90.3 WCPN ideastream®: Poverty in the City
Poverty in the City
Starting Friday, Dec. 7, 2007, 90.3 will present a series of stories and features focusing on poverty and change centered around the story of Cleveland’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood.
50 years ago it was a vibrant neighborhood, with shops and well-kept homes. But today, it is on the verge of a complete changeover: buildings sit in disrepair, shops are boarded up, kids become high school drop outs. What happened? What can happen now to turn this neighborhood back in the other direction?
We talk to Bernard Hill a kid from the neighborhood who is featured in the series, a 20-year-old kid who looks just like you might expect: sagging jeans, oversized t-shirt, and black do-rag on his head. He was raised by his grandmother—along with 16 other children who weren’t hers.
This series will be reported in collaboration with the Plain Dealer which will run a series of articles on this issue all next week. Bob Paynter (the lead reporter on the series) and April McClellan-Copeland, who grew up in Mt Pleasant, will preview the series on The Sound of Ideas, Friday Dec. 7.
90.3’s Tasha Flournoy will be part of a joint interview with PD reporter Margaret Burnstein and Tenniya Anderson. Portions of this will air on Morning Edition of Dec. 11, followed by a second Sound of Ideas program on teen pregnancy/single parenthood and its connection to poverty (Dec. 11).
Thursday, Dec. 13 The Sound of Ideas Roundtable will be dedicated to a discussion of this problematic mix of poverty, drop out rates, teen pregnancy and urban blight.
Programs and reports in this series
(scroll for more)
A Deeper Look at Poverty in Mount Pleasant
The Sound of Ideas: Friday, December 7, 2007
Mount Pleasant was once one of the most stable middle class neighborhoods in Cleveland. Today, it is best known for being the site of some of the most upsetting crimes of the last year. The Plain Dealer and ideastream are about to launch a series of interviews and reports examining the poverty and social ills that have taken hold of Mount Pleasant. On our program, we'll talk to lead reporters for the series about the roots of poverty and hear what "living poor" is like. Join us Friday at 9 a.m.
Tenniya’s Story: The Plight of Teen Pregnancy
Regional News Stories: Tuesday, December 11, 2007
This week ideastream is teaming up with The Plain Dealer to explore the challenges facing one Cleveland neighborhood - Mt. Pleasant on the city's east side. One of those challenges is teen pregnancy, which usually leads to single motherhood and a host of social problems for the mother and her children. Today, over 70 percent of the children born in Mt. Pleasant were born without a father in the picture. ideastream's Tasha Flournoy profiles one Mt. Pleasant teen mom who's struggling to transform her life.
Father Dan Recalls Neighborhood Changes
Regional News Stories: Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Father Dan Begin is the pastor at two churches in Mount Pleasant -- St. Cecelia and Epiphany. ideastream's Eric Wellman spoke with him in the offices of St. Cecelia on the corner of 152nd and Kinsman. Father Dan has gray hair, a closely trimmed beard, and speaks with mixed emotion about how the neighborhood he's called home for the past 25 years has changed.
Teen Pregnancy and Single Motherhood
The Sound of Ideas: Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The statistics about teen pregnancy are sobering: 2800 teens get pregnant each day, and only a third of them are likely to finish high school. Looking at those numbers, it's hardly surprising then to find that teen mothers are more likely to end up living in poverty. This whole problem hits African-American communities particularly hard: Sixty-nine percent of Black children are born to single parents. That's a slightly different issue than teen pregnancy, but both turn out to be predictors of future poverty. On our program, we're continuing our look with The Plain Dealer at the problems afflicting Mount Pleasant and Cleveland, and we'll have a conversation about teen pregnancy and single motherhood.
Keepers of Community
Regional News Stories: Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The shooting of a Cleveland teenager by an adult in self-defense, this past Spring, thrust the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood into the spotlight. This week, the Plain Dealer and ideastream have teamed up to go beyond the headlines and take a closer look at a community that certainly has had its share of violence and poverty. But, Mount Pleasant is also a place where people are working to turn those challenges around. ideastream's David C. Barnett has more.
Rebuilding and Renewal: Securing a Prosperous Future for Our Communities
The Sound of Ideas: Friday, December 14, 2007
This week Ideastream and the Plain Dealer have been bringing you stories from the Cleveland Neighborhood of Mount Pleasant. What can really be done to end the cycle of poverty and violence? We'll talk with local and national leaders about solutions to the problems in today's inner cities and get your take on the series. We invite you to join the conversation when the series wraps up ... Friday morning at nine on 90.3.
Teen Pregnancy and Single Motherhood
The Sound of Ideas: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Re-air of December 11, 2007 national award winning Sound of Ideas® program:
The statistics about teen pregnancy are sobering: 2800 teens get pregnant each day, and only a third of them are likely to finish high school. Looking at those numbers, it's hardly surprising to find that teen mothers are more likely to end up living in poverty. The problem hits African-American communities particularly hard: Sixty-nine percent of black children are born to single parents and a high percentage of those children are born to teen moms. On our program, we had a frank conversation about teen pregnancy and what can be done about it.
