Padua Project is an innovative program that has a goal of getting poor people out of poverty in three years with a job, three months’ savings and off government assistance. Its unusual success involved a collaboration with other social services organizations. Overcoming the big challenge of this collaboration is an important learning tool to scale similar initiatives.

One of the challenges is that social workers who help poor people typically have large caseloads of clients and lots of paperwork, often leading to burnout. The Padua Project is trying to change that with what they call “supercharged” case workers with manageable caseloads and the freedom to come up with creative solutions to problems.

For five decades, tens of thousands of people have fought poverty. Trillions of dollars have been spent, but poverty is a stubborn enemy. In the second part of a five-part series, WAMU’s Kavitha Cardoza tells us about one innovative program in Fort Worth, Texas, that may have cracked the code.

In an attempt to address liver disease, diabetes, obesity and other health issues, Brownsville has launched a comprehensive, cohesive approach to promoting health, being named a model for other communities across the country.

In an attempt to curb risky alcohol use and its consequences, advocates and researchers are launching two initiatives in El Paso – one to get people to reconsider their drinking habits, and another to reduce underage drinking at parties.

In Texas, Mass-Incarceration is becoming a surprising hub of bi-partisan reform. By finding common ground, and brainstorming new solutions and alternatives to mass incarceration, the state has seen a drop in incarceration and crime rates.

Three Part Series, "America Beyond Detention": For decades, immigrant advocates have argued that the federal government should increase the use of residential shelters - like Casa Marianella in Austin - as an alternative to detention. The shelters are generally less expensive, treat immigrants more humanely, and are better equipped to integrate people into their new communities.

In Nueces County, new local programs, projects, and partnerships - spurred by a particularly deadly year for women - are demonstrating how improved assessment by law enforcement and engagement by community members is helping to reduce abuse and homicides while preventing domestic violence overall.

To increase renewable energy from wind, Texas is the site of many wind turbines across wind farms, which not only produce energy but also provide income to farmers who own the land. There are still some problems but by deregulating the electricity market, making use of the open lands of Texas, and the relaxed attitude of Texans toward living near turbines Texas is a major generator; while other states struggle behind.

The Padua Project in Fort Worth, Texas, has set a goal of getting 100 poor people out of poverty in three years — with a job, three months’ savings and off government assistance. But, is it working?

Hepatitis C is a deadly disease that has yet to be eradicated in the United States (and worldwide). Organizations in El Paso and across the country are working to get people tested and treated for the virus.

Liver disease is killing El Pasoans at an alarming rate and draining resources as sick patients end up in hospitals and emergency rooms – but it doesn’t have to be that way. Liver disease’s three main causes are preventable, and several groups in El Paso and across the country are tackling them one by one.

Roxanne Morales sees hope in the children of Robstown. As a community educator for the Women’s Shelter of South Texas, she has worked in the community for the past year in a pilot program that is about creating safe communities.

Researcher Robert Balfanz says by ninth grade, he can identify 75% of the kids who will drop out from high school. That’s when a team of nonprofits rushes in to help.

A meaningful pre-kindergarten experience is increasingly seen as a critical part of a child’s education, and parents are expected to play a much more significant role - however, poorer families must first overcome powerful hurdles to be more present in their children’s education. San Antonio schools provide counseling, parental guidance and professional development to parents of schoolchildren in an effort to help them help their kids.

A growing number of high schools across the U.S. offer free college courses to low-income students in an effort to help them make the transition from high school to college and afford the rising cost of a degree.

Judge Inna Klein and probation officers from The Community Supervision and Corrections Department are bringing domestic violence reform to Nueces County. By taking more aggressive approaches toward supervision and accountability, and by focusing on rehabilitative services for offenders, they hope to break the cycles of violence.