One United School.
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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Nancy Hightshoe of St. Louis MO broke new ground when she became a beat cop, and later used the knowledge she gained to teach women how to avoid being raped. Despite opposition from her peers, Hightshoe created the St. Louis County Police Rape Squad to prosecute rapists and encourage victims to help put their assailants away.
Home when commended: North America, US, Missouri Home now: North America, US, Missouri Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Law Professor Anita Hill of Norman OK brought the issue of sexual harassment into public debate despite the obvious risks to her career and personal life. Hill challenged the Supreme Court appointment of Justice Clarence Thomas, charging him grossly inappropriate behavior when she had worked for him.
Home when commended: North America, US, Oklahoma Home now: North America, US, Massachusetts Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Julia Butterfly Hill lived for 738 days in a thousand-year-old tree to keep chainsaws away from the magnificent redwood and to protest the destruction of old-growth forests everywhere. Her “residence” and her tireless advocacy forced a powerful lumber company to spare the tree and create a protective buffer around it. Hill went on to establish an environmental foundation.
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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Ann Hanahoe Hines is a Danbury CT pediatrician who serves only the needy, charging them nothing. In 1974, fresh out of residency, Hines used a small inheritance to start the Hanahoe Clinic. Now a mother of four, Dr. Hines refers patients who can afford to pay to other doctors and makes up clinic deficits from her own limited resources.
Home when commended: North America, US, Connecticut Home now: North America, US, Connecticut Gender: F (female) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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Gordon Hirabayashi, now of Alberta, Canada, openly defied WWII orders for the internment of Japanese Americans. A Seattle-born American citizen, Hirabayashi ignored relocation orders he believed were unconstitutional, then fought his arrest and conviction for "non-cooperation" all the way to the Supreme Court. That court found him guilty; over 40 years later he won exoneration and the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII was finally declared unconstitutional.
Home when commended: North America, Canada, Alberta Home now: North America, Canada, Alberta Gender: M (male) For more information, click on the Giraffe's name.
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1 Way 2 Help
FIND GIRAFFES
Please note
We're adding stories and photos to the Giraffe Heroes database everyday. If information isn't visible yet, know that we're working on it.
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.