In 1999 Dr. David Kim surveyed the medical landscape in Staten Island, N.Y., and noted a presence and an absence. Present: high rates of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and asthma. Absent: Christianity. Kim decided to open a clinic but knew he could not do so with private contributions. In 2006 he founded Beacon Christian Community Health Center, a nonprofit clinic he hoped would become a federally qualified health center (FQHC) and receive grants from Washington.

I moved to Charlotte in 2007. The job market boomed. People moved there from around the country, energizing the city. The influx of new residents meant that local builders kept busy.

Carol cradles her right foot in her hand, taking off her black Croc sandal and white sock. The callus on her heel is so hard it has worn a hole in the shoe. She could live with that, but up higher, on the fleshy part of her foot, sits a large, soft tissue growth. Every time she walks on it, pain shoots through her leg. Just walking to the bathroom is painful.

By bus, train, and car this summer, I visited medical clinics in a dozen cities, then walked the neighborhoods around the clinics.

The first stop was small - Zarephath, N.J., 43 miles from New York City, with a downtown home to half a dozen Mexican and Honduran restaurants. Pawn shops, public notaries, and money transfer stores pepper the street.

In 2002 an Ecuadorian showed up in a hospital emergency room in Charlotte, N.C. In broken English he tried to describe the chest pains he was experiencing. At that time, the hospital didn't have an interpreter. In frustration the man went home and called his uncle, who spoke good English. The uncle drove to his nephew's house to take him back to the hospital, but found the nephew dead of a massive heart attack.

While Invisible Children's recent Kony 2012 video aimed to bring attention to Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, who had abducted 30,000 children as child soldiers, the controversy surrounding the viral video also exposed serious problems about modern charity.

One hundred years ago, most charitable acts would take place in one's hometown or church congregation. There one would naturally have a greater understanding about the problem and the necessary solutions.

Every day for 40 days, Russell York woke up and wondered why he was here.

Then, he packed up his gear, got back on his bike and rode 100 more miles, one pedal stroke at a time.