'A long time coming': House of Tulip puts trans and gender-nonconforming New Orleanians in control of their housing

A two-hour investigation places America’s heroin crisis in a fresh and provocative light -- telling the stories of individual addicts, but also illuminating the epidemic's years-in-the-making social context, deeply examining shifts in U.S. drug policy, and exploring what happens when addiction is treated like a public health issue, not a crime.

Tiny homes are a growing solution to homeless veterans and vulnerable youth, especially those who identify as LGBTQ. But the movement faces challenges from regulations and neighbors across the nation.

Children across the U.S. experience gender confusion, causing emotional stress in themselves and their family. Gender identity counselors and gender youth clinics are being created in multiple states to help families find peace in their situation.

Conventional school policies fail to address the needs of transgender students. A school district in Tampa changed its human rights ordinance to include gender identity and expression.

Crimes against LGBT citizens have gone underreported in many U.S. cities. Washington DC’s Gay and Lesbian Liason Unit has employed and trained LGBT officers to represent community members that they protect and serve. After the establishment of the GLLU, the number of reported crimes has increased, demonstrating the comfort and trust that the community has with law enforcement.

Soon, AIDS in Africa will be doing more than killing millions every year. It will destroy what there is of Africa's economy and cause further instability and, perhaps, war. But a nondescript hospital in Brazil could serve as a model for treating AIDS in Africa and worldwide.

The ability of social media and online civic participation to impact law and politics is still developing, but one social media tool - Friendfactor - was used successfully in New York to help bring about the passage of Gay Marriage Equality. It may be an indicator for how powerful platforms like this one will continue to play a role in societal growth and change.

In San Francisco, 23 percent of homeless people return to the street after transitional housing programs. A New York program gives the mentally ill and homeless individual apartments alongside average New Yorkers and has had an 84 percent retention rate.

The living conditions in refugee camps in the Middle East are very poor. Architects are piloting the Re:Build construction system that utilizes materials in the natural environment to construct homes, schools, and clinics. The system engages refugees in the process of building so that they can take ownership of their success and develop skills to integrate in returning to their home country.

American humanitarian aid and programs by the United Nations have proved beneficial to equip Middle Eastern refugees with resources for self-settlement outside of camps. The self-settlement model has empowered refugees to become more productive members of society when they return home.