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

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  • Virtual Bronx Internships Put Youth First

    August 20, 2020 |

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    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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  • How Europe's Greenest Capital Is Saving City Trees

    August 03, 2020 |

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    Response Location: Germany, Berlin

    Cities around the world are using apps and interactive platforms to encourage resident volunteers to care for their urban forests. For example, in Berlin, Gieß den Kiez (Water the Neighborhood) is an app that allows users to watch their local trees and water them in times of need. When the app launched, there were 1,000 unique users and over 7,000 individual tree waterings in the first six weeks. However, the cost of planting and maintaining trees can be expensive and where the trees are located in cities and who benefits from them is not always equitable.

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  • Why We Should Lower the Voting Age to 16

    July 20, 2020 |

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    Response Location: United States

    Research shows that voting at a young age leads to lifelong civic engagement and several cities and countries have lowered their voting ages. In the handful of democracies that allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, they also show that they turnout in large numbers. Austria was the first EU country to allow 16-year-olds to vote and in 2014 their turnout was 64%, compared to 56% for voters 18-20. Takoma Park, Maryland allows 16-year-olds to vote, and in 2015 45% of them turned out compared to 21% overall. The national movement is slow, and not gaining a lot of traction, but changes can happen at the local level.

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  • Texas's High School Voter Registration Law Fails to Live Up to Ideals

    July 02, 2020 |

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    Response Location: United States, Texas

    A Texas law requiring high school principals to register eligible student voters has failed because it is unequally carried out, not enforceable or tracked, and other obstacles to vote prevent students from casting ballots. While the law was an impressive attempt to increase the civic participation of young people, many high schools have not participated. A 2019 report shows that only 38% of schools with at least 20 seniors requested voter registration forms. A confounding obstacle is a 2013 voter ID law that requires voters to show one of seven forms of photo identification, but student IDs are not eligible

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  • Trenton's Urban Gardens Foster Food Sovereignty and Civic Engagement

    July 01, 2020 |

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    Response Location: United States, Trenton, New Jersey

    Isles, Inc. provides plants, seeds, and support to over 70 community gardens in Trenton, 20 of which belong to schools. In a city where many residents experience food insecurity, Isles also maps food-assets and food deserts, runs a training garden to teach new growers the basics of at-home gardening, and hosts a free summer camp to get young people interested in agriculture and nature. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Isles has distributed over 100 pounds of seeds, 1,000 pounds of fertilizer, and thousands of seedlings to its garden network members and shifted many instructional workshops online.

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  • In Austin, ConnectATX Makes COVID-19 Resources Easy to Find

    June 01, 2020 |

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    Response Location: United States, Austin, Texas

    ConnectATX provides a directory of myriad resources available to residents in Austin, Texas. The services include food aid, rent relief, mental health, childcare, and transportation. ConnectATX has representatives who screen callers depending upon need and connect them with all the appropriate available resources on their website. As the pandemic continues, ConnectATX has kept their directory updated with the latest information on food banks, testing sites, and guidelines for financial aid benefits.

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  • Why San Francisco's Librarians Make Great Contact Tracers Audio icon

    May 28, 2020 |

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    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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  • This Nonprofit Helps Small Business Aid Go Where it Usually Doesn't

    May 21, 2020 |

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    Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

    An American nonprofit called the Community Reinvestment Fund expands access to small business loans by partnering with almost two dozen groups across the country to set up and scale up their community development lending. Founded in 1988, the group essentially takes on the risk of a SBA license so that others could benefit from their license. They created an online platform called Spark that redesigned the user interface of the existing loan processor platform to better facilitate the exchange of money. They have now supported loans for 1,000 communities across 49 states.

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  • Amid COVID-19, SNAP Rolls Out Online Ordering

    May 21, 2020 |

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    Response Location: United States, Washington

    More than a dozen states are participating in a SNAP program, allowing people experiencing economic hardship to purchase food online from retailers. While only certain online retailers allow for food stamp purchases and SNAP users can’t pay for delivery fees with their benefits, more states are piloting the program, which could prove useful for people quarantining from the novel coronavirus.

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  • How Detroit Gets People Around During a Pandemic

    May 20, 2020 |

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    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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