april 5 - 11, 2021 Vol. 29 No. 14
2
$
$1.10 goes to vendor
Page [No.] [004] [004] [006]
Letter from the [Executive Director] _ 2020 _ Quarantine Timeline [Vendor] a. allen _ 2020 _ Statistics
[007]
[Vendor] Debbie Booker
[oo8]
[Vendor] James Metzgar
[009] [010]
[Vendor] Donald Morris
[010]
[Vendor] Merv Sims [Vendor] john hicks
[010]
[Vendor] keith hardiman
[011]
_ 2020 _ StreetWIse [Staff]
[012]
_ 2020 _ StreetWise [Advisory Council]
[012] [012] [015]
_ 2020 _ StreetWise [young professionals auxiliary board] [The] Playground Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher
dhamilton@streetwise.org
StreetWiseChicago @StreetWise_CHI
Suzanne Hanney, Editor-In-Chief
suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com
Amanda Jones, Director of programs
ajones@streetwise.org
Julie Youngquist, Executive director
jyoungquist@streetwise.org
Ph: 773-334-6600 Office: 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL, 60616
LEARN MORE AT streetwise.org
DONATE
To make a donation to StreetWise, visit our website at www.streetwise.org/donate/ or cut out this form and mail it with your donation to StreetWise, Inc., 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL 60616. We appreciate your support!
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One year ago this month, all of our StreetWise Magazine vendors lost their jobs. But these aren’t typical jobs with unemployment benefits; these are small businesses they are managing, at which they earn an income with dignity. With empty streets and shuttered buildings, their small businesses folded with little hope for a swift return to pre-COVID sales anytime soon. This issue marks the one-year anniversary of pulling magazine vendors off of the streets, publishing only the
digital version of our magazine, and turning our mission “a hand up, not a hand out” on its head as we prepared to provide emergency financial support to our vendors for the next 10 weeks. Unfortunately, this sudden loss, sudden change, and sudden shift to a new normal, is well, normal for many of our vendors. However, they are resilient, resourceful, and innovative in how they manage the systemic and situational barriers to their success.
March 22, 2020 StreetWise began its first round of emergency financial support
“I am getting most of my meals here so I can save the money to pay rent.” “This cash assistance means the difference between sleeping in a bed and sleeping on the street.” “It’s scary out there. I gotta have a mask so I don’t get sick. I’m so thankful that I can get a supply of masks each week.”
April 6, 2020 Print publication of the magazine stopped; StreetWise became a digitalonly publication
May 18, 2020 Vendors returned to work, doing U.S. Census outreach with homeless people throughout the City
March 5, 2020 StreetWise merged with the ywca metropolitan chicago
March 13, 2020 Shelter-in-place order in effect; streetwise remains open
March 27, 2020 StreetWise moved from Uptown to 2009 S. State Street
StreetWise Magazine [Letter from the executive director _ / _ 2020 _ timeline] [PG _______________________________________________________004]
April 13, 2020 Launched the “I’m Still Here" Campaign to encourage subscriptions, purchases, and general support for vendors
“I was so happy to get back to work doing the census until I could go back out and sell the magazine.” Because of you - our readers, supporters, and loyal customers - our vendors ARE STILL HERE! They have felt your support through digital purchases, annual subscriptions and donations to StreetWise that allow us to provide access to critical resources when so many other doors were closed.
In the following pages you will read testimonials from vendors about how they coped with the pandemic and reestablished their businesses. They rely on all of you to continue to give them a hand up on their journey toward self-sufficiency. So please remember to BUY the magazine, TAKE the magazine, and READ the magazine. Their businesses depend on it.
