David Elliot, a staff member of the Coalition on Human Needs since 2016, passed away this week. He had struggled with cancer in a long and difficult illness.
The Coalition on Human Needs Mourns the Passing of Colleague David Elliot
Archives: Voices
CHN Weighs In on Proposed USDA Reorganization
CHN encourages organizations and individuals to submit feedback on USDA’s proposed plan by emailing reorganization@usda.gov by Tuesday, August 26, 2025.
Three Ways that the Reconciliation Bill’s School Voucher Program Hurts Public Schools
Editor’s note: The article was written by Lily Klam and published by First Focus – a member of CHN, on July 1, 2025. The Educational Choice for Children Act, which has been wrapped into reconciliation proposals, would create a federal private school voucher program. School vouchers harm public schools, allow schools…
Congress has forgotten the meaning of reconciliation, instead sowing division that harms Oklahomans
Editor’s note: Ta’Kyla Bates is a Henry A. Wallace Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org. What do Louisiana, West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Alabama have in common? For one thing, they’re red states. For another, they’re poor states. Each has among the top 10 highest…
Kids With Autism Deserve Care, Not Cuts
Editor’s note: Kali Daugherty serves on the Parent Advisory Board of the Automatic Benefits for Children Coalition and is a RESULTS Expert on Poverty. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org. I recently read over my son’s last report card and was overwhelmed with pride. It showed how far he’s come…
When Care Becomes an Immigration Checkpoint, We All Lose
For nearly thirty years, there has been a shared understanding that programs keeping families healthy, safe, and learning should not be turned into tools to police immigration status.
Social Security at 90: Three Truths and A Terrible Trumpy Lie About One of America’s Greatest Economic Programs
Ninety years ago in a “terrifically hot Washington summer” much like this one, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, creating programs for unemployment insurance, retirement benefits and more.
Trump’s Budget Will Devastate Health Care for Rural Families Like Mine
For generations, my family has lived in a rural Alabama county with just one community hospital, with 107 beds to service 60,000 people.
Not Just a Budget Cut: How 17 Million Lives Are Being Harmed by “One Big Beautiful Bill”
President Trump and Republican lawmakers’ big budget bill that guts Medicaid and threatens access to health care for 17 million Americans was signed into law
What New Federal Notices Mean for Immigrants’ Program Eligibility
Five federal agencies have issued notices reinterpreting which federal programs may be restricted to certain categories of immigrants. These notices illustrate the administration’s harmful willingness to undermine the well-being of families and communities to pursue its anti-immigrant agenda.
Celebrating Legal Justice Champions at CHN’s Human Needs Hero 2025
At a time when the executive branch has seized power to deny millions of our people health care, food, jobs with labor protections, affordable housing, education, contrary to our nation’s values and shockingly often contrary to law, we must all work together
The 60-Hour Vigil to Protect Medicaid
Medicaid saves lives. It provides the care that allows children with serious medical conditions to go to school and allows their parents to go to work. Requiring repeated reporting of work hours or exempt status will hurt people.