Category: Columns
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Homeless Families
The more I work with the homeless, the more I can’t help but see the multitude of barriers to housing that can arise, including lack of affordable housing, family violence, employment and education barriers and mental health issues. However, one issue that I think is often overlooked in our attempts to alleviate homelessness in Boston…
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AIDS Walk 2016
I had fun on June 5, 2016, the day I participated in the AIDS Walk 2016. We started at the Boston Esplanade and went in one huge misshaped circle back to the Esplanade. I saw friends from both the Boston Living Center and the AIDS Action Committee. I didn’t have anybody from Spare Change News…
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Long Road to Recovery
Drug addiction destroys the “American dream” for many people. According to the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2014 approximately 25,000 men and women lost their lives due to prescription drug addiction. My mother, Betsy Cartagena, from Roxbury, Massachusetts, lost her chance at the dream when she…
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Boy’s Life: A Book Review
“Boy’s Life” by Robert R. McCammon, published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc. Zephyr, Alabama, is a small town where Cory Mackenson grew up in the early 60s. His father, Tom, was a milkman and sometimes Cory would ride with him early in the morning to help drop off full bottles…
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Homeless again? Part 2.
I had a lot of responses to my last column. Thank you all for your concern. I’ve temporarily landed on my feet but it wasn’t as simple as one might think. First, one of my options fell through, as my past once again came back to haunt me. How something that happened when you were…
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Ode to Orlando
For the past few days, I’ve been riddled with overwhelming emotions. Hurt, anguish, resentment, anger. The list goes on and on. I had these same emotions during the 9/11 attacks, the Boston Marathon bombing, the attack on Paris and the attack on Brussels. But the attacks in Orlando really hit me deeply because it was…
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Can Weed Help Homeless People in Massachusetts?
The short answer: yes, possibly. Last month, Colorado’s third largest city announced that it will use a portion of its revenue generated from tax on recreational cannabis to support homeless people and local city nonprofits. Aurora, Colo., expects to bring in $4.5 million from marijuana sales, according to the Aurora Sentinel. The City Council has plans…
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Understanding Homelessness: What It Is and Isn’t
Homelessness happens when people do not have safe and secure places to live. While this definition may sound quite simple, the causes of homelessness are often complicated and varied. For example, some causes include a house fire, economic strife, the loss of a job, a medical emergency, rising rents, a death in the family, addiction,…
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“A Man Lies Dreaming”: A Book Review
A Man Lies Dreaming by Lavie Tidhar; published by Melville House Publishing “A Man Lies Dreaming” is an amazing alternate history book written by Lavie Tidhar, the author of “The Violent Century” and World Fantasy Award winner “Osama.” In “A Man Lies Dreaming,” Wolf is a down-and-out private eye who was once the most powerful…
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Homeless Again?
Yes, you read that title right. I know, I can’t believe it either, but due to circumstances way beyond my pay grade, it’s a distinct possibility. Reasons? Well, let’s just say the system sucks like that, though my current living situation isn’t exactly ideal. I have a roof over my head, I’m safe, warm, dry…