Category: Profiles
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LAST WORD: SCN vendor Jon Denning
If you’ve ever passed through Harvard Square on a national holiday, you may have noticed a Spare Change News vendor in his early 20s carrying a holiday-inspired, cardboard sign. That’s Jon Denning. When we posted a picture of Denning with his last sign on the Spare Change News Facebook page—a message inspired by Martin Luther…
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LAST WORD: Algia Benjamin
Alabama in the early 1960s wasn’t the easiest place for an African-American woman to raise 10 children, but Algia Benjamin’s mother did just that—until they left for Boston in 1966. Growing up during the Civil Rights movement when segregation was still in place, Benjamin remembers his mother being so afraid that she sometimes felt reluctant…
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HEART STRINGS: Shelter Music Boston creates human connections
Julie Leven, classical violinist who holds degrees in English and Music from Oberlin College and Conservatory, has always felt an impulse to help the less fortunate and was influenced by her alma mater’s legacy of promoting social justice. Leven also loves music. These two passions came together for her in 2010 when she founded Shelter…
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The Hard Life and Untimely Death of Michael Stearns Jr.
BOSTON, Mass.—Michael lay unconscious for nine days in his hospital bed at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. His skin and eyes turned yellow from liver failure, and on the ninth day, he died. He was 42. “Ultimately, I watched as his body slowly started to shut down over nine days, his skin became jaundiced and…
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James Shearer: Spare Change News’ Co-Founder Looks Toward What’s Next
James Shearer is perched on the edge of his chair – a red Coca-Cola can in his right hand, his left hand motioning constantly as he speaks. At the moment, he is talking about his life after Spare Change News, and he is excited. “What’s coming next is going to be hard, but it’s going…
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In Memory Of
On July 31, we here at SCN lost an old friend, Jerome Frazier. I met Jerome just as SCN was starting. He, along with his brother John and their friend, Tony Kelly, were real street salesmen. I didn’t know much about Jerome. His dad was a preacher, and Jerome always looked and presented himself that…
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Angry, Young and Poor: Our Look at the World of Traveler Kids
Victor sits alongside his girlfriend, Tab, and their friend Levi on a sidewalk in Allston. A “Born to Die” tattoo snakes up his neck, and the letters A-C-A-B decorate his knuckles. “All cops are bastards,” he explains. He wears an open, camouflage-green vest with no shirt, his skin blackened from dirt collected along the road.…
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Overcoming Addiction: How One Woman Found Sobriety in Cooking
Sue wore a gray sweater and her hair was pulled back in a Red Sox cap. In her Boston accent she said it was the same outfit she wore a year and a half ago when she was released from prison. In her bag she saved some blue flowers that she brought home from her…