Shearer, whom she dated for several years.Īt Spare Change, meanwhile, Mr. He’d give you money even when you didn’t ask him,” said Russo, who formerly was engaged to Mr. “We were all looking for a way out,” he told the Globe in 2005.Īnd as he gained stability, he made sure to try to help others on his own and through the newspaper. Spare Change News offered a different path. Shearer relocated to Greater Boston as an adult, he slipped into addiction and homelessness, telling the Globe in 2015 that he alternated between crashing on friends’ couches and staying in shelters. His mother was a nurse in a hospital, Russo said, and he never talked about his father.Īfter Mr. He was always good.”īorn in Kentucky on April 19, 1959, James Shearer grew up in the New York City area and attended high school in Yonkers, N.Y., said Lynda Russo, his former girlfriend and his health proxy during his recent illness. He was a good man in rough times, because when you’re homeless, it’s not an easy time. “He worked hard to have things work well. Shearer “was a powerful individual,” Goldfinger added. “It was the first actual honest job I had done in a long time.” “The organization that he created helped me get past being homeless,” said Marc Goldfinger, who now lives in Belmont. Shearer spoke for many whose association with the newspaper helped them improve their lives, including those who sometimes slipped back into old ways, and back onto the streets. In describing his own challenges getting off the streets, Mr. Working to build Spare Change News “restored my dignity,” he said. Shearer said, “I had a girlfriend, we got a place to live, I was off the streets by August.” Several months after beginning to sell the newspaper, Mr. Shearer told GBH.Īnd he became an example of what could happen as vendors applied the self-discipline of selling Spare Change to other parts of their lives - addressing substance abuse, setting aside money, and looking for housing. By our third issue we were like, whoa, we were onto something” Mr. The founders cobbled together funding and facilities to print Spare Change News and were surprised by the reception. What are we going to do, print it on the street?” Shearer recalled in a 2018 GBH video interview that is posted online. “I was like: What? No! It’s not going to happen. Shearer harbored doubts as he and the other founders discussed their ambitious idea for a newspaper that would be created, published, and distributed principally by those who are homeless. They keep profits from their sales, an income that helps as they try to find permanent housing and pay for food and health care.Īt the beginning, Mr. Many vendors, including those who are homeless, write for the newspaper. “What sets us apart is our message of empowerment,” Mr. Along with letting the poor and homeless report news, publish fiction and poetry, and explain first-hand how political decisions affect people living on the streets, Spare Change News was designed to change public perceptions.
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