Author: Katherine Bennett
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…