Category: News
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The history of homelessness in the US rears its head in the face of COVID-19
Many will not remember this, but before the early 1980s, there weren’t millions of homeless people in the United States. Far too many lived in poverty, but people were not forced to live in the streets. The advent of contemporary homelessness is well documented. It was created by a federal government response to what was,…
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Resiliency: A Moment In An Addict’s Time
If I made funny noises and ran around the room, I wouldn’t have to tell the therapist anything. I know my mother told him I wet the bed all the time. But no one else knows about the boy who said he would play doctor and stuck the stick up my rectum. And no one…
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Addressing Poverty Through Policy Reform
Statewide Poverty Action Network (Poverty Action) understands that the root causes of issues such as homelessness are policies that only benefit a small and elite group of people that have put them in place. According to Adriana Lasso-Harrier, the communications manager of the organization, the goal of Poverty Action is to make policy changes that…
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There are a lot of lessons in this pandemic – will we learn them?
COVID-19 has taken over all of our lives. It has separated us from family and friends, closed schools, playgrounds, and churches; it’s taken from us all that we take for granted. Simple things like going for walks seem risky, and many of our cities look like ghost towns. It’s so quiet you can hear the…
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Senior Living in the Days of the Plague
The COVID-19 pandemic has me rethinking assisted housing for seniors. I’m watching the death toll among nursing homes and veteran facilities skyrocket. They are like petri dishes enabling the virus to leap from one human being to the next. I’m 74-years-old and my wife is 72. I’m grateful that we haven’t made the transition to…
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Progressives in Congress try to protect homeless, prevent more homelessness
Editor’s Note: For the first time in its nearly 30 year history, Spare Change News if off the streets. While we want our vendors to earn a living, we don’t want them to risk their health to do so. In an effort to provide them with some kind of income while the pandemic rages, we’ve…
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Homeless in a pandemic: How do you distance yourself when there’s no place to go?
Jerry (foreground) came to Boston from Puerto Rico six years ago because there is more help to be had in Boston, although “not so much,” he admits. Photo By Luis Edgardo Cotto. One of the populations most vulnerable to the coronavirus is that of the homeless living in Boston, a city with over 2,000 cases…
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…’To You’
” First they came for the Socialists … I did not speak out … and there was no one left to speak for me.” — Martin Niemoller It always closes in on you the same way. When it was about being kidnapped (back) into slavery. Or when peoples have been, are plagued by epidemic…
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Pandemic redefines ‘essential’ as workers brave coronavirus
Mario and Dave behind the counter of Downtown Wine and Spirits in Somerville. As the coronavirus spreads its respiratory distress all over the world, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has issued an advisory asking that all “non-essential” workers remain home from work in order to stymie the spread of the virus. The types of workers deemed…
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Sheltering in Place
These are weird times. The doctors postponed Mary Esther’s spine surgery until June 10 because of the situation. Her lungs are challenged normally, so it’s important that she not get exposed to the coronavirus. This strange thing has put all our lives on hold. My heart goes out to people who are homeless and have…