April 13 - 19, 2020 Vol. 28 No. 15
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I'M STILL HERE! Vendors still need your support during the COVID-19 outbreak Dear StreetWise Readers and Friends, In these uncertain times, we have been seeking solace in stories of solidarity and community. We’ve seen an outpouring of compassion and generosity from our community and friends, including messages of support and questions about how people can help the most vulnerable in our community. At this stage, we have made the tough decision to discontinue publishing physical editions of our well-known and much-loved magazine until it is once again safe to congregate and the shelter-in-place order is lifted. We will transition to digital-only editions during this time. As an organization, we feel the best way to lead is by example, so that all of our vendors understand the gravity of the situation. StreetWise’s office will continue to be open during this time. We will continue to provide essential services such as counseling, meals and hygiene kits to our vendors as they navigate their lives. We encourage our supporters to purchase a digital issue or subscribe digitally to StreetWise at www.streetwise.org/subscribe to continue to support their vendors over the next couple of months. Subscribers can specify their local vendor as the recipient of the subscription. In addition, we have produced a series of individualized posters for vendors to post at their selling spots in their absence with information on how to subscribe and donate to them. We have been fundraising tirelessly to create the "Vendor-In-Reach” fund, which we are using to deliver weekly stipend income to vendors. The purpose is to support our vendors in need as well as encourage them to adhere to the shelter-in-place order. By providing the income they would have earned selling StreetWise magazines in the streets, we succeed in this. To donate directly to the ‘Vendor-In-Reach’ fund or to help with our daily operating costs, feel free to donate at www. streetwise.org/donate. Social connection is one of the most important parts of selling StreetWise magazines and is so important for the well-being of our community. If you’d like to send a message to your local vendor, please email admin@streetwise.org and we’ll do our best to pass it on to them. Thank you for your continued support and understanding during this challenging time. Sincerely, The StreetWise Team
DONATE
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Arts & (Home) Entertainment
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Cover Story: Street Papers & Covid-19
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As all Chicago events and gatherings are cancelled until further notice, we are replacing our usual calendar with recommendations from StreetWise vendors, readers and staff to keep you entertained at home! As the world reacts to the outbreak of the coronavirus, street papers are having to adapt to an environment of social distancing and isolation, a situation not conducive to selling street papers in the traditional way: by vendors on the street. They are now facing the challenge of how to continue providing a livelihood for those who rely on them. Supported by a global network, they are coming up with innovative ways to keep going.
Inside StreetWise
StreetWise vendors give us status updates as they navigate life with the coronavirus threat.
The Playground
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Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher
dhamilton@streetwise.org
Suzanne Hanney, Editor-In-Chief
suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com
Amanda Jones, Director of programs
ajones@streetwise.org
Julie Youngquist, CEO
jyoungquist@streetwise.org
Office: 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL 60616
StreetWiseChicago @StreetWise_CHI LEARN MORE AT streetwise.org
ARTS & (HOME) ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS Since we are stuck inside, which shows have you been watching? Which movies? Have you read any good books lately? Any new music releases have you dancing in your living room? StreetWise vendors, readers and staff are sharing what is occupying their attention during this unprecedented time. To be featured in a future edition, send your recommendations and why you love them to Creative Director / Publisher Dave Hamilton at dhamilton@streetwise.org
Re-Watch This!
Black Panther "In my opinion, the hype over Black Panther was too shortlived. This was a phenomenal movie. Of course it was groundbreaking in its black representation, but on top of that, it was also a very well-done movie! The twists in the storyline kept your attention throughout the entire film, and the writing had so much depth. Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) and Michael B. Jordan (Erik Kilmonger) show their immense talent in this film, and everyone can appreciate the skill put into this movie. All Marvel fans should subscribe to Disney Plus so they bring back this story - I really recommend it." Available for streaming with a Disney + subscription. Also available for purchase or rent on Vudu, Amazon Prime, and Youtube starting at $2.99. - Recommended by Rachel Koertner, StreetWise Intern
Download This!
(HOME) ENTERTAINMENT
Duolingo "Duolingo is a free app that makes learning a new language feel like a game. Learners can choose to brush up on a language they started learning years ago, or they can start fresh. The app offers courses in more than 90 languages and the pacing is unique to each learner. And even while social distancing, competitive learners can connect with and challenge friends to learn and practice more. Duolingo is available on Apple and Android devices as well as online at duolingo.com." Available in the Apple App store or Google Play. - Recommended by Allie Maloney, StreetWise employment specialist
Read This!
"Another Planet: A Teenager in Suburbia" by Tracey Thorn "Tracey Thorn became famous as one-half of the pop duo Everything But The Girl in the 80s and 90s. Their massive club and adult contemporary crossover hit "Missing" (and I miss you, like the deserts miss the rain...) is still a fixture on radio stations and dancefloors worldwide. While she has continued to make beautiful albums as a solo artist (including 2018's feminist-anthem filled Record, a must listen!) Thorn has also proven that her knack for writing song lyrics is also useful for writing novels. She has just released her third book, "Another Planet: A Teenager in Suburbia." Her first book, "Bedsit Disco Queen" chronicled her rise to fame, from an indie acoustic artist to a leader in the early days of electronica music. Her second, "Naked at the Albert Hall" is a deep-dive into the technical ins-and-outs of vocal control and a study of popular voices and how they came to resonate with so many fans. It sounds like it could be dry, but her writing style is full of English wit and always sustains a warm, inviting tone. Her supurb writing style is also evident in her regular contributions to the UK publications New Statesman and the Guardian." Available on all eReaders and wherever books are sold. -Recommended by Dave Hamilton, StreetWise publisher / creative director
Get Ready For Bedtime!
Goodnight with Dolly Musician and philanthropist [as well as former StreetWise cover model] Dolly Parton is launching a weekly series in which she reads a children's book to an online audience at bedtime, drawing books from her popular Imagination Library project. The goal, the nonprofit says, is to give kids and families "a welcome distraction during a time of unrest and inspire a love of reading and books." Parton's music made her famous, but to many young people, she's known simply as "the Book Lady." Her Imagination Library has delivered more than 130 million free books to children, earning special recognition from the Library of Congress. Parton started the program in Tennessee in 1995, and took it to a national level in 2000. Parton will live stream from Youtube on her Imagination Library channel, youtube.com/user/imaginationlibrary every Thursday night at 6 p.m.
Make It!
Flowers for Dreams virtual workshops Keep your co-workers and friends together while all of us are far apart. The popular and philanthropic flowershop, Flowers for Dreams, has added private and public virtual worksops including terrarium-building, floral design, or companion plant-potting classes. Purchase your materials and book the class, and Flowers for Dreams will send you all of the supplies you need in time for the online building session. Have friends in Milwaukee or Detroit? You can invite them to the party too, since Flowers for Dreams has new locations in those cities! This week, join the Spring Bouquet Workshop April 11 at 11 a.m. or 2 p.m. or April 12 at noon for $65. Learn more and see a full schedule of online classes at flowersfordreams.com
Watch This!
