Customizing and tailoring solutions to meet a person or a community’s needs. In developing solutions, changemakers employ human-centered design, meeting people where they are at, employing behavioral economics, and identifying cases of positive deviance. Sometimes they even employ humor, exemplifying a technique that takes into account existing and natural behavior.
Providing services without the requirement of previous behavior change or that fit the way people behave.
Using behavioral economics nudgesUsing strategies that acknowledge and take advantage of natural human behavior.
Using humorDefusing tension, winning friends and engaging people with humor. Can be used to cut fear.
1165
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/lawrence-bartley-marshall-project-news-inside-pris?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Daniele Selby
Global Citizen
17 May 2019
Text / 1500-3000 Words
After receiving parole following a 27-year sentence, Lawrence Bartley started News Inside – a print publication that is distributed in jails and prisons across the United States. As part of the Marshall Project, News Inside provides incarcerated individuals with stories and information about criminal justice. The founder cites access to information as a predominant barrier for people re-entering society after incarceration and hopes this will give people the hope and information they need upon release.
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/conbody-coss-marte-former-prisoner-fitness?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Daniele Selby
Global Citizen
15 May 2019
Multi-Media / 1500-3000 Words
After years in prison, Coss Marte opened a fitness company run by and for formerly incarcerated people. The business, ConBody, was born out the passion he found for fitness while incarcerated and from the near impossibility of finding employment upon release. Beyond providing employment, Marte has witnessed a zero-recidivism rate in his employees and hopes the gym will have a larger impact on mass incarceration and the criminal justice system.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/freeblackmamas-works-bail-black-mothers-out-jail-time-mother-s-n1004511?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Erin Evans
NBC News
11 May 2019
Text / 800-1500 Words
Community organizing groups around the country have mobilized to get black mothers out of prison. The initiative #FreeBlackMamas has raised over $1 million dollars in donations since 2017 and comes as a growing response against the cash bail system. Besides bailing out black mothers, the groups seek to build community and address the larger systemic issue of race and incarceration.
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2019/0509/India-has-a-big-trash-problem.-TrashBot-is-trying-to-help?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Rishika Pardikar
The Christian Science Monitor
9 May 2019
Text / 800-1500 Words
Separating mixed waste efficiently with technology can help where waste segregation policies are lacking. In Bangalore, India, a machine called Trashbot sorts mixed waste into biodegradable and non-biodegradable components. Properly recycled waste can then be sold, avoiding landfills.
https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/post/new-salmon-challis-smartphone-app-lets-users-take-forest-information-go?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Monica Gokey
NPR
9 May 2019
Text / Under 800 Words
Visitors to the Salmon-Challis National Forest in Idaho can now access the wealth of information in a guidebook with the convenience of a smartphone app. The app, which contains valuable information on history, visitor stops, trailheads, and camp sites, will be especially helpful in much of the national forest where cell phone coverage is spotty.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/08/opinion/baby-steps-toward-guaranteed-incomes-and-racial-justice.html?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Courtney E. Martin
The New York Times
8 May 2019
Text / 1500-3000 Words
A pilot program in Jackson, Mississippi is providing a cohort of 20 single black mothers with a guaranteed income of $1000 a month as part of their "radical resident-driven approach." While the experiment is still in the middle stages, it is already changing the lives of the women involved - and setting the stage for a national debate on guaranteed income policies.
https://qz.com/1604065/clinton-foundations-laundromat-libraries-aim-to-boost-literacy?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Annabelle Timsit
Quartz
5 May 2019
Text / 1500-3000 Words
The average American family spends more than two hours at the local laundromat. The Clinton Foundation and other partners have set up "Reading & Play Spaces" in 250 laundromats across the country to encourage literacy and parent-child interactions: "This project is part of a much larger vision to reinvent everyday spaces to encourage the kinds of experiences that help children thrive."
https://pinetreewatch.org/help-wanted-the-immigrant-opportunity-a-daunting-maze-of-barriers?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Peter Weed
Pine Tree Watch
4 May 2019
Text / Over 3000 Words
Organizations and local governments in Maine put together the complex puzzle that is immigrant employment status. By connecting varying pieces, from providing English classes to establishing professional credentials, organizations help fill gaps in Maine's economy by recognizing and supporting qualified refugees and immigrants.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90343800/yoga-class-while-waiting-for-refills-cvs-tests-new-health-hubs?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Rina Raphael
FastCompany
4 May 2019
Text / 800-1500 Words
CVS is expanding their coverage from beyond just selling medical supplies to also offering on-site medical assessments as well as nutrition and wellness classes to address a growing population of people that don't have a primary care doctor. “We refer to this care concierge as the Geek Squad for healthcare,” jokes Kevin Hourican, president of CVS Pharmacy.
https://azbigmedia.com/homeless-i-d-project-puts-many-on-the-road-to-recovery?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Macie Williams
AZ Big Media
2 May 2019
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Arizona's Homeless I.D. Project helps houseless folks obtain identification documents such as IDs, birth certificates, and social security cards to facilitate re-entry into society. IDs are often stolen or misplaced within the homeless community; the Homeless ID Project helps individuals get back on their feet and become eligible for jobs by replacing these documents.
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