Student Spares Time for Newspaper for Homeless

Spare Change, "New England's Journal of the Streets," has a strong supporter at Harvard: Toni E. Moore '98.

Moore appears on the front page of the Nov. 16-30 publication alongside a feature she wrote depicting Spare Change vendors' reasons for being grateful this Thanksgiving. "We wanted to do something different for this issue," she said.

As the first Spare Change intern from Harvard, Moore writes and edits for the publication and performs clerical work. She has even tried her hand at selling.

"It's really hard work," she said. Moore said her involvement with Spare Change has inspired a number of friendships.

"Some of the vendors have become my close friends," she said. "Obviously the vendors at Harvard Square I'm much closer with, but I visit the vendors at Downtown Crossing once in a while too."

Moore decided to intern for the organization last year.

"Last May, I started talking to a vendor and 20 minutes later I ran to the office and set up an internship," she said.

Moore gets class credit for the 10 to 15 hours a week she spends at Spare Change through Sociology 96: "Individual Community Research Internship."

"Soc 96 is really a class about activism," she said. "The bulk of field work [requires that] each of the students have an organization that they are a part of, which is really great because I can spend more time [at Spare Change]."

Her work with the organization is complementary to her sociology thesis--the economic choices of people who do street work.

Moore said she supports the organization because of its philosophy. "I feel Spare Change is an incredible organization. It helps the homeless help themselves," she said.

Although her sociology class is ending, Moore will continue to volunteer. "The course is over next semester, but I'm going to stay with it," she said.