CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship, March 4, 2022
CHN Staff,
March 4, 2022
The how-our-economy-survived-the-pandemic edition. As we prepare to mark two full years of COVID-19, it is perhaps instrumental to look at how far we have come and why things did not turn out much worse – the tremendous cost and loss of life notwithstanding. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released an important analysis demonstrating how much worse the damage to our economy and to people in need would have been had the federal government not aggressively responded when the pandemic surfaced.
Stop the stopgap: Groups say Ohioans deserve more certainty, dignity
CHN Staff,
March 3, 2022
Out of nearly 200 federal programs tracked by the Coalition on Human Needs between fiscal years 2010 and 2021, nearly two-thirds have not kept pace with inflation. Without an updated omnibus spending bill, said Joree Novotny, director of external affairs for the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, there isn't enough assistance to meet the need. For example, she explained, monthly WIC benefits for fresh produce for children would decrease from $24 to $9.
The State of the Union: President Biden’s Powerful, Practical Guarantees of Freedom
Deborah Weinstein,
March 2, 2022
We heard a true celebration of freedom in President Biden’s State of the Union speech. The President demonstrated resolve in support of the Ukrainian struggle for freedom – in action, not just words. He also demonstrated what is required in a free and just society: that people can live free from want and fear, choosing their own path and joining in the direction of their government.
Lost in the pandemic: Millions of school breakfasts and lunches
David Elliot,
February 24, 2022
Even as childhood hunger was on the increase during the pandemic, student participation in school breakfast and lunch programs dropped sharply, according to a report released last week by the Food Research & Action Center.
Amidst a NYC Family Court Crisis, Marie Van Brittan Brown and Jane Bolin Can Teach Us Some Lessons on People of Color’s Need for Safety and Well-being
Anu Adetola,
February 23, 2022
Safety and well-being are at the heart of human needs. However, these concepts have not been easily granted to Black and Brown communities throughout our nation’s history and even today. Nevertheless, Black heroes have stepped up to prioritize the safety and well-being of people of color. Born in 1922, Marie Van Brittan Brown was a nurse and inventor of the home security system. Jane Bolin worked in the 1960s to improve the safety and well-being of people of color. Jane was a woman of many firsts in U.S. history. Most notably, she was the first African American woman to be appointed a judge in the United States
