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  • Prehistoric bones: A cottage industry in Siberia

    By Jim Maceda
    NBC News

    Dmitry Solovyov/NBC News

    Siberian sunset.

    It’s hard to imagine, looking out at the frozen expanses of Yakutia, in North Eastern Siberia, that 30,000 or so years ago, so many animal species, now extinct, roamed the Pleistocene grasslands. From 12-foot tall, five-ton wooly mammoth bulls to tiny rodents, an Ice Age hunter would have found as many as 100 animals in each square mile he tracked, at least according to Sergei Zimov, our Ice Age expert, geo-physicist and guide during our recent visit.

    Today, Siberia’s thick icy crust, or permafrost, which has held the remains of predators and herbivores alike in an epochal deep freeze, is beginning to melt. And the bones of prehistoric rhinos, bison, reindeer, horses – and yes, mammoths – are rising to Yakutia’s surface at an amazing rate. One literally trips over bones on a short stroll along the banks of the Kolyma River. The downside, of course, is the attendant release of so much CO2 – a greenhouse gas - as this melting permafrost exposes a 150-foot thick layer of plant and animal remains. But there is an upside: a burgeoning cottage industry in the finding and selling of prehistoric bones.

    Zimov says that 30 years ago, only a handful of Russian "bone" men – serious businessmen - were attracted to the adventurous lifestyle, spending their summers combing Pleistocene beaches and valleys. Today, at least 1,000 bone hunters work throughout Russia, with several dozen focusing on Siberia’s permafrost zone, where the best prizes are to be found.

    Dmitry Solovyov/NBC News

    One of Zimov's prized mammoth tusks.

    Professional hunters like Feodor Shidlovsky and Alexander Votagin are at the top of the bone chain. Shidlovsky has arguably the biggest mammoth bone collection in Russia, displaying them in his own natural history museum in Moscow. The money he makes from the sale of mammoth bones goes into his exhibitions, the funding of artists who fashion jewelry from the ancient bone, and scientific expeditions.

    Every summer, Votagin leads his team to Dvarii Yar – or Windy Cliffs – a remote stretch of Kolyma riverbank that has given up the richest finds of prehistoric bones over the past decade. Located about 400 miles north of Zimov’s isolated science station in Cherskiy - Yakutia’s main airport and hub - the so-called New Siberian Islands (all underwater in Pleistocene times) are now a treasure trove of bones. Local hunters collect more than 20 tons of mammoth, rhino and bison bones a year, selling most of them to local dealers in Cherskiy – presumably to sell them to tourists like us, though the Russian government bans the export abroad.

    And here’s why: prehistoric bones can be a very lucrative catch. While fishermen and hunters now augment their meager incomes with up to $10 per mammoth tooth or ivory shard, the more professional - and lucky – hunters can fetch more than $80,000 for a pair of mammoth tusks in good condition. Zimov keeps such a pair in the living room of his science station cum abode – but isn’t tempted to sell them.

    Dmitry Solovyov/NBC News

    Prehistoric bones along the beach.

    "These are like my family," he told us. "Would you sell your brothers for $80,000?" In fact, Zimov has never sold any bones he’s collected over his decades of combing Yakutia for clues to global warming. On one such outing, he and his son Nikita collected some 1,200  bones – which he thinks is a world record - all which remained of a pack of mammoths and all within a few hundred yards of beach. For amusement, they arranged their bone hoard into the shapes of mammoths, horses and bison.

    Until the mass, mysterious extinction of so many Ice Age animals took place - triggered, probably, by extreme change of climate and habitat - the so-called "Mammoth Steppe Eco-system" chugged along like a glacier, both efficient and self-sustaining. Mammoths knocked over heat-absorbing trees, grasses grew, and dozens of herbivore species not only grazed on those grasses, but fertilized them too.

    Though that eco-system died some 15,000 years ago, mammoths and other Pleistocene throwbacks are helping to maintain today’s human population, with a $5 prehistoric bison jaw here, a $10 wooly rhino knee bone there or $1,000 piece of wooly mammoth tusk, buried right under your feet.

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  • A lasting legacy

    By Ginny Harris
    NBC News

    Antoinette Kolesnikov, a first generation American of Russian parents, wanted to give back to her country and serve it well. A chief master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, she is based at Ft. McGuire Air Force base in New Jersey. Her rank is coveted, as there are very few women who have held that position. Only 2 percent ever attain this rank. When she joined the Air Force 37 years ago, only 7 percent of service members were women, and now there are 18 percent.

