By: Amanda Fakhreddine
On February 11th, Rosie's Place sponsored an event hosted by the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network that featured five panelists from various local nonprofit organizations who spoke about the issues currently facing nonprofits. With the economic recession, nonprofits are facing cuts in programs and the services they are able to provide. Panelists highlighted the need for volunteers and anyone willing to help. The nonprofit organizations discussed all dealt with homelessness, and panelists also gave advice to those in attendance hoping to network, and to anyone wishing to get into the nonprofit industry. Entry- level positions are available but a certain personality allows some to be more successful than others.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Brewing for Blankets: Local Students to Raise Funds, Awareness for Homeless
By: Julia Waterhous
On March 4th at the Boston Common near the Park Street T stop, a group of students from Suffolk University, led by professor Debra Harkins with help from James Shearere and Ron Tibbets, will hand out coffee, information on homelessness and copies of Spare Change to raise awareness. They will also be asking for donations and after the event will use the donations to buy blankets to donate to local shelters.
On March 4th at the Boston Common near the Park Street T stop, a group of students from Suffolk University, led by professor Debra Harkins with help from James Shearere and Ron Tibbets, will hand out coffee, information on homelessness and copies of Spare Change to raise awareness. They will also be asking for donations and after the event will use the donations to buy blankets to donate to local shelters.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Coraline Review
By Jenny Halper
Spare Change News
Movies have culled drama from ungrateful daughters and out-of-it mothers for as long as they've probed the divide between fantasy and reality. So if the premise of Neil Gaiman's Coraline isn't terribly new - it's about as different from The Wizard of Oz and Pans Labyrinth as the name Coraline is from Caroline – the film is nonetheless a visually inventive and wonderfully quirky adventure that manages to entertain while imparting a pretty dark message: be careful what you wish for, what looks better isn't always, and dreams can turn into nightmares.
I'm probably being too philosophical. This is, after all, a kids' movie – or a movie that brings back vivid memories of being a kid, like waking up to boring reality after a great dream, and being forced to eat food you'd rather scrub the floor with. The heroine, voiced with pluck by Dakota Fanning, has moved with her parents to an apartment building that looks like a pink version of something from a Tim Burton movie, and usually doesn't house families with kids. Not that her parents seem to want kids: mom (Teri Hatcher) types on a computer and snaps at her, dad (John Hodgeman) types on a computer and ignores her, they buy her drab school uniforms and send her off to play with the too-chatty boy next door, who is named Whyborn ("why, were you born?" Coraline groans). Whyborn gives her a doll that looks just like her, except it has buttons where its eyes should be.
Coraline, which was written by Gaiman (from his children's book of the same name) and directed by the inventive Henry Selick, benefits from amazing animation and detailed puppetry –the characters are remarkably expressive. The story is smartly told from Coraline's honest, gutsy, sometimes bratty perspective. She really is an explorer on a quest for a water hole, the grotesque actresses downstairs really are the size of cruise ships, her parents really are just that awful - until she wants something, and then they're not.
After a few amusing encounters with her new neighbors, Coraline finds a small door that, at night, opens to tunnel that leads to a house that looks just like her house, only brighter. Her dad looks like her dad, only he composes songs about her. Her mom looks just like her mom, only she cooks Coraline's favorite foods and plants exquisite gardens and sews Whyborn's mouth shut. A gravy train rolls down the dinner table, literally. The actresses, now thin, fling her around a trapeze. It's sort of like sorority rush, except everyone has buttons instead of eyes and after a few treats Coraline's newfound, “better” mother wants to sew buttons over Coraline’s eyes, too.
Disregard the metaphors you could make with this. Coraline has a dilemma, but she’s smart enough to know that lots of cake and flying actresses aren’t enough of a trade when her eyesight is concerned (or, as we’ll later find out, her soul). Without giving away the final act of the film – a quest that could be too scary for very young children – I will say that while the premise of the film isn’t new, the execution is surprisingly original, and parents will be as entertained as their offspring – who hopefully won’t be asking for new clothes or better food anytime soon.
2009 Cambridge/ Somerville Homeless Census: Putting It All Together
By: Robert Sondak
Cambridge and Somerville joined the rest of the nation on January 28th to complete their homeless census of the year. At 12:30 a.m. 40 crew member, equipped with maps, radios and led by team leaders, went out to do a count of the homeless in the city. They were told to be non- obtrusive and to approach sleeping persons in order to identify them as a man or woman but to not disturb them. The census took a count of the unsheltered homeless in the area and is a yearly requirement by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Cambridge and Somerville joined the rest of the nation on January 28th to complete their homeless census of the year. At 12:30 a.m. 40 crew member, equipped with maps, radios and led by team leaders, went out to do a count of the homeless in the city. They were told to be non- obtrusive and to approach sleeping persons in order to identify them as a man or woman but to not disturb them. The census took a count of the unsheltered homeless in the area and is a yearly requirement by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Man's Best Friend: Life on the Streets With Pets
By: Julia Waterhous
When Angelo Vespa became homeless all he cared about was the welfare of his cat Simon. He sought assistance from the MSPCA and was directed to Carmine Discenso, director of Phinney's Friends, an organization that provides services to those living below the poverty line with HIV/AIDS. Although Vespa did not meet the usual criteria for service from Phinney's Friends, Discenso took pity on him and decided to help him anyways. Simon is now in foster care and Vespa has found a room with an organization in Cambridge.
