A Better Way to Talk About Faith

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/a-better-way-to-talk-about-faith

David Bornstein

The New York Times

12 June 2012

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Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) brings together college students from different faiths so that they develop respect and appreciation for each other and different traditions. IFYC also cultivates interfaith leaders and organizes campus-based campaigns called Better Together. Some students have received push back from their faith communities, but students and faculty have reported the campaigns for interfaith engagement leads to positive outcomes of increasing tolerance on campuses. The organization has trained students who have run campaigns on 106 campuses.

What Do the Poor Need? Try Asking Them

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/opinion/sunday/david-l-kirp-what-do-the-poor-need-try-asking-them.html

David L. Kirp

The New York Times

8 August 2015

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Neighborhood Centers, a Houston anti-poverty program has a simple philosophy: “The people are the asset, the source of potential solutions, not the problem.” The non-profit has scaled nationally, employing its bottom-up approach to disburse funds in poor communities.

Curing Violence Like an Infectious Disease

http://www.tinyspark.org/podcasts/curing-violence-like-an-infectious-disease

Amy Costello

Tiny Spark

30 July 2015

Podcast / 5-15 Minutes

Neighborhoods in Chicago suffer from gang violence and gun-related deaths. A church leader and a physician trained in infectious diseases created Cure Violence, a program that sends teams of local residents to meet with gang leaders as a means of producing positive behavioral change by re-setting social norms. Their approach has reduced violence between 40% and 70%.

The End of Gangs

http://www.psmag.com/the-end-of-gangs-edb059b5f770?gi=e7d7f23f0b8e

Sam Quinones

Pacific Standard

29 December 2014

Text / Over 3000 Words

In 2014, the Los Angeles Police Department announced that gang-related crime had dropped by nearly half since 2008. The transformation of LA holds lessons for decreasing violent crime through community policing, a focus on gangs, and the use of CompStat.

Where are the parents? Often standing right over their kids: Pathways to Peace

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/06/where_are_the_parents_often_standing_right_over_their_kids_pathways_to_peace.html

Lynn Ischay

Cleveland.com (The Plain Dealer)

9 June 2016

Multi-Media / 800-1500 Words

Juvenile offenders can feel as though they have no chances for a good future. Volunteers of America’s Face Forward 2 program helps young people in Cleveland to complete their education and to find employment. With this program, juvenile offenders believe they can succeed.

Queensbridge Houses Marks One Year of No Shootings

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Queensbridge-Houses-One-Year-Without-Shootings-412726453.html

Roseanne Colletti

WNBC-TV

3 February 2017

Broadcast TV News / Under 3 Minutes

The Queensbridge Houses, one of the nation's largest public housing projects, is celebrating more than one year without a shooting in what Mayor de Blasio called "a year of golden silence." Security measures such as the implementing of lights and cameras, combined with the creation of the 696 Queensbridge, a team of ex-convicts who patrol the area, has greatly reduced violence in the area.

Why Boston Is Paying Ex-Gang Members To Go To College

https://www.citylab.com/crime/2017/06/why-boston-is-paying-ex-gang-members-to-go-to-college/529026

Andrew Zaleski

CityLab

2 June 2017

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Dorchester, the Boston neighborhood with the highest poverty levels, struggles to keep kids in school from engaging with gangs and crime. But College Bound Dorchester (CBD) is fast rewriting the solution to high drop out and recidivism rates, paying ex-offenders a weekly stipend to enroll in and complete a diploma program and proceed to (and through) college. With "core influencers" -- ex-gang members who have "left behind their troubled pasts" -- as role models in the community, CBD emulates similar programs in Chicago and Baltimore, and studies show the initiative is working.

In Myanmar's slums, women pool savings to get relief from crushing loans

http://citiscope.org/story/2017/myanmars-slums-women-pool-savings-get-relief-crushing-loans

Connor MacDonald

Citiscope

30 March 2017

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Years of misrule and a subsequent dearth of hard currency, along with crippling bank-fostered debt cycles and exorbitant home mortgage interest rates, have created immense suffering for Myanmar's poor. But with the guidance of a local NGO, Women for the World, a pilot project helped women in some of Yangon's poorest neighborhoods capitalize on their cultural "head-of-household" status; by forming and managing community savings cooperatives, the women have instilled trust through local control and, above all, enabled members to secure land, build homes, buy food, and even generate profit through loans to families' business enterprises.

The Salvadoran Community Where Women Take the Lead

https://www.newsdeeply.com/womenandgirls/articles/2016/12/06/salvadoran-community-women-take-lead

Christine Bolaños

News Deeply

6 December 2016

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Women in El Salvador have long faced the extreme challenges of having fewer economic and social rights than men, making it difficult to survive when tragedy - such as an earthquake - strikes. The Romero community, which comprises of 90% women, is providing protection and community for women where they help each other survive.

Grocery cooperatives help keep small towns alive

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2007/jan/14/grocery-cooperatives-help-keep-small-towns-alive

Nafeesa Syeed

The Spokesman-Review

14 January 2007

Text / Under 800 Words

Anita, Iowa faced many of the same challenges as other small towns when the last local grocer closed amid competition with large chains like Costco and Walmart. But when its residents realized the value of a local "mom-and-pop" food purveyor to the town's economy, they created the Anita Grocery Cooperative and a board to oversee it. The Coop marks a testament to collective action, resilience, and sustainable, locally-sourced solutions.