Dear Friend, As a loyal supporter of our mission and the empowerment work that we seek to realize, it gives me great pleasure to describe to you the recent successes that the Homeless Empowerment Project and Spare Change News have enjoyed. Over the course of the past six months, we have accomplished several important milestones.…
Mental Illness and Stigma: How Far Have We Come?
Mental illness was once, and to some extent still is, a taboo subject that most people feel uncomfortable talking about within familial or societal spheres. However, because of the superfluity of media coverage and cinematic portrayals of people afflicted with mental illness, it has gone from private whispers behind closed doors to public dialogues. However,…
Somerville Homeless Coalition 5k: A Race in the Spirit of Community and Caring
On the morning of October 2nd, runners stretched out on the sidewalk outside Johnny D’s Restaurant, all the way to the Davis Square T station in anticipation of the 15th Annual Somerville Homeless Coalition 5k. The weather was sunny and breezy and spirits were high as runners were called to the starting line. After grabbing…
Worcester Edition Debut
Stakeholders involved with the Worcester Homeless Action Committee (WHAC) and the Spare Change News, Worcester Edition at the project’s kick-off event in October 2010.
Getting online: Website Aims To Make Homeless Visible
Mark Horvath is a nationally renowned housing advocate who has been highlighting the stories of homeless people across the United States using short interviews which he records and posts online at invisiblepeople.tv. Horvath’s concern in initiating his interview project was a conviction that homeless people had been “invisible” for much too long. His goal was…
Patrick Speaks About Homelessness and Job Growth in the Commonwealth
Rather than harping on the fact that Boston ranks fifth best city to do business and the state of Massachusetts ranks first in student achievement, health care coverage, veteran’s services and clean energy policies, Governor Deval Patrick noted that there is plenty of room for improvement. Patrick addressed the fact that homelessness remains a significant…
Project 50/50: Honesty
We’ll begin with a dose of honesty I believe it to be important to qualify the right people before taking advice. This means that before I ask someone what they would do in a given situation, I take a good hard look at their life. Do they have the experience necessary to make this decision?…
Herald Stories Lead to Reader Action
In recent years, The Boston Herald has printed several articles dealing with issues of homelessness, poverty and social justice. Two of these articles were directly responsible for citizens in the community stepping forward to assist the subjects of the article. The first story was written by writers Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa as part of…
Haiti: 8 Months Post-Quake
In the aftermath of one the biggest tragedies in Haiti—a country already known for persistent political unrest and economic depravity—the country still lacks the ability to meet basic human needs. Long after the media coverage of the January 12th earthquake has ceased and Haiti’s fifteen minutes of fame appears to have faded, one thing remains…
A Different Kind of Evil
Who would gun down a child? That’s the question that Im asking myself this week, along with all of Boston. Of course I’m speaking about the shooting in Mattapan last week that left three people dead, including a 2-year-old child, and one person clinging to life in a Boston hospital. The details are in itself…