We are proudly giving back to the World Central Kitchen who are already on the ground, feeding thousands of Ukrainians as they cross into Poland.

Chef José Andrés Brings World Central Kitchen to Ukraine-Poland Border to Feed Refugees

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There were no routines, no deadlines, no clients, no friends, it was just the three of us and Rosie, our dog. Michael, a chef at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, NJ and had fallen into a routine. Work, home, shower and sleep. Day after day he went to bed earlier and slept longer. Eight hours, ten hours, twelve hour and before long, he was sleeping within minutes after getting home.

We knew he was sick for days but he refused to accept it. Even after going to the emergency room he returned to work. Within a matter of days, we went from begging him to stay home, to frantically trying to find someone to save him.

He had pneumonia in both lungs and tested Covd-19 positive. The minutes turned into hours, hours into days and before long, none of us could even remember what day of the week it.

Those days turned into weeks. Little sleep didn’t help and I knew the hospitals were busting at the seams, nearing 100% capacity. While college kids were downing kegs at spring break in Florida, we were monitoring vitals by the hour, calling Covid-19 hotlines, on-call nurses, telmed video conferences with doctors and talking with friends and family who were trying to help guide us from a distance.

There really are no words to explain the flood of emotions. The roller coaster of fear tied to the determination to keep him alive. He was sleeping 22+ hours a day and we were relying on intuition and support from the few we told, to charter his path. Our healthcare heroes rose to our rescue. My neurologist got him the Covid-19 test and insisted I find a place to give him chest x-rays. A family member, an orthopedic surgeon was there to answer question after question. Friend after friend rose to “Dr. Google” status. Our journalist friends became investigative reporters, offering up advice and providing leads, contacts, and healthcare options. A close friend, and her husband, a radiologist, called and texted countless times a day, always at the ready to open the next door. Even mental professionals jumped into action, helping me steer a straight course, giving me clarity and direction.

Others friends, many photojournalists and reporters from decades past, checked in day by day, recounting their own experiences with Covid-19 in their own families. Unless you’re swimming against the tide, it’s hard to truly understand the depths to which you will navigate to seek answers.

The incredible bravery and determination displayed by our “village” was and is, bar none. So moved by their support, our house turned into a cornucopia of creativity. We needed to find ways to divert our thoughts from all the sickness and bring meaning to our days.

Our son, home from school, turned the garage and driveway into a carpentry workshop, designing and building American flags and furniture. I spent hundreds of hours designing “healthcare and essential worker heroes designs”. Our little Cape Cod house organically turned into a miniature design studio. We opened an Etsy store to share our work and I secretly hoped, that it would reach a handful of people who would be moved by our creations. It’s only been a few weeks but the store has started to gain some traction and more importantly, it’s give me the opportunity to correspondence with so many healthcare heroes, essential worker warriors and their families and friends who support them with every step they take and every breath they breathe.

Our creations and are now turning into projects and we hope to roll out a number of initiatives to give back and record history for generations to look back on. This is just the beginning of our story. Michael is well on the way to recovery but we are also very well aware that none of us know how Covid-19 will seep in and out of our lives to come.

In this incredible time of uncertainty, I am yet again convinced that GOOD design can change the world. Giving voice to all of us who are isolated is empowering. Be it an image, a yard sign, a sticker, button, post card, furniture or flags. It all provides meaning to those are seeing ways to share their experiences, to make connections, to feel less isolated and more connected.

We hope that our experience provides you with insight into those of us who have been personally touched by Covid-19. More importantly, we hope this inspires you to “create” your own memories from this incredibly unforgetible time.

We will give back to our community and local hospitals with proceeds from these sales. We hope something we created speaks to you and moves you to record your journey.

To those of you who stood with us, you are remarkable people, all filled with compassion and empathy. Ron, Mark, Jean, Marcel, Liz, Amanda, Doc, Janina, Adam, Dr. Alexianu, Dr. Pastina, Mike, Adeena, Marie, Jen, Elham, Yousef, Melissa, Linda, Rachel, Andre, Lance, Caroline and so many others, the journey continues.

