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

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  • Incarcerated Women Are Punished for Their Trauma With Solitary Confinement

    Like other prisons, Minnesota's Shakopee Correctional Facility says it uses solitary confinement as punishment for violence or other misbehavior by incarcerated people, to provide safety, or to isolate people with mental illness. But interviews with 51 women who were sent to solitary, in this story by a fellow incarcerated woman, show how common the punishment is for trivial offenses. Innocent touching is deemed inappropriate sexual activity, or women act out over the trauma they have suffered. Then they are confined in conditions that only make their emotional state worse.

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  • They Made a Revolutionary System to Protect People With Developmental Disabilities. Now It's Falling Apart.

    In Arizona, state officials recruited individuals for volunteer committees to have oversight of the state Division of Developmental Disabilities that was responsible for caring for those with developmental disabilities. Although the program was initially successful and "helped Arizona earn its reputation as one of the best states in the country for the care of people with developmental and intellectual disabilities," in recent years, a series of resignations and increased workload have left some of the panels "barely functioning."

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  • Writing the next chapter in literary diversity

    Kindred is a program to diversify Pima County libraries' staff, events, and collections. They run programs centered around Black history, culture, and experiences, including Black story time and talks featuring prominent local people of color. Topics include Black history, female entrepreneurship, and quilt codes for the Underground Railroad. A grant allowed them to distribute 200 copies of Octavia E. Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” with a guide for discussion. Pima County built on Kindred’s work by launching new collections featuring materials written by and for LGBTQ+, Indigenous, and Latino patrons.

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  • Housing in Uncertain Times

    Time Out Youth Center (TOY) provides housing support for LGBTQ youth ages 18-24, though youth as young as 11 can access some of the organization’s services. The Host Home Program matches youth with individuals or a family where they can live for up to 90 days. While in the transitional housing program, TOY checks in weekly and provides groceries and transportation. The youth must apply to jobs every day, a minimum of 10 for unemployed youth and 4-6 for those working part-time. As they exit the program, they complete a basic skills course where they learn things like how to read a lease and pay rent on time.

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  • Adapting to address changing refugee needs in Athen

    The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) provides basic necessities, hot showers, English classes, and social interaction for refugees in Greece. JRS also opened a Women Day Centre which catered specifically to the needs of refugee women, providing them with health care, clothing, showers, and haircuts.

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  • Faculty of color underrepresented at CSULB

    Nationally and historically, faculty of color have been underrepresented at most universities. At California State University Long Beach, the president proposed the “diversity training initiative,” in order to hire more faculty of color. The initiative requires “equity advocates” to be placed at each college, who “assess job descriptions and work with search committees to make sure the hiring process is done from an “equity-minded foundation.” The biggest jump amongst faculty of color happened in the College of Liberal Arts. Similar efforts are being undertaken by colleges around the country.

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  • What Comes Next for Portland's Protests?

    Black Lives Matters protests have been sustained by an autonomously organized mutual aid network providing a range of services for protesters and community members. Requests for information and assistance are sent using encrypted communication. The groups provide medics, public protest art, legal and financial aid, and even mechanics to service protesters’ cars and a group that helps protesters replace glasses that were damaged or lost due to police encounters. The extensive mutual aid network enables flexibility to respond to a diverse set of changing needs, sustaining protests longer than in other cities.

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  • How a German project uses shared interests to bring refugees and locals together

    Hand in Hand is a German initiative designed to match refugees looking to socialize with locals who are willing to welcome them to their new home. Social events were organized to bring people together based on interests and hobbies. Refugees who have benefitted from the opportunity to network with locals report a better grasp of the German language, a stronger network of friends, and some have even found work through their new network. The group’s success even garnered state funding to use toward event planning.

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  • How a Cyprus charity realigned its services to face the pandemic

    The humanitarian organization known as Refugee Support in Nicosia, Cyrpus has been using WhatsApp to provide useful information to refugee populations during the coronavirus pandemic in addition to delivering food to 200 people per week. Although the organization is limited in who they can offer help to due to financial feasibility, the group has still been able to ease the "tension, conflict, and frustration between migrants during the process of being quarantined."

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  • Newly Formed KC Bail-Out Group Successful After Its First Year in Action

    In its first year, Operation Liberation helped more than 30 people post bail to be released from the Jackson County Detention Center. The operation focuses on bailing Black people out of jail when their lack of money keeps them jailed on low-level charges. Kansas City's population is about one-quarter Black, but its jail skews 58% Black. Operation Liberation provides social supports to people once they are released from pretrial detention, helping with everything from housing to transportation. Its first year's work was funded by more than $75,000 in donations.

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