Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 2350 results  for your search.  View and Refine Your Search Terms

  • Jumpstart trains developers to fight gentrification in Philly neighborhoods Audio icon

    Jumpstart Germantown and five spinoff programs trained about 1,000 people in the art of locally controlled neighborhood rehabilitation. The Jumpstart programs target particular neighborhoods, mainly mid-range housing stock with vacant and deteriorating conditions, and lend money to newly minted developers to fix and resell the properties. Housing rehabs maintain the character of neighborhoods, rather than gentrifying them or making wholesale redevelopment changes. Beyond the community improvement benefits, the program helps diversify the real estate business and provides employment opportunities.

    Read More

  • As Wilderness Areas Attract More People, Volunteer Rangers Hit The Trail

    About 40 volunteer wilderness stewards of the Idaho Conservation League are helping to educate hikers about how to be good outdoor trekkers like disposing of waste properly and staying on the trail. While these volunteers can’t legally enforce the rules, last year, they have destroyed 109 illegal campfire rings and got rid of 100 pounds of litter. These volunteers programs could be effective as other government initiative budgets are cut and more and more people are exploring nature.

    Read More

  • Taiwan's Crowdsourced Democracy Shows Us How to Fix Social Media

    vTaiwan is a mixed-reality, scaled listening exercise used by the government as a new way to make decisions. The platform provides an online space for citizens to debate and for politicians to listen to. The government lays out political questions, such as regulating Uber or changing time zones, and people can share their feelings, agree and disagree, but divisive statements and trolling are not posted. After debating for a period of time it became apparent that people converged around points of consensus. The government has implemented about a dozen laws and regulations based on the discussions.

    Read More

  • For One Community, a Simple Hearse Has Profound Effect

    A public hearse, donated by a National Assembly member, helps around three families a day carry their deceased relatives to burial grounds. The minivan, with no seats and a siren on top, has had a profound effect in the area, which is often dealing with disease and occasional armed conflict. Previously, families carried bodies on foot or strapped to a motorcycle, and often had to pay someone to do it. The public service is overseen by a hearse management committee and the city’s 90,000 residents are charged a mandatory fee of about $1.28 per household to cover repairs, gas, and payments to the driver.

    Read More

  • 'Money is worth nothing now': how Lebanon is finding a future in farming

    Lebanon is going through an economic crisis. According to the UN, more than half of the population is experiencing poverty. Some people are finding that the solution to their economic problems is farming. Multiple initiatives to that would allow ordinary people to farm have surfaced; food banks offering seedlings, volunteers teaching sustainable farming, and even gardens in rooftops.

    Read More

  • Heroes of the pandemic: “When the world is burning, I feel I must help put out the fire”

    A group of health professionals known as Latinx Advocacy Team & Interdisciplinary Network for COVID-19, or LATIN-19, is helping to bring coronavirus-specific health care access to North Carolina's Latino community. Because the group operates across county lines, they have become well-known amongst the local communities, helping to not only provide much-needed health care services, but also increase awareness around the dangers of the virus.

    Read More

  • Chicago Teens Unveil Vision for Change and Public Safety in Their Neighborhood

    Twenty high school students enrolled in Territory, an urban design nonprofit, produced a zine and their own quality of life report for West Austin, where many of the students live. The students conducted interviews, surveys, and gathered community input to create the report. It includes sections on public safety, youth empowerment, and mental health.

    Read More

  • The Shared Spaces program: a crisis-driven experiment that could permanently change San Francisco's urban landscape

    The Shared Spaces program is a pandemic-driven initiative that increases outdoor dining space in commercial areas. The initiative made the permit process more user friendly and less expensive. Over 1,200 outdoor dining applications were approved in three months, which is more than the city approved in 2018 and 2019 combined. The increased capacity of outdoor dining seating takes away other public spaces, usually parking and driving space, but the program’s success has helped businesses survive pandemic-related restrictions and officials are assessing the program to maintain it moving forward.

    Read More

  • How Did These Students Get The City To Change The Name Of Douglass Park? They Built Collective Power And Didn't Back Down

    Chicago students organized and, for the first time, convinced the city to rename a park in honor of Frederick and Anna Murray Douglass. The former Douglas Park was named after a Civil War era Illinois senator who advocated to expand slavery, and whose wife owned slaves. Not daunted by the city’s bureaucracy, the students canvassed in their community and gathered over 10,000 signatures for a petition to change the park’s name. The campaign, which began in 2017, was much harder and longer than the students anticipated, but by forming a coalition and continuing to speak out they persevered.

    Read More

  • Truck Convoy Brings Boon to Town Plagued by Violence

    Truck convoys ensure safer journeys for drivers and their goods around Kanyabayonga, an area that experiences intermittent instability and violence between armed groups. Up to 100 trucks carrying goods like charcoal, bananas, or lumber line up most days and wait for permission to continue their journey. The local economy has benefited, with restaurants and stores popping up to accommodate the influx of people. A ban on night time driving to prevent threats from armed groups has also supported the growth of a hotel industry, with 15 informal hotels now in operation.

    Read More