Here's a story about how members of the Changemakers community are protecting patients in North America:
It’s reassuring to know when you get on a plane, that the pilot has an emergency checklist and a co-pilot backing him up. It should also be reassuring to know that ICU doctors may soon be following their lead.
Every year, some 200,000 patients contract infections during their stay in intensive care. Most of these are treatable with expensive antibiotics and a longer hospital stay. In some cases, these infections can be fatal.
Read more about this solution, or discuss this topic below.
Created on 10/30/2009 by sureshshanth
The Moral and Cultural instruction should be taught in every schools and colleges. Then they will educate their parents. A student should know what is good for their future.
read more ↓↑ hide↑ hideSchool/Organization Website
School/Organization Phone
School/Organization Address
School/Organization Country
n/a
read more↓↑ hide↑ hide How does your innovation currently get kids (or how might it get kids) engaged in physical activity? How would your idea or project potentially be implemented during the school day?
1. Have an affectionate and affirming relationship.
2. Be open communicators.
3. Communicate clearly and specifically about sex.
4. Teach them the physical work withing house, ex..watering plants, playing with pets..
5. Teach the success of life by means of Healthy Body & Mind
How many children does this program currently or plan to serve? How much time does each child spend daily/weekly engaged in physical activity? (150 words max)
Motivate the parents to spend an hour with their kids and speak frankly and share their financial position(if they are middle and lower middle class).
Describe Your Idea
The Moral and Cultural instruction should be taught in every schools and colleges. Then they will educate their parents. A student should know what is good for their future.
Tell us the story behind the social innovator. (150 words max)
Such suicides and attempts of suicides are increasing in school boys and girls circle. Most of the broken family kids are transformed as criminals and useless persons.
Created on 10/20/2009 by Inishowen
Ireland should be a GMO-free biosafety reserve to safeguard Europe's biodiversity, food safety and food security for future generations. As GM crops risk disease and harvest failure, Europe needs the capacity to recover, develop and propagate agricultural seeds in a secure GM-free zone. Ireland is the best location. See http://www.gmfreeireland.org/reserve
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Project
GM-free Ireland: a biosafety reserve for Europe
Country your work focuses on
What makes your approach innovative?
This project embodies a collaborative international multi-stakeholder strategy to address a major GM contamination disaster before it happens.
We launched the GM-free Ireland Network on Earth Day 2004. We declared 1,000 local GMO-free zones one year later. We now have the greatest number and broadest diversity of stakeholders of any NGO on this island. In 2008 we convinced the Agriculture Ministers on both sides of our border to back our GMO-free zone policy. In October 2009 the Irish Government declared its intention to ban GM crops and to introduce a voluntary GM-free label for animal produce made without the use of GM animal feed.
We announced our new goal to designate Ireland as a GMO-free biosafety reserve for Europe at the Food and Democracy Conference in Switzerland in April 2009. If this project secures the desired political backing in the EU, it will set a legal precedent with strategic implications for concurrent GM-free zone initiatives around the world.
Describe Your Idea
Ireland should be a GMO-free biosafety reserve to safeguard Europe's biodiversity, food safety and food security for future generations. As GM crops risk disease and harvest failure, Europe needs the capacity to recover, develop and propagate agricultural seeds in a secure GM-free zone. Ireland is the best location. See http://www.gmfreeireland.org/reserve
How will you sustain your solution?
Our first step is to mobilise Irish farmers, consumers and other stakeholders to lobby our Government to implement its agreed GM-free zone policy with related legislation, and to convince the Northern Ireland Assembly to extend this policy to the whole island of Ireland.
Our second step is to secure international support from EU member states, European Institutions, NGOs, academia, seed developers and the agri-food and eco-tourism sectors.
Our third step is to obtain a Resolution from the European Parliament, and legislation from the European Commission to keep the island of Ireland permanently off-limits to any environmental release of Genetically Modified Living Organisms (GMLOs).
To ensure the sustainability of this project, our final steps will support the Irish Seed Savers Association, foster the emergence of a local agricultural seed industry, and hold our Government accountable to prevent the release of GMLOs through vigilant import controls, strict liability and punitive fines for genetic trespass.
What will be the impact of your solution?
