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Helping People Help Themselves

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EDITORIAL:
Homeless Hotspots
Marge Piercy talks
with SCN about her
fiction and poetry
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Helping People Help Themselves Helping People Help Themselves
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SPARE CHANGE
March 23 - April 5, 2012
- page 9
Celebrating Our 20th Year as Bostons Street Newspaper
Forum on
Homeless Policy
Op-Ed: Rick Santorum,
Anti-American
- page 8
- page 4 - page 3 - page 2
NICK FLYNN:
From Pine Street
to Hollywood
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Spare Change News March 23 - April 5, 2012
Spare Change News
is published by the HOMELESS EMPOWERMENT PROJECT (HEP)
Spare Change News
1151 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: 617-497-1595
Fax: 617-868-0767
E-mail:
editor@sparechangenews.net
director@sparechangenews.net
Website:
www.sparechangenews.net
HEP ADMINISTRATION

Board President
James Shearer
Vice President
Michelle Ronayne
Treasurer
Chris McKnett
Secretary
Cheryl Jordan

Co-Clerks
Erik Paulson
Kathrine Waite
Board Members
Kristen Caretta
Cheryl Jordon
Joseph MacDonald
Jos Mateo
Michael Morisy
Samuel Weems
Bob Woodbury
Bookkeeper
Lisa Adams
Vendor Supervisors
Algia Benjamin
Barbara Johnson
Burrell White
Charles Stallings
Mike Valasunas
Reggie Wynn
editorial
Vision & Mission
Spare Change News was founded in 1992 by a group of homeless
people and a member of Boston Jobs with Peace. Spare Change
is published by the nonprofit organization The Homeless
Empowerment Project (HEP).
SPARE CHANGES GOAL:
To present, by our own example, that homeless and
economically disadvantaged people, with the proper resources,
empowerment, opportunity, and encouragement are capable of
creating change for ourselves in society.
HEPS OBJECTIVES:
To empower the economically disadvantaged in Greater Boston
through self-employment, skill development and self-expression.
To create forums, including those of independent media in order to
reshape public perception of poverty and homelessness.
Editor in Chief
Tom Benner
Assistant Editor
Nakia Hill
Poetry Editor
Marc D. Goldfinger
Graphic Designer
Brendan Bernard
Puzzle Editor
Samuel Weems
Cartoonist
Michael Ripple
Editorial Assistants
Mike Ahern
Bryant Antoine
Ashlee Avery
Alison Clark
Andrea Costello
Marina Dreyer
Madeline Hernandez
Chalkey Horenstein
Alex Keating
Christopher A. Mesfin
Annmarie Silva
Samuel Weems
J. Andrew Wein
Contributing Writers
Michael Ahern
Tom Benner
Dave Church
Jacques Fleury
Marc D. Goldfinger
Aaron James
Ali Noorani
Ker 'Krier
James Shearer
Robert Sondak
Noelle Swan
Patty Wittnebert Tomsky
Distribution Managers/Vendor
Coordinators
Barbara Johnson
Christopher A. Mesfin
Vendor Disciplinary Chairman
Noreen Mulkern
Since the time of Charles Dickens in the 1800s,
the poor and downtrodden have been used in
various ways in society, sometimes for better and
sometimes for worse. The premises and outcomes
of this kind of hiring of the disadvantaged are up
for review and one ought to understand their clear
implications about how a society treats its poor.
As long ago as Dickens time, the disadvantaged
were hired to walk around the streets of London
wearing two wooden boards, front and rear, with
advertisements on them for various shops and
stores. Sure, these people were paid a pittance for
their labors, which was better than nothing and
maybe that evening they could eat a better meal
than usual.
But its a conundrum.
This is clearly exploitation of the otherwise help-
less who have no choice but to take the bargain,
although the worker does get something in return:
money. But in this Faustian bargain, the poor person
is actually only given a brief respite from his tor-
ment, only to be returned the next day into his sad-
dened state of affairs with no hand up to better his
station in life in a more permanent way.
One finds, in our modern times, similar conun-
drums that are thinly disguised forms of sandwich
boards.
For example, in some university towns, there
are endless medical studies that need volunteers,
and pay them little but use their bodies and time.
Some studies are lucrative and long-lasting, maybe
a few months. Others are $25 for a day and are one-
offs. Most people on the low end of the study and
survey world are homeless or very poor and must
do this. Must they do it? Well, maybe their choices
are more limited than others due to affliction, or ill-
ness, or bad choices in life, or they just plain need
the money.
In addition, there was a recent music industry
conference where they paid the homeless to wear
advertising shirts and also had them push mobile
Internet connections though the large crowd. They
got some money and donations in return. But one
asks; morally, is this not just another example of
sandwich-boarding?
Its hard to say, actually. One can make a case
either way. In a society, or more broadly, a civiliza-
tion, one is generally paid for ones work. Its just
the terms of the bargain that makes or breaks the
feather of helpfulness or exploitation.
Is it a good thing for Joes Pizza or Jimmys
Dry Cleaners to donate 100 clean new t-shirts to a
homeless shelter with the company logo and phone
number and website all over the shirt so that they
be worn and seen by those meandering through a
town or city during the daylight hours? Its a tos-
sup. It might lean a bit towards exploitation but still
walks a thin line of helping someone in need.
Then there are the genuine cases of a large com-
pany donating 300 new and unused golf shirts with
a corporate logo which were unused at the last
company outing. The irony then, of course, is that
the poor and homeless get the shirts and find them
comfortable, but wind up walking around town
with a shirt that says Megacompany Financial
Editorial: Homeless Hotspots and Sandwich Boards
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continued on next page
3
Spare Change News March 23 - April 5, 2012
op / ed
Aaron James
Spare Change News
John F. Kennedy,
September, 1960:
I believe in an
Amer i ca where
the separation of
church and state
is absolute, where
no Catholic prel-
ate would tell the
president (should he be Catholic) how
to act, and no Protestant minister would
tell his parishioners for whom to vote;
where no church or church school is
granted any public funds or political
preference; and where no man is denied
public office merely because his religion
differs from the president who might
appoint him or the people who might
elect him.
I believe in an America that is offi-
cially neither Catholic, Protestant nor
Jewish; where no public official either
requests or accepts instructions on pub-
lic policy from the Pope, the National
Council of Churches or any other eccle-
siastical source; where no religious
body seeks to impose its will directly or
indirectly upon the general populace or
the public acts of its officials; and where
religious liberty is so indivisible that an
act against one church is treated as an
act against all.
Retrieved from NPR, Transcript:
JFKs Speech on His Religion, Dec. 5,
2007, http://www.npr.org/templates/
story/story.php?storyId=16920600)
Rick Santorum, In reference to JFKs
speech, February, 2012:
That makes me throw up...I dont
believe in an America where the separa-
tion of church and state is absolute. The
idea that the church can have no influ-
ence or no involvement in the operation
of the state is absolutely antithetical to
the objectives and vision of our coun-
try
Retrieved from, ABC news, Rick
Santorum: JFKs 1960 Speech Made Me
Want to Throw Up, Feb. 2 6 t h , 2 0 1 2 ,
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/poli-
tics/2012/02/rick-santorum-jfks-1960-
speech-made-me-want- to-throw-up/
As of March 14, 2012, Mitt Romney
lead the Republican presidential hope-
fuls with 492 delegates. He is the front-
runner. Not far behind him is Rick
Santorum with 252 delegates. And
right behind him is Newt Gingrich with
131 delegates.
Amer i c an pol i t i c s c annot be
explained easily. However, the above
facts should scare you, if you know
what they mean in political terms.
First, I hope you agree that it is Rick
Santorums response to Kennedys
speech that makes you want to throw
up. The separation of church and state
is of vital importance to the United
States. It is as foundational as the right
Ali Noorani
Spare Change News
Lo and behold, the political glitterati
have realized that new Americans actu-
ally vote. And that there are a whole lot
of them.
To which Latinos, Asians and other
new Americans respond, Duh.
But, this being an election year, let
the pandering begin. Republicans talk
about their love of legal immigration,
decry federal opposition to unconstitu-
tional state immigration laws, and point
to President Obamas failure to pass
comprehensive immigration reform in
his first term. Strikingly, they dont call
attention to the fact that 36 Republican
senators voted against the DREAM Act
in 2010, including three who had co-
sponsored earlier versions. Democrats
hold up their support of the DREAM
Act and past efforts to pass comprehen-
sive immigration reform as reasons they
deserve the votes of new Americans.
Of course, they selectively forget the
Obama Administration has broken all
deportation records by deporting more
than a million immigrants in just over
three years.
I would bet good money there will
be a rush to file legislation serving one
piece of the immigration puzzle or
another: young people, agricultural
workers, high-skill workers. Solving
these areas of concern would serve
the interests of the nation and must be
addressed in potential legislation. And,
yes, the Senate is in the best position to
forge such a consensus.
But on the other side of the Capitol
looms the Republican chairman of
the House Judiciary Committee, Rep.
Lamar Smith. Lets be honest: the
chance of Lamar Smith allowing any
practical pieces of immigration legisla-
tion through his committee is about as
good as Harvard University winning
the NCAA tourney (even if Jeremy Lin
were still a student).
Want proof that congressional action
is important? Look at what is happen-
ing in its absence. On April 26, the
Supreme Court will hear arguments
about the constitutionality of Arizonas
papers please SB1070 immigra-
tion law. If the court rules in favor of
Arizona, even more states may erect leg-
islative fences on their borders, keeping
business and both new and long-estab-
lished Americans away. State politicians
rally around such laws at their and
their states peril, but the simple fact
remains: the fabric of the nation will be
torn because Congress has failed to fix
our immigration system. How many
Democrats will file friend of the court
briefs to state their opposition to the
bill? Will any Republican file an amicus
brief opposing SB1070?
Mississippi and Missouri are poised to
consider legislation similar to Arizonas
infamous SB1070 and its cousins in
Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina,
even as those states wait to hear wheth-
er their laws are constitutional. Will
Republican leaders in Congress stand
against these laws and exert their author-
ity as federal lawmakers?
Or will Republicans continue to allow
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Maricopa
On Immigration, Politicians Provide Empty Rhetoric Aplenty
Services Annual Golf Outing 2012
on it. This kind of surrealism doesnt
address their true plight and help them
get ahead in life. The counter argument
is that its a clean shirt and will give
them comfort. True enough.
Then theres a very controversial
term and practice called Bumvertising
which takes advantage of poor people
to carry shirts or signs or whatever for
advertising purposes around town. This
is defined in one source as a form of
informal employment in which a home-
less person is paid to display advertis-
ing.
Ultimately, wheres the true empow-
erment to actually change their station
in life? Dribs and drabs dont help in
the long term.
So, with recent reports of homeless
Internet hotspot selling at the conven-
tion, one is still left wondering just
whether it helps at all in the long run to
get people reintegrated back into soci-
etys mainstream.
A very wise person once said some-
thing like, show me your poor and
your prisons and Ill tell you all about
your society and civilization.
One is still left wondering, although
one hopes for the higher ground to fully
help disadvantaged people for the long
haul in partnership with them.
continued from previous page
Rick Santorums Anti-American Beliefs
SANTORUM continued on page 4
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Senate Bill 1070 immigration law in Nogales
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IMMIGRATION continued on page 16
Tom Benner
Spare Change News
WELLESLEY -- The Patrick administration is trying
for a second year in a row to move money currently
used to put up the homeless in shelters and motels into
permanent housing solutions.
But another battle is expected at the State House as
advocates differ over the most controversial aspect of the
plan limit shelter access while simultaneously increas-
ing funding for state-supported housing programs
designed to help low-income families find permanent
housing or prevent them from becoming homeless.
