Tourism in time of pandemic. How the Safar Project opened minds and borders

Isa Grassano

July 19, 2021 |

News48 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Italy

An Italian travel writer and a publishing house partnered to recreate the experience of travel to new places, providing tourists with a virtual experience and tour guides with a source of income to replace their lost businesses when the pandemic shut down actual travel. Called the Safar project (Arabic for travel), the service charges 15 euros for one and a half hour Zoom tours featuring live explanations and interactions with local people, limited only by time zones and cellular reception. An average of 50 tourists have signed on with the seven tour guides who have been recruited so far.

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Farm-to-table took off during the pandemic. Is it here to stay?

Stan Finger

July 14, 2021 |

The Kansas Leadership Center Journal (KLC Journal) |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit and grocery store shelves became bare, many consumers sought to purchase meat directly from farmers. The Shop Kansas Farms group on Facebook has more than 148,000 members with about 800 producers who are selling their goods. While there needs to be more education for farmers on how to sell their livestock and for consumers on the intricacies of buying from processors, people in other states are creating their own groups to better connect consumers to vendors.

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How emergency workers are combating gun violence: 'We have to invest'

Shannon Lilly

July 14, 2021 |

WTVR-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Richmond, Virginia

Bridging the Gap is a violence prevention program at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center that emphasizes treating more than the physical wounds of gunshot victims. Starting in the hospital and continuing afterward, the program gives victims case managers and mentors to link them to services that will change their life's trajectory, including job opportunities. The aim is to interrupt the cycles in which the same people get injured repeatedly, sometimes leading to their deaths. Since the program started in 2007, people it has helped experience far fewer repeat injuries.

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As Men Lead Charge Against Period Poverty In Nigeria, More Girls Now Make Their Pads

Ifedayo Ogunyemi

July 12, 2021 |

Prime Progress |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

The Feyisayo Sobowale Initiative (TFSI) works to address Period poverty, the lack of access to menstrual products by people who cannot afford them. In the four-hour training, TFSI distributes free sanitary products and teaches girls in schools how to make reusable pads so as to avoid the dangers of using old rags or paper. The girls receive a pattern and pamphlet with the steps to turn locally sourced cotton fabric into a sanitary pad that can be washed and reused for up to a year. The pad consists of two pieces of the cotton fabric sewn together with a pre-cut towel material inserted between them.

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'I am not alone:' How a California county is helping Hispanic family caregivers find peace

Natalia Rodríguez Medina Tom Kisken

July 12, 2021 |

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Ventura, California

La Buena Vida connects caregivers from Latino households with respite care, training, and support groups. Using federal funding, the program serves as the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging’s resource center for Spanish-speaking family caregivers. The program also provides safety equipment, like ramps and railings. In addition to much needed emotional and physical breaks from their responsibilities, the group connects caregivers to Spanish-speaking professionals who offer counseling and support. The program staff regularly checks in with its 66 clients to see how they are doing and assess their needs.

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When two is a lonely number: Group aims to connect spousal caregivers, ease isolation

Racquel Stephen

July 09, 2021 |

WXXI |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Well Spouse Association helps spouses manage the mental and physical challenges of caregiving. The nonprofit offers support groups, respite weekends that give caregivers time to take care of themselves and other responsibilities, and other resources. The relationships members build with each other help combat feelings of loneliness and isolation. With just 20 chapters nationwide, many members travel long distances to access the support and services, though moving meetings online due to the coronavirus pandemic had the effect of expanding membership and several members have also started local chapters.

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How Indigenous-led organizations are rebuilding connection to language and culture

Jolene Rudisuela

July 06, 2021 |

Capital Daily |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Nanaimo, British Columbia

The Nisaika Kum’tuks and Tsawalk learning centers provide alternative schooling options for Indigenous students to learn more about their culture and languages. The centers teach a total of 100 students from 23 different nations, many of whom come from single-family homes that are experiencing economic hardship or have been part of the foster care system. While the schools have recently shut down to be consolidated with the local school system, efforts are underway to create a new learning center that continues the mission of combining traditional knowledge and culture with academia.

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Fulfilling Your Dreams Despite Disabilities Can Be Easy; This Nonprofit Shows How

Richard Abam

July 06, 2021 |

Prime Progress |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Lagos

The Network for Inclusion of People with Special Needs (NIPSN) provides empowerment-based counseling, needs-specific rehabilitation, assistive equipment, and vocational training to people with disabilities. Residents live in a dormitory for up to 18 months while they receive services, including training to use assistive technologies. NIPSN also provides vocational training, like making vases, beads, and soap, which can provide a sustainable livelihood. NIPSN helps children finish school and provides free raw materials, equipment, and a small stipend to help residents start producing goods independently.

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‘This Isn't a Dying Coal Town,' It's a West Virginia Community Rethinking Health Care and Succeeding

Taylor Sisk

July 01, 2021 |

100 Days in Appalachia |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Williamson, West Virginia

Williamson Health and Wellness Center is a federally qualified health center in rural West Virginia, that provides medical, dental, and mental health care as well as chronic-disease management and wellness coaching on a sliding scale. The health center addresses social determinants of health with programs like fresh produce delivery, a community garden, and workforce development. The community health worker program has seen success by hiring local people to visit patients at home and work with them to monitor their blood sugar, take their medications properly, and learn healthy lifestyle choices.

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Police Reform: Federal monitor

John Glidden

June 30, 2021 |

Local News Matters |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

With a long string of questionable uses of force and huge payouts to settle brutality lawsuits, the Vallejo Police Department might look to nearby Oakland for one approach to achieving better, more accountable policing: a court-appointed monitor. In Oakland, a monitor since 2003 has had the authority of a judge's order behind him as he and a staff oversee the city's use of force, handling of complaints, training, and other operations. The costly process is not without critics, nor is the Oakland department trouble-free. But some see the monitor as a force for positive change after a period of corruption.

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