At the local level, implementation of Ireland’s policy to ban GM crops and introduce a voluntary GM-free label for animal produce will provide our farmers and food producers with a unique selling point: the most credible safe GM-free food brand in Europe. This will foster sustainable agriculture, and wean our livestock farmers off their dependence on imported GM animal feed which has negative impacts in the producing countries.
At the European level, keeping Ireland as a GMO-free biosafety reserve will safeguard agricultural biodiversity, regional self-reliance, food safety, food security and food sovereignty. It will also provide the capacity to recover from major GM contamination incidents with a secure location to develop and propagate GM-free agricultural seeds for future generations.
At the global level, the establishment of this GM-free biosafety reserve will set a political and legal precedent that strengthens international resistance to the privatisation of the food chain with patented GM crops.
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Eugene United States
Monthly publication focuses on the genetically modified food debate. Publication mission is to provide information to ensure a safe, healthy, and sustainable food supply. Helps educate farmers, food manufacturers, food retailers, and consumers about the risks of GM foods and provides information about non-genetically modified (non-GMO) food options.
Another publication, The Non-GMO Sourcebook, provides the world's only "farm to fork" directory on non-GMO seed, grains, food ingredients, and food products.
Created on 10/18/2009 by Tobias Schueth
Providing salt retailers with test kits for iodised salt so that they can test the salt they purchase at wholesale markets. This creates pressure on salt producers to iodise their salt and drives non-iodised salt out of the market.
Organization: Swiss Red Cross
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization
Swiss Red Cross, Kyrgyz-Swiss-Swedish Health Project, financed by SDC and Sida
Organization Address
Swiss address: Rainmattstr. 10, 3001 Bern. Kyrgyz address: Sydykova 187/1, Bishkek 720001, Kyrgyzstan
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Project
Power from below: test kits in the hands of retailers pressure producers to iodize salt
Country your work focuses on
Describe Your Idea
Providing salt retailers with test kits for iodised salt so that they can test the salt they purchase at wholesale markets. This creates pressure on salt producers to iodise their salt and drives non-iodised salt out of the market.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat makes your idea unique?
The use of test kits in iodised salt promotion is not new. However, to my knowledge and after review of published literature, they have only been used either to monitor the coverage with iodised salt or for educational purposes. What is new in our idea is that they are used to create market pressure on producers to iodise their salt. This pressure is created by distributing the test kits to a sufficiently large majority of retailers and ask them to use them when purchasing salt at wholesale markets.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideThis Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
1) Coverage with iodised salt in the whole country over 90% (see details below under Results)
2) adoption of the approach by the Ministry of Health, including its financing, and countrywide extension
Problem
Despite laws and regulations in Kyrgzystan demanding universal iodisation of salt to fight iodine deficiency diseases and despite a high awareness of the population of the need to consume iodised salt the coverage of households with iodised salt remained far below the desired minimum of 90% because of fraudulent business practices (labeling non-iodised salt as iodised or using the less stable potassium iodide instead of the preferred potassium iodate for iodisation)
Actions
Providing a large majority of salt retailers with test kits for iodised salt that react only to potassium iodate and asking them to use these kits when purchasing salt at wholesale markets. Volunteers provide them with new test kits and test a sample of salt periodically, reminding retailers of using the test kits
Results
1) over 80% of retailers have test kits (2008 data)
2) In all regions where we introduced the approach we saw an increase in coverage with iodised salt within one year. See the following list.
Naryn region October 2002: 76% – September 2003: 90%
Talas region: April 2005: 91% – April 2006: 97%
Issyk-kul region: April 2006: 62% – April 2007: 90%
Batken region: September 2007: 85% – September 2008: 94%
Chui West region: September 2007: 85% – September 2008: 93%
3) The approach very likely contributed to the considerable decrease in goitre in school students in Kyrgyzstan during the last decade (see attachment)
4) Adoption of the approach by the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
1) continued implementation of the approach by the Ministry of Health
2) continued distribution of test kits by volunteers
3) continued use of test kits by retailers at wholesale markets
regarding 1) The test kit approach has been adopted by the public health department of the Ministry of Health. Therefore funding is secure and implementation can continue countrywide.
regarding 2) The volunteers from the Village Health Committees like this task and will therefore likely continue distribution of test kits and periodic testing of samples at retailers.
regarding 3) The retailers know that people demand iodised salt and they know that volunteers will test samples periodically, and therefore will likely continue to use them at wholesalers
What would prevent your project from being a success?