    Kolesnikov is a single parent who made sacrifices. Because of her dedication to her job, she had to juggle motherhood with her responsibilities to the Air Force. Kolesnikov's daughter is now a lieutenant in the Engineering Corp of the U.S. Air Force. Once again, Kolesnikov led by example.

    Each year around Christmas time, AK (as she is known) cooks omelets for a special holiday breakfast for her troops and her community. It started 23 years ago, in her office, when it was just about 20 people who had nowhere to go. It has now grown to more than 300. This year she'll cook her last breakfast before she retires. AK pays for the breakfast herself. In the last few years, she placed donation jars on the table, and the money goes to someone in need. This year, some of it will go to an enlisted member., Michelle Duffanti, who is single and recently adopted 6 children, some of them with special needs.

    In the past, AK has donated money to service members who have suffered personal tragedies. Two airmen had  houses that burned down and she donated the money to them. In addition, a battered women's shelter has been a recipients of AK's kindness and generosity.

    Eunique Scales-Brown, a resource advisor for the 135th Squadron has been mentored by AK. She saw her potential, then encouraged and helped Scales-Brown to advance into the position. When Scales-Brown's mother died suddenly and she couldn't afford a funeral, AK was there to help with the funds for a burial. 

    "She helped me when I didn't know what to do," Scales-Brown said. "I was on active duty and didn't even know my mother was sick. It's stuff like this that has made me a better person.

    "I know I can strive to be like her she is such a blessing, with her busy life, she never forgets you."

    Tarun Patel is an only child, born in India to a working class family with a business in medical distribution. When Patel was very young, his father was pushed off a building and the injuries led to memory loss. The family business failed and they lost everything. The Patels moved to Delhi. They were so poor that Patel's mother saved money for eight years just to buy her son a bicycle for his ninth birthday. When he was 11, his family sent him to live with his uncle in New Jersey. She gave him a $20 bill and told him, "Here's enough money for one night's meal and make sure you always do the right thing."

    Patel had a passion for aviation and that's how AK came into his life. He got a full-time scholarship at Rutgers University but struggled with English. He secretly joined the Air Force reserves in 1998 when he was 18.

    With AK's help, Patel traveled to Qatar and worked there for 90 days. But before he set out for Qatar, Patel dropped out of Rutgers. When he returned, AK nominated him for awards, and he won Airman Of The Year. AK believed in Patel and knew he wouldn't make it without an undergraduate degree. She also gave him a part time job, so that he could work in the morning and go to school at night. He graduated in 2003 and AK hired him full time.

    AK and Patel's mother both attended the graduation.

    "If AK weren't there in 2000 for me, my life would have been so different," Patel said. "We believe in nine lives and I hope she is in every one of mine. She nurtured me and transformed me into the person I have become."

    Patel is now the head ff engineering for the U.S. Navy.

    "I am blessed to have AK in my life. Because of her dedication, there is hope," Patel said. "She has been my mentor and my mother rolled into one." Patel gives back to his co-workers by donating 100 hours of work each year.

    Watch more of our Making A Difference reports here.

  • Girl swept away after 2004 tsunami found

    What we're following: 

    - Deal announced to end payroll tax impasse

    - Syria says 30 killed, 100 wounded in bomb attacks today

    - Girl swept away after 2004 tsunami found and reunited with family

    And did you see...

    - Washington Monument has extensive cracking and chipped stones

    - U.S. Transportation Secretary won't back ban on phones for drivers

    - As prices soar, farmers looking to grow peanuts

     

     

  • Dozens killed as bombs explode across Baghdad

    What we're following: 

    - Dozens killed as bombs explode across Baghdad

    - Jury awards record $150 billion payout to family of burned child

    - Jobless claims at lowest level since April 2008

    And did you see...

    - Peace Corps to pull out of Honduras over safety fears

    - U.S. acknowledges they bear responsibility for last month's deadly Pakistan strike

    - Steve Jobs to receive posthumous Grammy award

     

     

     

  • Little dresses bring hope and friendship to Malawi

    By Anthony Galloway
    NBC News producer

    Rachel O’Neill is at home in Malawi. Her real home is in Trenton, Mich., not far from Detroit. But when she arrives in Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital, she is welcomed like a native.

