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'Stopgap' or life saver?: Italy's scheme to help the self-employed survive the coronavirus crisis

Clare Speak

May 30, 2020 |

The Local |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Italy

The Italian government's attempt to assuage the financial fallout of the pandemic on small businesses, freelance workers, and the self-employed did not achieve the desired results despite the enormous size of the aid package: 25 billion euros. Delays, technical glitches, and language barriers for international workers have plagued the application process from the day it was launched and over half a million applications have yet to be processed. Italians also criticized the 600-euro amount which is the average rent in the country, often higher in some areas. The government has announced additional aid.

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These Unsung Countries Are Vanquishing the Virus

Will Doig

May 22, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Finland

During the onset of the pandemic, countries around the world took a variety of different measures to protect its citizens and economies. While some countries continue to be negatively affected by the coronavirus, places like Vietnam, Canada, Croatia, Finland, and New Zealand reacted by taking restrictive measures from the start and have successfully contained the virus. Responses include distributing funds to individuals and businesses on the honors system, closing down everything except grocery stores, hospitals, and pharmacies, as well as rapid implementation of widespread testing.

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Coronavirus crisis in France: The battle to save the livelihoods of the self-employed

Ingri Bergo

May 22, 2020 |

The Local |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: France

The French government has spent billions to keep small businesses afloat during the coronavirus lockdown in hopes that the stopgap funding will ensure a quick economic recovery once the health crisis abates. The funding has been on a national and regional level, with extra funding for those who have been rejected for bank loans and are suffering the most. Small businesses are also exempt from rent, gas, or electricity payments until the country reopens. The distribution of funding has come with its challenges as some business fall through the bureaucratic cracks.

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How Louisiana cities are using the CARES Act to save small businesses, keep people in homes

Christiaan Mader

May 19, 2020 |

The Current (Louisiana) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Louisiana

The Cares Act is a federal program providing $46.6 million dollars of emergency aid which cities in Louisiana are spending on a combination of a mortgage and rent relief or on the needs of small businesses. For most cities throughout the state, the first priority is keeping residents in their homes as the stay on evictions approaches, at which point landlords will expect rent as well as backpay. Louisiana faces the triple threat of a pandemic, the economic fallout from it, and a series of tornados. Keeping people in their homes has been the foremost priority to stop the spread of the virus.

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The Mask Project offers jobs to unemployed and masks to Arizona's hardest-hit communities

Jacob Wirtschafter

May 18, 2020 |

Religion News Service |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Phoenix, Arizona

An interfaith partnership between religions institutions and communities in Arizona has helped provide mask-making jobs to those who have lost their sources of income during the coronavirus pandemic. Participants include many from Latino and Native American communities who have been particularly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The project is not only providing enough of an income for these community members to support their families, but it also is working to keep the local communities safe by distributing the masks to those who need them.

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Louisiana cities are doing what they can to both save small businesses and keep people in their homes

Christiaan Mader

May 18, 2020 |

The Current (Louisiana) |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Lafayette, Louisiana

Several large cities in Lousiana used federal funds for small businesses and housing. Cities like Monroe, Shreveport, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans balanced the needs of small businesses with the needs of families who were provided rent and mortgage assistance. Fayette, however, is opting to focus almost entirely on small businesses. Most cities are prioritizing the need to keep residents in their homes to stop the spread of coronavirus.

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The Farm to Food Bank Movement Aims to Rescue Small-Scale Farming and Feed the Hungry

Lynne Curry

May 14, 2020 |

Civil Eats |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Supply chains have been disrupted with the restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic, and farmers are suffering from a lack of buying customers. Meanwhile, food banks are in dire straits as more and more people seek support after losing jobs to the pandemic. What's needed? A middle man. This article looks at a range of solutions across the United States in which organizations and community groups are stepping up to fill the gap between the two needs. They largely do this by purchasing, packaging, and distributing surplus product to local food banks who need more donations for the community.

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Starved for Action, Bettors Turn Nebraska Horse Track Into Must-See TV

Joe Drape

May 12, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Grand Island, Nebraska

The restrictions imposed by the coronavirus have turned horseracing in Nebraska into an unexpected boon. City officials allowed racing tracks to be open—with precautions—because the horses' livelihoods depend on the jockeys' livelihoods. The grandstands are empty, masks are worn, and temperatures are taken regularly. People from all over the country are betting on the horses online, providing some income, albeit less money than usual. They are also enjoying the increase interest as a way to educate people on Nebraska's history with horse racing.

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Playas del Coco turns to bartering as a payment method during the pandemic

Eduardo Costa

May 07, 2020 |

La Voz de Guanacaste |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Venezuela, Carrillo, Guanacaste

A community in Guanacaste has turned to a bartering system during the coronavirus pandemic to help connect those who are out of work with the supplies they need to live. Similar to an existing program in France, the initiative "consists of being able to use barter or exchange services or products as a means of payment, avoiding the use of money due to lack of income."

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Green stimulus: Pakistan sets virus-idled to work planting trees

Rina Saeed Khan

April 28, 2020 |

Thomson Reuters Foundation |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Pakistan, Islamabad

A solution in Pakistan to the economic distress caused by the coronavirus pandemic is also tackling another crisis at the same time: climate change. A program called 10 Billion Tree Tsunami employs workers who lost their job due to the quarantine by having them plant saplings all over the country. Wages aren't high, but it does offer workers an opportunity to feed their family until the crisis passes. The jobs created are focused in rural areas for women and other young people. The program is one of the few continuing through the pandemic, and already they have planted 30 million trees.

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