Street Papers Thrive as Industry Falters – The New York Times
After recently writing about the success of street papers and papers sold by the homeless in American cities, the New York Times writes about similar success in European street papers even as the larger newspaper industry is facing tough times. The story focuses on The Big Issue based in London with editions around the world and Scarp de’tenis (Tennis Shoe) in Italy.

Homeless Real World – Broadcasting and Cable via End Homelessness
Below is an extended trailer for a potential documentary called Homeless Real World. Online video production ManiaTV (the site is under construction right now) filmed the lives of six homeless people in Denver for Tom Green’s online show, but it never aired. Now they are re-editing the footage for a possible new TV show, according to Broadcast and Cable. From the look of the footage, the show could share some of the standard elements of the MTV Real World, namely excessive drinking, love triangles and fights. Another trailer, with much of the same footage, also has a mock Axe Deodorant commercial that is pretty funny. What do you think of the footage? Would you watch this show?

Homeless Real World (sizzle reel) from Broadcasting & Cable on Vimeo.

U.S. food stamp total is record third month in a row- Reuters
U.S. food stamp numbers went up 1.1% from January to February and was up 17% since last year. There are now 32.55 million people collecting food stamps, which is 1 in 10 Americans.

The Soloist didn’t do so hot - Chicago Sun-Times
According to columnist Bill Zwecker, Jamie Foxx was “extremely upset” about the poor opening weekend for the Soloist. The movie grossed $9.7 million the first weekend, which put it in fourth place, according to the Sun-Times. American Violet grossed $243,162 in its opening weekend and has grossed nearly a half a million total according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Since Streetwise announced their uncertain financial future earlier this week there has been an outpouring of support and donations. Now it seems like the magazine might be able to raise enough money to stay open for the next year.

According to Chicago Business, Streetwise has received over $10,000 in online donations since Tuesday and additional pledges totally $40,000. To stay open they need another $20,000 in the next 45 days and then another $55,000 during the rest of the year.

The story has continued to get coverage in Chicago newspapers and TV stations as well as national publications like The Huffinton Post and the Associated Press.

The response on Twitter has also continued to be strong. 1st Ward Alderman Manny Flores has been tweeting about the media coverage and providing updates. Flores held a press conference about Streetwise after a City Council Committee on Human Relations meeting Wednesday and said that city funds could be used to help the magazine.

There have also been many calls through Twitter for donations.

Twitter user danticoa said Friday  “Rally cry to my Chicago friends. Let’s save Streetwise. Can you spare $2? $20?  www.StreetWise.org.  Tell 2 friends, and so on, and so on.”

Streetwise has set up a donation page to raise money and a Facebook cause has 106 members and had raised $55 as of Friday night.

I went to check with some Streetwise vendors to see if they had noticed a change in business since the news broke Tuesday.

John Patton was selling Streetwise from a folding chair in front of a vacant lot across from a Starbucks in Evanston Friday. He said business is the “same as usual” and that the couple people who have mentioned the closing of Streetwise haven’t bought magazines. He said some people had heard Streetwise had been getting donations. By about 4 p.m., Patton had sold 15 magazines. On a good day he sells 40 to 50.

Another vendor in Evanston said it has been different the past couple days and that people have seemed concerened about the magazine closing.

Has this news caused you to buy Streetwise when you normally wouldn’t or to donate to Streetwise? Tell me about it in the commetns.

Sorry it has been awhile since I posted these updates, but I’m back on schedule now and you can expect some good stories coming up.

Homeless magazine Streetwise in financial trouble but receiving donations

The big news in the Chicago homeless community this week was that 16-year-old magazine Streetwise, which is sold by the homeless and covers homelessness, was going to have to close in 45 days because of a drop in circulation and funding from foundations. The new info is that the magazine has received a flood of online donations from individuals and some large foundation pledges. The Chicago Tribune reports that they are half way to their goal for funding this week. And 1st Ward Ald. Manny Flores introduced a resolution to City Council saying that funds to end homelessness could be used to support the paper, according to CBS2 Chicago. Check out my previous post on the reaction to the Streetwise news.

Community addresses barriers surrounding Latino homelessness – Chi-Town Daily News

Megan Cottrell attended Tuesday’s community forum on Latino homelessness in Chicago. An interesting idea the came out of the forum, called Todos Contamos, or Everyone Counts, was that Latinos are underrepresented in homelessness surverys because they are much more likely to double-up with family members than turn to social service agencies for help. Check out the article for an interesting read.

New videos from Invisible People – Invisiblepeople.tv

Mark Horvath over at Invisible People took a trip to New York City recently and filmed a couple of new homeless people for his ongoing series of uncut on-the-street interviews with the homeless. His most recent interview was with Willy, who said he drinks because of the depression of being homeless and that if he had a room of his own he probably wouldn’t drink any more. Mark and other bloggers have pointed this out as an example of the benefits of the Housing First school of thought in social services. For more info about Housing First and some evidence to whether it works, check out my post from earlier this week.

Willy from invisible people on Vimeo.

For more stories check out Tony, a vet who panhandles on the highway, and Jennifer, who is six months pregnant and just getting off the streets and into housing.

Conflicting news today about publications for and about the homeless.

Chicago Breaking News reports that Streetwise, a 16-year-old publication that often write about the homeless in Chicago, may close because of financial problems. According to the article, the magazine has been cutting staff and costs, but circulation has dropped from 9,000 copies a week to 7,000 and foundation support has dropped 60 percent. Streetwise is sold by about 225 vendors who buy the magazine for 75 cents and sell it for $2.

The magazine is a non-profit that seeks to “empower men and women who currently are, or at risk of becoming homeless,” according to their Web site.

The Chicago Tribune reports that without new funding the magazine could close in 45 days.

At the same time, on Sunday the New York Times reported that similar newspapers throughout the country are thriving. Circulation is up at papers  in Portland, Seattle, Denver and Washington D.C. The papers, which almost all have street in the name, said the number of vendors is also up. Many high school and college educated people who have recently lost their steady job are turning to selling papers to begin making money immediately.

Unlike Streetwise, many of these papers reported consistent donations, increases in circulation and no drop in foundation support. Though Washington’s Street Sense reported a drop in donations that might mean raising the price that vendors pay for the paper from 25 cents to 35 cents.

Chicago’s 1st Ward Alderman Manny Flores has been talking a lot about Streetwise’s situation. Flores has been promoting the cause to help Streetwise through his Twitter account and a Facebook cause. Flores has also asked the City Council Committee on Human Relations to have a hearing on the “vital role Streetwise publication played in diminishing incidence of homelessness in Chicago.”

The story has received a lot of coverage in the Chicago media and was widely retweeted Tuesday.

Some of the tweets about the story brought out strong emotions.

@AngelinaMCole: StreetWise CANNOT fold! It actually does something productive for the homeless in Chicago!!!!
@Jazzturtle: @cloudlover oh NO.. streetwise is going under? That’s terrible! It really is a wonderful cause!!
@electroaffinity: I wrote for Streetwise in College 16 years ago and now it appears to be going under.
@erinserkaian:  if streetwise folds, i’m gonna miss the singing woman that sits outside of Wendy’s at Clark/Madison

Do you buy Streetwise or the equivalent in your city? Do you think they are an important part of your city?