Rural IMPACT Areas
USDA is leading a cross-agency effort to combat child poverty in rural areas with the Administration’s “Rural Impact” effort. Ten rural and tribal communities from across the country will participate in the demonstration program.
New Protections for Farmworkers Applying Pesticides
New protections for farmworkers applying pesticides are provided in an EPA rule released September 19. It enhances requirements for training, protective equipment, and more. It also requires workers applying pesticides to be 18 or over.
New CFPB Final Rule
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule September 21 on mortgage lending by small creditors. Among other changes, it expands the definitions of small creditors and rural places in the CFPB’s mortgage regulations.
Nearly Half of U.S. Renters are Cost Burdened
Nearly half of all renters in the U.S. are cost-burdened, spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, according to a new report from Enterprise Community Partners and the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.
The HOME Program in the News
Two recent opinion pieces discuss the problems with proposed cuts to the HOME program. The LA Times explains how the decrease is already hurting California, and Roll Call’s Beltway Insiders details the value of the program nationally.
HAC Loan Fund Borrower Honored
Long-time HAC Loan Fund borrower Florida Home Partnership was recently ranked #16 in production of all Builders in Tampa Bay in 2014 by Tampa Bay Business Journal. This is the third time they have received this honor on the last 4 years.
USDA Secretary Urges Greater Philanthropic Investment in Rural
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack expressed frustration with the decrease in philanthropic investment in rural America during a conversation with the National Rural Assembly. The Secretary urged foundations to increase rural giving and investment in rural communities.
Rural Seniors Covered by Medicare at Higher Risk
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its plan to address health equity in the Medicare program. Minority, poor, and rural Medicare recipients experience higher incidences of disease, lower quality of care, and barriers to access.
States Struggle with Poverty Among Hispanics in Rural Areas
According to research from the Pew Charitable Trust, Hispanic babies born in rural enclaves are more likely to be impoverished and have more limited access to federal and state assistance programs than those in the city.
Hispanic babies born in rural enclaves are more likely to be impoverished than those in the city. And it’s harder for them to receive help from federal and state programs, such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Consistent health care also is hard to come by, particularly if their parents are undocumented and are fearful of being discovered and deported—even though the children are U.S. citizens.
Speak Your Piece: Sanitizing the Census – The Daily Yonder
The Census Bureau wants to cut the “flush-toilet” question from its largest survey, saying the query is an “unnecessary burden on the American Public.” But changing the definition of inadequate plumbing won’t make it go away.
by Lance George
With the recent foreclosure crisis and the rise of housing affordability problems, concerns around substandard and dilapidated homes may have waned or been pushed in to the background. Indeed, long-term efforts to improve housing conditions have resulted in dramatic reductions in the most egregious housing deficiencies. In 1970, more than 3.5 million homes in the United States were without complete plumbing facilities. In 2013, the number of homes lacking adequate plumbing declined to roughly 570,000, or less than 1 percent of the nation’s housing stock. An estimated 70 percent of these “plumbing-inadequate” homes lack a functioning flush toilet.
Read the complete post at The Daily Yonder