Topics

Poverty

  • Backpacks filled with food feed kids on weekends
    Backpack programs are springing up in some parts of Minnesota to help feed hungry kids. These programs send those students home with backpacks filled with food for the weekend. Some kids, especially those who rely on school lunch during the week, have a hard time getting enough to eat when they're away from school.January 21, 2011
  • Federal aid adds $56M to Minn. heating assistance
    Minnesota will receive another $56 million in federal aid to help people struggling to pay winter heating bills.January 13, 2011
  • Census: 1 in 4 Minnesota renters in most counties paying more than they can afford
    The U.S. Census Bureau's five-year American Community Survey shows that one in four renters in 84 of 87 Minnesota counties pay 30 percent or more of their income for housing.January 13, 2011
  • What does it mean to be hungry in Minnesota?
    At least one in 10 Minnesotans struggles with hunger. You might imagine hunger as a child with a bloated belly in Africa, or malnourished people living in Appalachia in the 1960s. But that's not what hunger looks like in Minnesota today.January 10, 2011
  • Tiny city tops lists for poverty and youth opportunity
    Landfall, Minn. is a tiny city east of St. Paul. More than a quarter of the 700 residents live in poverty, but the city has also been named one of the best communities for young people.December 16, 2010
  • Census data sheds new light on poverty
    The most recent data from the American Community Survey shows 7 cities in Minnesota with poverty rates exceeding 20 percent. Midmorning looks at the growth, and the changing face, of poverty in Minnesota and across the nation.Midmorning, December 15, 2010
  • Food shelf visits up sharply in Minnesota
    The number of visits to food shelves is up by two-thirds in Minnesota compared to two years ago, and in the Twin Cities, the number is almost doubled. Many of those new visitors used to be donors.December 13, 2010
  • Food shelf use rises significantly in Minnesota
    Numbers from the advocacy group Hunger Solutions show visits to emergency food shelves are up about 11 percent in the first part of this year, over the same period last year.December 13, 2010
  • Minn. man takes 'food stamp challenge'
    As Minnesotans head to grocery stores to buy their Thanksgiving turkeys, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, a record number will be paying for their holiday meals using food stamps. A Minneapolis man hopes to raise awareness of "food insecurity" by living for a week on the amount of money he'd get if he were receiving government food support.November 23, 2010
  • Raising awareness about food assistance
    To raise awareness about the issue of food insecurity, this week a Minneapolis man is living on the amount of money an individual receives in what used to be known as food stamps.November 23, 2010
  • St. Paul launches Promise Neighborhood to improve student performance
    St. Paul community leaders are launching a new education experiment called a Promise Neighborhood, which is designed to help children make it to college. The effort targets 250 blocks with overlapping services they hope will promote educational success.November 18, 2010
  • Demand is up, volunteers are down, for holiday charity
    Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis is reporting a shortage of volunteers for the upcoming holiday season.November 11, 2010
  • From segregation to disintegration
    Writer Eugene Robinson grew up in a segregated world, and as a writer for the Washington Post he has witnessed the evolution of the black community in the years since the Civil Rights movement. But he argues that despite integration, the progress made by many black Americans has not been shared by all, and that the problems of poor blacks are more intractable than ever.Midmorning, November 9, 2010
  • Feds working on public housing and rental assistance reform
    The federal government is working on a proposal to reform the country's public housing and rental assistance programs.November 8, 2010
  • Demand at rural food shelves keeps rising
    Economists say the recession is technically over, but there are still plenty of signs of struggle in rural Minnesota. You need only look at Itasca County, where more families are seeking help from food shelves and social service agencies.October 21, 2010

MPR News
Radio

Listen Now

Other Radio Streams from MPR

Classical MPR
Radio Heartland

Politics from NPR

Services