TOLEDO STREETS NEW SP APER Issue 105 $1 One Dollar suggested donation. Your donation directly benefi ts the vendor. Please only buy from badged vendors. Community Leaders Share Their Concepts of the Future Ken Leslie, Claire McKenna, Julie Hage-Welsh, Lauren Webber, and Candace Bishop have something to say. Page 4 "I hope the entire community will rise again" Tony Inglis, Executive Director of INSP, our global street newspaper network, shares stories of hope for the future from vendors around the world. Page 8 INSPIRING HOPE • FOSTERING COMMUNITY • CULTIVATING CHANGE Toledo Streets is a member of the International Network of Street Newspapers
TOLEDO STREETS NEW SP APER 3 4 6 7 p 12 Mural in New TSN World HQ I am a simple guy and I like 'simple'. Ken Leslie p 4 Community Quotes 12 p 11 Metroparks Toledo 14 Page 2 Puzzle Page 13 Photos of TSN World Headquarters While many of you were shopping online for Christmas presents, the TSN staff and volunteers were busy getting the new space ready for service. Director's Desk A look back at the whirlwind of a year for Toledo Streets. 11 8 About the cover: Art Director Ed Conn imagines what a future Toledo might look like under glass. Glass City Future This month’s theme is future focused – joining in the ritualistic tradition of reviewing the past year and looking forward to the new year. Community Leaders Ken Leslie, Claire McKenna, Julie Hage-Welsh, Lauren Webber, and Candace Bishop have something to say about the future of Toledo. "The system is failing all the families that really need it" How the threat of eviction has perpetuated health inequity and racial injustice during the pandemic. Reading for the Future While nobody can totally predict the future, we can rely on trends, data, and maybe a little bit of speculation to forecast where we might be headed. "I hope the entire community will rise again." Tony Inglis, Executive Director of INSP, our global street newspaper network, shares stories of hope for the future from vendors around the world. Metroparks Toledo Showcases the Future of Urban Open Spaces Metroparks Toledo won the coveted National Gold Plaque Award for outstanding parks. Glass City Park shows we are not resting on our laurels.
Glass City Future Future Focused - Arika Michaelis This month’s theme is future focused – joining in the ritualistic tradition of reviewing the past year and looking forward to the new year. Every January people all over the world set New Year’s resolutions with real hope of pursuing their new, focused goals. There is something so inspiring in the hopefulness and drive people engage while envisioning the next twelve months of their life. This year seems unique. If 2020 taught us anything, it is that our plans can quickly be derailed and, nonetheless, time ticks on. This past year also showed us that the decisions each of us make, no matter how seemingly insignifi cant, can have an impact on all the people around us. Considering this and the many other lessons 2020 brought, it’s apparent that 2021 will be different. Looking forward to a year with so much uncertainty can feel intimidating. We are still unsure when we can enjoy the warm togetherness of friends, family and communities we haven’t seen for a while. School, work, going to the gym and dining out all look vastly different from last January and we don’t have a clue if anything will return to how it was. We can’t pretend to be sure. But we can still be future focused. 2020 has given us the ability to look beyond our normal. What can we be certain about in 2021? We have the power to shape the time we spend this year. Hopefully we’re learned that even if our plans are derailed, we can stay focused on our goals for the future. We are looking forward, moving forward, whether we like it or not. So set your intentions with lofty goals or more practical ones. Set them so that you have something to be laser-focused on while the world is ever changing in your peripheral. 2020 may have kicked our butts, but we have experienced outstanding growth as individuals and as a society. We have evolved into being able to face 2021, whatever it may hold, with determination and bravery. The Buck Starts Here Toledo Streets and its vendors are a powerful, community driven solution to the problem of homelessness. Our vendors earn their way out of their individual situations through a collaboration of journalism, local business partners and their own hard work. Use these four steps to be a part of the solution. Meet Vendors Buy a Paper Get Informed Take Action • Vendors -- the people who sell the paper -- are at the core of Toledo Streets' mission. Each year more than 70 indiviuals work as vendors with Toledo Streets. At any given time, more than 25 vendors are at work, in the rain, snow, or heat. Vendors play an active role in the management of TS, meeting regularly to discuss issues of concern and even serving on our board. • With the money made selling the newspaper, vendors are able to secure basic needs, independence and dignity, and work toward obtaining housing. Vendors buy papers for a quarter and sell them for a $1, keeping all income and tips for each sale. Toledo Streets tries to tie its editorial to three basic principals: • Inspiring Hope, Fostering Community, and Cultivating Change. We are a member of INSP, our global organization of street papers around the world which provides us with content relevent to social justice, homelessness, and street community around the world. • Donate to the organization and give vendors experiencing homelessness and poverty a hand up. It supports not only the paper but also issues throughout NW Ohio. • Volunteer your time and expertise and help the organization grow. • Share Toledo Streets with your network, and tell people about the organization. Page 3
what you want it to be, fi nd a damn map, and just walk it and you will be there. Hope, Happiness and Health in 2021 By Julia Hage-Welsh Community Leaders Share Their Concepts of the Future Focused on the Future Ken Leslie The future just happened, just now. When you started this article is now in the past. When you were One of the biggest secrets I have learned in my life is there are no secrets to success, none. No matter the career there are already roadmaps to success. These maps with the directions have been printed by those who have already been where we want to go - and they are available to us, for free. Finding the roadmap to your future really is that simple!!! And it shows you every step you need to take to get to YOUR future. You just have to take the steps, that is ALL! Period. Simply walking the steps on your map. That is it. It’s that simple. going to read this article, it was the future. Now you are reading it, you are now in the present. But the next paragraph is in the future. Being in the present is where we all live. Right now, in this sentence. And many, so many wish we were living in the past. But we live in the now. Right now. But in this right now, you can focus on your future. What will it look like? It will look like whatever the hell you make it look like. Seriously! Page 4 I’m a simple guy, and I like ‘simple’. So put another way: say you want your future to consist of getting a book from the library and for you to be sitting at home reading it tonight. That book WILL be yours simply by following the map to get there, and TAKING the STEPS needed to get to the damn