Friendships are finally getting their due. Once relegated to a distant third position after life partners and children, a spate of new books are spotlighting the importance of friends. And research shows that people with close friends are healthier – both emotionally...
Purpose Prize
The Latest from CoGenerate
An Intergenerational Approach to Getting Families Housed in Santa Barbara
Lyiam Galo is the co-director of Generations United for Service, a program of the Northern Santa Barbara County United Way and one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing...
Utilizing Faith-Owned Land to Strengthen Intergenerational Community in Seattle
E.N. West is the co-founder and lead organizer of the Faith Land Initiative of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, one of 10 awardees of the CoGen Challenge to Advance Economic Opportunity. Watch for interviews with all 10 of these innovators bringing older and...
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Barry Zuckerman
Purpose Prize Fellow 2008
Bringing lawyers to clinics to improve the health of low-income children.
While treating infections in children suffering from malnutrition through a lack of food stamps, Dr. Barry Zuckerman saw impaired brain development among children with lead poisoning from chipped paint in rundown public housing. In 1994, when he was 48, he realized that many poor people did not know their legal rights as tenants, community members and parents, so he hired an attorney to work in his clinic. This became the Medical-Legal Partnership for Children. Zuckerman’s idea of putting lawyers in a medical setting was a new method to address many of the preventable problems that impair children’s access to food, safety, education, housing and other resources essential to their health. Zuckerman’s initial center now serves 1,500 families per year in Boston, providing legal intervention to assure access to food, utilities, safe housing, and special education. More than 85 percent of those served later receive an essential benefit that was previously unavailable. Zuckerman’s organization has expanded into the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership that works nationwide to shape the way health care providers respond to the needs of vulnerable populations. “Thirteen years after discovering how our model changes lives, I am driven to spread this approach to help others.”