Kate Giammarise | WESA
Kate Giammarise focuses her reporting on poverty, social services and affordable housing. Before joining WESA, she covered those topics for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for nearly five years; prior to that, she spent several years in the paper’s Harrisburg bureau covering the legislature, governor and state government. She was part of the P-G staff that won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting on the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
She has won numerous state and local awards for her reporting and was honored with a 2020 Keystone Media Award for her beat reporting on poverty. She can be reached at kgiammarise@wesa.fm or 412-697-2953.
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Fewer than 500 people who have applied for pandemic mortgage assistance in Pennsylvania have gotten funds. WESA’s Kate Giammarise explains why.
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Pregnant women in Pennsylvania who are insured through Medicaid will now have healthcare coverage for a full year after giving birth, rather than just 60 days postpartum. WESA’s Kate Giammarise has more.
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During the pandemic, the federal government relaxed certain rules to make it easier for schools to get food to needy children. But WESA’s Kate Giammarise reports, these changes are set to expire, which advocates fear will mean more hungry kids.
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Social Security field offices around the country are reopening after being largely closed to the public since the pandemic began. WESA’s Kate Giammarise has more.
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More than two years after the first pandemic-related business shutdowns, a backlog of cases continues to plague Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation system. WESA’s Kate Giammarise reports on the bottleneck keeping the state from quickly resolving more than 40,000 backlogged claims.
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Enrollment in food stamps, has gone up and down during the pandemic. But WESA’s Kate Giammarise reports, numbers have been steadily increasing in recent months.
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Since the beginning of the pandemic, enrollment in Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program increased by more than 600,000 people. But, WESA’s Kate Giammarise says some of those people will be at risk of losing their coverage later this year.
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The Pandemic-EBT program sends money to families to make up for the school lunches children missed while learning remotely. But, despite numerous school closures last month, WESA’s Kate Giammarise reports it's unclear when families will get assistance.
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In 2019, more than 43 million Americans relied on Social Security field offices to apply for disability or retirement benefits in-person. But two years into the pandemic, those offices are still closed. WESA’s Kate Giammarise says that’s caused a hardship for many who need help.
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Struggling Pennsylvania homeowners facing foreclosure can apply for federal aid starting this Tuesday, Feb. 1. WESA’s Kate Giammarise has the details.