Daily Resource Highlight 2/16/2021

Posted by on February 16, 2021 at 5:08 PM

Below are the highlights and featured resources of this past week’s Daily* Resource.

2/09/2021 -  Rebuilding Communities After COVID (A Guide)

At some point -- hopefully sooner rather than later -- American businesses and communities will be able to open up again without fearing a COVID outbreak. When that day comes, it will inevitably be bittersweet, with thousands of businesses remaining shuttered post-pandemic. For economically depressed communities, the impact of the lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and rising death tolls will be even more stark.

We will have to rebuild, and it will be a long process. Fortunately, at least some of that work is already happening, and best practices are already being formed and implemented. For instance, Cities of Service has been working with five American cities to promote community-led Opportunity Zone development. Each city received a $25,000 grant, as well as technical assistance and full-time AmeriCorps VISTA members, to plan and build more equitable local economies with input from community members, business leaders, and funders.

Cities of Service’s efforts continued even as America and the rest of the world was gripped by COVID-19. And so, while the pandemic has taken an enormous toll on our nation’s economic and physical health, we can thank organizations like Cities of Service for helping to make the road back a little less treacherous and easier to navigate when it’s time to build back up.

 

2/11/2021 - On The Other Hand...

About a week ago, we compared and contrasted the different approaches (conservative and progressive) that advocates are taking to potential COVID relief. We said we believe both approaches deserve attention in the marketplace of ideas, and that we believe part of our job is to inform you -- our supporters -- of both approaches.

The thing is, presenting both sides of today’s top issues isn’t our bread-and-butter. Nobody subscribes to this newsletter expecting to get a regular breakdown of progressive vs. conservative takes. For that, your best bet would be AllSides or the newest member of the Bridge Alliance, The Flip Side.

Today we’re highlighting The Flipside because early this week they released their own version of our COVID relief compare and contrast -- except they did it much better than we ever could. Like AllSides, The Flip Side looks to conservative and progressive leaning publications for the left/right takes on the latest issues, but they put their own, unique spin on the concept by pulling key passages from the publications to help Americans quickly understand what’s going on.

To put it in their own words, they are offering “smart, concise summaries of political analysis from both conservative and liberal media.” And, they argue, “if everyone takes 5 minutes a day to read The Flip Side, we’ll have a starting point when talking to our friends and neighbors.”

Wouldn’t that be nice?

 

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