MEET YOUR VENDORS

THE MEN & WOMEN Of ONE STEP AWAY

Every day, One Step Away vendors proudly put on their yellow vests to hit the streets distributing the magazine. For our vendors, the vest symbolizes a community, a purpose, and a sense of belonging. On the streets, the yellow vest represents a positive change in our vendors’ lives and the City of Philadelphia. Our vendors make amazing strides each day — whether it is opening a bank account, kicking a bad habit, overcoming homelessness, or just making the decision to get-up and hit the streets to try and make a change. In this issue, we highlight our heroes in the yellow vest — the men and women of One Step Away — our vendors. There is no one face of homelessness, because there is no one story of how someone becomes homeless. As our vendors can tell you, everyone’s story of becoming homeless, as well as everyone’s story while homeless, is as unique and diverse as our vendors themselves. Some vendors have overcome homelessness and now use their earnings from distributing the One Step Away Magazine to maintain their housing, while other vendors are still in transition. But all of our vendors are working towards a better life, for themselves, for other people who might find themselves homeless, and for our larger Philadelphia and international communities. Also, vendors answer some of the most frequently asked questions from our readers and community members, including: how did you become homeless? And what can I do to help those on the streets? Finally, our vendors share some advice to other’s who might find themselves without a home, encouraging them to not give up! Thank you for your support. We hope you enjoy learning more about us and our stories!

Thank you to all of our volunteers, vendors, and contributors for helping us make this issue. Photography: Ted Goldman at TGoldmanPhotography.com, Alexis Wright-Whitley, Ashley Gearhart Donovan, Ethan Cohen. Writing, Interviews, and Editing: Caia Iglehart, Jaymes Savage, Conall Dempsey, Dylan Yuska. And thank you to all of our vendors who shared their stories for this issue.