Lost in the pandemic: Millions of school breakfasts and lunches
David Elliot,
February 24, 2022
Even as childhood hunger was on the increase during the pandemic, student participation in school breakfast and lunch programs dropped sharply, according to a report released last week by the Food Research & Action Center.
Amidst a NYC Family Court Crisis, Marie Van Brittan Brown and Jane Bolin Can Teach Us Some Lessons on People of Color’s Need for Safety and Well-being
Anu Adetola,
February 23, 2022
Safety and well-being are at the heart of human needs. However, these concepts have not been easily granted to Black and Brown communities throughout our nation’s history and even today. Nevertheless, Black heroes have stepped up to prioritize the safety and well-being of people of color. Born in 1922, Marie Van Brittan Brown was a nurse and inventor of the home security system. Jane Bolin worked in the 1960s to improve the safety and well-being of people of color. Jane was a woman of many firsts in U.S. history. Most notably, she was the first African American woman to be appointed a judge in the United States
CHN’s latest Human Needs Report: FY 2022 spending, Build Back Better Update, and more
Lecia Imbery,
February 22, 2022
Read on for the latest on FY 2022 spending, efforts to resuscitate the Build Back Better Act, postal reform, and more.
Why are we torching our best tool to end child poverty?
CHN Staff,
February 18, 2022
Ada Mae’s beautiful blonde curls are wild on this sunny, mild winter afternoon. I’ve just picked her up from the homeschool co-op that supplements the first-grade lessons we’ve been doing at home, and we’re hanging out at the park. This is my favorite time of the week, watching her play with other kids. But I’m also remembering my own childhood — cold Missouri winters without boots, hats, or mittens. The grind of poverty was tough on my family, and that trauma pursued me into adulthood. I would do anything to keep my child from that fate, but we’ve had our close calls.
‘Til death do they part?’ Not for some Americans with disabilities.
David Elliot,
February 18, 2022
Five years ago, Lori Long’s boyfriend asked her to marry him. For Lori, it was a dream come true. She has a significant disability – an autoimmune system that results in painful fractures in her spine, frequently leading to expensive hospital stays. Given her condition, she wasn’t sure she would ever marry. And now, five years later, Lori and her boyfriend, Mark Contreras, are still waiting. Not long after her engagement, she learned that marrying her fiancé, who does not have a disability, would mean completely losing her Social Security disability benefits as well as Medicaid.