Judy "RenĂŠe Zellweger played the character flawlessly to me. She played it through to the end. It was so convincing for me that I felt like I was watching the real Judy Garland live her life. I just wish that her kids had been written into the story more, especially toward the end. I'm thinking about how Judy would have felt when she talked to her kids on the phone and [SPOILER ALERT] they said that they were happy and comfortable living with their dad. I don't think she could really believe that. She just channeled that energy into one final show and then the screen goes black and says that she died six months later. I wanted to see more about her relationship with her kids after that final show." Available for purchase or rent on Amazin Prime, Vudu and Youtube starting at $5.99. - Recommended by StreetWise vendor Chris
Stream the Party!
Drag Bingo with Miss Richfield 1981 "I just played live drag queen bingo with [classic, pre-RuPaul's Drag Race drag queen] Miss Richfield 1981. It was a hoot!! She is hosting live bingo Monday and Thursday nights at 7 p.m. She goes live on her Facebook page [www.facebook.com/missrichfield1981] and you get the bingo card at playbingobonanza.com. If you want a unique entertainment experience, I recommend! - Recommended by Sharon Hoverson, StreetWise reader
- Compiled by Dave Hamilton
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Street Papers adapt to a new reality: Coronavirus and a world in lockdown by Tony Inglis / Courtey of INSP.ngo
The coronavirus outbreak has put organizations of all stripes and missions in unfamiliar territory, and this is no less true for street papers. The majority have been forced to take the unprecedented steps of temporarily pausing printing and telling vendors not to sell their publications on the streets, completely upending their usual operations to fall in line with health guidance advising people work in isolation and practice social distancing in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus. This leaves street papers with a new set of challenges. One of the major tenets of the street paper mission is allowing vendors to come face-to-face with members of the public, carrying out a transaction whereby they buy the street paper and sell it for a profit. Not only does this provide a livelihood, but it makes a community of people, often marginalized and vulnerable, totally visible. COVID-19 has created an environment that makes this nearly impossible in just about every one of the 35 countries where street papers exist. With this challenge, street paper organizations are proving themselves to be at the forefront of innovation within the media, publishing and social justice worlds they straddle. With the support of the International Network of Street Papers (INSP), they are adapting to the dangers of coronavirus and continuing to find ways to put money in vendors’ pockets and support their welfare in these challenging and strange times. “We’ve been trying to help our members tackle these issues since it became clear that coronavirus was going to have major global consequences,” says INSP’s chief executive Maree Aldam, who is working from home like the rest of INSP’s Glasgow-based team. “Fortunately, our network consists of numerous robust organizations and countless talented, hard-working and innovative people who are constantly coming up with new ways to support the people they serve. The coronavirus outbreak has shown already that society’s most marginalized are at much greater risk. Those experiencing homelessness – and many street paper vendors do – are in a particularly precarious situation. Many cannot shelter or isolate, and often do not have easy access to hygiene products to protect themselves against contracting the virus. Our street papers have staff members dedicated to ensuring the welfare of vendors, and they are carrying on their work as best as the situation allows.”
In terms of cases and deaths, the virus is at different stages in various parts of the street paper network. In east Asia, the situation remains serious (with Korea and Japan looking to once again close borders and reinstate quarantine measures), but street papers are looking at what happens at the other end. “The sale of the magazine on the street is still very difficult,” says Big Issue Korea director Byunghun Ahn. The Seoul-based magazine has started a monthly fund to provide for vendors to subsidize lost sales. “The situation around the virus is becoming more controlled, but everyone is still being careful. Vendors are advised not to move during the morning and evening rush hours. When our vendors and staff come to the office, we check their body temperature. It seems like Koreans are getting more used to this situation little by little. But it’s not yet possible to say that it is being ‘controlled’ because of the potential variables. It’s still a crisis.”
In Japan, where the magazine is being sold on the street for now, Big Issue vendors have been provided with food and drink via donations provided by supporters and readers through an Amazon wish list in lieu of stocks from food banks, on which they can no longer rely. In Osaka, they recorded the lowest sales in the street paper’s history, according to its editor Sayuri Kusama. However, some of Big Issue Japan’s vendors are trying to remain positive. One vendor, Takuji Yoshitomi, in Osaka, said: “I’m trying to use this coronavirus situation as a positive. There are less people on the street, so it’s a chance to stand out. I'd like more people to be aware of vendors selling the magazine than usual. With this in mind, I managed to sell more than average today. But there are too many negatives. I fear this situation could push more people into poverty and homelessness.” Even the precarious environment for street paper vendors in Japan, Korea and Taiwan seems a long way off for those in Europe, especially in Italy, where it remains grave. In Latin America and Africa, it hasn’t quite developed to that stage, though nations are already taking precautions. And in the US, some are expecting a slow governmental response to potentially have disastrous consequences. It is not an overstatement to suggest that every street paper across the world will be impacted by the effects of the virus. “It’s clear that, in many of the countries where street papers are present, there are few safeguards in place even for small businesses and self-employed people to get through this,” says Aldam. “It’s not asking a lot for the system to catch those who are most vulnerable to the effects of this virus, but even in normal circumstances they are not sufficiently supported. Street papers, and the staff and organizations around them, as always, are working overtime to fill these gaps, ensuring that the people who rely on them stay safe, don’t fall through the cracks and can continue to earn an honest income.”
Clockwise from Left: A Big Issue Japan vendor washes their hands. A Hus Forbi vendor sells the street paper while protecting herself with a face mask. The Real Change coronavirus cover, Augustin crowdfunding poster. A Big Issue Japan vendor has their temperature taken. Liceuliice's coronavirus diary. Next Page: zebra. solidarity campaign. StreetWise posters of vendors to remind readers of their presence at usual selling spots. A Strassenkreuzer vendor receives shopping vouchers as part of a call to supermarket chains for assistance. A Big Issue Japan vendor stands at their selling spot near an Osaka train station. All images courtesy their respective street papers via the International Network of Street Papers (INSP).