The Patrick administration proposes to limit shelter
access to those families who are actively fleeing domes-
tic violence, lost their housing due to fire or natural
disaster, or families with children living in risk. But
some shelter advocates say if that happens, the safety
net would be dismantled and homeless families would
be turned out into the streets before an adequate hous-
ing-based alternative is fully in place.
A one-time homeless mother, Diane Sullivan, said at
a March 19 forum on homelessness that limited shelter
access would have meant living in a van for her and her
family.
Lets not fool ourselves into thinking that families
have not already been in this situation, living in cars,
said Sullivan, who now advocates for the group Homes
for Families. While she supports an emphasis on put-
ting people into housing over emergency shelters,
Sullivan added, I cannot get behind and support doing
that at the sacrifice of the safety net of shelter. Is it OK to
pit one poor population against another? I say no.
The long-term push to move the homeless out of
shelters and motels and into permanent housing has
been stymied by economic recession, stagnant incomes,
and a growing demand for affordable housing, said
Rep. Byron Rushing, a South End Democrat and an
architect of the Patrick administrations so-called
Housing-First approach to combating homeless.
We have certainly been hindered by our economy,
but there is nothing that has happened that should
change our priorities to housing first, Rushing said.
Rushing and other Housing First advocates devel-
oped a new state initiative called HomeBASE, a rental
subsidy program for homeless families. However, just
three months after its creation last August, there were
so many families applying for housing assistance that
the state was forced to stop issuing subsidies.
Lizbeth Heyer, associate director of public hous-
ing and rental assistance for the state Department of
Housing and Community Development, said demand
at emergency shelters skyrocketed by 91 percent fol-
lowing the creation of the HomeBase housing allow-
ance as an alternative to staying at shelters. She attrib-
uted the increased demand largely to people who had
been doubled up meaning staying with family or
friends in overcrowded conditions.
The conclusion that we draw from this is that many
of these families are not in an emergency homeless cri-
sis, Heyer said. They are no doubt under-housed,
they are housing challenged, living in doubled-up situ-
ations is not ideal, but they are not on the street or in
danger of being on the street tonight. And what were
talking about is how to figure out how to serve those
families in a different way, in a way that is less expen-
sive and not shelter.
One month of sheltering a family in an emergency
shelter costs the state about $3,200, while putting a fam-
ily in affordable housing costs at most about $1,000 to
$1,200, Heyer said.
We know shelters are bad environments for kids
and we know housing is less expensive (than shelters),
Heyer said. So the question that weve been grap-
pling with ... is how do we invest in housing solutions
instead of shelter, without letting those families in real
emergencies fall through the cracks?
The answer, she said, is two separate but connected
approaches.
We need both a responsible emergency shelter safe-
ty net for those families who are truly are in a shelter
emergency and have no place to stay tonight, Heyer
said. And then we need to shift resources from the
shelter system into a robust housing continuum that
both helps prevent people from becoming homeless
but also supports families in housing.
Both Rushing and Heyer both said in addition to
funding for emergency shelters and affordable hous-
ing, the state must continue to invest in work supports
that help low-income residents to become economically
self-sufficient.
At the heart of it is poverty, at the heart of it is try-
ing to find a way to help families achieve a stable hous-
ing situation and then support those families in that
stable housing situation in taking the next step, to fin-
ish an education, attain a job, and ultimately earn an
income that supports them in their housing stability
long-term, Heyer said.
TOM BENNER is editor of Spare Change News. Email him
at editor@sparechangenews.net
4
Spare Change News March 23 - April 5, 2012
state
Another Battle Expected
on Funding for Homeless Programs
to bear arms or the right to a fair trial.
The United States of America never has
had, and, God willing, never will have,
a national religion. However, the idea
that Christianity should play a role
in national politics, given that most
Americans believe in some version of
Christianity, is scary, very scary. If you
believe in the separation of church and
state, then voting for Santorum should
not even be considered. He openly
admits that he does not believe that the
separation of church and state is abso-
lute.
I did not think Santorum would
still be in the race given his anti-Amer-
ican beliefs. However, since he is so
pro-Christian, he is being backed by
a lot of Christian folks. Unlike other
Republican hopefuls like Tim Pawlenty,
Santorum has a Super PAC (Political
Action Committee) raising the needed
funds to stay in the campaign. And
since no Republican will ever try
to exploit Santorums remarks, we
Americans can. I thought we would;
we have yet to; thus, this article!
Yes, Santorum is behind Romney by
over two hundred delegates. In order
to become the nominee you need 1,191
delegates. There are 2,380 delegates up
for grabs. Gingrich, while never openly
being against the separation of church
and state, is very similar to Santorum,
ideology-wise. There is very little
doubt in my mind that when he even-
tually drops out he will throw his sup-
port to Santorum and call on his del-
egates to support him. In other words,
you need to put Gingrichs delegates in
Santorums totals. And Gingrich, I do
not think, will be dropping out anytime
soon -- he needs to be the viable second
option to Romney, he needs to collect
the delegates Santorum leaves in the
dust.
Do you see what the Republicans are
successfully doing? Some folks simply
cannot vote for Santorum because he is
too Christian-centered, yet these folks
are still very conservative, so they vote
for Gingrich instead of the less conser-
vative Romney. Then you have some
very religious conservative folks who
never could vote for a man married
three times, so instead of voting for less
conservative Romney, these folks vote
for Santorum. At the convention this
summer, it will be Romney versus the
team of Santorum and Gingrich.
This is scary. Santorum continues
to pick up votes, states, and delegates.
How is this happening? How are
Americans showing support for such
inflammatory remarks towards our
country?
I understand Romney is a money
man. That is more American, though,
than the Christian campaign Santorum
is on. At the very least, Romney is keep-
ing his faith very close to his chest, as he
should. We are not voting on religion
when we vote for President. Yet, thanks
to Santorum that is exactly what he has
made the Republican race into.
Thanks, Rick. And if by chance one
of your staffers may read this article,
I suggest you re-examine your faith.
Church is a very special place. As a reli-
gious man myself, I am with God when
I am at church. I do not want the White
House to resemble, in anyway, a church.
I have a very private relationship with
God and the idea that a Republican
wants to use religion to govern is dis-
graceful, to both my great country and
my God and his son, Jesus Christ.
AARON JAMES is a Spare Change News
writer and vendor.
SANTORUM continued from page 3
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Spare Change News March 23 - April 5, 2012
local
Noelle Swan
Spare Change News
Nine college girls, one professor,
one photographer, and a Spare Change
Reporter spill out of a tiny elevator and
into the lobby of Families in Transition,
a temporary shelter for families await-
ing housing at the Huntington Avenue
YMCA in Boston.
Why dont you go get Sebastian?,
Professor Therese ONeil-Pirozzi tells
Ella Besas, one of her volunteers.
Besas grins, Sebastian? Her voice
betrays her excitement. Oh my God!
Hes so cute, she squeals before dashing
down the hall to return with a toddler
gripping her hand.
Besas and her peers have come to
work with Sebastian and other children
in the shelter as part of Northeastern
Universitys Homeless Shelter Story
Telling Group. For fourteen years, ONeil-
Pirozzi has brought speech and language
pathology majors into family shelters to
help instill a love of reading, expose the
children to stimulating language and lit-
erature opportunities, and model strate-
gies for parents and shelter staff to further
promote language and literacy.
Having previously worked with peo-
ple experiencing homelessness through
her church, ONeil-Pirozzi felt strongly
about continuing that tradition when
she joined the faculty of Northeastern
University. I wanted to continue doing
something that was important to me per-
sonally and that would be helpful pro-
fessionally to my students. She came
up with a weekly storytelling group for
children living in shelter.
For Besas, participation in the program
has given her a valuable opportunity to
practice skills taught in the classroom.
She says that her first time volunteer-
ing, she found herself in a little over her
head. Assigned to a child with a severe
speech impediment, she had difficulty
understanding him. She says that ONeil-
Pirozzi stood by her and supported her
throughout the entire session. Later she
learned that the child has cerebral palsy.
Pirozzi and her volunteers rarely
know much about the children partici-
pating in the program. ONeil-Pirozzi
checks in with shelter director, David
Tavares each week to get an idea of how
many children in each age group might
be attending that week. Participation is
voluntary so there is no guarantee how
many of those children will actually join
the group. Tavares may provide ages and
first names, but no information about
skills. Any information ONeil-Pirozzi
gets has been gathered during previous
sessions.
Tonight is Besas third night visit-
ing the shelter. She and two of her class-
mates are working with Sebastian, a
verbal two-year-old. Besas team met in
ONeil-Pirozzis lab before the session
and designed a lesson plan around a pic-
ture book about rain to go along with the
gloomy weather. Each of the three college
students took turns reading the book to
Sebastian, stopping frequently to ask him
questions and encourage him to express
his growing vocabulary. Sebastian calls
out details from the illustrationshe
especially likes the police officer.
In a separate room, three more col-
lege students sit around a kidney shaped
table with a slender, six-year-old boy,
with a buzz cut and paper white skin
his mother has asked that he not be
identified so well call him Armend. The
group has just finished reading Green
Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, and one of
the volunteers is trying to explain the
definition of the word rhyme. After giv-
ing a few examples of words that do
rhyme, she asks him, What about plane
and pie, do they rhyme?
Armend pauses a moment, Puh,
puh, puh, he says under his breath, then
answers more clearly, Yes.
They do both start with P one
volunteer offers, But they dont really
rhyme. She continues to repeat that
rhymes sound alike.
Armends brow knits tighter causing
a thin blue vein across his right temple to
throb slightly.
ONeil-Pirozzi quietly slips into a chair
between two of the volunteers. Can I
play? she asks before coming up with a
game to illustrate rhyming sounds. She
and her volunteers play with new ways
to demonstrate the concept. In the end,
Armend never quite gets it, despite seem-
ingly endless attempts to frame it differ-
ently for himPirozzi even solicits the
help of this reporter and former teacher
for some fresh ideas. By the time ONeil-
Pirozzi announces the sessions end he
has struggled for over half an hour trying
to grasp the concept. Rather than showing
relief at the break, he groans, Awww!
Later, one of the students working
with Armend, Lynne Crispo, a third-year
speech language and pathology student
reflects on working with him. She says
that she has been impressed by just how
much Armend wants to learn. Hes so
excited and interested in everything that
you are doing. After the session, Crispo
brainstormed with her peers and ONeil-
Pirozzi about different approaches they
might try with Armend next time they
visit. That is if he is still there.
ONeil-Pirozzis experiences working
with children living in shelter led her to
suspect that homelessness itself might
put children at risk for language devel-
opment delays and literacy delays, but
she was unable to find much research on
the subject. Following up on her hunch
with her own research, she has found
preliminary evidence she says confirms
her suspicions. She says early language
and literacy delays can lead to education-
al challenges and failures later in school.
She is currently seeking additional par-
ticipants to include in her study.
Additionally, ONeil-Pirozzi believes
that parents living in shelters also have a
higher risk for language disorders than
the general population. We know that
there is a higher incidence of depres-
sion amongst adults living in shelter and
depression can affect cognitive and lan-
guage abilities. Some of the parents are
victims of domestic violence and we know
that traumatic brain injury can impact
language literacy cognition. Further, they
may have had their own language and lit-
eracy difficulties as children which could
have continued into adulthood. ONeil-
Pirozzi says she encourages parents to
participate in the program with their
children and may offer to connect help
connect the family to external services
through the shelter case managers.
