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

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  • How Bangor drug court participants are getting help staying sober during the pandemic

    Bangor drug court in Maine has turned to the use of Zoom to keep in contact with program participants during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although meeting via video call can disguise some physical symptoms of drug use, this new process has so far seen success with all participants still enrolled and one even graduating from the program.

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  • This Seattle protest zone is police-free. So volunteers are stepping up to provide security.

    In Seattle's police-free street encampment that sprang up during protests over policing abuses, a mostly unarmed group of volunteer "sentinels" has defused a number of potential problems while largely avoiding the use of force. Trained in de-escalation and mediation tactics, the sentinels have used listening techniques to understand people's anger or mental state. Among the incidents they have addressed: fights, attempted vandalism of storefronts, visits from armed people who wanted to confront a supposed leftist threat, and the attempted arson of a police precinct building.

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  • The Doctor Healing Wounds of War in Basilan

    By fostering dialog between the military and rebel soldiers in a region long afflicted with violence, a physician whose clinic exposed her to children’s severe PTSD has helped heal the effects of trauma and the scars of war. Save the Children of War in Basilan has gone beyond its focus on child health and welfare to broker reconciliation talks between rebel groups and the military, in large part by getting both sides to see their opponents’ motives through a new lens. Kidnappings, once rampant, have been nonexistent since 2016.

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  • Could Akira Miyawaki's 50-year-old innovation help promote biodiversity and reduce the risk of climate change?

    An innovative approach to combat climate change involves growing forests and resorting natural vegetation on degraded or barren land. Known as the Miyawaki technique, planting seedlings of indigenous trees close together could speed the growth of the trees and not only offset carbon emissions, but also increase biodiversity. While the technique can be challenging to do correctly, corporations, nonprofits, and even schools have planted 285 of these forests around the world in India, the Netherlands, France, and Pakistan.

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  • Hungarian Program Connects Seniors With Stand-in Grandkids

    The How Are You Today? program connects elderly Hungarians with young people who are also deprived of social connections during the Covid-19 pandemic. Festival Volunteer Center joined with Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta to connect about 70 pairs for regular, supportive conversations to alleviate loneliness. Volunteers are trained to maintain boundaries to avoid certain emotional risks, however many participants have formed strong bonds and want the program to continue in some form after the pandemic. The organization is working on sustainable funding solutions to enable long-term operations.

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  • Promotoras: A community model with heart — and teeth

    Promotoras is a model used in Latin America since the 1950s, where respected community members perform health outreach and host events to answer questions about healthcare access and treatments. The program seeks to ensure that Latinx communities are not prevented from receiving quality healthcare because of traditional obstacles such as distrust, lack of transportation, lack of insurance, or language barriers. Research and surveys consistently show that this model achieves success by improving access to health services for the majority of people they interact with.

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  • Lonely Hearts Club

    In Poland, a volunteer helpline connects elderly residents who call in with volunteers to engage in compassionate conversation during the coronavirus pandemic. While other hotlines exist that help provide aid services to the isolated elderly citizens, this helpline only focuses on offering conversation or, when the situation calls for it, connection to a trained therapist.

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  • Navajo community health reps play key role in contact tracing

    The Community Health Representative Program has been helping connect the Navajo Nation with health-care resources for decades, but when the Covid-19 pandemic began to impact community members, the role of the representatives shifted. By "using their knowledge of the community in a different way," the representatives have largely become contact tracers, a role they are uniquely suited for given their understanding of the importance of cultural competency and their longevity in the community.

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  • Detroit's virtual wine & cheese classes feed hunger for connection

    Wine bars and cheese shops in the Detroit area are taking their businesses online during the COVID-19 pandemic by offering virtual tasting classes to their customers. The Royce and Marrow, a wine bar, is connecting viewers with winemakers around the world with their “At Home With Wine” series and Mongers’ Provisions, a cheese shop, set up tasting classes about cheese, chocolate, and charcuterie, with tasting samples delivered to homes or collected via curbside pickup. While there are learning curves for hosting online classes, many shops enjoy connecting with their communities.

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  • Training Police to Step In and Prevent Another George Floyd Audio icon

    While most police-reform ideas focus on top-down imposition of standards, peer intervention puts the burden on individual police officers to prevent misconduct. Grounded in studies of bystanders’ behavior in the face of abuses by others, the method first was adopted by the New Orleans Police Department in light of widespread misconduct following Hurricane Katrina and has been credited with that department’s “remarkable progress” in shifting its culture. Now its use is spreading nationwide.

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