    On her most recent trip to the country last month, O'Neill was greeted at the airport by a handful of locals, people she has known and worked with for almost five years. Her visits are never routine, but this trip was special.

    Anthony Galloway/NBC News

    O'Neill was returning to Malawi on the five-year anniversary of her first trip to the country. It was Thanksgiving week in 2006 when she first made a commitment to sew and hand out dresses to a few thousand girls – five years ago, almost to the day, when she promised to do something small to bring smiles to the faces of girls who she knew held so much promise. O'Neill didn’t know it at the time, but her simple idea to help a few thousand girls would end up touching the lives of hundreds of thousands of women around the world.

    How to help: Little Dresses for Africa

    Correspondent Chris Jansing and I had the opportunity to profile O'Neill over the past 14 months, reporting her story for NBC Nightly News. Each time we meet with her, we are impressed to learn about the astounding response she continues to receive from viewers. Since our first story aired in December 2010, O'Neill has received more than 400,000 dresses from all 50 states. The dresses arrive on her home doorstep and she, along with a dedicated army of volunteers, makes sure they get to needy girls throughout Africa.

    The day before Thanksgiving, Jansing and I traveled to meet O'Neill in the village of Thobola, about 100 miles from Lilongwe, to witness firsthand what we had seen in so many photos and videos. There’s no easy way to get there. Eighteen hours in flight and three connections to the capital city, then a two-and-a-half hour drive south to the countryside, picking up fuel when you can, because Malawi suffers from a fuel shortage. But when you get to the end of the dirt road that leads to the village, you know instantly why O'Neill makes the trip.

    Thobola is a simple town perched on a hill overlooking a green valley. Most people live in small, thatched-roof huts, pump their water from a well and only have basic nourishment. Still, despite their lack of traditional western resources, the kids’ smiles are radiant and their singing is contagious. They incorporate all of our names into a song: Rachel, Chris, Anthony, and also the names of O'Neill’s family and friends, Dave Taylor, Kandyce Muniz, Jerry and Mark Adams, who have come with her to help distribute the dresses.

    Anthony Galloway/NBC News

    It is a long, hot day in the unrelenting sunshine, but the girls are patient. It’s striking when O'Neill tells us the dresses may be the only new things these girls have ever been given. The larger message only sinks in later. In a place like Thobola, a brand-new, handmade dress is not just a piece of clothing. It’s a symbol of hope and a gesture of friendship from women 8,000 miles away. It’s one small thing a girl can hold on to as the sun sets and Rachel O’Neill prepares to make the long journey back to Michigan, knowing her little idea brought happiness to thousands of little girls today.

  • For these military families, a special homecoming from Iraq

    Thousands of U.S. troops are returning home this month - many sooner than expected, to the delight and sometimes surprise of their families. At Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, about 3,400 soldiers are making the long journey home. NBC's Janet Shamlian reports.

    Janet Shamlian writes

    FORT BLISS, Texas -- The auditorium-style room at Fort Bliss is full of families and heavy with anticipation.

    Everyone here has a mother or father, son or daughter they haven't seen in months ... about to come home.

    With the drawdown of US troops from Iraq, these welcome home ceremonies are happening every few days at Fort Bliss as some 3,400 soldiers from the 4th Brigade head back to Texas. To attend one, as I did Tuesday, was a reminder of the sacrifice made by our military families.

    Byron Isler sat by himself with a bouquet of flowers, both nervous and full of excitement. Even though he and wife Thomasine were both stationed in Iraq, they never once saw each other there. Byron returned to El Paso last month. They have a 7-year-old son who has been without his parents for far too long.

    Cynthia Medrano sat nearby, surrounded by her mother, her sister and her three young daughters. Carlos Medrano is returning from his fourth and final deployment to Iraq. He's missed so many of the girls' birthdays and school performances, but at least this year he won't miss Christmas.

    And then there is Ashley Hopkins, who told her 6-year-old Lillian and 3-year-old Kaitlyn that they'd come to the event to welcome someone ELSE'S father home. The truth would be revealed to the girls in just a few minutes, when Brian Hopkins would step off the plane and into their arms.