Armends mother, well call her
Nora Bizi to protect her privacy, says
she is grateful for ONeil-Pirozzi and
her volunteers work with Armend. An
Albanian national, Bizi says she learned
English from watching television. She
says that watching ONeil-Pirozzi with
the children has helped her learn to be
patient when working with Armend.
This is a beautiful teacher, she says.
Pirozzi believes that for many fami-
lies for whom English is a second lan-
guage, the storytelling groups can be just
as helpful for the parents as the children.
There are some parents who I think are
actually learning English themselves
from our storytelling groups, she says
while walking back to her lab.
For other parents the storytelling group
represents a precious hour of supervised
care. The shelter has rules about parents
remaining with children at all times unless
they are participating in a structured
program. Sebastians mother, Catherine
Green, says that she takes advantage of
that time to catch up on some homework
for her criminal justice classes at Bunker
Hill Community College.
As for the student volunteers, they
gain more than professional experience.
ONeil-Pirozzi says that many volun-
teers come to the program with mis-
conceptions about people experiencing
homelessness and the circumstances that
might have led them to that situation.
She says that she teaches her students
that the leading causes of homelessness
among single men and women is very
different from the factors at play in fam-
ily homelessness.
I love seeing them reconfigure or
reboot. ONeil-Pirozzi says. Thats
been an awesome experience for them
and for me.
NOELLE SWAN is a freelance reporter.
Northeastern Students Promote Literacy
/| |le eri el erer :e::ier, 9r. Ilere:e 'Neil|iretti |rirj: ell el |le tlilirer eri reltr|eer: |eje|ler ler e tle:irj
:erj. 'ererel jerer|: eri let:irj iiret|er, 9erii Ierere: jeir ir e ret:irj rerii|ier el "Ile hele |ele.' |iretti
says that she suspects that many parents, especially English language learners, expand their own language and
literacy skills by participating in her storytelling groups.
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Spare Change News March 23 - April 5, 2012
local
A 20th Year Celebration
Accomplishments and Goals for the
Street Newspaper of Greater Boston
Michael Ahern
Spare Change News
Save the date Spare Change News
is holding a celebratory event at 7 p.m.
on June 21 at The Inn at Harvard (1201
Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge)
to mark its 20th year as Boston and
Cambridges street newspaper.
Since its formation, the newspaper
has become a community for a piece of
Boston and Cambridge that often goes
unseen, unheard or ignored. As it con-
tinues growing not only as a sanctuary
for the impoverished, but also as a tool
to shed light on the issues of homeless-
ness, the paper has many present and
future goals. And it also has a great deal
to celebrate.
With hope, the newspaper envisions
that economically disadvantaged people
will have their needs met. They hope
to create a sense of community where
everyone is equally valued. Through
the process of self-employment and
self-expression, the paper gives empow-
erment to those who are homeless or
impoverished.
In order to celebrate the milestone,
the community is holding a celebra-
tion. Vendors, writers, editors and other
members of the newspaper will be in
attendance. The purpose of the event,
however, is not just for celebration.
Cheryl Jordan, the chairperson of the
20th Anniversary Celebration and coor-
dinator of the event, says the theme
for this years Celebration is 20 Years of
Helping People Help Themselves. She
has invited people to speak at the event
and is creating other forms of entertain-
ment such as music, raffles and silent or
live auctions.
As part of the celebration, members
would like to invite all those who are
interested to attend. Participation and
volunteer work for the paper is highly
encouraged. The facts of homelessness
still need exposure.
The event also celebrates the ven-
dors of Spare Change News. This is an
opportunity to acknowledge the vendors
themselves, says Jordan. Publishing
a newspaper and selling to the general
public is a business, and like most busi-
nesses we need to thank the employees
and vendors for the great job they are
doing getting the paper out to the com-
munity.
The event will acknowledge the ven-
dors work through an awards ceremo-
ny, Jordan told me. We have awards for
the vendor with the highest sales record,
a vendor of the year. She also notes that
there will be a Lifetime Achievement
Award [that] goes to someone who has
turned their life around and is now
working to help others who are home-
less.
Jordan is also working on putting
together a special exhibit. She hopes
this exhibit will shed light on the issues
of homelessness. People will be able
to view the original newspapers and
read about the current facts surround-
ing the homeless within the state of
Massachusetts with the focus on Boston
and its surrounding communities, she
says. I want people to see what the
vendors and founders of Spare Change
News think and feel about the commu-
nity they are living in. In turn, she says,
she wants attendees to understand just
what homelessness can do to a persons
life.
She, like Spare Change News, believes
housing is a basic human right. She
adds, when people can secure housing
then other issues can be addressed.
As the paper continues growing there
are goals that it wishes to reach both in
the near and far future. James Shearer,
the cofounder and board president of the
newspaper, hopes the organization can
continue to destroy myths about home-
lessness.
Shearer believes that there is a hor-
rible stigma in our society with regards
to the impoverished and that this nega-
tively affects the success of the paper. He
also does not like the term homeless
newspaper.
I think there is confusion about that,
he says. Its a newspaper that helps
homeless people help themselves.
When asked what other tools home-
less people need in order to succeed and
overcome their poverty, Shearer answers
with one word: Hope. He believes real
advocates need to provide this hope. He
finds it frustrating that to some advo-
cates, helping the homeless is simply an
occupation.
They need real advocates, he adds.
People who are actually going to go out
and be there for them and want to help
them.
After a seven-year run as board
President, James Shearer will be stepping
down, although he is most certainly not
leaving the organization. I think its a
sign of a good leader, he believes. One
who steps aside and lets others lead.
He hopes that before he makes this
move, the paper is secure. I want to
make sure the paper is stabilized and
that it is going in the right direction.
He also hopes that in the near future the
organization can raise more awareness.
He envisions vendors and people work-
ing together politically. We need a voice
out there thats what I want. And cer-
tainly this newspaper has been a grow-
ing voice for the past twenty years.
For more information with regard to
Spare Change News or the event itself,
visit www.sparechangenews.net, send
an e-mail to director@sparechangenews.
net or take a look at the papers Facebook
page. Tickets will be sold at $50 per per-
son.
HomelessEmpowermentProject,Inc.SpareChangeNews
Thursday 1une 21, 2012 6:00 to 9:00 PM The Inn at Harvard
1201 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 02138
www.sparechangenews.net
The mission of Spare Change News is to present, by our own example, that homeless and economically disadvantaged people, with the proper resources
empowerment, opportunity and encouragement are capable of creating change for ourselves in society.
Helping People Help Themselves
NEWS
Helping People Help Themselves Helping People Help Themselves
NNEW EWSSSS
SPARE CHANGE
SAVEtheDATE 20th Anniversary
7
Spare Change News March 23 - April 5, 2012
local
Robert Sondak
Spare Change News
The New Balance Hubway bike-shar-
ing system reopened for its second sea-
son Thursday March 15 with 60 percent
of the 61 bike stations live and opera-
tional.
The system will be fully operationally
by April 1 with a total of 610 bicycles for
available use.
Nicole Freedman, Director of Boston
Bikes, elaborated that Hubway will look
to build partnerships with local corpo-
rations and non-profit organizations to
help sponsor new bike stations. Harvard
University, one of the areas major edu-
cational institutions, has agreed to spon-
sor five of Bostons new Hubway sta-
tions. Four of these stations are located
in Allston at Soldiers Field Park, Barrys
Corner at 219 Western Ave., Harvard
Athletics at the corner of North Harvard
Street and Soldiers Field Road, and
Harvard Innovation Lab. The fifth sta-
tion is situated in the Longwood Medical
area.
Freedman pointed out that Hubway
has continued to offer subsidized mem-
berships to low-income residents of
Boston. She stated that Boston is focused
on enrolling as many new low-income
members as they can.
The Hubway subsidized member-
ship program will be offered again
through the Boston Public Health
Commission, Freedman said. Our goal
for 2012 will be to fill all 500 allocated
membership this year.
David Watson, Executive Director
of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition,
highlighted that program expansion
involves a complex process for each of
the new member cities. This develop-
ment protocol encompasses designating
locations, funding and signing an agree-
ment with Alta Bike Share the project
manager.
Watson remarked that Brookline rep-
resents the first of the three new mem-
ber cities to reach an agreement with
Alta Bike Share. Watson remarked that
Cambridge has funding in place from
a variety of sources, but they are still
working on an agreement.
With Hubway expanding to new
municipalities, Cambridge has raised
over $1 million so far for a total for 20 sta-
tions within the city. The funding break-
down includes $300,000 jointly from
Harvard and MIT. They received federal
and state grants of more than $900,000.
From the federal government they
received transportation and environ-
mental grants. Hotspots designated for
bike stations include Harvard, Central,
Porter, Inman, Lechmere and Kendal
Square, Alweifle along with Harvard
and MIT campuses.
Harvard University has created a col-
laboration with the City of Cambridge
helping to establish a Hubway network.
The university has helped by contribut-
ing funding and has agreed to set up four
of these stations for the campus commu-
nity and the public to use.
Cambridge is finishing the develop-
ment of their Hubway agreement, Cara
Seiderman, Cambridge Bike Committee
said. The agreement has not yet been
completed and signed with Alta Bike
Share.
Seiderman elaborated further about
the Cambridge Hubway project.
Funding and locations are in place,
Seiderman said. I can not give a time-
frame when the agreement will be
signed.
Seiderman pointed out that it takes
four months to complete an equipment
order with the manufacture Bixi of
Montreal and for Alta Bike Share to com-
plete installation.
We hope to be on-line later in the
year, Seiderman said. We look to be
operational sometime in the summer or
early in the fall.
Somerville is using its share of
$300,000 from the regional federal tran-
sit grant to link up into the Hubway
bike share system. This $3 million fed-
eral transit grant came from the Federal
transit Administration and is directed
to the MBTA. The regional Metropolitan
Pl anni ng Counci l whi ch Bost on,
Cambridge, Brookline and Somerville
are members administers the grant.
Brookline represents the third of the
new cities to join Hubway. Brookline is
planning to use its $200,000 grant alloca-
tion from the FTA as well as $50,000 in
private funds to plan four bike share sta-
tions initially.
We crunched financial numbers
and changed our proposed budget,
Jeff Levine Brookline Planning and
Community Development Director said.
Our Budget will include the setup of
four fully equipped bike docking sta-
tions.
Levine highlighted the four sta-
tion location. Brookline has approved
three locations so far and they include
Brookline Village, Coolidge Corner, and
the Town Hall block. The fourth location
is still under review by community-town
people. The leading spots under review
include Washington Square, JFKs
Birthplace and the Allston/Brookline
town line.
The total Brookline contract comes
to about $360,000. This includes fund-
ing coming from the Federal Transit
Administration, Metropolitan Area
Planning Council and the Hubway Gift
Account. Partners HealthCare also made
a $25,000 donation.
Levine noted that the March 9 contract
signing currently places Brookline ahead
of Cambridge and Somerville in project
development. Levine remarked that we
are looking at around four months to
complete an equipment order with the
manufacture Bixi of Montreal and for
Alta Bike Share to complete installation.
We should be operational by July or
early August. Levine said. Any chang-
es in weather will throw us off by a cou-
ple of weeks.
Levine pointed out that Brookline is
well ahead of Cambridge and Somerville.
They are expected to sign their contracts
sometime in the near future.
ROBERT SONDAK is a Spare Change
News writer and vendor.
A second season for bike-sharing program
Comments,
Questions,
Story Ideas?
Send a letter to the editor at editor@sparechangenews.net
Tom Benner
Spare Change News
Nick Flynn grew up on Bostons South
Shore and spent six years working at the
Pine Street Inn, Bostons largest home-
less shelter. Raised by his mother, Jody,
who committed suicide when he was 22,
Flynn hadnt seen or spoken to his father
in 18 years, until the day Jonathan Flynn
showed up at the shelter, homeless and
looking for a bed.
