Whether it’s chocolate, angel food, or rainbow sprinkled, a birthday cake is pretty much a necessity when celebrating someone’s special day.
But as Lisa Ray and Patty McTighe of Bowling Green, Ky. realized, not every kid enjoys the privilege of receiving this annual confection. So they started Celebration Cakes Ministry, using the kitchen of First Baptist Church to provide low-income children with personalized cakes for their birthdays.
Ray and McTighe aren’t professional bakers; everything they needed to know about decorating cakes, they learned from Internet videos and trial-and-error. In less than a year, they’ve already baked and delivered 140 cakes, all the while leading a group of 20 dedicated volunteers who meet several times a week.
Each cake is customized for its recipient, incorporating the child’s favorite characters, colors, or activities. (Check out the group’s Facebook page for photos of some of their whimsical creations, featuring such kid favorites as Elsa from “Frozen,” Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Elmo.)
Celebration Cakes learns about deserving local youngsters from social workers, schools and other organizations that work with needy children. “These kids, some of them are going through a hard time, and just one little thing like a cake can brighten their day, and that’s what makes it worth it,” Ray tells Laurel Wilson of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
These volunteers’ unique efforts are already gaining notice. Volunteers in Action gave Celebration Cakes the Rookie Volunteer award and Western Kentucky University named it the 2014 Emerging Nonprofit Organization of the Year.
As much as the cakes brighten the children’s birthdays, they make the volunteers happy, too. Cynthia Jones started baking after watching the Celebration Cakes crew enjoy themselves as they worked. “Once I started,” she tells Wilson, “I was hooked. It brings back childhood memories of playing with Play-Doh. I love it, because when I was a child…I can’t remember having a birthday party. I just think even if kids cannot afford a cake, they deserve to have a cake they like.”
MORE: Veterans Receive Donations From An Unlikely Source: A Twelve-Year-Old Girl
Tag: low-income children
If Low-Income Families Can’t Settle Their Unpaid Bills, This Cable Company Provides Affordable Internet Access
It’s back-to-school time. And while parents still need to load up on traditional school supplies such as pencils, notebooks and erasers, there’s a more expensive item that’s increasingly a necessity for students: Internet access.
Several companies and communities have provided inexpensive Internet access to low-income families. But when bills mount and are left unpaid, the service is often turned off, leaving kids unconnected and falling behind their peers in technology.
Three years ago, Comcast launched Internet Essentials, a program that gives low-income families Internet access for $9.95 a month and discounts on PCs. To apply, families must have at least one child qualifying for the federal school lunch program and any outstanding bill they have with the cable provider must be settled — the latter requirement leading some to criticize Comcast for punishing the poor.
In response, Comcast recently announced that it will forgive unpaid bills that are more than a year old and allow these families to sign up for the program. It will also waive the first six months of fees for those new to the program, which will get families well into the school year before any money is due.
But as Re/Code, the Washington Post, and others have pointed out, the timing of this magnanimous gesture is questionable as it might have something to do with Comcast’s desire to curry favor with the Federal Communications Commission so that its bid to buy Time Warner Cable will be approved.
“While Comcast should be applauded for trying to bridge the digital divide, they are clearly benefiting from the promotion of this program,” said Hannah Sassaman, a policy director at a Philadelphia community organizing group, Media Mobilizing Project.
In an interview with Cecilia Kang of the Washington Post a few months before the unpaid bill waiver was announced, Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen said that criticism over the company’s ulterior motive for the program, “makes me sigh. You can criticize us for data consumption caps. You can criticize us because cable bills are too high. You can criticize us because the acquisition of Time Warner Cable will make us too big. I can understand that. But every once in a while, even a big company does a good thing for the right reasons.”
While Comcast’s reason to forgive unpaid bills will never be known, it will get more families online at home and improve low-income children’s chances at being successful at school. And that’s an outcome that’s anything but questionable.
