In today’s rundown: Single mothers’ achievements are recognized in Prince George’s County. | An in-depth look at poverty in Montgomery County. | The nationwide mismanagement of public housing. | DC’s budget, simplified.

— The Gazette highlights a Prince George’s County woman who was honored with an award after overcoming barriers she faced after becoming a single mother.  The Women’s Foundation is mentioned in the story.

— Washingtonian Magazine takes a look at poverty in Montgomery County and the widening gap between the rich and poor there.

— The Washington Post takes a multi-media look at how the Department of Housing and Urban Development has mismanaged public housing in the U.S.  One article is about a stalled construction project in Southeast DC.

— Confused by DC’s proposed budget? DC Fiscal Policy Institute breaks down the numbers in a YouTube video. Pie charts, cartoons and white boards make things a little easier to understand!

In today’s rundown: The Petworth farmers market becomes the latest to accept food stamps. | And a look at the gender wage gap among federal employees.

— Joe Davidson takes a look at the gender pay gap in the federal government in a Washington Post column. The pay gap isn’t as wide as it is in the private sector, Davidson writes, but it exists.  He also points out that women make up less than a third of the Senior Executive Service.

— The farmers market in Petworth has become the latest to accept SNAP benefits.  It is the 16th farmers market in the district to accept food stamps, reports TBD.com.

In today’s rundown: A closer look at unemployment rates for single mothers. | A new grocery store in DC won’t be accepting WIC payments. | A day in the life of the working military mom.

— “Unemployment rates among single mothers have long surpassed those among married men and women,” writes economics professor Nancy Folbre in The New York Times. “In 2010, their unemployment rate averaged 14.6 percent, compared with 6.8 percent among married men and 6.3 percent among married mothers.”  Folbre goes on to cite the Institute for Women’s Policy Research — a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner — which says that women have less access than men to unemployment benefits.

— Low-cost supermarket chain Aldi is opening a store in Northeast D.C., but they won’t be able to accept payments from the Women Infants and Children (WIC) federal subsidy program.  Aldi only sells its own brands that government has not approved the Aldi brand for participation in WIC.

— More than 70,000 active duty women in the military are mothers, reports The Washington Post.  A photographer followed one of those working moms to document her busy day.  Click here for details.

In today’s rundown: Nonprofits that help older residents in Montgomery County are merging. | The uncertain future of the Arlington Free Clinic. | Several women arrested during DC protest. | Nominate someone for the 2011 Linowes Leadership Awards.

— D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh was arrested along with seven other women earlier this week, reports WAMU.  The arrests came during a protest in response to the U.S. House of Representatives passing a bill that permanently banned D.C. from funding abortions.  All three women council members spoke at the protest.  Another one is planned for next week.

— In spite of skyrocketing demand, the Arlington Free Clinic faces an uncertain future, according to the Arlington Connection. Increased demand, changes to the way Virginia funds charities, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act could mean that the clinic will change the way it operates or shut down.

— Two nonprofits that help Montgomery County’s aging residents will merge this summer.  Interages will become part of the Jewish Council for the Aging, reports the Maryland Gazette.

— The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region is accepting nominations for the 2011 Linowes Leadership Awards.  The awards recognize individuals of creativity, vision and leadership who work in a community in the Greater Washington area and who are generally unrecognized.  For more details, visit www.TheCommunityFoundation.org or contact Jessica Sherry at 202-973-2509 or at jsherry@cfncr.org.

In today’s rundown: Women’s real losses are masked by the mancession. | Mapping local food deserts. | D.C. is the second most expensive “state” for renters in the nation.

— In “‘Mancession’ Focus Masks Women’s Real Losses,” Women’s e-news says the “persistent myth about men suffering worse job-loss woes in this recession cries out for a few additional facts, along with Carrie Lukas’ whopper in the Wall Street Journal about the end of the gender wage gap.”

— DCentric takes a look at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s online food desert locator and discusses which low-income areas in the District have the worst access to grocery stores.

— D.C. is second only to Hawaii in the price of rental housing, reports Washington City Paper. Numbers released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition show that a resident in D.C. needs to earn $28.10 an hour to pay no more than 30 percent of their income on a fair market rental.

In today’s rundown: High school students talk about sexual violence with the Department of Justice. | Why financial literacy matters for women and girls.

— Students at DC’s Banneker High School had a frank and open discussion with members of the U.S. Department of Justice about sexual violence, reports TBD.com. The sexual violence “town hall” was part of the DOJ’s commemoration of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

— On the White House blog, Valerie Jarrett writes about why financial literacy matters for women and girls: “President Obama believes that for America’s women, economic security is a key component of economic opportunity.”

In today’s rundown: The economy keeps the local homeless population on the rise. | Workers’ advocates say the indiscriminate use of background checks by employers is making it difficult for millions of Americans to find work.

— “High rates of unemployment among minorities, foreclosures, the rising cost of rent, utilities and fuel and extreme budget cuts are being a rise in the area’s homeless population,” the Afro American reports.

— The New York Times highlights “redemption research” — studies that show that ex-offenders are less likely to be arrested again over time.  The article features the story of a woman who is struggling to find employment after being convicted of robbery in 1997.

In today’s rundown: Education and family size often determine a woman’s ability to escape from poverty. | A special election is being held in D.C. tomorrow. | Human trafficking is one of the U.S.’s biggest human rights problems.

— In an op-ed entitled “Poor Jane’s Almanac” in The New York Times, Jill Lepore tells the story of Benjamin Franklin’s sister Jane.  Poorly educated and hard-working, Jane lived in poverty and buried her husband and 11 of her 12 children.  Lepore writes that Jane’s story “is a reminder that, especially for women, escaping poverty has always depended on the opportunity for an education and the ability to control the size of their families.”

— The Washington Post previews tomorrow’s special election for the at-large seat on the D.C. Council.  Polls close at 8 p.m.

— “From johns to judges, Americans often suffer from a profound misunderstanding of how teenage prostitution actually works — and fail to appreciate that it’s one of our country’s biggest human rights problems,” writes Nicholas Kristof in a New York Times op-ed about human trafficking in the U.S.