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

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  • RGGI, behind the rhetoric: What we know about the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

    A regional cap-and-trade program in the northeast United States has reduced carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and led to overall job gains in the economy. Up to 50 percent of the region’s CO2 reductions are attributable to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative program and nine of the states participating report training more than 8,000 workers.

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  • Masking opportunities amid ravaging COVID-19

    Compassion International Organization trained over 100 women so that they have the skills and equipment to produce masks for the coronavirus pandemic. The first contract was for 900,000 masks, and women were provided with all materials, including sewing machines, and a workshop where they can work. The women, most of whom struggled to make a living because of COVID-19, earned money for each mask they produced. Their enterprises have improved the economies of local communities.

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  • How Ex-Miners Turn Toxic Land into Lavender Farms

    Appalachian Botanical Company, or ABCo, owns a lavender farm that rests on a retired coal mine. The farm aims to restore the land and soil by growing lavender. Coal companies are legally obliged to restore the land they have mined, known as reclamation. ABCo is part of the reclamation. However, they also want to restore the community, it employs former coal miners and recovering addicts to harvest, pick, distill, and package the flowers. The farm grew two-fold since its inception.

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  • Building a Just Energy Future in Michigan

    After the 2008 economic recession hit, Carla Walker-Miller shifted her energy services business model to not only supply electrical equipment but also implement energy efficiency programs for communities of color in Detroit. She has been able to service 75 households, which has resulted in energy bill savings up to $600 a year for families. The company also has a robust recruitment and training program for young people and those experiencing economic hardship.

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  • Fighting plastic waste: a double-edged sword

    Teams of recyclers in Nigeria gather plastic bottles from the streets and landfills and brings them to recycling plants where they can exchange the waste for money. HISL Recyclers collects this waste — which usually contains polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, a dangerous chemical — as a way to remove the waste from the environment. However, more work needs to be done to get more people to participate in the program and to scale the operations. So far, they’ve been able to recycle up to 20 tonnes of plastic waste a month.

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  • Austin youth re-entry program has 15% recidivism rate, compared to 75% nationwide

    Jail to Jobs pays youth while they get trained for jobs in construction, manufacturing, landscaping, and cooking. The youth come from youth detention, the streets, probation, and foster care and their trainers are formerly incarcerated. Jail to Jobs, with four locations in Austin, has helped more than 600 young people find employment despite their pasts. Only 15% of its graduates have been jailed afterward, a lower-than-average recidivism rate.

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  • St. Paul recruitment program aims to diversify police ranks

    To boost diversity in its ranks as part of its outreach to improve community relations, the St. Paul Police Department created a two-year apprenticeship program that makes law enforcement careers more accessible by clearing the financial and educational barriers that stand in the way. Eight program graduates now serve on the force and two dozen more are about to enter the next police academy. Nearly all are people of color and low-income, and nearly half are women. The program pays a stipend while students work in the community and take classes, with counseling and mentoring services.

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  • Affordable Manufacturing Space Is an Engine for Equitable Economic Development

    Affordable manufacturing spaces serve as community assets that can be a launchpad for economic development. A nonprofit in Pittsburgh offers an affordable space which has led to 100 percent capacity. The businesses renting space there have created 97 full-time jobs.

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  • How cutting trees can raise Detroiters' wages

    An energy company in Detroit is providing jobs, training programs, and wraparound services such as childcare and transportation, to residents who want to become woodsmen and tree cutters. The program is "geared to support 200 job candidates by 2024."

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  • How a program became a model for life after prison

    Colorado's Transforming Safety initiative empowers communities to decide how to use grant money to address high rates of recidivism. One community-chosen grantee is Colorado Springs Works, founded by a man who made a habit of asking those he was incarcerated with why they had been sent back to prison on parole violations. Lack of good jobs was a key reason, and so the program he created helps recently incarcerated people get job training and jobs on the outside.

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