Welcome back to The Spark, our monthly celebration of how people just like you are creating positive change, one meaningful step at a time. The Spark is generously supported by Laura Rice. Sign up to Reasons to be Cheerful’s weekly newsletter here and you’ll get The Spark in your inbox at the start of each month In this issue Throw a block party and make your street safer How neighborly rides can fix a transit desert Does your community need a walk audit? A safer street disguised as a block party The leafy residential neighborhood that runs along Ninth Street in Berkeley, California, is frequently used as a high-speed corridor by drivers passing through. But on a Saturday in April last year, this speeding traffic was banished from one block of the street, and replaced with a two-way bike lane, rubber speed humps and cones that would allow only local traffic to enter.  The new configuration, which lasted just one afternoon, employed a touch of harmless subterfuge. Ninth Street neighbors and the local organization Bike East Bay got a permit from the city for a block party, then turned the “party” into a shining example of how safer, slower, human-centered streets can benefit a neighborhood. Alongside a potluck and a free repair station set up by a bike shop, volunteers surveyed locals about how they liked the bike lanes and street features.  While short-lived, pop-ups like this can give residents a chance to try out different street configurations, and provide data that can then be used to advocate for longer-term change. Pop-ups like the one on Ninth Street often include a free bike repair station. Courtesy of Bike East Bay “I’ve experienced the impact of seeing it,” says Hilary Near, the Ninth Street resident who applied for the block party permit. Cycling is booming in the U.S. During the pandemic, between 2019 and 2022, the number of daily trips Americans took by bicycle increased by 37 percent. In places with mild weather and robust bike infrastructure, cycling rates rose even more. Yet in many U.S. neighborhoods, riding a bike can be dangerous. Almost 1,000 cyclists are killed in crashes involving motor vehicles in the U.S. each year. Infrastructure, research finds, is key to making cycling safer — and more popular. Building out features like protected bike lanes improves safety not just for cyclists, but all people using roads. Running parallel to a main traffic corridor, Berkeley’s Ninth Street has long been popular with cyclists. It’s unusually wide, a legacy of the early 1900s when an electric trolley ran along the street. It has painted markings and signage designating space for cyclists, but cars are often double-parked, and the width of the street can tempt motorists to drive at higher speeds.  Near has cycled along Ninth Street for years, she says, but it wasn’t until she moved into a house there that she became more interested in how the thoroughfare could be reconfigured. “It could be so much better,” she says. Near attended a Bike East Bay meeting at a curry restaurant on her corner and learned that the organization was interested in setting up a pop-up on her street. The group had staged short-term pop-ups before, partnering with local residents. “People get really used to how a street looks and operates,” says advocacy director Robert Prinz. “It’s sometimes hard to think about what else could be there.”  A pop-up, Prinz says, is a chance to “try before you buy.” While residents get a taste for how their streets could work differently, organizers can gather feedback and data that builds a case for more permanent projects. This can help municipalities overcome a barrier for active transportation infrastructure: limited resources. With data from pop-ups, funding applications are more competitive, Prinz says. “Any edge that a city can give itself to eke out the competition gives them a better shot of accessing that funding.”  Weighed down by negative news? Our smart, bright, weekly newsletter is the uplift you’ve been looking for. [contact-form-7] Many East Bay pop-ups have led to change. The first the organization held — a temporary bike lane on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland —  helped realize a bikeway now separated from traffic by concrete barriers. To put together a pop-up, Prinz suggests starting small. Focus on testing out changes on a single neighborhood street or intersection; busier streets will likely require more coordination with authorities.  Collaborate with lots of local groups, he advises, including business associations, even if they don’t seem to perfectly align. Recruit volunteers, and take advantage of their skillsets. More than 50 volunteers contributed to the Ninth Street pop-up. While Near got the permit and communicated with neighbors, others painted sample road signs in advance, and surveyed road users about the different transportation features on display. In general, Prinz says, pop-ups don’t need to be expensive. For the Ninth Street pop-up, Bike East Bay had grant funding to buy portable supplies, like speed bumps and posts, which the group now loans out for demonstration projects in the area. But in the past, they’ve staged pop-ups with nothing but cardboard and a little paint. Learn more about how to organize a bike pop-up with Bike East Bay’s webinar, and find more resources from the Tactical Urbanism Guide. In transit deserts, neighbors become rideshares No car? No problem. This isn’t a sentiment generally heard in rural areas. But in Central Vermont, when someone needs a ride but can’t drive themselves, they can call up Free Wheelin’.  