Flynns stunning memoir about his
subsequently renewed relationship
with his alcoholic and bombastic father,
Another Bullshit Night in Suck City (named
after one of his fathers acerbic sayings),
is the basis for a new movie, Being Flynn,
starring Robert De Niro, Paul Dano, and
Julianne Moore. Nick Flynn now lives in
Brooklyn and teaches writing each spring
at the University of Houston. Following
is a transcript of his conversation with
Spare Change News.
Spare Change News: What initially
brought you to the Pine Street Inn? Why
did you want to work there?
Nick Flynn: I was in my early 20s, I
was in Boston, I was a carpenter doing
construction. It was right around the time
we were transforming a lot of buildings
in our cities into condominiums. A lot of
them had been single-room, SRO build-
ings for many years, and then they were
being privatized and I didnt feel good
about the work. I didnt like going into
these buildings and cutting them into
these exclusive things. The exact oppo-
site thing I could do would be to go work
with the homeless.
I took a trip and went to Nicaragua
for a few months and saw the Contra
war down there. It was just a very politi-
cal time for me. I came back and wanted
to do something political where I lived.
Working with the homeless seemed like
a political act.
SCN: What did you learn about home-
lessness?
NF: Over those years, you get to know
individuals pretty well. Everyone had a
story, how they ended up there. People
from different backgrounds, they came
from money, they had nothing. People
who had been institutionalized, had been
in prison, people with medical issues,
people struggling with substance abuse.
Veterans. People with financial issues.
Theres a whole mix of people at the shel-
ters, thrown into one huge pot.
SCN: What do you see as some of the
answers to homelessness?
NF: There are all sorts of programs.
Most of these Housing First empower-
ment organizations are really try to get
people into housing, skip the whole lin-
gering in shelters for a while and as soon
as they become homeless get them back
into housing, some sort of supportive
housing. Those programs seem to be
working very well. The solutions seem
quite clear, a lot of people have done a lot
of work finding out, studying and put-
ting into practice what the solutions are.
Its a matter of public will to get behind
it.
SCN: What did you think about the
using homeless as homeless hotspots
at the SXSW music and technology con-
ference in Austin?
NF: I heard the guy who put it togeth-
er try to compare it to street newspapers,
thats just (crazy). There are waves of
people, I wouldnt call them well-mean-
ing, it just seems very gratuitous and sen-
sational, it feels like an attention grab.
SCN: And exploitative?
NF: Yes, yes.
SCN: How do you react when you
see homeless people today? Do you give
them money? Stop and talk?
NF: It completely depends. I have no
formula. Sometimes I do, sometimes I
dont. My thinking about it is were sort
of thrust as a society into these impos-
sible situations. It really is unclear what
the right thing to do is. The solution is to
work on not having so many homeless
people. In the meantime, we have to sort
of muddle through our own moral land-
scape on a daily basis.
SCN: Where is your father now?
NF: Hes in a long-term care facility in
Boston. I had to transition him out of his
apartment. The Elders Living at Home
Program in Boston got him out of shel-
ters and off the streets, a little after he
turned 60. That program was started by
someone I worked with, Eileen OBrien.
She saw this need and opportunity to
connect people with services, and she did
that, and this program has been going
for 25 years, and thats what got him off
the street. He was in an apartment for 17
years, and then he needed more help.
SCN: How old is he now?
NF: Hes 82. Im 52 now.
SCN: How often do you seem him?
How often do you get to Boston?
NF: I try to get there every three
months or so. It gets hard in the spring
because I teach down in Texas, but when
I get back I have a trip planned to Boston
to go see him.
SCN: In the movie, your father
declares, America has produced three
classic writers: Mark Twain, J. D.
Salinger, and me. While he didnt pub-
lish the book he was always talking
about, he did have a real facility with
language.
NF: He was engaged with language,
and he did have good taste in literature,
he was writing a lot, and he could have
been a published writer. I think, really,
alcohol was his downfall. Its hard to say
what his life would have been like if he
hadnt drank.
8
Spare Change News March 23 - April 5, 2012
cover story
Nick Flynn: From Bostons
Pine Street Inn to Hollywood
FLYNN continued on page 16
LEFT: Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore as the
jerer|: el wri|er Nitl |lrr [ir:e|] ir "Keirj |lrr.'
ABOVE:Ile jetle| |e "Keirj |lrr,' erijirell
jt|li:lei e: "/re|ler Ktll:li| Nijl| ir 'ttl Ci|.'
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March 23 - April 5, 2012
cover story
Patty Wittnebert Tomsky
Spare Change News
Wo me n s Hi s t o r y
Month is upon us. March
is also the month named
after Mars, the God of
War. One of our foremost
literary goddesses of anti-
war is a woman who lives
in a tiny village on Cape
Cod and has been writing
strong, powerful works of
fiction and poetry for five
decades.
Marge Piercy has been
a fresh and honest voice
in the discourse of femi-
nism, historical fiction, sci-
ence fiction, and poetry.
Her poems and novels are
fearless and infused with
strength and verve. Her
activism -- for womens
rights and toward eradi-
cating war and social injus-
tice --is legendary. Piercys
latest of her 16 books of
poetry, The Hunger Moon:
New and Selected Poems,
1980-2010, just came out
in paperback. She also just
reissued two acclaimed
political novels, Vida and
Dance the Eagle to Sleep.
Spare Change News sat down
with her to discuss the changes she
has undergone as a woman and as
an artist over the years, and to talk
about whats next for this dynamo.
SCN: I just learned that I can be
a bully when pushed into a corner.
What did you learn about yourself
recently? Did you have an aha
moment about something in your
history?
MP: While I was writing my
memoir, Sleeping with
Cats, I real i zed that I
wasnt nearly as nice a
person as I thought I was
(laughs). Theres nothing
like honestly examining
your life to reach new con-
clusions about yourself! I
had thought of myself as
being a better friend and a
better person than I was in
truth.
SCN: If you could tell
a young woman some-
thing about your experi-
ence of being a woman
that would help her on
her journey, what would
it be?
MP: The fri endshi p
of other women is very
important throughout
your life. Its very impor-
tant to have that support
and many women give it
up for a relationship. Also,
never sacrifice parts of
yourself your religious
ideals, anything like that.
Of course, in every rela-
tionship we are changed.
But some changes can be
dangerous and even fatal.
SCN: Fatal?
MP: Do you read the
newspapers? How many times
does a man who is out of work
come home and kill his wife and
children and himself? Women
need to have an independent exis-
tence and protect that. The best
love affairs dont smother.
SCN: Your poems and novels
often describe a heroine just com-
ing into her own. Do you remem-
ber a point in your life when you
first came into your own? What
did you do with your new knowl-
edge?
MP: When I was 15, several
things happened. My best friend
died of a heroin overdose. My
grandmother, who was the only
source of unconditional love in
my life, died. We moved from an
asbestos shack in a working class
neighborhood into a larger house
in a lower-middle- class neighbor-
hood where my mother started
renting out rooms. I had privacy
for the first time -- the first room of
Marge Piercy talks with SCN
about her fiction and poetry
Marge Piercy timeline
*erje |iert i: |err er ertl JI, I7J ir 9e|rei|, itlijer
*'le e||eri: |le Urirer:i| el itlijer er 'tleler:lij e| I
*/| trirer:i|, |iert wir: reriet: hejweei eweri: [|le jlewrijl| /rer hejweei, wri|er el :et
lerte:, lei lel| li: ler|tre |e |le Urirer:i| el itlijer |e |e t:ei |e ertetreje jeei eri
original student writing) She would go on to win scores of awards for her writing and activism
*|iert wir: e lellew:lij eri |ler eerr: er ./. lrem Ner|lwe:|err
*|iert lire: ir |rerte, Cliteje, Cem|riije, |ler ir 'er |rerti:te. |rer|tell, :le re|trr: |e |le
East coast and lives in Boston where she continues political work in the civil rights and anti-
Vietnam War movements
*|r I7S, |iert mere: |e Kreellr |e lelj letri |le N/C|/ eri remeir: et|ire ir '9', :|er|irj er
9' tlej|er ir Kreellr |le| we: |le eitl|, elltemjt: '9'. |r I7, :le |eteme er erjeriter
with the SDS regional office in New York.
*|r I7I, |iert mere: |e Ceje Cei wlere :le |eteme et|ire ir |le wemer': eri e|ler jeli|itel
movements on the Cape and in Boston
*|r I7&Z, |iert merrie: |re Weei, wle |eteme: ler wri|irj jer|rer er e jle eri e rerel eri
also a co-founder of Leapfrog Press, a small literary publishing company
BOOKS
Poetry:
RLAKING CAMI, Wesleyan University Press, 1968.
HARD LVING, Wesleyan University Press, 1969.
4-TLLLING (with Bob Hershon, Emmett Jarrett, Dick
Lourie), The Crossing Press, l97l
T L I ISL, (with woodcuts by Lucia Vernarelli),
Doubleday, l973.
LIVING IN THL ILN, Knopf, l976.
THL TWLLVL-SIKLD WHLLL ILASHING,
Knopf, l978.
THL MN IS ALWAYS ILMALL, Knopf, l980.
CIRCLLS N THL WATLR (SeIecled Ioems), Knopf,
l982.
STNL, IAILR, KNIIL, Knopf, l983.
MY MTHLR'S DY, Knopf, 1985.
AVAILABLE LIGHT, Knopf, February 1988.
MARS AND HLR CHILDRLN, Knopf, April 1992.
WHAT ARL IG GIRLS MADL I`, Knopf, February
1997
THL ART I LLSSING THL DAY, Knof, March
1999.
LARLY GRRRL, Leafrog Iress, March 1999.
CLRS IASSING THRIGH IS, Knopf, 2003.
THL CRKLD INHLRITANCL, Knopf, 2006.
Fiction:
GING DWN IAST, Trident, l969; paperback,
Pocketbooks, l97l.
DANCL THL LAGLL T SLLLI, Doubleday, l970;
paperback, Fawcett l97l.
SMALL CHANGLS, DoubIeday, l973; paperback,
Fawcett l974.
WMAN N THL LDGL I TIML, Knopf, l976;
paperback, Fawcett, l977.
THL HIGH CST I LIVING, Harper and Row, l978;
paperback, Fawcett,l979.
VIDA, Summit, January l980, paperback Fawcett, l98l.
RAIDLD LIVLS, Summit, February l982; paperback
Ballantine/Fawcett l983.
ILY AWAY HML, Summit, February 1984; paperback
Ballantine/Fawcett 1985.
GNL T SLDILRS, Summit, May 1987; paperback
Ballantine/Fawcett May 1988.
SIMMLR ILILL, Summit, June 1989; paperback
Ballantine/Fawcett June 1990.
HL, SHL AND IT, Knopf, October 1991; paperback
Ballantine/Fawcett January 1993.
THL LNGINGS I WMLN, Iavcell, March 1994.
CITY I DARKNLSS, CITY I LIGHT, Fawcett, Oct.
1996. Trade paperback, 1997.
STRM TIDL (vilh Ira Wood), Fawcett, 1998.
THRLL WMLN, Morrow, Oct. 1999.
THL THIRD CHILD, Morrow/HarperCollins, 2003.
SLX WARS, Morrow/Harper/Collins, 2005
Non-fiction:
IARTI-CLRLD LCKS IR A QIILT, Essays,
University of Michigan Press, l982.
