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"Male, 73, spent five years on a waiting list before finally moving into a cozy one-bedroom unit in Henrietta's Springside Meadows Apartments. The apartments cater to low-income seniors and disabled individuals, and cost 30 percent of a tenant's monthly income. Prospective renters must make no more than $23,750 per year to qualify."

"The men, all homeless, are called 'guests' and treated as such. Care and comfort are provided by an exuberant, dedicated, rotating cadre of 200 volunteers from Villanova, Swarthmore, Penn, Temple, and Drexel, who cook, dine with guests, play games, and converse, with three to five students spending the night every night."

"The good news regarding homeless children in Pennsylvania is that their number has decreased since 2006, the last time the National Center on Family Homelessness compiled a national report on the topic. But the bad news is, the number increased after the economic slump of 2008."

"With states under pressure to cut their budgets and federal stimulus money gone, low-income working parents are facing a paradox. Just when they have to work longer hours to make ends meet, they are losing access to the thing they need most to stay on the job: a government subsidy that helps pay for child care."

Director Cynthia Long said the center primarily exists to encourage low-income, first-generation students to attend college. She said her employees regularly visit those counties, providing services to homeless students, high school dropouts and adults who never attended college. 'We're looking for the population that often gets overlooked,' she said."

"Los Feliz Charter, which quickly became a destination for middle-class families via word of mouth, is unlike the neighborhood school, Los Feliz Elementary, in many ways. Los Feliz Elementary is composed entirely of low-income families; 44% of students are listed as English learners. Los Feliz Charter has 28% low-income students and 6.5% English learners, amid ongoing recruiting efforts to diversify. (Larchmont's demographics are similar, its recruiting has boosted low-income families to 42%.)"

"Budget cuts and eligibility changes will slash the number of low-income Mecklenburg County households that get help paying their heating bills this winter. The Low Income Energy Assistance Program spread $5.5 million among 28,000 Mecklenburg households last year. This year it's expected to spend about $1 million serving fewer than 6,000 clients."

"Director Cynthia Long said the center primarily exists to encourage low-income, first-generation students to attend college. She said her employees regularly visit those counties, providing services to homeless students, high school dropouts and adults who never attended college."

"No one seriously disputes the fact that students from disadvantaged households perform less well in school, on average, than their peers from more advantaged backgrounds. But rather than confront this fact of life head-on, our policy makers mistakenly continue to reason that, since they cannot change the backgrounds of students, they should focus on things they can control."

"'Especially in tight budget times, we have to set priorities, and Pell grants to help low-income students pay for college are a priority for me,' said U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn. 'But the growth of Pell grants by 76 percent over the last decade obviously can't continue at a time when Washington is borrowing 40 cents of every dollar it spends.'"

"The City Colleges of Chicago will announce Monday that it is partnering with private industry and academic institutions to provide mentors, train faculty and develop curricula to help prepare its students for jobs in aviation, hospitality, health care and information technology and other industries that are in need of job candidates."

"It makes you less ignorant -- you're not just living in a bubble," said Schaumburg High senior Brittany Tamason, who said she knows of some Schaumburg kids who won't even travel to downtown Chicago, let alone to Harvey, which is plagued by high poverty and a high crime rate.