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An anthology by homeless people and those touched by homelessness
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I am really honored that our Ibbetson Street Press, based in Somerville, is publishing Spare Change News Poems: An Anthology by Homeless People and those Touched by Homelessness.

Years ago, I assisted the then poetry editor Don DiVecchio with his poetry column in Spare Change News and wrote a few features for the all-poetry issues. I learned a lot working with the former editor of the paper Linda Larson, and the assistant editor Cindy Baron. Now noted poets, Lee Varon and the current poetry editor Marc Goldfinger are putting out this anthology of verse through us.

The paper was started in Boston in 1992 and was the brainchild of Tim Hobson, who enlisted the aid of twelve other homeless people

“When people think of helping the poor and homeless, they usually think of food and shelter,” Harris said. “Those things are necessary, but it’s more than that. It’s the spiritual. The homeless need to express themselves and be a part of the community. It’s important that they have human dignity”.

The first issue of Spare Change News was published on Friday, May 8, 1992.

The newspaper’s first managing editor, Tim Hobson, said at its founding that it would be “heavy on politics as well as discussion of homeless empowerment”. He also said an important goal was to “put a face on the homeless to show that we’re human beings”.

MIT Professor Noam Chomsky, together with his friend, the historian Howard Zinn, were some of the first major supporters of Spare Change News.