Our reasons to feel Thankful

StreetWise Vendors reflect on the last year and share why they are grateful this Thanksgiving.

-compiled by Suzanne Hanney

Mujahadeen Abdullah

I am thankful for my family, thankful just being here, getting time to know myself as a person, getting time to be myself and know who I am. I started motivating myself in order to be a good person. I talked to myself, gave myself a little motivation speech.

Sean Williams

I am very thankful I can get insulin, because I am diabetic. I am very thankful people buy the magazine from me and for the food StreetWise makes available for me here.

Tyrone Phillips

I am thankful for being alive most of all and that I am standing here, that I am moving forward and that the Lord is answering all my prayers. I’m moving forward by keeping my head, doing the right thing, praying and not giving up hope for the good things in life, keeping me in the right direction.

Addie Bell

I am thankful for being here.

Craig Barrow

I am thankful my birthday is the 28th.

Lee A. Holmes

I'm thankful that I haven't caught the coronavirus or the Delta virus and the new virus that is being talked about, the N1 or the R1, and that I now have shelter from the elements.

I have been homeless over 10 years. Look for my upcoming story, which is violence on the CTA Red Line. I am thankful that I've taken a real estate class, which I will pass, for having a business partner, for my StreetWise family, as well as my new family --the YWCA -- where I am learning how to run a successful business. I am thankful that we're embarking on new adventures and I am excited about what's going to be happening next year. I'm thankful for friends and family: those who inspired me to go forth and get my surgery (It went well), and for those working with various organizations to improve communities and African American neighborhoods. I’m getting back into building and repairing computers (putting networks together), stopping drinking, taking care of my health better, uniting with my children, grandchildren and their (hopefully, future) husbands.

I am grateful for my job at BP, for being reunited with my niece and nephew, the family finally coming back together.

The universe has been blessing me greatly. I can't wait the see what the new year has to offer. I am grateful to those who support me with my sale of StreetWise magazines. I say to all my customers, remember, do everything in moderation. Don't eat too much. Don't drink too much and have a Happy Thanksgiving from Lee A. Holmes (a.k.a The Awesome One).

Sylvia Ann Spivey

Thankful for StreetWise, for good communication with people and to know there’s a lot of positive, loving, caring people I have met through StreetWise.

Henry Johnson

I am thankful for my life and thankful for StreetWise, because I wouldn’t even have a life. I was out here doing wrong things without doing the correct things. StreetWise made me legit, so I can make my own money and I feel better about that. I am thankful to Julie [Youngquist, executive director] for letting me come back.

Roger Jacobsen

I am thankful for being alive and able to get back to work after COVID-19.

Percy Smith

I am thankful for life, thankful that the people in my life went home, are not suffering anymore. Thankful for eating, sleeping and having a place to stay. Thankful for the knowledge I acquired and the people who help me every day in life and that God made a way for these things to happen. Thankful for my daughter and for my wife. Even though we’re not together, I’m thankful for her. And I am thankful the most for friends and family.

Michael Moore

I am grateful for every morning I wake up. It’s a privilege, a blessing to be above ground because I can do the things I need to do. I can work and enjoy life – the good weather – and interact with people. [Waking up] is a blessing, a privilege from the Higher Powers that be. I am thankful I can see my StreetWise family.

Jacqueline Sanders

I’m thankful for having a roof over my head. My brother’s helping pay the bills to keep the roof over our heads, keep things going. I am thankful for the customers’ support. I am thankful for my wonderful son. He helps with the house.

Russell Adams

I am thankful for being here this Thanksgiving Day. My girlfriend had breast cancer and she beat it. That was stress on me. I was in the hospital for two weeks; I just got out Friday, but doctors said I’m OK. I want everybody to enjoy their Thanksgiving, and thanks for your support.

John Kidd

I am thankful for each day I can wake up and be above ground, not below ground and I can be a blessing to somebody. I am just thankful for life. I turned 65 on October 23. I am a senior citizen, so that’s why it’s different. I am going to take it one day at a time because tomorrow is not promised.

Jeff Sirota

I am thankful that I am alive.

Kevin Taylor

I am thankful for my health, for my family, for the world trying to come up with a better answer for the situation we’re in – COVID. I just want everything to get back to normal and everyone to feel a sense of peace and happiness for the whole entire world.

Paula Green

II am thankful for becomingpart of the StreetWise vendor force as well as working with the YWCA; that my children are all coming back together with me. I have a son that is boxing, getting ready to go to the Golden Gloves.

I am thankful that I have not caught COVID-19, that my sons are healthy, my daughter is healthy, that I have a deep relationship with my father and my stepmother (my mother through marriage), that I am in a partnership with Lee A. Holmes. We are in the process of starting our business, which is called “The Awesome Ones.” Also, we are starting a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization called 26th Street Social Responsibility.

I am thankful that God created the universe continually. They keep it here for protection around me. I’m thankful for the parish of St. Clement’s, which supports me and my business partner. I’m thankful for gaining the knowledge, wisdom and understanding to run my own business. I am thankful for the people who support me at my locations, which are Walgreens at Clark and Wilson and at Roscoe and Western. I am also opening up a new location at a grocery store.

I am thankful for the people who encourage me to go out on my own to go to my locations, especially Keith Hardiman, my big brother who does everything to aid me and to keep me encouraged to go out on my own. He makes fun of me sometimes by loving like a brother.