S YI WANT T WRITL: How to Master the Craft
of Writing Fiction and the Personal Narrative (with Ira
Wood), Leapfrog Press, 2001
SLLLIING WITH CATS, A Memoir, Morrow/
HarperCollins, 2002; paperback Perennial/HarperCollins,
2003
S YI WANT T WRITL: How to Master the Craft
of Writing Fiction and the Personal Narrative (with Ira
Wood), New Expanded Edition, Leapfrog Press, 2005
ILSACH IR THL RLST I IS, Schocken, 2007
Barbie Doll
This girlchild was born as usual
and presented dolls that did pee-pee
and miniature GE stoves and irons
and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
You have a great big nose and fat legs.
She was healthy, tested intelligent,
possessed strong arms and back,
abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
She went to and fro apologizing.
Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.
She was advised to play coy,
exhorted to come on hearty,
exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.
Her good nature wore out
like a fan belt.
So she cut off her nose and her legs
and offered them up.
In the casket displayed on satin she lay
with the undertakers cosmetics painted on,
a turned-up putty nose,
dressed in a pink and white nightie.
Doesnt she look pretty? everyone said.
Consummation at last.
To every woman a happy ending.
--Marge Piercy
Reprinted with permission of Alfred A.
Knopf
PIERCY continued on page 10
10
March 23 - April 5, 2012
voices
Ken OBrien
Spare Change News
In the many years that Ive traveled, I
have met thousands of the people known
to the public as the homeless, that is,
those who look or act as though they
dont have a real roof to spend the night
under. Ive been one of these people for
over 60 percent of my life.
I dont believe that it is possible to
hear the words the homeless without
some emotions coming into play. This
most often relates to things like addic-
tions, mentally unstable, undesirable
and a very long list of things that just are
not right.
Although not recognized as minority
by the Feds and almost all of the states,
homeless are generally thought of as a
group. This implies sameness and opens
the door for prejudice. What this means
is a sameness in treatment of individuals
and dealing with a fixed (although with
variables on the same theme) formula to
end homelessness.
Ive found the only sameness was the
fact were all born human and that there
is no fixed formula to anyones life expe-
rience! Applying just a small amount of
logic, it should be easy to see fighting
against homelessness can at best have
little effect, at worst, a negative effect.
This need not be the end of the world. If
a person were to safely embrace home-
lessness just to the level of understand-
ing one person who can admit to this
problem and then act within strict per-
sonal guidelines to find the answers that
person needs, there would be a chance. If
enough people were to follow this prac-
tice, ending all non-desired homeless-
ness would become very easy.
Too dangerous, too risky, too just plain
crazy; okay, lets first remember the strict
personal guidelines I mentioned.
1. If you find yourself or any that you
protect at any physical risk, BACK OFF.
2. If you find yourself or those you
protect at chance of losing anything
needed, BACK OFF.
3. If there is not enough language to
understand the person you want to help,
BACK OFF.
4. After you have met, talked to and
done no more than you would normally
have when meeting a homeless person,
BACK OFF.
5. When you get to the point of BACK
OFF, find someone else to talk to about
what youve seen and heard. Strangers
are best but its hard to find good listen-
ers. The goal is to find someone who will
disagree with you so that if you make a
mistake it wont be totally in the blind
and you might just want to keep the ones
who agree for back-up anyway.
6. Act until or unless you experience
any friction, then BACK OFF.
7. If youre here, go back to rule No.
5. Networking is the perfect answer. The
more you share a problem with others
the greater the odds of finding a solution
to most things!
One way of starting the ball rolling
(but not by any means the only way)
would be to ask and wait for an answer
to the question of how are you doing?
This I find is usually asked without any
real desire of an answer. It doesnt matter
at this point if someone is lying to you or
not, just remember rule #5 and youll be
fine. It will also help if you not let your
own personal history outweigh that of
the person you want to help.
Why even go through all this trouble?
Profit of course. The profit comes in big-
time whenever you can help another to
rise in the forms of self-learning, good
energy [karma], and a cleaner physical
environment, etc, Even when you cant
help youll learn more about the world
you pass through and maybe be more
prepared for the next time you try to
help.
In conclusion the homeless are (by
need of survival alone) the best recyclers
around. If we can find a way of recycling
the throwaway humans, then they and
we may have more of a chance at fixing
a world.
KEN OBRIEN calls himself the cus-
todian of Kens Free Book Exchange on
Massachusetts Ave. in Harvard Square.
Seven Rules to Approaching the Homeless
my own with a door that shut. So I was
able to try to use fiction and poetry to
make sense of all of the contradictions in
my life. The way things were supposed
to be had nothing to do with the way
things actually were.
The second pivotal moment was
when I was in college, I had to give
myself an abortion. I became very ill
and almost died. After that, I knew I was
strong and brave and I had confidence
that I could do what I had to do.
SCN: I just learned how to rock climb
this summer and find it incredibly excit-
ing -- not to mention the prospect of
talking to one of my poetry idols on a
humdrum Friday in March! What is
exciting to you about your life today?
The world today?
MP: The world today appalls me.
Listening to all these old men and
middle-aged men like Santorum push-
ing womens rights back into the dark
ages. Watching the real wages of people
pushed down to so much less than they
were 40-50 years ago so that people have
to work three times as hard to make a
living. Watching the gap between the
one percent and the 99 percent growing
larger and larger. The Occupy move-
ment was great but now they need to
get out of their tents and start real orga-
nizing.
The fact that people are finally pro-
testing excites me. People have to under-
stand that during the Civil Rights and
Vietnam Anti-War movement, it wasnt
the Supreme Court that changed things
-- we filled the streets. High school
women came out, college women came
out.
SCN: I was blessed to read your great
book, So You Want to Write, that gives
direction to beginning writers. In light
of the recent electronic book revolution,
or in light of changing modes of deliver-
ing fiction and poetry to consumers, can
you give some additional timely advice
to a young person just starting out in
the literary world?
MP: Publishing online is just as good
as a paper publication but these days
you have to take responsibility for push-
ing your own work. Publishers dont do
much, so you have to get out there. We
(Piercy and her husband Ira Wood) ran
a publishing house for ten years.
The other advice I have is to get out of
academia. It used to be that you would
read the resume of a writer in the 50s
or 60s and youd read that they worked
on a lobster boat, they worked to stop
a plague in Afghanistan. Now, its they
went to University of Iowa then to the
Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center,
and now they are studio teaching in
Arkansas. When we live in different
places and get more experience in life
we enrich our voices as writers.
SCN: In your novel, Sex Wars,
you fictionalize the life of Victoria
Woodhill, the celebrated spiritualist
who was the first woman to run for
President. In this Presidential elec-
tion year, do you believe we will see a
PIERCY continued from page 9
morningslarzsyahoo.com
PIERCY continued on page 12
11
March 23 - April 5, 2012
voices
Voices From The Streets
Voices from the Streets a forum for those whose voices are too often ignored. From narratives to opinion to advice, these writers portray a unique per-
spective on life that might otherwise go unnoticed. Below, find that turning an ear towards those normally silenced opens the door to understanding and
relating to those who have faced life on the street.
How The Troll Met Ar
Lain Ta (Part One)
Marc D. Goldfinger
Spare Change News
Theres dope houses and
then theres dope houses. Any
j unkie knows what I mean
when I say that. The dope
house of the Troll is like the last
house on the block, you know,
for the junkie who has tried everything to
stop using and nothing works.
The Troll. Youve probably heard those
tales from medieval times where theres a
bridge that you have to cross to save a maid-
en, or get water so the village can survive, or
maybe just cross to get to market every day.
This bridge has a gatekeeper who you have
to pay the toll to to get across, whatever that
toll might be. In those ancient stories, the
gatekeeper was often a hunch-backed crea-
ture with hooves for feet, bumps and hair
on his massive nose, broken, yellowed teeth,
and the breath of a demon from hell issuing
forth from his mouth. If you were unlucky
enough not to have the money to pay the
toll, you might have to give up some pre-
cious possession to get across the bridge and
get what you need, whatever that might be.
If you were desperate enough, maybe you
would sacrifice anything you had, maybe a
child, even the first-born male, just to make
things right. But as any junkie knows, noth-
ing will ever be right again.
The Troll was a modern-day gatekeeper
in a basement underneath a three-decker
apartment house. The lights were never
on in the dwellings above the basement.
People were said to live there, but no one
ever saw anyone coming or going. Now
and then, there would be screams or cries
from above us. The Troll would look up
and the furrows on his brow would deepen
and he would wink his good eye. Red mot-
tled the whites of his good eye, the brown
one, not the pale blue one surrounded by
yellow with a drooped lid that kept it half-
closed all the time, even when he might be
asleep (no one ever knew for sure whether
he slept at all or whether that bad eye could
see or not). He would wink his good eye at
us and say, The angels. Can you hear them
cry? Trapped in a heaven that they never
made. Wing rot. They cant lift off anymore
without the help of God. And Hes down
here with us, fixing to chase the nightmares
away. Heaven help em.
And then hed chortle and snort from
deep in his chest until a hacking cough
would cut him off. Usually it would be time
for another fix, and Veronica de Veux would
be slithering through the door with a brick
of heroin for the gatekeeper.
Veronica. Really, everyone called her
Ron, so thats what Im going to call her for
the rest of this tale. Ron de Veux was one of
the Trolls pets. She was a tired old whore,
used to be a dancer, used to be a cover girl,
used to be a porn star, used to be a call girl,
used to be a streetwalker, and at the end no
one even called her to the car for a two-bit
blowjob, but always a junkie, always a junk-
ie; no man ever moved her like the spike
running the horse into her blood. It was the
only time she ever came close to orgasm,
except maybe when the Troll would roll
his creaky wooden wheelchair into the
back room of his crib with Ron de Veux
right behind him with two loaded syringes.
Those of us who knew would perk our ears
up and wait. It wouldnt be long before the
moans would start and then suddenly it
would sound like a choir of demons mat-
ing in twelve-step rhyme from behind that
kitchen door. Whatever they were cooking,
we knew that we didnt want any part of it
and wed all drop another bag in the cook-
ers ourselves to dim the lights in our cursed
minds.
After a bit, the door opened up and
theyd come out. Shed be pushing the
chair by the cracked rubber handles on the
old dark wood and the Troll would wink at
us as the spittle ran down his grizzled chin.
Ron would be scratching at her crotch for
hours after that, with a dreamy look on her
face. Then she would curl up at the foot of
his chair and he would drop two bags into
her cooker. The fire from her lighter flashed
and within seconds shed be sleeping with
the dustman, who was a close relation of the
sandman, lord of dreams. The Troll would
pull part of the blanket covering his with-
ered branch-like legs down over her and put
his grimy gnarled finger to his bearded lips.
Sometimes his other pet, Nadia Chance,
would be there too, yet she had many other
functions in that last house on the block,
which Ill go into at another time.
Then the Troll would start to speak. His
low, guttural voice would rumble out into
the cement and brick basement and echo
James Shearer
Spare Change News
A couple of days ago I participated in a forum,
The MetroWest Homelessness Forum in Wellesley
(Yes there is homelessness in Wellesley.)
It was inspiring. I felt a ray of hope, which is pret-
ty unusual these days.
Most of the time when I go to an event like this
with advocates I get a lot of great speeches and not
much else. Not this time. What stayed with me the
most was something the keynote speaker Representative Byron
Rushing said.
He spoke about how we were settling for less when it came to
homelessness: Homeless people need housing, and he is absolute-
ly right.
When I began advocating for the homeless (which I was at the
time) with the creation of Spare Change 20 years ago, things were
different. Yes we had those so-called advocates who looked at home-
lessness as a business opportunity more than a crisis. But there were
many, many, advocates and the public in general that saw homeless-
ness as a problem that needed to be solved -- in fact, ended.
