Author: James Shearer
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It Makes No Sense: Why close successful transitional programs?
Last week homeless activists got some sobering news: two transitional programs have been shut down. Project SOAR and Safe Harbor are gone. Just like that, bang, both programs, which have been highly successful, have been shut down. But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. What exactly is a transitional program, you ask? It’s pretty simple:…
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Sound the alarm: HUD will face cuts under Carson
Spare Change News co-founder and columnist James Shearer. File photo For those of you who thought homelessness and poverty couldn’t get any worse, strap in. The new head of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson barely got his feet warm when the Trump administration revealed what’s in store for those on the bottom of the…
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Goodbye Harvard Square?
Late last week, I found out about a meeting taking place at Cambridge City Hall held by the Cambridge Historical Commission regarding the controversial proposal to gut the buildings that house the Curious George bookstore and Urban Outfitters and essentially turn it into a mall. I looked forward to the meeting with some excitement because…
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Remember Them?
As I sit here putting together another column, the city of Boston and the entire state is being hit with our first real winter storm of the season. I can’t help but think of the homeless caught out in it—just this very morning, I saw a video of a group of homeless people and advocates…
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There Needs to be Justice
While many Bostonians joined the rest of the country and braced for the arrival of President Donald Trump, a homeless man was beaten in a very public place. Just before Christmas, in North Station—where both the Celtics and the Bruins play upstairs in TD Garden—Michael Hathaway was allegedly (according to video!) beaten by a security…
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Friendship
When it comes to true friendship between two people, many of us don’t know what that means. When we call someone our BFF, what does that really mean? Is it just something people say when they hang out once in a while? Or is it something else entirely? Let me tell you what I think:…
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A FEELING OF SORROW
On a bitterly cold Wednesday morning a couple of weeks ago I walked slowly up Beacon Hill towards the Church on The Hill. I was walking slow not because of my COPD, but because it was particular day that I have come to dread. It was December 21, National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. Services were…
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Being Grateful
Thanksgiving was never on my list of favorite holidays long before the real stories of the Pilgrims and Native Americans emerged. When I was young, growing up in New York, I never experienced those Hallmark moments of the family gathered around a large table with an overly stuffed turkey and all the fixings. No one…
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WE’RE GONNA BE ALL RIGHT
This morning we all woke up to what seemed like a nightmare. Donald Trump, the little bully (and by “bully” I’m being nice) who actually got elected despite his racist ramblings, his belittlement of women, etc., has, against all odds, become President of the United States. Sometimes the bully wins, and when it happens we…
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Living With Scars
Sometimes I look at the life I have today and say, wow, I’m truly blessed to have it all: family, friends, etc. You couldn’t ask for much more. I’d sometimes even get to the point where I would romanticize my whole life, especially my past. But there’s nothing romantic or funny about parts of my…