1) discontinuation of support of the approach by the ministry of health (unlikely as it is successful and iodine deficiency disorders are a serious issue in Kyrgyzstan)
2) discontinuation of volunteers distributing the test kits (nothing so far indicates that this might happen)
How many people will your project serve annually?
More than 10,000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$50 - 100
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat stage is your project in?
Operating for more than 5 years
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
No
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
The partnership with the Village Health Committees is critical as they distribute the test kits to the retailers and periodically test samples of salt at retailers
The partnership with the government (the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic) is critical as it has adopted the appraoch and implements it countrywide
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
Further growth is not possible as it is already being implemented countrywide.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
We had just established the first Village Health Committees, voluntary organisations ready to work for health in their villages. They had identified goitre as one of their main health issues. I learned then about the availability of thousands of test kits in another organisation that didn't know what to do with them. I immediately thought that these kits could be very powerful tools in the hands of the village health committees, if they tested salt in the households and gave them to retailers to use them at wholesale markets. We asked to get the kits from the other organisation and got them for free, and could quickly document the effect they had on the presence of iodised salt at retailers and in households.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Dr. Tobias Schueth from Germany is a public health physician who has worked for the last 15 years for community development and health in rural areas of South Asia and Central Asia. Since 2001 he is the country representative of the Swiss Red Cross in Kyrgyzstan and has developed there the countrywide Community Action for Health program, which has become a part of the national health reform.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Friend or family member
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
Created on 10/14/2009 by graciela_peyru
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Project
Red de ayuda 0800: Evaluación, Protocolización y Extensión del servicio
Country your work focuses on
n/a
Describe Your Idea
“Línea 0800 Ayuda” es una red telefónica gratuita de contención y seguimiento para personas en crisis, implementada en Salta. La eficacia de sus resultados sugiere extender este sistema a otras localidades, lo que requiere un proyecto de investigación para sistematizar resultados y elaborar un Protocolo de excelencia para su aplicación estandarizada.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideThis Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
How many people will your project serve annually?
Fewer than 100
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
Don't know
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
No
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat stage is your project in?
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
No
If yes, provide organization name.
How long has this organization been operating?
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
No
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
Created on 10/14/2009 by lcorbin
Battle Buddies (BB), a peer support model connecting trained BB military veterans with veterans and families to help deal with trauma of military service. This effort also creates the state-wide capacity for state and federal advocacy efforts led by veterans to improve mental health services.
Organization: National Alliance on Mental Illness, Tennessee Chapter
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization Name
National Alliance on Mental Illness, Tennessee Chapter
Organization Address
1101 Kermit , Suite 605 Nashville, TN 37217
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Project
In Our Own Voice for Vets (IOOVets) and Battle Buddies
Country your work focuses on
Describe Your Idea
Battle Buddies (BB), a peer support model connecting trained BB military veterans with veterans and families to help deal with trauma of military service. This effort also creates the state-wide capacity for state and federal advocacy efforts led by veterans to improve mental health services.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat makes your idea unique?
IOOVets presenters, and Battle Buddies facilitators are veterans with mental illness. They are able to connect with other veterans with mental illness on a level that non-vets are not able to. They encourage them by letting them know that they are not alone and that they can recover from mental illness. They reduce stigma and educate through presentations to the lay public. This peer support program is coupled with NAMI’s state and federal advocacy campaigns which includes these veterans directly in the process of advocating for better mental health screening and more services within their constituency to policy makers.
Through the Battle Buddies program, NAMI connects with VSOs who are naturally involved in this unique population. We let them know that we are here to assist them in helping the families of returning soldiers with their physical and emotional needs.
Battle Buddies builds on the existing veteran support structure by partnering with important constituent based organizations such as American Legion, AmVets, etc. This partnership accelerates the acceptance process as the “outsider factor” is dramatically reduced.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
No
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideThis Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
With 13 presenters trained, several presentations a months including three presentations a week at two of our Veteran Affairs (VA) hospitals, 3 BB support groups in rural areas and 5 more in their beginnings, the impact has been marked and growing.
