Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 563 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

Calls to action: How 211 became an instant link to health and social services during the pandemic

Marie Elizabeth Oliver

October 21, 2020 |

The Current (Louisiana) |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Louisiana

In Louisiana, where many communities face barriers to health care access, the implementation of a 211 hotline during the coronavirus pandemic has helped residents access the information they need to make informed decisions. The system has received hundreds of thousands of calls and because of this, the live specialists have also been able to collect meaningful data that helps the state to assess where there are areas of unmet needs.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Their App Sends Free Mail to Incarcerated People. Now They're Helping Prisoners Register to Vote

Emily Nonko

October 20, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Ameelio is a technology startup launched by Yale students to facilitate free communication between people who are incarcerated and loved ones. In their first six months, the group went from sending 300 to over 4,000 letters a week to facilities in the United States. Their initial goal was to provide a not-for-profit alternative to the oftentimes predatory prison telecommunications industry. Recently they began a voter registration initiative where they send registration instructions, a blank voter registration application, and ballot request form to people who are incarcerated and eligible to vote.

Read More
Go to Original Story
The ambitious effort to piece together America's fragmented health data

Nicole Wetsman

October 19, 2020 |

The Verge |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

The uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 and the health impacts it may have for different people prompted doctors from across the U.S. to create a national patient database to better study and understand how the virus interacts with other underlying conditions. Although the database itself is adaptable and researchers hope it can also be used in the face of future pandemics, they also say "five years from now, the greatest value of this data set won’t be the data. It’ll have been the methods that we learned trying to get it working."

Read More
Go to Original Story
Towson University professor aims to bolster local election security at voting sites

Taylor DeVille

October 16, 2020 |

The Baltimore Sun |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Annapolis, Maryland

More than 1,930 Maryland poll workers were trained to protect ballot integrity from security threats based on research about where those threats may come from. The program, one of the few in the country focused on election security at polling places themselves, was developed by a researcher inspired by reports of Russian interference with the 2016 election. The research showed Maryland's greatest vulnerabilities were electronic poll data and voter registration, the network connection between election officials and local election boards, and access to ballot scanners at voting sites.

Read More
Go to Original Story
New app helps Inuit adapt to changing climate: ‘It's time for the harpoon and computer to work together'

Anna Kusmer

October 15, 2020 |

The World |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Canada, Flaherty Island, Nunavut

The Arctic Eider Society, an environmental and social justice organization based in Nunavut, developed an app called SIKU that allows users to enter real-time data on conditions in the arctic. Inuktitut hunters use the app to alert others to hazardous ice conditions and observations about wildlife and vegetation. The app is funded by private foundations as well as federal and indigenous governments and has over 6,000 users. Users maintain intellectual property rights of their data and the app respects traditional knowledge by encouraging indigenous communities to merge old ways with new technologies.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Even during pandemic, Tucson nonprofit advocates educational opportunities for undocumented students

Clara Migoya

October 14, 2020 |

Arizona Daily Star |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

ScholarshipsA-Z in Tucson is helping DREAMers (undocumented students with DACA) with economic assistance during the pandemic. The organization has provided up to $45,000 to around 100 families and continues to help students find and apply for scholarships through its new virtual platform.

Read More
Go to Original Story
This game can stop people from falling for COVID-19 conspiracies

Ruth Reader

October 13, 2020 |

FastCompany |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, Cambridge, England

To combat the spread of conspiracy theories, researchers at Cambridge’s Social Decision Making Lab have created an interactive game that puts users in the shoes of "manipulators" to teach them how to "question social media posts that have the hallmarks of engineered virality." Although experts say playing the game just one time will likely not result in sustainable change, a similar game that focused on understanding how fake news was created found that users' beliefs in fake news decreased by an average of 21%.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How will Lithuania's contact-tracing app work?

Giedrius Vitkauskas

October 13, 2020 |

Lithuanian Radio and Television (LRT) |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Lithuania

Lithuanian officials are launching a contact-tracing app to better trace the path of coronavirus cases and alert people when they have potentially been exposed. Although there have been delays in the roll-out of the app, other countries have already released the technology and have seen success in people downloading the app as well as quarantining when alerted that they've been in contact with the virus.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How a #Litterati army on Instagram sparked a global fight against litter

Michael J. Coren

October 12, 2020 |

Hothouse Solutions |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

What started as a small group of people taking pictures of waste in their communities and tagging it on Instagram with the hashtag #Litterati, turned into a global effort, and even an app, to map and dispose of trash. Users can upload to the app an image of trash and machine-learning algorithm can tag it location, material, and company who made it. The city of San Francisco asked the makers of the app for help documenting cigarette butts and tobacco products on its streets and ended up winning a legal victory over the tobacco industry to increase the taxes on their products.

Read More
Go to Original Story
The Pandemic is Resurrecting India's Folk Arts by Forcing Performers to Make Their Online Debut

Mahima Jain

September 30, 2020 |

Vice |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: India

Shaale.com is an online platform that hosts performances and learning content on classical and folk arts from India. The coronavirus pandemic meant lost income for most of the country’s performers, especially those in rural areas. So many have figured out ways to monetize their arts by putting them online where overseas and domestic subscribers pay to access the performances. Other platforms, such as the nonprofit Kalbeliya World, provides performers with a chance to earn money by offering classes to people from around the world. Most of the students are from the Europe and the Americas.

Read More
Go to Original Story