library. See, no secret, map to get you there, you just need to take the steps on the map. If you do not take the steps, you ain’t getting there, and no book for you. So tonight, when the future comes and you don’t have a book to read, you can spend the rest of the night whining about why you do not have a book to read. That’s on you. Bam, that’s it, that simple. For real. So just focus on your future, 2020, a year once set with positive anticipation, left most wishing to fast forward and forget about it. But, what if we think of what 2020 gave to us? It gave us the opportunity to slow down, maybe spend some extra isolated time with family, to celebrate the little things we have, and give kindness back to a world that is living in strife. There are many Americans who have never been in a position to be afraid to not have groceries, toilet paper, or their next paycheck. For many, 2020 opened the door to the reality of sitting in this fear. There are individuals that live in this fear day in and day out. If nothing else, I hope those who were met with unexpected and unusual angst are more thoughtful and empathetic to those who struggle every day. As a part of this fear of not having essential items to survive, a moment should also be taken to think of those that live without the essential item, security in survival. The fear of being killed for being who you are is a true fear for some, a fear that is not only unfair, but is somehow not questioned by others. 2020 milestones include the societal uprising of a population that has been stifl ed and muffl ed for too long. Having the courage to stand up, speak up and cause unrest means that we are that much closer to change. Without moments of unease and discomfort, we cannot begin to explore opportunities to learn and grow. So now what do we allow ourselves to think about for 2021, this future to come for all of us. Do we think about the reclaimed opportunities to travel, go to concerts, eat out at restaurants, and just celebrate big life events? Or do we begin to celebrate the world around us, the people we interact with, and see the differences as beautiful and not as something that hinders. What if 2021 is our opportunity to see things clearly, to not see age, color, gender, ethnicity, societal stature, political party, or other adversity qualifi ers, but rather see humans as humans. See humans as individuals all going through a unique struggle where we have an opportunity to treat each other with kindness, generosity, a helping hand, a lending ear. Be present to serve as assistance to others rather than focusing on ourselves and our needs fi rst. Give someone else the last package of toilet paper at the store, tip a little extra when you order food out, go against unconscious biases if you feel a little less than wholehearted, think about what others might be going through and be an authentic, kind, understanding human throughout your day. We know 2020 wasn’t what was expected, but through our frustration, use what we learned from 2020 to launch us into 2021, where we have the opportunity of a lifetime to rise from the ashes, to think differently, to act differently. My Future, My Focus By: Claire McKenna I am sitting in our new offi ce as I write for the fi rst issue of 2021, which is fi ttingly a look towards the future. But for me, you can’t begin to have hopes for the future without understanding the past. It is staggering to think that by the time you read this, I will have worked for Toledo Streets Newspaper for two years. Granted, this is not a long time in the grand scheme of things, but I initialFostering Community
ly took this job because I could work part-time while finishing graduate school. Then, as the end of my graduate degree came, I couldn’t see my future without TSN. I planned to stay a few more months, but over and over again I found myself unable to picture my life without Toledo Streets Newspaper. I have realized that working here is as much about helping the vendors shape and imagine new futures as it is about shaping mine. If you are a loyal reader of the paper, you are probably tired of me saying that TSN has changed my life in ways I could have never imagined. But it has and it still does and I hope to have it continue to do so in the future. Toledo Streets Newspaper is action. Our staff and our vendors don’t have the luxury of sitting around hoping for goals and future plans. We act. Not only are we working to create a future filled with less homelessness, but we are working towards a future of worthiness. A future in which we all have a seat and a voice at the proverbial table. A future that removes the isolation, guilt, shame, and loneliness that being without creates. That is my future and my focus. I am just lucky that I get to work at a place where I get to be part of creating that future one increment, one moment of hope, one paper sold at a time. And you get to be a part of it too, maybe without even knowing the brick you laid in building our path to a better future. I could not tell you where I will be a year from today. This job has taught me that trying to predict the unpredictable is not a good use of my time. But what I do know? We will continue. I will continue. Vendors will continue. You will continue. Continue to work towards a future that we can all be a part of. Future Focused By Lauren Webber Have you ever heard this saying? “The best time to plant an oak tree is 50 years ago. The second-best time to plant an oak tree is today.” We can’t change the past, but we can start to think about the future today. When I think about my future, financial security certainly comes to mind today. There are many questions to consider when saving for your future. How much money might I need every year to live comfortably in retirement? When do I want to retire? Will I have excess savings to share with my children or grandchildren? Will I still be able to make a charitable donation to Toledo Streets Newspaper every year? These questions can build up (compound, if you will), and quickly become overwhelming. This is where the miracle of compounding interest comes in to ease your troubled mind and save the day! Compounding interest is the idea of earning interest on interest. Rule of thumb to always remember: A dollar saved today is worth more than a dollar saved tomorrow. Here’s an example of compounding interest in action. Suzy Spender loves to live in the moment. Suzy is not thinking about her life 30 years from now. Instead, she’s online shopping every paycheck, treating herself to five-dollar gourmet coffees twice a day, and trading in her vehicle for the newest model every year. Over the next two decades, Suzy becomes more successful at work, but her spending tendencies have remained the same, and she has not contributed to a retirement account. Suzy realizes she should start to catchup her savings, so she contributes about as much as she can per year for ten years. For Suzy, this means foregoing that second vacation home she had her eye on and adding $1,000 per month to her retirement for the next ten years. After ten years of future-focused living, Suzy will have personally contributed $120,000 to her retirement account. Let’s assume she earns an interest rate of 8%. At the end of 10 years, Suzy will have about $183,000, so she has earned $63,000 on her retirement. Sounds good right? Well, wait until you hear about Prudent Penny. Prudent