Delrod Spearman, was a son, a brother and a best friend to many

You think it's hard raising a toddler? Try doing it without a home! My name is Danielle Stelluto, and I am a home care worker from the Bronx, New York City who is raising two children in a shelter because I cannot find housing I can afford. Why should you care? Because I am one of 11 million residents who is still in search of stable, affordable housing. Are you searching too? While we are searching for a basic living situation, the Federal Housing and Finance Agency (FHFA), under Acting Director Ed DeMarco, has illegally withheld hundreds of millions of dollars from low-income affordable housing. Just in 2012 alone, the FHFA and DeMarco withheld more than $382 million from affordable housing, enough for tens of thousands of families to find and secure housing they can afford. Today I am urging President Obama to immediately work to ensure this funding for affordable housing, either with current Acting Director Ed DeMarco or Nominee Mel Watt. The FHFA has been violating a 2008 law that mandates that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, overseen by FHFA, contribute a portion of their revenue each year to the National Housing Trust Fund- a fund dedicated to creating housing for extremely low-income families. Fannie Mae is posting record profits, $17.2 billion for 2012 alone, but not a cent of those funds has gone to the National Housing Trust Fund. If fully funded, the affordable housing trust would create millions of low-income affordable rental homes for US residents in need. With over 11 million families and seniors in need of affordable homes right now, we cannot afford to wait any longer. The FHFA and DeMarco must stop breaking the law! I ,Danielle Stelluto, a member of the Right to the City Alliance, the National Low Income Housing Coalition and my fellow plaintiffs Angela Samuels and Rossana Torres of Miami have joined forces to file a lawsuit against the FHFA and Acting Director DeMarco to get them to contribute, as legally required, to the National Housing Trust Fund. Think veterans, seniors, and single moms like me deserve an affordable home? Well, Sign on to join us!

Imperial Valley neighborhood & FM969 Woodland Hills HOA residents are unprepared to support Austin's homeless right byside our homes. We have no jobs, bus lines, grocers, libraries, M.D. clinics, pubs, and Sheriff deputies don't protect our chilren. We can't fund downtown Austin needs nor bare demands that hurt families, property values and credit ratings. It's forced FOR SALE signs to go up. Texas Penal Code 39.03 (a)(2) defines this as oppression.

The problem of hunger in this country is too important to be left to volunteer organizations. All US citizens deserve to partake of a healthy diet and the US government should make sure this happens.

It is time for California to repeal its ban on federal food stamps for people with a prior drug-related felony conviction. This policy leaves low-income Californians who have served their time hungry and desperate and communities less safe.

This has had a negative effect on Lavallette community members who cannot walk or bike to the Ocean Beach facility. It is a serious safety concern for Ocean Beach residents. Also, it is inconvenient for mail carriers, who face hardships and delays in delivering to Brick.

I walk up and down Gardner Street frequently, but I often have to walk in the street, because sections of the northeast side of the sidewalk are a jumble of loose and torn-up bricks. This sidewalk had to be repaired in 2004, 2009, 2010, and again (this month) in 2013. It's time for a permanent fix for this sidewalk: a reconstruction that doesn't fall apart every few years, that makes the sidewalk usable by all, and that is appropriate to the architectural styles of the neighborhood.

On Tuesday, the Georgetown City Council will vote on a proposal to have the city abandon a regional effort to build commuter rail linking Georgetown to cities as far south as San Antonio. Traffic on I35 is some of the worst in the nation. A commuter rail system will allow people in Georgetown to easily visit Austin and San Antonio without the maddening traffic and impossible parking. It'll also help reduce air pollution and our dependence on oil. Unfortunately, some on the Georgetown council want to quit the Lone Star Rail District, which means Georgetown wouldn't be a stop on the line. We could have regional rail within 6 to 10 years, but Georgetown would be left out. Tell the Georgetown City Council to reject this proposal and stick with rail.

The North Carolina governor and a state legislator made a callous decision to change unemployment benefits under HB 4 beginning in July 2013 rather than January 2014. Not being able to wait six months is now forcing the loss of federal unemployment benefits to over 70,000 individuals and families like myself who are still struggling to find work. North Carolina has the fifth highest unemployment rate in the country.

We urge our local and state partners to join us in opposing California Assembly Bill 1407. We believe that low-income consumers deserve the right to be protected through regulatory process to ensure affordability of utilities programs (Lifeline programs) that help them meet their basic living needs. See below for information about AB 1407

As an educational consultant, at Important Steps Early Intervention agency, in one of the most underserved boroughs, the Bronx, I have had the immense pleasure of working with these families to effect change in the lives of their children born developmentally delayed. In the wake of devastating reforms to the NYS DOHMH and NYS DEPT of EDUCATION countless families are in danger of losing their Applied Behavioral Analysis/ Special Instruction/Occupational Therapy/Speech Language Pathology and Physical Therapy services. The consistent bureaucratic red tape to obtaining Medicaid Approvals, and NYCDEI addendums have made it difficult for agencies to survive in this economic climate. The reimbursement schedule has increased to a point where it can take longer than 90 days for agencies to get paid, and in turn pay clinicians for services already rendered, not including staff and business overhead. THIS MUST STOP!! Early intervention services provides the fundamental educational foundation that children born with developmental delays rely upon to have a chance of a different life. Not only do recent reforms negatively impact the lives of children, but also agencies like Important Steps, who must endure increasingly difficult financial and bureaucratic hurdles to obtain the necessary medicaid/city approvals to thrive. These critical services positively impact the lives of Bronx families on a daily basis! PLEASE HELP US TO REDUCE New York City and State APPROVAL TIMES AND REDUCE REIMBURSEMENT TIME FRAMES. WE NEED YOU TO PLAY AN INTEGRAL ROLE IN THE LIVES OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES WHO CANNOT FIGHT ALONE!!! CAN WE COUNT YOU IN? SIGN OUR PETITION TODAY!!

Thousands of homebound seniors will not get a hot meal tonight because Congress has cut funding for Meals on Wheels as part of the sequester. For millions of seniors, Social Security isn't enough to lift them out of poverty and hunger. In the past decade, there was a 78 percent increase in senior hunger.