Darlena Cunha

POVERTY NEWS:

7/8/14: Washington Post: This is what happened when I drove my Mercedes to the WIC office

7/12/14: Gainesville Sun: Free Food for Kids 

7/23/14: TIME: I Left My Kids With a Babysitter to Go to aJob Interview—And Came Home to Find Them Hungry, Naked, and Locked Up

8/1/14: TIME: What It’s Like to Live in Poor Door Housing

8/5/14: Washington Post:  I fed my newborns formula to keep them alive, still, I felt guilty about it  

8/13/14: Washington Post: A tale of two maternity leaves

8/15/14: TIME: Why drug testing welfare recipientsis a waste of taxpayer money

THE INTEREST IN THE AUTHOR

I come with a solid platform, having blogged daily since 2010 at http://parentwin.com. My site pulls in 35,000 views a month, and this month has garnered 100,000. Even without the excitement of the piece, my blog has grown steadily since its inception. 

Beyond the blog, I have a group of fervent followers who avidly share my posts and projects, including 2,000 Twitter followers and another 1,500 on Facebook.

I’m an ambitious and widely published freelancer.  Since the publication in The Washington Post, I’ve published another there, and two for TIME Magazine. My work has been featured in dozens of publications including: McSweeney’s, Twins Magazine, The Feminist Wire, OffBeat Families, The Gainesville Sun, Gainesville and Ocala magazines, and others.

I have been a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post, BlogHer and Thought Catalog where my most recent post was shared nearly 7,500 times (and that’s pre-Washington Post success).

In the next month, I will have pieces coming out in Wired and The New York Times Motherlode, in addition to two more Washington Post pieces which show how I’m capitalizing on this momentum—and that my writing touches on topics that many people want to hear about.

I’ve had several literary agents contact me, and two television agents contact me, looking to pitch me for panel openings on CNN, MSNBC, and even the View and for social media / web producing jobs.

Basically, I work very hard, I work very fast, and I work for a very long time. Always. I have every confidence that with your help, we could really make a piece on modern poverty and the disappearance of the middle class sing through a narrative lens.

THE INTEREST IN THE CONTENT:

After the Washington Post op-ed “This is what happened when I drove my Mercedes to the WIC office” was published, it shot to the front page within two hours. By that afternoon, the Post decided to run it in their print edition (for Sunday, 7/13/14), complete with a photo-shoot at my home in Gainesville. The piece has since been republished in nearly every newspaper even remotely connected to the Post, both in print and online.

This piece is now the most read in Washington Post’s history.

CNN asked me for two separate interviews, one on Wednesday (7/9) night, and another on Saturday (7/12) morning. I was requested for dozens of radio segments, and did four radio interviews in that medium within the week. I spoke on Better Connecticut for WFSB on 7/17 and did a longform interview on Story Shelter that same day.  I did an interview for NPR’s Tell Me More on that Friday (7/18). The Washington Post asked for a follow up interview which was then picked up by UpWorthy. UpWorthy, in turn, wants me to start a YouTube channel where I talk about social issues.

NPR, Jezebel, Pop Sugar Moms, and dozens more did their own write-ups on my article. The Washington Post immediately wrote a piece on how much traction the article was getting, as it hit a nerve all across America. Rachel Maddow, Amy Poehler and several other celebrities shared the article on their social media pages.

The New York Times made it one of their read of the week picks, and the same goes for Washington Post’s top weekly reads. It’s made several other best lists, including best storytelling from Rachel Held Evans.  In addition to all that, I have received upwards of 3,000 messages from readers thanking me for the piece, and sharing their personal stories that echoed some of the messages in my own. At this point in time, the piece has lasted far longer than most news articles and essays, and the outpouring of reader support and commiseration suggests this topic is ripe for further discussion.

Other news organizations feel this is true, as well. I have now been approached by TIME Magazine, The New York Times’ Parenting Section, and The Atlantic to write on poverty issues facing America right now.