On the heels of a regional conference, multiple groups are working on new solutions for reducing the poverty gap in Minnesota.
Nonprofits, government leaders and people who've seen poverty firsthand gathered last week in Duluth to get a deeper sense of the connection between poverty and race in Minnesota, and discuss how to overcome long-standing disparities.
Bill Grant, executive director of the Minnesota Community Action Partnership, which hosted the event, said one observation is assistance programs are often run by people who have never experienced poverty. He added public perception is still a problem.
"We also need to challenge the belief that poverty is inescapable," Grant asserted. "We need to get over the belief that there will always be a percentage of the population that chooses to live in poverty."
While overall poverty has declined in the U.S., a recent Partnership report noted the Minnesota rates for Black residents and Native American populations are 20% or higher, well above the state level of 8.7%.
Grant noted one solution discussed was pardon reform, in hopes of making it easier for someone with a past conviction to escape the poverty cycle with a new job and housing.
John Doan, vice president of operations and equity for Trellis, a group providing support services for people as they age, said income disparities are especially felt among older Minnesotans of color.
He stressed it is a myth programs like Social Security and Medicare give seniors everything they need, and depending on your ZIP code, your advanced years are likely to be even more difficult.
"Access to education, access to healthy food sources, access to jobs; all of those things play into account," Doan outlined. "Because if you think about [being] older and poor, it's an accumulation of lots of years of life experience and of life circumstances."
Doan's group is part of a coalition which will soon ask state lawmakers to boost funding for basic services for older Minnesotans, to make sure economic prosperity is evenly shared.
"For example, we know that there's a huge shortage in funding for senior meals, as well as for assisted transportation," Doan noted.
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Supporters of a federal pilot program to distribute diapers to low-income families in Massachusetts hope to build upon its success.
More than 1 million diapers, along with wipes and other needed supplies have helped some 1,600 families over the past several months.
Adriana Leo, director of planning and grants management for Community Action Inc. in Haverhill, said the program gives parents with limited budgets a chance to get ahead.
"If a family knows that they have the diaper supply to send their child to care, they also know that they can then go to work, to their school programs," Leo explained. "They're going to be covered and their child's going to be comfortable."
Leo noted enrolled families have received 100 diapers each month, giving them the financial flexibility to cover other basic needs. More than one-third of Massachusetts families said they cannot afford enough diapers for their children.
The Massachusetts Association for Community Action, a coalition of more than 20 community action agencies in the state, was awarded more than 1 million dollars in federal aid to distribute diapers via four hubs across the state and Western Connecticut.
Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, is sponsoring legislation to create a state fund to keep up the effort, and has held diaper drives at the statehouse to build support.
"The biggest awareness building activity you can do is to hold a diaper drive and have people who haven't experienced the high cost of diapers recently go to the store and see how much they are," Domb asserted.
Domb pointed out diaper distribution is just one strategy to help families make ends meet, in addition to direct cash payments. She noted WIC and SNAP funds cannot be used for diaper purchases. The bill has already advanced to the House Ways and Means Committee.
Mary Marte, housing program director for North Shore Community Action Programs, said it is encouraging news, as parents have reported the challenge of paying rent and going without diapers at the end of the month.
"The clients and the families that we work with, they cannot afford to pay $3,000 rent in the north shore," Marte emphasized. "I think that people really appreciate the help."
Marte added she thinks of a young mother and her one-year-old daughter who have benefited from the diaper distribution program, who told Marte the diapers have brought her a sense of security as she attends college and the confidence to keep going.
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Student-loan borrowers in Mississippi and nationwide could have their debt reduced or eliminated through a new one-time adjustment by the U.S. Department of Education.
This summer, the Department will gives you credit towards loan cancellation through this adjustment if your loan is federally managed.
Cora Hume is an attorney with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and said this adjustment is designed to count more of the payments made - so they can be added to the payments required for cancellation.
The adjustment counts your loan payments made after July 1, 1994 - and in some situations your deferments, economic hardship allowances, and forbearances.
"Historically, borrowers of all ages have struggled to access this Income Driven Repayment benefit," said Hume. "It's really important that they do because it can lower their monthly payments based on their income and family size. This April 30 deadline applies to some loans."
In Mississippi, 145,000 borrowers aged 25 to 34 owe an average of more than $31,000.
Hume said those with nonfederal loans need to consolidate them into a direct consolidation loan with the U.S. Department of Education by the end of April to potentially benefit from this adjustment.
Hume emphasized that student loan debt does not discriminate, and their data shows that 2.7 million older borrowers owed an average of $41,000 in federal student loans in 2023.
She said between 2004 and 2022 there was a nine-fold increase in the number of older borrowers with student loan debt.
"Thirty-two percent of these older borrowers are struggling to pay their bills," said Hume. "In terms of this adjustment, we know that 62-plus borrowers are more likely to need consolidation to maximize the benefit of this one-time pay count adjustments. "
Hume pointed out that more than one million senior citizens are not in the direct-loan program and hold an average of more than $29,000 in debt from their college days.
She encouraged borrowers to visit StudentAid.gov/loan-consolidation to find out if they are eligible for the significant adjustment.
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A Wyoming nonprofit is helping single mothers climb out of poverty by connecting them with the training and support they need to step into and succeed at good-paying jobs.
Katie Hogarty, CEO of Climb Wyoming, explained her team taps a wide range of community partners, including school counselors, soup kitchens and clinics, to identify women in need. Climb then works with moms to find child care they can trust, and the entire free training program can be completed in as little as 12 weeks.
"We have a 98% graduation rate, and 86% of our graduates have doubled or even tripled their wages two years post-program," Hogarty reported. "We have really phenomenal outcomes for such a short training program."
One in four Wyoming kids live in single-parent families, according to Wyoming Community Foundation data, and those kids are more likely to live in poverty compared to their peers in married-parent families. Since 1986, Climb Wyoming has served more than 12,000 moms and 25,000 children.
Hogarty argued access to jobs is key to positive outcomes, so each of their six sites across the state build relationships with local employers to make sure women are getting the most relevant training. Climb pays for each new employee's first six weeks' wages, and provides ongoing support to help participants settle into new routines.
"We have a commitment to providing training for higher paying jobs so that women really can move their families out of poverty," Hogarty noted. "In some of our communities, we really focus on medical careers. In some of our communities, we focus on construction trades. It really just depends on each community."
The group's specialty is helping people whose brains have been stressed by the trauma of nonstop fight, flight or freeze mode that comes with extreme poverty recover and strengthen their executive functions critical for successful employment. Hogarty added when you move a mom out of poverty, the effects on the second generation are substantial.
"The children of our graduates are having more success in school, they're healthier, they're more stable," Hogarty emphasized. "That's why we all do this work, because we believe in a strong Wyoming and strong families."
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