Begun in 1992 as one of the nation's first street newspapers to benefit the homeless, Spare Change is published every other week by the Homeless Empowerment Project (HEP) in Cambridge.
The Spare Change News mission is to provide accessible income and skill development opportunities to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness through the writing, production, distribution and sale of our newspaper.
While providing these opportunities, the newspaper serves as both an avenue for expression and an advocacy tool for the homeless community—giving homeless and formerly homeless writers, poets and illustrators space to showcase their skill and share their experience.
Through our newspaper the contributors, vendors and staff of Spare Change News play an educational role by promoting facts and destroying myths about the poor. While doing all this, Spare Change News encourages a sense of community among our constituents and invites those who are more fortunate, people who may otherwise have little interaction with the homeless, to become involved in the struggle for economic and social justice.
Spare Change News publishes 8,000 copies every two weeks and approximately 95% of those papers are sold to the public by vendors—people who have been or are homeless. Vendors who wish to sell Spare Change must meet a few minimal requirements: they must be sober, respectful and courteous to Spare Change/HEP staff, other vendors and customers. There are few other requirements and this is by design—the Homeless Empowerment Project wants to provide accessible opportunities to as many people as possible as simply as possible.
Depending on how often they work, vendors are able to earn a respectable wage selling the paper and many support themselves through paper sales. Vendors who sell Spare Change purchase newspapers for 25 cents each and resell them for $1.00, thus making a 75-cent profit on each paper sold.
Currently there are about 130 enrolled vendors, with approximately 60 selling Spare Change News each month. Since its founding in 1992 the program has helped nearly two thousand people by providing this source of immediate, personal income.
When the first issue of Spare Change was published in 1992 there were a mere handful of people involved in all aspects of production and distribution of an eight-page paper that was published once a month. Today Spare Change News, now sixteen pages and published twice as often, has separate departments responsible for production, sale and editorial concerns. The increase in editorial capacity has allowed us to provide a greater range of material and attract people with diverse interests. In a single issue Spare Change can update or inform homeless advocates and providers of events and circumstances affecting the community, offer readers creative stories and artwork produced from the perspective of someone who was or is homeless, and provoke thought and reaction about a significant issue through a variety of thoughtful stories and deliberate editorials.
As physical and conceptual capacity has increased, so has the quality and appearance of the paper. Part of that improvement comes from the development of a stable and dedicated staff. The combined stability and experience of our staff offers a great deal of comfort to writers and vendors. In addition to this encouraging atmosphere, Spare Change News provides a Writer's Fund—supported by individual donations and small grants—which permits us to compensate and encourage contributors who are homeless or living below the poverty line.