From Sparks to Light - Inspiring Stories for Challenging Times

“We create safety by numbers. The more of us there are, the safer we make everyone.” - Laura Doty

I met Laura Doty in 2017 after catastrophic fires leveled much of the county where we both live. We’d …

“I get a call, … I’m waiting outside on the street corner. … A pickup truck shows up, with a fridge on it. Two guys get out and drop this fridge on the street. And that’s literally the way it started…

“If we’re not in community with other people, it’s much easier to throw rocks at each other.” - John Crowley, Aqus Community Foundation.

Perhaps you’ve had the opportunity to travel to England or Irel…

It is a phone call no parent wants to receive. A child is missing —or even worse, presumed dead. That was the call that Sally McQuillen and her husband, Joe, received on a cold January day, nine year…

"When I sit down with someone and hear their life story —when we’re just hanging out and I’m getting to know them and getting to be with them, there’s this feeling of mutuality in getting to be toget…

This is part two of a two part episode. If you haven't listened to part 1, go back and listen to that one first.

When Brian McNaught was in eighth grade, Sister Claire Marie, IHM, a nun at his school …

When Brian McNaught was in eighth grade, Sister Claire Marie, IHM, a nun at his school in Birmingham, Michigan, pulled his mother aside and proclaimed, “Your son is a prince of a boy.” 

‘Did Sister Cl…

"Trust your heart, because in addiction, we lose faith in our own judgement and what we see as right or wrong," says “Taylor”, the name he gave himself after he embraced sobriety After years of strug…

"We think we're so different across our communities. We may come from a different country. We might work in different jobs. We might work the land, or work in tech, but we're not all that different —…

“…Give without remembering,” encourages Bryan Driscoll, the creator of the goodness game who prefers to give out of the spotlight. “It’s not about me, “ he says, humbly.  Driscoll suggests several “r…

This is part 9 of a special series focusing on the community of Honoring Our Experience, a program of  San Francisco’s Shanti Project, and their work with long-term survivors of the HIV/AIDS virus.

“I…

“Just getting to hear her life story was so incredible, the difficult things she’s been through in her life —it really puts it into perspective… it makes me just want to ask any senior I talk to, ‘Wh…

“Hi, My name is Matt and I’m a teacher. Today I’m going to tell you a story about a sticky note.”

Perhaps, like me, you’re one of the more than 345K followers who tune in to Instagram or Tik Tok to he…

This is part 8 of a special series focusing on the community of Honoring Our Experience, and their work with long-term survivors of the HIV/AIDS virus.

“I was a reluctant activist,” says Vince Crisost…

“There’s a longing that runs through our species. People are so hungry for belonging and recognition.”

Irwin Keller was in third grade when he knew he wanted to be a rabbi, but it would be many years …

It was just a ham sandwich.

Karen Olson walked that route hundreds of times. Heading home after a long day of work in New York City at pharmaceutical company Warner Lambert, she noticed a woman sittin…

Traei Tsai was 6 years old when her family emigrated from Taipei, Taiwan to make a new start in Vancouver, Canada.  New to a country and community where they didn’t speak the language, Traei began sc…

At the age of 19, Manizha Wafeq traveled to Oklahoma City with 13 women to participate in Peace Through Business, a program to support women from her native Afghanistan to become entrepreneurs. No so…

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to [email protected]. Nominate them for a f…

This summer we’re replaying some of our favorite episodes from season 3, episodes that offer inspirational ideas to help you get involved in making a difference in your community.

This week we’re rev…