Oregon

"So Zimmerman Community Center, situated in a dense low-income housing area on Northwest 14th Avenue and Quimby Street, on Monday is starting an affordable after-school childcare service called After-School Activities Program or ASAP. For $10.50 a day, not only will kids ages 4 to 7 have a place to stay from 2:30 to 6 p.m., but they also will get art and theater lessons and other instruction."

"Seniors may have the lowest poverty rates these days, but they've got the loudest voice in the debate about where our scarce public money should go and whose ox should be gored. As Portland senior Kit Hogan put it, We deserve what we have. Pick on someone else.'"

"Seniors are now the most financially comfortable people in the United States, with the steadiest cash flow and the lowest poverty rates. Meanwhile, child poverty is deepening and adults under 65 are the poorest they've been in about 50 years."

"Homelessness comes in a variety of forms, including kids living from couch to couch, staying with relatives, sleeping in cars, in shelters or on the street. Once the students are identified, the center ensures they get free breakfasts and lunches at school, help finding a place to live, transportation to the same school from wherever that new home may be and other resources."

"The number of homeless students in western Washington County remains relatively low compared to other areas, according to state figures. During last school year, 102 students in the Forest Grove School District --1.7 percent of the population --were homeless. This compared to roughly 3.6 percent of homeless students across the state, and much higher numbers in Portland and Beaverton."

"Beaverton's Greenway Elementary was named one of two National Title I Distinguished Schools in Oregon, according to the Oregon Department of Education. The school was recognized for making significant progress in closing the achievement gap of its low-income and Latino students. The school eliminated the gap for fifth-grade Latino students in math."