Author: Katherine Bennett

  • Know Hard Times or Homelessness? We’d Love You to Work For Us!

    What does the Trump Era mean for Spare Change News? In the simplest terms, it means that we as an organization feel called to think bigger. The original vision of the Spare Change founders to “build a bridge between the haves and the have nots” takes on a new urgency today as current events suggest…

  • Spare Change News Looks to go Electronic

    Spare Change News co-founder and board chair James Shearer frequently reminds me that “Spare Change News is immortal” because of the remarkable track record of against-the-odds  survival over the last 25 years.   When James tells me this, I smile and offer a counterpoint. Perhaps Spare Change owes its 25 years of uninterrupted service because…

  • ‘I Am A Muslim Too’ NYC March

    ‘I Am A Muslim Too’ NYC March

    Photos by Katherine Bennett In preparation for the “I am a Muslim too” march to be held at noon, blocks of barricades and dozens of police officers secured the area in preparation for a peaceful march over the President’s Day weekend. Democratic Mayor Bill De Blasio spoke to over 1,000 participants at the rally, and…

  • Lost Causes

    Lost Causes

    This election season has brought a degree of polarization that surpasses any previous election I can recall. Beyond politics, there seems to be an increased tendency to judge one another as being worthy or unworthy. The two leading candidates have paid lip service to visions for an America that serves all citizens, but that idealistic…

  • LONG LIVE FREE PRESS!

    LONG LIVE FREE PRESS!

    Navigating double parked delivery trucks, pedestrians walking in the street with faces glued to screens and deferring to bikers tends to make driving in Cambridge feel a bit like playing a video game. I couldn’t help but smile last week, however, when I had to stop my car in the middle of Mt Auburn street…

  • Readers Respond

    Readers Respond

    As the executive director of the Homeless Empowerment Project, which publishes Spare Change News, I had the privilege of getting to see all of the responses to Robert Sondak’s survey that ran last month. It was moving to see how many of you took the time to fill out the survey, which included 10 questions…

  • A Tale of Two Bridges: Marty Walsh Sets Priorities with the FY2017 Boston City Budget

    A Tale of Two Bridges: Marty Walsh Sets Priorities with the FY2017 Boston City Budget

    On Wednesday June 22, Spare Change News co-founder James Shearer and I participated in a meeting between Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee. Our “ask” was unsuccessful, even as I appreciated Walsh’s gracious manner. I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Marty Walsh, who appeared to be carrying the weight of…

  • CCSC Students lead “Empathy Project”

    CCSC Students lead “Empathy Project”

    Photo: Cynthia Abatt For the past four months, I’ve had the privilege of supervising two senior interns from the Community Charter School of Cambridge. Yusef Ferhani and Christy Felix have joined me each Wednesday to figure out practical ways to involve millennials in becoming part of the solution for America’s homelessness problem. Athletic, bright, attractive…

  • Thank you for partnering with us

    In May of 1992, a group of homeless men and women decided to work together to better themselves. With a stated goal of “showing that being homeless didn’t mean that you were worthless,” this circle of friends willed Spare Change News into existence with the help of a man named Tim Harris who now runs…

  • SCN teams up with Student Journalists

    SCN teams up with Student Journalists

    Back in 1992, the founders of Spare Change spoke earnestly of “Building a Bridge between the Haves and Have Nots.” This social justice newspaper was conceived of as more than an economic opportunity for vendors to have an alternative to panhandling for a living. The original purpose was to create a space for dialogue to…