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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Soccer league provides new outlet for the homeless
Street Soccer USA is a 16-city network of homeless players that operates under Help USA, a national homeless services provider. The program has been credited with helping players pull themselves out of homelessness. It has strict guidelines, such as forbidding players to show up drunk and requiring them to discuss job searches with coaches. The newly formed New York team scored its first win of the season against a team composed mostly of bankers.
Original story
Labels: homeless, Street Soccer USA
Indiana homeless shelter charges residents
The South Bend Center for the Homeless has served over 44,000 men, women and children for free since it opened in 1988. Recently, the center has asked residents to contribute a few dollars for room and board. The center began charging $5 for food each day beginning April 1, and a $1 “program fee” starting May 1. The “program fee” includes housing for guests staying for more than 45 days. Those who stay more than 180 days pay $3.33 each day. Residents who receive governmental assistance can also pay for meals with food stamps. The center allows the needy who cannot afford the fees to do chores in the center in exchange for their stay.
Original story
Labels: program fee, South Bend Center for the Homeless
No rise in Social Security benefits in 2010
Social Security recipients will not get any increase in their benefits next year for the first time in more than three decades because federal forecasts do not anticipate the cost of living will rise enough to warrant a bump in benefits. If there is no cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security, about one-quarter of beneficiaries could face substantial increases in their premiums for doctors’ services and drug coverage under Medicare.
Original story
Labels: cost-of-living adjustment, Medicare, Social Security
Kitchen program in Pittsburgh employs and feeds the homeless and addicts
Springboard Kitchens employs those who are homeless or struggling with addictions and other disorders to prepare meals that are served to others in similar situations. Social service agencies refer trainees and provide services to prepare them. If trainees are voted in, they then work weekdays while receiving behavioral training to enable them to get and keep jobs. Springboard launched in mid-February and revenue has already jumped from $5,000 to $12,000, with 320 meals delivered a day.
Original story
Labels: addicts, homeless, Springboard Kitchens
Wages stay flat or decline for many workers
Workers across the country are experiencing stagnant or declining wages, while many are also seeing the values of their homes and retirement packages plummet. Employers initially only cut hours, but now are also slashing pay rates. Some state governments have frozen pay while others have furloughed employees. Although there is no evidence that the cuts have halted wage growth, overall pay increases have slowed tremendously. Wages for new hires and temporary employees have been slashed. Experts fear that economic recovery will be slow and gradual, with sluggish job creation.
Original story
Labels: frozen pay, retirement, wages
Idahoans experience delays in food stamps
More than 50, 000 Idaho residents did not receive their governmental supplemental funds due to a glitch in the computer system. Usually, at the beginning of every month, the recipients’ food stamp debit cards are credited with the amount they’re owed. The state’s computers were not properly connected to the vendor, J.P. Morgan Chase. The computer problem was fixed, and recipients of the funds should have received the supplemental money. But those who were forced to use their own money to buy items will not be compensated.
Original story
Labels: computer problem, food stamps, Idaho
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