Dear Reader:
Happy fall!
We are pleased to bring you our fall edition of the Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal, the Philadelphia region’s own social impact journal. This edition is focused on innovations in public health, healthcare and healthy food—some that you may know about and others that may be new to you.
Continuing our new focus on theme-based editions covering pressing social issues, this issue introduces readers to alternative and innovative ideas and strategies for dealing with the persistent problems facing our region’s and nation’s health and healthcare system. You will read about how the placement of a health center in a school in a medically underserved part of Philadelphia is lowering healthcare costs and addressing high rates of asthma among children in that neighborhood. You’ll read about how retail-based convenient care clinics are shaking up the status quo in healthcare delivery by offering services that are high-quality, accessible and low-cost. You’ll learn about innovative approaches to caring for the disabled, tackling both policy and practice. And much more! We welcome your thoughts and comments on the articles.
If you missed it, the PSIJ Special Edition Social Innovations Within Education is now available as a book and can be ordered online at https://www.createspace.com/3659906. We also recently reissued, in early September, the spring/summer edition, including a few new pieces, which, along with all of the archived content the Journal has published, can be found at our website, www.philasocialinnovations.org.
It’s amazing to think that the first-ever edition of the Journal was published almost 2 years ago. With the terrific involvement of our volunteer writers, bloggers, editors and staff, as well as the support of our readers, we’ve come a long way from the little idea we had to start a high-quality, socially-focused journal. If you have any ideas about how we can continue to grow the PSIJ and make it a go-to resource for information about prominent and promising social innovations, we’d love to hear from you.
Very truly yours,
Tine Hansen-Turton, Co-Founder
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Nicholas Torres, Co-Founder
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Thank you to our partners, funders and advisors:
Independence Foundation; The Philadelphia Foundation; United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania; Scattergood Foundation; St. Christopher’s Foundation for Children; Green Tree Community Health Foundation; William Penn Foundation; Inglis Foundation; Wells Fargo; Barra Foundation; the Knight Foundation; University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice, Wharton School and the Fels Institute of Government; and Sage Communications.
Thank you to our volunteers:
If you read PSIJ on a regular basis, you’ll know we are primarily volunteer-based. Over 80 volunteers write for the Journal and help plan and coordinate events and seminars. We are always looking for more volunteers and for participants in our PSIJ Fellows program, and you have an open invitation to join us! There is a role for all of you—and the Journal is only as good as it gets with your support. Currently, we’re looking for someone to take over managing the Journal’s social media presence, including posting on Facebook about relevant articles and happenings. If you think you’d be interested in helping out with this role, let us know. If you want to learn more about any volunteer opportunity, contact Tine at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..