10 minute read
The Year in Review at StreetWise
compiled by Paige Bialik & Dave Hamilton
January
Love fridge: The Love Fridges are community refrigerators across the city where people can drop off food or pick it up if they need it. Volunteers maintain the fridges, which are painted and decorated by local artists. StreetWise has been donating prepared food every week, all year long to make sure Love Fridges stay stocked for Chicagoans in need.
February
Black History Month: To kick off Black History Month, we featured Kamala Harris, the first female, Black, and Asian vice president, on the cover of our magazine. The YWCA celebrated the African American contribution to the US by highlighting famous Black people: Sarah Rector, "the richest [Black] girl in the world" in 1913 after oil was found on her family property; Katherine Johnson, mathematician on NASA’s space program; Granville T. Woods, who founded the Woods Electric Company and was the first African American mechanical and electrical engineer post-Civil War, and Robert Nesta Marley, a pioneer of reggae music. We also looked at the future of the Black Lives Matter movement in the post-Trump era. Black Lives Matter was started by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi in 2013 after the death of Trayvon Martin. This grassroots movement has been advocating for racial equality and has grown after the death of George Floyd. Black Lives Matter focuses on police brutality against black people and white supremacy in the U.S.
Giveashi*t: GiveAShi*t founder Scott Marvel received NBC5 Chicago's Making a Difference Award for his work with GiveAShi*t, which donates all proceeds to StreetWise. Featured on almost every newscast, the Making a Difference Award recognizes local unsung heroes who are impacting those around them with acts of kindness big and small.
Economic Empowerment Institute: The Economic Empowerment Institute (part of the YWCA) announced its Black History Month series: The History and Future of Black Wealth. This series discussed the distribution of black wealth, growth opportunities, and tools for future generations. The YWCA’s Economic Empowerment program helps young girls and women begin and advance their careers and build wealth so that they can transfer it to future generations. The YWCA partnered with the World of Money to change the way children and their parents understand money.
Invisible Homeless panel Discussion: Prompted by our podcast “Where I Stay,” created with Rivet, StreetWise held an online panel with Molly Brown PhD, Assistant Professor, Clinical-Community Psychology, HARC Lab at DePaul University, Erin Ryan, Senior Vice President, The Night Ministry, along with StreetWise Executive Director Julie Youngquist, Editor- In-Chief Suzanne Hanney, and podcast producer Jesse Betend. The discussion is still viewable at StreetWise’s Facebook page: facebook.com/streetwisechicago
March
Winter Gear Drive: Tito’s Handmade Vodka sponsored this year’s winter coat drive. Donations included coats, gloves, hats, scarves, and other items. Tito’s matched all this years’ Winter Gear Drive donations to StreetWise.
Women’s History Month: In commemoration this year, we covered the stories of Ida B. Wells, Madam C. J. Walker, and Chien-Shiung Wu. Wells was a racial and gender equality activist. Walker, who started a hair growth business, was the inspiration for the YWCA Metropolitan women of color business accelerator in partnership with the DePaul University Women in Entrepreneurship Institute. Chien-Shiung Wu was featured on a US stamp and was a nuclear physicist.
GiveAShi*t was featured in a special Chicago Tribune article profiling GiveAShi*t founder Scott Marvel.
Illinois Woman’s Press Association: StreetWise editor-in-chief Suzanne Hanney took four 1st place awards in the IWPA annual professional contest! Her award-winners included, “You Still Count” on the 2020 census, “Parent Groups Question CPS Pace for Remote Learning,” “Fair Tax is not Communism, it’s Math,” and “You Are Beautiful,” an artist profile on Matthew Hoffman. The census and fair tax stories went on to win second and third place, respectively, from the National Federation of Press Women.
'Where I Stay' Podcast: Our podcast with Rivet, "Where I Stay," was nominated for 2 Shorty Awards for the ‘Podcast Mini Series’ and Audience Honor categories. The Shorty Award is an international competition honoring brands, agencies, and organizations for producing content on various social media platforms. To spread the word about the nominations, StreetWise Creative Director Dave Hamilton joined in on a Clubhouse discussion celebrating the work of Shorty Award nominees.
April
STEP Program: Rashawn Sanders joined the StreetWise family as our new Workforce Coordinator! Rashawn is working in STEP, which is our employment preparation and placement program that helps individuals get ready for a job, get a job, and keep a job.
Judas and the Black Messiah: Judas and the Black Messiah was nominated for 5 Academy Awards and won 2 for best actor and best soundtrack. This movie is considered a piece of Chicago History as it follows William O'Neal infiltrating the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. StreetWise vendors watched the movie and reported back on in in our April 19 edition.
INSP - North America: The International Network of Street Papers (INSP) began a Noth American branch to focus on the needs of Canadian, Mexican, and American Street Papers. We highlighted several American street papers in our April 12 edition, and they also highlighted us in their own editions celebrating street papers.
May
'Where I Stay' Podcast: The "Where I Stay" podcast was nominated for 3 Lisagor Awards. The Headline Club established the Lisagor Awards in 1977 to inspire Chicago-area journalists to follow Peter Lisagor’s contributions to journalism.
