Lessons From Katrina: This Organization Tries to Get Hurricane Florence Survivors Home Quicker

Refugio, Texas was ravaged by Hurricane Harvey, leaving behind damaged houses, schools and businesses and people who can not afford to rebuild their lives. However, this town has used its community and found strength in their love of football and their support of one another to keep moving forward.

It turns out the old adage of knowing your neighbor really can help make your neighborhood safer. A study of more than 250 cities found that a key factor behind a drop in crime in the last 20 years was the mobilizing of citizens by nonprofit organizations like block clubs. In Milwaukee these “urban guardians” have helped bring communities together and foster safer spaces that also address urban blight.

Paul Sinton-Hewitt, founder of the charity Parkrun, never set out to create a revolution. All he wanted was a low-pressure space to run. Now, his organization supports over 1,600 community running events around the globe, with an expected one million participants by 2023. This is part of a trend of “people’s innovation,” or the idea that innovation can come from users rather than just executives. Parkrun exemplifies the inclusive spirit of people’s innovation and the positive impacts it can spread all around the world.

FEMA’s response to Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Irma has been the “longest sustained domestic airborne food and water mission in the nation’s history. The agency has never distributed more food or installed more generators.” However, due to bureaucracy and delayed decision making, there are still thousands of Puerto Ricans who have not received aid, or were underserved.

Deep canvassing goes beyond talking points, encouraging empathetic dialogue. The New York-based organization, Changing the Conversation Together, trains volunteers in the practice of deep canvassing. Instead of just focusing on a candidate’s talking points in an effort to mobilize potential voters, deep canvassing promotes conversation, listening, and empathy. Canvassers are taught to relay a personal story, a message of love, as a way to connect with the people they meet.

Upon seeing a need for educational resources to support the out of school transition due to the COVID-19 outbreak, two high school seniors in the San Jose area stepped up to fill that gap. Sarika Sriram and Uditha Velidandla coordinated 90 volunteers to offer free tutoring in a range of school subjects. So far, over 350 students have benefitted from these comprehensive online learning sessions.

Activists in Berkeley, California, are filling in what they say is a gap in homeless services during the coronavirus outbreak. Volunteers are safely delivering food and other supplies to those without shelter.

신종 코로나바이러스 확산 초기, 마스크 대란에 대처하기 위해 대만 정부는 '마스크 실명제', '마스크 맵' 서비스 등을 주도적으로 시행하며 위기에 적극적으로 대응하는 모습을 보여주었습니다.

진단 제품 긴급사용승인제도, 선별진료 및 드라이브스루 진료, 정확도 높은 검사법 채택 등을 통해 한국은 단시간 내에 기록적인 양의 코로나19 검사를 시행할 수 있었습니다.

Volunteer citizen seismologists in Haiti are collecting data on earthquakes and aftershocks with equipment provided by researchers to better understand seismic hazards and fault locations in the country.