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How Tennessee Is Getting Adult Students Back to School

Emily Nonko

April 29, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Tennessee

Tennessee Reconnect, which started as a small-scale "mentorship and financial support program", has now been adopted and expanded throughout the state as a way to help adults start or continue higher education. Now in its second year, the program matches applicants with "navigators," adult mentors who understand the specific student's financial and social challenges and helps them navigate the process every step of the way. The program also provides funding to students to pay for coursework and is now looking to expand its operations to jails and prisons.

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National Network Emerges to Feed Frontline COVID-19 Workers

Emily Nonko

April 07, 2020 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

The idea of “feeding the frontline” - donating funds to purchase restaurant food that can be delivered to frontline healthcare works amidst the COVID-19 crisis - has spread like wildfire. In cities from San Francisco to Portland to Boston, individuals have stepped up to coordinate efforts and donations. By partnering with World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit founded by a celebrity chef, and Frontline Foods, “an umbrella effort formed to coordinate similar efforts across the country,” these charitable endeavors have gained legitimacy, funds, and the ability to scale.

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California's Streamlined SNAP App Pivots to Meet COVID-19 Demand

Emily Nonko

April 01, 2020 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, California

A state’s digital portals can be ways to reach residents’ needs as well as collect data on the real-time effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In California, the state’s SNAP assistance tool, GetCalFresh, emerged as a vital resources in the COVID-19 pandemic. Code for America originally developed the app to simplify access to federal supplemental nutritional assistance programs and is now relaying the needs of citizens as well as providing additional data on economic trends during the crisis.

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The City That Plans to Completely End Homelessness

Emily Nonko

January 20, 2020 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Rockford, Illinois

A collaborative effort to centralize homelessness services and outreach in Rockford, Illinois, brought veteran and chronic homelessness to “functional zero.” Now the city is applying the same practices to do the same with youth homelessness. A blueprint from Built for Zero enabled the city to create a “command center” which brought together all the agencies dealing with the matter, creating a database that allowed them to track and help anyone living on the streets.

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Art Helps Returning Citizens ‘Cross the Threshold'

Emily Nonko

December 11, 2019 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Performance art provides a healing outlet for formerly incarcerated individuals. In New York City, the Ritual4Return program encourages participants to express the transition in their lives through art. Using an artistic expression helps individuals cope with the experience of incarceration and encourages them to reflect on crossing the threshold into the next stage of life. The program operates with the support of grants from universities, foundations, and private donations through a Kickstarter campaign.

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In Peoria, Green Infrastructure As a Path to Social Equity

Emily Nonko

November 20, 2019 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Peoria, Illinois

Green infrastructure provides a return on investment and improves the quality of life in a community. In Peoria, Illinois, the city’s Public Works Department has piloted several green infrastructure initiatives with the help of funding of a Bloomberg Philanthropies grant. Projects like the Well Farm at Voris Field, zero runoff streets are proving successful at capturing sewer runoff and creating economic value, while the youth volunteer PeoriaCorps are helping make the projects community-based.

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The community hub of the future isn't a library or a shopping center. It's city hall

Emily Nonko

August 12, 2019 |

FastCompany |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sweden, Kiruna

In Kiruna, Sweden's northernmost city, a new city hall building is embodying transparency and community engagement. The building boasts a public cafe, seating nooks, studios, and a public art museum among the more traditional municipal offices of typical city halls. There are no barriers in this city hall, and the public has full access to everything except the offices and the chamber.

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This Oakland Community Hub Was Designed for Restorative Justice

Emily Nonko

August 08, 2019 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Partnerships between nonprofits strengthen efforts to promote economic justice. Working together, several nonprofits focused on economic and restorative justice in Oakland have succeeded in opening Restore Oakland, a community and multipurpose center. The new building, which received funding from private donations and from the Akonadi foundation, provides a space nonprofits like the Ella Baker Center and the Restaurant Opportunity Centers United (ROC United).

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Incarcerated Men Write the Stories of Wall City

Emily Nonko

April 29, 2019 |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Quentin, California

Partnerships between those incarcerated and volunteers from the outside are crucial. Collaborations—such as the one between the Wall City magazine, the UC Berkeley, and the San Quentin Journalism Guild—make it possible for those incarcerated to have a voice. The publication of the newspaper not only informs discourse, it also serves as a way to help rehabilitate and reengage those behind bars.

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'The Journey to Trust Is Long'

Emily Nonko

April 08, 2019 |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

Sheriffs' offices can provide resources and encourage underserved communities and communities struck hard by disinvestment to grow their civic capacity. In Alameda County, California, the county sheriff’s office operates a non-profit organization, the Deputy Sheriff’s Activities League (DSAL). The non-profit champions a model of community engagement known as community capital policing, hosting community events and programs in Ashland and Cherryland.

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