Category: Homelessness & Poverty
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New York City Sees Record Homeless Population
A record-breaking total of more than 60,000 homeless individuals are seeking refuge in New York City’s homeless shelters this fall, a deluge that is drawing attention to the city’s handling of its homeless citizens. The city’s affordable housing crisis is the primary cause of the increase, according to policy analyst for New York City’s Coalition…
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National Runaway Prevention Month
A recent annual report from the National Runaway Safeline says that each year, roughly 250,000 children and adolescents call expressing concerns about their family life or home life, and anywhere from 1.6 to 2.8 billion youth run away from home. As part of its mission to help these youth, the NRS engages in a month-long…
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2016 Fall Appeal
Dear Friend of Spare Change News, For the past 24 years, Spare Change News has produced a twice-a-month social justice newspaper sold by vendors seeking to raise themselves out of poverty. Twice a month, Spare Change News vendors crowd into the basement of Old Cambridge Baptist Church and pick up copies of the latest edition.…
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Does Massachusetts Need a Homelessness Czar? State Representatives Chime in on the Matter
A recent article in the Boston Herald reported that a number of Massachusetts state representatives are calling upon government officials to appoint a homelessness czar in response to the high numbers of homeless youth in the state’s urban areas. At the start of 2016, The Boston Public Health Commission reported findings of 500 homeless families,…
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Alleged Serial Killer Who Targeted San Diego’s Homeless Found Mentally Incompetent to Stand Trial
A San Diego serial killer arrested for the murder of three homeless men in July was found mentally incompetent to stand trial recently by Superior Court Judge Steven Stone. Stone ruled that Jon David Guerrero, 39, will spend the next three years at Patton State Hospital—a forensic psychiatric hospital in San Bernardino County—according to San…
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Harvard Receives Grant to Study Racial and Economic Inequality, Influence Public Policy
Harvard University professor William Julius Wilson will be spearheading a new study conducted by the Hutchins Center for African and African American Studies. As recent news suggests, racial and economic inequality continues to be a poignant reality in America today. In response, the Hutchins Center’s study will send students onto the streets of Boston to…
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Food For Free in Cambridge Provides Farm-to-Table Produce for Boston-Based Homeless Shelter Pine Street Inn
As winter approaches, one Cambridge nonprofit has taken advantage of this year’s growing season to help combat hunger and homelessness. This year, Food For Free dedicated all the vegetables it grew on a quarter acre of farmland in Lincoln, Massachusetts, to just one of the 125 groups it partners with in Greater Boston: Pine Street…
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Emmanuel Gospel Center Raises funds for organizations in the South End
Volunteers and Boston residents gathered in Blackstone Square on Saturday, October 15, to raise awareness and money for programs that serve the homeless population in the South End. Starlight Ministries, a program of Emmanuel Gospel Center on San Juan Street, has been raising $20,000 through its annual Starlight 5K Walkathon for six years for programs…
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Don’t Feed the Homeless, It Only Encourages Them
Keith McHenry, co-founder of Food Not Bombs, in 1988. “Street feeding programs without comprehensive services actually increase and promote homelessness”—Marbut Consulting. Over 70 cities in the United States have passed laws banning or restricting the sharing of free food with the poor outside. A new theory being used to justify limits to the sharing of meals…
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Homeless Rights Advocates Mistrustful of BRA Rebranding
On Wednesday, housing and homeless rights advocates wrote an open letter to the City Council and people of Boston reprimanding Mayor Walsh’s handling of the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA). The letter coincided with Walsh’s announcement of the rebranding of the BRA, renaming it the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA). Boston activist Mel King was…