Solving problems by addressing the underlying factors. By digging deep and attacking the root causes of a problem, changemakers are able to treat the disease rather than just the symptoms. These solutions offer help to those in need, employ a comprehensive approach to problem-solving, and address the determinants that keep individuals and communities from succeeding.
Treating underlying conditions, specifically those that are structural and systemic that cause social problems. These issues arise as a consequence from the way a society is organized. For example, a solution that addresses patriarchy or a lack of jobs in a poor neighborhood.
Help rather than punishmentThinking of behaviors such as addiction as diseases that require treatment.
Using a comprehensive approachProviding people with services that address multiple challenges at once.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/22/upshot/singapore-health-system-lessons.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Aaron E. Carroll
The New York Times
22 April 2019
Text / 1500-3000 Words
In Singapore, government officials have taken the opportunity to learn from gaps and failures in their health care system in order to enact a more progressive, proactive and accessible process. From subsidizing housing to implementing healthier school lunches to combat diabetes, the country's health care system is often held as an example to model.
https://www.news5cleveland.com/a-better-land/local-group-offering-families-second-chances?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Frank Wiley
WEWS-TV (ABC News 5 Cleveland)
15 April 2019
Broadcast TV News / Under 5 Minutes
Systemic issues like redlining, re-entry after incarceration, and addiction have left many people in search of affordable and sustainable housing options. Cleveland’s Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries is rehabbing homes and offering them to individuals who are in need of a second chance.
https://www.outsideonline.com/2390812/nature-therapy-rino-consulting?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Padmini Parthasarathy
Outside
15 April 2019
Text / 1500-3000 Words
People who work in caring professions often experience vicarious trauma, and don't always take the time to seek care for themselves. Rino Consulting Solutions aims to help solve this issue, especially as it impacts people of color, through "a unique mashup of professional guidance and outdoor-based therapy."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/12/education/lebron-james-school-ohio.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Erica Green
The New York Times
12 April 2019
Text / 1500-3000 Words
One year after LeBron James' I Promise School opened its doors, its students, picked for being some of the worst performing in Akron, Ohio, have shown significant improvement on district assessments. I Promise is funded like other public schools, but also benefits from an additional $600,000 from the James' foundation for more teaching staff, after-school programs, and a family resource center with G.E.D. preparation and career counseling. Teachers say these add-ons have been the key to the school's early success.
https://www.vox.com/videos/2019/4/12/18301911/norway-humane-prison?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Gina Barton
Christophe Haubursin
Vox
12 April 2019
Video / Under 5 Minutes
Halden Prison in Norway has re-designed itself so that the look and feel of prison life isn’t an added punishment to restricted freedom. Designers took into consideration the role campus design plays in promoting or disrupting guard-inmate relations and created a campus that promotes community rather than violence and isolation. Also included was landscaping, more natural light, and the use of softer materials, like glass and wood, instead of metal and brick.
https://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/tiny-house-village-home-equity-homelessness-20190409?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Carla Bell
Yes! Magazine
9 April 2019
Text / 800-1500 Words
In Detroit, a new program is offering homeownership for just $1 per square foot to marginalized and vulnerable people, including those who are unhoused, people with disabilities, or the formerly incarcerated. After proving an income of between $7,000 and $12,000 and the abilities to pay rent, as well as financial classes and volunteering, people can qualify to live in tiny homes, which are then handed off to the resident mortgage-free after seven years. So far, the program has built six tiny homes.
https://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/suspended-drivers-license-clear-tickets-warrants-20190409?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Keith Griffith
Yes! Magazine
9 April 2019
Text / 1500-3000 Words
For people driving with suspended licenses, doing so can entrench them in a cycle of unpaid fines, unemployment, and, ultimately, poverty. Stand With Dignity – a grassroots, community organizing group in New Orleans – recognized how this issue fell at the intersection of criminal justice and employment and together with city officials, coordinated warrant clinics that have forgiven $2 million worth of traffic fines and reinstated licenses for hundreds of individuals. The response is following a national trend that is questioning the suspension of licenses for those with unpaid court fines.
https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/facing-opioid-and-foster-care-crisis-spokanes-rising-strong-seeks-to-keep-families-together?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Claudia Rowe
The Seattle Times
5 April 2019
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Keeping families together eases the burden on the foster care system and reduces issues such as homelessness and substance abuse in the long term. Former foster children in Spokane, Washington, end up relying heavily upon other social welfare institutions throughout their lives. To break this cycle, Rising Strong, a program funded largely by a philanthropic contribution, focuses on rebuilding families while addressing behavior issues through an intensive, live-in program.
http://nationswell.com/fix-broken-things-free-repair-cafes?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Monica Humphries
NationSwell
5 April 2019
Text / Under 800 Words
Encouraging people to repair their broken items is an important step toward reducing consumer-generated waste. The Repair Cafe Foundation, a nonprofit based in the Netherlands, helps volunteers open their own repair cafes worldwide. So far, thirty-five countries have opened such cafes, with more expected as consumer-rights advocates push for “Right to Repair” legislation.
https://abc7ny.com/society/nj-high-school-opens-doors-every-friday-to-keep-kids-off-streets/5236330?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
CeFaan Kim
WABC-TV (ABC 7 NY)
5 April 2019
Broadcast TV News / Under 5 Minutes
In Newark, NJ, kids are opting to stay late at school on Friday nights to hang out. This is possible because of West Side High School’s Lights On program, created to give students structured entertainment and to protect them from gun violence and crime.
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