Partnership Spotlight: 3 Cross-Sector Partnerships from This Week

Public-private Partnerships impact area homelessness

COLUMBUS BUSINESS FIRST

In most cities or urban areas in the U.S., homelessness remains a palpable social issue. This rings true for Columbus, where an estimated 1,500 people face homelessness each day and 10,000 have used shelters in the last year. There exist multiple initiatives to alleviate homelessness in the community, beginning with the Community Shelter Board, which brings together 16 agencies in a cohesive system in an effort to address homelessness in Central Ohio. The organization manages funding for local programs for the homeless and supportive housing by way of government sources, private sector corporations, the United Way of Central Ohio, foundations, and individuals. Michelle Heritage, executive director of the Community Shelter Board, says, “Community Shelter Board was founded on the idea that a public-private partnership was the most powerful way to respond to homelessness.”

WHY IT MATTERS: Homelessness affects society’s most vulnerable populations, including families, children, and pregnant women. Partnerships such as the Community Shelter Board are making a real social impact with direct efforts and actions to alleviate homelessness. Through a public-private partnership model, these agencies are working together to get the homeless population the help and resources they need, which in turn improves the social conditions of their communities.

this after school partnership teaches students self-reliance in 5 states + d.c.

EFFICIENT GOV

Millions of teenagers nationwide are unsupervised during after-school hours – a time when crime and student drug use peak among adolescents. The just keep livin Foundation is addressing this issue by seeking a path towards positive life choices for these teens. The after-school partnership, which now serves over 2,500 students at 32 programs located in California, Louisiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Washington D.C., offers participating students “a safe place to enhance their lives” with fitness and health experts who teach self-reliance, exercise, teamwork, gratitude, nutrition, and community service.

WHY IT MATTERS: Just keep livin Foundation credits its success to collaborations through its partnerships. 2,500+ teenagers have already benefited, whether slightly or largely, through this foundation and its partnerships, and have gained an experience that will guide them towards a more positive future.

public-private partnership to map ocean plastic 

THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

According to a Greenpeace report, of the 260 million tons of plastic produced each year, roughly 10% ends up in the world’s oceans. A new partnership between the Institute of Marine Research, shipowner Torvald Klaveness, Kongsberg and the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association aims to track and map marine plastic and other environmental parameters vital to the health of the oceans. This will provide a broader width of knowledge of the trends in which plastic spreads throughout the seas and its consequences on the marine environment. To kick-off the project, shipowner Torvald Klaveness will equip five of his vessels with advanced sensors to collect data on the movement of the pollution for the Institute of Marine Research.

WHY IT MATTERS: One of the greatest challenges of our time is controlling and mending the harm humans have caused to the environment, most specifically, marine ecosystems. Tracking and mapping plastic pollution in the world’s oceans is a great first step as it provides us with the knowledge of where the plastic is spreading and where it is gathering. This will lead us to the areas of most concern, where we’ll be able to access tangible data of the behavior and effects of pollution.