Bruce Green of the Stony Brook Tenants Union spoke at the rally against displacement on June 2 in Hyde Park. Photo by Valerie Li. Stony Brook Village residents rallied against their home’s management company for retaliatory rent increase, evictions, and unlivable housing conditions on June 2, at the property in Hyde Park. Two local activist…
Massachusetts Senator Releases Report Detailing Trump Administration’s ‘Anti-Immigrant’ Agenda
Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey holds a copy of his “Under the Radar” report on Trump immigration policies at a press conference at the Chelsea Collaborative Center. Photo by Jordan Frias US Senator Ed Markey is trying to get his colleagues to push back on the Trump administration’s immigration policies with a new report authored by…
Help Spare Change News Help Others!
Happy Spring! Spring is a season of new beginnings and change. We want to start off by thanking you all for your gracious and generous donations from our past fall appeal. We sincerely appreciate your help and support. It is because of you that we are still alive after 27 years and still able to…
IDs For the Homeless are Common Sense
“Having an ID card is instrumental to giving folks pathways out of poverty,” says Molly Schulman, Community Organizer and Legislative Advocate with the Massachusetts Coalition For the Homeless. She, along with Associate Director Kelly Turley, are at the Massachusetts State House every day advocating on behalf of the homeless on everything from increasing funding for…
A Tale of Two Bostons
A couple of weeks ago I was among the many who participated in the Poor People’s Campaign’s “Spill the Tea Tour”, also known at the Truth & Poverty tour, in Boston. It was an educational tour meant to bring awareness to to the plight of poor and homeless people – an issue that is ignored…
Emerson photo exhibit showcases stories of recovery
David DeCourcey is a 37-year-old Boston local who currently works at the Devine Recovery Center as a peer to peer specialist. His experience with recovery allows him to connect deeper with those who come to Devine. He has two sons, Joseph, 14, and David Jr.,15, who help drive his recovery process. photo by Jakob Menendez…
Needle Take Back Day launches in Boston
Councilor Annissa Essaibi George (middle) at the inaugural Needle Take Back Day event. On Thursday, April 25, nearly 30 community health care organizations and centers across Boston banded together for the city’s inaugural Needle Take Back Day. The event, promoted by City Councilor At-Large, Annissa Essaibi-George, is part of her continuing objective to increase the…
To make health care more accessible, mobile van travels to communities that need it the most
The Family Van parked in East Boston. Credit: Anna Bloxham. On a Wednesday morning at Liberty Plaza in East Boston, a colorful van is parked in the lot with a tiny sandwich board beside it reading “Free Health Screenings.” The people inside are volunteers awaiting clients who will enter the van and ask to get…
Hiding the Problem
Once again the Boston Marathon is upon us, and so is another tradition: pushing the homeless out of the marathon area. It happens every year. Homeless folks are sent packing while tourists, politicians, and runners travel back and forth around the area. Barriers are put up around the public library where the homeless sit, where…
Shelters Shouldn’t Do the State’s job
When I read that Pine Street Inn was planning to create 140 units of housing by putting up a five to six story building in Jamaica Plain I nearly fell over, and not from joy. For years I’ve been a staunch believer that shelter agencies, including Pine Street Inn, should not double as landlords. Why?…