Skip to main content
  • Who We Are
    Mission Ethics Team Board of Directors Funders & Supporters Annual Reports & Financials Careers
  • Impact
    Impact Stories How Solutions Journalism Rebalances the News
  • Programs
    Climate Democracy Youth Mental Health Africa Initiative Beacons Complicating the Narratives Educator Academies Health Equity Student Media Challenge University Hubs
  • Learning Lab
    Toolkits & Guides Events Trainers All Resources
  • Directory
  • Solutions Story Tracker
  • What You Can Do
    Explore Our Programs See Upcoming Events & Opportunities Join the Directory Teach Solutions Journalism Become an Accredited Trainer Get Solutions Stories in your Inbox Amplify Solutions in Your Community
  • Events
  • News
  • Blog
  • Solutions Insights Lab
  • My Profile
  • Donate
sjweb-ci home
  • Events
  • News
  • Blog
  • Solutions Insights Lab
  • My Profile
  • Donate
  • Who We Are
    Mission Ethics Team Board of Directors Funders & Supporters Annual Reports & Financials Careers
  • Impact
    Impact Stories How Solutions Journalism Rebalances the News
  • Programs
    Climate Democracy Youth Mental Health Africa Initiative Beacons Complicating the Narratives Educator Academies Health Equity Student Media Challenge University Hubs
  • Learning Lab
    Toolkits & Guides Events Trainers All Resources
  • Directory
  • Solutions Story Tracker
  • What You Can Do
    Explore Our Programs See Upcoming Events & Opportunities Join the Directory Teach Solutions Journalism Become an Accredited Trainer Get Solutions Stories in your Inbox Amplify Solutions in Your Community
  • Who We Are
    Mission Ethics Team Board of Directors Funders & Supporters Annual Reports & Financials Careers
  • Impact
    Impact Stories How Solutions Journalism Rebalances the News
  • Programs
    Climate Democracy Youth Mental Health Africa Initiative Beacons Complicating the Narratives Educator Academies Health Equity Student Media Challenge University Hubs
  • Learning Lab
    Toolkits & Guides Events Trainers All Resources
  • Directory
  • Solutions Story Tracker
  • What You Can Do
    Explore Our Programs See Upcoming Events & Opportunities Join the Directory Teach Solutions Journalism Become an Accredited Trainer Get Solutions Stories in your Inbox Amplify Solutions in Your Community
  • Events
  • News
  • Blog
  • Solutions Insights Lab
  • My Profile
  • Donate

Create A New Collection

Collections are versatile, powerful and simple to create. From a customized course reader to an action-guide for an upcoming service-learning trip, collections illuminate themes, guide inquiry, and provide context for how people around the worls are responding to social challenges.

  • Name and describe your collection

  • Add Stories

  • Add external links at any time

  • Add to your collection over time and share!

1. Name your collection

Sorry, a Collection with that title already exists.

Sorry, a Collection must have a title.

2. Add Stories

Add stories to your collection from your list of Favorites below, or add stories directly to a collection from Search or Discovery. Anytime you see the collection icon you can add a story. Just click the icon and follow the instructions on your screen.

Add story from saved

You've selected a story to add to a collection

Which collection to you want to add this story to?

Successfully added!

Solutions Story Tracker®

Welcome to a curated database of rigorous reporting on responses to social problems.

15,700 stories produced by 8,900 journalists and 2,000 news outlets from 89 countries. The stories cover responses in 192 countries, in 17 languages. This resource is made possible because of a growing movement of journalists who use solutions journalism to illuminate both problems and evidence-based responses to them.

Learn more about the Solutions Story Tracker.


See Latest Stories
Advanced filters

Search Results

You searched for:  -

There are 101 results  for your search.  View and Refine Your Search Terms

  • Happier Employees, Higher Profits: Covid's Surprising Lesson for Restaurants

    Matthew Sedacca
    2022-08-03 18:49:34 UTC
    0

    May 19, 2022 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Los Alamos, California

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, owners of the French bistro Bell's took a financial risk and began investing more money in their employees to incentivize working, increase employee satisfaction and retention and overall drive more profits. The decision has since paid off and is reimagining the traditional restaurant structure.

    Read More

    • 14896

    Go to Original Story
  • Wight Gift Card helping local businesses emerge from the pandemic

    Lori Little
    2022-04-24 20:36:22 UTC
    0

    July 30, 2021 |

    Isle of Wight County Press |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United Kingdom, Isle of Wight

    For 50p a month, businesses can be part of the Wight Gift Card scheme which offers £50 gift cards to spend in participating shops. Residents purchase the gift cards to support local businesses and the data shows that for every £50 gift card, people actually spend £82.50. Similar gift card schemes have successfully helped businesses in other cities withstand COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. Initial data show that the Wight program has increased purchases at local businesses.