In our first year of this project, BB has provided dozens of veterans with the tools necessary to stay connected with society and in a place to identify critical support and services. With deep relationships with service agencies around the state (governmental and non-governmental) NAMI, is also able to provide referrals to these veterans and walk with them as advocates as they attempt to maneuver the system.
While we have not conducted a study of our work as to date, anecdotal evidence tells us that some of these veterans may still be alive and active in life because of BB and IOOV. The growing demand for IOOV presentations by veterans and request for training to be presenters is also evidence of our impact.
With veterans’ support groups running or starting in 8 NAMI TN affiliates, we seek to double this number in 2010 through collaboration with our 47 NAMIT TN affiliates state-wide.
Problem
As NAMI staff person and military veteran, Carl Groendes shares: “When you are serving in another country for many months or years, you get disassociated from the rest of the society. This alone is tough enough. When you also suffer with PTSD and other illnesses or ailments and struggled to find and utilize critical health and mental health services, the isolation feels exponential.”
This underscores the statistics found from US military studies reporting that at least 1 in 8 returning US soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan are returning with PTSD and combat related depression. Additionally, at least half of those are not finding or utilizing treatment.
NAMI determined that there is no better way to find veterans with PTSD and help connect them with services than through veterans who are in the same situation and are connected with Veteran Service Organizations. The experience and the network make the difference.
Actions
Veteran mental health is integrated into the institutional make up of NAMI. Our Veteran’s Council is actively presenting, training presenters, and facilitating support groups that create the volunteer and staffing capacity necessary to implement this project effectively. In the last year, NAMI hired veteran Carl Groendes who is passionate and focused on expanding IOOVets and BB.
Designing IOOV and BB to have VSOs fully integrated into the programmatic structure increases the cultural appropriateness of services and credibility within the VA, military service structure, and veteran communities.
Veterans are a priority in NAMI fundraising initiatives and allocation of staff and volunteer time. The disproportionate participation of low-income people and people of color in the armed services leaves a over-representation of people with PTSD in these constituencies. For this reason, NAMI staff dedicated to outreach efforts to people of color communities and Native American communities, have been collaborating closely on this effort.
Results
In the coming year, NAMI Tennessee will train 20 IOOVets presenters who will speak to 200 veterans and VSOs, 200 NAMI members and 200 additional members of the general public. Eight local NAMI affiliates will partner with VSOs to assist at least 160 veterans or military families with emotional support, practical assistance or help accessing the service system.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
Year one will be a success if we achieve at least 75% of the objectives to train additional IOOVets presenters, conduct presentations to veteran and community audiences and move forward in eight local Battle Buddies programs to assist veterans and military families in local communities and report results of initial efforts. Initial results will be shared with the NAMI National Veterans Council.
Year two will be a success if the program is modified based on the pilot year and program implementation objectives are increased by 25%. Building on our mutual-help model, a few service recipients from year one will volunteer to become IOOVets presenters and Battle Buddies volunteers in year two, Media coverage of the program and its successes will raise awareness for potential volunteers and service recipients and for policy makers. The program will then be established to the point that a formal evaluation can be conducted.
Year three will be a success if the program continues to develop and implement objectives are again increased by 25%. The program will then be disseminated to other state NAMI organizations and Veterans Service Organizations.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
NAMI, like many organizations is dealing with potential large losses of income from a number of its funding sources. IOOVets relies on veteran presenters who are stable enough in their recovery to present to others. Only a small percentage of veterans with mental illness have the ability to do this work. Battle Buddies: Most NAMI volunteers are living with mental illness themselves or in family members, and must prioritize their NAMI volunteer time. However, concern for the well-being of warriors and their families is a strong interest within the NAMI community.
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$100 ‐ 1000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat stage is your project in?
Operating for less than a year
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
National Alliance on Mental Illness, Tennessee Chapter
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
NAMI has close relationship with Veteran Affairs (Federal Government). This relationship is critical to mutual education and understanding and access to informing and engaging Veterans. Our partnership with VSOs and with service agencies is necessary for strengthening the continuum of care for veterans and taking a more wholistic approach of addressing the obstacles veterans face in reclaiming their mental health.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
1. Continued focus on those directly affected by the mental health system (people diagnosed with mental illness) being developed, trained and empowered to lead NAMI Tennessee.
