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.kgw.com/article/news/local/the-story/portland-street-response-denver-star-non-police-response-homeless-livability-mental-health-cahoots/283-266a9070-3fd9-4c29-9902-15b81cea5136?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Dan Haggerty
KGW
24 February 2021
Broadcast TV News / 3-5 Minutes
Although Eugene, Oregon's long-running, successful CAHOOTS program serves as one model for the new Portland Street Response, a more relevant model can be found in Denver's STAR program. Like CAHOOTS, STAR responds to mental-health and other crisis calls with medics and counselors rather than police officers. But Denver's size, demographics, and homelessness make it much more analogous to Portland. STAR's first six months provide encouraging news. Nearly 750 calls handled without a single arrest. Both STAR and PSR are starting small, so more resources are needed if the pilot projects succeed.
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/how-nyc-is-stopping-textile-waste-with-low-tech-donation-bins?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Hannah Chinn
Next City
24 February 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
RefashionNYC provides bins for commercial and residential buildings with more than 10 units, though the Department of Sanitation, to recycle clothes and textiles. When full, the contents are sorted by Housing Works, who either sells donations in their thrift shops, sends them to other nonprofit second-hand stores, or exports them to overseas markets. Clothing that is too damaged to be donated is sold to companies that reprocess them as rags or seat padding. 1,300 bins have been installed and over 12,200 tons of clothing and textiles have been diverted from landfills.
https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/agroforestry-and-land-reform-give-brazil-cacao-farmers-sweet-taste-of-success?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Patricia Moll
Mongabay
24 February 2021
Multi-Media / 800-1500 Words
After there was a fungal disease outbreak in the 1990s that affected cacao crops in Brazil, a group of 150 community members got together to collectively manage a farm to grow back cacao trees using agroforestry techniques. Because of their efforts, they sell their cacao to major chocolate brands and have seen their monthly income more than double.
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/how-vermonts-energy-efficiency-utility-helping-businesses-sweat-small-stuff?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Chad Small
Next City
23 February 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
To make their restaurant more energy efficient and to cut its carbon footprint, The Publyk House utilized the services of Efficiency Vermont, a publicly funded energy efficiency utility. As part of their Deep Energy Retrofit program, the utility helped install insulation, LED lighting, and high-efficiency appliances at the restaurant, allowing them to save 50 percent on energy in two years. Since the start of the program, 10 businesses have been able to cut their energy consumption in half.
https://news.wbfo.org/post/green-house-nursing-homes-kept-covid-cases-low-small-sizes-private-rooms-universal-workers?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Tom Dinki
WBFO
22 February 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
The Green House Project, which is a network model of nursing homes across states, has been able to largely avoid the spread of Covid-19 amongst residents, with five times fewer cases than the national nursing home average. While the small size of the nursing homes has played a role, it has also been beneficial that each resident has their own bedroom and bathroom and that staff employ a universal worker model that limits the number of nursing assistants coming and going from each facility.
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/instead-of-eviction-landlords-and-tenants-talk-it-out?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Emily Nonko
Reasons to be Cheerful
19 February 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
Philadelphia's Eviction Diversion Program has helped keep more than 400 landlord-tenant disputes out of eviction court proceedings, mainly by using volunteer mediators to work out mutually agreeable plans for tenants to get caught up on their rent payments. The program started last year as a way to keep people housed during the pandemic. By giving landlords and tenants a place to talk out their issues without the expense and repercussions of going to court, and by connecting tenants with rent-assistance aid, the program's launch was successful enough to win an extension throughout 2021.
https://youtu.be/Ust6Bh1D3GY?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Jacqueline Baylon
Business Insider
19 February 2021
Video / 5-15 Minutes
A Ugandan company called TEXFAD is taking the stems from banana trees that would normally go to waste and is turning them into new textiles like rugs, place mats, and hair extensions. Over its eight year existence, TEXFAD has grown to also employ 23 people, many of whom started in their internship program for students. While the cost to make these products can be expensive, the textiles are biodegradable and uses less water and land to produce.
https://news.trust.org/item/20210219063538-fwb8z?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Rina Chandran
Thomson Reuters Foundation
19 February 2021
Text / Under 800 Words
“More than 107,600 people were forcibly removed from their homes in India in 2019.” Evictions can have devastating effects on a student’s access to education, forcing some to drop out of school. In Delhi, a city in India, a school was built by students, community members, and volunteers using locally-sourced materials. The community had been forcibly removed from their homes, and the students were left without a school. "Not only was this approach the most affordable, it also helped create a sense of ownership and pride within the community."
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2021/0219/Vaccine-nationalism-Why-Jordan-includes-refugees-in-rollout?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Taylor Luck
Christian Science Monitor
19 February 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
The Jordan government is prioritizing offering the Covid-19 vaccine to refugees before most citizens with the goal of decreasing the transmission rate for those who must live closely together and in crowded conditions. Working with The U.N. Refugee Agency, this antidote to "so-called vaccine nationalism" has been received well by citizens and has allowed the Jordanian government to already distribute a "remarkable" number of the vaccines to those in refugee camps.
http://climatetracker.org/towards-a-greener-construction-one-fly-ash-brick-at-a-time?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Vaishnavi Rathore
Climatetracker
19 February 2021
Text / Under 800 Words
Fly ash bricks help reduce construction waste by utilizing the powdery by-product of burning coal. They are a green replacement for red clay bricks, which contribute to 5-15% of India’s emissions. They also utilize waste from coal-based thermal plants, which often gets disposed of by being dumped in water bodies and on roadsides. In comparison to red clay bricks, fly ash bricks are less expensive and the production process doesn’t emit smoke or use the more fertile top soil. Their use has been mandated by some regions and about 150 small fly ash enterprises have emerged.
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