Penny is just getting her career started. She packs her lunch for work every day to save those few extra dollars. Penny is also working hard to pay off her car, which she plans to keep as long as possible, and she loves her local second-hand store. Styles are just cyclical after all, right? Since Penny has her eye on a comfy future with minimal stress, she’s decided to make retirement contributions a priority today. Penny can afford to add $200 to her retirement each month. She’s a consistent lady, so Prudent Penny ends up sticking with a $200 monthly contribution for the next 30 years. At the end of this period (keep in mind this is the same length of time Suzy Spender lived frivolously and then caught up her savings at the end), Penny has personally contributed $72,000 to her retirement. At the end of the period, with the same 8% interest rate, Penny now has over $298,000. Moral of the story: Start saving today rather than tomorrow! There’s plenty of other strategies to consider when planning for your financial future but recognizing the benefit of compounding interest is a must as far as I am concerned. Where Do We Grow From Here? By Candace Bishop Looking back over the past nine months there have been many unanticipated outcomes of this year. So many new entrepreneurs have been established this year, and so many businesses have been challenged with hard times. The events of this year have challenged professionals to work remotely from a home, the one place that many of us established to separate us from our work. Direct service workers are working above and beyond a typical work week because they are essential. For many students, they have quickly adapted to new learning styles, which has altered the daily routines of many parents throughout our community. So many topics have been in the forefront of discussion this year such as racial equality/equity, housing stability, unemployment, COVID-19 and many more. 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“The system is failing all the families that really need it”: How the threat of eviction has perpetuated health inequity and racial injustice during the pandemic The federal eviction moratorium, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, offers temporary and crucial relief for the 30 to 40 million adults and children who are at risk of eviction nationwide. But, with the moratorium set to expire on New Year’s Eve and without emergency rental assistance to pay the mounting rental debt, renters are being pushed off the edge of the eviction cliff. The struggle of Black and Hispanic renters By Emily A. Benfer The cost of rent is taking futures When the pandemic struck, Marlenis Zambrano was a fulltime caregiver for the children of Department of Defense (DOD) employees. For 27 years, her housing was secure, she provided for her family, and was able to save for her children’s college tuition. Her daughter attends Virginia Commonwealth University and her son is a senior at Dartmouth College—first generation college students. Shortly after DOD families pulled their own children from the daycare due to the pandemic, Ms. Zambrano’s wages were cut, and she received a five-day notice of eviction from her Alexandria home. Ms. Zambrano, who is Hispanic, is one of the many renters of color who are particularly vulnerable to eviction due to the pandemic and pushed to make impossible choices. To protect her family’s health and safety, Ms. Zambrano was forced to put her daughter’s college tuition fund toward the rent. Families across the country are paying rent with their futures. “As a parent, as a hard-working mom,” Ms. Zambrano, who is advocating to keep families housed, told me, “I feel like the system is failing all the families that really need it.” The need is almost unfathomable: an estimated 50 million adults and children across the country live in renter households that suffered COVID-19-related job or income loss, with people of color hit the hardest. Page 6 The human costs and housing loss will be especially heightened among people of color. Black and Hispanic landlords are in greater financial peril as they struggle to pay their mortgage and offer payment plans to renters at higher rates than white landlords. Among renters, nationally, nearly half of Black and Hispanic renters have little to no confidence in their ability to pay next month’s rent, compared to less than a quarter of white renters. These racial disparities are in great part due to decades of racially discriminatory housing laws and policies that excluded people of color from mortgages and deepened segregation lines while promoting the investment of billions of federal dollars in white communities. The sordid legacy of these laws is embedded in the cavernous racial wealth gap that propelled entire generations into poverty, poor health, and housing precarity. As a result of the extreme socioeconomic divide, over 70 per cent of Black and Latinx adults entered the pandemic lacking the emergency funds to cover three months of expenses, compared to under half of white adults. Without a safety net when crisis strikes, the downward fall is immediate and precipitous, and recovery may be impossible. The administration’s unveiled efforts to terminate fair housing, dismantle civil rights protections and advance “not in my backyard” suburban policies only intensifies the opportunity gulf by carrying past offenses forward. Further highlighting the sticking power of racially discriminatory policies, housing stability varies drastically by race. The percentage of Black people in a community is a greater predictor of eviction filings than poverty level in some communities. On average, even across similar education levels, Black renters face eviction at nearly twice the rate of white renters. Coupled with widespread housing discrimination in the rental market, people of color are at extreme risk of housing loss and the social and economic inequalities it causes. In the pandemic context, many of the communities most in need of COVID-19 emergency rental assistance are also communities of color. Winnette Dickerson, a tenant leader with VOICE organizing to stop evictions, summed the effects of disparity when she told me, “We black and brown people will never be able to catch up. The plague of financial and housing insecurity will be looming over our heads. The goals of financial security & home ownership will remain a distant unreachable dream for us.” Ms. Dickerson, a longtime volunteer at a homeless shelter, also faced eviction during the pandemic after being furloughed from her job as a drug counselor. Policy makers must act Ending the COVID-19 eviction crisis presents an opportunity to break a link in the systemic racism chain. Yet, policy makers have abandoned their duty to prevent the clear and steep human toll of the COVID-19 eviction crisis, with some justifying inaction by assigning blame and moral lashings to the people hardest hit by the pandemic. Without rental assistance, parents will be forced into even lower-wage jobs that, where available, will hardly cover rental debt on top of housing costs, and could increase the risk of contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to loved ones. Researchers determined that lifting eviction moratoriums over the summer resulted in 433,700 excess cases and 10,700 excess deaths. Underscoring the health inequity, Black and Hispanic adults