Author: Robert Sondak
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With Spare Change News closed, a local fund awards one SCN vendor-writer a way to pay rent
Governor Baker’s March 23 emergency order for all non-essential businesses to close impacted Spare Change News and its vendors like myself significantly. Spare Change News closed its doors for 11 weeks and reopened Friday, June 12. Over the past three months, I sold older back issues to the public in my Coolidge Corner, Brookline spot.…
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Cambridge and Somerville set up new defense fund for immigrants
The Cambridge Community Foundation (CCF), working together with the cities of Somerville and Cambridge, has established the United Legal Defense Fund to help defray the cost of legal representation for immigrants. This new fund expands the previous Cambridge Legal Defense Fund for immigrants which was launched one year ago by Cambridge mayor Marc McGovern-in partnership…
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Friday Cafe offered food and warmth during New England winters
Each week during the colder Massachusetts months, about 125 people meet in a renovated parish hall in Harvard Square for a free Friday lunch. The Friday Cafe is a one day a week day shelter and lunch run by Rev. Kate Layzer. This program offers a wide range of services designed to help either the…
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How can the homeless apply for Mass ID?
After my Mass ID expired, I researched online and found out that I needed a birth certificate to renew my ID. This took me to my hometown of New York City, where I visited the Department of Health’s Vital Records Office. It was there that I received help to complete an online application. I received…
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Harvard Square Cafe Will Provide Jobs, Training to Homeless Youth in Cambridge
Two Harvard students have signed the lease for a cafe that would employ homeless youth in Cambridge. Breaktime is a cafe that has a mission beyond serving coffee and scones; the plan is to provide job training and stable employment for Cambridge’s economically insecure youth. Harvard undergraduates Tony Shu and Connor Schoen teamed up to…
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Cambridge seeks to preserve hundreds of affordable housing units
The City of Cambridge is preserving 504 units of affordable housing at Alewife Brook Towers. Cambridge has started to meet with Schochent Companies, the realtor-manager- owner of the property, to renew the HUD contract for subsidized housing. Alewife Brook Towers are two 22-story buildings, a 48-year old housing complex that rises at the end of…
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Cambridge seeks to preserve hundreds of affordable housing units
The City of Cambridge is preserving 504 units of affordable housing at Alewife Brook Towers. Cambridge has started to meet with Schochent Companies, the realtor-manager- owner of the property, to renew the HUD contract for subsidized housing. Alewife Brook Towers are two 22-story buildings, a 48-year old housing complex that rises at the end of…
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Bike Share Program Offers Discounts for SNAP Participants and Those in Other Programs
This past January Hubway, Boston’s bike share system, announced a new discount program for low-income EBT card holders to participate. The Department of Transitional Assistance, which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Motivate, the operator of Hubway, launched the “SNAP Card to Ride.” Hubway was started in 2011 by the late Boston Mayor…
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Bike Share Program Offers Discounts for SNAP Participants and Those in Other Programs
This past January Hubway, Boston’s bike share system, announced a new discount program for low-income EBT card holders to participate. The Department of Transitional Assistance, which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Motivate, the operator of Hubway, launched the “SNAP Card to Ride.” Hubway was started in 2011 by the late Boston Mayor…