    Read More

    • 14469

    Go to Original Story
  • Worker cooperatives prove your job doesn't have to be hell

    Jaisal Noor
    2021-07-08 19:46:55 UTC
    0

    May 26, 2021 |

    The Real News Network |

    Video |

    Over 15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States

    In service industries that traditionally pay and treat workers poorly, worker-owned cooperatives serve as a humane alternative. Worker-owners at eight co-ops in four states describe the difference their jobs make in their working conditions and their lives. They also tell how larger collectives and cooperatives pool resources to help smaller co-ops with the funding and expertise they need, especially when confronted by a disruptive event like the pandemic.

    Read More

    • 13424

    Go to Original Story
  • This Federal Program to Aid Restaurants and Street Vendors Is Working

    Oscar Perry Abello
    2021-11-01 18:50:09 UTC
    0

    May 25, 2021 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

    In just its first few weeks of existence, the U.S. Small Business Administration's Restaurant Revitalization Fund approved more than $6 billion in aid to 38,000 restaurants and other food vendors suffering economically from pandemic shutdowns. The aid program's rollout was more effective than the Paycheck Protection Program in 2020, in that it successfully targeted businesses owned by women, veterans, and "socially or economically disadvantaged people." It was helped in outreach to businesses by organizations such as Mission Economic Development Agency and New York's Street Vendor Project.

    Read More

    • 14012

    Go to Original Story
  • These co-op restaurants didn't need to open indoor dining to survive the pandemic

    Jaisal Noor
    2021-07-08 20:08:44 UTC
    0

    May 20, 2021 |

    The Real News Network |

    Video |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

    Two Baltimore restaurants, Red Emma's and Joe Squared, show how running or starting as worker-owned cooperatives gave them pandemic-survival skills in a business climate that killed many other small businesses. By tapping into larger networks providing financing on favorable terms and other expertise, these co-ops used their workers' ingenuity to offer services that didn't depend on sit-down dining. Like many co-ops, they were able to survive the pandemic and preserve jobs where so many traditionally run businesses were not.

    Read More

    • 13425

    Go to Original Story
  • Taharka Bros: Ice cream with a side of worker ownership

    Jaisal Noor
    2021-07-08 20:26:31 UTC
    0

    May 06, 2021 |

    The Real News Network |

    Video |

    5-15 Minutes

    Response Location: United States, Baltimore, Maryland

    Baltimore ice cream maker Taharka Brothers is six Black men, worker-owners, who lost most of their business accounts at the start of the pandemic. They saved their business, and their jobs, by starting home delivery and tapping into collectives that help worker-owned cooperatives with financing and business advice. Gratitude for a decent job, good working conditions, and pride of ownership help sustain such a business through tumultuous times.

    Read More

    • 13428

    Go to Original Story
  • How Sedgwick County teamed with the Black community to fight the pandemic

    Audrey Korte
    2021-05-09 21:46:48 UTC
    1

    May 04, 2021 |

    The Kansas Leadership Center Journal (KLC Journal) |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Sedgwick County, Kansas

    To help protect the predominantly Black community in Sedgwick County, Kansas, the county collaborated with local leaders and residents to create an information and messaging campaign that specifically addressed community concerns. Although the funding allocated to these efforts wasn't as plentiful as community leaders were asking for, the targeted outreach has helped to increase communication and trust around public health messaging.

    Read More

    • 13081

    Go to Original Story
  • The Deal That's Saving San Francisco's Restaurants

    Nicole Gluckstern
    2021-03-19 13:34:00 UTC
    0

    March 05, 2021 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

    To save dozens of restaurants in San Francisco during the coronavirus lockdowns, a restaurant owner launched an organization that "provides monthly contracts to its restaurant partners to cook meals for underserved populations." The organization, which has 160 restaurant partners so far, helps fill the gaps left by the government-funded Paycheck Protection Program.

    Read More

    • 12715

    Go to Original Story
  • This Program Helped Big Island Farmers And Families. Now It's Out Of Cash

    Jack Truesdale
    2021-04-25 19:08:37 UTC
    0

    March 01, 2021 |

    Honolulu Civil Beat |

    Text |

    Under 800 Words

    Response Location: United States, Hawaii

    The Bridges program helped alleviate food insecurity in Hawaii by connecting local food producers with food banks. As a result, struggling farmers, who saw a sharp decline in sales after the pandemic, were also able to stay afloat while keeping much-needed food banks stocked.

    Read More

    • 12965

    Go to Original Story
  • A 19th Century Fund Is Still Helping Philadelphia's Smallest Businesses

    Kevin Riordan
    2021-02-20 02:53:56 UTC
    0

    February 15, 2021 |

    Reasons to be Cheerful |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    A long-running fund in Philadelphia has been able to help struggling small-business owners in the city since 1854. The Merchant Fund has been able to provide 67 businesses with $307,000 in grants since the onset of the pandemic. Additionally, it also helps entrepreneurs purchase real estate. The fund’s executive director notes, “Owning property is crucial to business longevity, and is fundamental to creating wealth that can be passed on.”

