Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Kensington coffee club helps veterans connect, alleviates loneliness

    A veteran-run club in Kensington meets for coffee three times a week to re-establish social connections for ex-military in the community. The participating veterans, who often struggle with loneliness and lack of community after re-entering society, use the coffee hour as a time to talk about their experiences in the military and build friendships.

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  • This innovative chorus smashes racial barriers in Columbus. Could it work in Philly?

    Founded in 2009 in Columbus, Ohio, the Harmony Project brings together people of various musical experience, races, income levels, and professional backgrounds to sing as one. The project aims to get people out of their comfort zones and silos in a segregated city.

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  • Providing a home for Europe's unaccompanied migrant children

    There are thousands of children caught in the midst of the migrant crisis, and many of them end up without their parents or with a relative. To avoid placing migrant children in facilities that would be unable to give them specialized care, people are stepping up to serve as foster parents for the time being. The foster parents support the children's emotional well being and sense of self, and now foster aunts—forming a relationship without taking over care—are also emerging. These initiatives help ease the process of starting over in a new place, especially for children.

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  • The Cycle Of Chronic Gun Violence: How One Community Looks To Save Lives In A New Year

    Gun homicides in Durham increased an alarming 20% in 2019, but one bright spot was the county public health department's Bull City United program. Since 2016, BCU is credited with reducing shootings by 28% in two areas where it was deployed. BCU follows the Cure Violence model, a violence interruption strategy using mediators, sometimes former gang members, to intervene face to face when disputes seem headed for gunfire, offering services to help young people. This public-health model of stopping the spread of violence can fail if used in a transient neighborhood lacking community organizers.

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  • This handy browser plug-in combats fake news with ratings of thousands of news websites

    Allowing news consumers to more carefully vet media outlets can help stem the proliferation of fake news. NewsGuard, a web browser plug-in gives users a “nutrition label” for news websites by ranking them on a scale of trustworthiness. The service employs trained journalists and is working to make its plug-in available in libraries, as well.

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  • In Toronto, Muslims offer ‘shelter bus' for the homeless

    Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association Canada and Humanity First Canada teamed up to transform a bus into a mobile shelter for the homeless, complete with 20 beds, a kitchenette, a bathroom, internet, and more. The program is called Shelter Bus and, since launching in December 2019, has served over 1,000 people and reaches up to 50 people a day. The bus has been described as "heaven" by some guests, and they are now planning to have 3 buses by the next year.

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  • Inside the secret food bank that keeps farmworkers from going hungry

    In Santa Cruz County, California, Dr. Ann López, of the Center for Farmworker Families, organizes a secret monthly food bank for marginalized farmworkers who are mostly indigenous and undocumented. Organized completely by word of mouth to avoid deportation threats from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, the food bank helps defray farmworkers' costs, which include about 75% to 80% of their typical salaries in rent.

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  • Chicago Leads the Fight for Food Justice by Building Innovative Local Food Ecosystems

    To fight food insecurity—especially with those experiencing homelessness—Chicago has created a network of programs and organizations across the city to support those who need it in many different ways. One example is the Homeless Outreach Luncheon at Marillac St. Vincent Family Services, offering a meal, sleeping bag, a coat/clothing, a doctor, podiatrist, lawyer, and more. This article takes a look at a few of these responses and details how they work.

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  • Reporting for Work Where You Once Reported for Probation

    Since 2012, the New York City Department of Probation’s Arches program has integrated “credible messengers” into its mission, diverting some energies toward helping instead of punishing. The term refers to people, often formerly incarcerated or on probation themselves, who apply their street knowledge to mentoring youth caught up in the criminal justice system. The movement has spread to a variety of government agencies, but usually is used in street-outreach crime prevention work by community organizations. A large body of research shows the effectiveness of the approach in lowered crime and recidivism.

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  • The Green Jobs That Could Help Save the Amazon

    Bia Saldanha works with community members in Brazil to tap trees in the Amazon for rubber as a way to create sustainable income and discourage other practices like cattle farming and logging that has led to deforestation. While the locals were hesitant at first, she worked with the shoe company Veja to pay them more than the market rate. Now, Veja uses about 340 tons of natural rubber annually and works with 10 rubber tapper groups in eight municipalities. "We are not just buying rubber," she says. "We are also paying for forest conservation."

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