Redefining the American Dream (Hannah Salwen)

From CNN.COM and featured on NBC Today


Sale of 1 house will help 30 villages

* Story Highlights
* Family tries to sell $1.8 million mansion and give half the proceeds to charity

* Decision comes after discussions about how much wealth is needed
* Family voluntarily downsizes to more ordinary house
* After sale, money will go to villages in Ghana via the Hunger Project

By Rusty Dornin
CNN

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- One day while driving with her father, Hannah Salwen noticed a Mercedes stopped next to a homeless man sitting on the curb.

*for full article of the story written by Rusty Dornin, click on the link above or follow below for Hannah's words.

"We as Americans have so much," said Salwen, a former Wall Street Journal writer. "We love the concept of half. We are going from a house that's 6,000 square feet to a house that's half the size, and we're giving away half the money.

"And we do think everyone can do something if they think through half."

All AboutAtlanta • Ghana


Links referenced within this article

Watch why family wants to give away $800K »
#cnnSTCVideo
Atlanta
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/atlanta
See the new and old houses, side by side »
#cnnSTCOther1
Ghana
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/ghana
Watch Joseph's video
http://hannahslunchbox.com/HL_Site/Welcome.html
See the house's real estate listing
http://www.beacham.com/propertyfinder/propertyDetails.php?Type=RES&prop_type=&id=3738609
Atlanta
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Atlanta
Ghana
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Ghana


Find this article at:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/07/02/hunger.house


Visit Hannah's Lunchbox to see how you can help


Now if Hannah Salwen and Muhammad Yunus got together on ideas ~ what could happen?

What if you could harness the power of the free market to solve the problems of poverty, hunger, and inequality? To some, it sounds impossible. But Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is doing exactly that.