Watch Difference Makers in action

Helping difference makers make a bigger   difference.

Every community has difference makers who do important work that improves the health and wellness of their neighbors. Care Access partners with these difference makers to support their ongoing missions.

We support 6 Types of Difference with 6 Areas of Expertise

6 Types of Difference

  • Food & Nutrition
  • Environment & Fitness
  • Youth & Education
  • Community Service
  • Healthcare Access
  • Arts & Culture

6 Areas of Expertise

  • Community Workspaces
  • Mobile Infrastructure
  • Creative Studio
  • Strategic Planning
  • Seed Funding
  • Health Screenings

Difference Makers Highlights.

Rapid City, SD | Oceti Sakowin Territory

COUP Council

Supporting the COUP Council in their effort to retain Lakota culture and to bring justice and healing to the Oceti Sakowin territory.

  • Creative Studio
Rapid City, SD | Oceti Sakowin Territory

COUP Council

Supporting the COUP Council in their effort to retain Lakota culture and to bring justice and healing to the Oceti Sakowin territory.

  • Creative Studio
Wilcox County, AL | USA

SKS Forest Group

Assisting TempleX and SKS Lumber in launching the SKS Agribusiness Conference, designed to equip HBCU students with knowledge and practical skills to build sustainable and autonomous agricultural industries in their communities.

  • Creative Studio
  • Mobile Infrastructure
Cheyenne River Reservation | Oceti Sakowin Territory

Wakpá Wasté Counseling Services

Helping Michelle West bring healing and support to her Lakota community by telling her own story of struggle, healing and growth.

  • Creative Studio
Baltimore, MD | USA

Baltimore Forest School

Supporting sustainable, experiential outdoor learning for Baltimore-area children in neighborhood forests, on school property, and land owned churches.

  • Community Workspace
  • Creative Studio
  • Mobile Infrastructure
Coming December
Douala | Cameroon

Vision Cameroon

Teaming up with VisionC to empower Cameroonian youth through basketball, inspiring a generation to create a brighter future and to nurture tomorrow's leaders.

  • Creative Studio
  • Strategic Planning & Charter Development
Coming Jan '25
Pine Ridge Reservation | Oceti Sakowin Territory

National Indian Youth Leadership Project

Backing NIYLP's mission to help Native and Indigenous youth develop healthy lifestyles and strong connections to the natural world to build a generation of resilient young people to positively impact their communities and nations.

  • Community Workspace
  • Creative Studio
  • Mobile Infrastructure
Coming Mar '25
Rio de Janeiro & São Paolo | Brazil

Brazilian Partners

Amplifying the impact of local community groups in Brazil.

  • Creative Studio
  • Mobile Infrastructure
  • Strategic Planning & Charter Planning

Difference Makers are grassroots-driven community groups working to make a lasting difference.

Types of

Difference

Categories of Impact that We Support

Care Access supports community groups who help people mobilize across 6 categories to build a better community, live richer lives, and make a meaningful impact.

01 Food & Nutrition

The food we eat, and the culture around how we consume food, shape so much of who we are and how we live. Food has the power to heal and transform lives. Mobilizing around food and nutrition has allowed some of our community partners to bring healthier meals to in-need homes, to build a sense of shared identity through culturally-relevant food options, and to simply gather families around the same table.

Unči Kitchen Cookbook
Unči Kitchen Presents: Wojapi
Unči Kitchen Presents: Wasna

02 Environment & Fitness

Each of us, and the communities that we live in, are shaped by our environment. Where we spend our time shapes so much of who we are. Furthermore, the environment and its history shapes our lives today. Enriching our environment, learning about its history, and encouraging us to live in and benefit from our surroundings, are what some of our community partners do to help their community members live richer lives.

Coming September
The Keystone Project
Coming Jan '25
National Indian Youth Leadership Project

03 Youth Programs & Education

Dedicating time, energy, care, and resources into the youth of our communities is an investment into their health and well-being for generations to come. Many of our partners focus on bringing opportunities to the youth in their communities as they strive to empower, protect, and equip them to build a thriving future together.

