Rescuers radio show

Jacque Salomon was lost. Her 11-year-old son had just died following a severe allergic reaction to a prescribed pharmaceutical. She and her other children were reeling, fighting their own health issues. But she found an answer.

Through a whole plant foods lifestyle, meditation, yoga, and psycho-spiritual remediation, she and her boys rediscovered health, and in the process, rediscovered themselves.

Today, Jacque is a trauma-informed health and wellness coach with a focus on plant powered nutrition and stress management. She adopted a whole plant-based lifestyle, which resulted in her losing 164 pounds and reversing her Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. She now dedicates her life to helping others do the same, and educating people through her nonprofit Seeds to Inspire.

As an indigenous woman from the island of Boriken (Puerto Rico) born and raised in New York City, Jacque’s heart is to support underrepresented, underserved, under-financed, and marginalized communities in the Phoenix metro area and surrounding reservations. She addresses health inequity and disparity through the lens of cultural colonization and plant-based health.

Through Seeds to Inspire, she leads programs rooted in community wellness through food for health, health & wellness coaching, teaching kitchens, and healing gardens, advancing health and well-being for all.

Ted Taylor is a small-town kid. He grew up in Globe, AZ, raising animals in 4-H and passionate about the debate team. As an adult he’s worn many hats, working in the cotton business, for an aerospace company, a law firm, construction business, and in healthcare technology. But 15 years ago, he found his true calling – as CEO of Family Promise-Greater Phoenix, a shelter for unhoused families.

Family Promise has five locations in the metropolitan area. They vow to help families move toward independent housing and self-sufficiency. They also promise to keep children, parents — and even their pets — together while providing meals, clothing, childcare assistance, computer access, bus passes, housing, education, and financial assistance.

More than 7,500 volunteers from 34 area faith congregations shelter families in their worship facilities each night. They provide family-style meals, activities, and private bedrooms for each family. Families may then progress to shared housing, and ultimately permanent housing. Even then, Family Promise continues working with them for up to 24 months, providing case management, emergency assistance, employment, parenting, and financial coaching.

This success is repeated at Family Promise locations throughout the country and together, 63,000 families were helped last year.

Join us and learn more about the array of services that Family Promise provides to those in need.

Jana Ferraro earned a double major in biology and criminal justice, but her heart for service pulled her into the nonprofit world. Now her job is making sure other organizations have the right tool for the job.

The Phoenix ToolBank is a nonprofit tool lending program that provides fellow nonprofit organizations with year-round access to an inventory of tools to use in volunteer projects and maintenance.

The organization maintains an 8,000 sq. ft. warehouse and an inventory of nearly 600 different types of tools and equipment in volumes large enough to equip thousands of volunteers at a time. They also have special event supplies like tables and chairs, pop-up tents, sound systems, parking stanchions - even T-shirt launchers! In total, more than 37,000 items.

Access to ToolBank tools eliminates the need for agencies to incur the expense of purchasing, repairing, and storing tools, reducing the costs associated with service projects and allowing these agencies to focus more of their resources on their mission. 

Even more exciting is the city of Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department recently formed a partnership with the Phoenix ToolBank to expand its lending program, supporting neighborhood revitalization, community events and volunteer-led neighborhood improvement efforts. ToolBank currently partners with more than 800 community organizations.

Mary Kaech’s first experience with refugees was spending time with the “Lost Boys” from South Sudan. From there began a growing respect, deep friendships, and a passion for seeing these new neighbors not just survive, but thrive.

That passion led to mobilizing with others to build a community where our refugee neighbors could belong. She got involved with the young organization, Phoenix Refugee Connections (PRC), with people from several different churches and a shared vision to see even more churches embrace our forcibly displaced neighbors, personally living out God’s many commands to welcome the stranger and love our neighbors as ourselves.

In addition to helping refugee friends become thriving, self-sufficient American citizens, they educate individuals and churches on how they can help walk alongside people forced to flee their home countries due to human violence and persecution.  The organization also encourages families to seek other ways to help, such as through an unaccompanied minor foster care program, with the opportunity to open their homes to these children. Mary herself has a grown daughter from the DR Congo and a son from Afghanistan. She invites others to live out Matthew 25:35, by feeding the hungry, offering drink to the thirsty, and inviting the stranger into your community.

Harold Grandstaff Moses likes to say he grew up under a grand piano.

His mother – a concert pianist – helped instill a love of music in Harold that shaped his life. Harold is a composer, pianist, violist, choir director, and lecturer.

But his greatest gift to the world is as co-founder of The Institute of Harmonic Science, and the therapeutic use of music and the power of the voice to transform individuals and communities.

Harold worked with Mind-Body Department at Cancer Treatment Centers of America for nine years, and pioneered Improvisational Harmonic Singing. Learn about the fascinating science and how it impacts healing.