Archives: Voices

You Are Not Alone: The White House Summit on Working Families

Decades ago, I remember women slowly awakening to the fact that their dissatisfaction about roadblocks to working outside the home was not just their personal problem. It was a hard slog to get from blaming yourself to recognizing that the “system” needed changing. It felt like that again at the…

Shoebox of Money

One of the central themes of conversations among social workers is recognizing one’s privilege. I quickly realized my privilege on June 16th as the panelists for the discussion on financial literacy for foster youth, organized by the Senate Caucuses on Foster Youth and Financial and Economic Literacy, began to tell…

Immigration Reform Wasn’t the Cause of Cantor’s Loss

When House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) lost his primary election earlier this month – much to everyone’s surprise – claims that immigration reform was dead were all over the airways. Many pundits pointed to the belief that Rep. Cantor’s support of immigration reform was the cause of his loss,…

Heading to the White House Summit on Working Families

Today the President, First Lady, and Vice President and Mrs. Biden are underscoring the importance of improving the daily lives of millions of working families by participating in the White House Summit on Working Families. The President highlighted the need for workplace policies that meet the most basic family needs…

Head Smacker: Can’t Afford Child Care? You’re Less Likely to Have Paid Leave

63 percent of children in the U.S. live in families where all parents work. But the lower the family’s income, the less likely the parent’s employer is to provide any form of paid leave.  The U.S. Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) released a new report, The Economics of Paid and…

A Response to the Path to Prosperity

In April, CHN hosted a webinar on the House-passed budget – the so-called “Path to Prosperity” – put forth by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). The webinar exposed the truth about the “path” this budget would take us on – one in which massive cuts to housing, education, nutrition, and health care…

Witness Wednesday: Voices of the Unemployed

“I am a single father of two small children, a boy who is 5 and a little girl who is 3…. I have worked hard my entire life and have never been afraid of hard work but … it’s very hard to find work…. Unemployment isn’t something that people are…

Why have we started this new blog, Voices for Human Needs?

Every day we see the good that comes from investing in people.  We want to celebrate the achievements of Gena and her mother.  Gena’s mom was kicked out of her parents’ home and wound up in abusive relationships.  “Home life was chaotic and scary,” writes Gena for Our American Story,…