SKS Forest Group
Baltimore Forest School
Coming December
Vision Cameroon

04 Community Service

Serving one another, having a shared sense of responsibility, identity, and bond are at the heart of how communities are formed and thrive. Many of our partners focus on channeling a shared sense of responsibility through acts of service to help those who are most in need in their community.

COUP Council
Woyatan Lutheran Church
The Bebela Project

05 Healthcare Access

Communities stick together in sickness and in health. Healthier times bring opportunities for rich, bountiful lives and vibrant communities. Times of illness that inevitably come present opportunities for neighbors to help one another and strengthen communal bonds. Some of our partners focus on increasing healthcare access by supporting health maintenance and disease prevention, bringing opportunities to diagnose illnesses sooner, and making therapies and treatments known and within reach.

Wakpá Wasté Counseling Services
St. Paul's San Pablo Episcopal Church
East Baltimore Health Fair
Terris King's Health Program for Black Churches

06 Arts & Culture

Art has the power to uplift and bind communities as an expression of individual and collective experiences, pride, and solidarity. Many of our partners support cultural activities, much of which has art woven throughout, to reinforce the shared heartbeat of their community.

Black Hills Indian Artists Market
Artist Profile: Lorri Ann Two Bulls
Lakota Cultural Center
The Wake Singers

Areas of

Expertise

Strengths We Share With Difference Makers

Because every community is unique, we take a measured, collaborative approach to how we partner. These are 6 areas of expertise that Care Access makes available.

01

Community Workspaces

Invest in community workspaces for our partners to meet, collaborate, and make a difference.

02

Mobile Infrastructure

Equip our partners with vehicles, mobile units, and essential infrastructure to keep their mission moving forward.

03

Creative Studio

Support our partners with video production, photography, design or marketing services to help tell their stories.

04

Strategic Planning and Charter Development

Help our partners develop their ideas and build a strategy to power the mission.

05

Seed Funding

Offer financial support (when appropriate) so our partners can do more to help their communities.

06

Health Screenings

Bring advanced health risk assessment opportunities to the local community.

Elevate Your Community

Does your community group need support making a bigger impact?

Our

Philosophy

We have seen time and again that so much can be achieved by mobilizing people and trying new, often hard, things. With effort and perseverance, insurmountable challenges can be overcome and new opportunities become possible. And along the way, despite personal sacrifices, we live meaningful lives that are filled with a great sense of purpose.

We launched the Difference Makers program to amplify the impact of leaders and organizations that advocate for, and work to uplift, their communities.

We believe that by supporting even a fraction of the capacity building efforts led by difference makers, we can contribute to a cross-generational impact that benefits us all and helps our communities live longer, healthier and more joyful lives.

A brighter future is ahead, and we are here to support those building the core of what’s to come, one community at a time.

From our hearts to yours,

Michael Lin
Co-Founder, Care Access
Cheyenne River Reservation | Oceti Sakowin Territory

Behind
the Scenes

Our team is committed to supporting Difference Makers in achieving their missions.

Community Workspace | Baltimore, MD | USA
Mobile Infrastructure

Our collaborative approach enables us to work side-by-side with difference makers to create meaningful change and uplift their communities one project at a time.

Youth Programs & Education | Baltimore, MD | USA

Help Us Support Difference Makers

Care Access is honored to support difference makers in communities around the world. Funding for the program comes from the Difference Makers Fund.

We welcome others to join us in funding this important work so we can help more community groups make a bigger impact in their communities.

Thank You

to the difference makers

The difference makers we partner with are visionaries. They can see a better future for their communities when others cannot. They can see through the struggles that keep most from acting and push forward anyway to help their neighbors live better, healthier, and more joyful lives. Our whole-hearted thanks to all of the difference makers out there, especially our partners, for having the courage and passion to help make this world a little brighter each and every day.