Residents of the city of Baltimore have endured days of racist tweets from President Trump attacking their popular congressman, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), and their city, which Trump called a “rodent-infested mess” where “no human being would want to live.” There has been a lot of comment about President Trump’s eager willingness to attack an American city and to show again and again that he wants to be President of only some of the people. But less has been said about what his Administration has done, or proposes to do, in Baltimore and in other cities with high levels of poverty. CHN this...

On Day 33 of the Trump Government Shutdown, reports are spreading throughout the U.S. of tenants being threatened with sharply increased rents and even evictions. Last week, one company, Tri-State Management, confirmed it sent a letter to 28 buildings in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Mississippi informing tenants they would be responsible for 100 percent of their February rent. All told, the apartments have 758 units, but it is not clear if all of the units received the letter. An image of the letter was tweeted out by Diane Yentel, President and CEO of the National Low Income Housing...

After years of progress, the decline in the poverty rate slowed between 2016 and 2017, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics released Wednesday. In 2017, the official poverty rate was 12.3 percent, down from 12.7 percent in 2016. While workers were earning more, substantial numbers remained at levels where it is hard to make ends meet. Near-poor people (below 200 percent of the official poverty line, or below about $25,000 for an individual in 2017) make up just below 30 percent of the population. The data show that Social Security continues to be the most important anti-poverty program...

If you read CHN’s latest Human Needs Report , posted earlier this week, you know that Congress continues to squabble over funding for the Zika virus. They left for the fourth of July recess without approving additional funds. And, thanks to an in-depth article that appeared Sunday in the Washington Post , we are now getting a better idea of the tremendous geographic disparity involved when it comes to effective mosquito eradication – the only thing that can control Zika, at least until a promised virus comes along. How bad is this disparity? Some local jurisdictions with ample funding have...

Author's note: Earlier this month,, we discussed the June 16 event hosted by the Coalition on Human Needs, What Works – And What Doesn’t – To Reduce Poverty and Expand Opportunity . As part of that event, Melissa Boteach, vice president of the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for American Progress, delivered a presentation on House Speaker Paul Ryan’s anti-poverty plan. She discussed what it contains, what it lacks, and ways to fight and talk about poverty in the U.S. We encourage you to watch a recording of the event and visit the event webpage where you can get more resources. We...