When Angelo Vespa became homeless all he cared about was the welfare of his cat Simon. He sought assistance from the MSPCA and was directed to Carmine Discenso, director of Phinney's Friends, an organization that provides services to those living below the poverty line with HIV/AIDS. Although Vespa did not meet the usual criteria for service from Phinney's Friends, Discenso took pity on him and decided to help him anyways. Simon is now in foster care and Vespa has found a room with an organization in Cambridge.
Demand for Shelter Beds Highest in Years
By: Amanda Fakhredinne
Harvard Square Shelter, a student run shelter in the basement of the University Lutheran Church that has been in operation since 1983, has had to adopt certain policies to keep up with the demand for shelter beds. There are 24 beds and the recent failing economy and cold weather have found every bed constantly occupied. The Harvard Shelter has implemented a policy where guests can stay for 14 nights but then must leave for seven to accommodate others. The Shelter does try to help everyone and will give someone an emergency bed for a night if they really need it. They also provide meals and will help people try to find other shelters if they are full.
Harvard Square Shelter, a student run shelter in the basement of the University Lutheran Church that has been in operation since 1983, has had to adopt certain policies to keep up with the demand for shelter beds. There are 24 beds and the recent failing economy and cold weather have found every bed constantly occupied. The Harvard Shelter has implemented a policy where guests can stay for 14 nights but then must leave for seven to accommodate others. The Shelter does try to help everyone and will give someone an emergency bed for a night if they really need it. They also provide meals and will help people try to find other shelters if they are full.
Homes for Less: Vancouver Homeless Housing Project Finally Finds a Home
By: Amy Juschka
Last year, students at Emily Carr in Vancouver took on their first to-scale assignment. They built a series of 64 square foot homes, costing $1, 500 apiece, to help with the homeless crisis in Vancouver. The students went and talked to the homeless in order to get an idea of what was needed in the homes. The homeless emphasized their need for an address so they could apply for jobs, as well as a place to rest and keep their belongings safe. The students took this into account, providing shelving that could double as furniture. The public took longer than hoped to respond to the effort. The students and their director talked with the city governments of Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster, but nowhere was willing to use the houses as homeless shelters until recently. The Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Society plans to adopt the shelters and place them behind their current facilities so that occupants can have access to amenities.
Last year, students at Emily Carr in Vancouver took on their first to-scale assignment. They built a series of 64 square foot homes, costing $1, 500 apiece, to help with the homeless crisis in Vancouver. The students went and talked to the homeless in order to get an idea of what was needed in the homes. The homeless emphasized their need for an address so they could apply for jobs, as well as a place to rest and keep their belongings safe. The students took this into account, providing shelving that could double as furniture. The public took longer than hoped to respond to the effort. The students and their director talked with the city governments of Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster, but nowhere was willing to use the houses as homeless shelters until recently. The Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Society plans to adopt the shelters and place them behind their current facilities so that occupants can have access to amenities.
A Homeless Population in Gaza
By: Saed Bannoura
Israel recently announced that the attack on Gaza will continue with the seeking out and destroying of tunnels on the border between Gaza and Egypt. This has happened in the past and usually ends with Palestinian homes being bombed or otherwise destroyed. The trend is known as razing and Israel uses the excuse that the homes are too close to the border as justification for destroying the homes. Israel claims that there are tunnels built under the houses that are used for smuggling arms into the Gaza Strip. In Rafah, a city on the southern part of the Gaza Strip, 2,000 homes were destroyed and 2,000 families were left homeless. No tunnels were discovered. Israel also destroys homes as punishment for families of Palestinians who attack Israelis. Many of the 1.5 million Palestinians living on the 40 square kilometer Gaza Strip are refugees from when Israel was created in 1948 on their land, displacing them into the tiny Gaza Strip. Since 2006, the Strip has been closed to all imports and exports and the economy is destroyed.
Israel recently announced that the attack on Gaza will continue with the seeking out and destroying of tunnels on the border between Gaza and Egypt. This has happened in the past and usually ends with Palestinian homes being bombed or otherwise destroyed. The trend is known as razing and Israel uses the excuse that the homes are too close to the border as justification for destroying the homes. Israel claims that there are tunnels built under the houses that are used for smuggling arms into the Gaza Strip. In Rafah, a city on the southern part of the Gaza Strip, 2,000 homes were destroyed and 2,000 families were left homeless. No tunnels were discovered. Israel also destroys homes as punishment for families of Palestinians who attack Israelis. Many of the 1.5 million Palestinians living on the 40 square kilometer Gaza Strip are refugees from when Israel was created in 1948 on their land, displacing them into the tiny Gaza Strip. Since 2006, the Strip has been closed to all imports and exports and the economy is destroyed.
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