Category: Columns
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Two Years
By the time you read this, the second anniversary of the closing of Long Island Shelter will have come and gone without much fanfare. Yes, there was a rally by the Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee. A very well-done and well-attended one at that. We’ve even managed to arrange an upcoming meeting with the state’s secretary…
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Addressing Homelessness with a New Lens
When people look around the Cambridge/Boston area they see great universities, a thriving economy, innovation and new construction. Yet, surrounded by all of this wealth, we often lose sight of the fact that there are many in our community who are struggling. They are struggling to pay rent, put food on the table and pay…
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Broken Records: Appeals Nonsense
Secretary of the Commonwealth Galvin Attempts to Rewrite Law in Order to Dodge It An update to the Massachusetts public records law is set to go into effect in January, and with it a new set of regulations drafted by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin’s office. To those unfamiliar with the quagmire that is…
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Election Issues: Minimum Wage
The minimum wage has been a very contentious issue in many local governments and state houses, but this year, the issue could be a focal point in the presidential race. It’s important to know that for an increase in the federal minimum wage to occur, the Democrats would have to win the house and senate,…
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Homeless Empowerment Tip: The Boston Public Library’s Central Library
When you’re shunned by family and friends, you find yourself in a shelter. The lights of the shelter are turned on at 5.30 in the morning. Always 5.30 in the morning. You’re awakened by a smell that no man or woman should ever encounter. A foul mix of body odor, alcohol and dirty laundry. This…
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Dark Matter by Blake Crouch: A Book Review
Crown Publishers, an Imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. www.crownpublishing.com “What might have been and what has been point to one end, which is always present. Footfalls echo in the memory Down the passage which we did not take Towards the door we never opened.”—T.S. Eliot…
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My Mistake
A couple of columns ago, I made a mistake. It was hardly as big a deal as people want to make it, but it was a mistake. I wrote that homelessness in Boston had increased by 32% according to the latest city-administered census. I was off big time according to the numbers. It was actually…
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Change is Good
Every once in a while, things have got to change in order for things to get better. If you become stuck in the same old rut, things won’t get better. Trust me. That being said, next month SCN will be increasing its price to $2 for the public. Vendors will pay 50 cents, but will…
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A Way to Support Homeless Veterans
My name is Gerald Harrell. I’ve been a Spare Change News vendor since 1992 and want to support organizations that help homeless veterans. I know people say that Mayor Walsh has eliminated veteran homelessness, but there is much more to be done. Too many people who served our country are still on the streets. I…
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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…