This blog is a place for journalists to discuss their experiences covering poverty. It works in tandem with onpoverty.org, a site run by Washington and Lee University's American Poverty Journalism Center.
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Housing for Tennessee homeless project on hold
A task force that was to create guidelines for housing Knoxville area homeless is on hold for fear its work could violate a federal law that prohibits discriminating against disabled people, a definition that includes the chronically homeless. The task force was to recommend guidelines on where to put 400 units of permanent, supportive housing for the chronically homeless, most of whom suffer severe psychological problems.
Original story
Labels: chronically homeless, homeless, Knoxville, supportive housing
Unemployment reaches double digits in four states
California, South Carolina, Michigan and Rhode Island all registered unemployment rates above 10 percent in January, while the national rate—at 8.1 percent in February—is the highest it has been in 25 years. Some economists predict the national unemployment rate will peak at 11 percent or higher by mid-2010. Forty-nine states and the District of Columbia registered unemployment increases. Only in Louisiana did the rate drop.
Original story
Labels: California, Michigan, Rhode Island, South Carolina, unemployment rate
Texas leads the country in number of homeless children
Texas has the most homeless children of any state, more than 300,000. In Amarillo, the number of people receiving meals from the High Plains Food Bank has increased 55 percent just since last month. The city is receiving more than $700,000 from the federal stimulus package to help with homeless prevention and to try to keep homeless teens from dropping out of high school. Teens without diplomas cost the state an estimated $3 billion in lifelong productivity.
Original story
Labels: federal stimulus package, High Plains Food Bank, homeless children, homeless teens, Texas
North Carolina unemployment highest in 25 years
North Carolina’s unemployment rate is the highest in over 25 years due to job losses in January in manufacturing and construction. The state lost 38,000 non-farm jobs in January, including such booming industries as education and health care, which lost 5,800 jobs. Among jobs lost in manufacturing were layoffs in the Dell Corp. computer assembly plant. The company has been shifting work from its own factories to contract manufacturers and cut its work force.
Original story
Labels: Dell Corp., North Carolina, unemployment
Needy Northern Indiana families receive handouts
Approximately 1,600 families sought handouts for food and other items donated by a charity in Elkhart, Ind. The city has an unemployment rate of 18.3 percent, partly because of layoffs in the recreational vehicle industry. Thirteen semitrailers carried $2.1 million worth of food, which is expected to sustain 5,200 families for one week. In addition, Feed the Children arranged for supplies to be shipped to 3,600 Northern Indiana families. Hundreds of cars waited in a line in a shopping mall parking lot and adjacent streets to receive packages from 3,000 volunteers.
Original story
Labels: donations, Elkhart, handouts, Indiana, Northern Indiana
Turning to motels to house the homeless
More people are finding themselves facing homelessness after having lost their jobs and homes. While some end up in shelters or on the street, others are doubling up in apartments or living in garages or motels. These hidden homeless are not counted in federal data and often get little public aid. Orange County, Calif., has a large population of motel families because rents are high and public housing is scarce, while there are many older motels that once housed Disneyland visitors. Residents come from a wider demographic range than in the past.
Original story
Labels: hidden homeless, homeless, motels, Orange County
Recession may be longest since World War II
The 1981-82 recession was America’s worst since the Great Depression, but the current recession could slice even deeper into the U.S. economy. If it lasts into April, as expected, it will be the longest recession in the postwar era. While unemployment has not reached 1982 levels and the gross domestic product is still higher than in 1982, the hurt from this recession is spread more widely. Furthermore, uncertainty about the country’s economic health is worse today than it was in 1982.
Original story
Labels: economy, Great Depression, recession, unemployment
N.Y. jobless rate to reach double digits
New York’s unemployment rate is expected to rise from 7 percent last month to 10 percent by the end of the year. By then, the state will owe the federal government $1.4 billion in unemployment benefit payments. The newly passed federal stimulus package will repay $500 million of that, but the rest will have to be made up by employers. New York has lost 113,000 jobs since August, and a half-million New Yorkers are collecting benefits, the highest number in at least 20 years.
Original story
Labels: debt, federal stimulus package, new york, unemployment
Recession causes Hawaiian unemployment claims to rise
While Hawaii’s unemployment rate of 5.1 percent is below the national average, the number of residents losing their jobs is continuing to increase, and new unemployment claims are rising—up 75 percent in January from the same month a year before. Benefits to Hawaiians totaled $40 million last month.