have higher COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates than their white counterparts. In addition to taking lives, the eviction crisis is on track to devastate and further disadvantage communities of color and strip any chance of true equality and opportunity in America. Federal and state policy makers must both defend against this pressing threat to equality and repair past harms. In the immediate, this means extending the CDC eviction moratorium beyond January, as well as adopting robust state eviction moratoriums, and providing the emergency rental and foreclosure assistance necessary end the eviction crisis. Then, policy makers must redress longstanding inequality among people of color by guaranteeing equal access to safe, decent, and affordable homes in thriving communities during and after the pandemic. Ms. Zambrano has hope for her children. “I know my children are going to be somebody one day, and not suffer the way I did,” she said. It’s every parent’s hope. It’s time every child has the same chance to reach for it. Emily A. Benfer is health and housing law expert, a law professor at Wake Forest University School of Law, the co-creator of the COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecard with the Eviction Lab and the Chair of the American Bar Association COVID-19 task force committee on eviction. Courtesy of INSP.ngo
Reading for the Future by Franco Vitella While nobody can totally predict the future, we can rely on trends, data, and maybe a little bit of speculation to forecast where we might be headed. Of course, the future is also in our hands – the decisions we make can have the greatest impact on what is to come. If you want to learn more about what you can do to be part of what is hopefully a better tomorrow, stop by any Toledo Lucas County Public Library location to check out one of these fascinating, future-focused books. that it never quite arrives. We’re always looking down the road, dreaming about lies ahead. Much how Netfl ix’s TV series Black Mirror conjures up semi-plausible future scenarios, Alexander Weinstein’s collection of short stories Children of the New World imagines a near future that feels vaguely familiar and realistic. The stories deal with disaster, social unease, our reliance on technology…and they’ll haunt your dreams for a little while after you’ve read them. Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards This indictment of the current state of feminism (albeit, published 20 years ago), maps a future for the feminist movement, provides examples of what a world with equal rights for all might look like, and argues that passing an Equal Rights Amendment should still be a goal for feminists. Calvin Baker argues that our traditional approaches to solving racial tyranny – desegregation, diversifi cation, and more representation – are no longer enough. Baker instead calls for full integration, participation for all African-Americans, as well as other oppressed groups, in every facet of national life. Baker frames life in the United States as starting with a revolutionary democracy and that the fi nal steps of that revolution, meaningful and actual inclusion and participation, need to happen now. Covid Update for Lucas Toledo Libraries Although all Library locations are currently closed to walk-in traffi c during the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department stay-at-home advisory, we are maintaining our regular open hours and have many ways to help you: Activities to Go: Visit any location for contactless pick up of the latest set of Activities to Go. Each envelope has directions and supplies for fun activities at home for preschoolers, kids ages 5 – 10, or teens. Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity by Jamie Metzl Author Jamie Metzl, a geopolitical expert and futurist, explores how genetic engineering will impact our future lives. With gene editing technology like CRISPR and other genetic approaches that stand to change the way we experience disease and even expand our lifespans, there is a trove of information to consider on what genetic engineering means for our future. Children of the New World by Alexander Weinstein The fun part about the future is On the Future: Prospects for Humanity by Martin Rees After living through 2020, you may not feel very hopeful about the future. The pandemic and apparent societal divisiveness aren’t necessarily bright spots that bode well. Scientist Martin Rees argues to set aside that pessimism. While humanity faces future challenges, our approach to the future – in harnessing technology to overcome threats – is what will defi ne us, and this book gives some insight into the future that might be awaiting us. Book Bundles: We’ll put together a Book Bundle for children, teens and adults. Choose a category or let us surprise you. Complete a request form or call any location. Computer use by appointment: Call 419-259-5200 or any location to schedule one hour of computer time. Customers age 2 and older are required to wear masks. If you have a medical exemption we ask that you make a computer reservation at one of our locations with an accommodaMore Perfect Reunion: Race, Integration, and the Future of America by Calvin Baker In A More Perfect Reunion, write tion space. Accommodation spaces are available at Heatherdowns, Kent, Main, Mott, Oregon, Reynolds Corners, Sanger, Sylvania, and West Toledo. Page 7
"I hope the entire community will rise again" Street vendors around the world look beyond the pandemic by Tony Inglis, Executive Director , INSP A note to readers: Street papers provide trustworthy independent journalism and an opportunity for society’s most vulnerable and marginalised to earn a meaningful income. The impact of the pandemic has severely affected their work. Find out how to support your local street paper through subscriptions and donations here. https://insp.ngo/supporting-street-papervendors-around-the-world-during-thecovid-19-pandemic/ “This year has been very challenging and fi lled with sorrow for everybody,” says Lawrence Odion, a 26-year-old, originally from Nigeria, who sells street papers. It’s a sentiment people at all levels of society should be able to agree with. Lawrence works with zebra., a magazine based in the South Tyrol region of northern Italy. Back in the early throes of 2020, the severity with which COVID-19 hit Italy was frightening, and yet still seemed far away to many, despite warnings that should have been heeded from its impact in east Asia. The onset of a year that became defi ned by the pandemic seems both exceedingly long ago and painfully fresh in the memory. Most people’s lives have been affected. For society’s most vulnerable and marginalized, it has exacerbated problems already familiar to them: food insecurity, unstable housing, social isolation, income, and access to social services as they are weakened at a time they’re needed most. Street papers, which exist to alleviate that strain – providing employment to those who are homeless, in poverty, excluded from the job market or on life’s fringes – have been impacted too. It’s been hard, but the effects they’ve felt have not been uniform. For every group that has found times tough, there have been some glimmers of light. The new year approaches, and with it some hope that there is an end of the coronavirus tunnel in sight – a vaccine, and the potential for homeless, refugees, and other marginalized people to receive it early on – even if the social and structural consequences of the pandemic may be felt into the future. INSP checked in with street paper vendors of differing circumstances across the world to refl ect on these past months and to look forward – sometimes with an understandable sense of anxiety, and sometimes with hope. Japan The Big Issue Japan, along with other east Asian street papers, was the fi rst to understand how the coronavirus may affect their work and the lives of the country’s socially excluded population. “People were gone, and sales were Page 8 in the single digits, sometimes zero,” says a 64-year-old Tokyo-based vendor who only wants to be identifi ed as ‘ST’. The initial slump in his income was made up by support from the magazine’s fundraising and a special subscription service developed in response to the pandemic. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without it,” he says. ST has been living in a 7.3 square meter room with a roommate for over a decade. “It makes me feel safe because it’s a private space with a roof. I’m not a materialistic person, so here with just a futon to sleep on is enough for me,” he says. began, he has had to move slightly further away from this spot due to restrictions on who can freely go in and out of the university entrance. He no longer fi nds it so easy catching the eyes of students as the fl ow out. “On campus, students passing by could see me when they went out for lunch, but now sitting in this small corner, who would notice?” he bemoans. “You can’t enter the school even if you go to the bathroom, you have to go to the McDonald’s across the street.” Li has also struggled with lower back pain and bone spurs this year. He can’t manage to bring back issues of the magazine to his pitch anymore which are often popular with his customers, missing out on vital income. “Taiwan’s virus prevention results are very good,” says Li, more optimistically, “unlike other countries, which have been locked down for several months. So, I have not been afraid Faktum vendor Thomas Jakobsson. [Courtesy of Faktum] customers who would usually be away on holiday stayed in the cities. “We are in the front line when we sell the street paper, but I don’t have much choice. I need the money,” says 58-year-old Faktum vendor Thomas Jakobsson about his experiences these past months. “For a month now I’ve had my own apartment, but before I lived at a place which I shared with other people. And I knew they had coronavirus there. Food was served at a buffet table and that didn’t feel safe. I tried to keep my distance because I don’t want to get sick. Big Issue Japan vendor ‘S.T.’ (he does not want to reveal his identity) at his pitch in Tokyo. [Courtesofof The Big Issue Japan] ST still has anxieties about being on trains and in public bathrooms and supermarkets because of the virus despite the precautions he takes, and worries deeply about how the pandemic has run roughshod on the city’s businesses. “I started walking. At one point, I was surprised to see more people in the park than usual. I guess we all think the same way,” says ST. “When I went for a walk the other day, I was stunned to see there were only two stores open in the shopping arcade I passed. It was painful to see the posters of ‘temporarily shut down’ or ‘closed’. A few of the izakaya and restaurants had banners saying: ‘We will go out of business if we don’t do something. Please help us’. “I still can’t fi nd hope for 2021. Rather than hope, I’m more concerned about whether we’ll really host the Olympics in Tokyo. Vaccines, athletes, visitors from overseas…would people enjoy it? I’m optimistic that the world returns to normal with the end of COVID, but it’s diffi cult to predict what will happen right now.” Taiwan Every morning at 11am, Li Longzhu places a small wooden stool just inside an entrance of National Chengchi University in Taipei, ready for a day of selling The Big Issue Taiwan. Unfortunately, since the pandemic “I’m such a cuddly and physical person so I think it’s shitty. I used to give a hug to people when they bought the paper sometimes, but that isn’t possible anymore.” Thomas has spent the pandemic getting sober and writing an autobiographical story for a book Faktum is publishing. Big Issue Taiwan vendor Li Longzhu. [Credit: / The Big Issue Taiwan] from beginning to end. After all, there are few cases here, and I am also very open to life and death. I can tell you that people have great desires and great worries. Since this larger situation cannot be controlled, worry only adds to the trouble. “I hope [next year] can reduce a little pain, for the world and my back!” The Big Issue Taiwan has been successful in supporting vendors, adopting a ‘pay it forward’ scheme in collaboration with SinoPac Bank, similar to the one devised by The Big Issue (UK). The magazine also worked with a local social enterprise to regularly handout free rice to vendors who have been particularly hard up. Sweden Sweden has turned heads with its hands-off approach to the pandemic. For those selling street papers, it has meant there has been little disruption to their ability to earn an income. Gothenburg-based magazine Faktum did not have to halt selling or pull its vendors from the street. Vendors even saw an increase in sales as regular “‘Thank goodness’, that’s what I feel for 2021,” says Thomas. “Hopefully COVID has calmed down and, since I’ve become sober, I can move on. I have contact with my children again. My daughter said ‘Dad, it feels like you came back from the dead’. I’m so happy about that. “I have positive things to look forward to. I try to spread joy. And when you give, you get back. It’s easy, yet diffi cult.” South Africa Big Issue South Africa vendor Shadrack Rolihlahla, 57, lives in Delft, a township in Cape Town, where crime and poverty is high. According to the street paper’s social work team, since the pandemic began, crime has increased as unemployment is high. “I do not feel safe as people are being killed every day due to violence,” says Shadrack. “In my community, people are suffering. Some people lost their jobs and people died from COVID-19. Since [the pandemic started] we do not have access to social services or health facilities. Everything is like watching a movie –