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To do this, street papers, in countries where lockdown is imposed and social distancing measures enforced, have had to ensure that their vendors continue to earn money while unable to sell on the streets, and have been both employing novel ideas and ramping up previously held mechanisms to do this. While a small handful are still printing physical publications – trying to have them stocked in shops, like supermarkets, deemed essential and allowed to remain open – many have pivoted to digital copies that are delivered via subscriptions. A large number already had this availability, but they are now more important than ever, offering short-term solidarity subscriptions and annual deals. From The Big Issue and Big Issue North in the UK, to Italy’s Scarp de’ tenis, Sweden’s Faktum, and beyond to street papers in Finland, Mexico and the US, this has already proven to be a success. Those who have dialed back producing full editions and moved their journalistic output totally online have turned to fundraising, calling for monetary donations to hardship funds and crowdfunders, or asking for food vouchers or other donations that will plug a cost gap for individuals that rely on their street paper income to survive. Social media has been a good gauge of the overwhelming responses. Liceulice’s pleas for support in Serbia caused their website to crash on the first night. There have been forward-thinking and innovative calls to regular supporters. Several already have access to cash-
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less solutions, such as Venmo, which allow readers and supporters to direct funds straight to their local, familiar vendor. StreetWise, in Chicago, and Megaphone, in Vancouver and Victoria, have put up posters of vendors at their usual spot to encourage those who would usually pass by to remember their vendor during all of this. Of course, that becomes more difficult when people aren’t taking to the street, but it’s a good way to keep hold of something close to the personal part of buying a street paper. Distributing the money gathered from these alternative methods to vendors fairly and logistically is a challenge street papers across the board are facing up to as the current situation persists. Sales may be taking a hit as coronavirus locks everyone down and ruptures the global economy, but street papers are still working on overdrive to make sure that something approaching the $29.65 million put into vendors’ pockets every year continues. And almost as important as providing an income for vendors are the myriad ways street paper organizations engage marginalized and under-privileged people in social projects and esteem building. This is continuing more creatively than ever: daily diaries from vendors to readers about life in the time of coronavirus, adopted by Strassenkreuzer in Nuremberg, L’Itinéraire in Montréal, Surprise in Switzerland, and elsewhere; needle exchanges and clothes banks in Slovenia by Kralji Ulice; maintenance of youth hostels for homeless vendors by Hus Forbi in Denmark; calls to donate games and books, and top ups for mobile phone plans by Shedia in Greece; providing hand sanitizer and other hygiene products to exercise thorough hand washing and other anti-coronavirus safeguards; and general communication, via calls, and Facebook and Whatsapp groups, to keep spirits up and remind vendors that they are not alone. Street papers the world over provide more than just a publication to sell. For some, it is solidarity; for others, it is family.
UK street Papers sold in stores for first time in response to covid-19 crisis by Tony Inglis / Courtesy of INSP.ngo
The UK’s street papers will be sold in stores across the country for the first time in response to the effects created by the outbreak of coronavirus. In March, The Big Issue and Big Issue North told vendors to temporarily stop selling magazines on the street in order to safeguard themselves and readers. The UK government then imposed lockdown restrictions in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These are now common circumstances across the street paper network, with the majority of street papers moving their sales online or elsewhere so that they can continue to support vendors and provide a means for them to earn an income. As of this week, The Big Issue and Big Issue North will begin selling their publications in hundreds of branches of major supermarket Sainsbury’s and in newsagent chain McColl’s. It will be the first time in the 29-year history of the Big Issue title that readers will be able to buy the street paper in shops. The magazine will be on sale for £3 ($3.71 USD), with half of the proceeds going into The Big Issue and Big Issue North’s respective vendor hardship funds.
of back issues, and asking for one-off donations. The Manchester-based street paper also recently released the second issue of The New Issue, a beautifully crafted spin-off publication, released quarterly, proceeds from which also ultimately go towards the people who benefit from Big Issue North’s social projects. Glasgow-based The Big Issue is also offering subscriptions and digital versions of the magazine, as well as asking loyal readers and other members of the public to back them financially over the coming period of instability due to how COVID-19 has affected everyday society. Those behind the stores now stocking the two street papers expressed their delight to be supporting them through this tough time. Paul Mills-Hicks, commercial director at Sainsbury’s, said: “We are proud to be supporting a cause as important as The Big Issue, which exists to offer homeless people, or individuals at risk of becoming homeless, the opportunity to earn an income. Coronavirus has affected everyone in the UK, and it’s important that we show our support for each other in these increasingly challenging times.
Big Issue founder Lord John Bird used the announcement to make a plea to readers to continue supporting the UK’s street paper vendors.
“We hope that by providing a means for our customers to purchase a copy of The Big Issue, we can encourage people to continue to buy the magazine, which so many vulnerable people rely on.”
He said: “We have helped well over 100,000 people over the past 29 years, and on average we put £5 million ($6.18 million USD) into the pockets of our vendors every single year. Now more than ever, we need your support. Our income comes from street sales, and without our vendors on the streets we cannot support those people that really need us now and in the future.
McColl’s chief executive Jonathan Miller added: “We are delighted to be supporting The Big Issue at this important time. We urge our customers to lend their help by buying copies of the magazine available at our stores to help the organization’s street vendors who will be struggling to make a living as people stay at home amid the coronavirus outbreak.”
“We are thrilled that the good folk at Sainsbury’s and McColl’s have partnered with us so that readers new and old can continue to buy The Big Issue during these turbulent times. As usual, we go half and half with our vendors.”
While this is an unprecedented move for The Big Issue and Big Issue North, other street papers across the world have already implemented similar alternatives with their vendors also being unable to sell on the streets. Nuremberg-based Strassenkreuzer has been assisted by local bookstores that remain open in selling their magazine. With only essential businesses like supermarkets and grocery stores allowed to remain open as coronavirus keeps cities locked down, their cooperation with street papers to help their publications remain visible and available for purchase is welcome.
The development is just the latest in some forward-thinking measures introduced by the UK street papers, and those further afield. Big Issue North is offering the sale of individual digital editions, various frequencies of subscriptions, the sale
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How Streetwise vendors are coping during the coro by Suzanne Hanney
Left ot Right: Keith Hardiman, Donald Morris, John Hagan, Merv Sims, A. Allen, and Lester Cherry. Photos by Suzanne Hanney.
Downtown Chicago streets are so empty the only thing missing is tumbleweed, like a ghost town in an old western movie, says StreetWise vendor Keith Hardiman, as fears of coronavirus transmission have led to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s shelter-in-place order keeping workers home until April 30.
Director Julie Youngquist. "To bridge the widening income gap brought on by this pandemic, StreetWise launched a fundraising effort to provide emergency funds to vendors. We began distributing subsidies two weeks ago, and these funds have been a welcome source of relief.”
“It’s a trying time,” Hardiman, who sells the magazine at Michigan and Lake Streets, said on March 30 of the 30-day extension of the state and federal order. “I live in a hotel and pay $37 a night -- $1,050 a month. If I miss a night of payment I get put out. Where am I going to go? But I’ve been making it due to the kindness of people.” He has managed his storage bill but is going to let go of his $70-a-month phone.
Vendor Donald Morris had last sold the magazine on March 16 in downtown Evanston; he sold 120 of 150 copies of the issue about travel tips from other street paper vendors around the world. Since then he had been staying with his 80-yearold sister, whom he had just gotten into a nursing home and who did NOT have the coronavirus, as far as he knew.
