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A network of local organizations in North Carolina are supplying people impacted by Hurricane Helene with clothing that can keep them warm as winter arrives. They run clothing drives and then sort the donations to meet specific requests, which is more helpful than giving out boxes of random clothes.

Wholesome Wave works to end food and nutrition insecurity with its Produce Prescription Program food pharmacy, which offers people with diet-related illnesses prescriptions for healthy foods, like fruits and vegetables. Food pharmacies are collaborations between healthcare organizations and medical professionals that use food as medicine, highlighting the importance of a well-rounded diet to prevent disease.

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development offers funding for affordable housing properties to retrofit their buildings to be more resilient to climate change and improve resident’s quality of life. The funding ensures the properties remain as affordable housing because these upgrades typically reduce bills and because property owners must agree to keep rent affordable for 25 years.

Los Angeles County’s Flex Vote Center Program establishes polling locations at shelters, transitional housing sites, and service centers for people who are unhoused or face other barriers to voting. In 2020, nearly 2,800 people cast their ballots through the Flex program.

The Salt Lake City Public Library employed in-house social workers and built out an area in the library dedicated to providing a variety of resources for people experiencing homelessness and anyone else looking for support. The staff helps people find individualized paths forward, and partner organizations host office hours for things like harm reduction services and workforce services.

New Britain’s Childcare Incubator Project helps home-based child care entrepreneurs launch their businesses through in-depth training, mentorship, and support, including a transitional phase where they start offering care within a shared facility and with the guidance of an on-site coordinator. Four businesses are currently in their transitional phase, and other cities around the state are now considering replicating the program.

A Facebook group posts the Amazon "wish lists" of families in Western North Carolina who were affected by Hurricane Helene to help them meet their immediate needs and provide holiday gifts for children. Donors "adopt" families and purchase anywhere from one item to the entire list.

Restring Appalachia matches people who lost their instruments to Hurricane Helene with donors offering up instruments of similar quality. So far, roughly 175 people have signed up to donate about 400 instruments, with about 20 delivered to Asheville so far, though the need still outpaces the supply.

Flowdiary is an e-learning platform that offers various digital skill courses in the Hausa language for free or at a very low cost. Flowdiary has more than 8,000 students enrolled across the country, training them in web development, graphic design and other digital skills that help them further their education and secure internships that help them advance their career opportunities.

Since 2022, Denver has given out almost 15,000 electric bike rebates via an online portal to make them a more accessible transportation option. The applications are so popular they’re gone in seconds, and they can only be redeemed in person at participating local bike shops.

Community-first car-sharing options, usually run by cooperatives and nonprofits, are making electric vehicles accessible and affordable for all. They offer cars that anyone can rent for a membership or hourly fee, sometimes partnering with community groups and organizations to lower the rate.

The city of Louisville, Kentucky, offered some residents of low-income neighborhoods $500 a month for a year with no strings attached as a part of its first ever guaranteed income program. The funds allowed people to start building savings and prevented evictions.

Tat Sat Kasasa Secondary School (TaSKA) is making education more accessible, affordable and inclusive for youth in rural communities, particularly young girls. As of March, TaSKA serves 120 students, 64 of which are girls. Along with education, the school also provides meals, medical care, extracurriculars and access to financial services to create a holistic educational experience.

Los Angeles County’s Homeless Outreach & Mobile Engagement (HOME) program uses street psychiatry to get psychiatric medication to people experiencing homelessness in an effort to get them a step closer to housing. The HOME team has 223 full-time staff members and served 1,919 people last year, 22% of whom ended the year housed.

Cities in Minnesota are using utility franchise fees to fund sustainability projects. The fees, which are usually passed on to customers via a small monthly charge, are collected from utility companies in return for allowing their infrastructure in public rights-of-way.

European cities like Oulu and Turin are adopting the housing-first model to reduce homelessness and extreme poverty. They focus on providing people experiencing homelessness with a permanent place to live first and then address other needs they may have.

The nonprofit Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Projects is installing advanced, three-stage wastewater filtration systems at homes in Lowndes County, Alabama, where effective wastewater treatment options are urgently needed. The nonprofit installs and maintains the systems for $20 per month, using two major federal grants to cover the upfront costs.

The shareholder activism nonprofit The Accountability Board is holding fast food companies accountable to making progress toward their climate commitments by filing proposals asking for action, which all shareholders who own a certain percentage of companies are able to do.

The Pious Muslim Women group helps widowed women navigate tough times with its various programs, such as providing access to food, monthly allowances, child care and other necessary resources. So far, the group has helped more than 3,500 women.

In North Carolina, the Recidivism Reduction Call Center connects people who were formerly incarcerated with resources that will help them reenter their communities, like housing options and second chance employers.

At a 10,000-square-foot warehouse in Bell, California, Food Forward employees race to take in and redistribute 265,000 pounds of fresh produce every day. The organization receives excess fresh fruits and vegetables from wholesale businesses for free and delivers them to 300 nonprofits working to address food insecurity.

Native Renewables, a Native- and women-led nonprofit, is bringing free, off-grid solar energy systems to homes in the Navajo and Hopi reservations that don’t have access to power. And it’s doing so by training local Indigenous peoples to work in the industry so they can reap the economic benefits of these careers instead of hiring out the work.

The volunteer-run Brave New Life Project is helping slaughterhouse workers in Colorado find less-grueling jobs that are meaningful and pay as well as the slaughterhouse. The nonprofit helps them create resumes, get transportation to new jobs, and access translation services.

The PhiferCares Clinic and pharmacy offers its employees and their families free healthcare and prescriptions. Phifer, a global manufacturing company, opened the clinic five years ago as a way to prevent medical bills from driving coworkers into debt and keeping them from retirement. This no-cost access to healthcare has helped 90% of Phifer employees hit their retirement goals, up from about 75% five years ago.

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.