Category: Opinion
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VOICES FROM THE STREET: A plan, a census and a fall guy
A couple of weeks ago, the 35th annual Boston homeless census was released. Those of you who know me know how I feel about the census. I have never hidden the fact that I believe it to be inaccurate in every way. And while I hoped that every effort would be made to get this…
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VOICES FROM THE STREET: A story about opium
To show how long the opiate wars have been going on, we’d have to go back to the mid 1800s when the East India Company sponsored by the British was forcing ships full to the brim with opium cakes on China. Every year ships would arrive at China’s shores and dispense the opium to the…
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VOICES FROM THE STREET: Celebrating what exactly?
By the time you read this, the Fourth of July will have already passed and we will all be bracing for those dreary dog days of summer. I will do the usual on the fourth: cookouts, partying, blah, blah, blah. It all seems so routine. Going through the motions because we’re taught that we should…
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Sleepless in Seattle
When I flew from Boston to Seattle last week as a delegate for the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) summit, I was expecting rain. No showers to report. Not a drop. However, the outpouring of support for Spare Change News from street paper editors and staffers from across the globe was inspiring. We reclaimed…
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Executive Director of Homeless Empowerment Project, Inc. job listing
Executive Director Homeless Empowerment Project, Inc. (part-time position) The Homeless Empowerment Project (HEP) is a not-for-profit corporation with an annual budget of $150,000 and five paid staff positions (all part-time). For 23 years, every two weeks HEP has published Spare Change News, a street newspaper addressing issues of homelessness, poverty, and social justice in the…
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VOICES FROM THE STREETS: A wake-up call
In an interview for the last issue of Spare Change News, I spoke a little about the last time I was homeless four years ago. It didn’t last very long, about three or four months, but it was just a tad traumatic for me. And yes, traumatic is a bit of a strong word. But…
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VOICES FROM THE STREET: Thinking of you, Willa
It’s maddening as a writer when you’re working on your column and you’re way past deadline. Then something pops up. It makes you stop the presses and restart as I’m doing now. I don’t like it but if I don’t get this out it would be lost. By now everyone on the planet has seen…
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VENDOR VOICES: When I was homeless
For me, the 1980s was a time of creativity, a lot of stress and homelessness. I left Boston after six years and went on to complete my associates’ degree at a suburban Long Island college. Once I got back to New York, I registered with a temporary employment agency and worked in my first full-time…
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VENDOR VOICES: We spent millions on the Bolling Building in Roxbury. Why?
Mayor Marty Walsh was at the ribbon cutting ceremony on April 18 to officially open the Bruce C. Bolling Building in Roxbury. It was a nice event until I learned more about the building itself. It’s the new home of the Boston Public School Committee and several other organizations geared toward helping the community. They’re…
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VOICES FROM THE STREET: Voices of the homeless
A few years ago, as I was about to become president of the board at the Homeless Empowerment Project, I found myself walking through Boston’s Back Bay to clear my head and think about the huge responsibility I was about to take on. I was making my way through the T station there when I…