Since January, activists, journalists, non-profit workers and others have traveled around North Carolina to meet the state鈥檚 impoverished families. The idea behind the 鈥淭ruth and Hope Putting a Face on Poverty in North Carolina Tour鈥� is to understand those who live below the poverty line as people, rather than as statistics, and to hear their stories. The tour traveled 2000 miles and visited 27 different communities. Host Frank Stasio talks about the journey with tour organizer , President of the North Carolina .
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
Shawn Wen joined the staff of The State of Things in March 2012 and served as associate producer until February 2014.