"Everyone rallied behind him and even went to the courthouse with him," she says. "The editors always have time for the vendors."

And the sense of community is at the root of the small changes many vendors see in their lives, Anjaria says.

"The myth of success doesn't happen to everyone. But even if the vendors still are not able to buy an apartment and a car, there are little changes that happen every day," Anjaria says. "They now have a community where they feel they belong."

This community and sense of belonging is precisely what kept Dougherty as a Spare Change vendor for six years.

"We belong together--Spare Change and me," he says. "Spare Change came a long way, and I came a long way. I'm not going to say Spare Change changed my life, but it did give me a new outlook."

And this new outlook has allowed Dougherty to move from isolation to connection with the larger Cambridge community.

"If it weren't for the great people of Cambridge for helping, Spare Change couldn't have been around for so long," he says, smiling. "Thank you. God bless you all."