Another Year Older, Another Year Wiser

To celebrate StreetWise's 29th anniversary, we ask our vendors how they have grown over the last year

On August 24, 1992, the first edition of StreetWise, the newspaper, hit the streets of Chicago. Because of your support for StreetWise and our vendors, more than 14,000 Chicagoans have gone from being beggars to being microentrepreneurs through the sale of StreetWise Magazine. Since 1992, vendors have sold more than 19 million copies of StreetWise, putting more than $15 million in the hands of those with the most need.

Selling StreetWise Magazine is a hard job that requires consistency, dedication, and investment on the part of vendors. When you purchase the magazine and take the magazine, you are giving a hand up to someone committed to changing their path.

This rings true now more than ever as we are slowly emerging from the grips of the pandemic. The sudden job loss when StreetWise had to halt street sales could have been devastating. The sudden loss, sudden change, and sudden shift to a new normal, is well, normal for many of our vendors. They are resilient, resourceful, and innovative in how they manage the systemic and situational barriers to their success.

But the entrepreneurial spirit remains strong. And because of you, WE ARE STILL HERE!

Your support for the magazine vendors means that:

125 StreetWise vendors were able to maintain their businesses once street sales returned.

Sales of StreetWise Magazine returned to pre-COVID sales levels in June.

Don (pictured) was able to come back to sell StreetWise while he was looking for a new job after losing his just before the holidays.

StreetWise has been a trailblazer in providing low-barrier, entrylevel income-earning opportunities for some of the most economically marginalized. With each magazine purchase, you have an impact on the lives of each vendor at StreetWise.

Julie Youngquist, Executive Director

Kimberly Brown

I have worked for StreetWise and I come to work every day and I come on time. I also got a second job and I am enrolled in a job training program. I just got my certificate in janitorial and I am also going for my culinary certificate as a professional cook. I accepted Christ at an early age and I go to church every Sunday. I am very well educated. I went to college. I don’t drink or fornicate. I volunteer more at church (help serve food and with the clothing giveaways) in the last two years. I am a good mom. I have a daughter and take care of her, give her an allowance and helped her get a summer job. I have an email address and a resume.

John Kidd

Each year that God allows me to live another year, my experience with life has taught me more and more wisdom. My ups and downs, how I handle situations, how I look at life. I don’t look at life like I used to look at it when I was 21 years old because I am almost 65. I look at life as, it is what it is. What I put into it is what I will get back out of it. I do try to do a good deed every day as far as treating people nicely, being kind to people. I just treat people like I would want them to treat me.

Percy Smith

Last year was a strain on many people, especially myself. I had learned from selling StreetWise magazine how to maintain my financing. Things got very hard. I had to really dig deep inside myself to find out about food pantries, organizations where I could get help with just living situations, like the light bill, other things that I needed. I saw a new strength in people. If I didn’t have a mask, people would give me a mask; if I had a mask, I would give them a mask. People really started to come together more.

The riot thing didn’t help, people tearing up Chicago. That was a kind of ignorance I already knew from living. The issue they were rioting about is old, goes back to the 60s, but it was great that they were thinking about it, though. People are feeling like they have to protect themselves from the people who are supposed to serve and protect them. George Floyd, [for example] what was that about? But the destruction was unnecessary.

Seeing all these things. It’s definitely a new world. You can’t even recognize people with the masks.

James Metzgar

The best thing that happened to me in the past year since I have gone back is for the first time, I got a $100 tip after being off three or four months. I never got that big a tip prior to that time.

The main thing that made me wiser was, I learned how I was able to cope. I was a little more frugal as far as my money. Also, to relieve the boredom when I was at home, I did things I would often not find time to do before, [like] special cleaning of my apartment, to play solitaire with myself, to do more reading than in the past.

Especially, too, when I thought I was going to be off, I wondered how I was going to cope. I got a check from the government. I also had gotten a check from having worked in the polls for the March primary. I didn’t opt for the general election [in November]. I decided to leave it to the younger people because that was before the vaccine was distributed. It was wiser as a senior citizen to have opted out. I hope I can go back to it.

Dean Smith

I try not to take anything for granted anymore. Even the little things I try not to take for granted anymore. It’s been crazy. A lot of people take a lot of things for granted. They want to complain and moan. Man, turn on the world news. There’s a lot of people suffering, even before this pandemic. People just turning their water on. I can go out and can go in, open my refrigerator. It’s easy to get complacent and take these things for granted until you have them taken away from you.

