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Portland reduced gun violence by reviving a park. Could we try that in Philly?

Courtney Duchene

May 24, 2022 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Portland, Oregon

One concerned citizen mobilized her community and city leaders to make changes that reduced gun violence by 60 percent. In addition to bringing together the community, she also brought in an expert who studies how gun violence is impacted by tree coverage and traffic patterns. That information allowed her to pinpoint exactly what changes would help.

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How women-friendly design could make Philly a more livable city for all

Courtney Duchene

January 13, 2022 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Austria, Vienna

As the result of a photography exhibit that highlighted the gender inequality built into public transportation, Vienna directed resources to make urban planning more equitable. The city now prioritizes more streetlights to address public safety concerns, wider sidewalks to accommodate strollers, more benches, apartment buildings with stroller storage spaces, and more. The efforts have resulted in more accessible infrastructure, increasing not just the quality of life for women, but for all residents of the city.

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Tribaja connects Black and Latinx workers with equitable tech companies

Courtney Duchene

July 27, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Tribaja connects a diverse pool of qualified candidates to tech companies that have cultivated supportive work environments for people of color in an industry that has famously lacked inclusion. Tech companies have attempted to draw a more diverse population into their workforce but have met with little success. "Tribaja has helped about 100 people find jobs this past year."

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A collaboration of local orgs is working to boost minority-owned businesses in Kensington

Courtney Duchene

April 05, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Four local organizations have teamed up to provide $15 million in loans for the Latinx community in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. The affordable loans have gone to affordable housing, small businesses, residential mortgages, and development projects.

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Hopeworks expands its outreach to support small businesses and fight regional poverty

Courtney Duchene

March 17, 2021 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Camden, New Jersey

Hopeworks is providing a paid job training program along with internship and employment opportunities in any of three businesses owned by the nonprofit. Hopeworks also provides living arrangements in a residential program where students, alumni, and interns can all live together. The nonprofit adopted a trauma-informed approach that allows participants to learn healthy coping mechanisms.

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Local initiative helps folks with cannabis-related charges find jobs—while pushing to decriminalize pot

Courtney Duchene

December 22, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

When Pennsylvania's largest medical-marijuana dispensary, TerraVida Holistic Centers, struggled to find enough employees, given the state's ban on the industry's employment of people with marijuana convictions, TerraVida joined with the Urban League of Philadelphia to expand aid to the formerly incarcerated. Through Urban League's Out4Good program, the partnership helps people expunge their drug convictions. It also counsels and financially helps groups of 10 trainees at a time, dozens of whom have started careers and stayed out of trouble. The group also seeks a longer-term fix: marijuana legalization.

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Local tech company thrives with business model that invests in employee happiness and community work

Courtney Duchene

October 21, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Promptworks is a tech company seeking to create a nurturing environment for its own employees as well as help the local community. When the pandemic shut down the city, Promptworks created a mutual-aid platform connecting people in need with local residents who wanted to help. The company also hosted an event bringing together 80 leaders across several sectors to discuss and develop concrete plans to make Philadelphia more equitable.

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Jumpstart trains developers to fight gentrification in Philly neighborhoods

Courtney Duchene

September 29, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Jumpstart Germantown and five spinoff programs trained about 1,000 people in the art of locally controlled neighborhood rehabilitation. The Jumpstart programs target particular neighborhoods, mainly mid-range housing stock with vacant and deteriorating conditions, and lend money to newly minted developers to fix and resell the properties. Housing rehabs maintain the character of neighborhoods, rather than gentrifying them or making wholesale redevelopment changes. Beyond the community improvement benefits, the program helps diversify the real estate business and provides employment opportunities.

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This Philly-based video-chatting platform helps older adults stay connected during socially isolated times

Courtney Duchene

September 22, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

OneClick.chat is an online video chatting and live events platform, with 50,000 users in over 30 countries, that helps older adults connect with old friends and meet new people. The technology is designed to be easy to master, with key features such as chat, mute, and screen-share buttons more obviously placed, easy to access, and remaining accessible throughout the conversation. Meeting scheduling is also made to be simple. Users, who pay $15/month for the service, get a unique meeting room URL that never changes. Using the services doesn’t require people to download software or create an account.

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The Kitchen Garden Series upends the textiles industry by reviving an old Philly tradition: producing local linen

Courtney Duchene

August 13, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Pottstown, Pennsylvania

A former costume designer and a farmer in Pennsylvania are partnering together to grow flax to produce their own linen. Since the fashion and textiles industries produce a lot of waste, the duo are reviving the crop that was traditionally grown in the area to raise awareness on the importance of a strong local textile supply chain. While harvesting the crop can be labor intensive and they don’t plan on making a profit from it this year, they hope to show that growing flax could be a staple crop in urban agriculture.

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