Ideas In Action
"He would carve out $127 million - a full one-third of the resources available to meet the low-income housing needs...- to create permanently supported housing for one of Missouri's most vulnerable populations: people suffering from acute metal illness and chronic homelessness."
"Citizen Schools has been around since 1995, providing mostly after-school programs for low-income students at 37 school sites across the country. In Boston, the nonprofit offered an extended school day similar to the programs starting in Oakland, doubling proficiency rates..."
"But the San Francisco health care worker decided to break the cycle of poverty. Now, the 38-year-old is a college graduate on the cusp of opening her own business. She is also raising a high-achieving teenager who is in a position to win merit-based college scholarships"
"Test scores as a whole have risen rapidly, but some schools are performing abysmally, with others comprising a vast middle group, improving but still struggling to teach basic reading and math to low-income students who came in three, four, even five grade levels behind."
"For homeless students living at the Missouri Hotel, access to computers often ended with the school day. There was nowhere close to complete online assignments, play educational games or look up a topic discussed in class."
"Mick, a 2007 graduate of Leadership Pasco, had just assumed direction of the program's advisory board. Her story resonated with Bogart, and soon the class of 2010 had its marching orders. They would build two portable showers for homeless people."
"Attacks on the homeless could violate California's civil rights law under a bill approved by the state Senate. The bill passed Monday would let the state's estimated 157,000 homeless sue for higher damages if they are targeted for assault because they are transient."
"Times are indeed a-changin' as that counterculture movement goes mainstream, including government efforts to help close the "grocery gap" in low-income, urban neighborhoods."
"If you're seeking a creative way to reuse the plastic bags used by so many stores, look to the Mat Makers, a group of women crocheting them into sleeping mats for the homeless."
"To help the rising number of people living in cars and campers on the streets of Venice and nearby areas, the city of Los Angeles plans to recruit an agency to operate a 'safe overnight parking' program aimed at linking them with social services and... permanent housing."
"Mayor Bill Foster vowed Monday to create a permanent shelter that will provide enough beds for the city's homeless, which would allow police to remove people sleeping on the streets."
"Now, TracFone Wireless has announced a new lifeline program that provides a free cell phone and 60 minutes of free monthly time for emergencies for low-income, elderly or disabled citizens."
"For a team of homeless people, sometimes just showing up is a small victory. 'After so much heartache and chaos and pain, to have so much fun on a soccer field, you don't even know what it means,' said David Altherr, 53, who became homeless after seven drunken-driving convictions."
"The center and three other local nonprofit, low-income health centers created a company to help other centers nationwide set up electronic health record systems."
"Hundreds of farmers are at work in cities such as Detroit, New York City, Atlanta and Milwaukee where low-income residents are faced with high rates of obesity and diabetes because of bad diets and the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables, experts say."
"What can you do with a few hundred used plastic shopping bags? Members of New Life Church in Conway are weaving them into sleeping mats for the homeless."
"The Murkland School, where a majority of the students live below poverty level, was chosen this year to be the recipients of the Philoptochos Literacy Outreach Program. In the previous two years, a total of nearly 4,000 books were distributed..."
"One project combines Section 8 housing vouchers with other anti-poverty assistance to help 6,000 families in communities with high concentrations of homeless families."
"Eventually, the school will offer girls in grades 5-8 from low-income families a tuition-free place where they can be challenged to dream and transform dreams into reality."
"A new website will help house Tarrant County's homeless more rapidly and make it easier for the public to volunteer and track program success, advocates for the homeless say."
"For instance, students coming from impoverished backgrounds often have a better chance at succeeding during their college careers if they see examples of peers who have done well once they entered higher education."
"Kamvar and his wife, Angie Schiavoni, recently launched CodeEd, a pilot program to introduce fifth-grad girls to computer science. Funded with $20,000 donated by the couple, it's the only such program in the U.S. geared to underprivileged preteen girls."
"Workers drove the bar to the homeless shelter in an air-conditioned SUV with its seats folded down. Once unwrapped, the bar was cut into coffee cup-sized pieces and given to the shelter's clients."
"[Ruhl]... listened to a presentation on a major poverty program by Catholic Charities and knew that the angel had answered. The goal of this national program is to cut the poverty rate in half by 2020. 'I wanted to promote Catholic Charities USA Campaign to Reduce Poverty,' Ruhl said."
"The $1.9 million center, nestled between two huge oak trees off Santa Fe Street and N.E. First Avenue, will offer the homeless a safe, temperature-controlled space to find refuge, officials said."
Next »