    PhotoBlog: As US exits, Iraqis tell how their lives have changed

    For many of these families, there will be future deployments and more time away from loved ones. But at least this Christmas, mommy or daddy will be home. How will they spend the holidays, I wanted to know. It was heartbreaking to hear one mom of a toddler explain that her family is tight on cash and wasn't going to decorate or get a Christmas tree until they learned Dad was coming home.

    Most poignant from the afternoon with these families was one young woman's comment. She said she knew her husband would come home from Iraq, but now she knew he would be coming home alive.

    The reunions were as you'd expect: tearful and joyous. Bearing witness from the corner of a room, I felt the same. The holiday is just short of two weeks away. But for these families, Christmas came today. 

  • Making a Difference: Helping kids be kids, with support, nourishment and love

    By Chelsea Clinton
    Rock Center special correspondent

    As I started to think about my first ‘Making a Difference’ segment, I knew I wanted to focus on an organization that was scalable – either in the sense that it could be serving more people if it were to have more resources, or it could be a potential model for other communities.  I certainly found it in the incredible work of the non-profit Targeting Our People's Priorities With Service (TOPPS), in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and its founder Miss Annette Dove.  TOPPS meets every need of her kids all under one roof.  The program provides them with a safe place to do their homework and socialize after school; tutoring help; mentoring programs; the opportunity to visit colleges and the world beyond Pine Bluff; and healthy meals and snacks.  Miss Dove also helps teach kids how to cook and make nutritious meals out of what their families receive from the food bank or the Salvation Army.  On an average day, TOPPS feeds 280 kids, a number that rises to 440 in the summer.  Often, TOPPS feeds kids’ parents too – there are some days when TOPPS feeds 500 people, and even more in the summer. 

    Dozens of kids participate in the daily tutoring programs and close to 100 make the commitment to participate in the mentoring programs that target young girls, older girls and high school-age boys.  The waiting list to get into the programs is far greater than the number of kids currently enrolled.  Miss Dove is incredibly – and justifiably – proud that the students in the tutoring programs, and particularly those in the mentoring program, stay out of trouble and see their grades improve.  Five students from the older boy’s mentoring program, led by Miss Dove’s son Michael, went to college last year – five boys who may not have graduated high school without Miss Dove and Michael’s leadership and support.  Many students told us that without Miss Dove in their lives, they would be failing school, have dropped out, be locked away in juvenile detention or jail, or possibly even be dead.

    Amy Reinhold

    As Miss Dove told us, she fills the gaps she sees in her kids’ lives and in her community.  She started TOPPS with the community reading program RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) in 2002 serving a handful of kids.  In the decade since she founded TOPPS, Miss Dove and her team, including all four of her grown children, have affected thousands of kids’ lives.  Beyond the direct services TOPPS provides, Miss Dove goes with kids to their juvenile hearings, their teacher conferences, sometimes even to talk to parents with substance abuse problems about getting sober and back on track. 

    In Pine Bluff, Arkansas, a community with one of the highest per capita crime rates in the country and where more than 75% of kids are on reduced or free lunch plans, Miss Dove helps kids be kids – and gives them the support, nourishment and love to give them a chance to grow up into responsible adults.  Mayor Carl Redus said he couldn’t imagine Pine Bluff without Miss Dove and TOPPS.  Lieutenant Shirley Warrior from the Pine Bluff Police Department told us that she, the Police Department broadly and the juvenile justice system all refer kids to Miss Dove.  Miss Dove’s impact extends far beyond the thousands of kids she’s helped and the hundreds she serves daily – she’s affected the city of Pine Bluff and how it sees its future.  Her city, her family, her staff and, most importantly, her kids at TOPPS all say Miss Dove is, indeed, making a difference. 

    Editor's note: To learn more about Miss Dove and TOPPS: http://rockcenter.co/w2rnF5

  • Mobile workers travel the country for a paycheck

    By Becky Bratu
    msnbc.com

    Camping season is long over in Campbellsville, Ky., but motorhomes and camper vans still fill its parking lots and motel rooms are booked for months.

    When Amazon.com announced last month it was hiring for thousands of temporary positions at its Kentucky fulfillment centers for the holiday season, people from across the country converged upon the town of 10,000 in a rush to fill them.

    "It’s like quick money for Christmas," Rita DeMichiel of Florida, one of the temporary workers, said. "We get in, we get out."