Russell Adams

Thank you, everybody for supporting StreetWise. I have gotten wiser. Times like this I didn’t have money saved up, nothing to fall back on. I was just fortunate my customers came through for me, helped me out a lot. So I got wise on that. Save you some money, because you never know what you are going to go through in life. My girlfriend had breast cancer, she came through OK. She beat it. Six months. I haven’t been able to work too many hours like I want to, but I am doing OK. I am glad to get back, though I am not 100 percent, downtown is not busy yet, but I am still working my same location, because I will build it back up. I think positive; when I say I am going to do something, I do it. I have a master plan.

Robert Lee Pope Jr.

I learned it is wiser to have taken the virus shot than not to have taken it and to be more protected by taking the shot.

Tyrone Phillips

I have gotten wiser through StreetWise. It has landed me with a good-paying job and sort of keeping me in the right direction. By working hard and doing my best to please my customers, my donations, my contributions [have become] a good thing.

Sam Sanders

With COVID, social distance, it seems like people have gotten more courteous since we reopened. People seem to respect or feel other people’s opinion, to have a lot of empathy for other people. So do I. Social distance, the mask is here to stay, whether the variant goes down or what have you in the psyche of people’s minds. I have a greater appreciation for the StreetWise customers and I love Venmo. That’s a wise decision on StreetWise’s part.

Danny Davis

It’s nothing bad about it but it’s nothing good too. I happen to be a diabetic. I’ve had one and a half of my toes amputated. I’m still healing. I never knew that a diabetic ulcer would be on the heel of your feet or at your toes. Now I know that a diabetic ulcer is what it is and it’s not a good thing to have when you have diabetes. You must take care of yourself. So that’s how I’ve gotten wiser, knowing how to take care of myself with diabetes because it’s nothing to play with and you must take care of your health. If I hadn’t gotten wiser with this, I might not be standing here talking to you because I would have lost one of my feet. So you guys have a nice day. Thanks for StreetWise. That’s why I’m here.

John Hagan

I don’t know about wiser, maybe, but in a different kind of way. I learned how to connect more with the people in the neighborhood. Learned how to know people personally. The best thing that has happened is [I am] more friendly with the pets in Lincoln Square. I learned how to talk with the pets and say hi to them. That helped me psychologically, made me happier, made me enjoy myself more while I’m out there if I don’t sell magazines. Even downtown, when they are coming back, they don’t want to talk to you. I liked the dogs and they connected me to the people.

A. Allen

I have learnt a lot from being a StreetWise vendor.

In the beginning, it was all about social skills and relating to the public. For example, being polite, kind and respectable, even when people say no to buying the magazine.

Then I learned that people are the most important beings in the world. Developing a relationship with my customers is all so gratifying and satisfying. It’s all about people interacting with each other. I could go on and on about the things I’ve learned from StreetWise, but to sum it up, this year I’ve learned to be responsible and accountable for my actions. I’ve gotten so many traffic tickets in the mail and on my car. I decided to pay more attention to the law and to follow up in going to court and/or paying my tickets. It's been a blessed year through it all. I learned to appreciate it all.

Bessie Salter

Another vendor was trying to outdo me and take over the spot I have had for years. Competition sometimes can be better for you because it gives you more of a drive, more of an incentive. Sometimes you don’t feel like going out, but because the competition is there, you’ll push your way and get more energy. I started buying more magazines and was able to get to my spot more often. They elevated me and I took back my location.

Oluwaseun Arije

I was able to understand what the customer wants and what they don’t want. How to attend to the customers’ needs. What they are into and what they are not into. What is a good time, when the mood is right, for some of the people to buy a magazine and when is not a good time for them to buy a magazine. Rain or shine, I’m able to just really let people in the neighborhood know what we are doing as far as StreetWise. I am able to put a smile on their faces and make 'em laugh, even if they’re not interested in a magazine. Sometimes, they’re in a negative mood and just need a little bit of cheering up.

Jacqueline Sanders

Not to trust the wrong person and to work the system in my favor. I learned how to make more money on the weekend selling Street- Wise, when there’s more people. I sell all over.

Meet Paula Green, Celebrating her 1-year anniversary at StreetWise

Hi! My name is Paula Green and I have been at StreetWise for almost a year now. I sell magazines on Clark and Wilson, sometimes in Roscoe Village, and I really like my locations.

I was homeless with my children, had no money, and nowhere to go. We were living with friends and relatives here and there. Once, I was jumped in the street and that’s when Lee Holmes, Keith Hardiman, and my brother Murry convinced me to come to StreetWise. I finally came reluctantly, but I really liked the people and the environment.

When I started selling I was afraid people would ignore me, or not like me. It took me time until I decided I was going to be a ‘big girl’ and get out there. Since then, I have become more successful. I now love coming to StreetWise. I love seeing everyone here. They are like my family and help me do good things.

I want my customers to know that I have come a long way. My business partner and I are trying to open a business; we have a new place to live and are working on doing a lot of things for ourselves. Thank you for helping me and please keep helping me strive to do bigger and better things.