    Read More

    • 12479

    Go to Original Story
    PREV 1 2 3 4 5 … NEXT
Please sign in via My Profile before submitting a story. This will allow you to view the status of your submission and get notified if the story is added to the Solutions Story Tracker®.
Filter your search by the language of the story. As the Solutions Story Tracker grows, we are working to include more stories in more languages. Your story submissions can help! Submit stories here.
These factors identify the ways communities overcome the big challenges and help you see the insights. Learn more about the Success Factors here.

Solutions Journalism Around the World

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit quisque faucibus.

Solutions In Focus

Discover curated content about themes that matter to you, exclusively from the Solutions Story Tracker. Explore collections, resources and more.

  • Climate Solutions

  • Advancing Democracy

  • Youth Mental Health


Go to All Solutions in Focus

More Options

  • magnifying glass

    Video Tutorials

    Learn how to find what you need in the Solutions Story Tracker in español and in français.

  • paper and pen

    Submission Guidelines

    This database is powered by user submissions. Submit a story.

  • newspaper with an exclamation point

    Custom Story Alerts

    Get notified when new stories match your interests by setting up custom story alerts in My Profile.

two people are surrounded by question marks

Solutions Story Tracker® FAQ

  • Solutions journalism…
    • Describes a response to a problem and how it works.
    • Seeks to draw out insights that explain success or failure.
    • Presents the available evidence about the effectiveness of a response.
    • Explains the shortcomings or limitations of the response.
    Learn more.
  • The Solutions Story Tracker® is a curated, searchable database of solutions journalism stories — rigorous reporting about responses to social problems. We vet and tag every story in the Story Tracker, which offers an inspiring and useful collection of the thousands of ways people are working to solve problems around the world.

  • You can learn more about how we source, vet, and tag stories here, as well as how we share them. We also have video tutorials in Spanish and French that show how to use the Solutions Story Tracker to find what you need.

  • Story collections are curated by our staff or other partners to explore a theme, pattern, or trend via selected solutions stories and external resources. Some story collections focus on an in-depth exploration of a topic with solutions journalism; others highlight journalists and how they report on topics. Certain story collections include discussion questions and notes, so that educators and community discussion leaders can lead learners to fully engage with the stories.

  • The Solutions Story Tracker® is powered by user submissions. We encourage submissions from journalists, as well as from anyone who has an eye for solutions journalism. Click here to submit. (Why submit? So many reasons!)

  • You can submit a story directly on the Solutions Story Tracker®. You will be prompted to register or log into the Solutions Journalism Network website, if you are already logged in. (It is free to register!) Logging in allows you to track the status of your submissions under My Profile, as well as save your favorite stories, create story collections and story alerts, and access other helpful features of our website.

  • After you submit a story to us and assign it a topic, it is sent to one of our Solutions Story Tracker team members. Our team member evaluates the story for the four qualities of solutions journalism, and on the basics: The story must come from a news outlet and have a date and a byline. If the story meets our criteria, our team tags it accordingly and adds it to the database. If the story falls short of the mark, our team will include the reason why. We include stories in the Story Tracker that meet our standards of solutions journalism. Inclusion does not mean we support the initiatives, policies, organizations or approaches featured in those stories.

    Discover common reasons why a story may miss the mark for inclusion in the Solutions Story Tracker®.

    Learn more about the history of the database.

  • Solutions Journalism Network features these stories in the searchable database making them publicly accessible to anyone who wants to search for rigorous reporting on solutions to social problems. Any story that is added has the potential to make more impact than its original purpose. Added stories are used in journalism trainings, school curricula, research projects, and independent analysis on issue area trends. This now includes artificial intelligence tools, which are applied for educational value to find stories and support story vetting, as well as to extract insights from the stories. SJN has digital products and newsletters that give new life and exposure to the stories meeting people where they are at. Story data also is used to develop innovative tools to reach the general public with solutions journalism as well as some specific research projects requested by researchers. If you have any questions or concerns about our use of story data or added stories, please contact Lita Tirak.

  • News outlets determine whether all users can access their stories — and some limit the number of stories that anyone can view, or require a subscription. The majority of stories in the database can be accessed for free.

  • We work with journalists, academic researchers and others who feel that our database will support their research. We are especially interested in research that seeks to develop new insights about solutions journalism and its spread and its impact on social problems. Please complete all sections of the Data Request Form, and we will contact you to discuss your request in greater detail.

  • We do not fact-check the stories in the Solutions Story Tracker®. We do ensure that each story comes from a credible news source that has its own editorial infrastructure.

  • We worked with Tara Pixley and Jovelle Tamayo of the Authority Collective, who developed a guide for using equitable visuals. We follow this guide when choosing images for our website.

  • We welcome your feedback and additional questions. Please use this form to get in touch.

Site logo

  • BlueSky
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • The Whole Story
  • Flipboard
  • Instagram
  • Contact Us
  • Accessibility
  • Copyright
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
© 2025 Solutions Journalism Network. All rights reserved.

Share

  • share on facebook
  • share via email
  • Copied!