"I was doing everything I could, but one person can't run the show," he says.

And when he hands the paper down to its new editor at the end of October, Goldfinger says he feels confident that the new institutionalized structure, modeled after a successful paper in Chicago called Streetwise, will help keep Spare Change viable.

"I wouldn't be stepping down if I didn't feel the systems were in place," he says.

Many of the new measures are designed to ensure people's trust, Goldfinger says.

All vendors have been given green identification tags and the September edition of Spare Change asks that those who donate "buy from badged vendors only."

Goldfinger says that in the near future, he will hand out picture identifications to all vendors.

Horace Reid, a finance committee member and Spare Change vendor, adds that he hopes field supervisors will continue to make sure the people who sell the paper are cordial.

In addition to restructuring much of the organization, Goldfinger says the paper will publish bi-weekly, twice as frequently as it currently does, starting November 1. Spare Change also hopes slowly to increase its circulation from 19,000 to 22,000 papers, Manuel says.

Producing two issues per month makes earning a living from selling papers more viable, Goldfinger says. "That makes it more economically feasible for vendors to work," says Goldfinger.

"People get tired of seeing the same paper two or three times," he says. Paper sales greatly diminish at the end of each month when issues have been in circulation for some time. According to Goldfinger, many of the people who purchase the paper at the end of each month do so out of the kindness of their own hear; and he does not want charity to be the driving force behind Spare Change.

"It is the quality of the paper that created the interest from the business community," he says. "We have been striving for excellence since September of 1994."

With its refurbished structure and the guidance it may receive from the board of directors, affairs at Spare Change are back in order, says Goldfinger.

"We had a lot of difficulties in the beginning, but little by little, things have gotten better," he says.

Still, challenges remain for Goldfinger.

"We plugged all the big holes, but we still have some leaks," Goldfinger says. "In this past year... we missed some papers," he says. "Which naturally turn into cash."