THE RESPONSE FREE!
Weekly email with three solutions stories illustrating responses that work, pivoting off the latest news moments.
Texas Monthly
11 October 2018
Multi-Media / Over 3000 Words
Scope of Response: State/Province
Texas, United States
An unlikely relationship between Frances Jalet, an attorney, and Fred Cruz, an inmate, led to some of the most historic rulings against the Texas Department of Corrections. Jalet became a plaintiff in one of the suits, and alongside two dozen other inmates, called the Eight Hoe squad, they drafted a lawsuit. Despite targeted attacks against Jalet and the inmates by prison leadership, they won in the courts. In 1980, a federal judge declared that the Texas Department of Corrections was operating unconstitutionally.
http://www.adn.com/article/20140601/call-him-minimum-mike-if-you-barrow-judge-trying-something-new
Kyle Hopkins
Alaska Dispatch News
12 June 2014
Text / 1500-3000 Words
People affected by fetal alcohol syndrome disorder are more likely to be convicted. In Alaska, one court provides convicts with FASD counselors and patience, making the court system more equitable and hoping to reduce recidivism.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/29/guiding-poor-families-to-a-fair-day-in-court
David Bornstein
The New York Times
29 May 2015
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Millions of families of arrested individuals do not know what to do to help, how to obtain a lawyer, or what the process entails in the court system. Created by Albert Cobarrubius Justice Project, participatory defense is a type of community organizing that teaches and empowers people who face criminal charges. Individuals know how to work with attorneys in order to navigate the system and ultimately feel equipped to become drivers of their own change.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/helping-rios-poor-continue-to-heal-at-home
David Bornstein
The New York Times
11 December 2013
Text / 1500-3000 Words
• Physical illnesses trigger and exacerbate poverty because costs are too high to treat them. The Associação Saúde Criança in Rio de Janeiro counsels poor, urban families with ill children. Volunteers assist families with food, medicine, vocational training, housing, legal aid, among other services that help mothers achieve their personal goals.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/when-lenders-wont-listen
David Bornstein
The New York Times
10 December 2010
Text / 1500-3000 Words
In part, miscommunication between bankers, brokers and homeowners created the 2008 economic crisis. Protection laws mandating better labeling and trusted third-party intermediaries could improve communication and help prevent another crisis.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/when-poverty-makes-you-sick-a-lawyer-can-be-the-cure
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
17 July 2014
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Being poor can make you sick because of where you work, live and eat. Medical-legal partnerships, in hospitals U.S. cities, are attacking these social determinants through legal aid to the poor, often class-action lawsuits.
http://hechingerreport.org/why-are-low-income-students-not-showing-up-to-college-even-though-they-have-been-accepted
Meredith Kolodner
The Hechinger Report
14 August 2015
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Forty percent of low-income students accepted to college never start school because of a fear of debt and feelings they don't belong. A New York college access organization is using peer-mentoring to help perspective students jump over the hurtles.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/doctors-prescribing-legal-aid-patients-need
Jackie Judd
PBS NewsHour
2 September 2015
Broadcast TV News / 5-15 Minutes
Many U.S. medical systems are using medical-legal partnerships to help disadvantaged patients who need help navigating problems with landlords and insurers that interfere with their health.
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/news/a36907/prisoners-reentry-programs
Jean Friedman-Rudovsky
Cosmopolitan
25 February 2015
Text / Over 3000 Words
A Department of Justice study reported that about 75 percent of those released in 2005 were rearrested, and women prisoners often have a harder time re-entering society after release. A New Way of Life (ANWOL) is a Los Angeles transitional living facility that has helped more than 750 women stay out of prison by offering housing, case management, mental health and substance treatment, and job training.
http://national.deseretnews.com/article/4235/can-mobile-homes-save-home-ownership.html
Lane Anderson
Deseret News
27 April 2015
Text / 800-1500 Words
Thirty-five percent of Americans will never own their home and risk a rent increase or eviction. Owned Communities USA enables working-class families to become home owners through manufactured homes, loans, and legal aid.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/22/in-egypt-sowing-the-seeds-of-gender-equality
Elizabeth Stuart
The New York Times
22 January 2015
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Muslim women in Egypt are expected to marry young and to stay close to home, and if they do not, they can be subjected to abuse or heavy criticism by men in the household. Save the Children’s Choices program offers educational workshop sessions for boys and girls, ages 10 to 14, which help them explore gender identity. Through discussions, the program hopes to change gender norms.
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