$1.85 + Tips go to $3VendoryourVol. 31 No. 34
Youngquist Executive Director A. allen Field Supervisor Shirley Baker Front Desk Reception Patrick Edwards Executive Assistant John Hagan, Jr. Field Supervisor Dave Hamilton Creative Director/Publisher Suzanne Hanney Editor Amanda Jones Program Director Ron Madere Cashier Rashawn Sanders Workforce Coordinator StreetWise, Inc. 2009 S. State St. Chicago, IL 60616 ph: 773-334-6600 Thank You! The StreetWise Staff and Advisory Board would like to give the people of Chicago a great big thank you for toyears!thesupportyouroverlast30Hereis30more! 2 3
-Julie Youngquist
also operates a jobs program to help individuals ready to re-enter the traditional job market by offering job readiness and placement services.
Staff
StreetWise Magazine creates a bridge between customers and people expe riencing homelessness. The vendor/customer interactions help de-stigmatize views of class and homelessness. Taking the magazine is so important be cause the vendors are selling a product; taking it preserves the dignity of the sale, instead of charity.
Read the Magazine!
Buy the Magazine!
StreetWise Magazine is an award-winning publication. The magazine has won several awards for journalism and design from the Illinois Woman’s Press As sociation, National Federation of Press Women, International Network of Street Papers. It is an alternative to major dailies, covering homelessness, poverty, injustice, inequality and life in Chicago. It also serves as a platform for people with lived experience to share their stories and their views as writers and more.
For StreetWise to continue to thrive, our vendors need to continue to purchase magazines for resale; it the basis of our model.
Take the Magazine!
Letter from t he executive director
The individuals who sell StreetWise magazine are entrepreneurs who make an investment in themselves and their future. They purchase the magazine for a wholesale price and resell it for $3 + tips, earning money on each sale. The profits give vendors the hand up they need to afford transporta tion, phones, housing, utilities, clothing and medicine.
There is no place like StreetWise!
It’s still hard to believe that 30 years ago, Chicago launched a way for individuals experiencing home lessness to earn an income with dignity instead of begging. This street paper model is a proven one. It relies on regular customers buying the magazine, taking the magazine, and reading the magazine.
There is no other media outlet or social enterprise like StreetWise in Chicago. It is a safety net, a community built over 30 years. We provide basic needs including a clothing closet, personal hygiene supplies, breakfast, lunch and take-home meals. We help access public benefits and community resources, vital records, and serve as a virtual home so participants can receive mail. We offer referrals for housing, medical or legal aid and provide emergency support. We are a community that celebrates birthdays, weddings, new apartments, and personal milestones. We also support each other in times of illness, loss, and StreetWIsedeath.
The following pages journey through our history as we celebrate our unique place in Chicago as a media outlet, a homeless services provider, and a work force development agency. Meet some of our vendors who will testify that
Julie
StreetWise is more than a Magazine!
"StreetWise: In My Life" Interviews compiled by Suzanne Hanney "StreetWise: A Timeline" compiled by Sara Gentis & Julie Youngquist "StreetWise: FAQ" by Mica Matsoff "Then & Now" compiled by Dave Hamilton Design by Dave Hamilton 2022 Advisory Board Bruce Crane retired Crane Carton Jan Anne Dubin Jan Anne Dubin Consulting Deana Haynes EY Jon Hennessey Independent Investor and Non-Profit Consultant Stephanie Itkonen JLL Adam Meek Brownfield Management Associates Pat Quinn former Governor Laura Reff Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School Ben Swartz Marcel Digital Neema Varghese NV Consulting Services ChairmanPeteEmeritusKadens Kadens Family Foundation JuddEmeritusLofchie Judd Lofchie & StreetWiseAssociatesFounder The Honorable Danny Davis U.S. Congressman Contents 002 Letter from the Executive Director Julie Youngquist 002 StreetWise Staff 003 Streetwise 2022 advisory Board 004 Letter from the editor Suzanne Hanney 004 StreetWise: A timeline 005 StreetWise: In My Life Streetwise Vendors share the milestones in their journey 005 A. Allen 006 Percy Smith 007 merv sims 008 Paula D. Holmes 009 Keith Hardiman 010 Dan Edward Knight 010 William Plowman 011 Dean Smith 012 Danny Davis 013 Robert Laine 014 Lee A. Holmes 015 Robert Williams 017 Kianna Drummond 018 StreetWise: FAQ 019 Then & PricesNowin1992 Vs. 2022 020 You're Invited! The 30th Anniversary Celebration Page @Streetwise_CHI@Streetwise_CHIStreetwisechicagoLearnMore&Donateat:www.streetwise.org
Not long after I came back home, the disabled aunt who took care of me when my mother worked was diagnosed with cancer and I took care of her until she died. My uncle died eight months later and my mother five years after that. I never used drugs or abused alcohol, but I was too stressed to be in journalism at a level that I could be proud of. The job requires calm confidence (I yell now only to be dramatic or funny), among other qualities I worked to achieve in the face of all my Inlosses.themeantime, I had taken a 3-11 p.m. job in retail so that I would have the early part of my days free for writing jobs. I also consulted with Local School Councils. I took Daddy’s advice: one step, every Iday.came to StreetWise in perhaps 1995 following a Public Relations Society of America volunteer fair. I started out unpaid, and worked my way up from doing publicity on the then biweekly newspaper to copyediting the publication. Soon, I was doing longer stories: about tax increment financing, about the redevelopment of CabriniGreen, about welfare reform.