Hardiman had bought 28 copies of the March 30 edition about U.S. Census efforts in Chicago and had sold two of them the previous night, working from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Customers told him, “this is to help you out” and “we know this [virus] put a damper on your business, but you’re consistent.” Keith misses his customers, saying “if I can bring a smile to them, this too shall pass. Life is too short to be sad. Any day above ground is a good day.” Meanwhile, StreetWise gave vendors laminated placards for their locations. As of April 6, we will go online-only temporarily. We are encouraging vendors to stay off the streets and to promote digital sales. Hardiman had a run of bad luck during the holiday season. He had been living with a friend and paying him a portion of rent, except that it turned out the friend never paid the landlord. Both of them were evicted. He said he was happy to find the West Side hotel, “better than the streets, better than a shelter,” but he would like to find a studio apartment for $500 or $600, possibly in a near western suburb, “and work my way up.” He also has a regular job at the StreetWise offices on Wednesdays and Saturdays. “Most of the StreetWise vendors rely on the street-level sales as their primary source of income to pay rent, buy food, and pay for transportation and utilities” said StreetWise Executive
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Morris, who is a Vietnam-era veteran, gets some benefits plus Social Security payments and spends one-third of his income on rent for a Northwest Side apartment. His plan for the next month will be to spend just a short time daily selling the magazine. “I don’t want to stay on these streets too long,” he said of his plans for the next month. “It’s best to do a little, like two hours, if you can sell 10 magazines and go home. It’s about being focused on what you can have, not being dependent on the next person. If you can help someone, you do. Until April 30 nobody is going to be walking up and down the streets. It’s going to be terrible but I ain’t going to worry about it. It’s not going to do no good to have an opinion. To get the coronavirus would not be good.” John Hagan sells StreetWise magazine downtown weekdays at Pret A Manger at Adams and Franklin Streets; then at Leland and Lincoln in Lincoln Square on Saturdays and Sundays and at Old St. Patrick's Church. Yes, it’s seven days a week for him because “sitting at home won’t pay the bills, you don’t accomplish anything by staying at home.” However, the downtown traffic is gone, along with that at the church. Lincoln Square is the only place where people are regularly coming out. “It might take a week to make what I used to make in one day.”
onavirus outbreak
“There are a few people who may not buy the magazine and one gave me a $50 bill and another a $20 bill because they feel bad for my circumstances,” Hagan said. “That takes care of it right now, although if it lasts longer than May it will hurt.” Hagan’s circumstances are partly offset by his job as a StreetWise field supervisor. He handles orientation of new vendors on Tuesdays and works on recruiting: posting signs about the vendor program at food pantries, branch libraries and SRO hotels. Merv Sims has been a StreetWise vendor almost since the magazine’s inception 28 years ago. He lives in an SRO downtown and sells weekdays at Starbucks, 303 W. Madison St.; at Old Saint Mary’s Church Saturday and Sunday mornings and at Old St. Patrick’s Church Sunday evening masses not covered by Hagan. All of this traffic has dried up during the pandemic. “It feels like 2 o’clock in the morning,” Sims said. ”In like two or three hours, maybe 50 people pass while in the old days it was like thousands.” However, he’s noticed it’s still roughly the same 1 in 30 ratio of people who buy the magazine to overall people on the street. “In the last two weeks since the governor put that order in, it’s been very hard to get anything to eat,” Sims said. He’s taken to eating once a day. A. Allen sold the magazine to people on their way to work weekdays at Chicago Avenue and Franklin Street but since Pritzker’s order, most of his customers told him they would be working from home. StreetWise has given vendors laminated posters to put on public property so that their regular customers know they can still help them through Venmo payments and digital subscriptions and Allen has texted this information to those for whom he had phone numbers.
“The good thing about the coronavirus is that it caused StreetWise to be creative,” Allen said. “No touching the paper, no touching the customer. Customers are saying send them this info and they will forward it to their friends – so these are new customers we never would have had.” Customers who normally buy the magazine via Venmo have been very generous too and Allen said he thanks them as well as subscribers. Like Hagan, he is a field supervisor, who does the Thursday vendor orientations. With his salary and the adjustment from StreetWise, “I am able to survive without going under.” Venmo attracted millennials to the magazine, said Lester Cherry, and online subscriptions via Issuu are going to be a new twist. “When you’re trying something new, people get jealous.” Cherry received his degree in general business from East West University 15 years ago and held regular jobs, but continued to sell StreetWise magazine afterhours. He had been selling Master Cards for U.S. Bank at Mariano stores around the Chicago region but the customer contact that required – getting name, Social Security number and other personal information -- put an end to it March 16. He is now selling StreetWise at the Whole Foods on Columbus and Illinois Streets. Midday and evenings tend to be when people frequent the store, but not mornings, he said. It’s a good thing, since Cherry commutes from Hoffman Estates, where he lives with his brother and his wife. It takes him 90 minutes by bus from Schaumburg and then the Blue Line downtown. He’s placed himself on the corner in front of Whole Foods, with six feet around him in every direction. “At a street corner you can get a lot more playing room. I am a salesman at heart so this is a good challenge.”
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LGBT+ homeless fear violence, illness as coronavirus shuts u.s. shelters
by Matthew Lavietes / Reuters / Thomas Reuters Foundation / Courte
The coronavirus is causing the closure of homeless centers across the United States, putting LGBT+ people without housing at increased risk of suicide, health complications or hate crimes, according to homelessness experts. Homeless centers said they have been forced to shut their doors in order to follow safety precautions over social distancing as enforced by international governments and health organizations. There are about 10,000 shelters for homeless people in the United States with an estimated 250 LGBT+ centers, largely in metropolitan areas, according to The National Coalition for the Homeless, a network of homelessness advocates. There are currently no estimates on the exact number of shelters closed in recent weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak. Liyanni Smith, who is in a program for at-risk LGBT+ homeless youth in Philadelphia, said the closures would have a devastating impact. "The fact they won't be available, on top of not having safe spaces to go to, is going to end up pushing the limits of a lot of LGBT homeless youths' health," said Smith, 18, by phone. "When things like this happens, it could really take our lives," added Smith, who has been in a homeless-at-risk program for LGBT+ youth since last September. The United States has an estimated 552,830 homeless people, according to a 2019 report by the Council of Economic Advisers, an agency within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. There is little data on rates of LGBT+ homelessness but a 2017 study by the University of Chicago found young LGBT+ adults had a 120 per cent higher risk of being homeless compared to youth who identified as heterosexual.
Thrown out onto the street Osimiri Sprowal, 22, from Philadelphia, who was homeless on-and-off for about a year and a half until last October, said the government's advice to self-isolate and not mingle could put more LGBT+ onto the streets as many gay and trans people survived by couch surfing with friends. "If you're worried about getting sick and being around people, you're not going to want people to stay at your house," said Sprowal in a phone interview. "My heart's breaking - it's devastating. LGBT people are going to be on the streets." MaDonna Land, program director of Tony's Place, an LGBT+ homeless drop-in center in Houston, Texas, which has temporarily closed, voiced concerns that the pandemic will exacerbate the risk of physical and sexual assaults on LGBT+ homeless.