2. More diverse funding streams. NAMI is expecting to loose several large governmental grants to do major cut backs. To identify new funding sources and more diverse funding sources, NAMI has hired an experienced fundraiser in the last 6 months to help augment and strengthen current fundraising efforts from grantwriting, to membership to individual donors and events.
3. Collaborations.
Partly to strengthen funding proposals, and more importantly, to strengthen continuum of care and effectiveness of servcies, NAMI TN continues to build close relationships with other mental health advocacy and service organizations to help build a community in which mental health is understood as integral part of everyday health.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
In 2007, in the rural area of Rockwood, Tennessee, NAMI TN brought together a variety of VSO leaders and members of all political parties to raise awareness on the tragedy of suicide and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This meeting was so profound that NAMI realized the need to tailor and implement it’s programming to serve this community. From that meeting, slender streams of funding have begun to flow from the grassroots level, and a recent mid-size grant to conduct IOOV training in the Nashville area, was awarded and begun.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
In 2007, in the rural area of Rockwood, Tennessee, NAMI TN brought together a variety of VSO leaders and members of all political parties to raise awareness on the tragedy of suicide and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This meeting was so profound that NAMI realized the need to tailor and implement it’s programming to serve this community. From that meeting, slender streams of funding have begun to flow from the grassroots level, and a recent mid-size grant to conduct IOOV training in the Nashville area, was awarded and begun.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Friend or family member
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
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Nairobi Kenya
1° 16' 59.9988" S, 36° 49' 0.0012" E
The HealthStore Foundation's Child and Family Wellness Clinic model (CFWC) is a network of micro pharmacies and clinics whose mission is to provide access to essential medicines to marginalized populations in the developing world. The CFW outlets target the most common killer diseases including malaria, respiratory infections, and dysentery among others. They also provide health education and prevention services.
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Madurai India
9° 54' 50.3496" N, 78° 7' 18.2172" E
Created on 08/24/2009 by carelesswishper25
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read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Project
Understanding & educating consumer,diverting them to more naturally grown product by effective producing and distributing them
Country your work focuses on
What makes your approach innovative?
Today people do not what is in their plate, there is know system available through consumer can know which food is grown by which method or what type of pesticide or harmful chemical has been used to grow them. I will set an organization which will develop and promote such practice to aware the consumer. This organization will not only encourage the good practice but also motivate the farmer to grow things through conventional and traditional farming, (which uses natural pesticide and fertilizers.).
It will also promote those companies which are producing natural fertilizers and pesticides and techniques. Organization will create market for naturally grown products through direct or indirect way. Through which farmers will get good price of their grains & products. This will increase their income and will improve their condition. This will also generate income for organization
Describe Your Idea
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MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
People love locally grown natural food.Why?They taste good and smell natural.To fight GMO we need to understand,why consumers arepurchasing these products & why farmers arefarming without knowing(it is hazards for health,enviroment and increasing their farming cost).People purchasing beacuse they don't know what they are having in plate.
How will you sustain your solution?
The organization will have following features:-
1. The organization will create awareness among consumers how these naturally grown products are good for their health and will develop a system to help consumers to decide what is in his plate
2. It will promote natural farming. It will include all the process of farming which will include total natural process that include no pesticide and chemical fertilizers
3. It will help farmers by providing techniques and different method which are cheap, more easy and affordable.
4. It will provide natural fertilizers and pesticides at the subsidies rate.
5. It will create market for naturally growing products.
6. It will generate revenue by giving licensing to those companies which are willing to sell these naturally growing products & Those who wants to sell fertilizers(n),pesticides to farmers.
7. Theses money will be used to improve farmers & farming condition by providing techniques, tools, fertilizers(n) at subsidized rate.
What will be the impact of your solution?
Our motto will be encouraging farmers to grow more and more natural products and to People how these chemical product is affecting your health. Naturally then people will go for natural products as they will be already knowing, natural products are available easily in the market. When the farmer will get good price of their farming, they will naturally grow only these products.
A wide impact can be seen after the organization will become functioning. It will act as a catalyst to motivate the inner desire of human.
