A. Allen Reflects on the StreetWise editions that came out in 2020
INSIDE STREETWISE
A large "You Are Beautiful" design welcomes vistors at Oakwood / 41st Street Beach off of South Lake Shore Drive.
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When I think about the Top Ten stories in StreetWise this year, I am reminded of “You Are Beautiful.” It put me in a good frame of mind to see Matthew Hoffman’s signs posted in Uptown and around Chicago. I can’t help but think of my customers and StreetWise supporters such as the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago. We vendors are very grateful for the YWCA stepping up and providing jobs for us, working on the U.S. census. Our job was to go out and advocate to homeless people that they should be counted regardless of where they stay. Some of these homeless people come to Catholic Charities on LaSalle Street for free meals to-go. A lot of my customers work at Catholic Charities and appreciated me being involved with the census as a vendor and me bringing this message to the people who picked up meals. I am also grateful for the “Anguish and Action” edition about the protests after the death of George Floyd. It was mostly pictures, a collector’s edition. It is undated; vendors buy it for $2 and sell it for $5 even now. It’s a good magazine to have in case you run out of the weekly edition.
Last but not least, the Suicide Prevention edition was interesting. I’ll never forget a customer saying to me, “I know all about suicide. I’ve tried it eight times.” It was sad to hear, but I’ve met all kinds of people in my line of work and it keeps work interesting. Because of the pandemic and people working from home, business at my regular Chicago & Franklin location became too slow. I got a lead from another vendor about a Starbucks with a drive-through at Clark and Ridge in Andersonville and so I now I sell there from 8 to 9:30 a.m. weekdays. Another new location for me is Mariano’s on Foster and Sheridan, where I work 4 to 6:30 p.m. weekdays. Both are closer to where I live. I don’t know if I will ever go back to my old Chicago & Franklin location, because my regular customers there communicate with me on Venmo. Either way, the Top Ten editions have done me well as I continue to increase my sales.
