We are deeply saddened at the passing of Susan Rees, a great builder of the Coalition on Human Needs who served as Executive Director from 1983 to 1991.
We are so grateful Susan’s family has suggested contributions be made to CHN in Susan’s memory to continue the fight for justice.
If you would like to contribute to honor Susan Rees, please use the form below and email Radha Rath at rrath@chn.org to let us know you are contributing in Susan’s memory.
You may also contribute by mail at the following address: Coalition on Human Needs, 1825 K Street, NW, Suite 411, Washington, DC 20006.
Tell Congress: Make a historic Investment to meet Human Needs!
Details are emerging on the historic Build Back Better plan that makes essential investments in people, families and communities.
The poorest families with children can claim the full Child Tax Credit, on a permanent basis; and the increased dollar amount per child in the CTC will continue through 2025.
The legislation makes permanent the modifications to the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) which were included in the American Rescue Plan. That means the credit is fully available to families with low earnings and the maximum credit is increased to $4,000 for one dependent and $8,000 for two or more.
It provides a pathway to citizenship for immigrants including Dreamers, people fleeing violence and disaster, and essential workers, including farmworkers.
The bill continues the $500 credit for non-child dependents.
It makes permanent the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) increase for people without dependents.
It closes the Medicaid coverage gap to open up care to poor people now left out.
And, the bill provides funding for education and job training to help working people develop the skills to embark on a fulfilling career.
There’s a lot more still to fight for including adequate funding for home and community based care services for the aging and people with disabilities. And, we must ensure each of the items above makes it into the final bill, which may be voted on next week!
The Coalition on Human Needs is reminding wavering Democrats that we can afford investments in working people, the elderly, children, the sick and the poor when we finally ask corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share.
The they-warned-us-and-we-didn’t-listen edition. For months, medical experts warned us that COVID-19 cases likely would spike in the winter. It is happening. 4,112 new COVID-19 deaths were reported in the U.S. on Thursday, January 7 alone – the first time deaths in a single day exceeded 4,000. The daily death toll in New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania also set records. Illinois became the fifth state to record its one millionth case since the pandemic began. In Arizona, which right now has a higher infection rate than any other state in the U.S., hospitalizations and deaths set records in the past few days; the state has seen more than 8,000 new cases a day, more than double the summer peak.
But, as a nation, are we paying attention? Are we listening to the experts? “Most Americans don’t want to know, don’t want to acknowledge, don’t want to recognize, and certainly – even as it is descending upon us – do not appear to understand the dire circumstances that we are facing,” Dr. Marjorie Bessel, Chief Clinical Officer at Arizona’s Banner Health, told The New York Times.
Before the last Congress adjourned, it passed, as part of a COVID-19 relief package, $69 billion to purchase and help states distribute vaccines. The funds also will help states with COVID-19 contact tracing, treatment, and mitigation. The funds include $2.5 billion targeted toward communities of color and rural communities – both hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. When the new Administration is sworn in, scaling up the distribution and administration of the vaccines will be a priority in bringing the pandemic under control; to date, health officials have expressed disappointment at the pace of the vaccine roll-out.
255,728
The number of new COVID-19 cases confirmed in the U.S. on Wednesday, January 6 alone. That’s an 8 percent increase over two weeks ago. Tweet this.
240,000
The number of COVID-19 cases confirmed in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in just two weeks. That is more cases than at least 19 entire states have reported during the course of the pandemic. Tweet this.
Indigenous, Black, and Latinx Americans were at least 2.7 times more likely to have died from COVID-19 than white Americans, adjusted for age, in 2020. Tweet this.
1 in 800
By early December, COVID-19 had taken the lives of 1 in 800 Black and Indigenous peoplein the U.S. In Michigan and New Jersey, it was 1 in 470 Black lives lost; in Mississippi, it was 1 in 140 Indigenous lives lost.
71%
71 percent of Black Americans say they know someone who has been hospitalized or died from COVID-19, according to a Pew Research survey released in December.
60%
The percent of Americans who say they will get a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the same survey. 42 percent of Blacks say they will do so, compared with 83 percent of Asian Americans, 63 percent of Latinx, and 61 percent of whites.
29.6 million
The number of people in households that sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in the previous week, or 14 percent of all people in households. That was true of 24.5% of Blacks, 21% of Latinx, 10% of whites, and 7% of Asians – and 18% of adults in households with children. The numbers appeared to reflect a sharp increase from a previous reporting period in November.
89.7 million
The number of people whose household found it somewhat or very difficult to meet usual expenses during the previous week, or 37.5 percent. That was true of 55% of Blacks, 51% of Latinx, 32% of Asians, and 31% of whites – and 45% of all adults living with children.
