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

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 1487 results  for your search.  View and Refine Your Search Terms

  • In the quiet of a shutdown, students and seniors forge new friendships

    When the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in widespread lockdowns, a Washington, D.C. Episcopal day school partnered with a retirement home to help students and seniors provide companionship to one another and decrease loneliness. To help alleviate nerves about talking with someone they've never met, the program trained the students in skills such as cold-calling and offered an introductory script for the initial conversation. The students have reported valuing the conversations while the seniors have said "the connection has been a lifeline."

    Read More

  • Coronavirus concerns revive labor organizing

    Employees at 7 Yakima Valley fruit packing plants, who are predominately Latinx, went on strike to protest inadequate protection and pay during the Covid-19 pandemic. Agricultural workers accounted for nearly one-fifth of the county’s positive cases. The worker initiated strikes and picket lines were supported by community members, union representatives, and non-profit legal centers. Workers returned to work after gaining concessions on better pay, safety protections, and the formation of worker advocacy committees. The state also issued new workplace safety standards for agricultural workers after protests.

    Read More

  • This Hermon company's work dried up when coronavirus hit. Now it's making masks for the long run.

    A tension fabric structures manufacturing company in Maine has repurposed their facility and transformed their local workforce to create grade-one medical masks for the local hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic. Because the company uses only U.S.-made materials, they have been able to avoid supply chain interruptions and now plans to continue making masks as part of their standard business model even after the pandemic passes.

    Read More

  • Public-Private Partnerships can help Nigerian hospitals improve maternal health; Here's how

    Public private partnerships are helping hospitals in Nigeria provide more efficient care, especially as it relates to maternal health. In Lagos State, the model – which partners a private healthcare management firm with the hospital – has helped better equip facilities so more laboratory tests can be conducted in one place. Although this solution doesn't necessarily solve all problems faced by those seeking care, it has helped to provide a more sustainable model of healthcare in many cases.

    Read More

  • Turning manure into money

    Dairy farmers in Massachusetts are working with Vanguard Renewables, a food waste energy company, and Dominion Energy, an electric utility company, to capture manure methane gas from cows and convert it into natural gas. They are also adding food waste to the manure from manufacturers and retailers to increase energy output and increase income for farmers. The partnership has expanded to dairy farms in other states who are looking to lower their greenhouse gas emissions.

    Read More

  • 3 lessons from how schools responded to the 1918 pandemic worth heeding today

    The pandemic of 2020 bears a heavy resemblance to the pandemic of 1918, and the U.S. can learn from the successes of the past. Investing heavily in school nurses, fostering cross-sector and public/private partnerships, and creating “large, clean, airy school buildings” to continue serving families and children—decisions made over a hundred years ago that are still just as relevant today.

    Read More

  • Could Akira Miyawaki's 50-year-old innovation help promote biodiversity and reduce the risk of climate change?

    An innovative approach to combat climate change involves growing forests and resorting natural vegetation on degraded or barren land. Known as the Miyawaki technique, planting seedlings of indigenous trees close together could speed the growth of the trees and not only offset carbon emissions, but also increase biodiversity. While the technique can be challenging to do correctly, corporations, nonprofits, and even schools have planted 285 of these forests around the world in India, the Netherlands, France, and Pakistan.

    Read More

  • How Indie Theaters Are Reimagining The Moviegoing Experience

    Art house independent movie theaters across the U.S. have joined with distributors to create virtual cinemas. After shutting their doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, patrons can rent first-run indie films on local theaters’ websites and the proceeds are split evenly between the theater and the distributor. Combined with grants and donations, these purchases are helping indie theaters stay afloat during the shutdown. However, independent theaters that don’t primarily show art-house movies are not receiving the same benefits and are struggling to stay in business.

    Read More

  • A Job for Elves

    The coronavirus pandemic has invigorated organizations working in the Baltics to counter disinformation, particularly from Russia, by flagging suspicious accounts, fake news, and hate speech. For example, Covid-19 led hundreds of Lithuanian medics to a group called the Elves to flag disinformation about the virus and related government responses. The groups partner with and receive funding from local and international sources, including Facebook and the Google News Innovation Fund. Some question whether highlighting stories, websites, and user accounts as fake might actually help to disseminate them further.

    Read More

  • How Puerto Rican Scientists Hacked The COVID-19 Response

    In Puerto Rico, scientists, students, and educators from different organizations created a consortium to help develop a way to expand the territory's testing capacity for COVID-19 after the government continuously struggled to obtain test kits and was only conducting 150 tests per day. After developing a molecular test and partnering with a swab manufacturer in Italy, their efforts culminated in the distribution of 3,000 tests per day.

    Read More