Doing Well

A collection of stories about people and not-for-profits that help us lift each other up.

Pingpong, or table tennis, is a game most people played during their younger years. What many probably don’t realize is how beneficial it can be to helping brain function, says Linda Egan, Parkinson’s program coordinator at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital.
For 15 years, the Aspire CoffeeWorks program at Metropolis has offered part-time work to adults with disabilities. The partnership is a model for businesses for the benefits of opening doors to adults with disabilities.
Boitano’s passion for food has taken many forms: first a Food Network show, then a cookbook, and most recently, a restaurant.
The $19.5 million PCC Primary Care Pavilion will offer a gym, dance center, demonstration test kitchen, community meeting spaces and a community garden and urban farm to Austin residents to help lower the life expectancy gap.
Born with brittle bone disease, Cabacungan has been part of the Shriners family since he was 2 months old.
In a school year that was supposed to be a return to normal, a Michigan school district has launched an educational program based on cognitive behavior therapy.
Ron Rasberry attended the South Side Mission’s Culinary Arts Training School. When he finished with classes, he stuck around at the mission, where he now volunteers five days a week in the soup kitchen.
The Chicago hip hop artist is celebrating the third year of the drive with a benefit concert Dec. 17 featuring a lineup that includes fellow local staples Jamila Woods and theMIND.
Instruments from Slash, Lou Reed, Steve Miller, Paul McCartney and others will be sold to support New Orleans musicians hit hard by the pandemic.
Everyone at Esperanza Health Centers who works with patients is bilingual. Its immunization site has extended hours, doesn’t require appointments and will pay for patients’ Uber rides to get vaccinated.
The multibillion-dollar world of sleep training guides, toddler activity ideas, breastfeeding tips and all things parenting traditionally has been overwhelmingly white.
Maya-Camille Broussard says her theater background has prepared her for yet another platform.
Morgan Park High School alumnus and app co-founder Rotimi Omosheyin says “Music Breakr” creates “magical moments” for would-be creatives.
On Wednesday, Miranda is announcing a series of donations to organizations that serve immigrants, whose experiences are central to the new film version of his hit Broadway musical “In the Heights.”
Toyin Kolawole started her own company when she realized that the spices, flours and ingredients that she grew up cooking with in her native Nigeria packed a more powerful nutrient punch than those used in processed foods.
Urban Growers Collective teaches communities how to grow vegetables at several farms around the city.
Amid a cosign from a prominent member of Chicago’s indie music scene, the University of Illinois alumnae say their music fits in with the times.
Amid the pandemic, one organization is providing comfort food for those who need some TLC.
The food service organization Genuine Foods will source and assemble the campaign’s meal boxes, which will then be distributed by local nonprofits in various cities.
The TV star, who plays Joe Cruz on the NBC hit, launches contest rewarding would-be screenplay writers with cash prizes and a development deal.