The UpSide

What a boss: Brewerytown cafe owner helps former foster kids build skills, find jobs, and create a supportive community

The Monkey and the Elephant (M&E), a non-profit coffee shop, seeks to equip those recently aged out of foster care with the tools necessary for adulthood. Since 2015, the cafe has employed dozens of former foster youth while also curating weekly personal- and professional-skill-building workshops.

Brought back to life (twice), Marina Grace pays it forward with a humanitarian fund and award

by Astrid Rodrigues

Grateful to the medical staff who twice saved her life, she now donates generously to those "who do good things."

Protecting City Hall’s very own falcon’s nest — with a broom

by Tommy Rowan

Inquirer staff photographer Jessica Griffin rode a cramped, musty City Hall Tower elevator up to the 15th floor, where a peregrine falcon has long built her nest, to capture a yearly ritual.

After 21 years of trying, Philly native earns GED from South Jersey community college

by Tommy Rowan

In 2015, Joyce Clements was diagnosed with dyslexia and at last had a clinical explanation for why she could barely write her name, recognize words, or decode written language.

How $20 helped a grieving sister, an unsuspecting waitress, and students with library fees

by Aneri Pattani

A high school teacher gave each of her students $20 and instructions to help someone in need or do a random act of kindness.

RoundUp: Cops rescue a pit bull, Center City gets green, Central grads reunite for the 75th time, and seniors sing for each other.

by Tommy Rowan

Weekly roundup of locals making us proud.

Ana Garcia Cowan is a soldier, a bodybuilder, and an inspiration

by Mike Sielski

After the first of two tours in Iraq, the Atlantic City native transformed herself into a picture of fitness and confidence.

This man got a grave medical diagnosis. So what did he do? Ride his bike cross-country.

by Elizabeth Wellington

Disability advocate Kyle Bryant has published a new book, Shifting Into High Gear: One Man’s Grave Diagnosis And The Epic Bike Ride That Taught Him What Matters.

Motorcyclists are caravanning for a good cause, and a sphinx is returning to the spotlight

by Tommy Rowan

Weekly roundup of locals making us proud.

Thanks to a school custodian, Ambler students are getting the homework help they need

by Oona Goodin-Smith

"We all need a little bit of help. Some of our kids need confidence, that’s all it is. Some of them need a hug … some of them just haven’t figured it out.”

Delco dog mom has 9 Newfoundlands, a huge online following, and her own meme

by Stephanie Farr

She's training them to be therapy dogs in honor of her mom.

At $20,000 a pup, service dogs bark Philly military veterans back to life

by Erin Arvedlund

For many veterans, a service dog is out of reach financially. Enter a local Philly non-profit called Team Foster.

UpShot: The passing of a story, on a napkin, between commencement speaker and attendee

by Tommy Rowan

Leslie S. Richards, secretary of transportation at PennDot, delivered the commencement address for Temple University’s College of Liberal Arts on May 10. She couldn't have imagined what would happen next.

An original Rosie the Riveter from Bucks vies for Congressional Medal, remembering how she helped save the world

by Alfred Lubrano

The women who flooded the factories during World War II built the planes and armaments that helped defeat the nation's enemies.

Kids need bathing suits at the rec center? She bikes to the store to buy them.

by Tommy Rowan

"We have a staff of amazing, badass men and women, and always in the back of my mind is, how can we support the community as much as possible?”

The RoundUp: Meet some locals raising money for good causes

by Tommy Rowan

Who's making us proud? These people that's who

These teenagers want to open their own convenience store. Here’s why.

by Kristen A. Graham

“How is four bags of chips a dollar at the corner store, but a smoothie is $4? That doesn’t make sense,” said Tre’Cia Gibson, a member of the Rebel Ventures crew.