- Report: 3 in 5 Detroit kids live in poverty, but teen births drop, By Robin Erb, January 24, 2013, Detroit Free Press: “Detroit has fewer children these days — a result of families moving to the suburbs and a drop in birth rates. Those who are left are living in poverty in greater numbers — about 3 in 5 of Detroit’s children. That number is one among a large set of data — some new, some old — from a variety of sources that has been collected in a single report, ‘State of the Detroit Child’ by Data Driven Detroit (D3). And while the data paint a grim picture of the challenges faced by Detroit’s children, it also brings into better focus the solutions, enabling funders and policy-makers to work more strategically, said Tonya Allen, chief operating officer and incoming president of the Skillman Foundation, which funded the project…”
- Study: 60 percent of Detroit kids live in poverty, By Serena Maria Daniels, January 25, 2013, Detroit News: “Close to six in 10 children in Detroit live in poverty, a 65 percent increase in just over a decade, findings released by Data Driven Detroit found. An exodus of families with children that led to the city’s 25 percent population loss between 2000 and 2010 resulted in Detroit’s most vulnerable being left behind, the 2012 State of Detroit’s Child report published this week said. The study, in its second year, was designed to shed light on issues affecting Detroit children to help government leaders steer policy…”
Tag: Detroit
Federal Funding for Housing Aid and Homelessness Prevention
- Feds offer aid to renters as well as homeowners, By Kathleen Pender, August 15, 2010, San Francisco Chronicle: “Congress and the Obama administration have committed tens of billions of dollars to keep homeowners in their homes. Renters, who make up about one-third of households nationwide – and close to two-thirds in San Francisco and other large cities – wish the government would do a little more for them. For homeowners, Obama’s Making Home Affordable program obtained $50 billion from the Troubled Assets Relief Program plus $25 billion, mainly from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Originally this money was supposed to help homeowners refinance or modify subprime mortgages (which qualified as troubled assets). More recently it has been used to help those who can’t pay their mortgage because they are unemployed. Last week, the Treasury said it is using $2 billion to help unemployed homeowners in 17 states, including California…”
- Habitat for Humanity uses federal funds to rehab metro Detroit homes, By Tammy Stables Battaglia, August 16, 2010, Detroit Free Press: “Habitat for Humanity, an agency known for building new houses, is using funds from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program to rehab old ones. The program, created in 2008 under President George W. Bush, provides communities and organizations funding to redevelop residential properties. That money must be allocated to projects by Sept. 19. In 2006, seven of 52 Habitat homes in Michigan were rehabs. The organization rehabbed 104 of its 221 homes during the first three months of this year, and there are dozens more projects to be completed, Habitat officials said…”
- Red tape slows North Texas agencies in disseminating federal funds to fight homelessness, By Neena Satija, August 15, 2010, Dallas Morning News: “Getting federal stimulus money to those in need had a slow start in North Texas, with understaffed agencies bogged down in paperwork. Now that the initiative is in full swing – the job has only gotten harder. North Texas received $25 million for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing program in September. As of March, it had only spent $2 million. Now, it has spent $7 million and helped 7,800 households. But a faster flow of dollars means a bigger maze of red tape…”
Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program
Fed housing assistance stalled in Detroit, By Catherine Jun, June 21, 2010, Detroit News: “Eight months after desperate crowds elbowed each other at Cobo Center for federal emergency housing money, less than 8 percent of Detroit’s $15.2 million has been spent, according to federal reports. That amounts to help for just 330 households, far less than the 3,400 Detroit families targeted through the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program. It also means Detroit is lagging in the national program designed to get money to homeless or nearly homeless families, falling behind Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City. The federal stimulus dollars help with utility bills and up to 18 months of rental assistance. But observers worry that for some, delays mean the help is coming too late…”