Author: Vincent Flanagan
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Supreme Court Protects Homeless Rights
As this article will explain, numerous important issues involving the rights of the homeless have been addressed recently by our legal system, including a major victory for the homeless through the Supreme Court’s June 29 ruling in Thayer v. City of Worcester, in which the Homeless Empowerment Project was involved. As most of our regular…
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DIRECTOR'S NOTE: Homeless Bill of Rights
Vincent Flanagan, the outgoing executive director of the Homeless Empowerment Project which publishes Spare Change News, testified in favor of the Homeless Bill of Rights last week. Here’s an excerpt from his plea to the assembly at the Massachusetts State House: Our safety net has a huge hole in it. Trying to survive on what…
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HONORING BOB: Cambridge Community Foundation’s Bob Hurlbut earns HEP award
On May 12, 2015, the Homeless Empowerment Project, publisher of Spare Change News, held its 23rd Annual Fundraiser and Gala at the beautiful Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Supporters, friends, board members, staff and volunteers all came to the event to support HEP and its mission of empowering the economically disadvantaged in Greater Boston.…
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Spare Change News Files Brief in Supreme Court Case to Defend Worcester’s Homeless
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Homeless Empowerment Project/Spare Change News was contacted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to join in their admirable effort to have an ordinance passed by the city of Worcester declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court. The Board of Trustees unanimously agreed to support the ACLU’s request. The…
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Criminalizing the Homeless
As the New York Times noted in its 17 July 2014 editorial, “Shunting the Homeless From Sight,” the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down the City of Los Angeles’ ban on citizens living out of automobiles. We all should be grateful for the wise decision of the Ninth Circuit, which…
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Spring Funding Appeal
The recent demise of the Boston Phoenix has left many Bostonians wondering what will be the fate of progressive independent journalism in the Greater Boston area. Spare Change News is here to stay. The Homeless Empowerment Project has been publishing Spare Change News, the country’s longest continuously running street paper, for 21 years with the…