No one should be without a home, and shelters are not homes.
Back then there was a real feel that if we could get a handle on it, we
could end it, and so many stepped up those efforts.
Many formed organizations such as MHSA, HOST, The Fund for
Self Reliance, and others set a course to end homelessness. People I
considered as leaders, such as Phil Mangano, Sue Marsh, Dick Doyle,
Macy Delong, Joe Finn, Ruth McCambridge, Mark Follansbee, Tim
Harris, Jim Stewart, Chuck Collins, and many, many others lent their
voices and hard work to the cause.
When Spare Change was born it lent its voice to the others by
showing that with the proper resources homeless and economically
disadvantaged people can make change for themselves in society.
Then something went wrong, as homelessness increased a sense of
hopelessness seemed to take hold.
Many of us on the front lines seemed like we were fighting an
uphill battle. Some of us joined the establishment hoping that we
influence the fight against homelessness from within, and some like
myself folded our tents and went on to participate in our own lives.
Many returned at some point, but things were drastically different.
When I returned to Spare Change nine years ago I found an orga-
nization that was in my opinion settling, just printing a newspaper
to for homeless people to sell and that was it. Weve made great
strides since then but there is more work to be done. Just as the fight
to end homelessness has made great strides with Housing First pro-
grams, but still more must be done.
We must keep fighting until everyone is housed. We must do this
by creating jobs, building real affordable housing, and addressing
peoples needs before they hit the street.
In a couple of months I will be stepping down as the president of
the Homeless Empowerment Project. But I wont be stepping away
from the fight.
JAMES SHEARER is board president and a co-founder of Spare Change
News.
SETTLING
FOR LESS
GOLDFINGER continued on page 12
12
Spare Change News March 23 - April 5, 2012 voices
Jacques Fleury
Spare Change News
Sweat , by Zora
Neal e Hurston, and
Roman Fever, by
Edith Wharton, are both
stories of grievance, and
ultimately, the triumph
of justice. In both sto-
ries, a woman appears
to be patiently suffering the malicious-
ness of her persecutor; but each woman
knows in her heart that justice will pre-
vail.
In Hurstons Sweat, we have Delia
Jones, a hard-working, benevolent and
determined woman. She works to take
care of her herself, her house, and even
her husband, Sykes Jones. Sykes is an
abusive, cantankerous, bullying man
who takes Delia for granted and tries to
kick her out of her own home so that he
can move another woman in.
In Whartons Roman Fever, we
come across two upper-middle-class
society-conscious women who have been
friends since childhood. Grace Ansley,
like Delia, appears to be very meek. Her
old friend Alida Slade thinks very little
of her, and is constantly berating Graces
character in her own thoughts; she thinks
that Grace is insipid and appears to take
pleasure in believing so. There is obvious
jealousy on Alidas part, because Grace
has a vivacious and animated daughter
of whom Alida is very envious.
When Alida was engaged to her
future husband, Mr. Slade, she suspected
that Grace was infatuated with him. So
to dim her fire a little, Alida decided to
write a fake letter, telling Grace to meet
her fianc at a place called the Coliseum
after dark. The twist to that, however, is
that she intended for Grace to wait out
in the cold and catch the Roman Fever,
or pneumonia. The irony is that Alidas
fianc does show up, and he sleeps with
Grace that night. Alida had inadver-
tently thrown her fianc into Graces
arms, and the rendezvous results in the
conception of Graces coveted daughter,
Barbara.
In both novels, the female protago-
nists, Delia and Grace, are misper-
ceived as weak by another character. In
Sweat, Delias abusive husband Sykes
decides to spar with Delia by sabotaging
her laundry business. He steps on her
whitest pile and kicks it across the room.
His excuse is that he doesnt want white
peoples clothes washed in what he
believes to be his house. At this point, as
Hurston writes, Delias habitual meek-
ness seemed to slip from her shoulders
like a blown scarf. She stands up and
bellows, Look a heah, Sykes, you done
gone too far. AH been married to you
fur fifteen years and AH been taking in
assign for 15 years. Sweat, sweat, sweat!
Work and sweat, cry and sweat, pray and
sweat! She tells Sykes that its her laun-
dry business that is feeding him and put-
ting a roof over his head. Just before he
strikes her, she grabs an iron skillet and
prepares for battle. Sykes is, of course, in
a state of shock that his wife is prepared
to defend herself and he backs down.
Justice, in this case, is Delias resilience
against her husbands physical and emo-
tional abuse.
In Roman Fever, Alida underesti-
mates Graces character by assuming
that Grace has led a fairly dull life: a life
without zest or gusto. In Alidas case,
she doesnt blatantly articulate her feel-
ings to Grace, the way Sykes does to
Delia, but rather internalizes them with-
in the ignorant confines of her thoughts.
Because of her high social status, voic-
ing her opinion would probably be con-
sidered poor manners. So Alida instead
condescends towards Grace in her mind,
which makes her a polite ignoramus --
less ignorant than Sykes, but ignorant all
the same. Here we have injustice due to
hypocrisy: for years, Alida thinks Grace
is boring, and never bothers to talk to
her about it. We see justice prevail, at
the end, when Alida finds out that Grace
isnt so boring after all.
In Sweat, we see injustice perpetrat-
ed against Delia by her husband Sykes
Jones. He wants the house that Delia
slaves to pay for. So, knowing that Delia
is afraid of snakes, he places a snake in
the clothes hamper that Delia uses to
sweat out a living for a pittance that
barely covers her living expenses. But
justice is served when the snake ends up
biting Sykes instead of Delia.
The end of these two stories means
justice for both women. For Delia, its
watching Sykes on his hands and knees
begging for help after the snake bite and
her choosing to remain idle and not help
him. For Grace, its watching the expres-
sion on Alida Slades face when she tells
her that Barbara, the daughter Alida is so
jealous of, was in fact fathered by Alidas
former husband. Each woman will go on
to new beginnings. Grace may become
more confident and assertive and less
pretentious, which may then make
her appear less boring than Alida sus-
pected. Delia will have peace of mind,
which might ease her days of endless
sweat, induced by both Sykes and her
own work. These stories symbolize the
power of destiny as it relates to the dual-
ity of human behavior: the good side and
the bad side. If one perpetrates good
then one is more likely to receive good
and vice versa. Its a reminder of old but
appropriate clich, Do unto others as
you would have them do unto you, and
that might make all the difference.
}ACQILS ILLIRY's book: Sparks in
the Dark: A Lighter Shade of Blue, A Poetic
Memoir about life in Haiti & America was
featured in the Boston Globe & available at
www.lulu.com. Contact Jacques at: haitian-
firefly@gmail.com
Discovering Fiction:
The Theme of Justice in Zora Neal Hurstons Sweat and Edith Whartons Roman Fever
from corner to corner. Even those of us in the deepest nod would
listen up and the basement would get so quiet that you could hear
a dull spike skewer the fibrous scar tissue of an overused vein if
you were sitting next to someone who happened to be fixing, or
maybe the sound of the slide on the barrel of a hypodermic that
had been run up and down so many times that even the Vaseline
on the rubber stopper was locking it up, or maybe even the pow-
der dissolve when the spray hits the stash covering the grayed
old cotton in the spoon. Instead of the clink of glasses there
might be the ting of the metal buckle on the belt or the creak of
the old leather as someone tightened up so they could get a clean
hit. Might be that you were listening so hard that you missed the
popping of air bubbles in your vein as you overshot the air from
the syringe right in after the dope. Dont worry though, it takes a
lot of air to kill an old junkie and were not that lucky anyhow.
Did I drift off for a minute or two? Hey, that happens some-
times. Some sentences take an hour to finish, if you know what I
mean. Anyway, it would get real quiet and then the Troll would
start to spin a yarn.
MARC D. GOLDFINGER is a formerly homeless vendor who is now
housed. He can be reached at mailto:junkietroll@yahoo.com junki-
etroll@yahoo.com and via his web page MarcDGoldfinger Marc also
has books on http://www.smashwords.net www.smashwords.net
that can be downloaded for $2.99.
GOLDFINGER continued from page 11
woman run? And when will we see a woman
win the Presidency?
MP: I dont think we will. This country is so
much more sexist than many others. Ageism
and sexism here are rampant. Women over 40
arent supposed to exist in this country unless
they have had 800 different medical procedures.
SCN: And if you are pretty and over 40 they
call you a cougar.
MP: Then I am a cougar. My husband is 13
years younger.
SCN: Awesome! Good to know!
SCN: Your poem, Barbie Doll, an artful
expose of the shallowness of Americas ideal of
women, has been widely anthologized and is
arguably one of your most famous poems. Have
things changed since you wrote that poem? In a
world of Kardashians and hip-hop songs that
have women singing about hoes when singing
about their sisters, what do you see the role of a
young feminist in these difficult days?
MP: Pick out what issues move you. No one
can tell you what they are.
SCN: Im in awe of your stamina and your
prolific output. How do you keep producing so
much quality work? Maybe you can describe a
typical day to the rest of us slackers?
MP: First of all, a simple explanation---I chose
writing and artistic endeavor over security. I
write full time and sometimes I make enough to
live and sometimes I am scraping by.
SCN: I think thats awful that someone like
you who has produced such great work would
have to scrape by.
MP: I do OK. I chug along. And my stuff
coming back in print through PM Press means
a lot to me.
SCN: Is there something youd like to leave us
about yourself that few people know?
MP: I think its very important that as a politi-
cal person, you live in a way that you can write
your life. I enjoy whatever I can and what I dont
enjoy, I change. I taught myself to make changes.
I love my six cats, my garden, and my friends.
Its important to figure out whats good for you
and whats not good for you (chuckles). And I
aint talking about Romney and his two Cadillacs.
For an online sampling of Marge Piercys
work, go to http://www.margepiercy.com/
PATTY WITTNEBERT TOMSKY is a freelance
writer.
PIERCY continued from page 10
13
March 23 - April 5, 2012
poetry
Every Thursday
Squawk Coffeehouse, 9 pm
1555 Mass Ave., Cambridge
Open mike for poets and musicians.
Every Saturday
Out of the Blue Gallery, 8 pm
106 Prospect St., Cambridge
$3-5 suggested donation.
671- 354-5287
Every Sunday
Lizard Lounge Poetry Slam, 7 pm
1667 Mass. Ave., Cambridge
$5. 671- 547-0759
Every Monday
Out of the Blue Gallery, 8 pm
106 Prospect St., Cambridge
$4 suggested donation.
617-354-5287
Every Wednesday
Boston Poetry Slam, 8 pm
Cantab Lounge, 738 Mass. Ave.,
Cambridge
$3. 21+. 617-354-2685
Second Thursday of Every Month
Tapestry of Voices, 6:30 pm
Borders, 10 School St., Boston
Free. 617-557-7188
Second Tuesday of Every Month
Newton Free Library, 7 pm
330 Homer St. 617-796-1360
Third Saturday of Every Month
Boston Haiku Society meeting,
2-6 pm
Kaji Aso Studio,
40 St. Stephen St., Boston
$3. 617-247-1719
|eem: me |e :t|mi||ei |e. ert 9. elilirjer,
Uri| /re. Kelmer| /, JZ1&
er emeil. :jeretlerjejee|rjmeil.tem. SCN cannot return poetry
submissions, and authors will be contacted only if their poems are published.
Poetry event listings may be submitted to sceditor@homelessempowerment.org
LAST EXIT
By Dave Church
My dream death
Is to expire in the back seat
of a limousine.
Drunk with champagne.
High on skunk weed.
Maybe in the company
of a movie queen.
