Holiday Poverty Estimates from the Census Bureau: Johnstown SD Ranks 84th Nationally.

The Census Bureau has come out with its annual Small Income and Poverty Estimates for each county and school District in the US for 2018.  The above graph shows the 20 year trend in estimates of the percentage of students in poverty for the US, Pennsylvania, Greater Johnstown (GJSD), Ferndale, Richland, and Westmont school districts.  These districts are chosen as they are adjacent to GJSD.  The top 10 school districts in terms of poverty rate in Pennsylvania are listed below.

Greater Johnstown once again has the highest poverty rate for children ages 5-17 in the state out of 500 school districts at 46.7%.  Nationally it ranks 84th out of 13,207 school districts or in the 99th percentile in poverty.  The above graph shows that this trend has been increasing for GJSD.  The rates for the US, Pennsylvania, and the other school districts have remained relatively stable over the last 10 years by comparison.  

The Ferndale SD is also above the state (15.9%) and national (17.0%) rates for 2018 at 26.2%.  Richland and Westmont were virtually identical at 10.7% and 11.0% respectively.  Next I will comment on overall poverty trends for Cambria County and the City of Johnstown.  The 2020 census is coming soon and they are looking to hire census takers.  Whether or not you want to work on it you should participate to ensure that they will have the best possible estimates of the US, state and local populations.

District Name	Grade range of responsibility	Total Population	Relevant Ages 5 to 17 Population	Relevant Ages 5 to 17 in Families in Poverty	Relevant age 5 to 17 Ratio %
Greater Johnstown School District (PA)	KG-12	25,338	3,392	1,584	46.7
Aliquippa School District (PA)	KG-12	9,117	1,249	582	46.6
Farrell Area School District (PA)	PK-12	5,299	811	356	43.9
Harrisburg City School District (PA)	KG-12	51,186	8,835	3,620	41
Clairton City School District (PA)	KG-12	6,771	857	344	40.1
Salisbury-Elk Lick School District (PA)	KG-12	2,824	461	185	40.1
New Castle Area School District (PA)	PK-12	23,013	3,272	1,228	37.5
Sharon City School District (PA)	KG-12	13,299	2,003	752	37.5
Duquesne City School District (PA)	PK-12	5,540	939	349	37.2
Steelton-Highspire School District (PA)	KG-12	8,672	1,498	552	36.8

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6 Friends Competing for #100daysofus Sprout Grants

Occasionally a week comes along when I have a hard time getting inspired to write on a topic for my blog.  This week I came across these posts from three of my friends on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn who are competing for sprout fund grants under the 100 Days of Us competition for various worthy projects.  I shared their posts on my Facebook page for this blog.  Looking at the website for this competition, I found entries for three other people that I know.  I thought I would put their videos for the submissions to the competition in one post to let them advocate for themselves.  You can help determine who wins by going to their pages on the 100 Days of Us website for each submission, clicking like on the submission page (you can click like on more than one page), and making a donation to the Sprout Fund.  The six video submissions for my friends are presented below.  They are all worthy causes.  I don't endorse one over the others.  I clicked like on all six of their pages.  The deadline is January 19 (the day before Trump takes office).

My friend Jennifer Sweda Jordan has worked as a reporter for the Associated Press, NPR, the Allegheny Front (a radio program on the environment in Pittsburgh).  I met her through Pax Cristi.  She is now seeking a grant for a media venture for artists with intellectual disabilities.

 

Mila Sanina has traveled a long way from Kazakhstan to Pittsburgh.  She came here for studies at Pitt, interned at the PBS News Hour with hosts Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff and at CNN International, and was deputy managing editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  She is now executive editor at Public Source and is seeking a grant to study the effect of the Trump administration on the Pittsburgh area.

I have worked with Moriah Ella Mason's father at Health Care for All PA.  She has been active in peace activism in the Middle East and is now seeking a grant to prevent discrimination against Muslims in Pittsburgh.

Nadya Kessler has emigrated to Pittsburgh from from Russia.  She now works for Global Pittsburgh and is now seeking a grant for a project to profile successful immigrant business men and women in Pittsburgh.

Ron Gaydos has been active in the Coffee Party and many other worthy causes in Pittsburgh for years.  He is now seeking a grant for a project to promote economic development in the area.

Dave and Erin Ninehouser have been union and healthcare activists for years. They are now pursuing the Hear Yourself Think Project to counteract right wing misinformation which is poisoning our political discourse.  They are seeking a grant to assist them in this endeavor.

There are more than 140 submissions to this competition with many worthy causes covering 19 issue areas.  Many submissions cover more than one issue.  You can have a say in who receives grants.  The winners will be announced on Jan. 20 with the hope of having the best impact over the first 100 days of Trump's presidency.

**Update**

Looking at the Twitter page for 100 days of us it says that they're giving out grants of $5,000 each.  Their website says that they have a pot of $100,000 to give out with 150 applicants for a grant.  The current size of the pot means that they can give out grants to 20 applicants which is 13% of all applicants.  Assuming that each applicant has an equal chance of winning a grant, the six applicants featured in this post would have an expected number of grants of 0.8 which is slightly less than one.  With the current size of the pot it is not a certainty that any of those featured will win a grant.  This expected value is found by multiplying the 6 by the probability of one applicant winning (13%).

Donating to the fund increases the pot thus increasing the number of grants that the Sprout Fund can give out.  In order for the fund to give grants to all 150 applicants, the fund would need a pot of $750,000.  If the fund were to distribute funds to each applicant equally with the pot of $100,000 the grant would be $666.67.  Every increase in the pot of $5,000 through donations means that one more grant can be awarded.

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