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Nearly one-fifth of 7,120 hate crime incidents in the United States reported in 2018 stemmed from LGBT+ bias, according to the FBI's latest Hate Crime Statistics report. "With a situation like this, where the police are scarce and supply is scarce, that increases their vulnerability because there's no one checking," said Land. Campaigners said services for homeless LGBT+ people would also suffer as options for shelter dwindled, and this could impact access to essential medication, such as HIV treatment. "A third of our clients have HIV," said Kate Barnhart, the executive director of New Alternatives, a New York-based LGBT+ drop-in center that has remained open so far. "If they don't get this, I don't know what will happen." In neighboring Mexico, where homophobia remains widespread despite recent advances on LGBT+ rights, advocates say they've seen a spike in the number of gay and trans youth forced out of home as well. Alex Orue, executive director of LGBT+ youth suicide prevention campaign It Gets Better Mexico, said he has received 15 cases in the last two weeks of lesbian, gay, bi or trans youth being kicked out onto the streets.
esy of INSP.ngo
India's 'invisible' trans community struggles as coronavirus shuts life down by Annie Banerji / Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / Courtesy of INSP.ngo
India's coronavirus lockdown leaves transgender people at heightened risk of poverty and ill health because they exist on the margins of society, eking out a living through sex work and begging, activists and community members said this week. The warning came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown in the country of 1.3 billion, where the virus has claimed at least nine lives. Anindya Hajra, a trans woman who works with the Pratyay Gender Trust on transgender livelihood issues, said India's estimated 2 million trans people would be among those worst hit by the move because many make their living on the streets. "They do not have the social privilege of operating within a distant 'online' world when their lives are precariously balanced on the thread of social interaction and functions," said Hajra. India's Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that transgender people had equal rights, but prejudice against them persists and they are often rejected by their families and denied jobs, education and healthcare.
A homeless person wears a face mask during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in New York City, New York, U.S., March 17, 2020. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
"It's not that there are new problems emerging (in Mexico) - it's that this pandemic has come to throw gasoline on the crises we already had," said Orue. "For any young person, but in particular a young LGBT+ person, the risks that come with being out on the street are multiplied."
Many trans women, also known in India as hijras, survive through begging at busy intersections and on trains, performing at social functions such as weddings or selling sex. That work will likely be impacted as India grinds to a halt, with all passenger trains stopped and weddings cancelled. Shonali, 24, an HIV-positive sex worker in the eastern city of Kolkata, said she barely had any work and was burning through her limited savings buying the food she needs to stay healthy. "The situation is very bad. I've barely had any clients in the last 10 days. If things continue this way, I'll die," she said.
Some LGBT+ homeless centers in the U.S. have started to move some services online, including case management, educational and career support and behavioural counselling.
Shonali, who like most trans Indians goes by one name, said her next health check-up had been postponed indefinitely.
Sherilyn Adams, executive director of Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco, a non-profit that offers housing programs for LGBT+ homeless youth, said homeless LGBT youth would struggle in social isolation or loss of a community.
Trans people often face discrimination in accessing housing, forcing many into slums, where isolation is impossible and their risk of contracting the virus increased, Subramaniam said.
"Places to gather, places to see peers are important - especially for young people. We want those things to sustain or come back, whenever that can happen safely," said Adams.
"ART (antiretroviral therapy) medication is undisturbed, but doctors' unavailability may make this already vulnerable population even more so," said Kalki Subramaniam, an activist with the Sahodari Foundation, which helps trans women.
Last year the government passed a bill to protect transgender Indians from discrimination in education, employment, healthcare and housing. Maya Urmi Aher, a transgender woman and rights activist, urged it to help trans people whose livelihoods have been affected by the coronavirus. "There is talk about aid for laborers, the poor, but why is no one talking about us?" she said. "We are just invisible to everybody."
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Poor and homeless people are included in the cares act stimulus, but they'll probably have to 'Raise their hand' to get it by Eric Falquero & Sasha Polonko / Street Sense Media / Courtey of INSP.ngo
Congress passed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill on March 27 that President Trump signed into law the same day. This third legislative action in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is the largest aid package in history and includes nearly $300 billion for direct payments to low- and moderateincome Americans. The infectious disease has killed almost 4,000 U.S. residents as of April 2 and brought the economy to a grinding halt. However, many people who were already struggling before the outbreak are at risk of not receiving the stimulus payment, according to the director of the D.C.based non-profit Capital Area Asset Builders, Joseph Leitmann-Santa Cruz. Adults who earn $75,000 or less per year should receive $1,200, but that amount will reduce on a sliding scale for people who earn up to $99,000. Anyone with a higher income will not qualify. There is no minimum qualification. This amount applies to each member of a married couple; families will receive an additional $500 for every dependent child under 17. The payments are classified as advance tax rebates and will not be taxed. The legislation amends the tax code and tasks the Internal Revenue Service with distributing them using information from tax returns filed this year. For anyone who has not filed yet, last year’s returns will be used. A similar approach was taken for direct payments in the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. What about people who are not required to file taxes, such as individuals who earn less than $12,200 and couples who earn less than $24,400? (IRS poverty benchmarks are $13,064 and $16,815 for singles and couples, respectively. According to the most recent census data, 11.8 per cent of Americans were impoverished in 2018: 38.1 million people.) The bill states that if a 2018 or 2019 tax return is not available, information should be used for anyone who received a Social Security Benefits Statement this year. This tax form, typically mailed in January, notes how much income someone received from the Social Security Administration the pre-
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vious year through benefits such as disability or retirement. An inspector general’s evaluation of the 2008 stimulus payments found that of the roughly 20 million non-filers the IRS identified by working with the Social Security Administration and Veterans Affairs, 3.4 million who were eligible did not receive the stimulus. Economist Claudia Sahm of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, who worked for the Federal Reserve Board for 12 years that included the Great Recession, agreed that the least well-off people will have to wait longer to get this money and are more likely to fall through the cracks. But she is adamant that the Treasury Department will build a system that allows individuals who do not file taxes and do not receive federal benefits to identify themselves. Sahm noted that no-income or low-income people who have not filed tax returns or received SSA benefits are entitled to the payment but they will probably have to show they qualify. Any time federal money is being distributed there is potential for fraud, “So [people who don’t file taxes or receive SSA benefits] are going to get the money, they’re supposed to get the money, [but] there will be an expectation that those individuals will have to raise their hand and say, ‘Hey, I want my money.’ “If that person doesn’t come forward and say ‘I want my money,’ the government’s not going to find them and send them their money,” Sahm continued. “So people are going to have to choose to sign up, and we don’t even know how they’re going to choose to sign up yet. So then that means, with almost certainty, it will take more time.” Simultaneously, Sahm stressed that consumers should await information from official sources, like the IRS. Scams posing as emails and calls to confirm personal emails and banking information have already been reported in Olympia, Washington.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said March 25 that payments to anyone who provided direct deposit information on their tax return should begin showing up in their bank accounts within three weeks. Four days later, during an interview with CBS, Mnuchin said the IRS will also develop an online system to allow anyone who did not submit direct deposit information on their return to supply that information if they do not want to wait for a check in the mail. The time delay exists also because the IRS has to create a database of the millions of eligible Americans and their payment information. Once that dataset exists, it will be given to another Treasury agency that regularly processes payments. When that step is complete, direct deposit payments, which the majority of tax filers use, could be “pushed out” in as little as two days, Sahm said.