The first issue of StreetWise is published, starting as a monthly black & white newspaper. 1992 StreetWise was founded in 1992 by a group called “People for Ending Hunger Foundation” led by Judd Lofchie.
Being a third generation Chicagoan, however, my goal had always been to tell the stories of my hometown. Even after graduating from Northwest ern University, however, I still had to get experience on smaller papers. And then I had to have experi ence in Chicago to work here.
Doing one thing every day, he said, would move my life forward. That advice came in handy after I lost my news paper job in Iowa. Earlier, I had even done the ar chives on Ronald Reagan for the newspaper in his boyhood hometown, advised media from all over the world, attended his inauguration.
Discussing the 30th anniversary of StreetWise recently, some long-time vendors said they have stayed because the job makes them feel secure. I would say that StreetWise has given me the space to grow, both as a person and as a journalist, and to depend on myself. I have covered Mayors Richard M. Daley, Rahm Emanuel and now Lori Lightfoot. I have been able to write about Chicago politics, history, and arts enough to see how they are interrelated. Now, I see the StreetWise niche as focused on how people of all income levels can live well in the globalized city.
“You are smart, like the Hare,” he told me, “but the Tortoise won the race. Slow but steady wins the race.”
INSP maintains a wire service of stories from mem ber publications, which StreetWise uses when ap propriate. The latest INSP cover story was about Prince William selling The Big Issue London.
As City Editor, I was honored to be one of Harry Porterfield’s “Someone You Should Know.” The piece ended with a vendor going out into the snow as I said, “I touch the heart of the city.” One of our old neighbors said my mother would have been so proud… Eventually I was Assistant Editor, and when my su perior left, he suggested that I take his place. My first edition followed the death of Pope John Paul II, and I was able to track down photos of his visit to Chicago in the 1970s. He said a mass in Grant Park against a dramatically different skyline from that of Roughlytoday.ayear later, in 2006, I met Michelle Obama, who keynoted a “Go Red for Women” Heart Asso ciation luncheon. She had unmistakable star quali ty, and she posed for pictures. Less than two years later, I was on a trip back to Iowa with Congress man Danny Davis to cover a busload of West Side people campaigning for Barack Obama in the First in the Nation caucuses. He won among the Demo crats, and a little over a year later, I was on another busload of people going to his inauguration.
-Suzanne Hanney
Letter from the editor Judd Lofchie posesMichelleObamaforportraits.
Not long after taking over as editor, I attended a women’s journalism conference in Seattle, where I connected with the publisher of Real Change, who convinced me that StreetWise needed to rejoin the International Network of Street Papers (INSP). StreetWise subsequently hosted a North American street paper conference at DePaul University and I went to six INSP conferences: two in Scotland, in Greece, in Norway, in Australia and in Germany.
The culmination of my dilettante experience at StreetWise came this year when I won eight first place awards in the Illinois Woman’s Press Association professional contest: for a gen eral feature and for the magazine itself, and for stories on social issues, environment, business, history, government and food. The government story, about the Two Sides of this year’s City Budget (Lightfoot’s and the activists’) won second place from the National Federation of Press Women. Hon orable mentions went to the magazine itself, to the feature (on Street Medicine with The Night Ministry) and to the history and social issues specialty articles.
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When I was a little girl, my father used to tell me the Aesop’s Fable about the Tortoise and the Hare.
AStreetWise:InStreetWise:MyLifetimelineAugust24,1992
StreetWise vendor and staff writer Joel Alfassa published the “Heard on the Curb" column that appeared from 1993 - 2003 when he passed away.
Since I have been at StreetWise, another vendor (Donald Morris) and I have started a 12-step program, “The Straight and Nar row Way on State Street, that Great Street,” at noon every Monday at the StreetWise office, 2009 S. State St. I am so grateful for my sobriety and my connection to StreetWise. If you know of anyone trying to stay sober, send them to 2009 St. State St. at noon Thursdays. That’s when I lead vendor orientation.
