"The thought that I can reach out and permanently improve someone's life for the better is addictive," says Dave Schweidenback.
It took Diane Pickel Plappert six months to tell a counselor that she had been raped while on duty in Iraq. While time passed, the former Navy nurse disconnected from her children, and her life slowly unraveled.
New appliances and vacation packages aren't unusual giveaways in the housing slump, but one woman is taking the unorthodox step of throwing in a car with the purchase of her home.
Bent over or sitting at a table, gripping a ballpoint pen, marker or crayon, Frank Calloway spends his days turning visions from his youth into lively murals -- and at 112 years old, the images of his childhood are a window to another time.
The following is a list of local and national organizations and programs designed to address many of the issues raised in "CNN Presents: Black in America" and "CNN & Essence: Reclaiming the Dream." Some of the people or guests featured in the programs are involved in some of these organizations.
San Quentin Prison sits like a fortress along the bay just north of San Francisco. It is bordered by some of the most expensive residential real estate in the country. But at the edge of this scenic peninsula, 5,400 inmates are locked up.
"It's the magic of dogs."
El Paso native Maria Ruiz knows firsthand how different life can be a mere 30-minute drive south of her Texas home.
"The thought that I can reach out and permanently improve someone's life for the better is addictive," says Dave Schweidenback.
It took Diane Pickel Plappert six months to tell a counselor that she had been raped while on duty in Iraq. While time passed, the former Navy nurse disconnected from her children, and her life slowly unraveled.
New appliances and vacation packages aren't unusual giveaways in the housing slump, but one woman is taking the unorthodox step of throwing in a car with the purchase of her home.
Bent over or sitting at a table, gripping a ballpoint pen, marker or crayon, Frank Calloway spends his days turning visions from his youth into lively murals -- and at 112 years old, the images of his childhood are a window to another time.
The following is a list of local and national organizations and programs designed to address many of the issues raised in "CNN Presents: Black in America" and "CNN & Essence: Reclaiming the Dream." Some of the people or guests featured in the programs are involved in some of these organizations.
San Quentin Prison sits like a fortress along the bay just north of San Francisco. It is bordered by some of the most expensive residential real estate in the country. But at the edge of this scenic peninsula, 5,400 inmates are locked up.
"It's the magic of dogs."
El Paso native Maria Ruiz knows firsthand how different life can be a mere 30-minute drive south of her Texas home.
There were 56 men who put quill to parchment during the Summer of Independence in 1776.
A South Carolina woman's whimsical approach to food is helping her crack the insular world of cooking contests with such novel dishes as pecan-encrusted oysters over asiago cheese grits.
If Russell Jackson has his way, any child who needs medical care but lacks the transportation to get there will have a safe and reliable alternative.
More than a dozen people, some wearing orange protective gear, pulled rakes and shovels from a dingy shopping cart and started working on a parched patch of land along a busy off-ramp of the Hollywood Freeway.
After surviving a near-fatal accident, Richard Olson recalls the doctor telling him, "You may never walk again."
Novel nicknames are one thing, but Michelle Dudley deeply resents the one her husband's buddies have given her: "Jason's Whatever."
The Cyrus family is ready to rock and always on a roll at its new L.A. home. Kick back and chill out with Billy Ray, Miley and the entire guitar-crazy clan.
Michael and Sharon thought the photos from their wedding were lost forever.
In a year marked by massive flooding, deadly tornadoes and blazing wildfires, Tad Skylar Agoglia has never been needed more. This week, he's on the scene in Iowa.
With foreclosures and bankruptcy affecting millions of homeowners, CNN's Larry King on Tuesday talked to several experts in the real estate industry to get advice on handling the mortgage meltdown.
When Katy Milane was asked to be in her college roommate's August 2007 wedding, she expected the bridesmaid dress to be simple and sporty, just like the bride's taste in clothes.
Misha Di Bono zips around town in her Infiniti sport-utility vehicle, breezy and unconcerned about the price of gas.
"My total sentence was 55 years -- for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute," recalls Carolyn LeCroy.
America's two largest hot dog makers are waging a wiener war as grills fire up this summer, hoping to win over customers and secure the No. 1 spot atop the stagnating frank market.
The TV no longer sits on a moving box, but she's still using filing cabinets as end tables. Desiree Jacobsen graduated from college years ago, so why does her apartment resemble a dorm room? It's hard to save for the finer things when you've had to shell out money to be in five weddings in one year, three times as maid of honor.
Atlanta's East Lake community was a rough place to grow up in 1989, when murder, gangs, poverty, teen pregnancy and drug problems were common.
Weddings are supposed to be a time to celebrate new beginnings. But for Shay Nowick, whose friend asked Nowick to be a bridesmaid at her wedding, it was the beginning of the end -- of their friendship.
Staff Sgt. Travis Nielsen had no idea when he joined the U.S. Army that his duty would include one of the most solemn and hallowed ceremonies in the military.
"We were a normal red-blooded American family," recalls Rudy Aguilar. "And ... it took [one day] to wipe us out."
It happens to all of us. You fall in love with someone's looks... but then he's not quite what you expected. Even, sometimes, if he's a cat.
About 45 feet beneath the ocean's surface lies a cemetery with gates, pathways, plaques and even benches.
As other cars zipped by at 70 mph or more, Mike Papin and his wife, Joann, kept rolling along just below the 65 mph limit as they made their way from their winter home in Florida to a summer place in Vermont.
