Cover Story

Celebrating Our Vendors

The Contributor’s annual breakfast and award ceremony to honor vendors

STAFF REPORTS

On March 21 at 7 a.m., The Contributor is slated to present our annual Breakfast & Vendor Awards ceremony at Belmont University.

At the breakfast, which is open to the public, vendors in the Top 15 spots for paper sales will be recognized and honors will be given for vendor editorial contributions as well. (Register or donate by clicking the QR code on this page.)

“We always like to say that this is the most uplifting breakfast you’ll go to all year,” said Cathy Jennings, executive director for The Contributor. “The purpose of this morning gathering is to show the hard work and perseverance of our community members and to share their unique stories with you. Vendors for The Contributor live and work and have families in this community.”

In 2022, vendors for the paper sold more 196,000 newspapers and contributed more than $800,000 to the Nashville economy in the process. More than 380 people have been trained to sell the paper or served through the organization in the same time period and an average of 146 vendors purchase issues of the paper to sell every month.

“The vendors in the Top 15 are typically the most consistent in selling the paper and they’ve all invested into their own microbusinesses in the last year to earn this honor,” said Tom Willis, director of vendor for The Contributor. “When you buy a paper from them and take the paper with you, you are investing in them the same way you would any other business. You come back because you want to buy something from them.”

Vendors who sell enough papers and meet goals earn MAP territory badges, which gives them a designated spot on the map — 31 vendors earned and main- tained MAP badges in the past year. Vendors have earned 745 branded T-shirts, fleece coats and hats in that process.

Vendor Demetrius, who will be featured in a video at the breakfast, came to Nashville to try to find work on Music City Center as it was being built and did not find a job at first. After several different jobs didn’t pan out and life threw him some tough turns, he ended up living in his car. He’s been working toward getting a CDL and becoming a truck driver and came to The Contributor by word of mouth. He’s now in housing.

“I thank God every day and I thank the people,” Demetrius said. “I thank the people that buy The Contributor. I thank them, you know, because if it wasn't for them, I don't know where I would be. You know, I work every day. I get it from my grandfather. I work every day. I'm a hard worker.”

More than 4,216 people experiencing homelessness have become part of the paper’s community from 2007 until now. Vendors have sold more than 7,185,000 newspapers across the Middle Tennessee area. Almost every paper has included writing or art from vendors, whose contributions vary from poetry to reporting to portraiture to satire.

“The creativity, artistry and thought-provoking writing we see from vendors is unlike anything else you’ll find in the city,” said Amanda Haggard, co-editor for The Contributor. “From the art on cover this week, which was created by a vendor and captures the spirit of the paper so well, to stories about how vendors have made connections with customers to poetry about racism and housing injustice, there is always something to learn from the pages of the paper.”

Members of the housing team work with vendors toward housing and stability as vendors sell the paper for income. Since the beginning of 2021, Contributor has worked with people on the following items to help them achieve and maintain stability:

• 10,500 single-day use bus passes

• 209 cell phones

• 29 dental insurance policies

• 80 health insurance policies

• 75 people housed with furniture provided

• More than 10,000 meals delivered

• 478 SNAP benefits applied and recertified

• 56 State IDs acquired

• 43 Social Security Cards acquired

• 59 birth certificates acquired

• 8 substance use disorder treatments arranged

• 112 medical appointments facilitated

• 17 higher education/employment referrals

“ We start with the income piece because it is such an integral part of the puzzle,” Jennings said. “In this list you’ll notice that there are so many things that people need when they come through the door to sell papers, but housing is always the goal and it’s the most important thing someone can have to give them stability.”