In an effort to expand its reintegration services, RISE, a city-run support agency for previously incarcerated individuals, partnered with Clarifi, a financial wellness nonprofit. Through workshops and individual counseling, the partnership sought to provide financial literacy education and coaching to help individuals reentering society work toward financial stability and lessen their likelihood of recidivism.
Category: Partnership of the Year
Some of the best ideas spring out of collaboration – Partnership of the Year recognizes the best team effort to improve the lives of Philadelphians
Clarifi and the Mayor’s Office of Reintegration Services for Ex-Offenders (RISE)
Voting Booth of the Future
For last year’s Democratic National Convention, marketing firm halfGenius collaborated with event producer LeapStarr Productions to design votingboothofthefuture.com. The interactive model is a forward-thinking take on what a voting booth could be, incorporating fingerprint recognition software and customized surveys to help guide voters to the choice that best aligns with their political views.
OpenDataVote
In March, mapping firm Azavea launched this civic initiative to encourage more transparency and engagement around open data. Nonprofits nominated one or more existing data sets that would be useful to their organizations, and the public voted on three top choices. From there, OpenDataVote worked with city government to publish the selected data sets. The project was a partnership among Code for Philly, Tech Impact, the City of Philadelphia, and Technically Media.
West Philadelphia AFEL
AFEL is a Drexel University-led collaboration of social service and education agencies and community stakeholders working to create an education support system for families in the 19104 zip code, specifically in the high-need, high-poverty neighborhoods of West Philadelphia. The Initiative aims to build awareness around the importance of early childhood education while strengthening the capacity of child care centers.
Philly Vets Home
Philly Vets Home is a community-wide, inclusive effort of government and nonprofit agencies. As of December 17, 2015, Philly Vets Home reached their goal of “Functional Zero” for the City. This means the effort to offer focused support for homeless veterans has created enough of a network that all homeless veterans should have immediate recourse. Since the campaign began in 2013, Philly Vets Home has placed more than 1,390 veterans in permanent housing— work still continues to build sustainability for those placed in housing and prevent homelessness.
Ice Cream in Space
Little Baby’s Ice Cream partnered on a science experiment with students at the Workshop School, a project-based public school in West Philadelphia, during the summer of 2015. Then the project got better. “Ice Cream in Space” depicts important scientific concepts such as experiential learning, innovative sustainable frozen food packaging, existential co(s)mic queries, and a cappella rap music, culminating in a absurdist-docu-comedy, directed by Jesse Engaard.