July 6, 2020 returned to print publication and street sales
June 30, 2020 census outreach concludes
September 2020 [ALl Month] featured video interviews with the 20 Most Inspiring Chicagoans
October 1, 2020 StreetWise hosted its annual gala virtually
Thank you again for your continued support. Warmly,
Julie Youngquist
[Executive Director] StreetWise Powered by YWCA Metropolitan Chicago
November 30, 2020 Giveashi*t launches the 2021 collection of locally designed tees and merch online at www.giveashirt.net
November 23, 2020 StreetWise + Rivet launch the new serialized podcast where i stay, focusing on invisible homelessness & economic injustice
March 18, 2021 WHERE I STAY is nominated for "best podcast mini series" at the 13th annual shorty awards alongside HBO, the nfl, and iheartradio. It is also nominated for the shorty audience honor, which is a public vote
[vendor] _ A. Allen _
First of all, I had to change locations because the people I was catering to at Chicago and Franklin were working people on their way downtown in the morning. Since COVID, they started working from home and my traffic dropped tremendously. Another vendor recommended two locations: the Starbucks drive-through at Clark and Ridge and then for the evening, Mariano’s at Foster and Sheridan. I had to get two locations to come up to the standard of the one that I had. Both of them are in residential areas. After relocating, I had to build both locations up where customers got to know me on a personal level. Now I am starting to settle in where I feel comfortable with my customers and where my customers feel comfortable with me. They have been reading the articles I wrote and they are feeling close to me and how I feel about certain situations. There is a bond I am establishing with them through conversations, through just being at my location in general. Some of my old customers are keeping in contact through Venmo or are taking electronic subscriptions. I have most of their numbers and I thank them via text. Since COVID I have noticed that people are not quite back to normal yet. They don’t want to take the paper maybe because of COVID but they’re being generous with giving the money. I have to use a little persuasion to get them to take the paper and I do that by saying I have an article in it. The winter was kinda mild so it didn’t really affect sales except for snow - if people didn’t shovel their sidewalks. That created a problem for the foot traffic, not the drive-through traffic. That’s why the Starbucks helped me out. But now that the snow is gone, things are coming back to normal. Personally, I would like to thank all my old and new customers for giving me the opportunity to become their vendor, and all customers who keep us employed. StreetWise is still effective with a hand up and not a hand out. People are still responding.
65
Vendors were re-employed
with our census outreach opportunity StreetWise Magazine [vendor _ interview _ / _ 2020 _ Statistics] [PG _____________________________________________006]
[streetwise] _ 2020 _ [by _ the _ Numbers]
$100,000
75 gallons of donated
hand sanitizer
Str
eet
e Wis
re
ned i a t
% 0 8 of
4
p our
1st place awards from the Illinois Woman's Press Association for Editor-in-chief Suzanne hanney
C re-
o end v D OVI
e orc f r
StreetWise Vendors Received:
StreetWise received
in direct cash support
$$ $
16,000+ prepacked meals 12,000+
disposable masks
8,000+
pairs disposable gloves
1,500+ hygiene kits 1,000+
bottles of sanitizer
Blankets, jackets, hygiene supplies, & reusable water bottles were distributed to those facing homelessness in 1,000+ locations throughout chicago [www.streetwise.org] [PG ___________007]
[vendor] _ Debbie booker _
I have been selling StreetWise for seven years at the Whole Foods at 3640 N. Halsted St. in Lakeview. COVID-19 has really changed things around here. I don’t think I have ever spent so much time at home! I have really been doing my best to stay on top of my bills, and I have been paying everything two months in advance, as last thing I want to have to deal with right now is an eviction. I was very scared just to be out, but it is getting easier. When I first started selling StreetWise again, it seemed like some of my customers were afraid of me! They would set the money down for me to pick up, so that they could stay six feet away. I would try to give them the magazine, but people were scared to take it. I always wear gloves and a mask and keep sanitizer with me, but back then we thought we could get COVID that way. It's getting better than it was. Customers stop and talk to me now, and people are less afraid to take the paper. Overall, my customers take care of me. We really look out for each other in Lakeview! Just recently, one of my best customers, Benny (the dog), died of cancer. He had been my customer since I started selling at Whole Foods 7 years ago. I got to pet him and say good-bye. He was such a great friend. It is a reminder that life goes on with COVID or not! We have to live and appreciate the blessings in our lives. Amanda at StreetWise helped me get an appointment for the vaccine! I just got my first shot, and I am excited to get the second. I can’t wait to tell my customers. I do have some health issues, so this will be such a relief for my mind! I can’t wait to tell my customers that I am safe! If we all get vaccines, maybe someday soon we can go back to normal!