MORE: Every Kid Needs An Internet Connection to Thrive in School. This District Has A Plan to Make it Happen
These Innovative Programs Give Poor Families the Means to Solve Wellness and Safety Problems
From being able to buy enough diapers to change babies regularly to sending kids to school in clean clothes and even having the technology needed to find out about weather emergencies — all of these are things that many of us take for granted. But for poor families, they are challenges they face on a regular basis.
Fortunately, the caring people behind some new insightful programs are working to make life a little easier for poor families.
In Richmond, Indiana, Mike Duke realized that many local families couldn’t afford the four dollars it costs to wash and dry a load of laundry at a laundromat. “I see people on a daily basis who just do not have the funds for laundry,” Duke, a Wayne Township Trustee Investigator, told the Pal-Item. So he and Sharlene George of Open Arms Ministries teamed up to launch The Laundry Project, a program that will provide poor families with laundry vouchers.
Just in time to get children ready for school, The Laundry Project will kick off on July 28 with a “Back To School Laundry Bash,” at a laundromat near the homes of many poor families. George and Duke hope to expand the program to offer activities for kids while parents do laundry and receive free health screenings and education about how to stretch household dollars.
Meanwhile, in Story County, Iowa, organizations are teaming up to distribute 100 NOAA weather radios to low-income families. Melissa Spencer, deputy Story County emergency management coordinator told Melissa Erickson of the Ames Tribune, “These radios are more important for families living in mobile homes or homes without basements that may need more time to get to a safe sheltering location. Unfortunately, the relative small cost of these radios may be out of reach for these families or individuals due to a very limited income.”
The families who receive the radios will also be given emergency preparedness kits and batteries to power up the radios. “We’ve had tornadoes in Story County as late as November, and we’ve had occasions in the wintertime with blizzard-like conditions that we’ve had to close Interstate 35,” Spencer said. “This is definitely a tool that can be used year-round.”
Making these families — regardless of their income — safer and better off.
MORE: This Hero Cop’s New Beat is Diapers
This Program Has Been Keeping Low-Income Babies and Their Moms Healthy for Decades
As the endless supply of child-rearing advice books suggest, having a trusted source to help you face the challenges of motherhood certainly helps.
Back in the 1970s, University of Colorado pediatrics professor David Olds worked at an inner-city daycare center and was struck by the enormous odds faced by low-income babies and their mothers. They died far more often than babies from higher income families, and it was difficult for their mothers to travel to clinics that might offer them assistance. Olds wondered if sending nurses out to educate low-income mothers and socialize with the families in their homes would help. Out of this notion, the Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) was born.
Dr. Olds began testing his program in Elmira, New York; Memphis and Denver to see if it worked in different populations of low-income mothers and babies. The resounding answer? Yes. So in 1996, after testing and adjusting the program, Dr. Olds began to share it with communities across the country. Then in 2003, the Nurse-Family Partnership National Service Office opened its doors.
A recent 20-year study confirms that participation in NFP among low-income families in Memphis reduced the mortality rate from preventable deaths such as SIDS, injuries, and homicides from 1.6 percent to zero. Meanwhile, mothers in the control group who didn’t receive visits from nurses were three times more likely to die than those who did talk regularly with nurses from NFP.
“Death among mothers and children in these age ranges in the U.S. general population is rare but of enormous consequence,” Dr. Olds told Ana B. Ibarra of the Merced Sun Star. “The high rates of death among mothers and children not receiving nurse-home visits reflect the toxic conditions faced by too many low-income parents and children in our society.”
NFP nurse visits begin during pregnancy, educating mothers-to-be about how to stay healthy before and after their babies are born. Studies suggest that this engagement reduces doctor and hospital visits due to injury in kids under age 2 by 56 percent, reduces smoking in mothers by 25 percent, brings child abuse down by 48 percent and even lowers the number of convictions when these children grow up — bringing that rate down by a whopping 69 percent.
In California, NFP currently serves 21 counties, targeting first-time low-income mothers (especially teen mothers), and the program works so well that the California Department of Public Health hopes to expand it to all 58 counties in the state.
Clearly, for those mothers with the fewest financial resources and very little emotional support, visits from a caring, knowledgable nurse can make all the difference — in not only their health, but the wellness of their children, too.