According to prepared material from NLIHC, the relief bill includes expanded unemployment insurance to be paid by the federal government that covers contractors, freelancers, and gig economy workers who would not normally be eligible; laid-off workers would receive full pay for four months. The bill also includes: • a 60-day moratorium on foreclosures for all federallybacked mortgages, including those covered by HUD, USDA, VA, FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, effective March 18. • $5 billion for HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Program, which can use the money to expedite homeless people into individual shelters as opposed to congregate settings.
Checks will take longer because there are constraints on how many paper checks the federal government can issue in one week. Sahm estimates it will take four to six weeks for all of the payments to be received, if the IRS and SSA staff “hustle.” Staff worked around the clock to get out the 2008 stimulus checks, she noted.
• $1.25 billion for tenant-based rental assistance within public housing, for the retention of existing landlords and to adjust renewal funding for public housing agencies that see significant increases in voucher per-unit costs and would otherwise have to end rental assistance to families for lack of funds.
“I think the three weeks that Mnuchin is talking about is, um, heroic. I mean, I hope he’s right. But four weeks is fast,” Sahm said. “For anybody who has a Social Security number but isn’t in these other groups, it will take longer… like early July or something. But again, those are exactly the people that needed the money three weeks ago.”
• $150 billion to a national Coronavirus Relief Fund; each state will be allocated up to $1.25 billion that could help low-income renters impacted by the pandemic. Provisions on what the relief fund money may be used for are broad and Johnson said states could use this money to assist their homeless and undocumented residents.
Meanwhile, homeless and low-income people don’t necessarily have bank accounts, “so, if it’s a check being sent out, how then will it be cashed?” said Kim Johnson, a policy analyst at the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). “Cash-checking places take such a large percentage of the check, taking from the actual money they will ultimately give someone.”
• $4 billion to the Emergency Solutions Grants Program for emergency measures – temporary shelters, staff costs, training and hazard pay -- to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 among sheltered and unsheltered homeless people and those at risk of homelessness. The money could also be used for eviction prevention assistance such as rapid rehousing and rental deposit assistance. Half the money will be allocated within 30 days, the remainder within three months, to communities with the greatest needs.
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Coronavirus lays bare the trauma of losing your job by Jan-Emmanuel De Neve / The Conversation / courtesy of INSP.ngo
Understanding the health risks of COVID-19 and containing its spread has been at the center of global focus over the past few months. But attention has now also turned to the economic impact. And, in particular, how it will affect work and the workplace. A new poll by Gallup confirms that half of US workers already believe COVID-19 will have a negative effect on their workplace. And I would expect this figure to increase further in the coming weeks. The research I’ve done with my colleagues on the economics of wellbeing has shown time and time again just how important work is for happiness. Our findings show that being laid off reduces a person’s life satisfaction by about 20 percent – and it is hard to recover from this drop. This psychological scarring can even remain after getting another job. Research also shows that loss in income from job loss only accounts for about half of the big drop in life satisfaction. The rest is due to losing part of your identity, a routine throughout the day and a social network.
Unemployment globally
There are already many reports of people losing their jobs since the outbreak. In the US, for example, it is likely that over two million new unemployment claims will be made this week alone. This unprecedented tsunami of job losses will have a devastating impact on wellbeing. A lot of the proposals to deal with these job losses aim mostly at replacing lost income. The US government, for example, is sending $1,200 to all families earning less than $99,000 a year. But while this may be necessary it will not be enough to maintain levels of wellbeing. Economic stimulus packages that center on funding paid leave for a period to avoid layoffs will do a better job at maintaining wellbeing levels – as they address both the financial and non-financial aspects of work. An even more robust program, proposed by the Danish government, will cover 75 per cent of salaries at private companies for three months, if they do not let staff go. In the UK, Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s wage package plan takes its cue from the Danes and will pay 80 per cent of salary for staff who are kept on by their employer – covering wages of up to £2,500 ($3,085 USD) a month. These are drastic measures but wholly appropriate when considering the situation, though working out how to help the self-employed is proving a much greater challenge.
Self-employed and flexible working
Governments have been particularly slow to announce measures for self-employed workers, or those earning a living in
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the gig economy – now accounting for close to five million workers in the UK alone. COVID-19 and the need for “social distancing” also forces employers to adopt flexible working to enable staff to work from home. This may ultimately accelerate such practices and could be of benefit in terms of work-life balance – helping to increase wellbeing and productivity in the long run. But this won’t be the case for everyone as people working in areas like retail, health or the performing arts, often cannot work remotely. The notion of “social distancing” is also the wrong label from a wellbeing perspective. Yes, people need to practice “physical distancing” but they do need to stay “socially connected.” And for many people this happens mostly through their jobs – even if meetings are now over Zoom or Skype.
The price of help
Wellbeing research also provides insight as to how much people are willing to sacrifice to tackle unemployment. Andrew Oswald, an economist at the University of Warwick, and his colleagues found that people are willing to trade off about 1.7 per cent of inflation to guard against a 1 per cent increase in unemployment. Our recent research similarly found that people’s wellbeing is more than twice as sensitive to economic downturns compared to equivalent upswings – which suggests that people would be willing to insure against downturns that threaten their jobs. Given then the benefits that work provides people with in terms of wellbeing, the government must do everything it can to keep people in their jobs during this time. But more than that, it is also important to recognize that this crisis, and the necessary economic and public health measures in response to it, exacerbate inequalities that affect the health and wellbeing of workers who keep society afloat. So when the crisis subsides the nurses, cleaners, store cashiers, warehouse workers, janitors, delivery drivers and the many others putting themselves on the line must not be forgotten. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve is director of the Wellbeing Research Center at the University of Oxford.
