State finally starts to spend huge pile of money for the needy
Happy Monday morning, friends. This is Tennessean storytelling columnist Brad Schmitt with what appears to be long-awaited good news for Tennessee's working poor.
More than two years ago, it came to light that the state had stockpiled more than $700 million in federal grants intended to help needy working families. The amount was the highest of any state in the U.S.
It took Gov. Bill Lee and GOP legislators nearly two years to figure out what to do with the money.
And this week, new Tennessean statehouse reporter Melissa Brown writes, an advisory board will start picking seven public-private partnerships that will receive a total $175 million in seed money from the Tennessee Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds.
Melissa reports that among those voting will be a woman who 20 years ago received TANF money herself when she was a single mom with two young kids.
“To me, it was life-changing,” said Britney Cleveland, who now works for the state Department of Human Services. “I want to see other people benefit from it as well.”
Hope you have a great week. More stories are below.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: State finally starts to spend huge pile of money for the needy