MORE: How Jobs Give Low-Income Mothers More Than A Financial Boost
This Community Art Does More Than Just Beautify a Neighborhood
Most of us have probably seen street art plastered on city walls; the bright colors and images often catch our attention as we walk or drive past.
However, if you take a longer look, you might realize that those colors and designs are more than just decoration. For some youth artists in New York City, these murals represent hope and a chance for a new life.
The public art is part of a sponsored movement called Groundswell, and it is a growing occurrence in New York City. Run by program director Patrick Dougher, this non-profit sponsors youth artists and apprentices to produce artwork and murals across the city.
But their paintings are more than just your average street graffiti. When Groundswell was founded in 1996, its goal was to use public arts projects to transform poorer areas and the lives of the disadvantaged youth within them. Since then, 450 murals have sprung up in 75 different neighborhoods.
Most of the 800 artists who work on Groundswell projects throughout the year are between the ages of 14 and 21. Some attend the city’s public school system, while for others, being an artist is mandatory community service assigned by the criminal justice system. All the youth come from working-class or low-income families.
There is this misconception that street murals are defacing city property, but that is far from the truth for the walls decorated by Groundswell artists. All of the public canvases have been donated by local businesses with the hope that these art will inspire success in the youths of the area.
Groundswell’s new target is Brownsville, an area where one in 12 of males ages 16-24 are in prison. Over the next two years, Groundswell will work to construct five murals in the neighborhood — thanks to a $100,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.
Among the crew will be 40 probationers, plus some Groundswell veterans. Already, two murals have gone up, attracting attention from the residents.
“Brownsville Moving Forward” is one of the newest murals, and it speaks volumes to the area and the group’s mission. It’s on a wall directly opposite a bus stop, so everyone passing by can see it and understand the message that this community is not giving up. Featured in the mural are the top inspirational members of the Brownsville neighborhood — including community organizer and educator Mother Gaston.
“That’s what I love about where this one is,” says Dougher. “It’s a bus stop. Think how many hundreds of people are going to see it every day.”
And that is just the start as more murals pop up across the city. So the next time you pass by those colorful brushstrokes, think about the hands and faces behind them — and the change that they are bringing about in their community.
MORE: Watch: How One Man is Saving His Community, One Child at a Time
Could Direct Payments Break the Cycle of Poverty?
A sad fact: Poverty in America is increasing.
Currently, 20 percent of children in the U.S. grow up in poverty. That’s 16 million kids struggling to get by. And sadly, the percentage of poor kids in this country continues to grow.
What to do about this problem is a hotly debated question. Some advocate universal preschool, while others vote to improve access to affordable housing.
One economist has offered a somewhat radical proposal: Austin Nichols of The Urban Institute writes that we could reduce child poverty levels to 10 percent by providing each kid with a $400 monthly stipend. Added to that, Nichols believes that if one member of a poor family received employment, earning just $15,000 a year, the poverty rate would drop to 1 percent.
The idea isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds — many countries have such programs. Germany provides $250 per child each month to families, Japan gives $130 per child monthly, and the U.K. ponies up $140 for each child every month. Interestingly, most of these benefits go to all families with children, not just poor families.
Lane Anderson of Deseret News looked into whether such cash transfer programs work. The findings? A study by the World Bank and GiveDirectly.com suggests they do. For instance, when low-income Kenyans received a stipend, they reported gains in assets and general well-being and decreases in hunger.
The Urban Institute estimates that poverty-related expenses cost the U.S. $550 billion per year. Nichols’s proposal would cost just $76 billion annually, according to an article in TalkPoverty written by Zach McDade of the Urban Institute. In theory, this would save the U.S. hundreds of millions of dollars currently spent on child poverty.
McDade writes, “Dramatically reducing poverty is in fact the financially prudent thing to do, and helping 16 million American children out of poverty is the moral thing to do as well.”
In recent years we’ve seen many examples of how housing-first programs are saving states and cities money by reducing chronic homelessness. Could a cash-benefit program for poor kids have a similar effect?