It will create an empire, no companies will dare to launch GMO products because they will be already knowing that natural products are available in the market easily at cheapest rate.
Created on 08/17/2009 by mncit
The Minnesota CIT Officer’s Association has a mission of providing training for law enforcement officers in mental health awareness and in how to safely and effectively defuse situations involving a person in a mental health crisis by using verbal de-escalation skills before using force.
Organization: Minnesota Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Officers' Association
Visit websitemore ↓↑ hide↑ hideOrganization Name
Minnesota Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Officers' Association
Organization Address
1200 Nicollet Avenue #701 Minneapolis, MN 55403
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Project
Minnesota Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Officers' Association
Country your work focuses on
Describe Your Idea
The Minnesota CIT Officer’s Association has a mission of providing training for law enforcement officers in mental health awareness and in how to safely and effectively defuse situations involving a person in a mental health crisis by using verbal de-escalation skills before using force.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat makes your idea unique?
With traditional law enforcement training in Minnesota still offering only 0-6 class hours in mental health awareness, our specialized training is invaluable. Police officers need more tools to safely, effectively and respectfully handle a situation involving a person who is struggling with a mental illness.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideThis Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
Since our first class in January of 2007, we have certified over 300 officers in the state of Minnesota, and the demand for our training is picking up momentum as the word of our successful and respected classes spreads from department to department and region to region. A Memphis study shows that officer injuries are down 85% and injuries to the consumers of mental health services are down 40% since the implementation of their CIT training. Jail diversions have increased among those suffering with a mental illness, as has the likelihood that they will receive continued treatment with community based providers.
Problem
While we enthusiastically welcome the increased interest in our training, the growing demands are putting a strain on our small organization. When we receive funding for a strategic plan and board development, we will have the tools necessary to better meet the needs of police officers, the consumers of mental health services and their families in these communities.
Actions
Our objectives are:
--Strengthening and developing our board
(We understand the need for a larger and more diverse board of directors)
--Creating structure through the standardization of our training program
(Time needs to be spent on formalizing our program resulting in greater efficiencies)
--Developing a recruiting strategy and formalization of our certification program
(Organization is needed and time needs to be spent in promoting the recruitment process in order to maintain records of CIT trained officers for yearly follow up training)
--Exploration of future expansion into all regions of the state
--Funding our Executive Director and Director of Training for their additional time spent working on this project both with a consultant, and on our own to accomplish these objectives thereby attaining our goals and carrying out our mission in a more efficient and effective way
--And establishing a larger pool of trainers leaving us free to conduct simultaneous training sessions and giving our program more flexibility
Results
This grant will help to put us on a solid path enabling us to achieve our goal of establishing a strategy that allows us to continue to pursue our ambitious mission while creating a sustainable organization that will grow in a healthy way well into the future.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
Our Executive Director will monitor the progress of the 2 year project and will report monthly to the board as he ensures adherence to the established budgets and timelines. He will work closely with our Director of Training and a consultant to bring about the best possible result from the early planning stages, thru the development and on to the implementation stages. The board will also be involved in every step from the research and planning (first 6 months) through implementation and beyond. Project evaluators will include board members, staff, and the officers, social workers and consumers who we work with in the communities. Evaluation results will be used to improve our services to the community.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
The cost of hiring an outside consultant would be $10,000 spanning the next two years. As a small, young nonprofit, we would be unable to tackle this type of ambitious project on our own. We are hoping to raise the funds through grants, and then sustaining ourself through our training fees once we are more stable and structured.
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$1000 - 4000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat stage is your project in?