StreetWise:StreetWise:1993
My nonviolent criminal background labeled me as an habitual criminal. I found it very hard—almost impossi ble—to get a conventional 9-to-5 job. I was really on the verge of giving up when StreetWise came into my life. So, I thought StreetWise was not only a way of making an honest living, but a way to work for myself at the same time and to occupy my mind and my time. The way I utilized my mind was to go out and sell whenever I would think of using drugs or alcohol.
August 1995 StreetWise vendor Joseph Gould was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer. This story would consume the StreetWise community and editorial content as we followed the story until his conviction, which was overturned on appeal. Upon retrial on a change of armed violence in 2003, he received the minimum sentence and was released for time served: less than 4 years. May 1995 The Vendor Services Department was established to help recruit, train, and oversee vendor sales and progress.
“An idle mind is the devil’s workshop and makes a person lazy,” Mahatma Gandhi said. I took this saying and ran with it, and created my StreetWise milestone.
October 1994 StreetWise increases publication to biweekly, with a circulation of 130,000 magazines per month. April 5, 1995 StreetWise is recognized by the National Coalition for the Homeless as the best street paper in the U.S./Canada, and one of the top 5 internationally.
I’ve been with StreetWise going on 12 years and I’ve been sober going on 13 years, come October 10. Staying sober is not easy, but because of selling StreetWise to keep my mind occupied, I have survived the storm. And I’m so grateful for my sobriety and my connection with StreetWise.
December 1995 StreetWise published From Hard Times to Hope: The Poetry of StreetWise A. Allen
When I think of the milestones in my life since coming to StreetWise, there are so many, that I am not sure where to start. But to be honest, I think I’ll begin with what I am most grateful for. I have a lot of gratitude for my sobriety. I came to StreetWise after being busted, disgusted and maladjusted to life. I was on the verge of giving up on life, after being addicted to drugs and alcohol most of my life and leaving behind a trail of related crimes.
Percy Smith
I chaired a group for addiction studies. That went well for more than 10 years; I still get calls. We used the modality from Narcotics Anonymous and we proceeded to try to stay clean one day at a time, which is the Narcotics Anonymous modality. We read, we studied, we shared, we met every Thursday from 1 o’clock to 3 o’clock. We celebrated whenever a person had something substantial. We named the group Lifesavers. It was open. It was a study of how to stay clean. Narcotics Anonymous initiated it and I used that modality because I saw many people treating themselves as slaves: slaves to their addiction. They would work all day and spend the money they worked for all night. I would see people standing on the corner saying,…’I got $5, can you give me $5 to go with your magazines, because I don’t have enough to buy 30 magazines,’ which was the bottom number of magazines to buy each week,” [from StreetWise, to re-sell. Until recently, vendors bought the magazine for 90 cents and sold it for $2. Now they pay $1.15 and sell it for $3.]
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ChangeRealSeattle, co-hosted the first meeting of North American street papers. The meeting was held in Chicago and attended by 20 North American street papers, as well as the street papers in Amsterdam and London.
It was easy to see what they were doing with their lives, and I wanted to make their lives better. StreetWise helped me to live, to have a second income to support myself and family. I have been using a wheelchair since 1998. I was walking down the street and got hit by a drunk driver in 1991. I started a BA in human behavioral sciences focused on substance abuse and finished it while I was a vendor. With that in my arsenal, I thought I could be a lot of help to StreetWise, which I thought was a wonderful thing, because the idea behind Streetwise is to help people who fall down get back up. Selling magazines to earn income and taking that income to live better, I thought is a wonderful thing: to help people get jobs who were considered unemployable. To help these people support their families and pay rent, light bills.
September 1997 StreetWise hosts its first annual anniversary gala. September 1997 StreetWise launches the Work Empowerment Center including a library and computers. October 1997 StreetWise moves to its new building at 1331 S. Michigan Ave. July 19, 1996 StreetWise Vendor Melinda Rogers sold the 5 millionth copy of StreetWise. (Inside the newspaper was a round-trip airline ticket compliments of United Airlines.)
I have been a vendor since about 2005 and I was vendor rep on the board of directors at StreetWise for about five years. Being vendor rep caused me to affect some change in the way we sold magazines as vendors. When I first got there, I saw vendors chasing supporters down the street, saying, ‘C’mon, give me a dollar, give me $2. Let me get some money.’ It made it feel like we were more begging than actually selling magazines. I didn’t really appreciate that, because I don’t consider myself a vagabond.
andtheCoalitionthealongStreetWise,withNationalforHomeless
August71996
StreetWise basically deals with people on both sides of it: people who can help, and people who need help. People are the best thing God put on Earth and to love and care for each other is one of the best things we can do for God.
I thought it would be more appreciated, and the company would grow so much more, if we treated the StreetWise organization as a nonprofit business rather than a pity pot.
It just so happened the bicycle messenger office was right around the corner from the StreetWise office at 60 E. 13th St. I went to the StreetWise office the next day. That was a Wednesday, and on Friday, I was selling StreetWise.
