CNN Heroes: Everyday people changing the world

THIS WEEK'S CNN HERO

CNN Hero Mariuma Ben Yosef runs Shanti House, a facility in Israel that assists homeless youth.

Homeless at 14, she's saving kids from the streets

Mariuma Ben Yosef operates Shanti House, which provides temporary housing and long-term support for homeless and at-risk youth in Israel.

CNN Hero Mariuma Ben Yosef

Over 32 years, Mariuma Ben Yosef's organization, the Shanti House, has helped 46,000 vulnerable youth find shelter, medical care and a place to belong.

A cosmic family

The Shanti House provides the comforts of home to at-risk youth living on their own.

CNN Hero Mariuma Ben Yosef's nonprofit organization, Shanti House, is based in Tel Aviv, Israel

Get involved: Shanti House

Meet the Superman saving the sun bears of Malaysia

Siew Te Wong has dedicated his life to rescuing, rehabilitating and conserving the world's smallest bear species.

CNN Hero Siew Te Wong

Siew Te Wong, a wildlife biologist in Malaysia, has dedicated his life to protecting the sun bear, the world's smallest bear species.

CNN Hero Siew Te Wong: Sun bears are not pets

Meet Mary, a sun bear rescued as a cub from illegal captivity. Today, she's in the care of CNN Hero Siew Te Wong and his conservation center in Malaysia.

CNN Hero Siew Te Wong's NGO, Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, is based in Sabah, Malaysia

Get involved: Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre

CNN Hero Jeanine Patten-Coble started Little Pink Houses of Hope to provide free week-long vacations for families affected by breast cancer, giving them a chance to escape, heal and have fun together.

Families facing breast cancer bond at retreats

CNN Hero Jeanine Patten-Coble's breast cancer diagnosis at 39 led to an epiphany -- families need time away from the whirlwind of diagnosis and treatment.

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CNN Hero Jeanine Patten-Coble

Since 2011, Jeanine Patten-Coble's nonprofit has provided free weeklong, fun-filled vacations to nearly 600 families affected by breast cancer.

Making sense of cancer

After attending the first retreat offered by CNN Hero Jeanine Patten-Coble's nonprofit, one breast cancer survivor's profound experience didn't end there.

CNN Hero Harry Grammer helps hundreds of at-risk youth in Los Angeles transform their lives through tutoring, counseling and even music.

Helping L.A.'s at-risk youth tell their stories

CNN Hero Harry Grammer's New Earth program works in Los Angeles detention centers seven days a week, promoting literacy, reading comprehension and critical thinking.

CNN Hero Harry Grammer

Growing up, Harry Grammer spent five years on juvenile probation. Today, his group helps hundreds of at-risk youth in Los Angeles transform their lives.

CNN Hero Harry Grammer: Tell them

The at-risk youth helped by CNN Hero Harry Grammer have a story to tell. Watch how they turn their words into song at his program's recording studio in Los Angeles.

Coffee shop brews opportunity for people with disabilities

Coffee shops are cool, but in Wilmington, North Carolina, Bitty & Beau's Coffee is known for its warmth.

CNN Hero Amy Wright

In Wilmington, North Carolina, Amy Wright's coffee shop offers employment and a community for 40 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

'Welcome to Bitty & Beau's!'

Meet Matt and Jessie: two young people with disabilities who share what their employment at CNN Hero Amy Wright's coffee shop means to them.

CNN Hero Jennifer Cox started Empower4Life to provide health education, fitness activities and nutritious food to children living in Baltimore-area homeless shelters.

Empowering children who live in homeless shelters

Jennifer Cox started Empower4Life to provide health education, fitness activities and nutritious food to children living in Baltimore-area homeless shelters.

CNN Hero Jennifer Cox

Since 2015, Jennifer Cox's nonprofit has brought health and fitness programs to more than 1,000 children living in Baltimore-area homeless shelters.

Empowering for life

CNN Hero Jennifer Cox shares the obstacles facing children who live in Baltimore-area homeless shelters and how her program helps build their confidence.

