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

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  • A Brighter Future for Run-Down Basketball Courts

    Dozens of basketball courts around the United States have received a beautiful and functional make-over. Project Backboard cleans, fixes, and beautifies outdoor basketball courts, effectively revitalizing the social practices of sport. The nonprofit hires local artists to work with communities, and those communities need to approve the artists’ designs before they are painted. Foundations have invested in this initiative, with its value being a key component to urban renewal.

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  • Guatemalan women transform their town one brushstroke at a time

    In Guatemala, women are challenging traditional gender norms by playing a growing leadership role in their communities. Specifically, they are leading an initiative to paint local homes with patterns from indigenous weaving traditions. Not only are they making the towns more beautiful, but they are also demonstrating to young girls that women can do the same jobs that men can do.

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  • Friends Transform Vacant Building Into Popular Community Center

    Abandoned buildings hold great potential. In Ecatepec, friends got together and transformed an empty commercial space into El Banco, a bustling hub of arts and recreation activities open all day for local kids and families. The community center offers a valuable gathering space amid government neglect and high rates of crime.

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  • Murder in America: What Makes Cities Safer

    Certain cities in the United States are facing startlingly high rates of homicide and violence that haven't been seen since the height of gang activity in the 1990s. But certain cities, including Los Angeles, have continued to see declines in or stable crime rates, thanks to a community-based policing approach that uses tactics such as working with former drug dealers, hosting neighborhood events, cleaning litter from the streets, and mediating sit-downs between formal gang rivals.

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  • Faith Based Farms

    In the United States, a multi-denominational movement combines faith and farming. “Gardens are magical places,” says Venice Williams, executive director of Alice’s Garden in Milwaukee, one of three faith-based farms profiled in this story. “This garden and most gardens slow you down, connect you to other people, and help you to put things into perspective and to celebrate everything that the creator has provided for us--however you identify with that creator.”

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  • 7,500 Strangers Just Bought A Crumbling French Chateau Together

    Dartagnans is a French crowdfunding platform that aims to use crowdfunding as a way to protect the “cultural heritage” of France. Most recently, a fundraiser for a historic castle succeeded in raising 500,000 euros, which will go toward restoring the heritage site that dates back to the 13th century. Though it’s not the most traditional way to restore old buildings, the platform has had several successes in this realm.

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  • Urban Parks and the 10-Minute Challenge

    On average, one in three Americans don't live within ten minutes of a park. That percentage is even lower for low-income people and people of color. Because parks often can lead to better health for both individuals and communities, the Trust for Public Land, the National Recreation and Park Association, the Urban Land Institute, and the JPB Foundation have joined forced to implement a national advocacy campaign to bring attention and action to this issue.

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  • Public Shaming and Even Prison for Plastic Bag Use in Rwanda

    Plastic bag litter is a serious problem across Africa and around the world, choking waterways, killing livestock and wildlife when ingested, and causing environmental damage. Rwanda is one of the few nations in the world to completely ban single-use plastic bags, but they take enforcement of the ban to a sometimes controversial extreme, with punishments that can even include jail time. The measures do appear to be working, however, where the clean streets and countrysides of Rwanda stand in stark contrast to the heavily-littered land of neighboring countries.

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  • Teens With Criminal Records Are Beautifying Baltimore By Planting Flowers

    'Tha Flower Factory' is setting out to help provide employment, mentor kids, and restore hopefulness and beauty to the city of Baltimore. This project employs individuals to plant flowers and seeds, helping bring down criminal records and change the landscape at the same time.

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  • In Woodlawn, a Ground-Up Approach to a Healthier, Safer Community

    Urban areas that have more trees tend to have lower crime rates, attracting more investment and have higher income levels. They also make neighborhoods nicer places to live so that’s why Blacks in Green, a community group in Chicago, is focused on building more gardens, planting orchards and trees with the help of the Morton Arboretum, which works with community groups around the city. Blacks in Green has combined the initiative with efforts to provide more jobs for the community’s young people as well.

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