Healthcare Heroes 2020 Etsy store

HRSA Grant_Behavioral Health Expansion

Debbie Price and the Design for Social Good grant writing team writes the winning HRSA Grant_Behavioral Health Expansion, winning $250,000 for the Community Health Center of Richmond in Staten Island, NY.

CHCR servers the unemployed, poor, and illegal immigrant, providing much needed medical, dental, and eye care in the Staten Island community. They are a not-for-profit, family health center caring for patients of all ages with an emphasis upon wellness, preventive care and disease management.

Five-year-old Rex is a superhero. Rex can run faster than many children his age. Rex couldn’t always run so fast. In fact, when he first enrolled at HeartShare’s First Step Preschool in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Rex could not walk.

View the entire annual report and see all the photographs here.

The Asia Society, a global non-profit forging closer ties between Asia and the West through arts, education, policy and business outreach, reached out to Design for Social GOOD for a new look and feel for their centers pages.

Interactive Designer Yumi Endo worked with Asia Society Executive Director, Digital Media & Strategy, Bill Swersey to bring their information architecture to reality. Using a three/five colum grid layout with an oversized carousel for featured content, the design is modern, dynamic and has a lively and urban feel.

Non-profit website design is a central focus for our design team. Putting a face on a case is critical to the success of that cause.

View the important work the Asia Society is doing around the world.

When the Cornell Council for the Arts hired to us to create the information architecture and poster design to highlight grants to Cornell students, staff and faculty, they  used words like innovative, edgy and smart design. They wanted more than a static poster that listed a catalog of awards, they wanted a work of art, a design that showcased their awards in a visually stunning way.

Distributed to more than 2000 artists, art historians, architects and designers, the poster goes beyond a literal calendar, showcasing information visualization with graphically dynamic and designed text.

Interactive Designer Yumi Endo created this stunning poster that captures the essence of their mission, to insure that the arts and the scholarly activity associated with them are equal partners in the university’s public image, and that the creative products of students and faculty alie are put forward in local, national and international professional arenas.

Download a high resolution version of the poster here.

This month Duffy and Partners wrote about “Ideas and Inspiration: Generosity”, and lauded Design for Social GOOD for tackling critical social issues with web 2.0 technologies! Driven by their underlying mission, “Design to make a difference”, Duffy highlights “bright ideas, hard at work to deliver generosity”.

We’re honored to be featured next to companies making a difference in every facet of our lives including Jumo, Aveda Men,Kickstarter, Print4Change, Natural Inspirations, Forgotten, Water for People, Gift Flow, Hands on Network, Sparked, Toms,Live Below the Line, Certified B Corporation, The Voice Project, Krochet Kids, Truck Farm, Global Poverty Project, Games for Change, Project 7 and Art for the River.

As the holiday season approaches, consider supporting innovative companies who are making a difference around the world. Whether it’s INFORMING a friend about the Global Poverty Project, EDUCATING your community about growing food with Truck Farm, PURCHASING with a purpose by buying products that support breast cancer research at Natural Inspirations or JOINING a network of do gooder at Jumo.

The world’s problems are overwhelming, the solutions are illusive. But what if everyone just did one thing to help? We think great change would occur.

Thanks to Duffy and Partners for recognizing our work and we look forward to another year of designing solutions that highlight critical social issues. Do GOOD by supporting GOOD.

NC Reach provides state-funded grants for former North Carolina foster youth to attend public colleges and Universities. By providing students with valuable resources, guidance and financial assistance, NC Reach affords them futures filled with possibilites.

Advocating for foster youth has been a longtime passion for Design for Social GOOD so when NC Reach asked us to design a new website, we were honored to have the opportunity. The website design and development process included analysis of the current site, specific recommendations to the client, wire frames and style frames to show the look and feel of the new site and usability testing to assure the site’s fluid navigation.

We’re exited to work with RichWeb as they continue the next step in the website development life cycle.

We’ll be sure to let you know when the new