I got to meet a lot of people like Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, Mayor Michael Bilandic, Mayor Jane Byrne, [three-time NBA All Star Jamaal] Keith Wilkes, [six-time NBA All-Star, Olympic gold medalist and philanthropist] David Robinson, [16-year Chicago Cub and 12-time All-Star] Ryne Sandberg, Oprah Winfrey, [singer] Rod Stewart, and [comedian] Sinbad. I sold across the street from the John Hancock Building, Fourth Presbyterian Church, just about all of those people, that’s where I met them. Jane Byrne lived right there, at 111 E. Chestnut. Just across the street is a restaurant called Ditka’s.
May 2000 StreetWise moves from to circulation.
merv sims I was a bicycle messenger and from 8 to 3, it would mostly be always “Call back” or a busy signal. This one day, I was doing my routine, working the pay phone, and this StreetWise vendor was selling Street Wise. I picked up the phone, I dialed the number, and I got a busy signal. By the time I picked up that phone and hung up that phone, the StreetWise vendor had made $3. In that amount of time! Now, I am riding around on a bicycle from 8 in the morning til 3 o’clock in the afternoon – six hours!-- making no money, and this StreetWise vendor had made $3! I was like, ‘Man, how do you do that?
June 25, 2000 Opening night of the StreetWise “Not Your Momma’s Bus Tour” series running every Friday and Saturday. A theatrical bus tour hosted by formerly homeless StreetWise vendors used humor and drama to earn additional income while telling their stories, from trials to triumphs. There were 60 tours between May and October 2001 that visited Maxwell Street, Cabrini Green, Malcolm X College, and Cook County Hospital.
Everybody cannot be a StreetWise vendor. It’s not a walk in the park, It’s not an office job. It’s a good job – if you are a people-person.
bi-weekly
July 2000 StreetWise expands to Washington, D.C. May 2000 StreetWise wins 5 awards at the Mate E. Palmer Communications contest of the Illinois Women’s Press Association
• Managing Editor Charity Crouse received 1st Place for “Chicago: City of Neighborhoods for Sale; Real Estate Boom Takes Communities to the Market”
• City Editor Suzanne Hanney won 1st place for continuing coverage of the police code of silence.
weekly
People stay as vendors because they are people-people. They meet interesting people and they become friends with those people. Everybody cannot be a StreetWise vendor. A lot of people will take a StreetWise and hit somebody upside the head with it because of the looks they get: ‘If you don’t get out of my way….’ You get a lot of that. You as a StreetWise vendor have to be thick-skinned to turn that person around, that person that’s looking like, ‘If you don’t get out of my way, I have been working woo, woo, woo.’ [But] you have been out here six years and [they] have had three different jobs in that time. You are still out here doing the same thing, so it must be good.
Everyone should know how impactful StreetWise is. It helps moti vate people and gets them out there. I learned how to sell maga zines successfully, relate to customers, and network. Through StreetWise, I was able to start other jobs. One of the other jobs I currently do is at HHPLift, where I work in a workshop making products. StreetWise pointed me in the right direction and helped me get to where I am today.
Paula Holmes If someone were to tell me when I first walked into StreetWise that I would end up finding confidence in my self, the courage to ask for what I need, and the love of my life, I would have told them that they were crazy. StreetWise changed my life. It gave me opportunities that I didn’t know were possible and, most impor tantly, confidence in myself. I had never sold anything before, and selling magazines was out of my comfort zone. On my first day selling magazines, I was extremely nervous. A woman walked by me, and I started to try and sell my first magazine. I was so scared that I mumbled all of my words and spoke in a whisper. The woman looked at me, confused, and continued to walk into the grocery store. When she was finished shop ping, she came back and asked me what I was trying to tell her. I took a deep breath and told her I was selling StreetWise magazines.
