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

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  • Detroiters are Fighting for the Right to Water

    Throughout the United States, people living below the federal poverty level often struggle to pay for utilities, but in Philadelphia, the Tiered Assistance Program (TAP) aims to alleviate that burden by basing water utility rates on income. In the four years since the program launched, more than 15,000 residents have participated and 96% of those participants have avoided water shutoffs.

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  • COVID-19 Has Crushed Everybody's Economy—Except for South Korea's

    South Korea's economic growth is one of the few that have not stagnated or declined during the coronavirus pandemic. Although much of this is due to how effectively the country handled containment protocols from the start, the overall fiscal response – which included encouraging residents to reinvest government payouts in local businesses – also played a significant role. In one province, this included using non-cash payments "that could only be spent in shops inside the region, rather than as cash that could be hoarded."

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  • What Germany teaches the world in a crisis

    Germany has weathered the pandemic with lower illness rates than its neighbors and a relatively strong economy thanks to leadership and responses that have evolved and helped the country thrive in the three decades since reunification. The author of the book "Why the Germans Do It Better: Notes from a Grown-Up Country" reports on the blend of governing, business, and social approaches to challenges – rooted in a concept of "social trust" in the state and society, and a steady, deliberate, caring mindset – that help the country confront a contagion, a recession, or a refugee crisis.

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  • The luxury of food waste

    At St George the Martyr church in London, an initiative to offer food to people that would otherwise have been wasted is taking on new meaning due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The “community fridge” started in 2019 as a way to combat the environmental impacts of food waste by giving away free fruit, vegetables, milk, bread, and meat, and was helping up to 20 people each week. Now, more than 100 people have turned up because they’re experiencing economic hardship and social distancing restrictions is making it a challenge to deliver food to those who need it.

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  • Community Insurance Bridges Health Care Gap

    Uganda has introduced community health insurance plans that helps serve those who do not find the free health insurance suffienct but find private insurance too expensive. Although it doesn't appease everyone and some drop out after joining, it has still served more than 10,000 people since implementation.

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  • How a $3 billion USDA coronavirus program is helping feed S.C. families

    A new initiative from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is helping connect farmers with those who are facing food insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic. The program, known as Farmers to Families, allocates monetary contracts to companies that go towards distributing boxes of produce to families. In South Carolina, one farm has been able to distribute over 5.2 million pounds of food throughout the southeast region of the state.

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  • In Rural Vermont, Food Relief Program Is Eyed as Model

    A food-relief initiative in Brattleboro, Vermont is helping connect people facing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic with free meals that are provided by local restaurants. The initiative – which also requires that the restaurants source 10% of the food from local farms – has already provided nearly 12,000 meals to local residents.

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  • The buildings heated by human warmth

    Harnessing body heat provides energy-saving heating to commercial and residential buildings. The Stockholm Central station in Sweden and the Mall of America in Minnesota both capture body warmth to provide some of the buildings' heat. Each has over 100,000 daily visitors during non-coronavirus times, generating substantial heat that can be captured by energy-efficient construction. Body heat is also utilized in residential spaces, where thermal insulation helps keep the warmth inside. Using body heat requires energy-efficient building materials and generally cannot provide all of a building's heating needs.

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  • Forged By AIDS, Storied NYC Residence Boosts Aging In Place

    Two community living facilities have played integral roles in combatting the spread of diseases throughout New York's history by relying on mutual aid models. In the 1980's the Manhattan Plaza residence started the AIDS Project, which "assigned care partners to every person who got sick and deployed volunteers to deliver meals and get people to doctors." Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic poses a threat, similar efforts are underway by a younger generation at the Manhattan Plaza as well as at Penn South where the focus has been on keeping senior citizens safe.

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  • What can the U.S. learn from the French approach to childcare? Audio icon

    The average cost of childcare in the U.S. has doubled since 1997, leaving many unable or struggling to access care; but in France, lawmakers have found a way to enact affordable, universal childcare. The childcare facilities are government-run and equipped with highly trained and educated employees, including an on-call pediatrician and child psychologist. Since the system has been in place, female labor force participation and the country's birth rate have increased and both are now higher than that of the U.S.

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