Free Wheelin’ is an almost entirely volunteer-run organization that was launched in 2019 by two friends who often drove their neighbors to medical appointments, the store or the bank. Riders call a central number to schedule a ride at least two days in advance, and volunteers sign up for slots that suit their schedule.  Free Wheelin’ helps people in rural Vermont get around. Credit: MindStorm / Shutterstock They started it in response to a stark reality: An estimated 30 percent of U.S. rural areas don’t have any reliable non-car transportation options at all. For people who don’t drive — including some older adults, people with disabilities and others without access to a car — that can make life in rural America a constant mobility challenge.  Free Wheelin’ has a cadre of volunteer drivers who offer their passenger seats and their time to anybody who needs a ride. The group provides about 100 free rides a month. Similar volunteer-run services operate in upstate New York and southern Minnesota.  Learn more about volunteer-run ride programs from the Rural Health Information Hub.   Could a “walk audit” improve your community’s walkability? While interest in active transportation like biking and walking has been growing since the Covid pandemic, a hurdle for many people is a lack of safe infrastructure. Forty percent of Americans say their communities are not walkable. A simple first step toward making a community more pedestrian-friendly, advocates say, is to do a walk audit. These audits can be used by individuals or groups to explore a neighborhood’s pedestrian potential. Walk audits have been first steps toward realizing significant change in some communities, like revamping a busy artery road that divides the city of Harrisonburg Virginia.  Find a toolkit to lead a walk audit from AARP. The post The Spark: Banishing Cars With a Block Party appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM For years, the conversation about children and screens has been aimed squarely at children. How much time, what content, and at what age? Sweden’s public health agency has now turned the question around. This past Monday, the agency issued new guidelines urging parents to put their phones away when spending time with their children and to make parts of the home phone-free. The guidelines follow government-commissioned research with two findings: parent phone use degrades parent-child interactions in real time, and the screen habits children develop track closely with what their parents do. What the research found about parent phone use Heavy phone users tend to raise heavy phone users. A parent absorbed in a screen is less present, and children notice. “I don’t think people realise that [their screen use] affects children to the extent that we now know that it does,” said Jakob Forssmed, Sweden’s minister of social affairs. Helena Frielingsdorf, a psychiatrist and researcher at the agency, described the mechanism. Children learn “not only by what adults say, but also by what adults do. That’s why small changes in everyday life can make a difference, both for interactions in the present and for the child’s own patterns over time.” It’s a different framing than most screen time research. Not what children are watching, but what they’re watching their parents do. Sweden’s new recommendations for parents at home The agency’s previous guidance had asked parents to “reflect” on their phone use around children, vague enough to mean almost anything. The new version is more direct. Phones down when with children, used only when necessary or when doing something together. Bedrooms and the dining table should be phone-free. Parents should also think before posting photos or videos of their children online. Adults who “create good screen habits for themselves” will shape their children’s, the agency said. How Sweden has approached children’s screen time The parent guidelines sit alongside existing recommendations for children: no screen time before age two, one hour a day for two- to five-year-olds, two hours for six- to twelve-year-olds, three hours for teenagers. Devices out of bedrooms at night, no screens before bed. Sweden is also writing a school smartphone ban into its Education Act. From the 2026-27 autumn term, phones are out in schools for students up to grade nine, roughly ages 15 to 16. The school ban and the parent guidelines point in the same direction: less phone contact, at younger ages, starting with the adults.     