Spare Change News

Category: Human Rights

  • Infrastructure Inequality: The Battle to Fix the Long Island Bridge

    Infrastructure Inequality: The Battle to Fix the Long Island Bridge

    Outside of Woods-Mullen Shelter, just down the street from Boston Medical Center, sits a large, cage-like structure. A fence runs down the middle, creating two chain-link hallways. On a windy Boston afternoon, people in hoodies, sweatpants, ball caps and shades gather there, some huddled together, others standing and talking or smoking, many clinging to the…

  • Bake Sale at City Hall for Boston Public Schools

    BOSTON, Mass.—The Boston Public School system is facing a $61 million deficit next year due to cuts in state and federal funding, cost increases and enrollment miscalculations. On April 8, a group of parents showed up to raise money and awareness for this issue by turning to an age-old fundraising technique: a bake sale. While…

  • St. Patrick’s Day Peace Parade Offers Alternative for Anti-War, LGBTQ Groups

    SOUTH BOSTON, Mass.—For the fourth year in a row, a second, smaller parade wound through the streets of South Boston behind the marchers in the historic St. Patrick’s Day parade, which is organized by the South Boston Allied War Veterans’ Council. The  St. Patrick’s Day Peace Parade is organized by Veterans for Peace and Massachusetts…

  • From Tacoma to Texas, Hunger Strikers Challenge Private Immigration Detention Centers

    From Tacoma to Texas, Hunger Strikers Challenge Private Immigration Detention Centers

    CONROE, Texas—Adelina Cáceres doesn’t understand why her husband, David Vásquez, who is a documented resident, remains detained at the privately run Joe Corley Detention Facility in Conroe, Texas, as a result of a prior charge he already served time for years ago. “Why do they call him a criminal?” Cáceres asked as she sobbed during…

  • Cambridge Considers Adding More Public Porcelain

    Cambridge Considers Adding More Public Porcelain

    CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—We have all been there: You are out on a Sunday afternoon, minding your own business, when suddenly … nature calls. Hopefully you are near a public restroom when it happens, or a business that allows the public to use its facilities. However, most shops ask you to buy something before using the bathroom,…

  • Candidate Releases Video Promoting New Initiative to Battle Drugs

    ROXBURY, Mass.—Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joe Avellone has continued to make substance abuse treatment reform a key issue in his campaign platform. He first announced a six-state initiative to battle substance abuse in all New England states and has since released a video showcasing his proposed Office of Recovery. The Office of Recovery would operate under…

  • Nursing Home Chain Comes Under Fire for Labor Practices

    BOSTON, Mass.—Genesis, the nation’s largest nursing home chain, has come under fire from workers across the Commonwealth. Complaints include unaffordable health care plans, low salaries, the recent closure of Glenwood Hood Nursing Home in Lowell, and new plans to close the Falmouth Center. Workers at the Glenwood facility are particularly upset that they were not…

  • Candidate Proposes Office of Recovery

    BOSTON, Mass.—Democratic candidate Joe Avellone announced in February that he would establish an Office of Recovery focused on substance abuse treatment if elected governor. According to a statement released by the Avellone Campaign, the Office of Recovery would operate under the Executive Office of Health and Human Services.The Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse would be…

  • Patrick Calls for Criminal Reform for Substance Abuse and Mental Illness

    BOSTON, Mass.—Gov. Deval Patrick has announced a plan to reduce recidivism by 50 percent in the next five years by implementing a step-down program, substance abuse rehabilitation and proper care for mentally ill offenders. To reduce recidivism, Patrick plans to introduce a step-down program that will allow inmates to finish their sentences at county-based houses…

  • Instanbul: Still Rising Up

    ISTANBUL, Turkey—As the dust settles, change fills the air in Istanbul. On 28 May 2013, close to 100 people occupied Gezi Park in Taksim Square to protest its government-ordered demolition. When police stormed the park with tear gas and water cannons, the peaceful occupy movement turned into mass demonstrations lasting about two weeks all over…