Operating for 1‐5 years
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
We work closely with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) when we enter a community and bring together the local law enforcement officers, mental health professionals and consumers of the mental health services in the area. We view NAMI as a partner in raising awareness on mental illness and they are vital to our training.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
1. The hiring of a consultant who specializes in nonprofit strategic planning
2. Additional weekly hours will be needed from the Executive Director and Director of Training in order to implement the laid out objectives
3. Staff (Director of Training and Executive Director) must work together with the board and the consultant to create a plan for expansion and growth in areas of the state we have not yet reached
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideWhat was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
CIT was a very new concept elsewhere in the country when a woman in Minneapolis who was suffering from schizophrenia was shot and killed when she charged police officers with a knife. Even though the officer was found to be justified in the shooting, it became clear that with more training the situation could have possibly ended very differently by getting her the help she needed through better sharing of information, an understanding of her illness, and different communication techniques. The Minneapolis PD then saw the need for CIT training.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
The tragic Minneapolis story has happened numerous times in numerous cities. Memphis was the first to implement CIT training in 1988, and it has become the "gold standard" in law enforcement mental health training. Even though it is a proven program, the training costs are high and department budgets are tight. But, the real cost of NOT providing the training is much, much higher. We believe that our training will continue to be requested more and more by police and sheriff's departments as they see the positive results.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Web Search (e.g., Google or Yahoo)
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
Created on 08/10/2009 by milanez
Os transgênicos estão causando a maior transformação ambiental que o planeta experimentou até hoje sem que as pessoas sequer estejam cientes do que eles são exatamente.
A idéia é estimular a reflexão e depois de formada a opinião, promover ação efetiva sobre esta enorme mudança para a qual sequer fomos consultados.
Através de um site informativo e um documentário permitir que as pessoas façam uma reflexão mais profunda sobre esta gigantesca mudança que está acontecendo silenciosamente em nossas vidas e, sobretudo sem a nossa participação.
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideName Your Project
TRANSGÊNICOS - Você sabe realmente o que significam?
Country your work focuses on
n/a
What makes your approach innovative?
Describe Your Idea
Os transgênicos estão causando a maior transformação ambiental que o planeta experimentou até hoje sem que as pessoas sequer estejam cientes do que eles são exatamente.A idéia é estimular a reflexão e depois de formada a opinião, promover ação efetiva sobre esta enorme mudança para a qual sequer fomos consultados.Através de um site informativo e um documentário permitir que as pessoas façam uma reflexão mais profunda sobre esta gigantesca mudança que está acontecendo silenciosamente em nossas vidas e, sobretudo sem a nossa participação.As principais reflexões fomentadas serão sobre: 1. A ruptura histórica com a ética e a ética ambiental que produz o patenteamento dos seres vivos. 2. A nova ameaça planetária introduzida pela transgenia - "A Contaminação Genética" acarreta o fim dos alimentos naturais que são contaminados pelo pólen dos transgênicos. 3. O desrespeito aos direitos coletivos e individuais, tanto dos agricultores convencionais e orgânicos como dos cidadãos que consomem esta alimentação convencional ou orgânica, provocada pela contaminação genética que destroem os produtos naturais. 4. O risco ao equilíbrio ambiental planetário e às espécies vivas, sem precedentes, provocado pela contaminação genética e pela competição natural dos transgênicos. 5. A destruição da possibilidade do desenvolvimento da ciência da nutrição pela desorganização da composição dos alimentos provocada por alimentos transgênicos. 6. A escravização dos agricultores do mundo inteiro pela obrigatoriedade de pagarem royalties, para o resto de suas vidas, para cultivarem sementes que são patrimonio de todos. 7. A responsabilidade de quem destrói a saúde humana e o meio ambiente precisa ser cobrada criminalmente e financeiramente. A urgência e importância desta campanha se dão pelo fato de que estas informações não estão na mídia comercial, e que, a profundidade destas questões também não se adapta aos tempos e espaços da mídia atual, mesmo sendo uma questão de segurança planetária.Após formar sua opinião os cidadãos poderão, se assim desejarem, contribuir para divulgar os debates ou em ações como abaixo assinados e boicote aos produtos contaminados.
How will you sustain your solution?
What will be the impact of your solution?
Created on 07/30/2009 by carelesswishper25
read more↓↑ hide↑ hideCountry your work focuses on
n/a
What makes your approach innovative?
Approximately 150 words left (1200 characters).
How will you sustain your solution?
Approximately 150 words left (1200 characters).
What will be the impact of your solution?
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Created: 04/17/09 by Anonymous
It's reassuring to know when you get on a plane, that the pilot has an emergency checklist and a co-pilot backing him up. It should also be reassuring to know that ICU doctors may soon be following their lead.
Every year, some 200,000 patients contract infections during their stay in intensive care. Most of these are treatable with expensive antibiotics and a longer hospital stay. In some cases, these infections can be fatal.
