Next Doors: Ensuring Everyone’s Heard

The Heard Museum spreads its wings to engage broader communities When the Heard Museum comes up, your mind probably goes to Native American art. After all, the Heard’s eight-acre central Phoenix campus is one of the preeminent museums celebrating Native American art in the world, as well as one of Phoenix’s best-known cultural attractions. But […]

Next Doors: Good to the Last Drop

Mmmm … beer.                      I don’t want to go all Homer Simpson on you, but that’s where this story starts, with beer. Specifically, beer being produced by about a dozen breweries Valleywide as part of a brewing event held by the City of Scottsdale’s water department. The One Water Brewing Showcase has taken place (except during […]

Next Doors: The Importance of Being Present

Sometimes, simple things in life can cause a chain reaction. For instance, what happens if you’re a student and you don’t show up to school? Simple — you probably miss an assignment, which you can make up later.  But what happens if you’re a student and your particular circumstance results in you missing a lot […]

Next Doors: Healing on the Streets

Homelessness is not an ideal situation in any way, but particularly from a health standpoint. The reason shelter is so important to us all is that it protects us from harm. So what happens when you don’t have that shelter, and when you don’t have the resources to get the kind of treatment to counter […]

Next Doors: ‘Tis Better to Give

Max Sirstins is the “grandfather” of something celebrating its 23rd year this holiday season. His day job is director of advertising for Sanderson Ford and Sanderson Lincoln, one of the Valley’s most prominent automobile dealership companies. But he’s also the founder and “grandfather” of a holiday tradition in the Valley called Operation Santa Claus. It […]

Next Doors: Not the Same Old Song & Dance

It’s been said that the best things come in twos. Here’s a great example of that.  Phoenix is fortunate to have a couple of great performing arts organizations that bring traditional and classical musical genres to children — the Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestras and Ballet Arizona’s School of Ballet Arizona. But it wasn’t until a […]

Next Doors: Youth Movement

I’ve always felt that the characterization of generations and their qualities was a bit overhyped. Yes, a 50-year-old looks at the world differently than a 25-year-old, and yes, that 25-year-old is into different things than a 75-year-old.  But some core values transcend generations, even if they’re reflected in different ways. Philanthropy is a great example. […]

Next Doors: Forging New Paths

Phoenix is booming in a bunch of different ways. The tech sector is exploding, thanks to an influx of investment by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Intel and others. Our healthcare industry is expanding to meet the needs of a growing — and aging — population. Phoenix is becoming a hub for new-economy industries such as […]

Next Doors: Step by Step

Tracy Baynes’ original education was in oceanography. So how did she end up starting an education nonprofit in Arizona?  Baynes came to Arizona to work at BioSphere 2 a couple of decades ago and was moonlighting doing semester-at-sea programs for students, as well as instructing for the National Outdoor Leadership School, or NOLS, for short. […]

Next Doors: Promise of a New Day

Many people think that people who are experiencing homelessness are always experiencing homelessness, or close to it. But nothing could be further from the truth, especially when the economic factors of the past few years come into play. While rising property values are great for home and property owners, that upward pressure has raised rental […]