40% of vendor force apply for Streetwise helped
emergency public benefits
392 digital magazine Subscriptions StreetWise Magazine [vendor _ interview _ / _ 2020 _ Statistics] [PG _____________________________________________008]
[vendor] _ james metzgar _
The main difference is I don’t break for lunch. I have breakfast and lunch before I leave. I can’t go into the basement of St. Peter’s Church and bring a brown bag lunch. They’re only open with reservations for mass. There’s not a good place to eat outside in the cold. Although today [March 19] was St. Joseph’s Day, so I treated myself to Potbelly’s. I sell at LaSalle and Madison: one of the four corners. Sometimes there might be a panhandler on more than one corner. I never want to be next to a panhandler. In unusual circumstances, on a rainy day, I want to be under shelter. I wouldn’t say I have taken a financial loss, although there were a few months we were not permitted to be out [selling the magazine]. I also worked at the polls for the March primary. And I have gotten my second stimulus check. I am awaiting my third. I didn’t earn the money I could have. But when I did go back, the best days and the biggest tips have happened. One time I grossed $182. Before, the biggest tip I ever got was $40. That was beaten by a $60 tip and a $100 tip. Maybe people can afford to be philanthropic. I have definitely been the beneficiary. Even yesterday, a man didn’t want to take the magazine but gave me a $10 bill. I have an annuity and Social Security. I was not getting the money from selling StreetWise, so I did have to learn to live on somewhat less. I was actually cutting down on how much I ate during the pandemic. But I didn’t lose any weight. I didn’t go out for food stamps or to a food pantry because I didn’t need to. I considered myself very lucky. I didn’t need to be the beneficiary of any social welfare program. Except for essential services, I didn’t go out. I lost weight when I did come out and was more active, but not enough to be unhealthy.
90,528 Print Magazines sold
[down 70,000 from 2019]
2
shorty Awards nominations
(honoring the best in social media & digital) for
WHERE I STAY [www.streetwise.org] [PG ___________009]
[vendor] _ Donald Morris _ I still stay current at my two locations in Lincoln Park and one in Evanston, Bennison’s Bakery on Davis Street, after my old location, the movie theater, closed. I have just added Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Michigan Avenue. You follow the rules of the pandemic and hopefully, everybody tries to comply. When I see people not socially distancing themselves, I stay away. I don’t want your COVID-19. I check you out, give you a test to see if you are COVID-ready. Are you distancing, are you wearing a mask? Do you try to be wise with your hands? Or do you place them everywhere, touch something while you’re picking up stuff. I am more of an operational vendor now than I was before. Distancing, staying away from people, not coughing on people. Not taking my mask off too much.
[vendor] _ merv sims _ I changed locations. I went to Division and State streets. It’s more residential, more people. For a while I did both locations. Division and State in the evening and my old location, Franklin and Madison, in the morning. You could look two blocks in all directions and see one person maybe in two blocks. I’ve been there 27 years; I was hoping to see someone that knows me, just to see the spot is still there. Sometimes it was not worth coming at all. I played it by ear. I tried to go to both spots every day, but if I slept too late, I didn’t go to Division and State. Now, in March, I am not going to Division and State anymore. It’s not profitable. There are too many panhandlers on Division and State. Madison and Franklin is starting to pick back up.
