In Chicago, Police Violence Survivors Heal Through Song

Citizens in Cairo have been working to make the streets cleaner in an effort to create more pride for the country and get the government's attention. From picking up trash and painting lampposts to collecting donations from passersby, the community is working together to make a new Egypt.

The militarization of police forces in cases such as Ferguson, Missouri’s riots has led the state of Utah to question what can be done to prevent such an overuse of force from happening. Utah expanded upon a law passed by Democratic legislature in Maryland, which Utah’s ACLU reworked with some libertarians, to require the police to provide data about SWAT team usage. Utah’s success demonstrates that demilitarization bills passed with bipartisan support are not impossible.

Young people are often viewed as needing protection or needing correction. However, a Boston organization is creating young peacemakers and powerful change makers by taking kids seriously and giving them the tools to act on their ideas.

A positive transformation in a Mississippi prison has become a focal point for a growing number of states rethinking the use of long-term isolation. Humanitarian groups have long argued that solitary confinement has devastating psychological effects, but a central driver in the recent shift is economics. Some officials have also been persuaded by research suggesting that isolation is vastly overused and that it does little to reduce overall prison violence.

Team Rubicon, a non-profit organization of military veterans that provides disaster relief, has provided relief after flooding in Detroit, tornadoes in Oklahoma, a typhoon in the Philippines and an earthquake in Nepal, among dozens of other communities across the globe.

Two columns on Time Banks, where people swap services – teach calligraphy to one neighbor, and get computer repair from another neighbor. Time Banks create community and make people healthier – which is why hospitals and clinics are now starting them.

Poor neighborhoods in the United States lack quality play spaces for children, also known as play deserts. An organization is enabling communities across the nation to build their own playground.

Global social and economic problems are difficult to change. However, fan-activism fuels the interests of fans of popular young adult fiction. Books such as Harry Potter and the Hunger Games have inspired activist groups that raise awareness of global hunger, reading, and relief supplies to impoverished nations, among others. Being a fan has served as a bridge to become politically active and solve the world’s problems.

The United States now has a variety of federally-supported nutrition programs, but the health care system remains disconnected from the social determinants of health. Many doctors simply lack the resources to provide the comprehensive care proven to have greater impact on health than strictly medical treatment. A group called Health Leads is training young volunteers to treat the social factors, like poor nutrition and housing needs.

Game inventors have created a new game to help students who suffer from ADHD and other mental problems develop and stimulate their brains in a safer, more targeted way than normal medicines.