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Ideas We Should Steal: More Worker-Owned Businesses

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

November 12, 2024 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Democracy Brewing is a worker cooperative, which means worker-owners split the profits and have an equal say in business decisions that affect working conditions. Studies show that this type of business structure results in higher wages and household wealth for workers of color, and these workers also tend to stay in their positions longer.

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Grassroots Housing Reparations

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

August 29, 2023 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

The best way to grow generational wealth in the United States is by owning a home, so the Portland-based collective Taking Ownership is fighting the effects of gentrification in Black neighborhoods by helping homeowners do necessary home improvement work. Volunteers and licensed contractors do the work, and the projects are funded with donations from mostly White and wealthy donors.

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Hire a Kick-Ass Trash Czar

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

August 01, 2023 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

New York City’s Sanitation Commissions is cleaning up city streets with new practices and regulations curbing its trash problem. For example, she has started using data to track trash conditions across the city, she’s enforcing infractions, and she changed put-out and pick-up times.

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What If Everyone Had To Vote?

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

June 12, 2023 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Australia

In Australia, voting has been mandatory since 1924, with failure to vote punishable by fines up to $79. The country sees an average turnout of 90% for its federal elections, not just due to compulsory voting, but also because of automatic voter registration, mail-in voting, Saturday elections, and extensive outreach with populations unable to vote in person, not to mention their tradition of handing out "democracy sausage" at the polls.

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Action Civics for the Win: Philly High School Students Offer Hope

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

April 19, 2023 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

At Philadelphia’s inaugural Civics Day competition, students from high schools across the city presented their work to address issues important to their community, from countering sexual assault to improving safety on public transit and preventing gun violence. The students were part of a pilot project by Generation Citizen designed to teach youth how to actively participate in political and civic life.

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The 20-Minute Neighborhood

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

July 26, 2022 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Cities are revitalizing neglected neighborhoods by turning them into 20-Minute Neighborhoods where all non-work needs are within 20 minutes of travel without a car.

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Cognitive behavior therapy takes work, but can prevent gun violence

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

May 11, 2022 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Massachusetts

Roca uses cognitive behavior therapy with young people at risk of committing violence in order to interrupt the cycle of violence and change how the individuals react to different situations. Roca teaches people skills to slow down, think differently about a situation, and respond in a way that deescalates violence. The organization was successful in Massachusetts, with 84% of those staying in the program for two to four years not having any additional arrests and 98% having no new incarcerations, and has since expanded to Baltimore.

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Would better policing reduce gun violence in Philly like it has in Camden?

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

May 10, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Camden, New Jersey

For a city like Philadelphia, with rising violence and a lack of community trust in the police, Camden and Newark serve as examples of the positive changes that come about when outside forces impose the kinds of reforms that the community seeks. After significant makeovers, both cities' police departments have earned greater trust by being more effective and less brutal. Crime is down and police use less force, including not a single police shooting in Newark in 2020. The lesson in both cities: community involvement in crime reduction is key, but better policing also must be a part of the response.

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Local groups are working to keep 18-year-olds in PA excited about voting after record turnouts in 2021

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

April 01, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philly Youth Vote is a nonpartisan effort, organized by a local social studies teacher, to prepare 18-year-olds to vote. In addition to registering about 700 students in the summer of 2020, the group advocates changing social studies curriculum to include more lessons on civic participation. To connect students with on local issues that directly impact them, they brought 27 candidates to speak in 11 virtual classrooms. The students interviewed the candidates and other schools have used the recordings of the interviews as well. 74% of registered 18-year-olds in Philadelphia cast a ballot in 2020.

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Can free cash really solve Philly's poverty problem?

Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

February 04, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Universal Basic Income programs around the country have demonstrated the effectiveness of distributing cash to people who are economically struggling. Philadelphia distributed $1.7 million through the Worker Relief Fund in the summer of 2020 when thousands of residents were excluded from federal and state pandemic financial aid and plans are also in motion to provide cash payments to 300 families in need of housing assistance.

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