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  • The Portlanders Going Electric

    September 08, 2023 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

    ElectrifyPDX educates residents of Portland, Oregon, about the importance of decarbonizing their homes and the rebates and tax breaks available to do so. The nonprofit hosts events, webinars, giveaways, and open houses at local electrified homes.

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  • When Tackling Homelessness, Prevention is Often the Best Medicine

    April 20, 2023 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

    A Portland shelter’s Homeless Prevention Program provides rent assistance to families who have not yet been involved with social services and are about to lose their homes. In 2022, the program helped 93 families pay back rent, pay past-due utilities, or create payment plans with their landlords.

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  • As Temperatures Rise, Farms Are Sprouting in Alaska

    June 30, 2022 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

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    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Alaska

    Alaska usually imports most of its food, but due to supply chain issues and climate change making the growing season longer, more small farms are popping up in The Last Frontier state. While the number of U.S. farms has decreased between 2007 and 2017, Alaska saw them increase by 44 percent. With their farming boom, residents are becoming more sustainable on their own crops rather than relying on global food systems.

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  • The Anti-Displacement Repair Team of Portland

    November 12, 2021 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

    Taking Ownership PDX helps Black homeowners to age in place by helping with maintenance to keep their homes livable, like making long-needed repairs and renovations. Since launching in 2020, the group has helped over 50 Black homeowners, raised over half a million dollars and maintains a database of 250 local volunteers who are eager to pitch in on the projects whenever they arise.

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  • From a Prison Garden Sprouts Real Growth

    July 27, 2021 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Oregon

    Lettuce Grow teaches gardening skills to 200 incarcerated people per year in 16 Oregon prisons and juvenile detention centers. The teaching includes college-level courses and hands-on gardening on prison grounds, which then yields hundreds of thousands of pounds of fresh vegetables for prison kitchens. Graduates of the program commit many fewer crimes than the average ex-prisoner and have found work after prison at nurseries and in other horticultural pursuits.

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  • The Tiny-House Village That's Changing Lives

    February 22, 2021 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

    Agape Village, located on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon, is a housing community helping people in a state of homelessness get back on their feet. Although the cabins on the property lack plumbing and electricity, villagers are able to stay free of charge, receive weekly food pantry donations, as well as one-on-one monthly goal-setting from organizers. The aim of the community is to help transition villagers into permanent housing, but there is no limit to how long they can stay.

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  • The Casino That Farms Its Own Food

    November 26, 2020 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Quapaw, Oklahoma

    The Quapaw tribe runs the Downstream Casino Resort in Oklahoma where they combine Indigenous food and farming knowledge with modern hotel operations. They have seven greenhouses and two gardens with 20 varieties of vegetables and herbs that cultivate about 6,000 pounds of food per year for the hotel and casino. They also have their own meat packing and processing plant, coffee roasting program, brewery, and farmers market. By creating a system of locally sourced and sustainably raised food, the Quapaw are reclaiming their land and food sovereignty.

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  • Hard-Knocks Restaurant Workers Are Embracing Mental Wellness

    November 13, 2020 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

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    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Sacramento, California

    An initiative being piloted in the Sacramento hospitality industry aims to decrease the stigma restaurant workers face when talking about mental health concerns with their peers. This peer-to-peer mental health support program encourages workers to disclose how they are feeling to a fellow team member who has been trained in mental health counseling. Restaurant owners have reported that this program has positively changed the culture and 22 percent of those who work at a restaurant where the initiative has been piloted have reported that they have utilized the service.

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  • Black Grandmothers Feed their Communities, and Pass on Food Traditions—Online

    October 21, 2020 |

    Civil Eats |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

    A program called Grandma’s Hands has begun hosting virtual dinner parties as a means of connecting and engaging with Black grandmothers during the coronavirus pandemic. Funded by a grant from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the program also helps connect participants with fresh produce from Black- and Indigenous-run farms in the Portland area.

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  • Wine Country's Farmworkers Are Staying Healthy Against All Odds

    July 13, 2020 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

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    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Willamette Valley, Oregon

    ¡Salud! mobile clinics were a vital factor in keeping farm workers in Oregon vineyards safe during the national health crisis. The nonprofit is supported by the state's wine industry and has provided primary care wellness checks, vaccinations, and more for decades to workers, the majority of whom do not have any other access to health care. ¡Salud! provided testing and masks early on in addition to information about the importance of masks and social distancing. Translated CDC updates were also sent to the mostly spanish-speaking workers about the constantly-changing guidelines and precautions.

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