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 962 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

Madhya Pradesh's ‘fluoride warriors' unleash citizen science to empower community

Sahana Ghosh

March 02, 2020 |

Mongabay |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Alirajpur, Madhya Pradesh

As part of a social work graduate program through Alirajpur Post Graduate College, a group of students are using “citizen science” to share their research that water with elevated levels of fluoride can be dangerous to drink. This has especially been an opportunity for female students to develop public speaking skills while connecting with women whose role it is to manage water for their households and encourage them to use wells with the appropriate fluoride levels, based on their data and research.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Jacksonville Organization Attacks Violence, Blight With Holistic Approach

Claire Goforth

February 27, 2020 |

Juvenile Justice Information Exchange |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Jacksonville, Florida

After the residential real estate market collapsed a decade ago, a developer that had been revitalizing an impoverished Jacksonville neighborhood with single-family homes pivoted to a broader approach to reducing crime and blight. Progress has been difficult, and violence in the neighborhood remains high. But, by building larger complexes and offering an array of services and interventions, Northwest Jacksonville Community Development Corporation is achieving slow but steady social change.

Read More
Go to Original Story
A Country That Welcomes Migration

Patrick Ammerman Gustavo Andrés Castillo Arenas

February 19, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Colombia, Bogotá

In a time when many Western countries are closing their doors to refugees, Colombia has been particularly welcoming to migrants and refugees. The country has enacted a series of laws that make it easier for incoming Venezuelans to find work and become a Colombian citizen. One policy, called Permiso Especial de Permanencia, or PEP, provides legal status to Venezuelans who entered the country without a visa. Nearly 600,000 Venezuelans had been granted PEP as of October 2019.

Read More
Go to Original Story
App connects users with native-owned businesses

Laurel Morales

February 17, 2020 |

Marketplace |

Radio |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Tuba City, Arizona

In the Navajo Nation, more than 70 percent of local income leaves the tribal area, but one effort is helping native-owned businesses expand their reach. Change Labs, a business incubator, helped birth Rez Rising, an app that helps people find and shop with native-owned businesses, which often find obstacles to entrepreneurship like listing a physical address or operating a website.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Poor credit is a barrier to affordable housing. Lending circles are a tool for those in poverty

Nicole Hayden

February 14, 2020 |

Desert Sun |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Coachella Valley, California

Lift to Rise, a Coachella Valley nonprofit that pushes for housing and poverty policy change, launched a local lending circle program aimed at serving minority residents break the cycle of poverty. Partnered with San Francisco-based Mission Asset Fund, the lending circle helps those with poor credit or no credit at all to build up a spending history, have access to loans, create a savings account, improve their score, and more. Since 2008, Mission Asset Fund has partnered with more than 50 organizations across the U.S. to provide lending circles to more than 9,000 clients.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Meet Pakistan's Barefoot Entrepreneurs

Adeel Ahmed

February 13, 2020 |

Pioneers Post |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Pakistan, Sindh

Pakistan's poorest citizens, who previously panhandled for their basic needs, were launched onto an entrepreneurial path by the Heritage Foundation Pakistan. Eight impoverished communities have been trained in the craft of glazed tile work and terracotta art to lift the participants out of poverty. The program also created a market of interdependence, so the villages can purchase goods from one another, freeing them from relying on cities for their livelihood.

Read More
Go to Original Story
The fight to save CHamoru, a language the US military tried to destroy

Anita Hofschneider

February 12, 2020 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Guam

CHamoru, the indigenous language of the Mariana Islands, is endangered. In an urgent move to save the language, Chief Hurao Academy was founded, a nonprofit that offers a CHamoru summer immersion program, an after-school immersion program, and a CHamoru-language preschool. There are barriers to its success, particularly funding, but the response has been overwhelming and already the children can chat casually in CHamoru.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Graffiti-removal company hires only homeless or formerly incarcerated workers

Terri Akman

February 11, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia Media Network) |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Powered by a workforce made up exclusively of the formerly incarcerated and people experiencing homelessness, Philadelphia start-up company Graffiti Removal Experts gets paid to clean up signs of blight while giving people an employment opportunity they otherwise might lack. Besides cleaning up graffiti, the team removes stickers and fixes broken glass throughout Center City and surrounding neighborhoods. The company’s clients include neighborhood associations, property managers, and individual businesses who pay monthly or one-time fees that turn into $20-per-hour wages for the company’s employees.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How one Minnesota university more than doubled its native student graduation rate

Caroline Preston

February 06, 2020 |

The Hechinger Report |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities has seen its six-year graduation rate for American Indian and Alaska Native students rise from 27 percent in 2008 to 69 percent in 2018, as well as an increase in the number of enrolled students who identify as native. The university credits this achievement to a number of academic and social programs designed to make native students feel welcome on campus, initiatives to increase empathy and understanding by teachers of issues facing native students, a summer institute for indigenous high school students, and more.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How Fines and Fees Reform Became a Priority for Cities Across the Country

Emma Coleman

February 06, 2020 |

Route Fifty |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

From North Carolina to California, states and cities are taking a new approach to fines and fees – people are having their charges dismissed, warrants for minor offenses cleared, and many municipalities are actually saving money by spending less on collections. With a system that was built because it provided cities and states with revenue, there has been a realization that it disproportionately targets communities of color and often keeps people stuck in cycles of debt. With this national awakening, resources and networks are being created so other places can implement the same change.

Read More
Go to Original Story