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post How parents’ phone habits shape their children’s, according to new research first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Chances are you’ve probably already had this conversation with someone. Maybe more than once. Morning shower people and night shower people tend to hold their positions, and nobody really changes anyone else’s mind. But when you actually ask the experts, the answer is less about winning the debate and more about what your goals are. If better sleep is the goal, shower at night This is where the science is most clear. A warm shower before bed raises your core body temperature, and then, as you step out and your body works to cool back down, that temperature drop becomes a cue for sleep. Dr. Sarah Silverman, a behavioral sleep medicine specialist, describes it as a nightly signal: do it at the same time consistently, and your body starts winding down in anticipation. “A warm shower or bath taken on a consistent basis can act as an anchor or signal that helps reinforce consistent routines,” Silverman says. Morning showers do the opposite: they raise body temperature and tell your brain it’s time to wake up. Useful at 7 a.m. Not great for anyone already sleeping fine. If your skin is the concern, night still has the edge Dr. Whitney Tolpinrud, a dermatologist and medical director of Curology, puts it plainly: showering at night washes off everything you’ve accumulated during the day before you spend eight hours with your face on a pillow. For anyone with sensitive or eczema-prone skin, that’s not a small thing. “[A night shower] can be particularly helpful for people with sensitive or eczema-prone skin, since it helps remove potential irritants before bed,” Tolpinrud says. Moisturizing right after also works better at night. Skin that’s still slightly damp from the shower holds hydration better while you sleep. Morning showers have their case too. They clear overnight oil and sweat, and most skincare products are designed to go on clean skin. If you have curly or frizz-prone hair, the morning timing usually works better for styling. The bigger issue, though, is how you shower, not when. “The real skin issues come from showers that are too long, too hot, or followed by skipping moisturizer,” Tolpinrud says. Five to 10 minutes, lukewarm water, moisturizer while your skin is still damp. Morning or night, that part matters more than the timing. The honest verdict Night showers have the edge, mostly because of sleep. Morning showers work well if you exercise first thing, or if you wake up slowly and need something to get you going. Neither is wrong. The part that makes either one work is doing it at the same time every day. Your body picks up on the pattern faster than you’d expect. Pick whichever fits your actual life and stick with it.     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post Morning vs. night shower: which is better according to experts first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.

Sharon Stone recently appeared on David Begnaud’s The Person Who Believed in Me podcast, at which point she revisited an unsavory memory from the early 2000s where she found out that she had breast tumors. Even worse than the bleak diagnosis, she recalled, was the reaction she got from her then-husband.  A devastating diagnosis followed by an even more devastating response Sharon Stone. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons “One of [the tumors] was bigger than the size of my entire left breast,” Stone told Begnaud, saying that the doctor who had made a house visit suggested a “bilateral mastectomy,” since her condition likely pointed towards cancer.  Despite feeling like her tumors weren’t cancerous, Stone decided at that moment to undergo the surgery, which made her ex (whom she didn’t name, but many people believe was journalist Phil Bronstein, whom she was married to between 1998 and 2004) “furious.” View this post on Instagram “My husband said, ‘This is ridiculous!’ And got up and left the room,” said Stone.  Seemingly incredulous, Begnaud clarified, “He was mad about the breasts being removed,” to which Stone replied, “Yeah. And so the doctor said to him, ‘If I had more patients like her, we’d have more women alive today. You need to sit down.’ And I said, ‘I make the decisions, not you.’” This reaction, Stone explained, ultimately marked “the end of the marriage.” “That was it. He was done with me then. It was over. He thought it was foolish. He thought I was making too many decisions myself,” she said, although she didn’t, in fact, end up doing the mastectomy because her tumors were benign. View this post on Instagram As to be expected, Stone’s testimony struck a chord with viewers. Many noted how gut-wrenching it must have been to receive the opposite of support “at her lowest moment.” “No one deserves that,” one person wrote, while someone else said, “Heartbreaking to see that the man you thought cared for you only valued your body.” Women share similar experiences The real tragedy here is that Stone’s story is far from unique. On Reddit, it prompted a wave of other women who unfortunately had very similar experiences of partners either overreacting to physical changes that occurred due to a health condition, or solely focusing on how the ailment affected them.  “My aunt…was able to get a breast reduction after having back pain from having big breasts almost her whole life. She was like an H cup or something, and even pulled her back at least twice. She got the reduction done, had ten pounds of breast tissue removed, and her husband left because she didn’t have huge tits anymore.” “When I had a cervical spinal injury, I cut off my hair because it was too much work to wash and brush. It hurt too much to raise my arm. When my boyfriend came home, he asked me if I was ‘mad at him.’ I was befuddled. He thought I cut off my hair to spite him??? Like I even was thinking about him AT ALL.” “I got a suspected diagnosis confirmed and called my boyfriend from the pharmacy, where I had to pick up a prescription and had to calm him down from the ‘your life is over, our life is over, doom and gloom commentary’ for 20 minutes before I had to just tell him stop, the pharmacy is about to close.” “My ex complained in couples therapy about a lack of sex after multiple surgeries to remove cancerous and precancerous cells from my cervix.”  “My best friend got left while she was in the hospital… just after giving birth to their kid. He was in the room with her during the birth and the next day said that watching her give birth changed his view of her for the worse. And he just fucked off. That was like 14 years ago now, and I will never ever forget it because it just blew me away.” It has even been documented in multiple scientific studies that (in heterosexual relationships) men were more likely than women to abandon their spouse should they become sick. However, it’s worth noting that a serious diagnosis reveals and exacerbates existing dynamics within a relationship. There are also plenty of partners out there who want to be helpful, but just don’t know where to start.  What supportive partners actually do to support a loved one in a health crisis  Supportive partners don’t need to have all the answers, but they do need to make an effort to listen, respect medical decisions, and prioritize their loved one’s wellbeing over their own fears or preferences. Healthcare professionals frequently emphasize that patients should feel empowered to make informed choices about their own bodies, especially when facing major procedures or life-altering treatments. Having a partner who offers encouragement, attends appointments when asked, and helps navigate uncertainty can make an already difficult situation feel more manageable. Stone’s experience may be decades old, but the conversations it has sparked show that many people still recognize themselves in similar stories. If there is a takeaway, perhaps it’s that moments of illness and vulnerability often reveal what support truly looks like, and everyone deserves to have that support when they need it most. Watch the full episode of The Person Who Believed in Me below: The post Sharon Stone shares ex-husband’s heartbreaking reaction to her mastectomy, prompting a flood of similar stories appeared first on Upworthy.

Todd Brook, a firefighter in Fort Worth, Texas, for more than 30 years, is battling for his life after receiving a Stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in October 2025. He was given three to six months to live, but it’s his wife, Jennifer, who is keeping him focused on one last mission: finding her a kidney donor. Todd and Jennifer, who have been together for 16 years, are both facing major health crises. Jennifer needs a kidney transplant after being diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease. The initial plan was for Todd to donate one of his kidneys to her. “With the diagnosis of cancer, I got kicked out of the pool,” Todd told CBS News. Now in the final stages of his pancreatic cancer battle, helping Jennifer is all he’s focused on. Todd’s pancreatic cancer fight The Fort Worth firefighter is battling pancreatic cancer, which the couple believes was caused by exposure to carcinogens during his career as a firefighter, according to CBS News. But with his remaining energy, he continues to spread the word about Jennifer’s need for a kidney donor. “He can’t talk. He can’t open his eyes. He responds some, he’ll squeeze a hand or lift an eyebrow,” Jennifer shared with WFAA-TV. “And as soon as I asked him if he still wanted me to do the interview it was an apparent ‘yes’.” Jennifer added, “I still believe that God could heal him right now and he could get up tomorrow and he could be fine. Maybe that’s not God’s will for him and he’s supposed to go.” With the strength and energy he has left, he is doing everything he can to spread the word. “She is 100% the most important thing in my life, and not being able to be there for her is killing me now,” Todd told CBS News. View this post on Instagram Finding Jennifer a kidney Jennifer shared with WFAA-TV that her kidney function is currently at 22% and that she will become eligible for a transplant when it falls to 20%. She is working with the UT Southwestern Living Donor Program to find a donor. “I always knew the day would come when I would need a kidney transplant. I just didn’t realize it would come now,” she shared with KXAS-TV. If she does not find a kidney donor, she will have to go on dialysis. According to UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing, an estimated 90,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for a kidney transplant. “I’m optimistic that God will find me a kidney,” Jennifer told WFAA-TV. “The ultimate goal would be for me to get a kidney but for others to get one also.” She remains hopeful that a donor will be found, but she dreams of receiving a transplant while Todd is still with her. “But I believe I’m very optimistic that I will get the kidney. I just wanted him here for that,” she told KXAS-TV. The post Texas firefighter battling terminal pancreatic cancer has final mission to find his wife a kidney donor appeared first on Upworthy.