Spare Change News

Tag: Cambridge

  • Police Surveillance Put Under Civilian Oversight in Cambridge

    The Cambridge City Council passed the Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) ordinance Monday, Dec. 10, making Cambridge the first city in the Boston area to implement civilian oversight over the use of police surveillance technologies. The new law says that no city department can fund, use, acquire, or use any surveillance technologies without first…

  • Cambridge legal fund will defend immigrants facing deportation

    The Cambridge Community Foundation (CCF) has created a legal fund to help low-income immigrants facing deportation. CCF announced in August that the Cambridge Legal Defense Fund for Immigrants will distribute $150,000 to help undocumented people in immigration court. The fund, which was created in March, is the response of CCF and Cambridge mayor Marc McGovern…

  • Harvard Square Cafe Will Provide Jobs, Training to Homeless Youth in Cambridge

    Two Harvard students have signed the lease for a cafe that would employ homeless youth in Cambridge. Breaktime is a cafe that has a mission beyond serving coffee and scones; the plan is to provide job training and stable employment for Cambridge’s economically insecure youth. Harvard undergraduates Tony Shu and Connor Schoen teamed up to…

  • Know Hard Times or Homelessness? We’d Love You to Work For Us!

    What does the Trump Era mean for Spare Change News? In the simplest terms, it means that we as an organization feel called to think bigger. The original vision of the Spare Change founders to “build a bridge between the haves and the have nots” takes on a new urgency today as current events suggest…

  • Cambridge Might Increase Housing Stock to 20 Percent Affordable

    Cambridge has created 100 units of affordable housing over the past year, a trend it’s looking to build on in 2017. The Cambridge City Council hopes to increase the percentage of affordable housing to 20 percent of the city’s total residential housing units by June of this year. Cambridge implemented inclusionary zoning, a tool utilized…

  • Sixty-one affordable homes coming to Cambridge

    The week of July 16, LP Solutions transferred its equity stake in the Close Building to Just-A-Start (JAS), a local nonprofit, allowing it to expand its property share in the Cambridge affordable housing market. With this transfer, affordable housing will continue to grow at the Close Building, a former chocolate confectionary factory. LP Solutions is…

  • Teachers out in force to protest Betsy DeVos at Harvard

    When Education Secretary Betsy Devos came to the Kennedy School of Government last week, she faced protesters outside the school as well as inside. The crowd outside included members of the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance, a coalition of teachers, parents, students, and civil rights groups. They were out front with signs and amplifiers making it…

  • Community Development Corporation Secures 61 Affordable Using Units for Cambridge

    The week of July 16, LP Solutions transferred its equity stake in the Close Building to Just-A-Start (JAS), a local nonprofit, allowing it to expand its property share in the Cambridge affordable housing market.   With this transfer, affordable housing will continue to grow at the Close Building, a former chocolate confectionary factory. LP Solutions…

  • Jetpac: The New Face of Diversity and Inclusion

    Jetpac: The New Face of Diversity and Inclusion

    Although Jetpac is an acronym that stands for Justice, Education, Technology, Policy and Advocacy Center, it’s much more than that for Muslim Americans. Shaun Kennedy, Jetpac’s executive director, and Nadeem Mazen, its president, founded the nonprofit in December 2015 in order to increase civic engagement and community service in Muslim communities. Kennedy, who’s from Norfolk…

  • City of Cambridge moving inclusionary zoning amendment into law

    City of Cambridge moving inclusionary zoning amendment into law

    Cambridge has created 100 units of affordable housing over the past year,  a trend it is looking to continue and build upon in 2017. The Cambridge city council hopes to increase the percentage of affordable housing to 20 percent of the city’s total residential housing units by June of this year. Cambridge implemented inclusionary zoning,…