Last August, Paige McConnell became the first in her family to enroll in college, signing up for classes at Tennessee’s Roane State Community College. Two weeks later, she dropped out. McConnell could not make online classes work for her. She does not have WiFi at her rural home in Crossville, Tenn. She tried to go to the library, but their services were curtailed due to the pandemic. She even spent hours in a McDonald’s parking lot, using the restaurant’s Internet, but she kept getting kicked off the network. McConnell is hardly alone. Enrollment in every sector of undergraduate higher education is down this fall – but the decline is being felt most sharply among community colleges.
Archives: Voices
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship December 17, 2020
The come together right now edition. A deal is said to be in the works, and it can’t arrive fast enough to stave off the misery plaguing millions of Americans – and millions more to come if Congress does not act immediately. A new study out this week shows 7.8 million Americans slipped into poverty over a five-month period that began when government aid dwindled last summer. That’s the first time that has happened in single year in the 60 years we’ve been collecting data on poverty. And more bad news is coming if Congress doesn’t act.
Experts: Corporate immunity would increase spread of COVID-19 while gutting workplace safety, civil rights and worker protection laws
Advocates for consumers, patients, and workers came together this week to warn against a sweeping and unprecedented proposal in Congress that would use the COVID-19 crisis as an excuse to grant corporations broad immunity against violations of workplace safety guidelines as well as civil and legal rights. The proposal is favored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and major corporations, but is opposed by a growing coalition of groups that represent essential workers, nursing home residents and staff, people with disabilities, and many others.
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship December 11, 2020
Disaster Relief or Disaster edition. We were starting to feel encouraged. A bipartisan group of Senators came up with a COVID package that is essentially short-term disaster relief. More will be needed. But the disaster we’re in keeps worsening, and you wouldn’t think senators would be willing to go home for the holidays with 12 million workers losing unemployment aid on December 26 and eviction moratorium and paid leave expiring just in time for New Year’s. But Mitch McConnell continues to preside over a caucus that seems prepared to do the unthinkable.
For state and local employees, a winter of discontent – and beyond – is approaching
When the reality of a coronavirus pandemic struck home last March, many state and local governments were quick to take action, slashing budgets and planning for painful layoffs and furloughs. The damage was mitigated, in part, by two factors: healthy, pre-pandemic economies, and the CARES Act, which provided $150 billion in state and local aid. Still, 1.3 million public-sector jobs were lost during an eight-month period. Those jobs, for the most part, have not come back. And now, heading into the new year and beyond, state budget experts say things are about to get worse.
Census survey reveals COVID-19’s devastating impact on Missouri
Hundreds of thousands of Missourians are struggling to get by during our coronavirus public health emergency, including children, according to the recently released U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey. While 40.8 percent of Missouri households report losing income since March, families with children under 18 have been especially impacted, with 51.4 percent reporting income loss. COVID-19 has hit Missouri hard, but Black Missourians and other people of color have been hit especially hard.
CHN’s COVID-19: Tracking Hardship December 4, 2020
The #ReliefCan’tWait edition. The U.S. this week set three alarming records. New COVID-19 cases surpassed 200,000 in a single day, hospitalizations reached 100,000, and Wednesday’s death rate was nearly 2,900 – all firsts. Meanwhile, millions of Americans are teetering on an economic cliff. By Dec. 26th, 16 million Americans will have lost unemployment benefits. On New Year’s Eve, the CDC’s eviction moratorium will expire. Other help set to expire as we approach the end of the year: student loan debt relief and some paid family leave.
With deadlines approaching, CHN urges swift passage of COVID-19 relief
The Coalition on Human Needs this week urged Congress to quickly approve a COVID-19 relief package, even as millions of Americans face the loss of unemployment benefits as well as a roof over their heads. “This cannot wait,” the letter states. “The eviction moratorium and pandemic unemployment insurance expire by the end of December. COVID-19 cases are surging, with more than 200,000 cases reported on December 2 and hospitals dangerously overstretched.”
Up next in fighting COVID-19: The challenges of rolling out vaccines
James English has a problem. It’s actually a problem many Americans have wanted him to have for many months now. English is one of hundreds upon hundreds of local public health directors across the U.S. who will eventually help distribute COVID-19 vaccines. The challenges in rolling out one or more vaccines, once approved, are breathtaking, immense, and complicated — and they will cost money.
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship November 25, 2020
November 25, 2020 Hunger at Thanksgiving edition. Heroic efforts are being made by food banks nationwide to provide food for families who do not have enough to eat. Here’s what they’re up against: more than 25 million people reported during the period from October 28 – November 9 that in…
Ten things we’re thankful for this Thanksgiving
The nation – indeed, much of the world – is on fire with infection. Here at home, we’ve yet to launch an effective national response to controlling COVID-19. And our economy is in tatters, millions pushed into poverty, essential workers facing racial discrimination, women forced out of the workforce, families struggling to pay for food, meet rent, and cover an array of other expenses from transportation to utilities to healthcare costs. And yet: there are things that those of us in the human needs community can be thankful for as we prepare to observe a very different Thanksgiving than past holidays (Zoomgiving, anyone?).
Massive “listening tour” reveals voices, fears of immigrant communities
After almost four years of the Trump Administration, many immigrants in the U.S. feel an intense amount of fear, experience damaging trauma, and face pervasive racism, according to a groundbreaking new report issued by one of the nation’s leading immigrant advocacy groups. The report, entitled Our Stories, Our Futures: The Voices of Immigrant Communities, recently was released by LA RED, Faith in Action’s campaign dedicated to immigrant justice. It is the result of a massive “listening campaign” conducted over the summer that organizers say is unprecedented and will help researchers and advocates alike better understand the experiences and attitudes of both Latinx immigrants and non-Latinx Black immigrants alike.