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

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  • Internet Companies Don't Want to Serve the Clearfork Valley. So Residents Are Working to Build Their Own Access

    Community advocates in Clearfork Valley created their own public internet hotspot to bridge the digital divide, especially as the pandemic rendered high-speed internet more of a necessity than a luxury. Broadband companies were reluctant to run fiber-optic cables through the valley because the rural area wouldn't bring in a profit for the internet providers. A small nonprofit, Community Tech, NY, stepped in to help solve the problem by providing Portable Network Kits which provide internet access. Although it creates a small network, it's a huge step toward "stepping onto the technology highway."

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  • California Farmers of Color Need More Support During the Pandemic. Can Private Efforts Help?

    The coronavirus pandemic highlighted the ways in which the food system is broken, but governments, NGOs, and philanthropists are working to address the discrepancies by connecting small-scale farmers of color with businesses that can purchase their produce at fair rates. “For the first time, they felt connected with a real community. For the first time, they felt they were getting paid what’s right for what they’re growing,” a business advisor for one of the operations explains.

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  • Street medic crew forms out of BLM protests in metro Phoenix

    As protests spread across the country in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, some protesters saw the need for street medics to tend to injured protestors. They formed Desert Action Medical Network and remained on the sidelines to administer medical attention at over 80 protests in Phoenix. The medics packed backpacks full of supplies to treat wounds from tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray projectiles, and treated protestors when violence broke out. “Somehow medicine just became the best use of our skills for this movement.”

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  • How one Texas non-profit is helping foster children learn and stay safe during the pandemic

    The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way foster care works. The SAFE Alliance, a merger of Austin Children’s Shelter and SafePlace, had to change the way they do things to ensure the safety of children and teens. “In late February we decided we needed to create a COVID-response team, so the executive team got together and created what we call a COVID coordinator.” Apart from implementing safety protocols, they also found ways to avoid staff burnout, and restructured their teen parent and early childhood programs.

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  • Writing the next chapter in literary diversity

    Kindred is a program to diversify Pima County libraries' staff, events, and collections. They run programs centered around Black history, culture, and experiences, including Black story time and talks featuring prominent local people of color. Topics include Black history, female entrepreneurship, and quilt codes for the Underground Railroad. A grant allowed them to distribute 200 copies of Octavia E. Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” with a guide for discussion. Pima County built on Kindred’s work by launching new collections featuring materials written by and for LGBTQ+, Indigenous, and Latino patrons.

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  • ‘The Poetry Project': How young refugees in Germany are bridging the cultural gap with their voices

    The Poetry Project provides a platform for young refugees to create poetry, share their stories, and learn about German culture. The initiative started with weekly meetings for 7 young refugees to workshop poetry about the refugee experience, including leaving loved ones, why they left, and how they feel in their new home country. Their live performances have won prizes and their audiences respond emotionally. The group’s success allowed it to expand to more participants and reach a wider audience. The experience helped some participants integrate more smoothly into German society, where they have thrived.

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  • They Made a Revolutionary System to Protect People With Developmental Disabilities. Now It's Falling Apart.

    In Arizona, state officials recruited individuals for volunteer committees to have oversight of the state Division of Developmental Disabilities that was responsible for caring for those with developmental disabilities. Although the program was initially successful and "helped Arizona earn its reputation as one of the best states in the country for the care of people with developmental and intellectual disabilities," in recent years, a series of resignations and increased workload have left some of the panels "barely functioning."

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  • Incarcerated Women Are Punished for Their Trauma With Solitary Confinement

    Like other prisons, Minnesota's Shakopee Correctional Facility says it uses solitary confinement as punishment for violence or other misbehavior by incarcerated people, to provide safety, or to isolate people with mental illness. But interviews with 51 women who were sent to solitary, in this story by a fellow incarcerated woman, show how common the punishment is for trivial offenses. Innocent touching is deemed inappropriate sexual activity, or women act out over the trauma they have suffered. Then they are confined in conditions that only make their emotional state worse.

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  • Experts say COVID-era investment in child care is a start, not a solution

    Since the pandemic, 50 childcare programs in New Hampshire shut down permanently. That’s because childcare centers receive payments based on attendance, not enrollment. To help, states like New Hampshire, and others, created an enrollment-based subsidy models, providing payments. “The enrollment-based subsidy payments have helped ensure that early educators can remain employed and continue receiving a paycheck.”

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  • Housing in Uncertain Times

    Time Out Youth Center (TOY) provides housing support for LGBTQ youth ages 18-24, though youth as young as 11 can access some of the organization’s services. The Host Home Program matches youth with individuals or a family where they can live for up to 90 days. While in the transitional housing program, TOY checks in weekly and provides groceries and transportation. The youth must apply to jobs every day, a minimum of 10 for unemployed youth and 4-6 for those working part-time. As they exit the program, they complete a basic skills course where they learn things like how to read a lease and pay rent on time.

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