Julia Burke Maternity Centre blends trado-modern methods to provide quality care

Aloysius Chidiebere Ugwu Adaobi N. Ezeokoli

June 21, 2021 |

Nigeria Health Watch |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

The GEANCO Foundation provides services to increase the health of pregnant women, including an anemia clinic that provides free antenatal care and a stipend to support women’s nutritional needs. Because many women prefer to give birth with traditional birth attendants (TBAs), they’ve trained hundreds of TBAs to provide safe and hygienic care to pregnant women. Post-training, TBAs are supervised by a nurse midwife for compliance and lab technicians test women for more serious complications. GEANCO built sanitary modular clinics, with beds and a delivery room, for two TBAs with plans for more.

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New grocery store reflects Cornerstone church's belief that 'South Dallas deserves beautiful things'

Sujata Dand

June 16, 2021 |

Dallas Free Press |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Dallas, Texas

The new Southpoint Community Market in Dallas is the product of seven years of planning in a process based on community input about the need for accessible, nutritious, affordable food and other everyday groceries. Anchoring what once was a run-down shopping center, the new grocery and coffee bar is supported by Cornerstone Community Enterprises, a nearby church's philanthropic arm, and the Real Estate Council Foundation, which will cover the store's financial losses until it is self-sustaining. The store is part of a larger effort to provide for a healthier neighborhood.

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In The Wake Of Worsening Achievement Gap, Officials Ponder Private Help For Public Schools

Ebong Udoma

June 07, 2021 |

WSHU Public Radio |

Radio |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Connecticut

Private donors and businesses are helping some Connecticut public schools provide students and their families with access to the internet, a critical need when distance learning is imposed. Long-term hopes to close the growing achievement gap between wealthy and poorer schools through public-private partnerships need more time to ripen. But some nearer-term successes include one philanthropy's grant to provide 60,000 laptops and broadband internet to students statewide who otherwise lacked access, while a grant in Norwalk put 1,000 families online to help with homework and healthcare access.

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In Nashville, Using Loan Guarantees to Fund Affordable Housing Preservation

Jared Brey

May 25, 2021 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Nashville, Tennessee

Urban Housing Solutions, a Nashville nonprofit housing developer, made a $19.2 million investment to preserve 165 apartments for people earning in the mid-30s. In a tight and expensive housing market where aggressive investors often outflank nonprofits seeking to provide lower-cost housing, UHS financed the purchase with a bank loan that will earn the lender state tax credits and that was secured by four philanthropic foundations' funds as collateral. The transaction was a first in Nashville for the use of community investment tools to preserve lower-cost housing.

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As Formerly Incarcerated People Return to Their Communities in W.Va., This Network of 'Resource Brokers' Is There to Guide Them

Amanda Page

May 11, 2021 |

100 Days in Appalachia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, West Virginia

The West Virginia Council of Churches formed a network of community reentry councils to help people leaving prison line up basic necessities, from housing to employment. The councils use their members' community connections as a bridge between prison officials, who won't release people if they lack plans for a place to live, and returning citizens, whose housing, counseling, and employment needs can determine the difference between success and another stint in prison on a technical parole violation. Grants from two foundations helped the Council of Churches expand its network during the pandemic.

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Inside New York City's Biggest Financial Relief Effort for Undocumented Immigrants

Kevin Duggan

April 15, 2021 |

Documented |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

New York City’s Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Affairs relied on help from 34 community groups to distribute a $20 million relief fund from the Open Society Foundation. The groups verified who needed the funds, and no personal information was required of the more than 24,000 people receiving aid. Membership in the organizations was not required, but limited resources made members more likely to receive aid. The limited transparency and private nature of the OSF fund served as a work around for a Trump-era executive order making it harder for immigrants receiving public assistance to get visas or green cards.

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Don't call it summer school: Battling the COVID slide in math, science, reading with summer programs

Trisha Powell Crain

March 10, 2021 |

AL.com (Alabama Media Group) |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Alabama

Summer Adventures in Learning (SAIL) provides funding for summer programs that mix academic learning and fun enrichment activities. The “COVID slide,” where students fell behind in math, science, and reading, had a greater impact on children of color and those in low-income families, who are the majority of students in SAIL-funded programs. High-quality academics, taught by certified teachers, are paired with fun activities and personal enrichment provided by community partners. Students in SAIL's virtual 2020 summer programs showed average learning gains of 2.3 months in reading and 1.6 months in math.

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'Where Are The Women?': Uncovering The Lost Works Of Female Renaissance Artists

Sylvia Poggioli

January 02, 2021 |

NPR |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Italy

Advancing Women Artists (AWA) is a nonprofit foundation that has identified around 2,000 pieces of art by women artists that were forgotten or stored away in Italy’s museums and churches. The organization has financed the restoration of 70 works from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Although women generally couldn’t study or devote themselves to art, some of the artists’ works were known during their times but disappeared from public writings around the 19th century. AWA’s work restoring, documenting, and exhibiting women’s art has contributed to increased interest in and awareness of art by women.

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Meet the Bristol collective putting surplus wealth in the hands of people tackling injustice

Alex Turner

October 02, 2020 |

The Bristol Cable |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: England, Bristol

Bristol Redistro is an experiment in wealth redistribution that taps the social-justice consciences of people who pool what they see as their excess money to make grants to small community groups that are "challenging unfair power structures." An initial round made £1,000 grants to such groups as Mandem, an online artistic platform for young men of color, and No More Exclusions, which seeks to reform school discipline. Funding decisions get made by a collective, not Redistro's leaders, with the aim of driving social change and challenging inequality by sharing the wealth with grassroots community groups.

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Grounded by the pandemic, community groups are working to save Cleveland's Census

Lee Chilcote Conor Morris

August 25, 2020 |

The Land |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Cleveland, Ohio

With 75 micro-grants totaling $200,000, community organizations in Cleveland encourage people to complete the census in innovative ways. The Cleveland Caravan, or La Caravana, is a collaborative effort where trucks play looped messages in English and Spanish over a loud speaker with information on how to fill out the Census, vote, and stay safe during the pandemic. Asian Services in Action and Us Together, a refugee and immigrant services group, conduct outreach and have helped 1,190 and 700 people complete the Census respectively. Despite these efforts, the city's response rate is comparatively low.

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