Anyone...
Dirty Dave
By Dave Church
The other day while parked on the stand
of a fancy hotel,
Dirty Dave pulled up behind me.
In the mood for conversation
And a few laughs,
I stepped from my cab
Into his.
He was feasting on fried chicken -
Licking his fingers without a thought.
The windows were smoky
And full of grime from the streets.
Ashtrays Overloaded.
A crust of pizza
And an empty can of soda
Were on the floor.
On the back seat next to me
Was something sticky -
Like jelly from a doughnut.
I asked Dirty Dave
If he ever felt embarrassed
When riding the clean and well-heeled
Around town.
He just laughed.
Wiped mouth on sleeve.
Stuffed chicken bones
Under seat.
Drunk Radio Poems
By Dave Church
My radio has only two stations -
One classical, the other jazz.
When I drink,
I listen to classical.
When I write,
I listen to jazz.
Lately,
Ive been drinking more
And writing less. So,
The other night,
I borrowed the landladys radio.
I wanted to listen to both stations
At the same time.
I figured maybe then
I could drink
AND
Make a few poems.
When I woke up next morning,
I read them over and over and over.
None of them made any sense.
I typed them up anyway -
Submitted them to the New Yorker.
Dave Church (19472008) has published 3 booksUnder The
Influence, Blue Balls by the Alpha Beat Press & Hack Job by the
Green Bean Press. I first saw his work on line at The Outlaw Poetry
Network. He was a contributer to Free Verse & Barbaric YAWP, and
also a magazine called The Hammer. Dave was originally a dairy
farmer, then became a cab driver when he left the family farm. He
was well-loved and respected in the poetry circles he frequented.
14
Spare Change News March 23 - April 5, 2012
Food
DAILY MEALS:
Bread & Jams SeIf Advocacy Cenler 5O Quincy Sl.
Cambridge 617-441-3831
Located in the basement of the Swedenborg Church at the
corner of KirkIand and Quincy. Serves aduIls onIy, no chiI-
dren.
Breakfast 9:30 to 10 a.m; lunch at 12:00 noon. Other services
include case management, housing assistance, clinical
assessment, and referrals for substance abuse and medical
treatment.
Boston Rescue Mission 39 Kingston St., Boston
Community meals: 3:00 p.m. weekdays, and 5:00 p.m.
Sundays.
Pine Street Inn 444 Harrison Ave., Boston, 617-482-4944
Breakfast: 6:00 a.m.; brown bag lunches during the day;
Dinner: 5:00 p.m.; Chicken truck: 11:30 a.m.
Rosies Place 889 Harrison Ave., Boston, 617-442-9322
Women & children only, no boys over age 11
Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.; Dinner: 4:30 to 7:00 p.m.
St. Francis House 39 Boylston St., Boston, 617-542-4211
Breakfast: 7:30 to 9:00 a.m.; Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Emergency sandwiches: Weekdays 2:45 to 3:00 p.m.
Salvation Army 402 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, 617-547-3400
Lunch: 12:00 noon
Womens Lunch Place 67 Newbury St., Boston., 617-267-
0200
Women & children only, no boys over 14
Open Mon. through Sat., 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Buffet breakfast 7:00 to 11:00am, restaurant-style lunch
12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m.
WEEKLY MEALS
Monday:
Boston Rescue Mission 39 Kingston St., Boston
Food pantry: 9:00 to11:00 a.m. (except holidays). Bring
proof of address.
Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church 62 Harvard Ave.,
Allston, 617-787-7625
6:00 to 7:00 p.m. dinner and take-out from Open Door Soup
Kitchen/St. Bridgets Food Pantry
Mass. Ave. Baptist Church 146 Hampshire St., Cambridge,
617-868-4853.
Dinner 6 :00 to 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday:
Church of the Advent 30 Brimmer St., Boston, 617-523-
2377
Dinner 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
First Parish Unitarian Church 3 Church St., Cambridge,
617-876-7772
Dinner 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 5:30)
Faith Lutheran Church 311 Broadway, Cambridge, 617-
354-0414
Faith Kitchen, second & last Tuesday of every month, 6:30
p.m.
Wednesday:
Hope Fellowship Church 16 Beech Street, Cambridge, MA
Streetlight Outreach Team - Wednesday nights at Harvard
Square in the pit 8:15 p.m. to 9:45 p.m.
Salvation Army 402 Mass. Ave., Cambridge 617-547-3400
Dinner 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Thursday:
Christ Church Zero Garden St. Cambridge 617-876-0200
Dinner 6 :00 p.m.
The Womens Meal (Women and children welcome)
5:00 to 7 p.m.
Union Baptist Church
874 Main St., Cambridge, 617-864-6885
5:00 p.m.
Friday:
Arlington St. Church
351 Boylston St., Boston, 617-536-7050
5:00 p.m.
Food Not Bombs
Boston Common (near Park Street T station), 617-522-8277
3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Mass. Ave. Baptist Church
146 Hampshire St., Cambridge, 617-868-4853
6:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Saturday:
Hope Fellowship Church 16 Beech Street, Cambridge, MA
Hope Caf 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. last Saturday of the
month
Loaves and Fishes, First Korean Church, 35 Magazine
Street, Cambridge
5:30 p.m. buffet dinner, music, food pantry
Pilgrim Trinitarian Congregational Church 540 Columbia
Rd, Dorchester
12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m. community lunch, cafe style, and
we serve the guests, no standing in line.
Sunday:
Boston Rescue Mission 39 Kingston St., Boston
5:00 p.m. Sundays.
Food Not Bombs
955 Mass Ave (617) 787-3436
Central Square in Cambridge on Sundays from 3-5pm.
|9 /''|'I/NC|
Greater Boston Food Bank, 617-427-5200
Serves non-profit organizations such as agencies, shelters,
etc. Office hours: 8 a.m. -- 4:30 p.m.
Project Bread 617-723-5000; Hotline 1-800-645-8333
Referrals to food pantries throughout the city
Somerville Food Pantry 617-776-7687
Food pantry: Mon, Tue, Fri 10 a.m. -- 2 p.m.; Wed 12 p.m.
-- 4 p.m.; Thu 1 p.m. -- 4 p.m.
Somerville residents only. Those unable to use other pan-
tries due to disability may call and ask for the Project Soup
Delivery Coordinator.
Brookline Food Pantry
15 St. Paul St., Brookline, 617-566-4953
Tues. & Thurs. 10 a.m. -- 2 p.m., Sat. 2 p.m. -- 4 p.m.
Brookline residents only. Second-time visitors must present
a letter from an advocate confirming that they are in need
of food services.
CEOC (Cambridge Economic Opportunity Commission)
11 Inman St. (basement), Cambridge, 617-868-2900
Food pantry: Mon, Wed 4 p.m. -- 6 p.m.; Tue 12 p.m. -- 2
p.m.; Thu 11 a.m. -- 1 p.m.; Closed Fri.
East End House
105 Spring St., Cambridge, 617-876-4444
Food pantry: Tue 9 a.m. -- 2 p.m.; Fri 9 a.m. -- 12 p.m.
Offers assistance in filling out food stamp applications (call
for appointment).
Margaret Fuller House
71 Cherry St., Cambridge, 617-547-4680
Food pantry: Wed. 5 :00 to 7 p.m.; Thurs. 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.;
Fri & Sat 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
Salvation Army
402 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-547-3400
Cambridge and Somerville residents only.
Food pantry: 9 a.m. -- 3 p.m. & by appointment
St. Francis House
39 Boylston St., Boston, 617-542-4211
Food pantry: Mon. Fri. 10 a.m. -- 11 a.m.
Sign up at the Counseling Desk in the St. Francis House
Day Center
St. James Episcopal Church
Helping Hand Food Pantry, Fresh Pond Apartments, 362
Ringe Ave, Cambridge
Tues., 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., Wed. (for Fresh Pond Residents
only, 4 to 6:00pm), Thurs. 11 a.m. - 12 :00 noon; Sat. 10:00
a.m. to 12:00 noon
St. Pauls AME Church 85 Bishop Allen Drive, Cambridge,
617-661-1110
Food pantry: Wed. 12p.m.--2 p.m.; Sat. 10a.m.--12 p.m.
Western Ave Baptist Church 299 Western Ave., Cambridge,
617-661-0433
Food pantry: Every second Wed., 10 a.m.
Zinberg Clinic Pantry Cambridge Hospital 617-665-1606
For clinic patients with HIV/AIDS only.
Food pantry: Mon. -- Fri. 9 a.m. -- 5 p.m.
Fair Foods $2 a bag
CAMBRIDGE, St. Pauls Church 29 Mt. Auburn St
Harvard Sq. Red Line
Saturdays 10-11
SOMERVILLE, Cobble Hill Apts
84 Washington St. Back parking lot (near Sullivan Sq.)
Every other Wed. 11:30-1
Mt. Pleasant Apts. 70 Perkins St. (off Broadway)
Every other Wed. 1:30 - 2:30
Hearty meals for all
Somerville Community Baptist Church
31 College Ave. Somerville, MA02144
Free community meals the second Friday of every month
at 6:30pm
Homeless Concerns
The Womens Center
46 Pleasant St., Cambridge, 617-354-8807
Computers, kitchen, space, childrens room, and more.
Walk-ins welcome.
Women & children only (no boys over age 12)
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-3pm.
Cambridge Multi-Service Center
19 Brookline St., Cambridge, 617-349-6340
City-run agency with additional community non-profit
partners. Works with Cambridge families in shelters,
provides shelter referrals and other housing assistance.
Employs housing specialists for elderly and disabled.
Office hours: Mon. 8:30 a.m. -- 8 p.m.; Tue., Wed., Thu. 8:30
a.m. -- 5 p.m.; Fri. 8:30 a.m. -- 12 p.m. Walk-ins accepted.
Cardinal Medeiros Center
25 Isabella St., Boston, 617-619-6960
Day center for homeless adults (50 years & older); mental
health & nursing staff; help with housing searches.
Lunch served at 11:45 a.m.
Office hours: Mon.-Thu. 9a.m.- 4p.m.; Fri. 9a.m.-3 p.m.
Caspar 240 Albany St., Cambridge, 617-661-0600
Open 24 hrs/day; emergency shelter open 4:30 p.m. -- 8
a.m.; Clients who leave in the morning may not return
until 3 p.m.; Clients staying multiple nights must prove
recent local residency.
CLASP (Community Legal Assistance Services Project)
19 Brookline St., Cambridge, 617-552-0623
Free legal clinic for Cambridge homeless at the Multi-
Service Center every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
Ecclesia Ministries 67 Newbury Street, Boston.,
617-552-0623
Weekly Schedule for the Common Cathedral:
Sunday: Worship at Brewers Fountain on Boston
Common, 1 pm
Gospel Reflection at St. Pauls Cathedral, 138 Tremont St.,
2:30 p.m. -- 4 p.m.
Monday: Lunch at Sproat Hall (St. Pauls Cathedral) 11:30
a.m. --1 p.m.
-Eucharist & Healing (St. Pauls Cathedral) 1 p.m.
- Common Fellowship in Sproat Hall (St. Pauls Cathedral)
2 p.m. --3 p.m.
Wednesday: Common Art at the Emmanuel Church, 15
Newbury Street, 10 a.m. -- 3 p.m.
Friday: Common Cinema in Sproat Hall (St. Pauls
Cathedral) 2:30 p.m. -- 5 p.m.
Horizons for Homeless Children
617-445-1480; www.horizonsforhomelesschildren.org
Horizons for Homeless Children is seeking volunteers to
interact and play with children living in family, teen par-
ent, and domestic violence shelters in Greater Boston. We
offer daytime and evening shifts, so there is likely to be one
that fits your schedule. A commitment of 2 hours a week
for 6 months is required. The next training session will be
Sat., Sept. 27, 9:30 a.m. -- 4:30 p.m.
