Tag Archives: poverty

Lifetime TANF Cuts Removed from Georgia House Bill, Advocates remain Wary

tanf cuts

(APN) ATLANTA — HB 1006, or “Georgia State Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),” as originally introduced would have shortened the lifetime amount of monetary aid from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program for struggling families from 48 months to 12 months.   This draconian language was removed from the House Bill text when it incorporated into Senate Bill 389, […]

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BREAKING: Task Force for the Homeless Eminent Domain Feasibility Study Sought (UPDATE 1)

task force

UPDATE 1: The legislation actually passed Committee, according to Councilwoman Felicia Moore (District 9), who was the only nay vote. (see below for more.)   (APN) ATLANTA — Councilman Kwanza Hall (District 2) has introduced legislation to begin the process of studying the feasibility of the City of Atlanta acquiring two properties, including 475 Peachtree, where the Metro Atlanta Task […]

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People’s Agenda Hosts Discussion on Fulton Voter Disenfranchisement

gpca voting meeting

(APN) ATLANTA — Fulton County will pay a fine of 180 dollars for breaking over two dozen state voting laws and illegally disenfranchising and misleading voters in the 2008 and 2012 elections.   The Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda convened on Tuesday, September 01, 2015, to address these past violations and the implications for future elections.   Some of […]

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Hosea Feed the Hungry Announces Service Expansion

hosea helps

(APN) ATLANTA — This year’s first annual Hosea Feed the Hungry media brunch announced the official launch of Hosea Helps (HH).   Hosea Helps works 365 days a year to help an additional 3,500 people with new programs and expansion of other programs to better serve the community every day.   Today a new generation of Williams’s are carrying on […]

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Atlanta Police Arrest Fast Food Workers Fighting for a Living Wage

By Anna Simonton, Special to The Atlanta Progressive News (APN) ATLANTA — Ten fast food workers were arrested on Thursday, September 04, 2014, after blocking one lane of traffic on Ponce de Leon Avenue, near Boulevard, in an act of civil disobedience.   The action was intended to pressure their employers to pay a living wage and allow workers to […]

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Gov. Deal May Veto Bill Expanding Private Probation, Debtors Prisons in Georgia

    (APN) ATLANTA — HB 837, which would expand authority for private probation companies, was passed by the House (105 to 62) and Senate (35 to 17) and has been sent to the Governor awaiting his signature to become law.   Gov. Deal has until April 29 to sign or veto the law; if he does nothing, the bill […]

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EDITORIAL: Race, Poverty, and Nonprofits in Atlanta, a Devastating Critique

  (APN) ATLANTA — How is it that in Atlanta, Georgia, the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, the powers of corporate wealth and the bourgeoisie have managed to destroy public housing, decimate low-income communities, privatize public schools, privatize Grady Hospital, enact draconian anti-panhandling legislation, and carry out a war upon low-income people, despite the presence of so many non-profit […]

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(IPS) U.S. Hungry Face Major Cuts in Food Aid

This article first appeared on the Inter-Press Service website at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/05/u-s-hungry-face-major-cuts-in-food-aid/ ATLANTA, Georgia, May 31 2013 (IPS) – The U.S. Congress is on the brink of making billions of dollars in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, which provides direct benefits to individuals and families in poverty.  SNAP benefits are already set to decrease […]

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PSC Approves Ten Million in Emergency Heating Aid from USF

  (APN) ATLANTA — The Georgia Public Service Commission has approved ten million dollars from the Universal Service Fund, to help cover the heating costs of certain low-income people, particularly as US Congress has not yet finalized a 2012 budget nor separately funded the LIHEAP program. The funds will cover one-time payments of up to 160 dollars for up to […]

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Help for Low-Income Atlantans Hangs in Balance as Congress Stalls

  (APN) ATLANTA — Inaction by the US Congress to make funding decisions regarding programs critical to Atlanta’s low-income families–particularly LIHEAP and CSBG–means that even more families than usual this year are facing lack of heating and/or homelessness. The Low-Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds heating assistance payments for low-income families. The Fulton-Atlanta Community Action Authority (FACAA), an organization which […]

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Georgia Legislators Seek to Drug Test Welfare Recipients

With additional legal reporting by Matthew Cardinale. (APN) ATLANTA — Yesterday, November 15, 2011, State Rep. Jason Spencer (R – Woodbine) and State Sen. John Albers (R-Roswell) introduced, or pre-filed, legislation requiring drug tests for applicants seeking assistance through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The House bill is called the Social Responsibility and Accountability Act, HB 668. […]

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Task Force for the Homeless in Mediation with City, Other Parties

(APN) ATLANTA — The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, which has sued the City of Atlanta and other parties for conspiring to sabotage and destroy the shelter, is in mediation talks with several parties, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. These parties include the City of Atlanta, United Way, Emory University, Central Atlanta Progress, Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, Manny […]

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Georgia Supreme Court Seeks Olens’s Opinion on Atlanta’s Secret Vote

(APN) ATLANTA — The Supreme Court of Georgia has requested the opinion of Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens in a letter dated September 01, 2011, regarding the lawsuit currently before the Court, Matthew Cardinale v. City of Atlanta et al., which was brought by APN’s News Editor–the present writer–challenging the City Council of Atlanta’s secret vote of February 2010. “Dear […]

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