    DeMichiel is part of a growing number of mobile job hunters who travel to Campbellsville during the holiday season with their entire families to work for $10 an hour, packing and shipping Amazon orders during 8-12 hour shifts.

    "The pay is really good, it’s above minimum wage," DeMichiel said. "They pay overtime, so financially for us it was a way to make quick money and then be on our way to the next destination."

    The camper vans filled with families, retirees or hard-up job seekers are becoming a holiday season staple in Campbellsville.

    Ron McMahan, executive director of the Campbellsville-Taylor County Economic Development Authority, says these seasonal workers are adding dollars to local businesses.

    "It’s like a three- to four-month convention," McMahan said. "These people are here eating in restaurants, they need medical services, they are shopping in retail stores, they need camper repair."

    For most of the workers, hopscotching around the country for a paycheck is a lifestyle. When their work is done in Kentucky, they’ll drive their vans to the next job. Texas, Wyoming, Michigan are a few of the popular destinations for itinerant workers. Most of them hear about available jobs online or by word of mouth from other workers.

    Debra and Mark Pinson traded in a three-bedroom house and a mortgage for life on the road. Their first time living in a work camp was this spring in Michigan. They now travel from job to job across the country in their RV, staying in work campgrounds rent-free.

    "Well, the mortgage was $1,800 and we pay zero here," Debra Pinson said. "There are jobs out there. You just have to go out and look for them."

  • Back to Basics: Indian Nation looks to the past to create healthier future

    By Jane Derenowski
    NBC News producer

    Part 3: LOOKING BACK TO THE LAND

    The last part of the Back to Basics journey took me and NBC's Chief Science Correspondent Robert Bazell to the small town of Sells, Ariz. This is home to the Tohono O'odham Indian Nation. The Nation has recently struggled with alarmingly high rates of type 2 diabetes and obesity, but it is now looking to the past to create a healthier future. 

    Years ago, they relied on farming and ate a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains. But along the way, the practice was abandoned along with many traditions.

    Now, with the help of Nation elders, young and old alike are returning to the farms and reviving customs such as storytelling, O'odham dance, and singing.

    The result: slow but steady progress toward better health and a re-birth of the Tohono O'odham culture.

    Learn more about the Back to Basics series.

    Part 1: Give kids time to play

    Part 2: Take a social media break

  • Remembering Pearl Harbor

    By George Lewis
    NBC News

    This is my third trip to Pearl Harbor to cover the anniversary of the surprise attack on Dec. 7, 1941, and the place always gives me goose bumps. There is the graceful swaybacked architecture of the USS Arizona memorial, lying atop the remains of the sunken battleship. There are the old hangar buildings on Ford Island, still pockmarked by Japanese strafing. But most of all, there are the survivors, their ranks diminished by the passing years, and their compelling stories of living through a pivotal moment in American history.

    Most are men in their late 80s or early 90s, but the memories of that "day of infamy" are seared permanently in their minds.

    As Mal Middlesworth, who was a young Marine stationed on the USS San Francisco, put it, "I got to be standing there with a front row seat to one of the greatest spectacles of the 20th century."

    That day, 2,400 Americans lost their lives, almost half of them aboard the Arizona, hit by a 1,700-pound armor-piercing bomb that exploded the ship's ammunition magazine.

    Don Stratton, an Arizona survivor who was badly burned, said, "It was a terrible day. It just engulfed us in flames."

    Read more: Covering Pearl Harbor, decade to decade

    Of the 84,000 Americans in uniform on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu the day of the attack, between two and 3,000 are alive today, and their numbers dwindle with each passing year. That's the big difference I've noticed this time around. Whereas thousands of survivors made it to past observances, only about 120 made it this time. And most of them concede it will probably be their last hurrah.

    "It's sad," said Edward Wentzlaff, an Arizona survivor. "You can't lose all them kind of people, those friendships and not let it bother you."

    Two of the survivors who died earlier this year, Lee Soucy and Vernon Olsen, are being reunited with their shipmates, their ashes interred on this 70th anniversary beneath the waters of Pearl Harbor, where so many sailors and Marines went down with their ships.

    And now, the last remaining survivors look to future generations to keep the memories alive, making this anniversary one laden with sentiment and sadness.

