Every Saturday, dozens of unhoused San Diegans line up outside the Small Potatoes Foundation ’s pop-up in Pacific Beach for a home-cooked meal and a brief reprieve after a week of hardship. The menu includes Waldorf chicken salad sandwiches with fresh herbs, freshly baked muffins, fruit, and coffee—organic when possible, and all made with love. The weekly brunch has grown over the last year and a half into a mission of hope, connection, and nourishment.   That mission is deeply personal for...

In 2016, a group of female surfers in Oahu came together with a shared belief: When women come together to support and uplift one another, they can change the world. The surfing sisterhood founded the Changing Tides Foundation , initially to provide aid in disaster-stricken coastal communities in Latin America, then shifting the focus to empowering those communities’ girls and young women after witnessing a common thread of gender disparities.  “Teen girls would be inside the homes while the...

For more than 50 years, Home Start, Inc. has been working to prevent child abuse and neglect by strengthening families and communities. The nonprofit addresses conditions that increase the risk of abuse, such as poverty and unemployment, through education, therapy, and parenting support programs . Last year, Home Start served more than 15,000 San Diegans in need of services. Volunteers like Sharon Semple help Home Start accomplish its mission . In fiscal year 2025, 534 people volunteered or...