BFC News (and in the news)

Bread for the City's spring newsletter is hitting mailboxes!

The feature article is called "Catching on to Nutrition," and it's about how BFC's food pantry is not just fighting poverty, but also taking major steps to improve the nutritional content of the groceries we distribute.
Ted Pringle, our food & clothing director, says: "We're trying to figure it out. There are a lot of options, but all of them are costly. When you talk about nutrition it's like going to Safeway versus going to Whole Foods. There's a big difference in price."
We also stuck an interesting fact box in there about how to figure out whether you're eating hidden trans fat... pretty sneaky stuff. Download the spring newsletter.

In other news, Bread for the City was in The Washington Post twice this weekend!

George Jones (our executive director) had an op-ed response to Council member David Catania's "Healthy DC" proposal, "Filling in The District's Gaps in Health Care." George is overwhelmingly positive about the proposal's plan to increase access to healthcare to low-income District residents, but cites a few concerns that he would like to see addressed, including a $250 penalty for those who don't participate. Read the full article.

Plus, BFC attorney Rebecca Lindhurst was quoted in the article "Fund Gives Tenants Little Relief."

The article states that: "The District's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs has a lifeline for tenants living in dangerous conditions: a multimillion-dollar fund to repair buildings when owners refuse to do the work.

"But in a city vexed by dozens of distressed buildings, DCRA has rarely intervened. In the past three years, the agency spent $617,000 on repairs at neglected apartment buildings -- just 4 percent of the $16.5 million in the fund -- even while its inspectors chronicled rampant code violations at complexes across the city."

The article concludes:
"DCRA made a series of fixes, including replacing the hot water heater [at a building in NW]. But tenants' attorney Rebecca Lindhurst, with the nonprofit Bread for the City, said more work is needed. An entire ceiling is missing in one apartment, the heating system doesn't work, and the electricity is spotty, she said.
'What's the point of having a repair fund," she said, "if you don't use it for repairs?'" Read the full article.