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

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  • Can Democracy Work in Chicago?

    A Chicago Alderman experimented with participatory budgeting, where residents decide how some of their tax money will be spent, by allowing 49th Ward residents to determine how to spend $1.3 million in the district. Residents selected 14 projects, including commissioning murals, creating a dog park and community gardens, purchasing solar-powered garbage compactors, and repaving streets. All projects are moving forward. Over 200 mural proposals were received, which the Alderman’s office narrowed down to 24 choices for community members to vote on. 12 will be funded by the city with stipends for the artists.

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  • Going Big

    Studies show the educational divide between affluent and poor people starts early on, before the age of 3, when children learn cognitive and emotional skills that are difficult to almost impossible to learn later as adults. In Central Harlem, parents were not applying methods that stimulate a child’s early development. So, Geoffrey Canada created Harlem’s Children Zone, an 8-week program where parents learn how to help their children. He also expanded his program to include charter schools. The first group of third graders had reading scores above the state average.

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  • Blocking the Transmission of Violence

    In the earliest days of what has become the Cure Violence model of violence prevention using street-outreach mediators, the Chicago CeaseFire group began hiring former gang members and people recently released from prison because of their credibility on the street. They "interrupt" violence, mediating conflicts to prevent escalation to gunfire, based on a public-health rationale that sees the spread of violence in epidemiological terms. The organization overcame skepticism when an early study showed its methods reduced violence by 16-27% more than in neighborhoods it hadn't worked in.

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