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

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  • Outreach Teams Have Police Helping, not Arresting, Homeless People

    Embedded in Denver’s police department is the Homeless Outreach Unit, dedicated to building relationships with and providing access to services for the city’s population experiencing housing insecurity. They work closely with social workers and nonprofits in the city to work against the criminalization of homelessness, instead, taking a solutions oriented approach. The unit has helped build trust between those residents and police and has seen a 30% increase in referrals to homeless shelters.

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  • KCPD CIT provides alternative to jail for mentally ill

    Kansas City’s Police Department has created a Crisis Intervention Unit with the goal of broadening their outreach and engagement with individuals with mental illnesses. Rather than send them through the criminal justice system, officers involved in this unit instead help them access the care, support, and treatment they need.

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  • How this Durham summer camp is helping refugee children, one talking stick at a time

    World Relief Durham hosts a summer program for kids. Like other summer programs, it is meant to reduce summer learning loss—but this is specifically for children from forcibly displaced families. The kids face unique challenges in school and in society, often having been witness to traumatic experiences, so in this program they take lessons, play games, and work with community volunteers to let them just be kids. The program started with 25 participants in 2017 and grew to serve 150 children in 2019.

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  • In Philadelphia, a radical idea for journalists: talking to human beings

    Philadelphia Inquirer reporter-columnist Helen Ubiñas launched a series of pop-up newsrooms to talk to people in neighborhoods that usually only attract fleeting news coverage over violence and other problems. Ubiñas' mission: to find hidden stories, and in the process of that inspire trust among the people journalists are supposed to serve. From city pools to barbershops, schools, and a criminal record expungement clinic, Ubiñas found people willing to open up about their lives thanks to the rare face-to-face interaction.

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  • Britain's first climate assembly: can it help fix democracy too?

    In the London borough of Camden, randomly selected locals, including students, builders, civil servants, restauranteurs, and others, came together to discuss what to do about climate change. This climate assembly allows jurors to listen to briefings, pose questions, analyze data, debate, and discuss action items. The council took inspiration from a citizen assembly around abortion in Ireland in 2016 that led to the national referendum in 2018.

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  • How do you solve the toughest cases of homelessness?

    To combat homelessness, an interdisciplinary group known as the “homeless multidisciplinary street team” is focusing efforts on housing those that call 911 more often than others. Taking lessons from a similar model that failed in Los Angeles, the program so far is showing promising results, both in housing this most vulnerable population as well as in reducing costs for the city.

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  • Queensland police learn Mandarin in bid to target crime concerns

    In Brisbane, the Queensland police officers have been adopting practices to strengthen community engagement with the goal of making the city’s residents feel safer. Some initiatives include learning Mandarin to better connect with their Chinese speaking residents and increasing their presence at public shopping centers. Facing a sharp increase in crime, the department is hoping these new efforts can help curtail criminal activity and make their residents feel safer.

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  • Can Employee Ownership Preserve Legacy Businesses in Communities of Color?

    As gentrification has flourished and Baby Boomers age out of the workforce, “legacy businesses” struggle to find a way to maintain a presence in communities of color. In response, a multi-city fellowship called Shared Equity in Economic Development (SEED) was developed to educate business owners on transferring ownership to the employees to ensure its future. Four cities—Philadelphia, Atlanta, Durham, and Miami— paired three city employees with one community member to work together over a two year period to leave the city with “clear plans, clear roles and good foundations for future business conversions."

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  • Inside the Ambitious Campaign to Drive Homicides in Chicago Below 400

    In Chicago, community organizations, public officials, and private funders have come together behind a campaign called “<399” – with the goal of bringing homicides to under 400. This collaboration has taken on a comprehensive, community-centered approach that includes initiatives like community outreach, individual support, and mentoring. While they’ve received significant funding from the city, they’re hoping to secure long-term financial and political support from all levels of government.

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  • With compassion and faith, a mayor leads his city through the opioid crisis

    Huntington, West Virginia has taken strides towards becoming a model for other cities on how to combat the opioid crisis after successfully optimizing on collaboration efforts. Coordinated by the mayor, joint efforts from local government, university researchers and the police department, worked to decrease rates of overdoses and increase community trust.

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