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Cleveland's reforesting efforts take root in once-redlined neighborhoods

Jen Jones Donatelli

February 02, 2022 |

Planet Detroit |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

Activists in Cleveland, Ohio are reforesting the city's vacant lots one community garden at a time. Gwen Garth, a local activist in the city, partnered up with churches, in order to create a long-term plan to plant gardens to also increase tree canopy in the city in a more equitable approach by focusing on historically redlined neighborhoods. The plan includes reaching 30% tree canopy by 2040, which means planting 361,000 new trees.

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Heat dome made British Columbians more anxious. Could prescribing nature help?

Stefan Labbé

January 26, 2022 |

Times Colonist |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, British Columbia

A Canadian doctor partnered with the British Columbia Parks Foundation to launch PaRx, A Prescription for Nature. The program helps health care providers prescribe time in nature for patients experiencing depression and anxiety related to climate change.

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Can green spaces help curb Philly's gun violence problem?

Tamala Edwards

December 06, 2021 |

WPVI-TV |

Broadcast TV Talk Show |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia's LandCare program has cleaned and greened 12,000 vacant lots, removing trash and other signs of blight. A study showed that the program led to a large drop in violent crime in the cleaned-up areas. A U Penn researcher who led that study and a community leader whose Philly Peace Parks in west and north Philadelphia have developed a more welcoming, healthy environment talk about the emotional impact such programs have on residents when they see that their neighbors care about the neighborhood. Says organizer Pili X, "It does something to the heart and soul of people."

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Could Greater Investment in Greening Help Reduce Gun Violence?

Emily Previti Stephanie Marudas

December 02, 2021 |

Kouvenda Media |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The city lot where Sanctuary Farm now grows vegetables that it distributes free to the community once was strewn with trash and drug paraphernalia, hardly a hospitable place for the neighborhood kids who played in it. Now it's a lush garden and safe hangout for kids who help with the gardening, do art projects, or just play. It's similar to a broader Philadelphia program that "cleaned and greened" thousands of lots and made a measurable decline in violence. Sanctuary's impact on crime isn't known for sure, but some neighbors say the farm is a positive influence.

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Doctor's orders: 'Nature prescriptions' see rise amid pandemic

Carey L. Biron

August 31, 2021 |

Thomson Reuters Foundation |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Park Rx America is an online platform that helps the growing number of medical professionals who write nature prescriptions for their patients. The database contains thousands of parks and public lands, which prescribers can filter by activity, distance from a patient's home, and other amenities like whether there is a playground for kids. Growing numbers of doctors are prescribing outdoor activities as a treatment for conditions like obesity and anxiety. Writing out actual prescriptions with specific directions about where to go, what to do, and how often to go increases the likelihood of success.

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Richland Carrousel Park helps trigger 30 years of economic redevelopment in Mansfield

Carl Hunnell

August 30, 2021 |

Richland Source |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Mansfield, Ohio

A community effort in Mansfield, Ohio, helped ensure the success of the Fourth and Main Street Area Urban Renewal Plan to revive the deserted downtown. The center of the plan was creating a park complete with a carousel, but it also included adding parking, demolishing vacant buildings, and cracking down on illegal activities in the area.

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A radical plan to treat Covid's mental health fallout

Julia Hotz

August 18, 2021 |

Wired |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

“Social prescribing” is an increasingly popular approach to healthcare that addresses “social determinants” of health with non-pharmaceutical prescriptions for patients in the form of activities in their local community, such as exercise classes, gardening projects, and even help to get a job or housing. Pilots across the United Kingdom have shown the emotional and physical benefits to patients and the NHS England has committed to increasing the practice nationwide. It relies on decades of research showing people’s sense of self-worth and meaning in their lives play a big role in their physical health.

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Deep Roots Drive Newhallville Stakeholders To Advance Neighborhood Equality

Sujata Srinivasan

August 02, 2021 |

Connecticut Health Investigative Team |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New Haven, Connecticut

The Learning Corridor is a community space educating local residents about health and wellness. It provides access to gardening, exercising, and reading in a neighborhood that has been ranked as “very low” for childhood opportunity. A number of community groups have also invested in the Newhallville neighborhood to improve the quality of life.

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More Mini-Parks Mean Better Mental Health

Nora Macaluso

July 29, 2021 |

Next Avenue |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

PHS LandCare, with support from the city, develops small vacant lots into mini-parks that bring people out of their homes and engage with their community. A 2018 study found that people living near LandCare lots reported a decrease in feelings of depression and a reduction in feelings of poor mental health. The city's role is important to the program’s success, especially in providing money to hire contractors to maintain the green spaces, especially local residents and formerly incarcerated people. Sites must be in low-income neighborhoods and near business areas, schools, and recreation centers.

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For girls with mothers in prison, a summer camp offers much-needed support

Amna Nawaz

July 21, 2021 |

PBS NewsHour |

Broadcast TV News |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Dallas, Texas

For three days each summer, the Girls Embracing Mothers (GEM) camp near Dallas gives girls an escape from their daily reality of being denied a normal relationship with their incarcerated mothers. Founded by a lawyer whose own mother was incarcerated, GEM combines typical summer-camp fun with trust-building exercises. During camp and afterward, the girls become part of a community of peers who understand each other's trauma – which puts them at higher risk of dropping out of school, mental health problems, and homelessness – in a place where they need not feel shame for their mothers' status.

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