Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Spare Change News and HSBA partners announce The Empathy Project
Harvard Square Business Association just announced the Empathy Project, a collaboration between Spare Change News, Homeless Empowerment Project, and our fellow Harvard Square Business Association member, the Community Charter School of Cambridge. The project is organized by SCN interns and CCSC seniors Yusef Ferhani and Christy Felix. On May 7th, the, National Day of Service, high…
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Last Word: Denice Lowery
This past winter, Spare Change News published Denice Lowery’s poem “Spring Time: How We Grow.” Denice wrote about growth and the cyclical phases of a person’s life using the metaphor of a seed. Beginning its life “burrowed in the soil,” the seed is nourished by the sun, sprouts leaves and eventually grows “older” and “stronger.”…
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Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons Talks to Spare Chance News about housing, homelessness, and linkage fees
SCN: You served your first term as mayor from 2008–2009. What did you learn in your first term and how will this term be different? DS: You really don’t know until you know. It’s a lot of work: the office of the mayor. For two reasons, one you come with a sense of what you…
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Vending from Coast to Coast: An Interview with Marlon Crump
My name is Mike, and I’ve been a Spare Change News vendor at Whole Foods Market on Prospect Street in Central Square, Cambridge for over six years. This past October, I visited a friend in Portland, Oregon. One day, while in downtown Portland, I came out of a 7 Eleven Store and saw a blue-suited…
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The Fireman by Joe Hill: A Book Review
“Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.” Once the fire starts it’s nothing but trouble. You can spell trouble D-E-A-T-H! It really does take a Fireman to put out a fire. It also takes a nurse, one with true compassion, not faked; the children see right through faked compassion, to ease them when they’re sick. Harper…
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The Frustration of Homelessness
On March 21, a group of homeless advocates and homeless and formerly homeless people visited Boston City Hall for a hearing with members of the Boston City Council to secure the mayor’s support for funding the Housing Voucher Program. The goal was to develop a program that would use city funds to house individuals and…
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Mass. Coalition for the Homeless’ Furniture Bank celebrates 30 years
Photo: Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless’ Furniture Bank marked a major milestone recently, celebrating 30 years of providing free furniture to people transitioning out of homelessness or living in poverty. The Furniture Bank was created in 1985 in the city of Lynn, the first of its kind in the state,…
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A Mouthful of Shame: Jim Norton talks “Language Policing”, Drug Addiction, Stand-Up Career
Jim Norton has been turning heads for quite some time. His brand of humor is just the right mix of crude and down-to-earth brilliance, and whether it be on the stand-up stage or over the radio waves as co-host of the wildly famous (some might say infamous) WAAF-originated Opie & Anthony radio show (Now titled…
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From Homelessness to Housing: A Revere woman shares her journey and a call to action
The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless is a statewide public policy and direct service organization that’s presently working on expanding the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program, a key homelessness prevention resource. The expansion of RAFT would make it possible for low-income individuals to receive financial assistance to help stabilize their housing crises or to…
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Newton Photographer Empowers the Homeless Population
All photos: Nick Cosky A photographer’s passion for capturing the beauty of Boston has developed into a passion for helping the city’s people in need. “Every location that my photography brought me I would see people who were homeless or in need,” said Nick Cosky of Newton, MA. Cosky described how his project began one…
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