The struggles of Rise, a co-op grocery store competing with Dollar General and Walmart in an Illinois food desert, illustrate the shortcomings of programs meant to address food inequality.
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In today’s newsletter: Why opening grocery stores alone doesn’t solve food deserts, a guardian who enriched herself using the finances of vulnerable people in her care and more from our newsroom.
The community of Cairo, Illinois, once a food desert, welcomed its new market last year with balloons and cheers. But the store is struggling — exposing problems with the programs set up to help.
Judges allowed one of New York’s most prolific guardians to engage in apparent self-dealing as she transferred $1.5 million of her wards’ money to her own company. Here are some highlights from reporter Jake Pearson's latest story in “The Unbefriended,” a series on how the state fails its most vulnerable.
Apparent Conflict of Interest: One of New York’s most prolific guardians used her own health care company to treat vulnerable people whose finances she controlled, an apparent violation of state law.
Profiting at Wards’ Expense: ProPublica found at least 20 instances in which Yvonne Murphy referred wards under her care to her own agency, which charged them $1.5 million for services.
Lax Judicial Oversight: Judges allowed the legally questionable arrangements for years — even when officials flagged the apparent conflict.
