Back in July 1979, the first Ronald McDonald House Charities in Pittsburgh opened. At that time, the house could accommodate up to 10 families each night and was the seventh house to open in the country. The idea was to provide a way for families…
It’s never easy to be poor, but it may be particularly difficult for young people in school. Students feel the peer pressure to be like everyone else and often struggle in silence. The problem is larger than it may seem. According to a 2015 article…
When a child is critically ill and going through extensive medical treatments, life seems to revolve around the doctor’s office and hospital. Families get caught up in a routine of checkups, surgeries, and other treatments, as well as home care and constant worry, and there…
Hunger continues to be a problem in the United States. It can be particularly difficult over the holiday season to realize that many families will be struggling to get enough to eat. Feeding America notes that people struggle with hunger in every county in the…
The Magee-Women’s Research Institute (MWRI) is the largest research institute in the country devoted exclusively to women’s health research. The institute is working on making advances in many areas, including breast cancer, HIV, fertility preservation, pregnancy and fetal development, and pelvic floor health. Their vision…
The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness states that in 2017, over 14,000 people were homeless in the state of Pennsylvania. Nearly 1,000 of those were veterans. The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development adds that on any given day in the more rural…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that suicide rates in the United States are increasing. Since 1999, they’ve gone up more than 30 percent in half of the states across the country. In Pennsylvania, rates increased by about 25 percent over…
The Alzheimer’s Association (AA) states that Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Between 2000 and 2015, deaths from heart disease decreased by 11 percent, while deaths from Alzheimer’s disease increased by 123 percent. Meanwhile, 16.1 million Americans provide…
Literacy remains a problem for many children and adults in the country. More than 30 million adults cannot read, write, or do basic math above a third-grade level. Children whose parents have low literacy levels have a 72 percent chance of being at the lowest…
The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2018, over 22,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and over 14,000 will die from it. The disease ranks as fifth in cancer deaths among women, and affects mostly those who are 63 years and older. Chaffin…
