NEWS to hearing voices constantly. As you can imagine, my stays in shelters were short; agencies refused to help me out, and my family did not or could not have me around. I was really alone. I was not without hope. I got down on my knees in jail. I prayed nonstop. I knew when I was released this time, it was going to be different. In jail, I eventually stopped hearing voices. I made a plan to go directly to the only shelter that would still help, Gift of Mary. I needed to act fast; my shelter stay was only a month. How do I repair five years in one month? Positivity was my only answer. Even though I had a knot in my stomach and plenty of fear, I spoke positively and I thought positively. For sure, there was hope. I needed to apply for housing, food, and use any resource I could find to pull myself up. This is why this paper is so valuable. PLEASE LISTEN!!! THE VOICE GIVES HOPE IN A HOPELESS SITUATION! After a month, just by a thread, literally one day before, I was back on the street. I found a faith-based sober living house that accepted me through Open Door Ministry, where I had peer support. I was on my way running. I spent every waking moment doing, speaking, and thinking positively, and my faith told me to hold on to hope. My choices had positive consequences. I applied for permanent housing through every avenue I could. I got help with mental health and case management through WellPower. Willing positive things to happen, in six months, I received housing by doing an assessment with a case manager through the Gathering Place called VI-SPDAT, or the Vulnerability Index–Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool. Today, I have three years free from my deepest despair. My son comes from South Carolina every summer and Christmas to see me. He just turned 15. In 2023, I published my first children’s book that he and I wrote together when he was just 4 years old, called” The Hunt For The Brighter Side.” My oldest son lives in the same building I do - two floors down from me. He just turned 30, and he just celebrated four years of sobriety. He has been my biggest support! I have my family again. I have made amends, and through it all, I have kept hope and remained positive. Today, I am certified to provide peer support, but I am not yet working as a peer supporter; however, with my determination, I have faith it will be soon. Until then, being a vendor here at the VOICE keeps me going. Even when I am in my desired profession, I will continue to vend for Christmas money, birthday money, and money to pay for my son to fly here twice a year. Also, because I believe in what this paper does, the lives it impacts. I will keep writing about my journey and how there are so many opportunities, even in a broken world, to find hope and to see the brighter side, even if you have to hunt for it. With love for all people, Let my words speak volumes Sondra Jeffries FIRST PARTICIPANTS GRADUATE FROM JOURNALISM TRAINING ACADEMY STORY BY MIKE FINDLAY-AGNEW, CEO, INSP FOR TOO LONG, we’ve heard stigmatizing language associated with people experiencing homelessness and poverty. “Benefits scroungers” and “lazy”, amongst other language used, often give unhelpful and inaccurate labels to people living through tough circumstances. If we are serious about tackling homelessness and poverty, then we need to change the narrative around it. And fast. This has been part of the energy behind the new Changing the Narrative Journalism Training Academy, which was piloted in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2025. I am fortunate enough to lead the charity behind the project – the International Network of Street Papers (INSP), the UK charity that represents printed newspapers and magazines sold globally by people as a way out of poverty, including our founding member, The Big Issue. My role normally involves working alongside our global network of street paper organizations – 92 in total, spanning 35 countries – but for this project, it has been quite different. PHOTO COURTESY OF INSP The academy has connected us with local grassroots and national organizations based in Glasgow — including Emmaus Glasgow, Homelessness Network Scotland, Ubuntu Women’s Shelter, and the Simon Community Scotland — to recruit budding writers and news reporters. We have also captured the imagination of funders who have generously supported the start-up phase of the project, including National Lottery Awards for All, The Robertson Trust, People’s Postcode Lottery, Endrick Trust, and The Albert Hunt Trust Over 10 weeks, I took on the role of co-trainer alongside Mairi Damer from Word Up Communications to deliver five workshops to participants who all have direct experience of homelessness and poverty, aiming to step up their knowledge of what news is and how the media works. We also held a special ‘Meet the Journalists’ panel, where participants got the chance to hear directly about career pathways from industry experts, such as Paul McNamee, the editor of The Big Issue, Assa Samaké-Roman, a freelance journalist, and Brontë Schiltz, INSP’s news editor. What is driving the academy is two things: we know that the UK journalism sector often lacks diversity when it comes to the class and educational backgrounds of people fulfilling key roles within the profession, and compounding this is how the media often misrepresents people experiencing homelessness and poverty. This perfect storm of conditions means that some people are excluded from the journalism industry, which in turn can lead to bias in reporting on the issues. The status quo is not enough when it comes to media representation of homelessness. Each participant in the training academy has completed a written assignment on a topic of their own choosing, with INSP publishing these articles through our global newswire (the INSP News Service), meaning that any street paper throughout the world can publish them. Earlier this year, our first group of training participants from Glasgow and the surrounding area graduated from the academy, receiving a certificate of attendance and achievement. I am thrilled to report that one of our participants, Jordan, gained direct entry to study journalism at Glasgow Clyde College. As we look ahead, INSP is running the second group of training participants over the autumn period. In my 20-oddyear career, I have never felt so energized about a project as I do about this one. If we can challenge stereotypes and raise the confidence of participants, then we may pave the way to change the narrative for the better. Courtesy of INSP.ngo November 2025 DENVER VOICE 7
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