Chicago Independent Media Alliance: We joined with Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) on a fundraising campaign that ensured fair and local media coverage that represented all Chicagoans. This campaign, #SaveChicagoMedia, began trending to support and uplift local media outlets in Chicago. Over 40 local media outlets helped keep communities informed about current events happening in each area. This campaign told stories about Chicago Life from the perspective of Chicagoans and also raised nearly $160,000 for Chicago Media Outlets. StreetWise Creative Director Dave Hamilton joined Jhmira Alexander (Public Narrative), Ann DeShawn (E3 Radio) and Jesus Del Toro (La Raza) in a live broadcast discussing the importance of local media.
World Central Kitchen partnered with Manny’s Cafeteria and Delicatessen to bring food to our friends at the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago and StreetWise! Manny’s partnered with numerous local non-profit organizations and first responders to provide community meals.
June
World Central Kitchen: We partnered with The Fat Shallot and World Central Kitchen for fresh food deliveries of ready-to-go meals for our vendors. The Fat Shallot was founded by Sam Barron and Sarah Weitz, whose restaurant and food truck specializes in classic sandwiches.
Pride Month: This year’s Pride month was celebrated with Marvel Comics' new LGBTQIA+ character! Aaron Fischer, Captain America of the Railways, is a teenager who helps people with their everyday problems on the street. The first openly gay Marvel character was an X-Man named Northstar in 1992, and since then, more and more LGBTQIA+ characters have been developed.
July
The State of Street Papers: StreetWise Executive Director Julie Youngquist hosted a discussion on Clubhouse on July 2 about the current state of street papers.
Chicago Media Talks Podcast: StreetWise Executive Director Julie Youngquist, Creative Director Dave Hamilton, and “Where I Stay” podcast producer Jesse Betend were invited on the Chicago Media Talks podcast to discuss the effects of COVID-19 on the homeless population on July 7.
Vendor Party: We hosted our first vendor party in over a year. Staff and vendors enjoyed dancing, eating, and singing together.
August
Indigenous People’s Day: For this year’s International Indigenous People’s Day, StreetWise & the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) highlighted Nia Tero, a non-profit organization that works with Indigenous communities to promote their work, culture, and art. Nia Tero emphasizes that Indigenous people are "the best guardians of their home." They uplift Indigenous communities and female leaders through their work. Nia Tero partnered with Amplifier, which designed posters of 9 Indigenous women from all over the world. Their slogan, “Thriving Peoples, Thriving Places,” highlighted the contributions Indigenous women have made to global biodiversity.
Happy Birthday StreetWise: This year was our 29th anniversary! We have been working with the homeless and the rest of Chicago since 1992. Our vendors had fun tie-dying shirts, eating good food, and dancing to music!
September
Happy Birthday Iso Numero: We sent congratulations and 10th-anniversary wishes across the pond to Iso Numero, one of our fellow street papers in Helsinki, Finland! Keep up the great work!
White Sox: Some of our vendors, staff, and YWCA Metropolitan officials took in a White Sox game after Merv (left), one of our vendors, said one of the things he wanted to do before summer ended was go to a Sox game. He had not been to one since he was a kid. We were happy to have such a beautiful day to cheer on the White Sox!
October
The passing of Timuel Black: StreetWise mourned the loss of civil rights activist, historian, professor, and all-around humanitarian Timuel Black. Black was a pioneer in the independent black political movement and coined the phrase "plantation politics." He was known for his activism during the civil rights movement including walking in the March on Washington in 1963, running for city council, and helping register over 250,000 black voters. Black’s career in education and politics eventually landed him a role as a trusted advisor to former President Barack Obama. Black was last featured in StreetWise in February 2020, presenting a history of Bronzeville.
Amplifier Vaccine Art: The Amplifier Vaccine Art campaign featured local artists’ work from major cities, encouraging people to get vaccinated. Some of the artists were from Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C., and Seattle, where there are other street papers. Katie Chung, who represented Chicago as part of Amplifier’s Vaccine Art, stopped by StreetWise to meet our vendors and sign autographs on magazines that featured her art on the cover!
Chicago Sky: Our vendors, Russell Adams and Donald Morris, are Chicago Sky superfans who have been following the Chicago Sky team this season. Russell has been rooting for them and congratulating them on their wins. Meanwhile, Donald was able to go to one of their games to cheer them on in person!
November
Giveashi*t: Daily Planet Productions was nominated for 2 Emmy Awards for its work with GiveAShi*t. One of its nominated films, directed by Michael Gabriele and written by Alan Spindle, was a short documentary on GiveAShi*t. Daily Planet Productions created its campaign for GiveAShi*t and has partnered with other non-profit organizations in Chicago for fundraisers. The 2022 collection of shirts dropped on Black Friday at www.giveashirt.net!
Climate Change: The United Nations COP26 climate change conference was in Glasgow, Scotland, headquarters of the International Network of Street Papers (INSP), 100+ publications around the world similar to StreetWise. INSP covered COP26 and street protests that called for protection for vulnerable communities, in order to prevent further poverty.
December
Annual Coat Drive: Instead of a big holiday party like we would do pre-COVID times, we began distribution of donated coats in December, allowing vendors and participants to come when they please, to avoid crowding. We distributed over 500 coats and countless other winter accessories to vendors, job-seekers, and neighborhoods in need.
Happy Holidays and a big THANK YOU to all of our supporters and readers!
Sam shared with us a collage of his own "Year in Review" Pics! looks like a fun year Sam!
