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A West Philly high school is giving the entire junior class work experience through a robust new internship program

Frank Festa

May 02, 2023 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Boys’ Latin Charter High School in West Philadelphia is changing up the traditional school day with a program that matches the entire junior class with internships at different places around the city. Students are matched with partner businesses and organizations based on their interests so they can better understand what they want to do after high school and have more equitable opportunities.

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Huge success for Mother's Day bailout, as annual Philly effort blows past fundraising goal

Michaela Winberg

May 06, 2021 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund freed more than 400 people from jail in 2020, thanks to $3 million donated amid the COVID-19 crisis and racial justice protests. Organizers of the Black Mama's Day Bailout, an annual targeted campaign that gave rise to the community bail fund five years ago, expected donor fatigue this year might limit their work. But they exceeded the 2020 Mother's Day campaign, freeing 25 women, in part from sales of art made by formerly incarcerated women in a partnership with an arts co-op. Cash bail penalizes people too poor to afford to remain free before trial.

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Homicides dropped after Philly gangs signed a 1974 peace pact. What can we learn from the org that brokered the truce?

Layla A. Jones

December 14, 2020 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The House of Umoja in West Philadelphia, created in the late 1960s in response to high rates of gang violence, succeeded in helping thousands of young men through a residential treatment program, mediating disputes peacefully, and brokering a gang truce credited with lowering Philadelphia violence in the 1970s. The program was based on Afrocentric customs and family structure (its name means unity in Swahili). The grandson of the founders is now trying to revive the home as part of the city's multiple anti-violence initiatives.

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Philly police rebuffed offers from crisis response center to work together, director says

Michaela Winberg Max Marin

October 29, 2020 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Since early 2019, a mental-health crisis response center, the West Philadelphia Consortium, has worked to get the police to call in the consortium's mobile crisis team to de-escalate crises and get people into treatment. In more than 1,200 cases in 2019, police made only six arrests and no one died. After police shot and killed Walter Wallace, Jr., during a mental-health crisis, the consortium revealed that it had worked with Wallace but wasn't called for help when police were summoned to his home. The consortium seeks to formalize its relationship with the police department to prevent more violence.

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With unemployment hotline overloaded and stimulus on hold, PA boosts chatbot 90x

Layla A. Jones

October 13, 2020 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Accessing information about unemployment compensation online just got easier for residents of Pennsylvania. The current chat box capacity is 500 but will be increased to 50,000 by the end of the year. The phone hotline currently receives about 20,000 daily calls and has been difficult to get through since the unemployment benefits began in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown. The website also features a virtual assistant, which answers hundreds of commonly asked questions.

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How Philly convinced business leaders to be part of the homelessness solution

Michaela Winberg

August 19, 2019 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Seeking a solution to crowded sidewalks outside their storefronts and places of business, corporations have teamed up with the city of Philadelphia to help those facing homelessness. Programs such as Hub of Hope and the Mural Arts project provide people with free showers, laundry services, case management services, and a day of work and wages. Food pantries have also been set up, serving thousands of people and the Ambassadors of Hope team has helped 130 people into permanent housing. Homelessness is still a persistent problem in Philadelphia but the business community has helped alleviate it.

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Father's Day bailout: 10 Philly dads get to spend the holiday with their kids

Michaela Winberg

June 14, 2019 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Leading up to Father’s Day, Philadelphia criminal justice organization Frontline Dads raised money to bail out fathers. Inspired by the annual Mother’s Day bailouts that happen around the country, Frontline Dad aims to not just free father’s, but raise awareness about the issue of cash bail as well. Beyond bailing out fathers, participants will also have access to services like haircuts, counseling, and job placement assistance.

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Philadelphia leads the way in 24-hour homeless shelters

Michaela Winberg

February 20, 2019 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The city of Philadelphia has one of the United State's highest poverty rates, but still manages to have one of the lowest rates of people experiencing homelessness; in part, this is possible because of the number of shelters operating 24/7, rather than offering shelter and services only at night. Daytime housing is also being offered in other cities across the country as people realize the benefit of providing a safe place for sleep and services at every hour.

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'A perfect circle of helping': 3 nonprofits join forces to feed people in Kensington

Michaela Winberg

August 08, 2018 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In Philadelphia, a collaboration between three nonprofits is providing 500 free lunches, both filling a gap in nonprofit service on Friday afternoons and giving those recently entered into recovery for addiction a task and sense of purpose. How does it work? The Sunday LOVE Project, a hunger nonprofit, delivers extra food to First Stop Recovery, an addiction recovery center, where residents assemble and pack lunches. Those lunches are then delivered to people with addictions at Prevention Point Philadelphia.

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This Philly housing project helps residents double their income

Michaela Winberg

June 12, 2018 |

Billy Penn |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

By offering flexible rent, a Philadelphia nonprofit allows low-income residents to attain economic success. Financed through an initial endowment, the Women’s Community Revitalization Projected is sustained by support from independent donations and Philadelphia’s low-income housing tax credits. In addition to offering affordable housing and residents’ services to Philadelphia’s low-income women and families, the WCRP also operates a community land trust to help address future development concerns in the city.

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