so unreal.” outdoor patio, so that vendors can continue producing art. We’ll soon hold an auction for the sale of works, generating additional income.” The social work team added that food security is the biggest concern for the communities their vendors come from. People are being encouraged to create their own vegetable gardens and using skills they’ve learned selling the street paper and applying it to selling arts and crafts, and even food items, to earn extra income. “This year was hard having little food, no work and my family suffering,” says Shadrack. “I hope and Big “If it hadn’t been for [financial] help from the government, I would be at the bottom of the river,” says Ariel, who has been renting a room from a family who live near the Vélez Sarsfield football team stadium. “[Hopefully next year] we can let this crap go and start a normal life again.” Austria In Vienna, things are looking a little better for street paper vendors now compared to the initial March coronavirus lockdown. The local magazine Augustin has learned how to continue selling even as restrictions remain in place, for example moving those who sold in bars, restaurants and cafes to busy spots on the streets. Issue South Africa vendor Shadrack Rolihlahla. [Courtesy of The Big Issue South Africa] pray that COVID-19 goes away and that next year work will be better and life will have more opportunities.” Argentina “Emotionally, the pandemic has not really affected me – I was not locked up much!” says Carlos Ariel Amadeo. “It’s been the same normal worry that anyone has. No depression, just worried that this will get worse, and with a little fear about the illness and uncertainty about the economic situation. No one is safe. But yes, I feel safe. I am not obsessed with it; I live a normal life.” Ariel is a vendor for Buenos Aires magazine Hecho en Bs As, a publication which has dealt with an extremely strict, prolonged lockdown and the sudden death of its founder Patricia Merkin. Despite the potential for instability, it has continued to support those it works with. “We have been in permanent contact with vendors,” says vendor coordinator Ángeles Mezzera. The street paper’s ties to a parallel food project – ‘A cultivar que se acaba el mundo’ – which trades in organic food, advocates fair trade and employees socially excluded people, many of whom are also vendors, meant that Hecho staff could respond to any urgent needs. “From there [the food project’s space] they were given access to food, subsidies were managed that the Argentine government had provided to all people with self-employed jobs, and some vendors were distributed unsold magazines that they could deliver,” adds Mezzera. “We also moved our art workshop to the food project since it has an Augustin vendor Susi. [Courtesy of Augustin] Augustin’s social workers also pointed out that social isolation of their vendors – both from their colleagues and from Augustin staff – has also been a worry. “I hope my partner can get back to Austria again,” says vendor Anna, 59. “He was deported to Nigeria and I miss him very much.” 60-year-old vendor Susi adds: “I’m very sad I can’t visit my family. My dad is more than 80 years old and I haven’t seen him in a long time now. Right now, I’m thinking of the Augustin stall where we usually sell pear cider during the Christmas season. I love working there, but we can’t do it this year. “I wish everything would get back to normal. I would like to visit the vendor lounge at Augustin to drink coffee and talk to my colleagues. And, of course, I wish more people would buy the paper again and we could talk One issue that persists is how the lockdowns has affected refugees and asylum seekers, a cohort of which make up Augustin’s vendor group. This community rely on street paper income and it has been severely hit due to sales restrictions and drops. They have also been unable to go back and forth from their home country due to tighter border restrictions, and fear sanctions from local government. An already precarious living situation has been made more uncertain by the pandemic. properly without distance. I’m feeling a bit lonely.” USA 66-year old Al Mayfield continues to sell Street Spirit in Oakland. The tragedies of coronavirus are nothing new to Al. He lost two brothers at a young age – one to medical issues and another to a motorcycle accident – and, after being violently robbed in 1994, fell into a coma. He survived, but had to have a plate installed in his stomach and his leg amputated. He has been shifted around homes due to circumstances outside his control and bandied about homeless shelters. Through it all, there has been support – the Citizens Neighborhood Assistance Program, the Berkeley Food and Housing Project, and Street Spirit. He now lives in subsidised housing with one of his surviving brothers in North Oakland. Most of all, he has missed church during the pandemic and hopes to be back. “Church is in my heart,” he says. Despite a life full of losses and grief, and now this global disaster, Al is an optimistic person. He is still selling street papers and living his life. “Try to grasp hold of the good stuff and be happy about it,” he says. Canada Most will now be familiar with the term ‘pre-existing health conditions’. Dealing with a personal medical emergency at the same time as a global medical emergency seems an unfathomably difficult task. 69-yearold Roger Perreault, who sells L’Itinéraire in Montréal, has been battling breast cancer which has spread to his liver and lungs. He also has glaucoma, lymphedema and a hernia. His outlook for the diagnosis provides a lot of food for thought when making our own optimistic approaches to life right now. “Apart from all that, things aren’t too bad!” says Roger. “Psychologist, Brigitte Lavoie once said: It’s in the case of extreme suffering that human beings find unsuspected sources of strength that were inside of them all along and they didn’t know it. Give yourself the permission to do what makes you feel good, she said. “For example, I put all my efforts into saving up for a trip last summer. I was planning on going to Spain and Germany. So much for my plans! At least for this year… “I started going out for long walks that soon became discovery adventures in my city. It sure beats being bored and asking myself what I could have done if only. Those activities allow me to really enjoy the present moment, rather than dream of it. Why live life based on an uncertain future? When I wake up in the morning, I don’t ask myself what I’m going to do anymore, but what I’m going to do with what is offered to me. At night I take a moment to appreciate the chance I’ve had of living that day and what it’s brought me. And you know what? I feel a lot better.” *** Across the country, in British Columbia, Megaphone vendor Peter Thompson is feeling cut off from his family and heritage due to the pandemic. But he has also relied on the history and traditions of his community (Peter is Nlaka’pamux Nation) to get through. “My traditional medicines have played a big part in keeping me healthy during COVID-19,” says Peter. “I regularly smudge my home and I cook for myself to keep healthy. I have been using lots of garlic and lemons, and eating a lot of oranges and apples to keep my health good. I make a hot lemon, ginger, and garlic drink that keeps my immune system strong. “My hope for 2021 is that the pandemic will end so I can see my family in person again. I am especially missing my family that live on my traditional territory near Lytton, B.C. Normally I go back home every summer to see family and re-stock my traditional foods, like pine mushrooms, venison, fish, and moose meat. I also gather my sage and cedar supply for the year. I wasn’t able to go this year, so if I can just see my family and visit home in 2021, I will be happy.” Macedonia Hearing from vendors, social isolation has been almost as troubling as loss of income. “Working for me means not only earning money, but communicating with different people, making friends, getting familiar with strangers,” Igor Shajnoski, 32, who sells Lice v Lice in Struga and lives with his family in a house in the nearby village of Radozda on the banks of the UNESCO protected Lake Ohrid. L’Itinéraire vendor Roger Perreault. [Credit: Adil Boukind] “Those thoughts on resilience changed my way of seeing things, made me adopt new behaviours and understand the world differently. I should never be blocked by the things I cannot do, by what I may never do. Igor has had long periods of not working this year because of lockdown, but feels good to know he has a position with the street paper and takes much pride in his work. “My wish is for the best sales at the magazine. I am working for that and I know in turn it will improve my life.” Page 9
