The Tiny-House Village That's Changing Lives

Mobile homeowners are buying the land their homes are on to form resident-owned cooperatives so they can upgrade infrastructure faster. This allows them to combat and adapt to climate change by installing things like solar panels and drainage systems.

A workforce development initiative, PowerCorpsPHL, pays participants to learn skills and gain hands-on experience for jobs that offer long-term career opportunity in the field of environmental sustainability. Participants generally have criminal records or have been in the foster care system. In addition to job training and education, PowerCorpsPHL also provides services such as mental health counseling, securing childcare, navigating SNAP and AmeriCorps tuition benefits and helping with paperwork. The program helps 92 percent of participants secure either a job or post-secondary education.

In Chicago, like other cities, there is a shortage of services and housing for homeless youth. One developer is addressing the problem by building permanent supportive housing with comprehensive services for those between the ages of 18-25.

Although San Francisco has two shelters that collectively hold more than 300 beds each, these shelters can divide up families and couples, and can discourage pets and personal belongings. These shelters also do not offer services to help the homeless. The Navigation Center serves the homeless from the encampments in the Mission District and offers a variety of services, comfort, and convenience while many successfully find stable housing placements.

As a stopgap solution to housing insecurity among students, Long Beach Community College launched the Safe Parking Program, which allows students to sleep in their cars in a designated lot that has Wi-Fi, bathrooms and showers, and security on duty. The pilot program started with 13 students and was later expanded to become a permanent offering.

Getting to public transportation can be difficult for commuters. Microtransit is easing that burden and reducing emissions by replacing individual car trips. Partnerships between cities and companies ensure shared, on-demand scooters, bikes, or vehicles are available to help people reach public transportation.

Washington's Office of Homeless Youth administers funding and creates policy solutions to help youth experiencing homelessness across the state. The agency organizes services like shelter, sober-living housing, and financial assistance tailored to their personal experiences.

Local governments in the United States are taking the lead on carbon removal projects to meet net-zero goals, which could help bring down the cost of the technology to make it more widely accessible. A coalition of governments in Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico, for example, awarded grants to projects that store carbon dioxide in concrete.

The Indian government and the solar nonprofit Selco Foundation partnered to install solar panels at health facilities across the country to address blackouts that prevented them from providing adequate care.

The nonprofit Marine Cultures is teaching single mothers and divorced women in Zanzibar, Tanzania, to farm sea sponges to increase their income and improve gender equality. Sea sponges are a better option than typical seaweed farming because they are more resilient to climate change impacts like increasing water temperatures.