“The economic downturn accompanying the pandemic has cost millions their jobs, and millions more have faced reduced hours and wages. The problem is perhaps particularly acute in Pennsylvania. As of June, our state unemployment rate of 13% was the ninth worst in the country and far worse than its peak of 8.7% during the Great Recession. […]
“A group called Black Workers Matter is holding a protest in Oakland to highlight the neighborhood’s “Hypocrisy Alley” corporations who support the Black Lives Matter movement but that allegedly underpay and fail to protect its Black workforce. The group named Starbucks, UPMC and McDonalds, which all have a presence on Forbes Avenue, but added that […]
“Public transit is as essential as housing and utilities to low-income people and if there can be no evictions or utility cutoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic then Port Authority shouldn’t reinstitute fares, either….”
“More than 100,000 Pennsylvanians began receiving SNAP benefits last month, doubling the largest one-month increase in the state’s 16 years of available data. Allegheny County represents about 10 percent of those new additions….”
“With many businesses still partially or completely closed and unemployment climbing, some Pennsylvanians are turning to public programs to make ends meet — though far fewer than might be expected given double-digit jobless numbers and long lines at free food distribution sites….”
“Low-income Pennsylvania families who have lost wages related to the COVID-19 pandemic could be eligible for a one-time payment from the state, human service officials announced Friday….”
“Pennsylvania has gotten permission from the federal government to provide a one-time $370.50 payment to parents of each child who receives free or reduced school lunch to cover the cost feeding kids while schools are closed. The benefit will go to families of 958,000 school-aged children and are intended to offset the costs of feeding […]
“On Sat., May 9, the Bloomfield Saturday Market will open for the season, but things will look drastically different. Rather than the typical lot packed with mingling, chatting shoppers and farmers, consumers (in limited numbers) will be directed on a one-way path through vendors spaced six-feet apart, following strict social distancing guidelines….”
“The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation granted Carnegie Mellon University $225,000 for a 2019-2020 Sawyer Seminar on “Bread and Water: Access, Belonging and Environmental Justice in the City.” The seminar brought international scholars together with Pittsburgh-area experts to uncover the barriers and limits to urban food and water systems in comparative perspective….”
“The current economic crisis means rising demand for food stamps. While Congress has passed additional benefits for some recipients, a large percentage of the poorest households did not get an increase. Meanwhile, many people, from college students now at home to those at high-risk for COVID-19, are facing new complications in accessing their benefits….”
