High up on Michigan’s Mitten, arthritis is creeping into the fingertips. Michigan leads the nation with the most counties with a median age over 50.
Left Behind – rural Michigan’s dilemma
Posted inChildren & Families
Along Michigan’s back roads, thousands of homeless children
Brenda Greenhoe scours abandoned garages and backwoods lots in rural counties, bringing adrift children to school.
Posted inChildren & Families
A charter school for the rural poor closes
Is it better to keep low-income students together despite poor test scores? Or do they benefit from learning alongside middle-class children?
Posted inChildren & Families
Free speech goes begging in Grand Rapids
Across Michigan, communities are trying to craft restrictions on panhandling that don’t run afoul of First Amendment protections.
Posted inChildren & Families
A day on the streets with a young panhandler
The story behind one man's sign.
Posted inChildren & Families
Down and out in Lake County
Lake County competes for the unwanted title of Michigan’s poorest county. Like many rural areas across the state, Lake residents endure higher poverty, serious health and social ills, and little hope for the future.
Posted inChildren & Families
Living poor, in a county of wealth
Being poor is tough anywhere. But wanting for basics in Livingston County, the state’s most affluent, carries a different kind of sting.