low income

Why these doctors started writing medical 'prescriptions' for solar power

5:00am December 09, 2024

Doctors in Boston got tired of writing letters to power companies asking them to help vulnerable patients. Then they realized the solar panels on the hospital roof might offer a solution.

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Underserved Communities In California Receive No-Cost Solar Energy Installation

Why the U.S. government is spending $7 billion on solar for low-income homes

5:30am August 01, 2024

by Julia Simon

Solar energy can reduce climate pollution and electric bills. The U.S. government will soon start giving out $7 billion in grants for solar programs for low-income homes.

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A sign noting the acceptance of electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards, which SNAP beneficiaries use to pay for food, is displayed at a grocery store in 2019 in Oakland, Calif. SNAP emergency allotments are ending after this month and have already ended in some parts of the country.

SNAP recipients will lose their pandemic boost and may face other reductions by March

5:04am February 02, 2023

by Kaitlyn Radde

Congress ended the temporary benefit meant to help low-income households with pandemic-era hardships. A huge increase in Social Security benefits may mean some households see further SNAP reductions.

After years of carrying medical debt from the premature birth of her daughter, Terri Logan recently discovered a nonprofit called RIP Medical Debt had paid off her bills.

This group's wiped out $6.7 billion in medical debt, and it's just getting started

6:47am August 15, 2022

by Yuki Noguchi

Nonprofit RIP Medical Debt buys up unpaid hospital bills plaguing low-income patients and frees them from having to pay.

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Twenty internet providers, including companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon, have committed to the the Affordable Connectivity Program, which will provide plans for no more than $30 for low-income Americans.

The Biden administration is capping the cost of internet for low-income Americans

5:01am May 09, 2022

by Ayana Archie

Twenty internet providers, including national companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon have committed to the program.

Education

Local schools will benefit from federal grant to help low-income students prepare for college

6:00am November 24, 2021

by Keri Brown

The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded more than $28 million in funding to Winston-Salem State University. It's the largest grant in the school's history.

The bottom of María Lara's oven is broken and full of mice feces. It is held in place with packing tape.

National

Housing Conditions In This Low-Income Neighborhood Pushed Tenants To Sue The Landlord

12:05pm July 22, 2021

by Marisa Peñaloza

According to the complaint filed this week in U.S. District Court, living conditions for families in an apartment complex in suburban Maryland include rodent infestation and toxic mold.

President Joe Biden speaks during the National Memorial Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery Monday. His budget proposal drops a decades-long ban on public funding for abortion.

Biden's Budget Proposal Reverses A Decades-Long Ban On Abortion Funding

1:51pm May 31, 2021

by Sarah McCammon

Biden's budget follows through on a campaign promise to overturn the Hyde Amendment, a longstanding ban on federal funding for most abortions. It's not clear the change will be approved by Congress.

Cesa Pusateri, 12, and her grandfather, Timothy Waxenfelter, principal of Quigley Catholic High School, leave with his collection of speech and debate books after the closure of the school in Baden, Pa., on June 8, 2020. According to the National Catholic

The Closure Of Catholic Schools Is 'Devastating,' Advocates Say

10:06am July 30, 2020

by Tom Gjelten

Administrators say the COVID-19 economic downturn means many low income families can no longer afford Catholic school tuition fees.

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Public health officials worry that the mostly low-income and immigrant populations served by community health centers aren't getting proper health care and testing.

Community Health Centers Struggling As Fewer People Seek Care During Pandemic

1:18pm May 19, 2020

by Marisa Peñaloza

Many immigrants and people with low incomes already saw preventive care as a luxury. Now, the coronavirus pandemic has created another barrier to their seeking and receiving health care.