Josh Axelrod

Jamell Spann and Elizabeth Vega protested in Ferguson, Mo., after the shooting death of Michael Brown. A comforting response in a moment of rawness, immortalized in an iconic photo, led to friendship.

"There was absolutely no hope," Amanda Farell said of her time spent in a state psychiatric ward. Today, she is happily married with a family and works to help others who struggle with mental illness.

Unaccompanied minors cross the border without family or support. "Any kid that's in my house is, at least while they're here, safe," says one foster mother, Christi.

The golden years are thought to be a well-earned, carefree time in life. But adults 65 and older now account for almost 1 in 5 suicides in America.

Joel and Julia Helfman met in 1943. Married nearly 70 years, they're still utterly devoted. Says Julia: "How was I smart enough to know that this young man would always keep me happy?"

Greg Force was just a boy when his father, the director of a NASA tracking station in Guam, called home with an important mission for him: to help the crew of Apollo 11 return safely to Earth.

The Montana governor, one of the last Democratic candidates to join the presidential race, is focused on bringing "sunshine and transparency" to campaign finance.

Struggling to resolve racial tensions in South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg exclusively shared with NPR his "Douglass Plan," named for the famed abolitionist. He compares it to the Marshall Plan.

Aden Batar directs a refugee resettlement program in Utah. It is the same organization that helped resettle his family 25 years ago, when they fled a harrowing civil war in Somalia.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy slashed $130 million, or 41%, from the budget of a university system that serves more than 26,000 students. Layoffs, elimination of programs and campus closures are likely.