The Rising Tigers Initiative

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List view of the globe
  • San Francisco Bay AreaSafety numbers, immigration help, art and culture.
  • New York CitySafety numbers, ActionNYC, art and culture.
  • CanadaSafety numbers and crisis lines.
  • United KingdomSafety numbers and crisis lines.
  • Europe112 and the 116 helplines.
  • Eastern Congo7 million+ displaced over mining rights.
  • Gaza, PalestineAbout 1.9 million displaced, nine in ten people in Gaza.
  • Sudan13.6 million displaced, the largest crisis of its kind.
  • India3,682 wild tigers in the 2022 census, up from about 1,400 in 2006.
  • BrazilCut non-fire forest loss 41% in a single year after enforcement changed.

Apply

Access is the only barrier

We mentor anyone struggling with college applications, career paths, and immigration. We also publish independent, sourced research on underreported humanitarian and environmental issues.

  • College

    Essays, applications, and the unwritten rules of admissions.

    Ask about college

  • Careers

    Networking with professionals in your field, and understanding educational infrastructure.

    Ask about careers

  • Immigration

    American systems, forms/documents, and culture explained plainly.We can help with information/legal referrals but not legal advice.

    Ask about immigration

  • Organizations

    You have a report, or dataset, that needs explaining. We can turn it into a sourced, plain language brief or guide. Tell us what it is and who needs it.

    Bring us a problem

Guides

Numbers/places worth having before you need them.

Pick your region. Everything here is free to use, and each entry links to the organization’s own page when it has one.

San Francisco Bay Area

In danger or in crisis

  • 911
    Emergency Police, fire, medical.
  • 988
    Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988, or chat online. Press 2 or text AYUDA for Spanish. Free, 24/7. 988lifeline.org
  • 741741
    Crisis Text Line Text HOME. Free, 24/7. crisistextline.org
  • 877-503-1850
    La Casa de las Madres San Francisco domestic violence hotline, 24/7. Teens: 877-923-0700. lacasa.org

More national lines, including sexual assault, trafficking, and LGBTQ+ youth, are on the United States tab.

Immigration and legal help

Only a licensed attorney or a Department of Justice-accredited representative can give immigration legal advice. A notary public (or “notario”) cannot. To find free or low-cost nonprofit help anywhere in the US, search the Immigration Advocates Network directory.

Support for your community

  • Maitri
    South Asian survivors of domestic violence, trafficking, and family conflict. Weekday helpline in many South Asian languages. DOJ-accredited to help survivors with immigration. 1-888-862-4874
  • Narika
    South Asian women facing domestic violence. Helpline, safety planning, and legal and housing referrals. 1-800-215-7308

Art and culture

  • SF Cultural Centers
    African American, American Indian, Asian Pacific Islander, Latino, and Queer and Trans arts centers, plus Bayview Opera House and SOMArts. Free or low-cost shows and classes.
  • Kearny Street Workshop
    Asian Pacific American arts since 1972: exhibitions, readings, and artist fellowships.
  • Museum of the African Diaspora
    Contemporary art by artists of the African diaspora, at 685 Mission Street.
  • Pt. 2 Gallery, Oakland
    Contemporary art centering Black culture and social justice.

Artists to look up. Mildred Howard, a mixed-media artist born in San Francisco and raised in Berkeley (Academy of Art). Enrique Chagoya, whose artist’s books set Mesoamerican codex traditions against political collage (Latina). Muzae Sesay and Lenworth “Joonbug” McIntosh, Oakland artists (7x7).

New York City

In danger or in crisis

  • 911
    Emergency Police, fire, medical.
  • 988
    Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988, or chat online. Press 2 or text AYUDA for Spanish. Free, 24/7. 988lifeline.org
  • 741741
    Crisis Text Line Text HOME. Free, 24/7. crisistextline.org
  • 800-799-7233
    National Domestic Violence Hotline Call, text START to 88788, or chat. Over 200 languages. Free, 24/7. thehotline.org
  • 311
    NYC 311 City services and non-emergency help. Say “ActionNYC” for immigration legal help.

More national lines, including sexual assault, trafficking, and LGBTQ+ youth, are on the United States tab.

