Friday, Jan 16

Welcome to Your Daily Dot where Dot will share tips, advice, and stories on how we can make our world better.

Dear Reader,

Released prisoners often struggle to adapt to the world outside prison bars. What’s more, conditions in prisons can be cruel and dehumanizing, creating inmates that feel hopeless. But a program in France aims to give about-to-be-released prisoners a waypoint on their way to freedom — readying them to start making their own choices and decisions again, and helping them gain skills to transition into a productive post-prison life. One of those waypoints is Moyembrie farm. “Over half of the inmates who go there are working or in training three months after release and all leave with stable accommodation,” reads a story on Reasons to Be Cheerful. “Those who have completed their sentence can stay at the farm until they find housing.”  

Benefits of this approach are many: families are more likely to visit inmates there, which helps keep connections strong; and prisoners who’ve been given responsibility and skills training, as well as assistance finding housing and jobs, are much less likely to reoffend. And we know the healing power of working with nature.

Unfortunately, places like this remain the exception — even with a typically lower price tag than conventional prison. Nonetheless, it’s heartening to see a program that sees the person in the prisoner and takes steps to prepare them with skills and confidence for their eventual freedom. 

Let’s move to another Feel-Good story where, in Waukegan, Illinois, just north of Chicago, a community was faced with what to do with a former Superfund site, too polluted to be useful except for one potential and powerful application: a solar project. 

For the most part, officials in the area were mostly trying to keep people off the site, given that it leached toxic chemicals into the surrounding environment. But a national developer, experienced in building on landfills, saw its potential. Solar, the story on Canary Media tells us, is a good fit for sites too polluted for much else. Local students attend schools powered by solar, they learn about clean energy in their curriculum, and local residents are seeing lower energy bills. 

Celebratorily,

Dot

We’ve partnered with Bluecorn Candles to give one lucky winner $500 worth of handcrafted candlelight — they’ll receive a candle and surprise gift delivered every month for an entire year. Made in Colorado using pure beeswax and nontoxic ingredients, these clean-burning candles are perfect for cozy winter evenings and beautifully lit moments year-round.

Enter between January 9 at 6:00 a.m. EST and January 18 at 11:59 p.m. EST. No purchase necessary to enter or win. Open to U.S. residents aged 13 and older.

See Official Rules for more details.

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