I’d like to thank everyone who is encouraging me to be the best StreetWise vendor I can be as I continue to learn and grow. I ask God, the creator of the universe, to continue to help me and my customers to support me.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who reads this message. I especially thank Suzanne Hanney, Amanda Jones and Julie Youngquist. Thank you all for helping me get to the next level.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Danny Davis

I am grateful we are not going too much with this pandemic like we was last year. Most of all I am grateful my diabetes is not as bad as it was last year. Also, I am grateful just to be here and see another year. Hopefully, by 2022 everything will be totally back on track and we can stop wearing these masks. Everybody, please get your vaccination shot. That’s the best thing we can be grateful for, that we can deal with this pandemic and this coronavirus stuff. I am just grateful everything is coming back, slowly but surely.

Bill Plowman

I am grateful we were able to get a vaccine for the coronavirus, and it was free. I am grateful I have the friends I have. I was able to get just enough help from StreetWise and my customers that I am able to stay in Chicago instead of having to go back downstate. I am grateful for my family. Some of them are gone now but I still got my mother and stepfather.

Joseph Jones

I am grateful waking up with my health and strength, just being alive, embracing everything that comes to me every day. I had a stroke just before Thanksgiving 2015 and spent six weeks in the hospital: four weeks at Northwestern and two weeks at the rehab center. It was Thanksgiving and Christmas and I got out just before my birthday in January 2016. I just put it in my mind I wouldn’t give up. I want to thank all my customers out there and everybody who sticks together and looks out for a person. Without the customers, we can’t survive.

Tony Sanders

I am part of StreetWise, they are people who help homeless people, people who need to get off the street and get money in their pocket. I am so grateful Thanksgiving is coming I am going to celebrate it with love. I am also grateful that my mom is still here today. She’s 89, she's still young and moving about. I am grateful for the people who are in StreetWise, they are here and going to stay here.

John Hagan Jr.

I am thankful for a roof over my head, being alive, watching football and having a roommate who shares expenses.

Oluwaseun Jimoth Arije

I am grateful that I have a family I can visit, that I can go home to. I am grateful that I am alive in this world. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my family. Family is the most important thing. We stick together. We look out for each other. At the same time, you get to have fun with your family, go with them to events like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Bob Laine

I am grateful that we’re out of the pandemic. There seems to be a labor shortage, which means there’s plentiful jobs, which I am going to be applying for. I am grateful for my church and my friends.

Patrick Alston

I am thankful that StreetWise has been helping me throughout these years that I’ve been having hard times. Over 10 years. By being able to sell magazines it’s been helping me financially. I am working on my homeless situation, to get me my own apartment.

Louis Jones

I am grateful for StreetWise to help me to find a job, even if the job may be temporary to have some kind of job so I can take care of myself. It’s UPS, hired me to help in the warehouse, putting it on the truck.

A. Allen

If it were not for Columbus Day, we would have no Thanksgiving Day. Less than 30 years after Columbus landed in what is now the Bahamas in 1492, Europeans were coming to Plymouth Rock. I’m thankful for the truth concerning Columbus and Native Americans being exposed today.

There’s a lot going on concerning Columbus Day. To date, more than a dozen states do not celebrate Columbus Day: Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Washington, as well as Washington, D.C.

The celebration of the discoverer of North America by the Italian Christopher Columbus dates to 1792. The date was made a national holiday under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934. It was originally observed October 12, but changed to the second Monday in October in 1971, when it became a federal holiday.

Since then, the man who inspired it has generated controversy and alternative days such as Native American Day and Indigenous People’s Day.

South Dakota was the first state to celebrate Native American Day, on the second Monday in October. The observance began in 1990, a “Year of Reconciliation” between whites and Native Americans, who comprise nearly 10 percent of the state’s population.

In some parts of the United States, Columbus Day is a celebration of Italian heritage. Local groups host parades and street fairs, featuring colorful costumes, music and Italian food.

In places that use the day to honor Indigenous people, activities include pow wows, traditional dance events and lessons about Native American culture.

Many protest because Columbus’s exploration marks the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade and the death of millions from murder and disease. European settlers brought a host of infectious diseases, including smallpox and influenza, that decimated Indigenous populations.

Columbus is viewed not as a discoverer but as a colonizer, not as an explorer but as an exploiter. Bringing it home and up to date, President Biden issued a proclamation naming October 11 Indigenous People’s Day. It is observed the same day as Columbus Day.

The President has officially recognized Indigenous People’s Day to help correct a whitewashing of American history that has glorified Europeans like the Italian Christopher Columbus, who have committed violence against indigenous communities.

Native Americans have long criticized the inaccuracies of Columbus’s legacy, which credited him with discovery of the Americas when Indigenous people were here first. How can you discover a place that’s already occupied?

That leads us to the next question? What is Thanksgiving all about?

To sum it all up, I am grateful and thankful. This Thanksgiving season means so much more than Columbus and the Pilgrims, but I want to acknowledge our unsung heroes, the Native Americans, the Indigenous people of this great land we call the United States of America. I am thankful for these real forefathers of America. This year I will celebrate Thanksgiving in remembrance of the Native Americans. I am glad and I appreciate your survival, and you’re still doing great things. Happy Thanksgiving to all the Native Americans.

Donald Morris

What I'm talking about on Thanksgiving is that, I must confess, that it's all about our blessings and whether or not we have enough thankfulness to be thankful.

[Donald's brother in Virginia sent him a plane ticket so they could spend a week together at Thanksgiving. StreetWise had a donated suit jacket and suitcase to give him for the trip!]

Deborah Jackson

I am thankful for being healthy. I never caught COVID and both me and my mother are doing fine.