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

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  • The Opposite of Gentrification

    A new program in a Philadelphia neighborhood is offering opportunities for locals to curb gentrification. Gentrification occurs when outside developers come to an area and change it without leaving room for locals to remain. The nonprofit Jumpstart Germantown provides training, mentoring, and loans to community members who want to learn to develop their own neighborhoods in an inclusive and sustainable way. So far, 235 people have graduated from the program, and the model has inspired other Philadelphia neighborhoods to start similar programs.

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  • Threat Assessment Teams

    Increasingly, schools are using threat assessment teams to prevent shootings. Composed of school and law enforcement officials, the groups direct potentially dangerous students to appropriate resources. One study found no racial bias in the process compared to zero tolerance policies that show significant disparities. Threat assessment teams are also unique in their intent to address all gun violence: "Spending money to prevent kids from getting to that point can have ripple effects outside of the school walls as well—in reducing violence on the street, and treating the trauma that precedes it."

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  • Children's Cabinet

    In Somerville, MA, businesses, nonprofits, government officials, and schools take a collaborative and holistic approach to improving children's lives. “Thinking about city budget, priorities, decision-making through the lens of kids ensures good outcomes for everybody,” a director of the initiative notes. Could Philadelphia benefit from breaking down silos and following Somerville's innovative lead?

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  • Champions of the Vote

    In Fairhill, a neighborhood in North Philadelphia, voter turnout was a mere 12% in one recent election. Fairhill Neighbors, a coalition of neighborhood groups, is seeking to combat lower turnout rates with a personal engagement program. “Voting Champions” are community members who will work to register voters, drive them to polls, and generate excitement about voting, with the hopes of transforming civic participation in their area.

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  • Saving The Future, One Kid At A Time

    A program in Philadelphia created to divert students who get in trouble away from the juvenile justice system is poised to grow into the first Juvenile Justice Hub in the country with help from a competitive grant program through Bloomberg Philanthropies. The hub would be based on successful program created in the city's schools that has cut the number of kids arrested in half and is designed to address students' behavior by understanding the environment in which students live and connecting them to social services.

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  • Extreme Risk Protection Orders

    If we can't reach consensus on gun laws, what about ensuring people who may be a threat to themselves or the community cannot access their firearms? Extreme risk protection orders are already in place in four states and are under consideration by some 20 more. These orders allow people who have evidence that someone poses a threat to petition a judge. If a judge agrees then police can take someone's firearms on a temporary basis and require the person to attend counseling.

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  • Tracking The Air We Breathe

    While asthma has a large impact—including being the most common reason for school absence—data on the disease can be difficult to collect. An app called Propeller has been developed which tracks medication use among people with asthma and analyzes usage against 30 different environmental factors that can impact air quality and respitory health.

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  • The Pivot

    The Opportunities Industrialization Center, a decades-old job training program in Philadelphia, has revamped its job support by implementing a new partnership with Bankwork$. The partnership will help graduates of the finance-oriented training program increase their earning potential by being placed in local banking jobs at major institutions. The Bankwork$ program has had over 2000 successful graduates across the United States, with 13 students in Philadelphia’s first graduating class.

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  • Public Montessori Schools

    Puerto Rico has seen success with the growth of its public Montessori school network - the alternative model, which encourages independent thinking and child-centric curricula, holds particular benefits for low income students and their families, studies have shown. Pennsylvania is now looking to follow Puerto Rico's lead.

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  • The Stigma

    For the tens of thousands of individuals struggling with opioid addiction in the United States, breaking their drug habit is never easy, and is often inhibited even by fellow addicts in recovery programs who stigmatize the use of prescribed medications to aid the recovery process, despite their measured success. In Philadelphia, a group called Porch Light is the city's first ever 12-step program to embrace those on a medication-assisted recovery journey, helping to break stigmas and encourage those on the path to a clean start.

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