West Philly Grocery Store Offers New Community Meal Service

The West Philadelphia-based Community Grocer is using a new meal-kit service workaround to provide SNAP recipients with hot meals.

The sustainable grocery store, founded by two UPenn graduates, is helping to address barriers to accessibility for healthy, fresh, and affordable meals.

The store worked with the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic to ensure compliance with USDA policies and is using the title of “ the first retailer in the county to effectively allow SNAP recipients to walk away with a hot, healthy, delicious meal in full compliance with the federal policy.”

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Philadelphia Second Story Collective Pairs Students with Older Adults

The Second Story Collective, a Philadelphia intergenerational housing program, is matching students with older adults in campus housing.

Partnering with the community organization Writers Room, the home-sharing program provides affordable housing along with an opportunity to connect with older community members.

The program targets neighborhoods that are Promise Zones, which received funding to increase economic activity, create jobs, and reduce crimes. 

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PA Releases Maternal Health Strategic Action Plan to Reduce Maternal Mortality

The Shapiro Administration has unveiled Pennsylvania's Maternal Health Strategic Action Plan.

Entitled Healthy Moms, Vibrant Futures, the comprehensive multi-agency plan is the first in the state.

Containing strategic goals, data and research, ongoing work, and recommendations to combat maternal health disparities that can shape quality of life for both mothers and their children, this new program is another step in Governor Shapiro’s priority to reducing maternal health disparities and mortality rates for mothers and infants. 

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How AI May Reshape Career Pathways to Better Jobs

As artificial intelligence is creating both enthusiasm and concern for the workforce, over 15 million workers are participating in jobs that are highly exposed to or will work closely with AI programs.

These programs may erode pathways that workers use to transition to higher-wage positions.

Brookings Research discusses how AI is reshaping career pathways to better jobs and how strategies can be better crafted to address the impact of AI on worker mobility. 



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What States Can Do Now to Get Ready for Workforce Pell

Pell Grants are expanding to cover short-term workforce training programs in higher education institutions, which may increase affordable postsecondary pathways for millions of workers.

However, data is a key factor behind achieving this goal, with states and institutions partnering on a range of decisions, from program assessment to determining outcomes.

This article explores how states can invest in modernizing, expanding, and improving their state data systems and how they are governed to increase workforce outcomes. 

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Six Deregulatory Proposals to Improve Housing Affordability

Amid an acute national shortage of affordable housing, the regulatory landscape of housing creation and preservation must be examined.

There is a universal demand for an increase of rental properties and starter homes, as well as changes to the costs of regulatory compliance.

The Bipartisan Policy Center details six targeted deregulatory proposals which would require either administrative or legislative action that can increase the supply of homes and preserve the existing affordable housing stock.



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