DETROIT -- As cold weather moves in, state agencies are working to make sure Michiganders know how to apply for the Michigan Energy Assistance Program (MEAP) if they think they might struggle with their heating bills this winter.

MEAP helps low-income residents pay their energy bills on time, apply for affordable payment plans and utilize energy services to increase efficiency and keep bills down.

Shama Mounzer, integration executive director for the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, said many of the clients they serve make between 100% and 150% of the poverty level, which equates to a family of three making less than $24,000 a year.

"We see usually average bills in the wintertime of $400 to $500 a month," Mounzer noted. "And looking at the income of our households that we see, how can they afford really paying those high bills?"

Mounzer pointed out to access the MEAP program, residents can apply for state emergency relief through the state Department of Health and Human Services. She added it is important to contact your local Community Action agency if you have any questions about the process or what documents are needed.

Mounzer emphasized in addition to providing financial assistance to help folks pay their bills, agencies also help with weatherization, stressing it is particularly important in communities where homes are not recently updated.

"The usage is very high, and that is also very tied to the structure and the condition of the homes in Wayne County," Mounzer stated. "So a lot of our homes, they need to be weatherized, they don't have the appropriate insulation to really keep the energy and the heat inside the house."

Experts recommended making sure your heating system is upgraded and working as efficiently as possible to keep bills down. They also suggested checking filters and vents are clean; working to caulk, weatherstrip and seal drafty doors and windows; and to open blinds and curtains during the day to take advantage of the natural heat from sunlight.

On the heels of a regional conference, multiple groups are working on new solutions for reducing the poverty gap in Minnesota.

Nonprofits, government leaders and people who've seen poverty firsthand gathered last week in Duluth to get a deeper sense of the connection between poverty and race in Minnesota, and discuss how to overcome long-standing disparities.

Bill Grant, executive director of the Minnesota Community Action Partnership, which hosted the event, said one observation is assistance programs are often run by people who have never experienced poverty. He added public perception is still a problem.

"We also need to challenge the belief that poverty is inescapable," Grant asserted. "We need to get over the belief that there will always be a percentage of the population that chooses to live in poverty."

While overall poverty has declined in the U.S., a recent Partnership report noted the Minnesota rates for Black residents and Native American populations are 20% or higher, well above the state level of 8.7%.

Grant noted one solution discussed was pardon reform, in hopes of making it easier for someone with a past conviction to escape the poverty cycle with a new job and housing.

John Doan, vice president of operations and equity for Trellis, a group providing support services for people as they age, said income disparities are especially felt among older Minnesotans of color.

He stressed it is a myth programs like Social Security and Medicare give seniors everything they need, and depending on your ZIP code, your advanced years are likely to be even more difficult.

"Access to education, access to healthy food sources, access to jobs; all of those things play into account," Doan outlined. "Because if you think about [being] older and poor, it's an accumulation of lots of years of life experience and of life circumstances."

Doan's group is part of a coalition which will soon ask state lawmakers to boost funding for basic services for older Minnesotans, to make sure economic prosperity is evenly shared.

"For example, we know that there's a huge shortage in funding for senior meals, as well as for assisted transportation," Doan noted.

On the heels of a promising poverty report, there are renewed calls to make permanent certain pandemic policies that helped struggling families in Minnesota and around the country.

Last week, an annual Census Bureau report showed that child poverty fell sharply last year to a record low of 5.2%.

Arloc Sherman, vice president for data analysis and research with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said that was largely fueled by the temporary expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit.

He noted that other census information revealed monthly payments from the credit helped eligible households meet basic needs.

"The families were saying, 'We're spending this money to buy food, we're spending it to pay the rent, we're buying books for our children's school,'" said Sherman.

But the expanded credit expired, and Sherman predicted that an uptick in poverty this year if Congress doesn't revisit the issue.

In Minnesota, the Children's Defense Fund urges the Legislature to use surplus money to create a separate state Child Tax Credit. Opponents, including GOP lawmakers, say expanding government spending long-term will contribute to more inflation woes, hurting family budgets.

But Sherman argued that global supply-chain issues and other factors are playing a role in the current inflation problem. And he said if future investments are geared more for low-income families, rather than the large pandemic relief bills, they shouldn't register negative economic waves.

Instead, he said it would help the country down the road.

"The good news is that now we've shown we actually know how to reduce that kind of poverty and poverty-related stress," said Sherman.

He said moving forward with this blueprint will result in better outcomes for kids, building on some of the progress that was seen even prior to the pandemic.

In Congress, lawmakers who support reviving the Child Tax Credit are looking for new opportunities to negotiate, including pending changes to certain business tax breaks.

More than 1.4 million people in the Buckeye State live in poverty, according to the 2022 State of Poverty in Ohio report.

The Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies' annual report showed the state's poverty rate of 12.7% is slightly higher than the national rate of 11.9%. And while both rates have fallen in the past several years, the gap between them has widened.

Phil Cole, executive director of the Association of Community Action Agencies, explained at a Tuesday news conference other measures are even more concerning, including episodic poverty, or people living in poverty for at least two consecutive months over a two-year period. He said it describes about one in four Ohioans.

"The episodic rate captures the many people who filter in and out of poverty much better than the overall annual poverty rate," Cole asserted. "More people are poor than the poverty rate said. Poor, but not below the federal poverty line."

The Federal Poverty Level for a single household is $13,950 annually; for a family of four, it's about $27,000.

The report examined how employment, child care, student-loan debt, and affordable housing all intersect to affect economic security.

Tina Kassebaum, partner and principal investigator for the Strategic Research Group, noted the pandemic and its related effects fell disproportionately on low-income Ohioans.

"Poverty is almost never the result of a singular issue," Kassebaum observed. "While many of these are issues Ohioans were facing before the pandemic, they have become much more complicated and difficult in the past few years."

However, Cole pointed out there is reason for optimism. He stressed with the arrival of the microchip industry, Ohio could be on the cusp of doing something truly significant for lower-income workers and the state overall.

"This is the 21st century economics, as the DeWine administration has said," Cole remarked. "We need to make sure that those opportunities are spread throughout Ohio and to all income groups. If that happens we can see real improvement for our citizens as well as our economy."

Intel broke ground on a $20 billion semiconductor facility near Columbus last week, and announced a nearly $18 million investment in job-training programs.