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Once I explained the company to her, how they help people get jobs, the purpose of selling the magazine and why I was out there, she happily bought one. This gave me so much courage and confidence, something I had not felt in a long time. After my first day, I would spend hours in front of my mirror practicing how to sell a magazine; I wanted to get it right. StreetWise taught me that when you are out of your comfort zone, you grow the most. I am about to complete my second year at StreetWise and have sold more than 1,000 magazines in my career. Through StreetWise, I learned that I could motivate myself and empower others. When I started at StreetWise, I did not have money or a job. I was in an abusive relationship and an unsafe living situation in an aban doned building. By connecting me to YWCA, StreetWise offered me the support to get my son and me out of our living situation. We got shelter and clothing, and I could talk to a counselor about my problems, which helped me become more self-confident. One of the first job opportunities I got through StreetWise was working for the 2020 census. This was one of the first of many opportunities StreetWise gave me, and as soon as it was offered, I took it as fast as possible. I went door to door and explained what the 2020 census was and told people how important it was that they took part in it. Having this job was empowering, because I had job security for the first time in a long time. Earning an income allowed me to feel good about myself. Supporting myself financially and not leaning on anyone else taught me strong independence. Because of StreetWise, now I live in a lovely apartment with running water, food, heat, lights, gas, and I am safe. We both knew StreetWise was the perfect place when picking our wedding location. StreetWise helped me gain enough confidence to put myself first and to engage in healthy behaviors/relationships I could not imagine my wedding anywhere other than StreetWise, because that is where my best friend and I rekindled our relationship and eventually got married. We would go to the exact locations to sell magazines every week, and through this, we grew closer and closer. After work, we would go to a little Chinese restaurant or another StreetWise vendor’s house, and he would cook dinner. The next day we would presumably go back to work selling our magazines and wait until the other ran out so we could buy more to sell together. Shortly, we became inseparable. Standing at the altar with my husband, I remember looking around at the group of people attending my wedding. The room was filled with friends and family, and I felt loved. We invited everyone we worked with at StreetWise and had a big party. This was one of the most important days of my life because I celebrated the new life that StreetWise gave me. StreetWise gave me a career and the support to leave an abusive relationship and ultimately get into one filled with unconditional love. And I could not be more grateful.
People need to read my story in StreetWise because it gives back ground to the faces of StreetWise vendors that most residents see daily. Behind every one is a story of trauma, truth, strength, and in my case, love. While not everybody has had the same experiences as I have, we each have our own story, which shows our strength and hopefully, motivates people to buy more magazines. You never know how $3 for a magazine can change someone’s life. I want people to see that it is essential to put yourself out there, because opportunities will come if you do. StreetWise is a fantastic orga nization, and if someone is feeling lost and in need of a job and a community, StreetWise is the perfect place for them.
August 24, 2005 Fan favorite poet & vendor Roark Moody makes his poetry debut.
January 2006 StreetWise begins hosting a weekly TV show on CAN-TV called “StreetWise StreetScene” to “disseminate information to Chicago residents about the alarming effect of homelessness and the steps toward self-sufficiency.”
August 2004 “The Bench Mark,” a play about homelessness, written by Rick Roberts, a Chicago writer and film producer, features StreetWise. “The composite character of Mark reflects a large percentage of homeless people who are far more intelligent than you could ever imagine, but who are out on the streets today because of personal, social, medical or economic problems,” said playwright Roberts.
December 14, 2007 StreetWise: The Movie premiered at the Park West Theater. Thanks to Rob Federighi and LUCCA Productions, the film chronicles the vendors who work tirelessly during their days, many of which begin at the crack of dawn and don’t end until late into the evening. Vendors begin selling DVD copies of it the day after.
August 8, 2005 StreetWise moves to 1201 W. Lake St. May 3, 2022 Vendors Lee and Paula wed at the StreetWise offices (Kathleen Hinkel photo).
Keith Hardiman StreetWise became a milestone in my life years ago when it was in the form of a newspaper. I got intro duced to it through another vendor and I have been coming back and forth ever since. StreetWise has helped me. I overcame my obstacle of drug abuse. Even during these trying times of the pandemic, I was still out there. I considered myself an essential worker, because I have to keep a roof over my head. I don’t have welfare, social security or anything. I have been surviving with them. I have a roof over my head now, I am clean every day and I have 15 years under my belt of being drug-free. It’s a milestone in itself, and I appreciate it everytime I see someone out there. They ask me for help and I tell them: StreetWise! Our doors never close. You’re always welcome. You have a place to eat. We’ve got clothes for you here. I appreciate it and I don’t abuse it. A hand up, not a hand out. Thank you!
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Troy McCullough
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Dan Edward Knight
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The good thing about downtown is you never know who you are going to meet in the world. I had a couple of people. I tried to tell them my name. They said they already knew who I was. I said where are you from? They said from England. They already knew the paper, [because of The Big Issue magazine there.]
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The milestones I have experienced while I have been at StreetWise are: in a band role in a play commercial contest Writers' groups and workshops, and am currently working with a writers' group at StreetWise to con tribute to various editions of StreetWise business class w/SIFE in StreetWise Being able to remain in Chicago for 28 years thanks to the money I earn.
StreetWise
I stayed in the neighborhoods, but now with StreetWise, I can collect downtown. It’s faster money, it’s bigger money, and it’s more consistent, because these people are working. There’s no limit on how much money you can make.
William Plowman
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Pete Kadens
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May 21, 2008 celebrates its 8,000th vendor, Gregory Gaddo November 5, 2008 StreetWise transitions from newsprint to 4-color magazine format, sold for $2. April 26, 2008 Vendor Troy McCullough would meet Pete Kadens in a chance encounter that would change his life. The meeting led to coverage in Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, and local television.
