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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Grants to U.S. Electrical Grid Expected to Create Jobs
President Obama has announced that $3.4 billion of the $787 billion stimulus package will be used in grants to improve the nation’s electrical grid. In addition to paying for updated technology to make the transmission of power cleaner and more consistent, the grants are “expected to create tens of thousands of new jobs all across America” at a time when, despite the recovering economy, the national unemployment rate continues to rise.
Original story
Labels: Obama, stimulus package, unemployment
Senate Agrees to Take Up Bill Extending Unemployment Aid
The Senate has agreed to take up legislation that aims to provide those running out of unemployment benefits with up to 20 weeks of additional aid. After weeks of partisan bickering, Senate Democrats urged quick action, in light of the 7,000 people who are exhausting their benefits daily. The House passed a similar extension bill last month, but Republicans blocked Senate consideration of the legislation in an attempt to add amendments.
Original story
Labels: Senate, unemployment, unemployment benefits
Warehouse clubs accept food stamps
Costco Wholesale Corp. is now accepting food stamps at warehouses nationwide after testing them at stores in New York. This is a big change for the corporation that caters mainly to affluent bargain-hunters. Costco is not the first warehouse to accept food stamps. BJ’s Wholesale Corp. and Sam’s Club were accepting food stamps months before Costco made the change. The stores struggled with whether food stamp holders would be able to pay the $50 membership fee. Now, stores are battling for every dollar and see a potential in the increasing number of food stamp recipients.
Original story
Labels: Costco Wholesale Corp., food stamps, warehouses
Retirees receive more benefits from Obama administration
The Obama administration is spending $14 billion on senior citizens, a group that has survived the recession better than any other group. The president plans to send a $250 check to every Social Security recipient as part of his efforts to stimulate the economy. Obama has also proposed a no cost-of-living increase in their benefits next year. However, Obama’s economic advisers have questioned these plans, citing “entitlement reform,” the reduction of benefits that current law has promised to retirees, as the issue.
Original story
Labels: Obama, recession, senior citizens, Social Security
Recession pushes students to attend community colleges
Community colleges across the nation are scheduling more early morning and late night classes to accommodate students who are jobless or have been motivated to return to school by the recession. Recent high school graduates are also turning to community colleges due to the high costs of four-year institutions. Nearly every state is dealing with large influxes of students in community colleges, partly because of financial cuts to higher-education budgets.
Original story
Labels: college students, community colleges
The chill of the recession is affecting college students
College students are feeling reverberations from the recession. Students who receive no assistance from parents are burdened by student loans, and some are even struggling to feed themselves. Students can choose to get further into debt or seek help from the government. Some are applying and waiting in long lines for food stamps, and scouring campuses for free meals.
Original story
Labels: college students, food stamps, governmental aid, recession
Foreclosures force homeowners into shelters
Homelessness normally claims low-income renters who are evicted when they lose their jobs. Increasingly, though, the homeless are people who until recently owned their homes and lost them to foreclosure. Some 10 percent of homeless people who are approaching social service agencies for help were homeowners, and now resort to shelters, sleeping in their cars or in motel rooms, or seeking refuge with friends and family.
Original story
Labels: foreclosures, homeless shelters, homelessness, homeowners, social service agencies
Oklahoma homeless men document their lives
Four homeless men produced a film entitled “How Sally Changed My Life,” a documentary about people living in the Salvation Army's Project Able, a two-year transitional housing program, who work or go to school while saving money. Their 15-minute documentary was shot with a camera that was bought at a pawn shop. Those interviewed told their stories of homelessness and how the Salvation Army was helping them to get back on their feet.
Original story
Labels: documentary, homeless, How Sally Changed My Life, Project Able, Salvation Army
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