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This App Pays Young People Without Housing to Build Life Skills

Emily Nonko

November 24, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New Haven, Connecticut

Youth experiencing unstable housing in New Haven, Connecticut can build life skills in exchange for gift cards through an app built by a nonprofit. DreamKit incentivizes positive change for disadvantaged young people who have competing priorities. The nonprofit is building a pipeline which will allow them to gauge which skills employers are looking for, provide those skills through the app, and then present a list of trained youth to employers.

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Their App Sends Free Mail to Incarcerated People. Now They're Helping Prisoners Register to Vote

Emily Nonko

October 20, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Ameelio is a technology startup launched by Yale students to facilitate free communication between people who are incarcerated and loved ones. In their first six months, the group went from sending 300 to over 4,000 letters a week to facilities in the United States. Their initial goal was to provide a not-for-profit alternative to the oftentimes predatory prison telecommunications industry. Recently they began a voter registration initiative where they send registration instructions, a blank voter registration application, and ballot request form to people who are incarcerated and eligible to vote.

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Jersey City's Composting Program Expands During a Pandemic

Emily Nonko

September 16, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Jersey City, New Jersey

Since the Jersey City composting program, over 50,000 pounds of disposable waste has been used to fertilize home gardens, parks, and community gardens, instead of going into landfills. While scaling the program is a challenge due to the lack of infrastructure for integrating composting as part of the city’s waste removal, residents were eager to participate.

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How Philadelphia Has Tried to Address Water Debt

Emily Nonko

September 01, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

An income-based payment structure has alleviated water debt in Philadelphia. Decreasing federal aid to municipal water utilities in conjunction with rising costs associated with climate change has increased the cost of water, making it unaffordable for many. Philadelphia created an income-based program, which caps water bills at three percent of income. The Tiered Assistance Program, or TAP, also provides debt elimination for those who make their minimum payments. Advocates have successfully pushed for similar reforms in Baltimore.

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Cincinnati Tenants Are Building Equity With Each Rent Payment

Emily Nonko

August 28, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cincinnati, Ohio

Dividend housing is an innovative initiative in Cincinnati giving renters the benefit of building equity without buying or selling real estate. Residents earn credits by maintaining the property, attending monthly tenant meetings, and paying their rent on time. In addition to equity, residents are guaranteed permanent affordable rent. Rental equity provides a security net, which can be cashed out and is also available as credits that residents can use to invest in other properties being built by their property developer.

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Virtual Bronx Internships Put Youth First

Emily Nonko

August 20, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

The Thinkubator, a Bronx-based nonprofit, launched "Thinkubator Solves" a virtual internship program that pairs Bronx high school students with local businesses. The paid one-month summer internship allows students to collaborate with employers who are struggling to cope with pandemic-related challenges. Students were grouped into teams who worked with organizations like Legal Aid and Advocates for Children of New York, Bronx Public Schools and a local restaurant.

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San Quentin's Breakthrough Prison Newsroom

Emily Nonko

June 25, 2020 |

Politico |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

San Quentin Prison's media created by the men incarcerated there have gone beyond rehabilitation of individuals to a broader mission of promoting criminal justice policy reform by reframing the narrative about those who have committed crimes and the system's inequities. Through San Quentin News, the podcast Ear Hustle, and a series of dialogues between incarcerated men and criminal justice officials, their stories have shed new light on prison life and those held in prison, and formed a cadre of journalists who gained experience behind bars and have become prominent advocates on the outside.

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Why San Francisco's Librarians Make Great Contact Tracers

Emily Nonko

May 28, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

Librarians’ skills have proved critical to San Francisco’s pandemic response, in roles ranging from translating to communicating public-health announcements, but especially contact tracing. The city’s largest-ever activation of disaster service workers meant sending librarians to the front lines. The dozens chosen for contact tracing work use a combination of research and people skills, striving to build trust with people reached by phone. Says one librarian, “You have to be agile and willing to lean in. It aligns well with my skills as a librarian."

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How Detroit Gets People Around During a Pandemic

Emily Nonko

May 20, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

The city of Detroit’s government spearheaded new partnerships at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to provide transit options for people living in city shelters and residents who don’t have cars to access COVID-19 testing. These partnerships among government departments allowed for transporting those experiencing homelessness to designated emergency shelters and hospitals to prevent the spread of the virus among shelter residents. Government officials anticipated as many as 450 shelter residents would contract the virus, but so far, only 154 people have tested positive with no deaths reported.

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Philadelphia Based Artists Fill the Walls With Hope, and Public Safety Know-How

Emily Nonko

May 13, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In Philadelphia, a project called Fill the Walls With Hope has come together, pairing public art with hyper-local information. The initiative, which has collaborated with various local organizations, came together as a response to COVID-19 and the need to get out timely, factual public safety messaging. Run by volunteers, the project pays local, participating artists, and has been working with local news outlets to help creatively engage residents.

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