Page 10
Metroparks Toledo Showcases the Future of Urban Open Spaces By Ed Conn Late October of 2020, I was on a walk on the river trail at Side Cut Park when a passerby in mask signaled a "We're #1" sign to me. I looked around to see I was wearing any team gear that would have warranted a sporting response when my walking mate told me what that was all about: that Metroparks Toledo was named No.1 large-city park for 2020 by some group called the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration.” “Well that is cool,” I thought. At home, I looked up the release to read that Metroparks earned the National Gold Medal Grand Plaque Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management. Turns out, this is really big stuff which in normal times is awarded at an annual conference attended by 20,000. The win puts Toledo in the same class as park districts in larger cities known for outstanding facilities, like past winners Chicago, Cleveland, Austin, Charlotte, and Portland, Oregon. This announcement came a week before voters would ultimately approve a two million tax increase that would generate $16 million more in tax revenue for Metroparks Toledo over the next 10 years. Dave Zenk, Metroparks Toledo Executive Director, said this revenue will be necessary for complete the vision for completing the Glass City Metropark along the Maumee River in East Toledo as well as other river-based projects. Scott Savage, the Metroparks Toledo board’s president, said he is thrilled the local park district was chosen as the nation’s top among large cities in 2020. “Our community has supported conservation like no other, from passage of a land levy 18 years ago that was the catalyst for connecting parks and people to parks, to Issue 17 on access to green space for everyone,” Mr. Savage said. "Each step of Metroparks’ progress since 1928 refl ects a community that values natural resources and the role these treasured parks play in creating a great place to live." An indication of how parks will lead Toledo into the future was the recent dedication of phase 1 of the new Glass City Metropark in East Toledo. It was a soft opening to say the least on a chilly December day. The curtain was pulled back just enough to showcase what may be one of the fi nest small park setting adjacent to a downtown neighborhood. Scott Carpenter, Metroparks Toledo spokesman, indicated that a more robust celebration will occur in 2021 when the weather improves and the virus hopefully gets under control. The park district is proud of completing Phase One of the massive project, Mr. Carpenter said, and agreed to start letting people onto the site to become acquainted with it as the rest of the project continues to take shape. Plus, one of the featured attractions – a lighted sledding hill – is likely to become a big hit in the coming weeks of winter. The hill will remain open until 8 p.m. throughout the winter. “This will be the gift that keeps on giving, “ Mr. Carpenter said, a reference to the park’s multiple other features almost guaranteed to draw in more visitors as they get fi nished over the next fi ve or six years. The park will feature an earthbermed, modern pavilion with a high-tech projection screen, plate glass windows, and ample tables and chairs in a meeting area that can be rented out. It will hold up to 200 people. The pavilion also has a green roof. Visitors will be able to walk up a ramp next to it and look out across the park’s vast expanse or watch boats ply the Maumee River one spring arrives. Next to the pavilion is a large, grassy knoll with terrace steps similar to an amphitheater. Outdoor concerts with seating for 5,000 to 6,000 people are expected. During warmer weather, there will Page 11 be canoe and kayak opportunities on a self-served basis, much like what has been in use at Howard Marsh Metropark which opened in 2018. Phase 2 will include a skating pond and ribbon and a water play area. A multipurpose Market Hall will offer food, beverages, and ice-skating rentals. The park will also see the addition of six cabanas, two picnic shelters and a campground for tents, recreational vehicles and modern huts. This phase will also add three miles of trails, open spaces, shoreline restoration, prairie and wildlife restoration, said Emily Ziegler, chief of planning and capital projects. As with other recently-opened parks, the public will get a sense of the layout early on but need to wait for things to grow before getting a better vision of what Glass City will look like once completed. Park district offi cials believe those and related projects, including the future Riverwalk and improvements to International Park, will serve as the same type of catalyst for East Toledo that Fifth Third Field was for downtown Toledo’s Warehouse District when it was built 20 years ago. The future of Toledo will be led by our parks. Just be patient while the trees mature.
Toledo Streets Newspaper World Headquarters Page 12
From The Director’s Desk: A Whirlwind of a Year for Toledo Streets Newspaper Arika Michaelis, Executive Director What a whirlwind of a year! This past year has been anything but ordinary. For Toledo Streets Newspaper, that is especially true. For three months this year our doors were essentially closed to the people we serve. For three months we didn’t produce a new publication of Toledo Streets Newspaper. We’ve seen a signifi cant decrease in paper sales, vendor meeting attendance and new vendors oriented. And still our vendors and our organization fl ourished. In 2020, Toledo showed us that they cared. When we were forced to shut down paper production and sales, our community came together to raise funds to sustain our vendors through the upcoming uncertainty. Through the summer and fall, vendors were selling less papers but were reporting making nearly the same income they had before the pandemic. Toledo showed up with love and understanding for our community and they continue to do so. Even during our three months of halted paper production, we looked for every opportunity to help our community. We partnered with local organizations to deliver groceries and provide lunches, we walked vendors through fi ling for the fi rst stimulus package, we’ve continued to assist vendors getting new IDs and birth certifi cates. But most impressively, in 2020 we helped eight vendors into new homes and watched four vendors move up into steady employment opportunities. As for the organization, Toledo Streets has seen a lot of change in 2020. I was hired on in February, we welcomed new and returning Page 13 interns from the University of Toledo, new board members came on as others rolled off. And those are just personnel changes! This year Toledo Streets focused on a few important goals for the organization to level up. Those included hiring an executive director, being able to plan publications further out and moving into the new Toledo Streets Newspaper World Headquarters (as coined by former Board Chair, Tom Kroma). We didn’t quite reach some of our goals but we did accomplish a lot of them. I have been Executive Director for almost a year, we