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

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  • A College Program for Disadvantaged Teens Could Shake Up Elite Admissions

    About “1,500 (High School) students from 75 of the nation’s poorest schools in 35 cities,” are enrolling in college courses in elite universities like Harvard and Columbia through an initiative started by a nonprofit—and succeeding. The aim of the program is to prepare underprivileged students for the rigors of college education, and give them a confidence boost before they enter college. They complete the same coursework as the college students and get a grade. “All of these schools talk this game, ‘We want diversity, but we can’t find these kids,’ and this proves they can build a pipeline."

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  • District-led parent mentor program promotes path to college for English learners

    Padres Promotores del Camino al Éxito Universitario (Parent Mentors for the Road to College Success) is a three-month program at Whittier Union High School District that taps into the collective knowledge of parents of English learners and provides them with a medium to share that knowledge and/or mentor other parents. There is also a curriculum for parents that are part of the program, which includes "classes on managing stress during the pandemic," information about the district's special education program, and other related information. Parents now help lead, inform, and present at district meetings.

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  • Tech Company Aims to Disrupt Predatorial Prison Phone Industry

    A free mobile app called Ameelio opens a free channel of communication between incarcerated people and their families, to avoid the price-gouging telephone services that prisons and jails authorize to charge people exorbitant rates to talk. Ameelio's app makes sending letters with photos easier than doing it by snail mail. Nonprofits can also use the free service to communicate with clients. Ameelio, which is supported by donations and grants, is piloting a video-conferencing service.

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  • Durham, NC Just Finished Erasing $2.7 Million In Traffic Debt

    The DEAR program (Durham Expunction and Restoration) put 11,084 drivers back on the road legally and waived $2.7 million in fines in a purge of old cases that had revoked driving privileges for unpaid fines and fees. The two-year amnesty program, part of a national movement, took aim at the often racially disparate enforcement of state laws that burden the formerly incarcerated and others with unaffordable monetary penalties. Deprived of the right to drive, people either miss out on work and educational opportunities, or risk more traffic tickets, arrests, and fines.

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  • Seattle Bets on Equitable Development

    An Equitable Development Initiative was launched as a result of a racial equity analysis that gauged the effect that Seattle’s economic growth would have on communities of color. Funding for the initiative has gone toward capital for these communities to purchase real estate and develop projects that build up affordable housing, child care, food security, and other issues that would best serve longtime residents and prevent gentrification.

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  • The Bakery That's Owned by an Idea

    Firebrand Artisan Breads hires people with high barriers to employment, such as people experiencing homelessness or who were formerly incarcerated. The higher-than-minimum-wage starting salary, paid time off, and insurance benefits provide sustainable and secure employment to people whose life circumstances make it harder to get a job. In order to raise capital while maintaining their employment model, the owner worked with lawyers to become a perpetual purpose trust, an alternative ownership model that allows the company to sell shares to private investors while ensuring their principles remain in place.

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  • Native Americans embrace vaccine, virus containment measures

    At the Cherokee Indian Hospital in North Carolina, approximately 3,000 tribal members have received at least the first dose of the Covid vaccine. The tribe credits the quick and large response to trust in the hospital and how outreach was conducted – rather than have people compete for sign ups, the hospital reached out directly to those most at risk.

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  • Support growing for ‘Pay to Stay' legislation to help curb some evictions

    A 'pay to stay' law in Toledo and Yellow Springs, Ohio, is enabling renters to stay in their homes if they can cover any late rental payments in full. Current Ohio law allows a landlord to file for an eviction even if a tenant is just one day late on rent. The new legislation provides protection to tenants but the law differs from city to city. Housing advocates are pushing for the same law in Lakewood, South Euclid, and Cleveland Heights.

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  • The inside story of how Pennsylvania failed to deliver millions in coronavirus rent relief

    When Pennsylvania's coronavirus rent relief program rolled out during the first few months of the pandemic, it failed to help many due to strict deadlines, poor information management, a payment cap, and overall procedural limitations. Now, the state is "getting a second chance," and has made modifications to the program in an attempt to avoid the failures of the last round.

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  • How New York and Paris Got Women Into the Bike Saddle

    Citi Bike started the NYC Critical Workers program, which offered free bike-share memberships to essential workers in New York City because of the coronavirus pandemic. The free membership started for one month but was extended to a year. Nearly 30,000 people signed up. Since a large proportion of healthcare workers are women, almost 60% of the new members were women, which increased the company’s female annual members from 32.8 percent to 38.9 percent. Several other cities also saw progress in the gender-balance of bike riders during the pandemic.

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