Project Uplift, an information resource fair coordinated by the Salt Lake Main Public Library, Salt Lake City Corp. and Volunteers of America-Utah, brought direct service providers, nonprofit agencies, government offices and private sector partners under one roof as a resource for homeless people and people at risk of being homeless, said Deborah Ehrman, Deputy Director. About 300 people attended the fair, which grew out of a meeting of library, Volunteers of America and Salt Lake City’s homeless services office employees.
Category: government
UN Committee Calls for U.S. to Take Action on Laws Criminalizing Homelessness
The United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination calls upon the United States to take corrective action to address laws that effectively criminalize homelessness, which in the U.S. disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities. The statement is part of the committee’s concluding recommendations following a review of U.S. government compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Among the laws cited as discriminatory were laws that prohibit activities such as loitering, camping, begging, and lying in public spaces.
More Than 70 Per Cent of the World Population Lacks Proper Social Protection
“The global community agreed in 1948 that social security and health care for children, working age people who face unemployment or injury and older persons are a universal human right,” said ILO Deputy Director-General Sandra Polaski. “And yet in 2014 the promise of universal social protection remains unfilled for the large majority of the world’s population.”
War on Poverty at 50
“The data clearly show that anti-poverty policies have been effective, but they’ve had to work harder in the face of increasing economic challenges facing low-income families. We could try to push the safety net further, but the politics aren’t there, to say the least. Moreover, unless we do more to deal with the underlying structural problems in the economy that are increasing poverty — especially the lack of decently paying jobs, which I link closely to the absence of full employment — we’ll have to increasingly ratchet up government support year after year.”
15% of Americans Live at or Below Poverty Line
46.5 million Americans, 15% of the population, live at or below the poverty line according to the recently released United States Census Population Survey.
Ending Veteran Homelessness by 2015
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is committed to ending Veteran homelessness by the end of 2015 through their Homeless Veterans Outreach Initiative. The VA wants to partner with organizations and individuals in communities across the country to end and prevent homelessness among Veterans.
“The single best way to help Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless is to connect them with VA. Each VA medical center has a homeless coordinator on staff and specific programs that provide Veterans the support they need to establish or maintain safe, stable housing. VA has also established the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans (877-4AID-VET, or 877-424-3838), a toll-free hotline available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Trained responders—many of them Veterans themselves—are available to provide support to Veterans and their loved ones who lack safe, secure housing. These services are also available on an online chat at va.gov/homeless. ”
Growing Gaps Bring Focus on Poverty's Role in Schooling
“Upward mobility through the mechanism of a good education, which is a widely held value in this country that cuts across the political spectrum, is in serious jeopardy.”
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
The United Nations General Assembly, by resolution 47/196, designated this day to the awareness and eradication of poverty and destitution in all countries.
This year’s theme is “From Poverty to Sustainability:People at the Centre of Inclusive Development.”
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Free food at the library
St. Paul public libraries are providing free lunches this summer. This is the first time the libraries have served free lunches. Librarians saw the need for the service after so many children were showing up hungry.
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“Designed to fail” system of public education
Protestors march to Pennsylvania’s state capital to oppose Governor Corbett’s planned budget cuts to public education. These cuts will largely affect poor and underserved children. On the state chopping block are art, music, and library programs.
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