Poverty

We hear much about American health and health care being in crisis. Health care in the U.S. is increasingly expensive for everyone—consumers and government alike—but it doesn’t make us healthy. Despite that, there are “bright spots” of change where communities are coming together in new ways to solve their most pressing health problems. These collaborations…

The MacArthur Foundation has chosen eight semi-finalists for 100&Change, a competition awarding a $100 million grant to the nonprofit or for-profit organization with the most distinguished, world-changing proposal. Submitted ideas include changing the way we care for orphans, treating blindness in Africa, providing virtual access to specialty medical care for the underprivileged and more...

On Thursday, June 4, a nonprofit grocery store called the Daily Table opened in Dorchester, Mass. The new store is notable for two main reasons: 1) It’s the baby of Doug Rauch, the former president of Trader Joe’s, which was recently named among America’s favorite supermarkets; and 2) The prices of many items are incredibly…

Nineteen-year-old New York City student Orayne Williams knows a lot about how to avoid becoming a statistic. Last year Williams, who was abandoned by his family when he was 12 and spent his teen years living in homeless shelters, managed to graduate from high school with honors and enrolled at Manhattanville College on a full scholarship. His campus dormitory was his first non-shelter home in years. Last November, he founded a new nonprofit, the Progressive People Movement Inc., which hopes to help at-risk "youth break free from the cycles of homelessness, incarceration, poverty and failure."

In many regions, the local philanthropic community has become aware of these gaps in services for the poor and has sought to assist the nonprofit community in building capacity and expanding activities. Local foundations are experimenting with various strategies to address the growing dispersion of poverty.

An analysis from the Brookings Institute combines an original data set of foundation grants for social services with in-depth interviews to assess the role of foundations in supporting the suburban social safety net in the Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, and Detroit regions. It finds that:

The Citi Foundation and NeighborWorks America announced the launch of a collaboration to expand and strengthen financial capability programs for thousands of low- and moderate-income Americans. These programs help consumers establish positive behaviors to achieve immediate and long-term financial goals through financial education and access to appropriate financial products. As many as 65,000 people may benefit from the new $5 million, two-year demonstration project.

Copywriter Jenny Nicholson thought a game to raise awareness about poverty and homelessness would help Urban Ministries tell its story. The result is SPENT, a game launched Feb. 8. In its first month it attracted more than 500,000 visitors who played the game more than 870,000 times, with the average visitor spending more than 10 minutes on the site.

The game, which has been played by visitors in more 155 countries, has generated nearly $11,000 in contributions from more than 500 donors, with the average donor giving roughly $20.

Habitat for Humanity International, Habitat for Humanity India and the ASK Group have announced the launch of a five-year initiative to provide 60,000 low-income families in India with access to small loans. Over the next three years, the fund will invest a total of $5.74 million in Indian microfinance institutions, which will be used to offer affordable home improvement loans to low-income families.

In honor of World Water Day, the Conrad Hilton Foundation announced a $50 million commitment to clean water initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mexico and India. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), inadequate access to safe water kills 3,900 children every day who fall prey to waterborne illness.

The Hilton Foundation's $50 million pledge will be divided up into grants awarded to nonprofit organizations to fund projects, such water and sanitation infrastructure, as well as spreading information to at-risk communities.

Chevron Corp.'s foundation and USAID are to pour $50 million into Nigeria's impoverished delta where militants have kidnapped foreign oil workers and demanded that more oil profits come back to the region, the U.S. oil giant said Thursday. Chevron's Niger Delta Partnership Initiative and the U.S.-government funded USAID will each invest $25 million toward the development of the region over the next four years.