skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Hunger Report: High Cost of Housing Draining Family Food Budgets

play audio
Play

Tuesday, December 18, 2007   

Cleveland, OH – It's a dirty little secret that many hope will be openly debated by presidential candidates: Too many Americans are going hungry because their housing costs too much.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is calling for a federal commitment to affordable housing to help solve the problem. The interlocking relationship of high-cost housing and hunger is analyzed in a report by the mayors' group, made public Monday. The report surveyed 23 cities across the country, including Cleveland.

Conference president Douglas Palmer, the mayor of Trenton, N.J., discussed the report's conclusions.

"The main causes of hunger in the survey cities are poverty, unemployment and high housing costs, as well as food stamp benefits not really keeping up with the increasing price of food."

He says tackling the housing problem is the top priority in fighting hunger. In addition to a federal trust fund for affordable housing, he adds, the mayor's group is calling for federal support for community development programs.

Palmer is urging presidential candidates to make housing and hunger top campaign priorities. He points out that the holiday season is a good time to evaluate national priorities and to commit to solving the problems of housing and hunger.

"We want to highlight during the holiday season, when people are really happy and warm and exchanging gifts, that a lot of families and single adults won't be enjoying what most of us take for granted, and that's a warm place to live and food to eat."

Meanwhile, Ohio Congressman Zack Space continues his two-day “hunger tour” of Ohio food pantries today. His first stop Monday was Logan, a small town in southeastern Ohio. He says people in cars were lined up for blocks, waiting for food. He says many of those he talked with had minimum-wage jobs, but couldn't keep up with the costs of housing, fuel and health care, so they had nowhere to turn but the food pantry.

"There's something seriously wrong with this country when so many people have to rely on charity just to eat, just to feed their children."

Space says Farm Bill action is needed to boost emergency food supplies, and he says he wants to see more focus on education and job training, to help bring better-paying jobs to the state.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors report is at
usmayors.org.





get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021