MORE: Here’s Why We Should be Investing in Single Moms
This ‘Backpack’ Holds the Key to a Brighter Future for Foster Kids
The life of a foster kid is anything from easy. Between the constant moving and inconsistency in familial relationships, growing up can be difficult. Often overlooked in all this bustle, though, is an important lifeline: their records, from medical to educational. That’s why states and counties across the country are equipping foster kids with a new accessory: an “electronic backpack.”
It’s not an actual bag, rather a digital repository where foster children’s records can be stored in one central location, accessible to all involved in the foster care system. Students’ health records will be the first to be included, and education and juvenile probation records will be gradually phased in, with 2015 as a target completion date. Just this month, Ventura, Calif. became the newest area to announce the adoption of this program. Ventura is well aware of the difficulties of foster children—the city has about 1,000 in the area.
This system is an important tool when considering all of the challenges that accompany foster children. Trends show that foster children are more susceptible to sickness such as asthma, tooth decay and malnutrition, as well drug use and mental disorders. And, since foster children move frequently, their medical records are sometimes lost, leaving gaps in their history that result in over-immunization, over-prescription of medication and misdiagnosis, according to national child advocacy group, First Focus.
All of this can be reversed, though, with the electronic backpack. With children’s records all stored in one location, doctors and other professionals will be able to easily access the information that’s pertinent to foster kids’ success. Not only will the backup benefit children health wise, but it’ll help them in the transition to adulthood: Centralized, complete records can assist adult foster children as they look for new jobs.
San Diego County was the first place to offer this kind of helping hand to foster children in 2006, when the Office of Education combined education, health and juvenile records, creating the first electronic backpack. The records are all stored at the Office of Education and the system is updated every week with new data on the kids from the schools, juvenile court, probation office and welfare agencies. Similar programs have already been introduced in Texas and Florida, under the encouragement of Congress in 2008. As a result, Texas has seen a reduction in the amount of psychiatric admissions and distribution of psychiatric medication and length of stays in psychiatric facilities among foster children. But while San Diego courts have the discretion to decide who is and isn’t allowed to view the records, Ventura is taking the backpack step further by making the documents accessible to anyone who works with kids within the foster care system.
Given all the changes that foster kids often juggle, this “electronic backpack” is sure to help them—and the people who work them—stay organized for a successful future.
MORE: Meet the Teen Who Spent a Year Sleeping Outdoors So Others Don’t Have To
How Jobs Give Low-Income Mothers More Than a Financial Boost
Are young children better off when their mothers stay home or when they go to daycare? It’s a question that has been hotly debated for decades and will likely never be settled, but a new study by Boston College researchers suggests that low-income kids with working mothers perform better in kindergarten than their counterparts whose mothers stay home.
The study, published in the journal Developmental Psychology, followed 10,700 children born in 2001, and found that when low-income mothers returned to the workforce before their babies were nine months old, their children performed better in standardized tests of reading, math and vocabulary in kindergarten. When low-income mothers returned to work when their kids were between 9 months and two years old, their children had fewer behavioral problems in kindergarten, according to teacher surveys.
Meanwhile, children of middle-income women showed no significant difference in behavior or cognitive abilities whether their mothers stayed home or not, and the kids of high-income mothers showed a slight decrease in ability when their mothers worked. Prior studies of kids born in the 80s and 90s had suggested some negative effects of childcare across all income levels.
Caitlin McPherran Lombardi, lead author of the study, told the American Psychological Association: “Different cultural attitudes, more readily available and higher-quality child care and more fathers participating in childrearing are other possible reasons for the difference.”
She also noted that continued employment seems to make a big difference in the low-income mothers’ lives too—58 percent of mothers in the study returned to work by the time their child was 9 months old.
“Most mothers today return to full-time work soon after childbirth, and they are also likely to remain in the labor market five years later, suggesting the employment decisions soon after childbirth are pivotal to determining mothers’ long-term employment,” she said. “Our findings suggest that children from families with limited economic resources may benefit from paid maternal leave policies that have been found to encourage mothers’ employment after childbearing.”
