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

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  • How West Oakland Financed Its Own Grocery Store

    Public investment campaigns can raise capital and attract larger institutional investors. In the neighborhood of West Oakland, the Community Foods Market opened its doors by raising funds through a Direct Public Offering (DPO). In addition to using traditional grant funding and so-called “angel” investors, the Community Foods Market turned community members into investors, giving them partial ownership of their local grocery store.

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  • Let Me Help You Find Bliss

    There are many things to consider when it comes to the quality of life and psychological needs of people living with disabilities, but one need rarely remembered is their sexuality. A Czech organization called Freya trains people to be sexual assistants who work with people with a range of abilities to learn how to become more comfortable with their own bodies and sexuality and physical tactics to help them do so. The service offers them a chance to experience basic human pleasures, and many testify to how much it has shaped their self-esteem and psychological health.

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  • Message scent: Douglas fir beetles detoured from Ouray forest by pheromone packets

    By combining biomimicry with biodiversity, Colorado’s forests have kept damaging fir beetles at bay. The city of Ouray, Colorado, and the Colorado State Forest Service have been working with the help of volunteers to apply chemical pheromones to protect Douglas firs from the damaging beetles. The pheromones mimic a warning produced by the beetles, discouraging them from settling on the tree. The pheromones are applied by hand, requiring teams of trained volunteers.

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  • In Rural Guatemala, Can This School Make “The Girl Effect” Happen?

    The MAIA Impact School, inspired by New York City's well-known KIPP charter schools, gives scholarships to ambitious indigenous girls in Guatemala with the aim of "propel[ing] them from poverty and isolation into the most elite spheres of Guatemalan society." School administrators are gradually learning how to adapt the model to a new setting with new expectations and teachers.

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  • How New Yorkers Stood Up to Amazon and Won

    When Amazon came close to establishing its second headquarters in Long Island City, the Queens borough of New York, community organizing successfully halted the development. Community leaders credit their success to a diverse group of organizations teaming up (like Queens Neighborhoods United and New York Communities for Change), politicians teaming up with the communities they represent, and quick mobilization.

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  • Cash for trees: Homegrown carbon offset program bears fruit

    Trees for Global Benefits is a carbon offset program that aims to partner with, rather than displace, locals in countries that have space to plant forests. For instance, in the Rubirizi District in Uganda, locals are getting paid to plant trees on their land. This hopes to eliminate the negative ramifications of other carbon offset programs that have displaced native people. Still, companies should be looking for ways to reduce carbon emissions beyond bringing their problems to other countries.

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  • This Newspaper Hired Homeless People to Report Its Stories

    Street Sense is a biweekly, volunteer-run newspaper whose vendors and content creators are part of the homeless community in Washington, DC. Vendors purchase the issues at a discount and then sell them at a profit, generating an income for themselves, and having the creative outlet of a newspaper allows vendors to tell their stories in their own way. Street Sense Media, the parent organization, also offers vendors workshops in theater, writing, graphic design, podcasting, and more. They also have case workers on staff to help connect vendors with assistance that leads to permanent housing and healthcare.

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  • From bleak to bustling: how one French town solved its high street crisis

    Mulhouse, a small city in France, brushed off its negative reputation and used community networking, clever financing, and urban renewal as tools to become a bustling center once again. The town relied on many community associations and local voices to grow their economy; now, the city has more shops opening than closing.

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  • Oakland's 'Pothole Vigilantes' Take Street Repairs Into Their Own Hands

    In Oakland, CA, two men deemed the Pothole Vigilantes have paired up to fix every pothole in the city. Made possible by crowdfunding the venture, the two have now developed public meetups to teach others how to fix potholes themselves. This has caught the attention of city officials, who, partly because of this effort, have passed a $100 million plan to repave Oakland streets.

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  • Bok choy and bread fruit: How traditional crops fit a food secure future

    Organizations like Ho’oulu ka ‘Ulu are reintroducing small-scale farmers to breadfruit — a traditional Hawaiian starchy fruit that fell out of style following the rise of plantation farming and colonialism. Growers are taught how to cultivate and sell the fruit, and their network of now 200 farmers are helping to keep part of their culture alive. Similarly, in California a Food Roots program connects farmers growing traditional Asian produce like bok choy to local businesses and markets to provide accessibility to culturally relevant fresh produce.

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