2 GROUNDCOVER NEWS GROUNDCOVER from the DIRECTOR's DESK this year, and you’re holding it!) On the day after its print release, I overheard a conversation about trans LINDSAY CALKA Managing Director In June 2022, Groundcover News published a special edition for Pride Month. This was the first of its kind for Groundcover. Although the publication had published LGBTQ+ articles and content before, never had the organization taken a concerted action intentionally marketed as such. Almost every piece was written by or centered LGBTQ+ people or issues in the local community. (Spoiler: we did it again people in the Groundcover office that, in an attempt to be humorous, was extremely hurtful. I stepped in to open up a conversation about the statement I heard, to inform those in the conversation how that might be understood as an offense, a slur or an invalidation of personhood. We talked about what the consequences are to sell this paper, and speak hate, even if out of ignorance, as a representative of Groundcover News. The intersection of homelessness experience and LGBTQ+ identity is an important one. LGBTQ+ — especially transgender — people have a higher risk of becoming homeless due to stereotypes, transphobia, hatred and systemic oppression. Navigating the system of welfare and survival as a trans person often includes lack of privacy, lack of belonging, physical violence, misgendering, trauma and re-traumatizing experiences. Yet, very few people in our workplace — a workplace for people experiencing homelessness — identify as LGBTQ+. It was a wake up call that the Groundcover News vendor base is not a perfect sample of the homeless experience as many members of our community assume. Certainly we have a diverse and unique group of vendors and writers who challenge stereotypes everyday out on the street and in their writing. Anyone with lived experience of homelessness and poverty can sell Groundcover News, but that doesn’t necessarily mean everyone with this experience does. Selling Groundcover means constantly being in the public eye, and being in a position to be ignored or embraced or even reviled, over and over again. I thought a lot about what it means for Groundcover News to publish another Pride Issue: to speak on behalf of, and to defend, an identity that most who work for Groundcover do not hold. Instead of avoiding this lack of representation by not publishing a Pride Issue this year, we chose to do it again, expanding the contributor base and owning the reality that we have an obligation as a street paper to cover these issues and spotlight the people, organizations and ideas that are making the community a better place for everyone. Because to understand the intersection of queerness and homelessness is to better understand homelessness. And to challenge stereotypes of being gay, trans or asexual is to challenge stereotypes of poverty. Our liberation is bound up with one another. JUNE 2, 2023 CREATING OPPORTUNITY AND A VOICE FOR LOW-INCOME PEOPLE WHILE TAKING ACTION TO END HOMELESSNESS AND POVERTY. Groundcover News, a 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in April 2010 as a means to empower lowincome persons to make the transitions from homeless to housed, and from jobless to employed. Vendors purchase each copy of our regular editions of Groundcover News at our office for 50 cents. This money goes towards production costs. Vendors work selling the paper on the street for $2, keeping all income and tips from each sale. Street papers like Groundcover News exist in cities all over the United States, as well as in more than 40 other countries, in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of homeless people and combat the increase in poverty. Our paper is a proud member of the International Network of Street Papers. STAFF Lindsay Calka — publisher Cynthia Price — editor Layla McMurtrie — deputy editor ISSUE CONTRIBUTORS D.A. Rachel Braun Ladi Dä Markona Love Chen Lyu Danielle Mack Layla McMurtrie Phoenix Oaks Mira Simonton-Chao PROOFREADERS Susan Beckett Elliot Cubit Zachary Dortzbach Anabel Sicko Sandy Smith VOLUNTEERS Jessi Averill Logan Brown Luiza Duarte Caetano Glenn Gates Alexandra Granberg Harleen Kaur Robert Klingler Holden Pizzolato Mira Simonton-Chao Alex Tarbet Mary Wisgerhof Max Wisgerhof Claude VanValkenburg Navya Yagalla Emily Yao CONTACT US Story and photo submissions: submissions@groundcovernews.com Advertising and partnerships: contact@groundcovernews.com Office: 423 S. 4th Ave., Ann Arbor Mon-Sat, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Phone: 734-263-2098 @groundcover @groundcovernews DONATE, PITCH A STORY + LEARN MORE www.groundcovernews.org linktr.ee/groundcovernews GROUNDCOVER NEWS ADVERTISING RATES PACKAGE PRICING Size 1/8 1/6 1/4 1/2 full page Black/White $110.00 $145.00 $200.00 $375.00 $650.00 Color $150.00 $200.00 $265.00 $500.00 $900.00 Dimensions (W x H in inches) 5 X 3 or 2.5 X 6.5 5 X 4 5 X 6.25 5 X 13 or 10.25 X 6.5 10.25 X 13 Three Months/Six Issues: 15% off Six Months/Twelve Issues: 25% off Full Year/Twenty-four Issues: 35% off Only run for two weeks/one issue: 40% off Additional 20% discount for money saving coupons
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