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

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  • By Forgiving Warrants and Fines, Communities Give People a Fresh Start

    Stand With Dignity, a grassroots, community organizing group in New Orleans, has coordinated warrant clinics for those driving with suspended licenses. These clinics have forgiven $2 million worth of traffic fines and reinstated licenses for hundreds of individuals, in the hopes of breaking the cycle of unpaid fines, which is often a driver of unemployment and poverty.

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  • In the Aftermath of Civil War, a Writing Workshop Aims for Peace

    The Sri Lankan Civil War lasted from 1983 to 2009 and bitterly divided the country into two sides between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Years later in 2012, a literary program called Write to Reconcile was created by Sri Lankan-Canadian novelist Shyam Selvadurai to use creative writing as a tool to open up dialogue between the two sides that still have misconceptions and prejudices against each other. Many participants in the workshop, which ended in 2017, testify to how much the program changed their perspectives.

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  • They Found a Way to Use Science in the Fight for Human Rights – and It's Working

    A special cross-sector collaboration has emerged with the On Call Scientists Hotline by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Human rights advocates call the hotline when they're in need of data to back up their findings, and on the receiving end are volunteers with expertise in areas like forensic chemistry, public health, refugee trauma and food/environmental toxins. This immediate response with analyzing research, filling in data, and reviewing reports helps those on the frontline of human rights make stronger arguments in service of their cause.

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  • Energy Equity: Bringing Solar Power to Low-Income Communities

    Dozens of states across the US are adopting programs that offer solar power for low-income communities in order to cut down on their utility costs and provide renewable energy that they previously would not have had access to. Some of these programs also incorporate other social goals into their programs, such as offering job training or developing sites of backup energy should there an outage. Solar development is currently one of the fastest growing industries in the US, and analysts predict that the nation will be able to hold over 2,000 megawatts of solar capacity this year alone.

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  • SEPTA quietly decriminalizes jumping turnstiles, lowers fines

    Pennsylvania’s Transit Authority, SEPTA, has decriminalized fare evasion, with those who are caught facing a $25 fine. This is down from the prior $300 tickets that were issued in the past. The move toward decriminalization is part of a larger shift in the region for the criminal justice system to be less punitive and more rehabilitative, focusing more on addressing root causes of behavior.

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  • School district turns unused cafeteria food into frozen, take-home meals for kids

    Elkhart Community Schools in Indiana has teamed up with a nonprofit called Cultivate to provide meals for students who may go without food over the weekend. In this pilot program, 20 students will receive a backpack full of eight frozen meals made up of "rescued" food from the cafeteria that was made but never served. This initiative helps reduce food waste and ensure that students will not go hungry.

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  • Perfectly good food was going in the trash, so an Indiana school turned it into take-home meals for hungry kids

    A community organization in Indiana called Cultivate "rescues" food from local caterers, hospitals, casinos, and businesses to then be packaged into take-home meals for students at Woodland Elementary School that come from food-insecure homes. Cultivate is in its second year of existence, has three staff and 400 volunteers, and hopes to expand beyond their pilot program to reach all 21 schools in the district.

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  • Fighting Sex Trafficking at the Truck Stop

    Truckers Against Trafficking are making an impact in reducing sex trafficking in the US by educating truckers, their companies, and the law enforcement that intersect with commercial drivers on how to spot sex trafficking and how to respond. To date, this 10-year-old organization has trained more than 700,000 truckers, and does further outreach with initiatives like "Man to Man" (which trains truckers to talk to other men about the issue) and "The Freedom Drivers Project" (a mobile museum about sex trafficking that goes to events like trucker conventions).

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  • This All-Female Surf Club is Shifting the Paradigm in Sri Lankan Surf Culture

    Support from the international surfing community has empowered women in Sri Lanka to push back against patriarchal social norms and participate in outdoor recreation. Working to change a culture that discourages women from surfing, the Argument Bay Surf Club became the first official all-female surf club registered in Sri Lanka. The club, started with help from members of Surfing the Nations, that not only encourages women to pursue a hobby, but also engages in projects like beach clean ups and hopes to empower women to seek jobs as surfing instructors.

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  • Fighting Bias, Block by Block

    In this excerpt from Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt’s book, Biased, the author details the role surveillance and apps like Nextdoor play in perpetuating and disrupting discriminatory housing policies, racism, and segregation in the United States. Furthermore, it details how online communities can be spaces for meaningful discussions on race and racism in America.

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