AUSTIN, Texas—Stacy and Jack Higgins received their first foster placement, a 2-year-old girl and her 5-month old brother, in April 2020, just as the pandemic forced families into lockdown.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately hurt those who were already hurting: The homeless, prisoners, poor immigrants, and others in poverty. The pandemic also struck the nonprofits working to help them. As the long spring dragged into summer, protests against police over accusations of brutality against African Americans spread around the country and spurred lawmakers and police departments to make changes.

As a Democratic administration comes to power, pressure from the left to expand governmental welfare programs will grow. I hope some of the new U.S. leaders will read a book published 30 years ago, Gertrude Himmelfarb’s brilliant Poverty and Compassion, which looks at how British leaders fought poverty in the late 19th century.

With government funding set to expire at the end of the month, states and cities face tough choices about whether to continue covering the costs of hotel rooms for homeless people.

Congress’ spring pandemic relief bill gave states money to shelter the homeless. Many states used the funds to rent hotels where homeless people could quarantine, recover, or shelter in place. But those programs have not all worked as intended, and the federal funding is set to expire at the end of the month.

Two years into her detention at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Ga., Pauline Binam experienced an irregular menstrual cycle and saw Dr. Mahendra Amin, an OB-GYN with a practice nearby.

In the 1960s, Greta Arceneaux took out a loan to tear down her old house in Los Angeles and build five rental units on the property. With income from renters, Arceneaux, now 81, saved for retirement and helped her children and grandchildren pay for college. But this year, LA enacted protection for tenants affected by the coronavirus, preventing landlords from evicting them for up to 12 months. Now Arceneaux foots the bills for the property with no guarantee of income. One of her tenants lost his job during the pandemic and stopped paying rent.

When the first case of COVID-19 hit Austin, Texas, in mid-March, Meals on Wheels of Central Texas closed the 15 senior recreation and activity centers it operated. About half of the centers’ 1,600 clients live below the poverty line, according to program coordinator Sarah McKenna. Many of them come in for warmth in the winter and air conditioning in the hot Texas summers.