Real, messy hope delivered to your inbox daily, from Good Good Good.

In the headlines...

🗳️ A Texas lawmaker spent more than 24 hours on the state house floor in protest after she refused an order from the House speaker to be placed under 24/7 surveillance by state law enforcement until a vote on the state’s mid-decade redistricting plan.

✏️ A federal judge ruled that the Education Department cannot terminate funds for two congressionally mandated programs that conduct research to close educational achievement gaps.

People doing good

A summer camp in Vermont is providing a fun, safe space for kids with parents who are or have been incarcerated

Every summer, a weeklong sleepaway camp in Plymouth, Vermont hosts kids between the ages of eight and 12 who currently have, or have had, a parent incarcerated. The campers do all the traditional summer camp activities: songs around the campfire, secret handshakes, arts and crafts, and more.

Knowing all the kids around them share the experience of a parent being incarcerated, the campers feel a freedom to be themselves, let go of the usual worry or stress they’d have at home, and just be kids.

As one camper said, “When you’re here, you can just be yourself. You don’t have to hide like you have to do at school sometimes.”

Why is this good news? Around 4,700 kids in Vermont, or one in 25, have a parent who has gone to jail. On top of everything else kids go through, parental incarceration can be destabilizing, stressful, and isolating. Kids deserve to be kids — and this summer camp is giving them the space to have a core childhood experience, despite what’s going on around them.

→ Read more​

More Good News

​A new, non-invasive test can quickly spot meningitis in babies with “great accuracy.” The current screening method for meningitis uses a spinal tap in newborns and infants, but a new study showed that a new high-resolution ultrasound device can detect the potentially deadly infection with 94% accuracy.

​Kenya officially eliminated “sleeping sickness” as a public health concern. The country joins nine others that have eliminated human African trypanosomiasis. It’s also the second neglected tropical disease the country has eliminated; it was also certified free of Guinea worm disease in 2018.

​An Australian couple bought a former student boarding house to create housing for older women at risk of homelessness. They decided to step in to help after learning about the housing affordability crisis, and wanted to make a difference in their community by offering a low-cost solution for people in need.

​Scientists developed a new compound that could offer a breakthrough in the global fight against tuberculosis. TB is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, and this compound even proved effective against drug-resistant infections, which are common globally and pose a significant challenge for controlling the disease's spread and progression.

Housing

In this all-women tiny home neighborhood, rent starts at $450. Residents want it to be a nationwide blueprint

→ Read more​

good progress

Despite slow growth in the U.S., global EV sales are already up 27% this year

In the first seven months of 2025, a new report found that more than 10.7 million electric vehicles were sold — a “robust” 27% increase over the same time period last year.

China led the way with 6.5 million EVs sold, an increase of 29%, but Europe also saw a large uptick: with 2.3 million EVs sold, a 30% increase over the same period last year. Notably in Europe, fully electric vehicle sales were up 30%, while plug-in hybrids were up 32%.

While North America saw 1 million EVs sold, an increase of 2%, the report also came out around the same time Ford announced its new $5 billion investment in manufacturing affordable EV options in the U.S., calling it its next “Model T Moment.”

→ Read more​

More Good bits

🪷 Botanic gardens from around the world are competing for a coveted title.

🌼 Listen, even virtual nature can be healing.

🚲 An Arizona city builds for people, not cars.

🦮 Not even cancer could stop her from helping train guide dogs. (Video)

🏳️‍🌈 Saskatchewan is home to love, not hate.

What’s good?

I still remember how to make the friendship bracelets I first learned at Girl Scout camp!

Do you have a core summer camp memory?

Reply to this email and tell me!

— Megan