Lunchtime Speaker: Amplifying the Mission in Unexpected Ways: How Street Sense Media Lifts Up the Voices of Unhoused People in DC

Surprising forms of advocacy emerge when we center those with lived experience. Hear the story of ‘Street Sense’, the famous D.C. newspaper providing low-barrier employment to the unhoused while amplifying their voices. Built from the blueprint of the street paper movement, it started with the radical idea to flatten the distance between provider and client and evolved into a focal point of beautiful trouble in housing policy.

Thomas Ratliff, Street Sense Media

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Notes:

• Thomas Ratliff, Street Sense Media, Director of Vendor Employment, managing low-barrier employment opportunities 
• Street Sense Media 
  • DMV area – vendors go out in vests to present themselves to the public, getting the newspaper out there, they have been publishing since 2003
  • Part of the street paper movement started in NYC in 1989. The movement grew, and many came together to form the International Network of Street Papers
  • Not an advocacy organization
    • 2 types of orgs together = low barrier economic opportunity + newspaper
  • How model works
    • Vendors pick up papers at $0.50/paper, have a suggested selling price of $3, and keep the money and any tips they earn
• Myths of Homelessness
  • Addiction and substance abuse 
    • There are many states of life where a person may be homeless
    • Different mental states and exhaustion; our minds are often primed to see people this way
  • Laziness
    • Takes a lot of hustle to be doing daily tasks while also having all belongings on your person
    • Even metro systems price people out, so primarily travel by foot
• By the Numbers
  • January 2022 metric – population unhoused was 582,000
  • Affects people from all kinds of backgrounds, and it also affects certain groups at higher rates 
    • In the US, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders are the most affected group proportionally 
• Philosophies & Life at Street Sense 
  • Flatten hierarchies by creating different pathways into the organization 
  • Radical inclusion to all who come in any way
  • Seeing the unseen by looking for overlooked 
  • Case Management
    • Other programs for those coming into street sense: Work through governmental and business programs to achieve needs for life
  • Staff Access 
    • The editorial team invites vendors to come in for questions, issues, insight with stories, etc.
  • Community and artistic workshops
    • The intersection between business and community 
    • Daily workshops where vendors can go to develop artistic expression, participate in community arts
• About Vendors
  • Who can become a street sense vendor?
    • Unhoused community members
    • Returning citizens
    • Mental health disabilities 
    • Physical disabilities
    • Those who lack family support
  • Learning professional culture
    • Many don’t grow up with this cultural politeness that many in higher-income positions have learned. 
• Whole person empowerment
  • Economic opportunity first, once a vendor joins the organization and takes advantage of other opportunities 
  • Vendor survey twice a year to understand how the vendors feel about their experience at Street Sense Media (majority of vendors feel they have a better quality of life because of SSM)
  • Many vendors do have success stories, others have used street sense as a stable income. 
• Covering housing differently 
  • Ask different questions from the mainstream, specifically about DC locals, the power structure in DC government, people in low-income
• Expanding
  • Vendors work with editorial teams to do journalism and interview political leaders and cultural figures 
  • Featured in Street Reporter documentary
  • Created the Homeless Crisis reporting project to help reporters report accurately and better on the topic 
  • FACE and People For Fairness Coalition  – organize people who have been unhoused to put pressure on city leaders; put on events to bring the lived experience into the community more, Hill Day, regularly attend City Council meetings
  • History keepers
• Q&A Session
  • Moving into the digital space, a cashless society
    • Heard vendors’ voices that people are increasingly not carrying cash
    • Vendors tend to be more senior; the digital SSM app provides a less tech-focused system for vendors to still get paid
    • Helps vendors move out of homelessness more quickly
  • Changing society as newspapers are becoming less popular
    • The question was brought to stakeholders but realized in a unique position where the print newspaper holds increased strength between vendors & customers over the physical transaction 
  • Communities becoming increasingly hostile toward unhoused communities
    • Engage with these communities that they should embrace the vendors, but the reality is that many people also hang around that aren’t with SSM, so they can only do their best to promote the positives of SSM and share the issues of the unhoused community to garner support 
  • Avg income/papers sold
    • ~100 papers per week from top 15% sellers where it is a primary income stream, some selling 30-40/week, some only ~10 
  • Pairings of vendors
    • Couples: safety in being together