On my other jobs, the people don’t know the company, they know you. You are the company.
How I heard about StreetWise? I went by the Wilson Red Line and a lady who used to be a vendor said, “Go to StreetWise, right around the corner.” We took orientation and we got started. Stopped being broke all the time instead of wandering around aimlessly. Coming here, seeing the resources and having conversations led me to housing.
The Chicago community rallies to invest in the future of StreetWise after we almost closed our doors.
The people who made it happen:
“Honestly, we believe that we’ve been incredibly blessed in this life, and the greater our blessings are, the greater our responsibility to give back to those in need and our community.” "...After the winter we’ve all been through – both weather and financial-wise – we need to do all that we can for incredible organizations like this.”
Wood Chatham and Brooke Baxter James and Kay Mabie Michael Clune
“I have gotten to know many of your StreetWise vendors downtown near my office and made a pact with myself that I would never pass by one without stopping and at least giving whatever note I had in my pocket. We know what StreetWise does and provides for these vendors, and we just could not let your publication close.” … “We are also looking at providing handicap ramps at your facility through Clune Construction.”
Dean Smith StreetWise helped me get housing. I heard somebody talking here and I went to Northside Housing and then I wound up in an SRO [Single Room Occupancy hotel] in the South Loop. To be on the street and then in a shelter and then in your own place... I had never been homeless until we came here. I moved from Tennessee and I brought my wife with me. I told her all about Chicago. The bottom fell out unexpectedly: 12:15 at night, snow and rain. I had a tarp and a tent. We slept underneath a bus stop. All my friends’ numbers, I couldn’t find none of them.
James and Kay Mabie
May 6 - 12, 2009
Wood Chatham and Brooke Baxter
“This is exactly what Chicago is all about - helping the people who are in need, people who could be out there with a tin cup instead, but are working. This is an extraordinary effort, in my opinion, and hopefully we can provide this opportunity to more people. I’m delighted that StreetWise is alive and well, and is moving forward and it is a tribute to Chicago…”
Michael StreetWiseClunerecieved 250 donations through our website and Facebook pages.
April 7, 2011 Breakfast with Mayor Daley, hosted by Northern Trust Bank and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce in honor of StreetWise.
Danny Davis I’ve been with StreetWise 27, 28 years.
It’s gotten me to be able to be dependent on myself and not anyone else. It taught me how to work hard and never give up what I am trying to do. It gives me a push as far as making what I am supposed to do. I’ve seen a lot of changes with the magazine. It used to be just a newspaper, but now it’s a bright, shiny magazine. The prices have went up but it does help. At the beginning, it was kind of hard, but the more I worked at It, I got better and better. It’s called what you said, making perfection, get your spiel, your sales pitch together. Just work on it, and make it better and better and better. Before you know it, that’s your spiel, and it works.
What’s been the milestone with me, it has taught me how to sell. Being with StreetWise, I’ve met a few people that I’ve gotten jobs with. I used to work for a window and door company. I met this particular person at White Sox Park. I got the job by working with him. I learned how to sell doors and windows and I was actually good at it.
July 1, 2011 StreetWise relaunches meals program in partnership with The Salvation Army, Panera Bread and the Greater Chicago Food Depository - the StreetWise Cafe is reborn!
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July 29 - August 1, 2010 StreetWise co-hosted the annual North American Street Paper Association conference in Chicago with DePaul Community Service Association, the McCormick Foundation, and the Ethics and Journalism Foundation, with 81 attendees from 24 street papers across the U.S. and Canada. StreetWise won an award for Best Feature for “Chicago’s Latino Homeless: Providing their own Sanctuary,” written by intern Brenna Daldorph.
May 21, 2011 StreetWise swept the 70th annual Mate E. Palmer Awards of the Illinois Woman’s Press Association, winning 11 awards,
September 1, 2011 StreetWise relocates to its new offices in Uptown. StreetWise occupies 3,600 square feet in the historic McJunkin Building located at 4554 N. Broadway.
August 18, 2012 Judd unexpectedly.passed20-yearStreetWisememberfoundingHorowitz,boardofandvolunteer,away
Robert Laine
I am no longer homeless. StreetWise helped me with food, with clothing, helped with transportation to my sales. Gave me a purpose to get out of bed and work and give meaning. Also, StreetWise offered me the ability to give my voice to some of my thoughts through the column of TechWise. There will be upcoming columns on TechWise in the near future.
2012 StreetWise Produce Vendor Job Readiness Program launched in partnership with Neighbor Cart Mobile, with 25 men and women operating 8 carts across the city. The program was run by former volunteer-turned-employee Patrick O'Connor.
2013 A new partnership with First Slice Pie Cafe brings an assortment of salads, vegetables, pasta and pies in the StreetWise Cafe.
