Last week I went to a Boston City Council meeting where Annissa Essaibi-George presented a resolution to double-down on the council’s efforts to address hunger and homelessness. It’s a nice gesture, and I believe the councilor’s heart is in the right place. Some may see it, though, as a photo-op. Others may be even more…
Most Mass. communities fall short of state affordable housing goal
The Comprehensive Permit Act, usually called 40B, set a goal for Massachusetts towns and cities nearly five decades ago: develop at least 10 percent of local housing to be affordable in the long term for low or middle income residents. As of a late 2017 Department of Housing and Community Development report, just 67 of…
Ending Youth Homelessness: An Interview With the Associate Director of the Massachusetts Homeless Coalition
Kelly Turley (second from right), Associate Director of the Massachusetts Homeless Coalition, talks to Spare Change News about the challenge of ending youth homelessness in the Commonwealth. On any given night in Massachusetts, hundreds of unaccompanied young adults and youth are homeless for a variety of reasons. According to the 2017 Massachusetts Youth Count conducted by…
Mass. Leads Country in Fentanyl Overdose Deaths
Massachusetts reached an all-time high in fentanyl overdose deaths this year, according to new data from the state Department of Public Health. Nearly 90 percent of opioid overdoses in the second quarter involved the synthetic opioid fentanyl. What’s more, a report from The Pew Charitable Trusts maintains that Massachusetts had a higher opioid death rate…
Election Shows Strong Support for LGBTQ Rights
Voter approval of Question 3 on the Massachusetts ballot was a victory for transgender rights in the Bay State. Approval of the measure upholding the state’s transgender nondiscrimination law was one of several victories for LGBTQ rights and candidates nationwide. But the civil rights of transgender people in particular have been under attack in several…
It’s the System, Stupid!
In 1967 Dr Martin Luther King asked a question: “Why are there 40 million poor people in America?” That question crosses my mind and the minds of every activist I have ever met, but that question stood out as I was making my way home as Boston prepared for it’s first snowstorm. I sadly watched…
Bill Murray chats about his late-career dive into music
Bill Murray and Jan Vogler Bill Murray is on the road. Calling from Charlotte, North Carolina, where it’s well after midnight, he and classical cellist Jan Vogler are winding down after a performance on their unusual tour, which sees the famously quirky movie star singing – yes, singing – and reciting literature with a chamber…
Moving Forward Without Forgetting Those We’ve Lost
Hello dear friends, supporters, and advocates of the Homeless Empowerment Project! My name is Mimi Bouchouar, and it is with great pleasure and joy that I introduce myself to you as the new Executive Director of the Homeless Empowerment Project, publisher of Spare Change News. I am ecstatic and grateful to be a part of…
They don’t care about us
By the time this issue of Spare Change hits the streets, this country will have voted, the mid-terms will have passed, and we will know whether checks and balances have been somewhat restored in Washington, or if a runaway congress led by a tyrannical racist buffoon will continue to be the order of the day.…
Mayor Walsh speaks at national poverty conference
On Friday, Nov. 2, Mayor Marty Walsh spoke to a crowd at the Disrupting The Poverty Cycle Conference, hosted this year at the University of Massachusetts-Boston Campus Center. The conference, held biennially by Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath), attracts researchers, community organizers, policymakers, and lower-income families to connect and discuss over two days new and innovative…