Woodland Lakes Civic Club

Why we will no longer be a welcoming church

We’ve decided to quit being a welcoming church. No kidding. We’re giving it up. Like so many congregations, we’ve sunk an amazing amount of time and energy into becoming a welcoming church. We changed worship styles, trained greeters and ushers, wore name tags, brewed coffee, went to workshops on hospitality and put our friendliest people …

10 Ways to Practice Institutional Racism at your Non-profit Organization

I realize that institutional racism may not be your goal or intention. You may not even be aware of the complexities of racism at your organization.

Belleville's Onesie Bar Crawl Back This Weekend

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (KMOX) - They're just your stay-at-home pajamas tonight, but this weekend they'll be your outfit for the 3rd annual Downtown Belleville Onsie Bar Crawl.

What Happens When You Give Away 50 Million Dollars and Move Into a Trailer Park?

Sometimes society is at fault for creating this fear in us. For training us from an early age to be goal-driven instead of value-driven, instead of cooperation-driven. These goals separate us and make us feel competitive.

The Practical Case for Parole for Violent Offenders

This is one way to fix an unsustainable criminal justice system, and make it more humane.

The Quest for Transgender Equality

Being transgender today is still unreasonably hard, but it is far from hopeless. This is the first in a series looking at the challenges ahead.

How Police Are Watching You on Social Media

How does law enforcement use Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media to keep tabs on people? Documents from Chicago's Cook County Sheriff’s Office reveal a few of their surveillance techniques.

Connecting some of the dots on social services

This week we found out the Government is looking at using people accessing mental health services as a cash cow for their mates. The social Read More

How 'empathy gap' among social workers can affect services for people of color

Social workers think of themselves as empathetic individuals—after all, they went into social work specifically to help people. But empathy isn't a perfect motivator. Terence Fitzgerald, a clinical associate professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work who studies institutional racism and child welfare, found that an "empathy gap" among white social workers can hurt the services received by people of color. He shares his recent research.

New application will simplify care process for caregivers

New mobile health app is being developed to help caregivers of aging population.

How National Service Can Fuel Social-Emotional Development

National service programs give youth a valuable opportunity to serve their community and build social-emotional skills at the same time.

We Need To Expand Our Definition Of Civic Engagement

Civic engagement does not end at the polls or when your candidate does not win.

Who gets a lump sum from Social Security when someone dies?

Social Security does pay a one-time lump sum death benefit of $255 to certain heirs.

Is Your Medical Practice A Social Service Or A Business?

Is your practice a social service or is it a business? These are two entirely different goals and if a definitive answer doesn’t immediately pop out of your mouth you’re in trouble. A dog may have four legs, but it can only walk in one direction at a time. Today, with the communal notions of … Continue reading

Social Studies: Money for kids; questioning female doctors; inscrutable humans

[Blog] Photoblog: Humans are social creatures

The above photo was taken on Lake Couchiching (off Lake Simcoe) with a DJI Mavic MiniHere is the before straight from the drone.And here is the after with my Lightroom edits. I then cropped it to a 4×5 aspect ratio because wide landscape photos don’t show well on Instagram.For me, this scene is a reminder to remain bullish on cities. Take people out of the city. Put them on boats in the middle of a large lake. And they’ll still…

Could We Get A Hybrid Or Plug-In Hybrid Civic

Top Honda executives think diesel engines are on the way out, and to keep the Civic a best-selling global vehicle are considering gasoline hybrid and plug-in hy