There was help from StreetWise on housing. I also investigated services that became available as a result of the pandemic at the Harold Washington Library. They offered services every Monday to anybody who needs them and one of the services was housing. I signed up and in 2½ months I got a letter for one of the buildings I selected. Six weeks later, I moved in. StreetWise also helped me with getting glasses many times, with dental, a litany of services StreetWise helped me with that I am forever grateful. Every chance I get to help out, I always do. I helped out with the computers here, installing new operating systems when computers would break down and with one or two editions to make sure they made it to the printer in time for us to make our sales. I try to help out in return for StreetWise helping me out.
I have over 35 years experience in the computer industry, I have worked in a variety of technical roles besides having a degree in computer science and mathematics. I am a certified hardware computer tech nician, also a software engineer and an electronics engineer.
June 2014 Associates Board hosts first C.O.O.L. Party fundraiser for StreetWise.
The GiveAShi*t Crew: Pam Hoffman, Scott Marvel, and Jeannine Ringwald-Zwirn
The first GiveAShi*t pop-up shop. Since then, The Daily Planet Ltd. has teamed up with StreetWise and local artists for GiveAShi*t. Artists donate their designs, all items are handscreened and sold at pop-up shops around the City and at www.giveashirt.net. 100% of the profits benefit StreetWise. As of August 2022, GiveAShi*t has donated over $250,000! We are so thankful for Scott Marvel, Jeannine Ringland-Zwirn and Pam Hoffman and for their passion, commitment and time to make this happen.
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December 15, 2015
Lee A. Holmes StreetWise has been very, very good to me. Since I have been with the organization, my soft skills have gotten sharper than ever.
In 2014, I was given an opportunity to work for a pilot program through the City of Chicago and Street Wise called e.a.t. spots: produce sales off former newsstands downtown. It was something that I en joyed doing. One day I hope to open up something similar. Through the YWCA and LinkedIn, I am learning to upscale my business, using tools like social media marketing and Google Ads. I recently took a real estate course. The many benefits of StreetWise being powered by the YWCA are endless. I have been given the opportunity to distribute magazines and to work the desk in the office. I got married in the office and my wife (Paula D. Holmes) and I, are starting a not-for-profit: C26 Street Social Responsibility. Look for our website, coming soon.
December 2014 StreetWise receives a Community Partners Award from Access Living for its years of coverage of the Disability Pride Parade. 2014 StreetWise enters a partnership with e.a.t. spots, turning abandoned newstands into food carts.
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Robert Williams I’m very grateful and thankful to StreetWise…the magazine, to help the homeless, to be self-sufficient. I have been a vendor for 30 years, serving the western suburbs of Oak Park, Maywood, Bellwood and River Forest. It has been an up-and-down journey: drugs, alcohol, and homelessness. By the grace and mercy of God, I was, and I am, pulling through. Today, I have clean clothes on my back, a warm bed, a refrigerator full of food, a key to turn a lock, a place to call home. I have been in my own place now, going on seven years. No more begging, pleading and jumping through hoops to have a place of residence. StreetWise has grown as an organization. We now not only supply magazines, we feed and clothe, and supply helpful resources to the homeless community. The staff is very helpful and dedicated to helping an individual to reach a better goal in life. I’m very appreciative for the StreetWise organization. Because of StreetWise, I am a survivor, standing on my own two feet, a pillar of the community, who is getting married at the end of the year. God bless to all, and just in case no one told you – I love you.
May 2018 Launches the 20 Most Inspiring nomination.campaignChicagoansthroughpublic September 28, 2017 StreetWise whohonorsAnniversary25thGala25peopleplayedarole in shaping StreetWise's history at a beautiful event at the Harris Theater Rooftop Terrace at Millennium Park. 2019
March 2018 StreetWise began accepting Venmo as a paymentcashlessoption.
June 2016 StreetWise Transitional Jobs Program receives nomination for Most Outstanding Program at the International Street News Paper Summit. StreetWise Magazine also received a nomination for Best Design and Cover of the Year for the edition that featured Beyonce (Vol. 24 No. 12).
April 6 ceased street sales of printed StreetWise magazine and published digitally only; began offering emergency cash support; launched the "I’m Still Here" campaign encouraging customers to purchase a digital subscription to help their vendors. Posted signs with QR codes at locations to remind customers about their Headquartersvendors.remained open for emergency cash, hygiene supplies, PPE, and pre-packaged and carryout meals. Our partnership with World Central Kitchen provided prepackaged meals to help feed StreetWise vendors.
March 5 StreetWise officially merged with YWCA Metropolitan Chicago. March 12 launched massive fundraising effort to help StreetWise vendors weather the storm in anticipation of all of them losing their jobs within the month, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
March 27 moved from Uptown offices to new headquarters in the Near South Side.