[vendor] _ john hicks _ I became a vendor four years ago. I had just moved from St. Louis and was window washing. The Night Ministry told me about StreetWise. I sold at the Starbucks on Randolph and Wabash, by Macy’s and the Brown Line. The first time I sold, I made $100 at Randolph and Wabash. The clientele has fallen. It’s gotten slow. Restaurants have closed. I do windows and instead of coming once a week, they want me to come once a month. Now I sell by Walgreens at Dearborn and Division. Now, downtown is like St. Louis downtown. It’s quiet. Selling in a residential area is better at times but not always.
StreetWise Magazine [vendor _ interview] [PG ___________________________010]
[vendor] _ Keith Hardiman _ In the mornings I am at Lake Street and Michigan Avenue in front of Starbucks from 6 to 10 Monday through Friday. I catch the morning crowd coming to work: people who open up, bosses who come early, those who have been away since the pandemic and have come to get supplies from work. I am staying consistent, being polite. I haven’t really changed my habits. It’s a good location where I am. But some days I go down to Michigan Avenue and Pearson Street, across from the Water Tower, from 12 to 3 or 4 o’clock. The 3 o’clock crowd is the shoppers. It’s been quite a few. But I’ve been frustrated. They bypass me and go to the panhandlers, the ones with the signs and the cups. It’s not me. They figure the panhandlers need more help than I do because I am out there selling magazines. Macy’s closing is not going to put a damper on everything. People are still coming to the Water Tower to shop. Then you have 900 N. Michigan, the John Hancock, Fourth Presbyterian Church. It’s a lot of other things. I don’t make as much as I used to before the pandemic. Now I barely get $25 to $35 in the whole week. But I stay consistent because there are people who know that, since the pandemic, I have been struggling. They donate to me and buy magazines. Some have subscriptions. Some saw me modeling GiveAShi*t [in StreetWise magazine during the holidays, with all proceeds going to StreetWise]. They bought some shirts for the family as Christmas gifts. I pay by the day at a hotel; that’s $35 a day. This whole pandemic year, I have spent $13,200 on the hotel. I have been struggling. But due to the census [StreetWise vendors were paid to find homeless people and encourage them to fill out the census through a YWCA Metropolitan Chicago outreach program] I was able to survive this summer and everyday I’m here. I have been trying to apply over the phone and online for housing, Section 8, but nothing has come of it.
[www.streetwise.org] [PG ___________011]
StreetWIse _ [Staff] Julie Youngquist A. Allen Shirley Baker Patrick Edwards John Hagan Dave Hamilton Suzanne Hanney Amanda Jones Ron Madere
[Executive Director] [Field Supervisor] [Front Desk Associate] [Executive Assistant] [Field Supervisor] [Publisher/Creative Director] [Editor] [Program Manager] [Magazine Sales Specialist]
StreetWIse _ [advisory council] Bradley Akers Buyhive Technologies, Inc. Bruce Crane Retired/Crane Carton Company Aaron Friedman Walgreens Boots Alliance Scott Goldstein Acorn Investment Partners / Streeterville Productions Deana Haynes JLL Jon Hennessy Independent Investor and Non-Profit Consultant Stephanie Itkonen JLL Pete Kadens [Chairman Emeritus] Kadens Holdings Adam Meek Brownfield Management Associates David Pavlik Decennial Group Karen Pittenger Black Olive Co. Pat Quinn Former Illinois Governor Laura Reff Jonathan Reinsdorf FroogalPay, LLC Ben Swartz Marcel Digital Neema Varghese NV Consulting Services The Honorable Danny Davis [Emeritus] U.S. Congressman 7th District Judd Lofchie [Founder] Judd Lofchie & Associates
StreetWIse _ [young professionals auxiliary board] Stephanie Itkonen [President] JLL Andrea Behringer [Vice President / Secretary] United Way of Metro Chicago Andrew 'Bud' Robinson [Treasurer] Northwestern University Ilana Borzak Reality Check Erin Dunne Charles Schwab George Mavrogenes Legacy Commercial Property Zareena Meyn mRelief MIke Murov Players Sport & Social Group Jill Osborn Conexiom Dylan Schweitzer Leo TechnoSoft
StreetWise Magazine [Staff _ advisory council _ Auxiliary] [PG ________________________________________012]
Streetwise 3/29/21 Crossword
rk ker er
To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.