As the room echoes with R&B music, students from Clark Atlanta, Morehouse and Spelman colleges laugh, talk and work on brightly colored pieces of cloth on long tables.
After 22 years in private practice and seeing people "kicked around by the system," Dr. Lorna Stuart found herself frustrated with the number of insurance companies and the rules and restrictions that came with them.
Lots of kids are into dinosaurs. Tyler Lyson says he just never grew out of it. He grew up in rural North Dakota and says fossils were more widespread there than in other places in the U.S.
It started with a generous gesture by David Beckham, who handed over his game-used soccer jersey to two young boys after a game at Aloha Stadium.
Noel Bosse and Ken Davis watch as the numbers keep spinning at the gas pump -- 70 bucks, 80 bucks. Gulp, guzzle, then it stops: $101 for about 25 gallons.
Ordinary Americans aren't the only ones being punished by tough economic times. Charities say they need help, too.
Julia Abrantes spent hours cleaning her house and primping in front of a mirror before heading to John F. Kennedy airport in New York. She was there to pick up the love of her life, whom she had met on the Internet.
During Rachel Rosenfeld's junior year in high school, the unexpected happened.
Two years ago, Stephanie Kaster of Manhattan set out to plan the birthday party of a lifetime for her daughter. Granted, little Sophie didn't have many parties under her belt with which to compare it: She was not yet 3.
After the sudden death of her 26-year-old daughter left five grandchildren in her care, Viola Vaughn searched for peace.
Nicki Amouri hands her camera to a friend, throws her arm over another and smiles wide as she leans in for a shot with the monument her class came to visit.
It's Autism Awareness Month, but for people who have autism or live with someone who does, they are aware every day.
At 5 a.m. on any given day, Anne Mahlum could be found running the dark streets of Philadelphia -- with homeless men cheering her on as she passed their shelter. But one morning last spring, she stopped in her tracks.
Tax filing day is just around the corner, but some Americans may not be ready to submit their returns by April 15. Others may not have the cash to pay the tax they owe.
If you've been in the hospital or had a family member or friend there, you know how lonely and scary it can be. Once visiting hours are over, the levity and the hugs stop. But, if it were up to Taylor Crabtree, the hugs would last all night.
At the stroke of midnight, American beer drinkers were no longer breaking the law when they broke open a beer.
Twenty-three years ago, Scott Silverman found himself at an open, 44th-story window, on the brink of suicide. Two decades of escalating substance abuse, blackouts and depression had brought him to this moment.
Bake sales and recycling are common fundraising tactics in middle school. But Tara Suri wasn't baking cupcakes for just any common cause. Her cause was hope, literally.
The odds of any individual taxpayer being audited are low, but who wants to go through explaining to the Internal Revenue Service why you took this particular deduction or you didn't report that particular bit of income?
When Gary Mikus learned that an incurable nerve disease was starting to paralyze the hind legs of his German shepherd, he immediately dismissed the idea of putting the dog to sleep.
So maybe it's not the sexiest issue on the campaign trail. But if it's up to the founders of Students for Saving Social Security, it will be.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack. And some more. And more.
After being laid off from her job as an events planner at an upscale resort, Jo Ann Bauer struggled financially. She worked at several lower-paying jobs, relocated to a new city and even declared bankruptcy.
It wasn't Tibet's subzero temperatures that nurse practitioner Arlene Samen found so chilling on a 1997 medical trip, but the haunting stories she was told about mothers and newborns on the brink of death after childbirth.
What happens when people turn off the TV for three weeks? They turn to their spouses, newspapers and religion.
Like a lot of kids, Aaron Sohacki's dad took him to watch airplanes take off and land at the airport.
Genevieve Thiers was the oldest of seven kids, which meant she started baby-sitting almost as soon as she was born. But all the diapers, Friday nights in and lousy tips eventually paid off with millions.
Yes, he set fire to the dinner table with contact lens solution. Yes, he stayed in on the weekends because he had no friends. Yes, he had to clean the urinals as punishment for acting out in class.
Fear of an audit is only one factor behind most people's belief that they should pay their fair share of taxes, according to a survey by the IRS Oversight Board.
Youssif happily pulls off his plastic face mask and pats his cheeks, which were once covered by horrific burns.
Not too many kids tell their parents who to vote for when they're 5 years old or ask their fourth-grade teacher to watch the presidential inauguration. But what would you expect from a 21-year-old superdelegate?
Thomas Mahoney came out of a seizure last December surrounded by paramedics ready to take him to the hospital by ambulance. Mindful of the cost, he asked his mom and girlfriend to drive him instead, slipping in and out of consciousness along the way.
Consumer advocates Wednesday hailed the settlement of a class-action lawsuit over Sears stoves in which the retailer agreed to install safety brackets for free to prevent the appliances from tipping over or provide other reimbursements.
In real life, her first car was a Volkswagen bug when she was 16. In her racing life, Stephanie Mockler was driving Quarter Midgets, open-wheel race cars that children can drive, at the age of 6. Now at 20, she's a record-setting driver.
Sonya Rinker was looking for a guy: someone who was kind, respectful and had a special place in his heart ... for tractors.
Ah, Valentine's Day! That time of the year when the pressure's on to show you really, really care.
Uno the beagle turned Madison Square Garden into his own big, green backyard.
The owner had just the right touch, trying to soothe her French bulldog's trembling paws.