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July 6 new edition of StreetWise magazine printed and ready for the return of street sales & weekly publication of paper magazine.
March 18 Shelter in place order in effect for Chicago and Illinois due to COVID-19.
May 18 - June 30 put vendors back to work as outreach workers for the U.S. Census. 75 vendors arrived to get their assignments, document their outreach and once again begin earning money for their efforts.
October 1 virtual event honoring the 20 Most Inspiring Chicagoans.
December launched the "Where I Stay" podcast with Rivet, which was nominated for a Lisagor Award in 2021, and a Shorty Award in 2021 & 2022.
A2020year of big challenges, changes & Triumphs
Editor Suzanne Hanney with her Silver Feather Award.
June 2022 StreetWise Editor Suzanne Hanney wins eight first place awards for writing and for StreetWise the magazine itself, along with 2nds and 3rds, in the Illinois Woman's Press Association professional competition. Winning the most points in the IWPA's contest merited the prestigious Silver Feather Award.
Even Mayor Lori Lightfoot stopped by our tent at Sundays on State.
2021 Summer of GiveAShi*t Pop-Ups – 15 pop-ups between June-September helped push the GiveAShi*t support for StreetWise into triple digits.
August 22, 2022 StreetWise publishes its 30th Anniversary Edition.
June 27, 2022 StreetWise vendors get a raise, the first raise since 2008. The magazine cover price increased to $3 with vendors earning $1.85 + tips on the sale of each copy.
Kianna Drummond StreetWise has impacted my life in so many ways. For starters, when I first came to StreetWise, I was living from house to house and in a shelter. Meeting a vendor who brought me to StreetWise changed my life in a way I didn’t see coming. They helped me find a place to stay, they helped me get clean and sometimes, to get new clothes. They gave me the opportunity to get and stay employed. I sell magazines to pay my rent and to get food. Without StreetWise, I would still be homeless and pan handling on the streets. Now, people see me and help me more because they see I am doing something with myself besides standing on the corner with a salt can in my hand asking for a handout. Selling the magazine is more respectable than begging. StreetWise also gave me a chance to put my very own words in the magazine to sell to the people I once used to hold a salt can up to beg. Now, the same people gladly purchase a magazine. StreetWise helped me. It can do the same for you! Pass the word around.
FAQ
The people you see on the street have to make their own way to the Street Wise office in the South Loop and pay $1.15 for the magazine they sell to you for $3, making a $1.85 plus tips profit on each sale. They are vendors and this is their job!
What are the vendors doing when they're not selling StreetWise to you on the streets?
What do the vendors use the money for when you buy a paper?
The vendors are receiving interview training, job training, job placement, as well as housing, social services, legal support, or any other need.
For many, their short term goal is to make money for their basic needs and expenses. The long-term goal is often full-time employment and the ability to afford an apartment lease. How much can they make and is it enough to live on?
Buy and take the magazine every week and engage your local StreetWise vendors. Introduce yourself. Learn their names. These are great people who are out there working, but they also would love your friendship, con versation and respect.
What is Streetwise? StreetWise exists to elevate marginalized voices and provide opportunities for individuals to earn an income or gain employment. We offer two distinct pathways toward economic inclusion for anyone who wants to work – the Magazine Vendor Program and the S.T.E.P. Employment Program.
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Who are those people with magazines on the Street?
Like any entrepreneur, the amount of money earned varies with the amount of time, effort, and determination. Many vendors use StreetWise to pay rent and take care of their families, while others use it as supplemental income.
There are so many organizations out there with names I've heard from time to time, what makes StreetWise unique?
Who are StreetWise vendors and how did they get in this position? These are individuals who have lost a job, lost a spouse or partner, struggle with a health issue, etc. Many of them at one time had a home and a regular job, and never expected to end up in such a vulnerable situation.
StreetWise provides a dignified means of addressing the crisis of poverty and homelessness, and allows individuals immediate access to a respect able and legitimately earned income through their own hard work. The StreetWise vendors throughout the city are out there every day pushing to make ends meet. What can I do to help out?
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Then & Now 1992 vs. 2022 Average Chicago salary: 1992 $30,210 2022 $61,860 Grammy Album of the Year Oscar Best Picture1 gallon of gas: 1992 $1.13 2022 $5.26 Average cost of a cup of 20221992coffee:$1.60$2.76 20221992Population:2.792mil2.757mil Average Chicago Rent: 1992 $519** 2022 Postage$2,206***Stamp:199229¢202260¢ Total number of Chicagoans experiencing homelessness: 1992 49,000* 2022 58,273† Figures from bls.govexcept * StreetWise (Vol 1 No 1, August 1992) ** US Census *** RentCafe.com †Chicago Coalition for the Homeless Unforgettable...With Love Natalie Cole We Are Jon Batiste Silence of the Lambs CODA
