When people speak up about neighborhood issues in wealthy neighborhoods, the City resolves them. But in the Kensington area, residents say, the City forces them to wait for solutions.

Diversified Community Services and United Communities Southeast Philadelphia join forces to create a fund that offers direct assistance to low-income residents.

Many Americans in the past have been rudely surprised at just how inadequate America’s safety net is, at least in part because it’s based on outdated federal poverty thresholds, says guest columnist Mark Rank.

When we discuss housing and rent affordability in Philadelphia, when we discuss the need to secure and extend public benefits, when we discuss wage theft — we must include the AAPI community in our campaigns, says guest columnist Kee Tobar.

Last year, the Office of Violence Prevention injected almost $1 million into community groups working on gun violence. How those groups have pivoted, and the resonances with the 1918 pandemic are the focus of this long read.

"The expanded child tax credit will benefit almost all families, and it will work the way benefits currently work for the wealthy," says guest columnist Wendy Bach.

Analysis links income inequality with increased cost burdens, rather than how fast housing prices rise, says guest columnist Clark Merrefield.

CWF will focus its efforts in North Philadelphia and partner with three other organizations to offer financial services.

"We do two things really well — early childhood education and housing, so our focus now is on building on those services and figuring out how we can do things even better," says Otis Bullock.

Middle class and working class workers have born the brunt of the pandemic — the illness, the economic disruption, the layoffs and the job closings.