'Books before boxing' credo helps trainer change lives

Khali Sweeney's Detroit boxing gym trains around 100 high risk youth weekly. More importantly to him--98% of his student-athletes have gone on to college.

CNN Hero Khali Sweeney

Since 2007, Khali Sweeney and his boxing program have provided mentorship, tutoring and meals to about 400 children from Detroit's toughest neighborhoods.

Don't box me in

A young man growing up in Detroit shares how a boxing program started by CNN Hero Khali Sweeney is helping to save his life.

CNN Hero Doniece Sandoval's nonprofit, Lava Mae, has provided more than 20,000 showers to more than 4,000 homeless individuals.

City buses become showers for the homeless

In 2013, Doniece Sandoval began converting old buses into mobile shower units. Her nonprofit has since provided upwards of 20,000 showers to more than 4,000 people.

CNN Hero Doniece Sandoval

Since 2014, Doniece Sandoval's nonprofit has provided showers to more than 4,000 homeless individuals in San Francisco through its mobile hygiene centers.

One step at a time

Clients of CNN Hero Doniece Sandoval's mobile showers share how her nonprofit's services help their daily lives in San Francisco.

After overcoming alcoholism and homelessness, Vietnam vet Bob Adams became a social worker and started Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans, which provides nearly 400 veterans per year with assistance.

Vietnam medic now heals lives of fellow vets

CNN Hero Bob Adams

Bob Adams is a Vietnam War medic who co-founded the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans, a nonprofit that helps nearly 400 veterans a year.

Veterans helping veterans

Three veterans share how CNN Hero Bob Adams inspired them to help other veterans heal.

CNN Hero Samir Lakhani, wearing glasses, poses with staff at the Eco-Soap Bank--an organization he founded to provide soap and hygiene education to Cambodians in need.

How hotel soap can save lives

Samir Lakhani was a college student volunteering in Cambodia when inspiration struck: Rural villagers didn't have access to soap--he knew just where to find it.

CNN Heroes: Samir Lakhani

Samir Lakhani's nonprofit, Eco-Soap Bank, recycles discarded bars of soap from hotels in Cambodia and distributes them to people in need.

From hotel soap to Eco-Soap

CNN Hero Samir Lakhani shares how his group is using soap in Cambodia to change lives, boost the economy and help the environment.

CNN Hero Michelle Christie started the No Limits Theater Group to help deaf children improve their language skills and self-esteem.

Theater is therapy for kids with hearing loss

Michelle Christie helps low-income children with hearing loss improve language skills and self-esteem using tailored class work and performing arts.

CNN Hero Michelle Christie

Michelle Christie's nonprofit, No Limits, offers free support and enrichment programs to 600 children with hearing loss and their families each year.

From moonwalking ... to 'Glee'

An alumus of CNN Hero Michelle Christie's theater program shows how there are "No Limits" for children with hearing loss.

A lifeline for Native Americans struggling to survive

In some of the vast, remote areas of the Navajo Reservation, supplies and services can be hours away. In winter, temperatures can dip to zero.

CNN Hero Linda Myers

For three decades, Linda Myers and her nonprofit have brought life-saving supplies to an estimated 3,000 elders in need on the Navajo Reservation.

CNN Heroes: Adopt-A-Native-Elder

CNN Hero Linda Myers shows how her nonprofit helps Native American elders in remote areas of Arizona and Utah stay warm through the winter.

CNN Hero Leslie Morissette poses with some of the robots her nonprofit, Grahamtastic Connection, provides to ill schoolchildren to help them stay connected to the classroom and to their peers.

Robots attend school in place of sick kids

CNN Hero Leslie Morissette, who lost a son to cancer, provides computers and robots to connect children battling serious illness with school and friends.

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CNN Hero Leslie Morissette

In memory of her son, Leslie Morissette and her nonprofit help connect sick children to their regular lives through free technology, including robots.

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CNN Heroes: What is a Philbot?

With the help of a robot from CNN Hero Leslie Morissette's nonprofit, one fourth grader stays connected to his school and friends while battling leukemia.