Medical Walk-in Unit at Mass General Hospital
617-726-2707
Provides minor medical care for adults. Patients are seen in
order of arrival. MGH accepts most insurances but requires
copayments.
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat., Sun., Holidays 9:30
a.m.-4 p.m.; closed Thanksgiving & Christmas
Boston Rescue Mission 39 Kingston St., Boston
Safe & healthy mens overnight shelter program.
Rosies Place 889 Harrison Ave., Boston, 617-442-9322
Women and children only (no boys over age 11)
Open 7 days a week; provides help with housing, medical
care, job training, financial aid and education, legal servic-
es, rape crisis counselors, health specialists, and more.
St. Francis House 39 Boylston Street, Boston, 617-542-4211
Meals offered 365 days/yr.; food pantry open weekdays.
Offers a mailroom, open art studio, clothing lottery, com-
puter library, support groups such as AA, showers, tele-
phones, toothbrushes & razors, medical clinic, counseling
and mental health services, housing counseling and stabili-
zation services, and a womens center. For more details on
these services and for their specific times visit www.stfran-
cishouse.org
Starlight Ministries 617-262-4567
Outreach van with food, clothing, blankets and worship.
Hours: Wed. 8 p.m. by Park Street T station on the Boston
Common.
Streetlight Outreach Wednesdays at 8:00 PM
Harvard T-Station (The Pit); Porter Square T-Station.
Volunteers work weekly to serve the homeless who live in
Harvard and Porter Squares. Volunteer teams give away
warm food and beverages, clothing and counsel to those in
need. Streetlight volunteers also lead an outdoor worship
service for the entire community.
The Womens Center
46 Pleasant St., Cambridge, 617-354-8807
Computers, kitchen and rooms. Walk-ins welcome.
Women & children only (no boys over age 16).
Hours: Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-- 8 p.m., Sat 10 a.m. -- 3 p.m.
On The Rise 341 Broadway, Cambridge, 617-497-7968
Women only. Home-base during the day and advocacy ser-
vices. Open six days/week. First-time visitors, call ahead
or stop by Mon-Sat, 8-2pm.
The Outdoor Church of Cambridge
The Outdoor Church of Cambridge is an outdoor ministry
to homeless men and women in Cambridge. Prayer ser-
vices and pastoral assistance outdoors in all seasons and all
weather. Short prayer services in Porter Square, under the
mobile sculpture near the T station, at 9:00 a.m. and on the
Cambridge Common, near the tall Civil War monument
and directly across from Christ Church Cambridge on
Garden Street, at 1:00 p.m. every Sunday, throughout the
year. Sandwiches, pastry, juice and clean white socks avail-
able in Harvard Square and Central Square. (978)456-0047,
39 Brown Road, Harvard, Massachusetts 01451 jedman-
nis@charter.net; www.theoutdoorchurch.net.
Victory Programs, Inc.
www.vpi.org. Short and long-term residential substance
use disorder treatment programs for individuals and fami-
lies; affordable housing opportunities for eligible individu-
als; HIV/AIDS case management. Sites throughout Boston
Please call for more information. (617) 541-0222 ext. 626
|ejel /ii.
Lawyers Clearinghouse, 617-723-0885
Shelter Legal Services (Newton), 617-965-0449
The Homeless Eyecare Network of Boston (HEN-Boston)
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining a con-
stantly undated network of affordable and free eyecare ser-
vices for the homeless. If you need an eye exam or glasses,
please visit our website, www.hen-boston.org.
Helping Hands
Cambridge and Boston are teeming with organizations ready to provide food and services to the homeless and the
needy. If youre in need, theyre there for you. If you can volunteer or donate, most of them could use your help.
Name _______________________________________________
Street ________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
City ____________________________ State ______ Zip _____
*
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Mail to: Spare Change News1151 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138
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16
Spare Change News March 23 - April 5, 2012
Kier Byrnes
Spare Change News
WHISKEY BOYS
Mary Come to Boston
The Whiskey Boys are a delight-
ful duo of Berklee grads who can play
their instruments as well as most peo-
ple can walk down the street. Their
influenced songs are lively and upbeat
with a hint of sarcasm and a healthy
dose of fun, mixing equally Celtic, folk
and Americana musical styles. David
Delaney on fiddle and Mark Kilianski
on guitar make a wonderful combina-
tion, each playing in a very complimen-
tary style thats sure to get your shoe
tapping and your spirits lifted (whether
that means your mood or your beverage
is up to you). This CD is so chock-full of
hypnotizingly addictive songs that you
will find yourself singing along in no
time. These guys are making big waves
in the New England folk scene, and
with music like this, I understand why.
Pour yourself a tall glass of the Whiskey
Boys and enjoy!
http://www.whiskeyboys.com/
albums/mary-come-to-boston/

COMANCHERO
The Undeserved
Country jam rock has never sound-
ed so good. The lads of Comanchero
have blended styles ranging every-
where from Wilco to Widespread Panic
in their latest full length CD, The
Undeserved. The CD was recorded
at a new up-and-coming studio in
Waltham, MA called Riverview Studios,
in which the engineers have caught
the band Greg and Bob Moon, Sam
Margolis, Andrew Kramer and Jim
Levin at their finest. In addition to
the uber-professional level of produc-
tion, The Undeserved features catchy,
hook-laden choruses and big, in-your-
face grooves reminiscent of The Allman
Brothers to Lynyrd Skynyrd. Like those
classic bands, Comanchero isnt afraid
to explore new territory, as shown in
the jams in songs like Jimmy Carter
and Cold and Lonely Night to keep it
all fresh. If there is an album that gets
stuck on repeat at some point in your
life, it should be this one.
http://comanchero.bandcamp.com/
SAM REID AND THE
RIOT ACT
A Slow Burn
There are only a few guitarists that
are as good as Sam Reid and only a
few bands that are as good as Sam
Reid and The Riot Act. All veterans
of the local music scene, Sam and his
boys put together a heartfelt mix of
bluegrass meets country, with a touch
of Caribbean soul. Sound tasty? Well,
it certainly is. The bands songwrit-
ing is an agile collection of slow-burn-
ing personal reflection and guitar-led
explosions, each with an unforgettable
melody and equally memorable story.
Some of my favorite tracks are the
bands arrangement of the eerie folk
standard Bringing Mary Home and
the title track Slow Burn. Also worth
a mention is the instrumental written
by the bands mandolinist, Aaron Goff,
called New Zealand. Its one part sea
shanty, one part Irish reel and one part
Tennessee bourbon. The CD closes with
a lightning speed version of the blue-
grass classic Salt Creek. As I listen,
I imagine smoke coming off the guitar,
mandolin and fiddle as the bands fin-
gers release their grip on the fret board.
This album has got sizzle!
ht t p: //www. my s pa c e . c o m/
sreidandtheriotact

KIER BYRNES is the former Music Editor
of Whats Up Magazine, which helped sup-
port Haley House in Bostons South End.
He currently also serves as the Associate
Editor of The Noise, New Englands longest
running music magazine. He manages a
running club, the Kier Byrnes Freedom
Runners, which has helped raise over
$100,000 for charity over the past decade.
He is a musician in the local band Three
Day Threshold.
Spare Change CD Reviews
County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Kansas
Secretary of State Kris Kobach to be the
faces of their immigration policy? On
the Democratic side, the administra-
tion needs to fully implement improve-
ments to the immigration enforcement
system, including prosecutorial discre-
tion, which prioritizes deporting drug
lords over landscapers. Change is more
than words. This political silly season,
our elected leaders might think theyre
handing out candy at Cinco de Mayo,
St. Patricks Day, Chinese New Year
and Diwali parades all at once. But if
candidates want to see a parade of new
American voters heading their way,
they must show political courage and
get something done.
Ali Noorani is the Executive Director
of the National Immigration Forum
Action Fund, and previously served as
Executive Director of the Massachusetts
Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy
Coalition (MIRA). Reprinted with per-
mission.
IMMIGRATION continued from page 3
SCN: But in some respects you ful-
filled his dream.
NF: But I think I was on the same
path as him. When I was drinking, I was
doing a lot of talking about writing, and
not actually doing a whole lot of actual
writing. I had to quit drinking and doing
drugs in order to write.
SCN: When did that happen?
NF: A couple years after he showed
up at the shelter. When he showed up at
the shelter I was probably 27 or so. I went
on a bit of a tear for a couple of years, and
then I sobered up. It sort of became clear
that he wasnt going anywhere, he wasnt
getting off the streets, and I could either
go down with him or go in the other
direction. I thought it was worth a shot
seeing what the other direction looked
like, and I was sort of lucky I did.
SCN: Are you pleased with the
movie?
NF: Yes, I am. I worked with the direc-
tor, Paul Weitz, on the script for seven
years. It captures the variety of people
who get caught in homelessness, and
what life in a shelter is like. I think it
captures things well. But its definitely
through one persons lens, (my father) is
not supposed to represent all homeless
people, theres not one representative of
all homeless people. He represents one
type of homeless person.
SCN: How did your father feel about
being portrayed in the movie?
NF: Alcoholism manifests itself in
many different ways, and one of the
manifestations with him is a very sort of
solid narcissism. Hes actually not sur-
prised in the least that a movie has been
made about his life, and even that Robert
De Niro, one of our great actors, should
be playing him. It doesnt surprise him,
he completely expected it his whole life.
NF: He did want Dustin Hoffman. He
was a little disappointed, but, you know.
SCN: A lot people, given the long
estrangement between you and your
father, wouldnt have let him back into
your life.
NF: I dont claim to be able to say what
anyone should do. This is what I did, I did
it because I sort of had to. My brother has
had no contact with our father. He lives
in upstate New York, I see my brother all
the time, so theres two of us in the same
family who have taken very different
approaches to this. I dont think my way
is any better than his way. People have to
find their own way.
SCN: You gave up alcohol and drugs
did you replace them with anything?
NF: I did some meditation, therapy,
whatever I can do thats not alcohol and
drugs. Buddhism has been very helpful,
meditation, and other stuff like that.
SCN: One of your fathers famous
lines in the book and movie, We are put
on this earth to help other people. Do
you believe that?
NF: Its used in the movie quite a bit.
It is sort of one of his iconic lines. But its
also a bit ironic because it does seem like
hes mostly talking about himself, that
one should help him, one should help
him. But if you take it out of that context,
its a profound insight.
SCN: You followed Another Bullshit
Night in Suck City with The Ticking
is the Bomb, in which your father reap-
pears, and now youre working on a book
about your story being told on the big
screen.
NF: The Reenactments, its called.
Getting to see your family reanimated by
these great actors.
SCN: What advice do you have for
homeless writers?
NF: From the Buddhist perspective,
you need to have three legs to the pyra-
mid or the tripod. One of the legs is the
sangha, which is the group, so one should
have a community of writers, meet with
a group of other writers. One is the dhar-
ma, the books, the texts you read. So you
should read other writers to see what
inspires and influences you. The other
one is the daily practice, the meditation,
you just have to write every day. Thats
sort of the Buddhist way, but it seems to
make sense for writing as well.
(For more about Nick Flynn, go to www.
nickflynn.org. Nick Flynn will give a pub-
lic reading at 6 p.m. on April 4 at Emerson
College in the Beard Room. For details contact
Ladette_Randolph@emerson.edu)
TOM BENNER is editor of Spare Change
News. Email him at editor@sparechange-
news.net
FLYNN continued from page 8