Immigration and legal help

  • ActionNYC
    Free, safe immigration legal help for every New Yorker, whatever your status. Call 9 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday, or dial 311 and say “ActionNYC.” Over 200 languages. 800-354-0365

Only a licensed attorney or a Department of Justice-accredited representative can give immigration legal advice. A notary public (or “notario”) cannot. To find free/low-cost nonprofit help anywhere in the US, search the Immigration Advocates Network directory.

Support for your community

Art and culture

United States

In danger or in crisis

  • 911
    Emergency Police, fire, medical.
  • 988
    Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988, or chat online. Press 2 or text AYUDA for Spanish. Free, 24/7. 988lifeline.org
  • 741741
    Crisis Text Line Text HOME. Free, 24/7. crisistextline.org
  • 800-799-7233
    National Domestic Violence Hotline Call, text START to 88788, or chat. Over 200 languages. Free, 24/7. thehotline.org
  • 800-656-4673
    RAINN sexual assault hotline Call, text HOPE to 64673, or chat at hotline.rainn.org. English and Spanish. Free, 24/7. rainn.org
  • 888-373-7888
    National Human Trafficking Hotline Call, or text 233733. Over 200 languages. Run by Polaris, not by law enforcement or immigration authorities. Free, 24/7. humantraffickinghotline.org
  • 211
    211 Local help with food, housing, and other services. 211.org

Community

Immigration and legal help

Only a licensed attorney or a Department of Justice-accredited representative can give immigration legal advice. A notary public (or “notario”) cannot. To find free or low-cost nonprofit help anywhere in the US, search the Immigration Advocates Network directory.

United Kingdom

In danger or in crisis

Europe

In danger or in crisis

  • 112
    Emergency Police, medical, fire. Free from any phone in every EU country. traficom.fi
  • 116 123
    Emotional support Listening for loneliness, crisis, or thoughts of suicide. Not active in every country. traficom.fi
  • 116 111
    Child helpline Not active in every country. traficom.fi
  • 116 000
    Missing children Not active in every country. traficom.fi
  • 116 006
    Victims of crime Emotional support and information about your rights. Not active in every country. traficom.fi

A 116 number may not be active where you are. If it doesn’t connect, call 112. Ireland: text 50808 to Crisis Text Line (crisistextline.org). The UK isn’t in the EU: see the United Kingdom tab.

Checked 19 September 2026. Wrong or missing? Open an issue and we’ll fix it publicly. We aren’t affiliated with these services.

Causes

Direct Donations.

Rising Tigers doesn’t handle your money. Each link goes straight to the organization, and the article explains why we trust these three.

  • Congo

    Panzi Foundation

    Trauma surgery, mental health care, legal aid, job training. Congolese-run; founded by 2018 Nobel Peace laureate Dr. Mukwege.

    Donate
  • Palestine

    UNRWA Gaza Appeal

    Cash aid, food, shelter, healthcare, and education for refugees. A UN agency mandated since 1949; about 11% overhead, the rest direct aid.

    Donate
  • Sudan

    Mutual Aid Sudan

    Communal kitchens, medical care, evacuations, water repairs. $0.95 of every $1 reaches responders within two weeks.

    Donate

More organizations worth mentioning: Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, Norwegian Refugee Council, UNHCR, and World Central Kitchen.

Want to check any charity yourself? Charity Navigator, Candid, and CharityWatch publish their methods.

Feel like helping in other ways? Each hub has fun & free ways to contribute: Congo, Sudan, and Palestine.

Articles

What the headlines leave out.

Independent, sourced research on underreported humanitarian and environmental issues, each number dated and linked to where it came from. More pieces will join below as they’re finished.

Every number above is sourced and dated inside its article. See every source.

  • The library

    Every figure as a plain-text file with its source and the date we checked it. Fork it, correct it, use it in your own work.

    Open the library

  • Artifacts

    More pieces are coming: curricula, dashboards, and tools, ours and contributors’.

    Browse artifacts

  • Contribute to the work

    Found a stale figure or a dead link? Have a piece that argues something while citing its sources?

    Show us

About

The Rising Tigers Initiative is an educational nonprofit that:

- Connects students, early-career professionals and immigrants with volunteer professional mentors,

- Publishes independent, sourced research to inform the public on underreported humanitarian and environmental issues.

Sourced
Every number links to its reference and the date we checked it. If something is wrong, the repository records the fix and your name.
Direct
Plain numbers, named sources, no euphemisms.
Luminaries
Volunteer professionals sharing their time/knowledge Want to be one?