BFC In the News 2014

Karl Racine (D): As Attorney General, my first duty would be to uphold the law and represent the District of Columbia and its people.

Filling out the paperwork to apply for subsidized housing can be a pain. And there’s another hurdle for prospective residents with little tech know-how: tracking available properties. So local community organization Bread for the City devised a plan to reach its clients as soon as a listing’s wait list opened up: with a texting app.

The group continues to welcome new members to its twice-a-month meetings. We check in on how it all got started — and what Code for DC hackers have been working on recently.

Although parking spaces are easier to find in Shaw than in nearby Chinatown, “gentrification” is a word bandied about by longtime residents as luxury apartments go up here. One thing’s for sure: The area is in the midst of a commercial revival, yielding an eclectic mix of decades-old institutions sharing sidewalks with fledgling bars and eateries.

In daily scramble for food, about 1 in 7 Americans now rely on local aid programs.

D.C. Law Encourages Calling 911 in Drug Overdose Cases; Some Drug and Alcohol Law Violations Not a Crime When Help is Sought
D.C. Part of National Momentum to Fight Overdose Deaths with 911 Good Samaritan Laws and Increased Naloxone Access

Fifty years after President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in the United States, some 46 million Americans - about 15 percent of the population - are living in poverty. On Capitol Hill, Republican and Democratic lawmakers disagree about the effectiveness of government programs aimed at helping those in need.