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

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  • How New York and Paris Got Women Into the Bike Saddle

    February 12, 2021 |

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    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    Citi Bike started the NYC Critical Workers program, which offered free bike-share memberships to essential workers in New York City because of the coronavirus pandemic. The free membership started for one month but was extended to a year. Nearly 30,000 people signed up. Since a large proportion of healthcare workers are women, almost 60% of the new members were women, which increased the company’s female annual members from 32.8 percent to 38.9 percent. Several other cities also saw progress in the gender-balance of bike riders during the pandemic.

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  • How a Brooklyn Coalition Is Fighting Isolation in Seniors with Low-Tech Conference Calls

    February 11, 2021 |

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    Response Location: United States, New York, New York

    To address the growing isolation facing senior citizens, a Brooklyn-based organization started an initiative called The Sharing Network to connect volunteers with seniors via telephone calls. Taking the participants' interests into account, the initiative has expanded to include the moderator-led discussion groups that focus on a wide variety of topics, with more than 70 seniors signing up to be included.

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  • Seattle's Newest Community Hub Was Built, Literally, By Neighbors

    February 09, 2021 |

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    Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

    A collective of artists in Seattle bought real estate for a community center with the help of city funding. Known as Black and Tan Hall, the space drew funding and sweat equity from community members who sought a safe and affordable place to gather. The initiative to buy the building is “an anti-gentrification model that combats displacement, keeps dollars hyper local, and sustains good jobs.”

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  • By Telling New Stories, Youngstown's Historical Society Is Reinventing Itself for the 21st Century

    February 04, 2021 |

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    Response Location: United States, Youngstown, Ohio

    The Mahoning Valley Historical Society reached a broader local audience "by asking tough questions and reshaping itself for the 21st century," bucking the traditional historical-society model of focusing only on white pioneers' history. The society has thrived, even in the face of its region's dramatic population drop amid industrial decline, because it embraces discussions of uncomfortable topics concerning racial and ethnic diversity and neglected histories. It partnered with other local groups to focus on African American history topics, which has helped draw crowds and donations.

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  • Reviving the Cherokee Language Is a Full-Time Job – Literally

    February 04, 2021 |

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    Response Location: Cherokee Nation, United States, Oklahoma

    The Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program is an immersion program that pays adults to learn the Cherokee language, which is quickly disappearing yet important for preserving Cherokee culture. The program requires 40 hours a week for two years and participants are paid $10 per hour as an incentive to focus on their studies. When creating the curriculum, the Cherokee Nation looked to other Native Nations with initiatives to preserve Native cultures and languages. The program has grown over the past six years and now, when fully filled, has 32 participants taking part in the two-year program.

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  • Minneapolis Is Funding Artists' Community Healing Projects With Police Dollars

    February 03, 2021 |

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    Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    Through its Creative CityMaking program, the city of Minneapolis pays artists to use their skills to promote healing and community-building in projects they design on their own. The program had existed for seven years when the George Floyd case roiled Minneapolis. The city council carved $150,000 out of the police budget to add to its artist-led community healing work. One of the 10 most recent grantees, Rising From the Ashes, produced a series of online gatherings for local queer artists and artists of color, concluding with an online exhibit of art made during the 2020 uprising.

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  • How a Water Bill Can Help Cities Help Their Most Vulnerable Residents

    January 28, 2021 |

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    Response Location: United States

    A pilot program may be able to alleviate the utility debts incurred by struggling customers who were affected by the pandemic-induced economic slowdown. A pre-pandemic program used missed utility payments as an opportunity to provide people with “financial empowerment services like individualized repayment plans and financial counseling.” The program not only cut down on municipal costs but also benefited residents in all five cities. Participants were less likely to experience water shutoffs and paid significantly fewer late fees.

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  • Worker-Owned Cooperatives are Building Their Own Investment Network

    January 28, 2021 |

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    Response Location: United States

    Cooperatives are getting the funding they need through a “nationwide network of loans funds and incubators that specialize in supporting and investing in cooperative businesses.” Coops lack access to traditional funding and are typically member funded. The new source of funding has allowed historically marginalized Black and Hispanic communities the opportunity to create coops where workers share ownership equally.

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  • St. Louisans Mapped Monuments of Their City, and Uncovered Surprising Connections

    January 27, 2021 |

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    Response Location: United States, St. Louis, Missouri

    When the Public Iconographies project asked people in St. Louis "how would you map the monuments of St. Louis?", it got 750 hand-drawn maps telling stories of often-overlooked sites throughout the city. By letting people from the community determine what is important, the project ended up with a data-filled report channeling freeform responses. They included the spot where a Ferguson police officer killed Michael Brown, the site of a 1917 race riot, and Cahokia Mounds, a pre-Columbian site in the city. The project formed a counterpoint to efforts to remove problematic symbols, like a Columbus statue.

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  • Michigan's New Clean-Slate Law Makes State a Leader in Criminal Justice Reform

    January 27, 2021 |

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    Response Location: United States, Michigan

    A new law in Michigan will automatically expunge misdemeanors and felonies after several years, making it easier to find employment for those who have a record. The automatic nature of the expungement removes the barriers of cost and time for successfully completing the long application process. A clean slate makes it easier for people to improve their lives through better housing and higher pay, leading to lower rates of recidivism.

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