struggling

24Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION

Study Finds – Students From Struggling Economic Backgrounds Sent Home With Food For The Weekend Have Improved Test Scores

Education Michael Kurtz, Lycoming College The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work. The big idea When food banks work with schools to send children home with a backpack full of food over the weekend, they do better on reading and math tests, I found in a recent study. These effects are strongest for younger and low-performing students. In the peer-reviewed study published in December 2020, my co-authors – Karen Conway and Robert Mohr – and I explored how weekend feeding programs, also known as “backpack” programs, affected end-of-grade tests in reading and math for third, fourth and fifth graders in North Carolina. These types of programs began independently in 1995 in a single school in Little Rock, Arkansas. Since then, Feeding America – a national network of...

Many Groups Are Still Struggling But Federal Support Has Shored Up Nonprofits During The Coronavirus Pandemic

15Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CULTURE

Many Groups Are Still Struggling But Federal Support Has Shored Up Nonprofits During The Coronavirus Pandemic

More than 60% of nonprofit social services, arts and culture organizations obtained Paycheck Protection Program loans during the first nine months of the COVID-19 pandemic. These very low-interest loans for small businesses and nonprofits turn into grants that don’t need to be paid back as long as borrowers meet certain conditions, such as using at least 60% of the money to pay their employees. Even so, almost 50% of nonprofits providing social services, such as food banks and shelters for people experiencing homelessness, still had to scale back their work and cut staff because of inadequate funding. Almost 80% of arts and culture groups, including everything from big museums to small schools that teach children to speak Mongolian, faced the same problems. Also, about 15% of the nonprofi...

Donors And Volunteers Can Help Nonprofits Struggling To Do More With Less Money

5Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Donors And Volunteers Can Help Nonprofits Struggling To Do More With Less Money

Historically, nonprofits have gotten nearly a third of their charitable donations just during the month of December. In recent years, this flurry of giving has begun on #GivingTuesday, an online campaign that takes place on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. We asked Erica Mills Barnhart, a University of Washington nonprofits scholar, to explain how nonprofits are holding up amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic distress it has caused, as well as why everyone with money to spare should consider giving some of it away now. 1. How are nonprofits faring? Many are in trouble. According to a study on how the pandemic is affecting nonprofits in Washington state, my colleagues and I found that demand for services is 10.2% higher, while funding has sunk by 29.5%. In addition, nonprofits...

Companies are struggling to engage with today’s activists – a new survey explores why

5Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Companies are struggling to engage with today’s activists – a new survey explores why

Dozens of companies with no track record of activism have made statements in recent weeks in support of Black Lives Matter following what I believe is unprecedented pressure from racial justice protesters. It may have come as a surprise to some – given just a couple months ago corporate America showed little interest in the Black Lives Matter movement – but to me and my colleagues at the USC Center for Public Relations, it made sense. Earlier this year, we conducted a global survey on what we dubbed the “new activism.” At the time, we were aware that activism was a growing force in American society but couldn’t have predicted the topic would become so relevant so soon. Only a few months later, the brutal killing of George Floyd in late May sparked an eruption of activism on the streets o...

The Kids Are All Right, But the Adults Are Struggling

4Apr

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IN OTHER NEWS

The Kids Are All Right, But the Adults Are Struggling

While much attention on the rising suicide rate focuses on youth, data shows that it's actually working-age adults who are being hit hardest. The rise of suicide and other self-destructive behavior in the U.S. raises questions both tragic and curious. Suicide rates are up for every age group over the past few years, and they tend to get attention when someone—usually a young person—takes their own life. What’s causing this upswing? The truth is complicated. But the short version is this: It’s not youth who are creating the crisis. It’s their parents’ generation. Americans have the worst levels of addiction, suicide, and self-destruction in the Western world. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a record 120,000 Americans died from suicides and ...

New Book Offers Hope to Anyone Struggling With Adversities

20Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

New Book Offers Hope to Anyone Struggling With Adversities

In her new memoir, Strengthening Your Identity While the Shadow Is in Front of You, Mwati Mwila shares her life story of experiencing diversity, finding her identity, and learning how to be strong in the face of turmoil, including being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Mwati is a true citizen of the world, and readers will be fascinated by and possibly envious of her many global adventures. Born in Zambia, Mwati moved, while still a young child, with her parents, two older sisters, and younger brother to Australia and New Zealand where she attended school. Even at a young age, she was aware that she was different from her classmates because of her skin color, and at times, she experienced racism and prejudice as a result. These experiences led her to question what it meant to be Africa...