MORE: A Safe Childcare Option for Low-Income Parents Working the Night Shift
Meet the Volunteers Bringing Relief to a Humanitarian Crisis in the Southwest
An unprecedented humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the southwest: A surge in gang violence in Central America, especially in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, has prompted the parents of thousands of children to send their kids to the U.S. border, often alone or with a “coyote,” or paid smuggler.
According to the Dallas Morning News, officials say that 52,000 such children and teenagers have already arrived this year, with an estimate of 120,000 to arrive in the next fiscal year. While politicians argue about the cause of the surge and what should be done, caring people in Texas are not waiting for federal action to step up to help the distressed mothers and kids.
Sister Norma Pimentel saw immigrant mothers and children drooping at the bus station in McAllen, Texas as they waited to travel to meet relatives in other parts of the U.S. Because there are more people than local immigration officials can handle, they are permitting the migrants to travel to meet relatives and then appear before an immigration court at that location. “They are dehydrated, they are totally drained, they just fall and they need attention,” Pimentel told Karla Barguiarena of ABC 13.
Sister Pimentel began to coordinate a massive relief effort. For the past two months, she’s led a group of volunteers in assisting people at the bus station. “They don’t know who to trust,” Sister Pimentel told the Catholic News Service. “They fear someone will take advantage of them.” The volunteers reassure them that they are not going to exploit or harm them, and help address their immediate needs.
She also contacted a local priest who agreed to allow her to use the parish center at Sacred Heart Church, near the bus depot, as headquarters. Sister Pimentel set up cots for the homeless immigrants, and began to manage and distribute the donations of clothes and food that are flooding in.
“The assistance centers are an immediate and temporary response to the need,” she told the Catholic News Service. “A long-term solution is needed.”
According to Dianne Solís of Dallas Morning News, volunteers are launching similar efforts in other parts of Texas. A Catholic Charities children’s shelter in Fort Worth is doubling its capacity and aiming to open more shelters soon, and the Dallas branch of Catholic Charities is working to coordinate relief services, as well as holding immigration law seminars for lawyers who want to volunteer to help the migrant kids.
If you want to help Sister Pimentel’s efforts, you can donate through Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. Catholic Charities of Dallas has set up a crisis info page and is accepting donations too, as is Southwest Key, another nonprofit that is running shelters for the kids.
MORE: A Life of Service: This Couple Wants Every Latino to Achieve the American Dream
Why Does This School Let Its Students Record Hip-Hop Tracks?
While some high school principals try to attract the best and the brightest to their schools, that’s not the case with Monica Haslip, founder of Chicago’s Little Black Pearl Academy, a public school focused on engagement in arts.
Instead, she asks the school district to find students who are headed down the wrong path and send them to her.
Little Black Pearl (LBP) grew out of an after-school arts program that Haslip expanded into a full-time school when she saw the need to reach out to students in Chicago’s poorest and most violence-prone neighborhoods in order to keep them enrolled.
“A lot of young people who dropped out of school, they’re still engaged in hip-hop and rap and drawing and tagging all the things that we see in our communities that are tied to the arts,” she told Hari Sreenivasan of PBS NewsHour.
What makes this school unique is that it’s infused with activities ranging from glass blowing to poetry to recording music in a studio. Haslip finds that these activities make the kids more than happy to show up for class.
Sreenivasan spoke to Samantha Peterson, a teacher at LBP whose students demonstrated greater academic gains than any other public school students in Chicago. “I dropped out of high school at 15 years old, and I have a GED,” she said. “I grew up on the streets in the South Side of Chicago, in and out of group homes, as a ward of the Illinois court, so I had a lot of problems in my life, and I can personally relate to all — a lot of the experiences that they’re going through.”
The goal of this arts enrichment is to not only help the students graduate and ease some of their trauma over the violence endemic to their neighborhoods through creative expression, but also to show kids that there are career paths open to them in disciplines that they might find more engaging than math.
“Just by providing them with the tools and the equipment and the professional support helps them to see that there is a pathway for a career,” Haslip said.