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Court Observers Are Shining a Light on the Immigration Court System

Ari Honarvar

August 02, 2019 |

Rewire |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Diego, California

One way that any ordinary citizen can lend a hand to the plight of those caught in the American immigration system is by being a court observer: someone who sits in immigration court and takes notes by hand. Several organizations are working to develop a standardized way of evaluating judges' treatment of migrants to put it in a central database so that the data can be used to evaluate the human impact by the system as a whole. People who participate testify to the job alleviating despair over the situation as they can mitigate any unfair practices going unnoticed.

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Will Banning Single-Family Zoning Make for More Affordable Homes?

Deonna Anderson

July 31, 2019 |

Yes! Magazine |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis serves as a model for other cities as it addresses the affordable housing crisis by de-incentivizing the development of single-family houses. By changing zoning laws to benefit the construction of duplexes and triplexes, the city makes room for more low-income families to afford to live in city limits.

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A Unique Military Program Helps Sexual Assault Survivors. But Not All of Them.

Joseph Darius Jaafari

July 30, 2019 |

The Marshall Project |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

Members of the military who are survivors of sexual assault have access to special victims’ counsels to help guide and protect them throughout the legal process. The efforts are still young, and with that comes issues of ill-trained or over-worked legal representation – a criticism that has been made known by advocates. Furthermore, while the existence of such assistance is extremely beneficial to military personnel, the same sort of protection and support isn’t available to civilians who are alleging violent crimes against military members.

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Detroit Bail Project aims to disrupt the process of cash bail and incarceration

Nina Misuraca Ignaczak

July 09, 2019 |

Model D |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

The Bail Project is posting bond for men and women who cannot afford to pay and haven’t been convicted of a crime. Based in Detroit, the nonprofit has locations across the country and uses a revolving fund to bail out individuals, meaning once the bond is recovered, the funding is then available for another person. Its Detroit location has bailed out nearly 200 individuals in an effort to end mass incarceration and prove that holding people – most of whom are people of color or experiencing poverty – does not diminish recidivism.

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Fully fund the state's PILOT program

Matt Pilon

July 08, 2019 |

Hartford Business Journal |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Hartford, Connecticut

Connecticut's PILOT program was created to partially reimburse cities and towns for state-owned, tax-exempt properties and take some financial burden off smaller towns. The PILOT program, however, is voluntary, making it easier for state legislators to disregard the reimbursement requests in tough financial times. Now, state officials are urged to make the PILOT program mandatory to keep the response working for the small individual towns and cities around Connecticut.

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They were raped during Colombia's civil war. Now they want justice for their children.

Megan Janetsky

June 24, 2019 |

Public Radio International (PRI) |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Colombia

Following the Colombian civil war, the country enacted The Victims’ Law, which centered on providing reparations to those affected by violence and war. But since its creation, the law has only provided reparations to less than 11% of those who have applied, and for women survivors, it’s even less. Women, who are disproportionately affected by war because of the use of sexual assault, are coming together under the National Tablle for Victim’s Participation, are demanding more.

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How a small Turkish city successfully absorbed half a million migrants

Stephen Burgen

June 19, 2019 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Turkey, Gaziantep, Gaziantep Province

A small Turkish city named Gaziantep, only 60 miles from war-torn Aleppo, is a role model when it comes to taking in and integrating migrants fleeing violence in Syria. Gaziantep has already taken in 500,00 refugees (growing their population by 30%), piped in extra water from 80 miles away, built 50,000 new homes, and started integrating Syrian and Turkish children in schools. Government officials say that there has not been any significant crises yet and the Turkish people are welcoming newcomers with open arms.

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‘Status quo is not working.' Can Charlotte find solutions for affordable housing crisis?

Fred Clasen-Kelly David A. Moore Jim Yarbrough Diego Barahona Hilda Gurdian Glenn Burkins Jennifer Lang Amy Lehtonen

May 25, 2019 |

The Charlotte Observer |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Charlotte, North Carolina

City officials in Charlotte, North Carolina, have pledged $50 million to build new affordable housing. Activists are looking to other cities and organizations for effective strategies. New York saw evictions decrease after the expansion of legal aid for tenants facing eviction from landlords. Nonprofit organizations in Charlotte were able to successfully mobilize tenant protesters and fight back against Wall Street firms who have bought mobile home parks and increased the price of living there. Philadelphia has LGBTQ-friendly communities for senior citizens - a population that faces housing discrimination.

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The Cities Funding Legal Defense for Immigrants

Zoe Sullivan

May 21, 2019 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

As the struggles of refugees and immigrants drudges on, a number of cities across the US are gathering funding for their legal defense. One strategy, a legal counsel program called New York Family Immigrant Unity Project, has proven so successful that it now has 19 other counties in states like Colorado and Georgia participating in their network. Beyond that, these public defense projects often comprise of both public and private dollars and are all working for the right (not guaranteed by the US Constitution) to have access to legal counsel during immigration proceedings.

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One Indiana congregation's fight for energy equality

Beth Edwards

May 20, 2019 |

Indiana Environmental Reporter |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Indianapolis, Indiana

Despite disputes between an Indianapolis church and a local utility company over net metering, the congregation continues to seek financing and resources for renewable energy-centered affordable housing projects. The church installs solar panels on housing development projects to make long-term housing more affordable, though they've faced push back based on strict housing laws that limit affordability of multi-family projects.

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