Spare Change News

Tag: Issue 02-10-2012

  • Free Tax Preparation Services to Help Combat Poverty

    Nakia Hill Spare Change News Mitt Romney is not the only one filing his taxes this year. While the wealthy may be trying to dodge higher tax rates, low-income families are banking on collecting every penny borrowed from Uncle Sam last year. Boston and Cambridge are offering free services to the working class to assure…

  • New Initiative Targets Homelessness Among Veterans

    By Noelle Swan Spare Change News At 60 years old, Art Griffin is about to graduate from UMass Boston with a bachelor’s degree in social psychology. His eyes brighten when he talks about his post-graduation plans. “I want to work with veterans,” he says. The slight tremor in his hands briefly calms as he tilts…

  • When Bad Things Happen

    JAMES SHEARER Spare Change News A couple of weeks ago, the editor received a letter from a reader about a story one of our vendors had written about herself. The letter was critical of the decisions this vendor, who is homeless by the way, made. Not only was he critical of her, but of all…

  • Cradles to Crayons: Getting Essentials to Homeless and Low-income Children

    Liam Cunningham Spare Change News It all began during a typical holiday trip to Michigan, where Lynn Margherio travels nearly every winter to visit her family. During the trip, Margherio was struck with an eye-opening realization while helping her young niece get dressed. “I was helping my niece get dressed and was pulling things from…

  • The Legacy of the Black Soldiers of the Civil War

    In honor of Black History Month Jacques Fleury Spare Change News “Cowards die many times before their deaths, the valiant never taste of death but once.” — Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (II, ii, 32-37) The contributions and achievements of black people throughout American History have often been overlooked in traditional history textbooks. Although I was educated…

  • MBTA railroading public on fare hikes, service cuts

    Beatrice Bell Spare Change News On January 23,. I went to a public meeting at the state Transportation Building in Boston and I, along with the hundreds of other people who had attended, was shocked to see how cold and callous some MBTA representatives sounded when they were speaking about fare hikes and service cutbacks…

  • MIT Students Open Soup Kitchen; Diners Wanted

    Alexander R. Moore Spare Change News During these difficult economic times, even the most prosperous feel the clutch of despair. It is put on our doorstep then, as humans, to share what wealth we do have with those less fortunate than ourselves. Our duty is to spread happiness; the alternative is to surrender to the…

  • We Can End Homelessness

    By Lyndia Downie, President and Executive Director, Pine Street Inn There was a time when most of society assumed that someone like “Walter,” a chronically homeless man struggling with depression and addiction, had few alternatives to (or perhaps even preferred) life on the street. Walter would stay at a shelter like Pine Street Inn on…

  • Letters: Haitian liberation and the struggle for freedom

    Dear Editor, I am writing to express my appreciation for a well-written article by Jacques Fleury,”How Haiti Earned Its Place in Black History.” His piece impressed me by his personal touch of the history of Haitian liberation and the struggle that all people of color experienced on the road to freedom. His article echoes the…

  • Editorial: Food stamp demagoguery

    It is a callous and cynical game. Ronald Reagan showed us how it works with his mythic welfare queen from Chicago’s South Side, playing to the nation’s emotions and fueling suspicions and jealousies among voters. Today, the food stamp program is portrayed as a big government handout to a growing entitlement class. Republican presidential contender…