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"Rhode Island plans to allow homeless, elderly and disabled residents to use food stamps at some Subway restaurants. The Providence Journal reports the Food Access Project pilot program will involve four Subways in Providence. It is designed to give vulnerable populations more healthy food choices."

"With a valid score, Animo Leadership would have approached an 800 API, which high schools serving large numbers of low-income minority students struggle to attain. The school, which was the founding Green Dot campus, has been named among the top 100 public high schools by U.S. News & World Report."

"By March, low-income residents and seniors may not be able to turn to the Capital Area Community Action Agency for help paying utilities and other emergencies."

"Homeless, elderly and disabled Rhode Islanders will soon be able to use their food stamps at a limited number of Subway restaurants in the capital city under a pilot program aimed at increasing access to healthy foods."

"There are two age groups hit especially hard hit by the sputtering economy: 'The youth, ages 18- to 24-years-old who lack work experience, and those 55 and older who lack today's skills,' said Patti Roberts, communications director for the state Employment Development Department."

"Teachers may be the biggest in-school factor, but there are many out-of-school factors that weigh heavily on performance, like growing child poverty, hunger, homelessness, home and neighborhood instability, adult role-modeling and parental pressure and expectations."

"Starting Thursday, 80,000 low-income seniors became the only older Chicagoans still eligible for a free ride. (Free rides for the disabled and military personnel also continue). Another 375,000 seniors who were riding for free get a reduced rate."

"The 700-student school serving grades K-12 has a nearly 90 percent poverty rate. Many families can't afford or don't have access to eye care services, which can hurt a child academically."

"The Regional Transportation Authority also mailed more than 80,000 Circuit Ride Free cards to low-income seniors. The cards will enable seniors eligible under the state's Circuit Breaker program to continue riding public transit without paying fares."

"'This is really about getting at the root causes of poverty in the elderly,' said Cathy Mutschler, vice president of community engagement for the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region."

"Most schools with high numbers of impoverished students are still struggling to meet academic targets. Fifty-one of 123 local schools deemed as 'high poverty' under federal standards received D's or F's on this year's state report cards. Last year, 54 schools received those marks, which the state labels as 'academic watch' and 'academic emergency,' respectively."

"Most at risk were blacks, Hispanics, and people in the South, according to AARP.And from 2007 to 2009, the biggest increase was seen among those whose incomes were more than twice the federal poverty level."