Best of 2025, Part 2: Statehouses, Safe Houses, and Single Moms on the Frontlines of Poverty and Policy
In this year-end special of Add Passion and Stir, host Debbie Shore revisits 2025 conversations colliding with today’s headlines: Trump...
About This Episode
In this year-end special of Add Passion and Stir, host Debbie Shore revisits 2025 conversations colliding with today's headlines: Trump administration's $10B freeze on childcare/social welfare funds, ICE raids terrorizing families, and KPMG's forecast of stagnant financial mobility trapping single moms. Maine Governor Janet Mills sued over school lunch threats and won universal free meals. DC restaurateurs Peter Schechter and Eric Bruner-Yang turned kitchens into safe houses amid intense ICE raids. Chastity Lord and Elaine Waxman reveal two-generation models that deliver a "three-X multiplier" for single moms, kids, and communities. Essential listening on food justice, child poverty, and state-level solutions.Resources and Mentions:
Janet Mills
Governor
Governor Janet Mills was elected the first female governor of Maine in 2019. As governor she successfully navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, expanded health care to more than 100,000 Mainers, cut the uninsured rate by more than any other state in the nation, fully funded schools, delivered free community college, and provided significant tax relief.
Chastity Lord
president and CEO
Chastity Lord is president and CEO of the Jeremiah Program, a nonprofit committed to dismantling systemic barriers to education, housing, and child care for single mothers and their children, helping them reach economic mobility.
Elaine Waxman
senior fellow
Elaine Waxman is the senior fellow in the Tax and Income Supports Division at the Urban Institute. Her expertise includes food insecurity, food access, federal nutrition programs, social determinants of health, and broader issues affecting families with low incomes.
Peter Schecter
Co-founder
Peter Schechter is the co‑founder of Immigrant Food, a social‑enterprise restaurant group that “celebrates, educates and advocates” for immigrants through a fusion menu and robust advocacy programs, including a weekly “engagement menu” and events on immigration issues. He has had parallel careers as a foreign policy expert and political strategist, previously serving at the Atlantic Council and teaching at institutions such as Ben‑Gurion University and George Washington University. Schechter is also an early investor in José Andrés’ restaurant group and co‑host of the global affairs podcast Altamar, bringing together his backgrounds in politics, policy, and hospitality.
Erik Bruner-Yang
Chef/Owner
Chef Erik Bruner‑Yang is a Washington, D.C.–based restaurateur known for Maketto and his new full‑service restaurant Ours, part of the Manifest concept that blends a barbershop, retail, cocktail bar, and dining. Born in Taiwan and raised in the United States, he has spent roughly two decades cooking in D.C. and is widely recognized for community‑driven work, including his Power of 10 initiative that provides meals and grocery boxes across the city’s wards. Bruner‑Yang is also deeply involved with Share Our Strength, chairing its flagship No Kid Hungry gala and serving as a visible advocate for immigrant workers and neighborhood‑based change.
The Urban Institute
President Lyndon B. Johnson founded the Urban Institute in 1968 to provide “power through knowledge” to help solve the problems that weighed heavily on the nation’s hearts and minds. Early attempts to tackle discrimination and poverty were often shots in the dark without a clear understanding of whether new policies were working—or for whom. Today, many of the challenges and divisions of the 1960s persist. So does Urban’s focus on developing data and evidence that offer a more nuanced understanding of today’s pressing issues—and illuminate promising ways to address them. At Urban, we believe that data and evidence are essential to shaping a more inclusive, equitable, and just society.
Jeremiah Program
Jeremiah Program is a national organization with a mission to disrupt the cycle of poverty for single mothers and their children, two generations at a time. Jeremiah Program believes that no mother should have to make the untenable choice between investing in herself and her children. Our holistic approach allows families to dream what is possible when they are able to bring all of their identities to bear in pursuit of their goals.
Immigrant Food
Immigrant Food is a cause-casual restaurant with four locations in the Washington, D.C. area. It was founded by Téa Ivanovic and Peter Schechter and opened on November 12, 2019. The Culinary Director/Executive Chef for the concept is Ben Murray. The restaurants combines its food offerings with pro-immigrant activism. The restaurant engages in what they refer to as gastroadvocacy, accepting donations and signing up volunteers, as well as working as a hub for non-profits to host events helping immigrants find jobs and learn English.
Maketto
Maketto is a communal marketplace located in Washington DC combining retail, restaurant and cafe experiences. The 60-seat restaurant is an interpretation of Cambodian and Taiwanese cooking. The retail section of Maketto is a precisely curated mix of international footwear, clothing, accessories, books, and magazines. The café serves local coffee roaster, Vigilante Coffee and provides a full coffee bar experience 7 days a week.
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