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Conservation initiative helps nature heal itself for Sierra Madre reforestation

Gaea Katreena Cabico

March 09, 2021 |

The Philippine Star |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Philippines, Baras, Rizal

The government of the Philippines is working with the Masungi Georeserve Foundation to restore wildlife and forests in a 2,700 hectares area of degraded land. They use a technique that focuses on the nurturing of native trees through natural practices. While the method takes longer to reforest an area than traditional ways, the initiative has planted 60,000 trees and employed 100 park rangers from the local communities that help protect the reserve.

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For those frustrated with vaccine system, a crew of volunteers is ready to help

Felice J. Freyer

March 02, 2021 |

The Boston Globe |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Massachusetts

A community effort is underway in Massachusetts to help people secure Covid-19 vaccination appointments, despite a confusing government roll-out system. The Massachusetts COVID Vaccination Help volunteer group is composed of volunteers from across the state, who are using their free time to help individuals schedule appointments. Although there are concerns about privacy, users thus far have commended the group's persistence and success in booking appointments.

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Here's What Happens When Social Workers, Not Police, Respond To Mental Health Crises

Christina Jedra

March 01, 2021 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

Honolulu could benefit from adopting the approach to mental-health crisis calls to 911 that Eugene, Oregon, uses. But it would need to make big changes first in its critical infrastructure. Eugene's CAHOOTS program sends counselors and medics on 17% of the calls coming to its city's 911 center, saving millions on police, ambulances, and emergency room visits. Non-police responders de-escalate potential conflicts and get people the help they need without arrest or violence. Honolulu is primed to examine this approach, as many cities have done, but it's not a simple matter to start it.

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An AI is training counselors to deal with teens in crisis

Karen Hao Abby Ohlheiser

February 26, 2021 |

MIT Technology Review |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Crisis hotlines and chat services are turning to technologies such as AI tools to help assist an oft-overburdened system. At The Trevor Project, AI is used as both a risk assessment tool and as a role-play simulator to train volunteer counselors to correspond with callers. Users of these tools stress that they are not a replacement for counselors, but rather a tool to help the humans in these roles.

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Cops and Hippies

David Byrne

February 26, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

The CAHOOTS program, which sends medics and counselors on certain 911 calls instead of the police, has become a national model in the wake of 2020's criminal-justice protests. But its roots reach back half a century, when a free medical clinic serving the hippie counterculture emerged as a public-health response to drug, mental health, and other non-violent emergencies. CAHOOTS has grown into a 24/7 service that saves Eugene millions in policing and medical spending, and saves many on the streets from unnecessarily punitive interactions with the police.

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How does Portland's Street Response Team compare with a similar program in Denver?

Dan Haggerty

February 24, 2021 |

KGW-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Although Eugene, Oregon's long-running, successful CAHOOTS program serves as one model for the new Portland Street Response, a more relevant model can be found in Denver's STAR program. Like CAHOOTS, STAR responds to mental-health and other crisis calls with medics and counselors rather than police officers. But Denver's size, demographics, and homelessness make it much more analogous to Portland. In STAR's first six months, it handled nearly 750 calls without a single arrest. Both STAR and PSR are starting small, so more resources are needed if the pilot projects succeed.

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Can Mass Self-Testing for Covid-19 Keep Schools Safe?

Ruth Bender

February 21, 2021 |

Wall Street Journal |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Austria, Berlin

Schools in Austria are teaching schoolchildren how to use noninvasive antigen tests to test themselves for COVID-19, in an attempt to keep schools open and coronavirus spread low. Although some question how reliable these tests are, a few hundred cases have been detected so far and almost all parents and teachers "have embraced the testing offer."

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An Evanston Teen Saw How Hard It Was For The Elderly To Find Vaccines, So He Built A Website To Help

Edie Rubinowitz

February 21, 2021 |

WBEZ |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Evanston, Illinois

When a teenager in Evanston, Illinois realized that senior citizens were facing difficulties securing Covid vaccination appointments due to technology barriers, he created a website to help eliminate some of the technological barriers. The site aggregates available appointments in the area so seniors don't have to go searching for them, which has consequently helped reduce stress for users of the website.

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How some frustrated COVID-19 vaccine hunters are trying to fix a broken system

Danny Westneat

February 17, 2021 |

The Seattle Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington

Retired software engineers in Washington have joined together and created a website that aggregates all available COVID vaccine appointments by using "screen scrapers." Although the site doesn't allow the visitor to book an appointment, it has routinely averaged "10,000 visits a day from anxious shot hunters."

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Volunteer paramedics patrol streets of Venezuela's capital

Scott Smith

February 16, 2021 |

Associated Press |

Photojournalism |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Venezuela, Caracas

With Venezuela's hospitals and ambulance services crippled by the country's long-running economic and social crisis, a volunteer corps of paramedics formed two years ago to respond to medical emergencies. With donated labor and medical supplies, along with charitable funding, Angels of the Road handles three or four emergency calls per day, mostly auto accidents. Research shows that speedy and expert trauma care saves lives. This service fills a gap in a country where many cannot afford private ambulance services, and public services lack the resources to be fully functioning.

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