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One of the World's Poorest Countries Found a Better Way to Do Stimulus

Ted Alcorn

November 07, 2021 |

Bloomberg Businessweek |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Togo

An all-digital system delivered monthly payments to millions of Togolese people in need during the coronavirus. The platform, built in two weeks, immediately verifies applicants’ eligibility and instantly sends a text message with electronic funds. The program’s rollout began with monthly stipends to in need around Lomé and has slowly expanded to other groups. Most recently, researchers used algorithms using satellite images to first identify impoverished communities based on their layout and housing materials and then used mobile phone data to identify the poorest individuals within those regions.

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How satellite images are helping one country hand out cash

Richard Kenny Hannah Gelbart

March 24, 2021 |

BBC |

Broadcast TV News |

3-5 Minutes

Response Location: Togo

"Poverty maps" that combine satellite imagery and survey data enabled the Togolese government to target emergency pandemic charitable aid to the people in greatest need. Togo officials relied on the expertise of University of California-Berkeley researchers whose system interprets aerial images showing such factors as the density and condition of housing. Initially, 35,000 people received $13-$15 per month for five months to make up for the loss of jobs and small-business income during pandemic shutdowns. Applications were sought from targeted areas through advertising, and money was sent via mobile phones.

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California job seekers found new careers with help from a rent relief program. Here's how

Jeong Park

March 09, 2021 |

Sacramento Bee |

Multi-Media |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Stockton, California

Rent relief payments in California are helping public housing residents pursue full-time employment. The Jobs-Plus initiative provides payments that are conditional on enrolling in job training and placement programs. An increased income often disqualifies public housing residents from benefits and subsidies such as food stamps, childcare, and discounted rent rates which can negate the increased income from higher wages or more hours. Rent relief empowers residents to build a security net for themselves in addition to pursing full-time employment without the strain of losing much-needed benefits.

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This App Aims to Help SNAP Users Make the Most of Their Benefits

Bailey Berg

January 11, 2021 |

Civil Eats |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

A new app is helping communities facing food insecurity in California. Forage Grocery finds the best bargains for SNAP recipients in their local grocery stores. Users upload their grocery list, select the stores they would typically visit in person, and the app compares prices to provide shoppers with a grocery list that makes the most of their SNAP benefits. The app also includes links and ads to local food banks and other resources for food insecurity.

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Give Us a Chance

Jan Novotný

December 09, 2020 |

Euro |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Czech Republic, Jihlava

After a Housing First program in Brno, the Czech Republic's second-largest city, stabilized families' housing and health status, the city of Jihlava used local and European Union money, plus a charity's services, for a two-year pilot to provide subsidized apartments and social services to a dozen families. Nationwide, EU-supported Housing First projects have found housing for about 400 people in 16 cities. Though often opposed as a giveaway, the programs both longer-term and in the pilot phase have shown that after a family is housed, the resulting stability helps set them up to solve many other problems.

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Safety looks like full bellies in a pandemic

Courtney Napier

November 30, 2020 |

Scalawag |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

Mutual aid programs run by Black women have filled critical gaps in public assistance during the pandemic by feeding hundreds or thousands of people in multiple Southern cities. From Durham's Mustard Seed Project to St. Louis' Potbangerz to others, these community-based care programs center their aid on prepared meals, but they often add other donated goods for people in need: personal protective equipment, groceries, and household and baby items. In some cases, the nonprofits' organizers have formed intercity friendships and alliances that help spread their tactics.

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Dejte nám šanci. Princip stabilního bydlení Housing First se šíří Českem

Jan Novotný

September 14, 2020 |

Euro |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Czech Republic, Jihlava

Ubytovny pro sociálně slabé občany jsou předražené a nenabízí životní stabilitu. Alternativu přináší projekt Housing First, který se po úspěšném pilotním spuštění v Brně začal šířit Českem. Pomáhá lidem v nouzi najít stabilní bydlení a s ním i cestu zpět do aktivního života. V rámci celé republiky se má projekt rozšířit do 16 měst a pomoct stovkám lidí. Dosavadní výsledky projektu ukazují, že stabilní bydlení rodinám pomáhá řešit i další problémy. Přesto projekt stále čelí výzvám. Jednou z nich je například sousedské soužití, ohledně kterého se objevují stížnosti.

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What We Can Learn from Costa Rica's Embrace of Migrants

Katherine Stanley Obando

July 01, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Costa Rica

Despite its own troubled economy, Costa Rica has embraced a large influx of Nicaraguan refugees out of a recognition that immigration is an economic boon. The absorption of more than 28,000 migrants in one year, in a country of only 5 million people, has been aided by Costa Rica's existing population of Nicaraguans who fled earlier rounds of political and economic upheaval in their country. Those earlier migrants formed a network of aid organizations providing new arrivals with basic necessities, educational opportunity, connection to social services, and mental health support groups.

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California's Streamlined SNAP App Pivots to Meet COVID-19 Demand

Emily Nonko

April 01, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, California

A state’s digital portals can be ways to reach residents’ needs as well as collect data on the real-time effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In California, the state’s SNAP assistance tool, GetCalFresh, emerged as a vital resources in the COVID-19 pandemic. Code for America originally developed the app to simplify access to federal supplemental nutritional assistance programs and is now relaying the needs of citizens as well as providing additional data on economic trends during the crisis.

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In Baltimore, parents owe hundreds of millions in child support. Here's how other states have made changes for the better.

Yvonne Wenger

March 09, 2020 |

The Baltimore Sun |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Maryland

Maryland's punitive child-support policies, which have piled $233 million in largely uncollectable debt on the state's poorest residents and destabilized families and neighborhoods, could be improved by adopting reforms other states have used to increase payment compliance. In Colorado, for example, more support payments have meant healthier families and communities, after the state stopped offsetting welfare payments by whatever child support had been paid. Other states have stopped revoking driver's licenses and work permits as a non-payment penalty, in order to make steady employment more attainable.

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