Sudoku
rd
sket
Puz
Crossword Across
©2017 PuzzleJunction.com
60 61 62 63 64
13 Jewel 37 Rabbit fur 18 Gibson garnish 38 Clue s 21 King Arthur’s 40 Cyclist lance 41 One of two ply 23 Empty sleepers, ff promises usually 24 Fairy tale 44 Cartridge Down figure holder 1 Squeakers 25 Looking down 45 Huge hit ue 2 State openly from 46 Effusive 3 Toothpaste type 26 Disdain 47 Fraud d 27 Kharg Island 4 First 48 Pre-euro money e 5 Fresh from the resident 49 Classes rt shower 28 Nickel, e.g. 50 Burlap fiber 6 Disney dog 29 Often-missed 51 Russia’s ___ t 7 Israeli weapon humor Mountains ver 30 Change 8 “Wanna ___?” 52 Showy flower y 9 Swagger 31 Literally, 53 Compass pt. “dwarf dog” 10 Tabloid topic 55 Sitter’s handful 11 “Sad to say ...” 32 Canary’s call 56 Rowboat 12 Jodie Foster’s 34 Cash in one’s necessity Copyright ©2017 PuzzleJunction.com chips alma mater 58 Tijuana gold Algebra or trig Obliterate Dovetail The hunted Big name in pineapples
Copyright ©2021 PuzzleJunction.com
©PuzzleJunction.com
Solution Puzzle Answers last week's
Solution
Solution
1 Bridge call 5 “Rabbit food” 10 Two-year-old sheep 13 Italian wine center 14 Tolerate 15 Mountain lion 16 Thingamajig 19 Race unit 20 After curfew 21 Cunning 22 Dark region of the moon 23 Came down hard 25 Yacht facility 28 Gawk 29 Love god 30 Plant life 31 E or G, e.g. ©2021 PuzzleJunction.com 34 Goals 35 Fresh from the 15 Feather in 59 Corrida call shower one’s cap 60 Pine 36 Snowman prop 61 Fairy tale starter 17 Family group 37 Day break? 18 Ancient 38 Swift market Down 39 Inspiration 22 Overlook 40 Salad oil holder 23 Brown ermine 1 Hinged catch 41 Mature male 24 Mountain lake 2 Court legend goose 25 Ill-tempered 3 American elk 43 Fencing moves 26 Puccini piece 4 Command to 46 Briton 27 Easy win Fido 47 Plant louse 28 Winter driving 5 1943 Bogart genus hazard film 48 Televises 30 Hightails it 6 Diminish 49 Took the cake, 7 Vitamin C 31 Captain ___ say 32 Fencing sword source 52 Building 8 Nabokov novel 33 Orbital period materials 9 Holiday mo. 35 Whodunit hint 56 Connect 36 Four gills 10 Garden bulb 57 Sleeping 38 Search 11 Author Zola disorder 40 Pain in the 12 Like some 58 Seals’ meals communities neck?
41 European language 42 “The Sun ___ Rises” 43 Picasso or Casals 44 Patriots’ Day month 45 Kind of wine 46 Hot or cold drink 48 Oscar winner Paquin 49 Egyptian solar deity 50 Toiletry item 51 Limerick language 53 Put into words 54 Gibbon, for one 55 ___ Speedwagon
Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at www.streetwise.org
How StreetWise Works
Our Mission 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.
Orientation Participants complete a monthlong orientation, focusing on customer service skills, financial literacy and time management to become a badged vendor.
Financial 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.
So
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.
[www.streetwise.org] [PG ___________015]
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