USDA grows rural poverty effort, Associated Press, March 26, 2013, Washington Post: “A federal program intended to reduce poverty and improve life in rural areas through better access to federal funding is expanding to six more states, officials said Tuesday. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack traveled to South Carolina to announce the expansion of the so-called StrikeForce initiative, which already operates in 10 states. The program will now also be available in the Carolinas, the Dakotas, Alabama and Virginia. The goal of StrikeForce is to help farmers, food producers and other businesses get access to money for projects such as new wells, greenhouses, community gardens, kitchen space and summer meals for low-income school children. The money is often hard to access because of complicated grant applications, requirements for matching funds and limited staffing…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty