- Handing out money to stave off homelessness, By Peter S. Goodman, April 19, 2010, New York Times: “Two years into a merciless downward spiral, Antonio Moore was threatened with living on the street. He had lost his $75,000-a-year job as a mortgage consultant, his three-bedroom house with a Jacuzzi, his Lexus sedan. He could no longer pay even the rent on his cramped studio apartment – not on his $10-an-hour part-time job as a fry cook at a fast food restaurant. Faced with eviction, he was staring last month at the imminent prospect of joining the teeming ranks of the homeless. His last hope was a new $1.5 billion federal program aimed at preventing that fate. Within days of applying, a check for $775 was on its way to Mr. Moore’s landlord, enabling him to stay – at least for now. Much like the Great Depression, when millions of previously working people came to rely on a new social safety net for their sustenance, a swelling group of formerly middle-class Americans like Mr. Moore, 30, is seeking government aid for the first time. Without help, say economists, many are at risk of slipping permanently into poverty, even as economic conditions improve…”
- Homeless families in motels decline, By Nancy H. Gonter, April 18, 2010, Springfield Republican: “State statistics show the number of homeless families living in motels across the commonwealth has declined over the past two months, but it is still costing close to $2 million a month to provide them places to live. State and regional leaders in the efforts to address homelessness say a continuing need for more ‘affordable housing’ to provide these families a new start remains at the root of the problem. And, they caution that the stagnant economy and expectations for state budget reductions threaten to force even more families onto the streets in the months ahead…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty