Archives: Voices

The New Congress: How it Plans to Cut…And How to Fight Back

The Affordable Care Act. Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, SSI. Tax rates for the wealthy and corporations. The new Congress wants to repeal, restrict and/or cut all of these. How will they use their rules to try to carry all this out? And how will Senators who oppose these goals try to…

Human Needs Report: Trump’s Cabinet and what’s to come, averting a shutdown and more

CHN just released our latest edition of the Human Needs Report, our regular newsletter on national policy issues affecting low-income and vulnerable populations. This edition includes articles on the stopgap spending measure in Congress to keep the government funded, President-elect Trump’s Cabinet picks, what to look for from the new Administration and more. See below…

Meet eight people committed to making change

Editor’s note: This post was originally published by the White House on Medium on November 29. CHN is proud that our executive director Deborah Weinstein is featured in the post below as one of eight people committed to making change.  Faith and Community Partnerships Meet eight people who work with…

Get the lead out, finally!

Today the Coalition on Human Needs joined three other prominent, national organizations in calling on Congress to approve funding for Flint, Michigan and other communities harmed by lead poisoning. The statement, issued by CHN, the American Academy of Pediatrics, First Focus Campaign for Children, and MomsRising, notes that Congress back…

10 things we’re thankful for this Thanksgiving, despite all

Thanksgiving is upon us once again. This year, gathering with family and friends of different political perspectives will prove harder for some of us than in years past. Even more strongly in this difficult time of transition, we are mindful of the millions who can’t afford a big feast or…

The high cost of being poor in your state,  part II

Last month, we highlighted some of the fabulous work our state partners did surrounding the reports on poverty they co-released in conjunction with CHN’s national report, The High Cost of Being Poor in the U.S. The work continued this past month, with our remaining state partners releasing reports based on the…

The Implications of Marginal Food Security

If you work in the anti-poverty field, it is likely that you’ve heard of food security and food insecurity, but hidden between the two categories is another subcategory: marginal food security. What makes a household marginally food secure? According to the USDA, a household is marginally food secure if there…

Special Post-Election Friday Advocates’ Meeting

UPDATE: If you missed this event, you can listen to a recording of it here. We encourage you to forward this link to people in your networks, so they can hear the practical information about what we are facing, and what we have to do together. Speakers included: Chris Van Hollen…

Our work continues

This was a hard election cycle. Nationwide, many were distressed and turned off by the tenor of the campaigns. And today, while millions of Americans celebrate, millions more feel defeated. But regardless of which candidate you supported and whether you’re celebrating or somber today, this fact remains: millions of Americans…

After the election

When the heroes of the civil rights movement persevered in their struggle, they did so against long odds, and knowing their victories would be long in the making. Women seeking the franchise fought for decades. They persisted in their cause because it was essential – and right. Our cause – ending…

A message to the fed up: Why you should vote

This is for you, advocates for meeting human needs who have been distressed and turned off by the tenor of the election campaigns nationwide: As previously noted, the Coalition on Human Needs has tax-exempt status, and cannot take positions on candidates. But we can encourage you to consider the positions…

Breaking the Cycle of Re-Incarceration with Education

Last week the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) hosted an event covering an important and often overlooked topic: reintegration to society after incarceration. Many attended in person or tuned in via webcast to hear the discussions on “Reconnecting Justice: Pathways to Effective Reentry through Education and Training,” the…