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A New Project Is Bringing the Gay ‘Green Book' Online

Marianne Dhenin

June 29, 2021 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

In 1965 a traveling salesman published a series of travel guides with gay or gay-friendly businesses across the U.S. that became survival guides for the LGBTQ community. “Mapping the Gay Guides” has digitized those collections, allowing users to explore the original descriptions and added historical content written by graduate students. Reasons for why locations appear and disappear from year-to-year are provided, which sometimes intersect with LGBTQ hate crimes. A $350,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will allow them to continue to preserve and make the forgotten history accessible.

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Co-Op Owned by Formerly Incarcerated Women Embarks on Next Step, Thanks to Surprising Money Source

Oscar Perry Abello

June 29, 2021 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

A worker-owned cooperative in Chicago got the financial boost it needed to secure a commercial space for expansion through a city fund. The Chicago Community Trust allowed ChiFresh Kitchen to make their business plan a reality while simultaneously reducing the blight caused by vacant, dilapidated commercial buildings.

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Affordable Manufacturing Space Is an Engine for Equitable Economic Development

Emily Nonko

June 23, 2021 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Affordable manufacturing spaces serve as community assets that can be a launchpad for economic development. A nonprofit in Pittsburgh offers an affordable space which has led to 100 percent capacity. The businesses renting space there have created 97 full-time jobs.

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‘Safety First' Drug Education Program Acknowledges the Failings of ‘Just Say No'

Roshan Abraham

June 17, 2021 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

Studies show that abstinence-based prevention drug programs like D.A.R.E don't work. To provide another option, the Drug Policy Alliance, a non-profit, developed its own curriculum called “Safety First.” The 15-lesson curriculum was piloted in five schools under the San Francisco Unified School District.

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Philly Families Are Taking Charge of Their Own Food Security

Emily Nonko

June 15, 2021 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In 2014, the community organization Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha piloted a community-based Food Buying Club in Philadelphia. This initiative allowed local residents to buy food in bulk at wholesale prices. The goal was to strengthen food security and combat the lack of affordable and nutritious food in their neighborhood. Despite distributing over 62,000 pounds of fresh produce, the program shut down due to financial reasons. Now, after forming an advisory council and working on their business strategy with others in the community, the club is reopening and is looking to expand across the city.

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Local Platforms for Online Food Delivery Are Eating the Big Guys' Lunch

Oscar Perry Abello

June 15, 2021 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Lexington, Kentucky

Locally owned restaurant delivery platforms charge lower commissions than national giants like GrubHub, allow customers to order food on smart-phone apps, and have found ways to be profitable while also keeping money in local economies. While platforms differ by locale, cooperative models are increasingly popular. For example, Delivery Co-op in Lexington, KY provides customers with unlimited deliveries for a monthly fee, charges participating restaurants a flat monthly fee, and pays drivers a base salary plus tips, with benefits kicking after three months of full-time work and profit-sharing after one year.

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Art Teachers Are Teaching Girls to Code

Celeste Hamilton Dennis

June 10, 2021 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Miami, Florida

Code/Art trains art teachers in a curriculum that combines art and coding, with the goal of inspiring girls to code. They also offer weekly clubs for elementary and middle school girls, a Future Female Tech Leaders program for high schoolers, and an annual conference to celebrate the girls’ achievements. Teachers who take the training can satisfy continuing education requirements by learning four lessons: an abstract art generator and donut maker game, coding self-portraits using JavaScript, and 3-D modeling. Facilitators are assisted by college-age interns, who are available to help in the classroom.

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Minnesota Repurposes Transit Buses to Give COVID-19 Vaccines to Communities That Need Them Most

Henry Pan

June 10, 2021 |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

With extra buses available due to lower ridership during the pandemic, Metro Transit worked with key partners to turn six buses into mobile vaccination clinics. Metro Transit provided drivers and retrofitted the buses by removing seats, relocating stanchions, and ensuring buses could draw power from electrical outlets. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota provided staff and licensed clinicians to administer the vaccines. The health department provided funding that made it all come together. The buses prioritized areas with gaps in vaccine access, including low-income areas and communities of color.

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Sustaining the Work of Artists With a Living Wage and Benefits In Western Massachusetts

Emily Nonko

June 09, 2021 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Massachusetts

Artists at Work is a pilot project of THE OFFICE performing arts + film that paired artists with cultural and community partners to work on local initiatives. For their work, the artists were paid a living wage, including healthcare, which resulted in responses to issues like youth mental health, food justice, and COVID-19 awareness campaigns in communities that are marginalized. From empowering youth to build community through food and farming to engaging young queer people of color, the successful six-month pilot led to a new fundraising campaign to continue and expand to seven regions across the U.S.

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This Fitness Entrepreneurship Course Is a Second Chance for the Formerly Incarcerated

Kristi Eaton

June 09, 2021 |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

People who spend their time in prison getting physically fit might seek to turn what they've learned into a job as a fitness trainer, once they're released. But felony convictions act as a barrier to such jobs. A Second U Foundation, founded by a formerly incarcerated man who faced such barriers, provides an eight-week course in running a fitness-training business. Of the 200 people who have taken the course since 2015, three-quarters have been hired by health clubs, while the others started their own businesses. Foundations and grants foot the bill so that the training is free.

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