  • Back to Basics: Take a social media break

    By Jane Derenowski
    NBC News producer

    Part 2: TECH TIMEOUT

    Giving kids a break from screens was the goal of Seattle-area high school teacher Trent Mitchell. His students were using texting and social media to communicate faster than ever before. That's why Mitchell and the teenagers at Shorecrest High School decided to take a break from that type of technology and try good old-fashioned face to face time.

    NBC's Kristen Welker visited the students to talk about their so-called "social experiment." You might be surprised at how stepping away from it all for a few days impacted their lives.

    We'll also hear from busy mom Diane Broadnax on how she got her kids away from computers to participate in a once-weekly family night. Here's a hint: it has to do with what's in the oven.

    What happens when an Indian nation with a rich history of health and wellness is faced with a diabetes epidemic? Look for the third installment of the Back to Basics series on The Daily Nightly on Friday.

    Learn more about the Back to Basics series.

  • Rebuilding careers, one life at a time

    By Jay Blackman
    NBC News producer

    In a nondescript office park in Rockland, Mass., the unemployed can find an oasis. It’s the home of a nonprofit called One Life at a Time, an organization that helps those looking for jobs, but in a different way than the state office of unemployment.  

    "We basically do one-on-one, and what that means is that everybody is an individual," said founder Christine Driscoll O’Neill. "Whatever their needs are… whatever they need to get to that place to be able to be employable again – we do."

    Driscoll O’Neill believes the one-on-one attention that she and her staff are able to provide free of charge is what makes the difference for her clients.  

    O'Neill, who started the organization with the proceeds from a whistleblower lawsuit and hopes to continue supporting it through grants, understands her clients’ pain firsthand.

    "I know what it's like to feel unemployed, I didn't like it," she said. "There wasn't anybody there for me, so I want to be there for all the underemployed and unemployed." The organization has two offices in Massachusetts, but it has helped many people who live out of state, too, by phone and by Skype.

    With a staff of 12, One Life at a Time offers many regular career services, such as resume polishing and help with cover letters, but it doesn’t stop there. In a conference room with a wall of windows, a makeup artist offers advice on what colors to wear to interviews while applying eye liner on Diane, who is out of work for the first time in her career.

    "It's about feeling good about yourself," the makeup artist tells Diane. "Just be yourself. Obviously you want to show some confidence. You know that you're able to do the job, and I think that will go a long way."

    Surrounded by an unemployed teacher, a laid-off senior accountant and a nurse struggling to find work, Driscoll O’Neill holds a group discussion about the importance of self-esteem.

    In another office, career specialist Russell Abbatiello sets up a small video camera in preparation for a mock interview, which puts clients through the process before they have to do it for real. The interviews are recorded to show people how they performed and what they need to work on.  

    Abbatiello is now working with a chemist who has been out of work for more than a year. Not only is he testing her interview skills, but he is also drilling her on everything from how she would deal with an ethical issue to what her advanced degrees would mean to an employer. When the interview is over, they watch the video together, analyzing her performance.

    "It's not always the answers that you give," Abbatiello tells the chemist, "it's how you give the answers."

    For Ted Burns, 53, and a 20-year veteran in the telecommunications industry, the past year has been challenging. With one child in college and another in high school, he is looking for any edge that will get him back into the workforce.

    "I'm  trying to stay as positive as I can, put a smile on and, I know eventually something will come," Burns said. "It's tough, it's a battle, it's a struggle and you just try to stay as positive as you can."

    Burns taps on a keyboard in the organization’s computer lab, where classes are offered to help clients leverage the networking power of social media sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn. Burns already has used LinkedIn to make several connections. (UPDATE: Just this week, with One Life's help, Burns started a new job in his field.)

    Driscoll ONeill says the organization has helped 5,000 people find work, including people such as Jen Guisti, who was laid off from her job as a television producer. Guisti was surprised at how hard it was to find another job.  

    "I  heard it was hard but I didn't think it was going to be like this," she said. "I didn't think I was going to be out of work for so long."

    Guisti says she struggled going the traditional route through the state offices, and found she needed the one-on-one attention that One Life at a Time provides.

    "They were able to help me see things in a different light, and have me go down different paths, and kind of test my skills and test myself," she said. Guisti is now back at work at MK3 Creative, working on corporate videos.

    Even with success stories such as Guisti’s, Driscoll O’Neill knows there is more work to do. To her, the country’s 8.6 percent unemployment rate isn't just a number; it represents millions and millions of people.

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