Original story
Labels: benefits, Hawaii, new unemployment claims, unemployment
One in 50 children experience homelessness in America
The National Center on Family Homelessness reports that one in 50 U.S. children experience homelessness and most states have inadequate plans to address the worsening and overlooked problem. The report analyzes data from 2005-06 and estimates that 1.5 million children were homeless at least once that year. The problem is surely worse now due to foreclosures and job losses during this recession. The center’s ranking of state responses placed Connecticut at the top and Texas at the bottom.
Original story
Labels: homeless children, National Center on Family Homelessness
Washington, D.C., renters feel repercussions of recession
The working poor in the Washington region are seeking more aid to meet basic needs, resulting in increased requests for help with rent and utility bills. Although home prices have fallen, renters still face a high-priced market in the area, where vacancies are limited. Arlington County, Va., has seen a 38 percent increase in applications for its rental supplements, which are cash grants to help tenants pay bills. The county boosted the amount available from $4.3 million to $4.6 million to prevent homelessness from increasing.
Original story
Labels: Arlington County, home prices, rent, rental supplements, utility bills, Washington, working poor
Homeless man in Houston takes to the Web
Until recently, Tim Edwards was like any other homeless man begging for money in Houston. Now, he has become the online face of homelessness thanks to his website, Pimp This Bum. The interactive site, www.pimpthisbum.com, is the work of an Internet marketing company that wanted to show what it could do and do some good at the same time. Visitors can ask Edwards questions about his life and his journey from a managerial job and homeownership, and allows them to donate money to help him.
Original story
Labels: homeless, Houston, Internet, Pimp This Bum, Tim Edwards
NY landlords trade paying tenants for homeless families
The Bloomberg administration program has turned some apartment buildings in New York into de facto homeless shelters. It works with nonprofits to place homeless families in apartments, a practice known as cluster-site housing. With growing numbers of homeless families, cluster-site has nearly replaced a similar, more expensive program that the administration wanted to eliminate in 2002. Tenants in the buildings complain landlords are pushing them out to make room for homeless residents because the cluster-site program pays much more.
Original story
Labels: apartments, cluster-site, homeless shelters, Mayor Bloomberg, new york
Hawaiian Hope provides computer access to homeless
Hawaiian Hope, a nonprofit whose goal is to give the homeless computer access, plans to expand its offerings. The group already provides IT services in 10 homeless shelters in Hawaii using donated computers and strives to make technology available to everyone by refurbishing donated PCs, hardware and monitors. Hawaiian Hope is remodeling an empty space near Honolulu Community College, and hopes that the computer lab will put classrooms in homeless shelters. The group will also give computers to families that move out of the shelters.
Original story
Labels: computer lab, Hawaiian Hope, homeless, Honolulu
Stimulus funds used for Harrisburg needy
Harrisburg is using its $1.4 million in funds for its Community Development Block Grant Program and for homelessness prevention. How the money will be spent for homelessness prevention is unclear, but the block grant money may be used to renovate vacant homes to be sold to low-income and moderate income buyers. Some of it may also be used to complete repairs in the homes of senior citizens or low-income families, as well as for job training.
Original story
Labels: Community Development Block Grant Program, Harrisburg, homelessness prevention, stimulus
Increasing benefits will increase debt
If Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle chooses to expand unemployment eligibility and adopts two of the four federally recommended changes, the state would receive $89 million in funding from the federal stimulus bill. Wisconsin already took out a $400 million loan from the federal government to keep its unemployment fund afloat and with unemployment on the rise, Wisconsin federal debt is spinning out of control. Doyle has also increased business taxes as an attempt to level the budget, but increased business taxes force employers to lay off workers, who then turn to unemployment.
Original story
Labels: budget, business taxes, Doyle, federal stimulus bill, unemployment eligibility, Wisconsin
Need welfare? Must pass drug test first
Sen. Bill Stouffer’s proposed bill would require welfare recipients to submit to drug testing in order to protect taxpayers and provide an incentive to stay clean. Conducting drug tests would cost Missouri $16.7 million next year. Those who test positive would be ineligible for three years to receive temporary assistance benefits. Children of drug users would not lose benefits. No criminal consequences are inflicted on those who test positive, but some may avoid applying for help for fear of test results.
Original story
Labels: drug testing, Missouri, Stouffer, Temporary Assistance, welfare
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