If your company contributes to safety-net organizations, here is useful context. Each year, the Salvation Army and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy partner to produce the Human Needs Index (HNI). Rather than measuring need only by household income, the HNI synthesizes a group of indicators across Salvation Army sites to produce a standardized measure of how well a community meets basic needs (e.g. food, clothing, housing, utilities and medical care). Findings from 2016 (released in mid-May) show that overall need was better met in 2016 than the prior year. Less positively, Pennsylvania has the third-worst HNI value in the country, and has been among the 10 states with the highest level of need over the past three years. Read about the Human Needs Index and view an HNI infographic.