Big Issue vendor Robin Price: “This is my life. I don’t know what I’m going to do” I’ve sold The Big Issue for 26 years now and this is the first time I’ve ever been told that I cannot go out and sell. I’m sitting here watching the sun go down and the beach was packed today so I felt quite gutted not to be out. It felt like everyone else was out and I’m not allowed to. I genuinely don’t know what I’m going to do, I really don’t. Last week, I could see it was getting more and more quiet as the week went on. I bought my magazines on Monday and I sold 18 all week. I’d normally sell all 50, I guarantee you that. I have this motto, sell 10 a day and have two days off. But the lovely people of Weston have been helping me out with an extra pound ($1.23 USD) here, 50p there. It all helped. A few shops started to go to takeaway only, and it just went downhill from there. The owner of the coffee house I stand outside texted me on Friday night to say she was sorry but she wasn’t opening either. I didn’t go out on Saturday because I thought, what’s the point? If there’s no cafes open there will be nobody in town. I’m also a franchisee for The Big Issue so I don’t quite know how that’s going to work. Basically, I would go to Bristol, pick up 100 magazines a week and come back down and sell them to other vendors. If there were any immediate problems, I’d try to sort them out or if new people wanted to join up I’d take their details and hand them in to the office. It was a lot of mentoring, basically. It was kind of like my own business, but for The Big Issue. So yeah, I liked doing the franchise work. I’m going to miss my customers; I’ll miss the banter. I’ll wake up early anyway. I’ll miss the chitchat, the laughs, the social work bit. You listen to everyone’s problems after the weekend, “Oh, you won’t believe what she did on Saturday…” That sort of thing. You take it all for granted but now all this is affecting me. Hopefully this isn’t going to last long but I see people are saying three months. I’ve been watching the five o’clock bulletins with Boris Johnson every day on the BBC. He comes across as if he’s genuinely trying. You’ve got to remember that none of us know anything about this. It’s all new to us, but equally it’s all new to them as well. Over my life The Big Issue has helped me out, it’s got me off the streets, it’s stopped me from begging. It’s become my life. It’s also given me something to focus on, and I’ll go as far as to say it stops most of my mental ill health because of that focus. I might bitch and moan about it on a Monday morning when I’m going up to Bristol but I love it really. I’ve got my model railways to distract me and a computer I can mess about with. Everything’s to do with trains for me. But I don’t know what I’m going to do, if I’m honest. I know there are thousands of other vendors out there who are going through the same as me, but I just feel absolutely lost. Interview by Sarah Reid / The Big Issue UK / Courtesy of INSP.ngo
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Big Issue vendor Simon Gravell: “I Worry I will be back sleeping outside” Popular Big Issue seller Simon Gravell has been hit on two fronts by the coronavirus outbreak. Known among his regulars for his big smile and his signature jester hat, Simon has built up a customer base on his spot outside Topshop [a clothes store] in Norwich that has allowed him to use his passion for antiques to start selling them at the All Saints Antiques Centre in the city. He has been trying to build up his custom as a long-term way of developing a sustainable income to enable him to stop selling The Big Issue magazine, which was vital to helping him secure accommodations after he was sleeping outside a decade ago. Simon’s passion for antiques has also seen him appear on BBC’s Antiques Road Trip, while last year he took us through his wares for a feature in the magazine. But with a lot of his money tied up in antiques and while being temporarily unable to sell the magazine directly on the streets, Simon insists that a long-term lockdown has him fearful for the future. He said: “The antiques center where I was selling closed down on Monday so that has affected my income but to be quite honest, last week it wasn’t worth opening anyway. I think one day they did one sale for £7 ($8.64 USD) out of the whole center. If this goes on for a very, very long period, and I’m talking more than three months, it will literally put me back to where I was 10 years ago sleeping outside. “But what I have got through my mind, which is a bit of a saving grace, is that at the moment all the local auction houses are closed anyway. If need be, I can just throw a load of stock back through to auction with the attitude of win, lose or draw to put money back into my pocket. All my money that I have earned has gone into the antiques. I take the money I earn from selling antiques and put it back in so I’m trading up, not taking profits.” Even though he is not able to sell antiques at the center or The Big Issue on his spot, Simon has been in constant contact with The Big Issue’s sales and operations team in the area to support him through the lockdown. He added: “I’ve got enough food for a few weeks and I still have a little bit of cash and money from iZettle sales of magazines, which is going to act as my nest egg. “The Big Issue has been good to me and the office have rang me a couple of times to see if I need food or anything. I didn’t because I know there are other vendors out there who will need help more than me. “I’m missing my customers. Take yesterday, for example, Monday is always my best day. As the hours were ticking by, I was thinking how much money I was losing too.” Written by Liam Geraghty / The Big Issue UK / Courtesy of INSP.ngo
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For those on the front lines of homelessness, covid-19 represents a reality that people live from Israel Bayer with every single day AINSPLetter North America Director Coronavirus has taken the lives of thousands of people around the globe and will surely take more with each passing day. Sadly, the American government, health care systems and overall society is woefully underprepared for such an event. The lack of testing kits and communication about how to get tested in the United States remains a major challenge for health officials. It’s created a perfect storm of unknowns. On any given night there are hundreds of thousands of people experiencing homelessness in America. Every year, it’s estimated that more than a million individuals and families will access an emergency shelter and experience homelessness. More so, tens of millions of low-wage workers are on edge wondering what the future may hold if they can’t access an income. It’s not a cliché to say people are just one or two paychecks away from homelessness in America. Currently, both local and federal officials are developing ongoing ways to work with and support people on the streets. This includes offering guidelines and educational tools for non-profits, outreach workers and first responders to support people surviving outside and in emergency shelters. Many of the guidelines outline information about the virus, steps to take to avoid contact with sick people and what to do if people fall ill; a tall order given the fact that the flu and pneumonia are both common occurrences among the homeless population. Being able to differentiate between these realities and what to do about COVID-19 won’t be easy for first responders and health officials, especially given the volume of people living on the streets and limited testing capacity. The sad reality is nobody actually knows what would happen given a mass outbreak of COVID-19 among American’s homeless population. If our current federal policies and history serve as an example, most likely many people on the streets will be left to their own devices unless something drastic changes. During the past decade more than 10,000 people have died without a safe place to call home on the West Coast, according to medical examiners' reports. Since 2013, more than 5,000 people have died homeless in Los Angeles County alone. Thousands more die homeless every year on the streets nationwide — a portion of which die from natural causes, including the flu and pneumonia. It’s more than a tragedy. There’s no reason to believe things will be different given the current circumstances.
What can we do? Experts have called for a variety of recommendations at a federal, state and local government level. A sampling of these recommendations includes: • A public plan for disseminating information to people experiencing homelessness, including outreach to encampments, shelters and transitional housing to share information about hygiene stations, testing facilities and health care options for people. • Increase/develop mobile hygiene stations, including hand washing stations made publicly available in local communities. • A moratorium on all evictions and home foreclosures. • Create an emergency assistance fund to support people facing evictions during the public health crisis. • A moratorium on homeless sweeps, including towing vehicles where people reside. • Utilities (water, gas, electricity): A no-shut-off policy for individuals and families who may not have the resources. • Increased medical support and testing for people inside local and county jails — knowing many people in experiencing homelessness and/ or mental health reside in county jails. • Increase emergency funds for non-profits and organizations working to support people experiencing homelessness. • Increase support for the production of housing at a local, state and federal level.
