People everywhere love building LEGO sets. Unfortunately, blind people can’t follow the pictorial instructions that come with each set. However, by using the assistive technologies they already use every day, such as magnifiers and screen readers, people with visual impairments can use BFTB’s Text-based Building Instructions to guide them through the building process. Now people with vision challenges can enjoy the fun, creativity, and relaxation of building LEGO sets, and the thrill of doing it all on their own.
As miniature 3D replicas of real-life and imaginary things, LEGO sets help visually impaired people “see” wonders that are impossible to explore by touch, such as the towers of the London Tower Bridge or Hogwarts Castle. When a blind person builds these marvels with their own hands, they understand them in a new and enlightening way; there is an “aha” moment that they can’t get from just reading about them. Building LEGO sets helps blind people learn about the world while also having fun.
BFTB’s Text-based Building Instructions are created by sighted and blind people working together. Sighted people write the instructions and blind people test them to ensure they are clear. BFTB then posts the instructions on their website where visually impaired LEGO fans download them free of charge and use them to build marvelous creations.
BFTB has only one goal: to bring the joy of building LEGO sets to as many visually impaired people as possible. BFTB is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt not-for-profit organization.
Our story begins with a band of volunteer lawyers who believed they could break new ground for LGBTQ+ people through the American justice system. They had $25 in the bank and a new name—Lambda Legal—that co-founder Bill Thom taped to his apartment mailbox using a Band-Aid. We were forced to become our own first client. When Bill Thom filed our incorporation paperwork as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, a panel of New York judges blocked our application because, in their view, our mission was “neither benevolent nor charitable.” We appealed and won—then got to work representing other members of our community in court.
End Overdose is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in California with a national reach working to end drug-related overdose deaths through education, medical intervention, and public awareness.
Our ethos is built around a singular, unwavering mission: to prevent and respond to overdoses with precision, innovation, and action. We are committed to constantly developing and refining our strategies, leveraging data, feedback, and the latest technology to ensure our methods remain effective. By concentrating our efforts on critical aspects of overdose prevention and maintaining clear communication, we maximize our impact and inspire collective action.
Efficiency and sustainability are core to our operations, allowing us to build a robust infrastructure for long-term impact. We empower young people through peer-to-peer education, mobilize communities for active involvement, and prioritize accessibility to ensure lifesaving resources reach those in need.
50 chapters, almost 1500 volunteers. Over half a million test strips given out. Over a quarter million narcan kits distributed. Almost half a million people trained.
The Socrata Open Data API allows you to programmatically access a wealth of open data resources from governments, non-profits, and NGOs around the world.
At Futel, we believe in the preservation of public telephone hardware as a means of providing access to the agora for everybody, and toward that goal we are privileged to provide free telephone calls, voicemail, and telephone-mediated services. We do not judge the motivations of our users, or who they choose to call; if they don’t have someone to call, we can provide a presence on the other end. Denial of telephony services has long been a tactic used against undesirable populations, and our devices will counteract that. But more importantly, we will help to establish a new era of communication, one in which reaching out is not only desirable, but mandatory.
Based in Portland, OR.
Github repos here: https://github.com/kra
The site where you can purchase the online-only Sophie Lancaster memorial album. DRM-free. All proceeds go to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation of the United Kingdom.