For Immediate Release: September 17, 2020 Contact: Sean O'Leary, 304-400-8899 Charleston, WV - New data released today from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey and an analysis of data from its ongoing Household Pulse Survey and other sources paints a bleak picture. People across West Virginia -- particularly West Virginians of color and those with low incomes -- continue to face…
Economic Security
West Virginia MetroNews - More than a dozen West Virginia groups have signed on to a letter pushing for additional federal COVID relief for families and communities. Read full article. “Across West Virginia, food and housing insecurity are growing, local governments are facing budget crises that threaten public services, and unemployed workers are struggling to make ends meet as the economic and health crisis…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - West Virginians help one another. Without thinking twice, we take meals to parents who’ve had a new baby, form ad hoc neighborhood child care arrangements when schools close because of the coronavirus pandemic and pick up groceries for our at-risk elderly neighbors. Link to op-ed here. Our people know that working together…
WOWK - On this week’s Inside West Virginia Politics, we discuss how the state prepared to reopen West Virginia schools, procedures schools will follow, and how schools will feed school children attending school remotely. Listen to the full segment here. In segment 4, Seth DiStefano, policy outreach director for West Virginia Center on Budget and…
More than five months after the declaration of a national emergency due to COVID-19, legitimate concern is growing that the burden placed on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to comply with the excessive paperwork needed to maintain their food assistance benefits could be heightening food insecurity in West Virginia. Passed in March, The Families…
The Dominion Post- Dear Senators Capito and Manchin, Food for All is a broad and diverse coalition of individuals and organizations across West Virginia who believe that no West Virginian should ever go without access to adequate, nutritious food. Our coalition has dedicated itself to improving food security outcomes for our friends and neighbors across…
West Virginia MetroNews - A plan that “meets the moment” was what advocates for all kinds of issues in West Virginia, the organizations that make up the Food For All Coalition, said was needed out of the next COVID-19 pandemic stimulus package. Read full article here. As of Friday, national reports indicated negotiations were stalled on Capitol…
As the United States Senate reconvenes to negotiate what may well be the final COVID-19 relief package, addressing food insecurity must be a top priority. The lasting negative impacts of hunger, especially for children, are widely known. Congress has not only the opportunity, but the duty to act to avoid those consequences and support families…
USA Today - Jessica Smith lives with her family in the small town of Belle, about six miles from a high school where nonprofits provide free meals to families in need. Read full article here. But, like several other families who qualify for the program, Smith, a 39-year-old mother of two, does not own a car, making…
Mountain State Spotlight - Jennifer Boyle-Hempel eats just once a day so she can save her limited food for her kids. She and her husband run an art studio in Elkins, but they are out of work because of the COVID-19 pandemic. At times, she hasn’t had enough food to feed everyone in her house,…