Philly Rising: Difference Makers from KYW Newsradio

Following a pandemic year filled with grief, job loss and racial unrest, a mental health nonprofit started by two licensed therapists has quickly become a lifeline for hundreds of men in underserved communities.

Abena Timazee has had to pivot her business a lot during the pandemic, and now she’s going in a different direction: She launched a first-of-its-kind, eco-friendly beauty truck to share her holistic, plant-based hair care products. KYW Newsradio's Antionette Lee shares her story on Philly Rising.

Joe Lynch encounters the story often: A young person thrown out of their house by family members for being LGBTQ. Since 1973, Valley Youth House has fought youth homelessness by providing a foundation for survival.

Though gun violence has drawn a lot of attention to Southwest Philadelphia recently, that should not be what defines her community, says Phyllis Walker. For decades, she and her neighbors have been working together to improve the neighborhood. 

During the holy month of Ramadan, it’s said that good deeds are multiplied by 10. Ramadan has ended, but for Salim Weldon, also known as "Good Deed" Salim, the giving is still going.

After recovering from a lab accident, chemist Beau Wangtrakuldee discovered that PPE appropriate to women's shapes and sizes did not exist. So she started a company to address that need. KYW Newsradio's Antionette Lee has more.

 Maleek Jackson has overcome many obstacles to get where he is today. The South Philly native is now teaching others to roll with the punches at his boxing gym in Northern Liberties, but he has heftier goals to use his gym to curb youth gun violence. KYW Newsradio's Antionette Lee shares his story on Philly Rising.

Less than a year ago Evan Harris was furloughed from his retail job at Men’s Warehouse. Now, at 21 years old, he owns of a menswear business in downtown Trenton, New Jersey. 

At age 24, Jenise Rivera is already breaking barriers and bridging gaps. She is the first in her Puerto Rican family to graduate from college. In May, she’ll also be the first to graduate from law school.

As the city continues to grapple with record-breaking gun violence and more young lives being lost to bullets, Rickey Duncan's team is working toward solutions.

Damaris Alvarado-Rodriguez and her family moved to Philadelphia after the 9/11 attacks. Expecting a place of refuge, they found challenges with neighbors struggling to embrace diversity. That’s where her advocacy journey began.

Jamira Burley is a West Philadelphia native whose anti-violence work with young people has been recognized by Forbes, Oprah Magazine, the White House, and most recently Amazon's Alexa.

Through the pandemic, Alia Sutton-Bey has been uplifting the lives of local youth by teaching them how to "recode" their own lives and earn what she calls a livable wage.

Erin Brown has spent decades preserving the culture of the urban Black cowboy, sharing her love of equestrian experiences with her community.

It’s only February, and already the robotics team at the Academy at Palumbo High School in South Philadelphia is having a historic year. The Robogriffins won the CoderZ Pro League world championship in January, besting a team from a school in Moscow, Russia.

"I am amazing. I am courageous. I am dynamic." Ka'Mya Shanelle hopes her published coloring books, filled with self-love affirmations, will inspire other children with confidence.

Corina Newsome is a Philly Native making national waves in wildlife conservation. Her career today has set her on a path more monumental than she imagined for herself growing up.

Highschool sweethearts Bryon and Natasha Dockett used to sleep under the I-95 bridge in South Philadelphia. Nearly six years later and just 5 blocks away, that story has turned around.

Maureen Carreno has become known as the "Souper" Mom for giving away more than 5,000 quarts of soup at her Delaware County home through the coronavirus pandemic.

Through the chaos of a global pandemic and a contentious presidential election, Snacktime Philly brass band cheers on the city, while urging support for local musicians.

Paris Fit, inspired by Noel Davis' own physical rehabilitation, helps clients cope with ailments through physical fitness and employs young people to keep them off the street. During the pandemic, things got harder before they got better.

Paoli high school junior Hita Gupta, who started the nonprofit Brighten A Day with her allowance in April, has raised $30,000 to bring smiles to senior citizens' faces around the world.

Philadelphia grandmother Darlene Burton has given away hundreds of masks in her community to curb COVID-19 by hanging them from a tree in front of her house.

The instructions are simple: Take what you need, and leave what you don’t. Though the refrigerators on the sidewalk in a couple of South Philly neighborhoods may seem odd to some passersby, they offer free fresh produce and pantry staples to neighbors in need.

Tony Royster is the brain and soul behind "Philly Elmo" and Positive Movement Entertainment. Many people have seen social media videos of someone in a big, red, hard-to-miss costume leading a drumline through Philly's streets, but few know the background of the group and, more importantly, their message.