We know that the homeless and housing crisis in America today is a direct result of the lack of living wage jobs, access to adequate healthcare and the lack of housing for millions of individuals and families living on a fixed income, or no income at all. During the past four decades the federal government has disinvested tens of billions of dollars for housing for our most vulnerable citizens — resulting in mass homelessness and an ongoing series of makeshift, complex, and underfunded emergency response plans — operating in a constant state of triage. For many people living and working on the front lines of homelessness, COVID-19 represents the deadly serious reality that people already live with every single day. It’s also yet another reminder of the gross inequities that already exist on the homeless and housing front. There is no other option for people on the front lines of homelessness but to carry on. Street papers are working tirelessly to provide the safest environment possible for people on the streets and the public-at-large. At the end of the day, it’s up to all of us to rise above. That means remaining educated on the issue, and yes, washing our hands. It means keeping an eye out for the people around you. It means finding empathy for others in the larger community, including people on the streets. It means coming together and working to make our world a better place, regardless of circumstance. We must fight on. www.streetwise.org
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Status Updates from Streetwise vendors Gerald Farmer
Hi there! I am coping with the coronavirus well. Everything is fine with me. My people don't want me selling StreetWise papers until this thing gets much better. I don't like it, but at least I am not sick, and I don't want to give the virus to my family members if I was to come down with the coronavirus. I pray that things are going well with you and your family, and friends. I miss seeing everyone at the office. Blessings to you all. If it was not for Street Wise, my life would be DEFINITELY be different from what it has been with StreetWise. High 5 again to the office staff of StreetWise and the Vendors too!
Tony landers
INSIDE STREETWISE
I'm doing okay, I'm just getting up from my apartment cooking me some breakfast. I am enjoying this refrigerator, microwave and vacuum cleaner StreetWise gave me and I appreciate [StreetWise field supervisor A.] Allen for delivering those items to my apartment. Without you all it would be impossible to have those blessings that come upon me. Once I finish my breakfast imma go out about Uptown and do some volunteer work. I'm going to come to y'all and recertify for StreetWise [at our new offices]. Have a blessed day and to Amanda, Julie and Allie and everyone else from StreetWise my sincere thanks!
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Renee Ducksworth When school closed, I stopped working. I got afraid to work. There are more people sick in this city, and I don’t want to get sick. I hope you are doing well. Keep your self safe and well. I miss my customers.
Streetwise 3/9/20 Crossword To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.
Sudoku
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8 Trawling 41 Animal with equipment curved horns 9 Can. neighbor 42 It’s often left 10 Fleet hanging 11 Take cover 44 Sign before 12 Fencing sword Virgo 13 What’s left 45 Bullets and such 21 Goldbrick 46 Aquarium 23 Heavy reading denizen 27 Flapdoodle 47 Box office take 29 Pertinent 50 Kind of talk 30 Overturn 51 Subway 31 Lithium-___ 52 Verboten battery 53 Mink, for one 32 Location 54 Bouquet wn 33 Mavens 55 Senegal’s capital 1 Supplement 34 Sweet tubers 56 Obligation 2 Mature 35 “Dancing 57 Confederate 3 Dashboard Queen” quartet 58 “Buenos ___” 36 Big game feature 60 Widespread 4 Archer of myth 37 Québec’s 62 Picture of Levesque 5 Vex health? Copyright ©2020 PuzzleJunction.com 38 Mincemeat 6 Sail fabric 64 Dusk, to Donne dessert 7 Bay window 66 Some dashes
6 Miami-___ County 9 Roundish 1 Bonus 3 High society 5 Cutting the mustard 7 Chess piece 8 Cacophony 9 Any day now 0 Diva Gluck 1 Iron Mike 2 Drags 3 Wine label info
©PuzzleJunction.com
Copyright ©2020 PuzzleJunction.com
Sudoku Solution Last Week’s Puzzle Answers
Solution
Sudoku Solution
Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at www.streetwise.org
Crossword
Across 1 Western group 6 Wet behind the ears 9 Detective’s assignment 13 Promises 14 Horatian work 15 Cousin of a mandolin 16 Semolina source 17 Costa del ___, Spain 18 Traveler’s stop 19 Greatest in status 21 Specters 23 Stew vegetable 24 Locomotive sound 25 Calendar abbr. 28 Fable ©2020 PuzzleJunction.com 30 Type of man? 7 Commotion 35 Time to beware 61 Format 8 Cambrian 65 Leg part 37 Partiality 9 Dullard 66 Popular street 39 Duplicate 10 Camera setting name 40 “See you 11 Goulash 68 Avarice later!” 69 Emulates 12 Congers 41 Geologic 18 Wizardry Eminem period 20 Noncommittal 70 Sandra of 43 Scintilla answer “Gidget” 44 Happen again 71 Implant 22 Busy airport 46 Gallows 24 All over the 72 Dethrone reprieve 73 Yang’s opposite place 47 Teller’s stack 25 Prefix with 74 Impudent 48 Desperado surgery or 50 Rapscallions transmitter Down 52 “Maid of 1 Certain captives, 26 See 40 Across Athens, ___ 27 Don’t just stand in brief we part”: 2 Pearl Harbor there Byron 29 Rewards for locale 53 Brass 3 Aerobic bit waiting component 31 Mixed bag 4 Astute 55 Comics cry 5 High regard 32 Nary a soul 57 Marine rock33 Lay to rest 6 Wine choice clinger
34 36 38 42 45 49 51 54 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 67
Terminate Music category Con game Keyed up Stubble remover Take the gold Twilled woollen fabrics Povertystricken Destiny 60’s hairdo Swain Electrical units A deadly sin Call from the flock Beaks Orders to plow horses Vortex Waikiki wear
How StreetWise Works
Our Mission
Orientation Participants complete a monthlong orientation, focusing on customer service skills, financial literacy and time management to become a badged vendor.
Finacial Literacy Vendors buy StreetWise for $0.90, and sell it for $2. The profit of $1.10 goes directly to the licensed vendor for them to earn a living.
Supportive Services StreetWise provides referrals, advocacy and other support to assist participants in meeting their basic needs and getting out of crisis.
S.T.E.P. Program StreetWise’s S.T.E.P. Program provides job readiness training and ongoing direct service support to ensure participants’ success in entering the traditional workforce.
THE PLAYGROUND
To empower the entrepreneurial spirit through the dignity of self-employment by providing Chicagoans facing homelessness with a combination of supportive social services, workforce development resources and immediate access to gainful employment.
Puzzle
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50% O
PREV
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I E WS APR with c 2 - APR 12 ode ST
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WISE
THE CHICAGO PREMIERE
THE MOST SPECTACULARLY LAMENTABLE TRIAL OF
MIZ MARTHA WASHINGTON James Ijames Directed by Whitney White By
The recently widowed “Mother of America”—attended to by the very enslaved people who will be free the moment she dies—takes us deep into the ugly and thorny ramifications of America’s original sin.
RADICALLY VULNERABLE, OUTRAGEOUSLY HILARIOUS
APRIL 2 – MAY 17 | steppenwolf.org | 312-335-1650 MAJOR PRODUCTION SPONSOR
2019/20 GRAND BENEFACTORS
2019/20 BENEFACTORS
