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 poverty-related conditions that cause health or education problems. For example, instead of just treating asthma, helping the child get housing that doesn't make the disease worse.
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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http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-veterans-housing-santa-clarita-20181014-story.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Doug Smith
Los Angeles Times
14 October 2018
Text / 800-1500 Words
After the army, plenty of military families struggle to buy homes. In Southern California, that’s changing. The non-profit Homes 4 Families acquires funding from the government, good development deals, and donations in order to build communities of homes that are affordable to veterans. The veterans put in 500 hours of physical and emotional labor, include support groups, and are rewarded with homes they can afford in a neighborhood of families with whom they share a common bond.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/10/how-to-grapple-with-soaring-world-population-an-answer-from-down-south?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Nicola Davis
The Guardian
10 October 2018
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Botswana stands out for its rapidly falling fertility rate; a complex set of factors, including increased access to comprehensive education and contraception, is driving the falling rate. The country's family planning programs are far-reaching, providing services in even rural areas of Botswana, and giving women more control of their reproductive health and choices.
https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/fixing-the-problems-we-can-fix?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Roxanne Patel Shepelavy
The Philadelphia Citizen
10 October 2018
Text / 1500-3000 Words
A Philadelphia non-profit is targeting young people who struggle when leaving the foster care system and providing them with comprehensive services to help them transition into independent living successfully; that includes helping them find jobs, homes, and more. The program is based off a model from Youth Villages, a national nonprofit, and is showing impressive results - for example, "90 percent of the youth who joined the program were in need of stable housing; now, 35 percent have their own homes, and the rest live with family, former foster families or in supervised independent living."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/09/opinion/to-help-young-women-in-prison-try-dignity.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Maurice Chammah
The New York Times
9 October 2018
Text / 800-1500 Words
Inspired by prisons in Germany that emphasize personal dignity, Connecticut is shifting its corrections department's focus with two programs for young offenders. The one for women matches 14 inmates with older incarcerated mentors who help develop programs of classes, counseling and planning for post-release life. Officers are trained to address trauma and say they feel a new sense of purpose, but it's an expensive and labor-intensive program so it's unclear how it will fare after this pilot phase.
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/10/09/651951526/seeds-of-maya-genius-grow-in-a-new-kind-of-school?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
John Burnett
NPR
9 October 2018
Radio / 5-15 Minutes
A small school in rural Guatemala is challenging the way that Guatemalan children are educated (if they even have the opportunity at all) by focusing on health, education, food, and art. However, although the school's holistic approach has garnered international praise and its diplomas are recognized by the Guatemalan government , the school must rely on donors for funding.
https://apolitical.co/solution_article/banning-refugees-working-means-they-drive-down-wages-more-not-less?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Fergus Peace
Apolitical
9 October 2018
Text / Under 800 Words
Host governments tend to be wary of allowing refugees to move freely and work legally. However, integrating refugees into the labor market as quickly as possible reduces the concentration of newcomers in the informal sector, benefiting both locals and refugees in the long run.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/opinion/collective-impact-community-civic-architecture.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
David Brooks
The New York Times
8 October 2018
Text / 800-1500 Words
In Spartanburg, South Carolina, leaders take a "collective impact" approach to elementary and secondary education. By bringing together teachers, parents, doctors, religious leaders, and others, the Spartanburg Academic Movement acknowledges that "children don’t leave behind their emotions, their diet, their traumas, their safety fears, their dental problems and so on when they get to school" and brings together diverse expertise to help the whole kid.
https://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/energy-conservation-jobs-come-to-coal-country-20181005?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Mason Adams
Yes! Magazine
5 October 2018
Text / 1500-3000 Words
In eastern Kentucky, where the coal industry is struggling and workers are finding themselves out of work, a six-month internship program is helping workers re-train into jobs that ensure energy efficiency in homes and communities in the region. The program trains former coal workers and pairs them with local organizations, just one of many similar efforts to help workers find new careers.
https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/technology/watch-thousands-of-south-africans-join-govchat-17353548?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Vernon Pillay
IOL Business Report
4 October 2018
Text / Under 800 Words
GovChat is the world's first platform that connects citizens with politicians via WhatsApp. It allows citizens to rate public services and report issues, submit service requests, and donate to community organizations. Thousands of people registered and began using the platform within the first 72 hours.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/03/health/australia-eliminating-cervical-cancer-intl/index.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Nina Avramova
CNN
3 October 2018
Text / 800-1500 Words
Vaccination and screening programs have helped Australia get close to eliminating cervical cancer. It was one of the first countries to launch a nationwide HPV vaccination effort back in 2007 and now boasts an incidence rate of seven cases of cervical cancer per 100,000 women.
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