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In the San Luis Valley, a small town is using civic engagement to improve lives

Helen Santoro

October 12, 2021 |

The Colorado Sun |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Saguache, Colorado

The Family Leadership Training Institute of Colorado is a community-driven collaborative aimed at increasing civic participation and collaboration between diverse stakeholders. The 20-week program focuses on cultivating leadership skills and teaching participants how to use their voice to advocate in their community's interests. Participants are able to develop a plan for civic engagement and receive help instituting it, including connections among government agencies. Program graduates have designed programming to strengthen their communities and started businesses with social goals.

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Building a Black-Owned Food Ecosystem in Detroit

Randiah Green

October 07, 2021 |

Belt Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Programs like Motor City Match and Grown in Detroit help entrepreneurs launch Black-owned food businesses in Detroit. The businesses sell healthy foods in neighborhoods often lacking in nutritious options or in the infrastructure needed to support startup businesses. The supportive programs offer grants and training that have nurtured dozens of new businesses, which themselves have formed a supportive network among their peers.

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With investors knocking, Charlotte HOAs are starting to change their rules

Lauren Lindstrom

October 01, 2021 |

The Charlotte Observer |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

One reason the market for middle-income housing has grown tight in Charlotte is a shortage of available homes for sale because corporate investors have bought so many developments for their rental income. To preserve affordable housing and encourage healthier communities, some homeowners associations are using restrictive deed covenants to try to limit corporate owners' encroachments. In one neighborhood, it seems to have worked, but there are legal complications that must be considered as other HOAs seek to copy the tactic.

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Atlanta Tried Housing Police in Disinvested Black Communities to Increase Trust. Is it Working?

Adina Solomon

September 29, 2021 |

Next City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Atlanta, Georgia

The Secure Neighborhoods program lets select police officers buy houses at subsidized prices if they move into a mostly Black, historically disinvested neighborhood. The aim of the program is to make police officers part of a community, build community trust, and discourage crime. While violence and auto theft in the chosen neighborhood have dropped, and some community members say the program improved relations, others complain that the gesture has been fairly superficial and just adds to gentrification pressures.

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Mradi wa ‘Elimu Ni Sasa Initiative' Wasaidia Wanafunzi Kwale

Athuman Luchi

September 29, 2021 |

RadioRahma |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: Kenya

Mradi wa serikali ya Kaunti ya Kwale iitwayo "Elimu ni Sasa" imewawezesha zaidi ya watoto 32,000 wanaofanya vyema na hawawezi kulipa karo kupata elimu. Kupitia kwa bajeti ya kaunti, watoto werevu ambao ni mayatima ama wanatoka kwa familia maskini wanahifadhiwa kujiunga na shule ya upili na kulingana na jinsi wanavyotia bidii wanasomesha hadi chuo kikuu.

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Heat dome hit these Vancouver neighbourhoods hardest — could planting more trees save lives?

Stefan Labbé

September 28, 2021 |

North Shore News |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia

The “Greenest City Action Plan” aimed to reduce the effects of extreme heat by planting 100,000 trees. Shade from trees acts as a thermal buffer during extreme heat and cold and a lack of trees disproportionately impacts low-income communities. The program surpassed its goal by planting trees in parks and along streets, as well as by buying small plots of land to create “pocket parks” with trees providing shade. The city subsidized trees for homeowners, who were banned from cutting down mature, healthy trees on their properties, and ran education programs to increase resident buy-in.

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How Zurich Blazed a Trail for Recycled Concrete

Corinne Gretler

September 26, 2021 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Switzerland, Zurich

Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, is paving the way for sustainable building. Concrete is a major contributor of climate change due to the process it requires to make it. Zurich is making steps to reduce its use. A school building was constructed in 2002 with 80 percent recycled concrete. Three years later city officials passed a requirement that required all publicly-owned buildings to be made with recycled concrete and in 2013 ordered the use of CO2 reduced cement. According to a study the effort has saved 17,000 cubic meters of virgin materials.

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How Building Community Value puts local development into the hands of Detroiters

Rhonda J. Smith

September 23, 2021 |

Detour Detroit |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

Students of the Better Buildings, Better Blocks class are getting a lesson in real estate development. Not only do participants have the chance to build a business, they will also be doing it in their own neighborhoods and therefore investing in their own community. The course was hatched as an idea to work toward bridging the racial wealth gap and allowing Black community members in Detroit to access real estate development projects.

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Undocumented Workers Who Power New York's Economy Finally Get Pandemic Aid

Amy Yee

September 23, 2021 |

Bloomberg |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

Thousands of undocumented immigrants who lost their jobs during the pandemic can now receive aid through New York's Excluded Workers Fund. The $2.1 billion fund is the largest of its kind and the result of 18 months of lobbying, protests, and campaigning by community groups. Approved applicants can qualify for $15,600 or $3,200, depending on their ability to prove New York residence, previous employment, and lost income. Applications and fund information is made available in 13 languages and partnerships with grassroots organizations has been critical to reaching people who are eligible to apply.

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Community land trusts: What are they and how do they work?

Nadeen Yanes

September 20, 2021 |

WKMG-TV |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Winter Park, Florida

To help families achieve home ownership in a volatile real estate market, the Hannibal Square Community Land Trust acquires land in Winter Park, Fla., and the surrounding area and then builds or renovates homes on the properties to sell to qualified buyers. The program allows families to purchase homes at an affordable price that is not typically available in the current market because buyers are responsible only for the cost of the house, with the land itself remaining in the trust's ownership.

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