have our publications planned through April and as of December 15th, we are moved into our new World HQ just a few blocks from our last home on Madison Ave. Building our new offi ce has been quite a project this year. From building out new walls, painting a huge space, installing new cabinets and countertops and everything in between, this was an all hands on deck feat. We still have a few tasks to complete before our space is totally fi nished but we are offi cially moved in and operating from a space that we built with our own hands for our community to enjoy! I couldn’t be more proud of our team and our new offi ce. We’ve taken special care to make every bit of it feel like home. Looking forward, I have high hopes for Toledo Streets Newspaper’s upward growth in 2021. Our vendors, staff, board and community have remained resilient and steadfast in our vision to inspire hope, foster community and cultivate change. I am hopeful we will help more vendors move into stable housing. I am certain we will watch more vendors to move up into steady and full time employment. With a community of supporters like TSN has, our vendors are in good hands to build upon their dreams, believe in their futures and make their goals their realities. Thank you for your support in 2020, I look forward to working towards a brighter 2021 together! I AM INCLUDING A ONE-TIME DONATION OF: � $1000 COVERS COST OF PRINTING ONE MONTH OF TOLEDO STREETS NEWSPAPER � $500 ELIMINATES BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT BY PROVIDING ALL NEW VENDORS WITH VESTS, SIGNS AND BADGES � $250 SUPPORTS TOLEDO STREETS EMPLOY VENDORS’ CREATIVITY IN STORY-TELLING, POETRY, PHOTOGRAPHY AND MORE � $100 � $50 PROVIDES ESSENTIAL SUPPLIES SUCH AS SOCKS, HATS, HAND-WARMERS AND PONCHOS TO TSN VENDORS SETS 20 NEW VENDORS UP FOR SUCCESS AFTER ORIENTATION BY PROVIDING THEM WITH 10 FREE PAPERS EACH � $______ A GIFT AT ANY LEVEL MAKES A DIFFERENCE NAME ______________________________________________________________ ADDRESS ___________________________________________________________ CITY _______________________________ STATE _______ZIP________________ TELEPHONE ____________________________ EMAIL_____________ � I AM INTERESTED IN RECEIVING EMAIL NEWSLETTERS FROM TOLEDO STREETS NEWSPAPER � I WOULD LIKE TO BE CONTACTED ABOUT HOW MY COMPANY/ORGANIZATION CAN SUPPORT TOLEDO STREETS NEWSPAPER TOLEDO STREETS NEWSPAPER CREATES INCOME OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS AND POVERTY BY PRODUCING A NEWSPAPER AND OTHER MEDIA THAT ARE CATALYSTS FOR INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE
PuzzlePage Famous Duos THEME: Famous Duo ACROSS 1. *Timothy Q. Mouse's friend, in Disney classic 6. River in Germany 9. Bridle parts 13. Whatsoever 14. Like tuna tartare 15. Forearm bones 16. Plural of #3 Down 17. Hardware stor 18. "Gladiator" setting 19. *Ferb Fletcher's stepbrother 21. *Mr. White's unfortunate student 23. Welcome spot for weary travele 24. It shall, for short 25. Cul de ____ 28. Young herring 30. Dieter's cuisine, for short 35. Gator's cousin 37. French "place" 39. Chunk of iceberg 40. St. Louis monument 41. Like new TV set 43. Front of ship 44. Singular of loci 46. Additional 47. Reality TV's Spelling 48. *Assistant to regional manager Michael Scott 50. Missing a limb 52. More, in Madrid 53. Like acne-prone skin 55. Pimple fluid 57. *Shirley's roommate and fellow bottle-capper 61. *Rory Gilmore's mom 65. Make an effort 66. Legal org. 68. Long stories 69. Scottish valleys 70. Doctor Dolittle, e.g. 71. *One of The Carpenters duo 72. Bone-dry 73. Opposite of WSW 74. Red or orange announcement DOWN 1. Slightly wet 2. *Malone and Stockton of the ____ Jazz 3. Skirt length 4. Shrovetide dish 5. *Mary-Kate and Ashley 6. Geologists' studies 7. *____ and cheese 8. Moved under the rug 9. "All ____, no bite" 10. Footnote word 11. *Amy Poehler's comedic partner 12. Welsh alternative to Siobh·n 15. Was almost out of gas, e.g. 20. Source of indigo dye, pl. 22. "____ Be Home For Christmas" 24. In the best possible way 25. Coffee burn, e.g. 26. *Bow and ____ 27. Spherical bacteria 29. *Corona's main squeeze? 31. What willow did 32. Read-only chip 33. Greek bazaar 34. *Clark's fellow traveler 36. College party chant 38. Celestial bear 42. Dancer's beat 45. Daisy dukes, e.g. 49. "Wizard of Oz" man 51. Archimedes' exclamation 54. Furlough 56. Flower part 57. Frog delicacy 58. Wheel shaft 59. Swerve 60. European sea eagle 61. *David and Paul on the "____ Show" 62. Italian currency, pl. 63. Maple genus 64. Negative contraction 67. *Jerry's fellow treat-maker Page 14 Solutions
TOLEDO STREETS NEW SP APER Mail: 1216 Madison Avenue Toledo, OHIO 43604 TOLEDO STREETS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, CORP. Board of Directors – 2020 Chair Lauren M. Webber Vice-Chair Tom Kroma Treasurer Lauren M. Webber Secretary Kristy Lee Czyzewski Ken Leslie Michelle Issacs a new job, because he lost his old job because of presiding judge, Leonie Mengel, as he summed up the case after the two-day trial. Michael P. has said that he wants to fi nd attack. “I was drunk,” he admitted in the courtroom. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have done such a stupid thing.” P. seemed depressed as he described in court how he felt that his life had been slipping through his fi ngers. He has suffered for many years from a rare nerve disease: problems with walking and balance are consequences of the disease and sometimes he is unable to leave the house despite using medication. The fact that he could only calm his nerves with alcohol was confi rmed by an expert. Did the combination of alcohol and pills make him aggressive? This possibility cannot be excluded, according to the expert. However, “how [the attack] actually happened remains unclear,” said the his sentence, mainly as a result of his behaviour after the attack. While it is true that he ran away on the night of the attack, shortly afterwards he apologised to the victim in person on several occasions. And, although the victim told him that he didn’t need to go to the police, P. did so a little while later. “I wanted to take responsibility for what I did,” he said in court. Sven, his victim, did not appear in court, but later said in a conversation with Hinz&Kunzt that, “if he hadn’t contacted the police then they never would have found him, so he has my respect for that.” Michael P. only vaguely remembers the The 27-year-old got off so lightly, in terms of Seifert, the coroner, in the court proceedings that were held nearly seven months after the attack. Sven, a homeless man, had to be taken by ambulance for treatment in hospital. The sentence for the attacker was rather mild: he was sentenced to one year and three months in custody for causing grievous bodily harm and given a further two years on probation. This was just what the prosecution asked for. After he completes his sentence, Michael P. will be a free man. “He was incredibly lucky,” said Dragane he could sleep deeply. It was 6.20pm when a dark fi gure suddenly appeared in front of him at the Ohlsdorf station in Hamburg, where he had settled down to sleep. Then things kicked off. “I was only just able to prop myself up,” the 45-year-old remembers. Then came the pain as a 12-centimetrelong cut was slashed across Sven’s throat. It could have been fatal. Vendor Representative Marthia Russell Julie M. McKinnon Ken Leslie Chris Csonka Deb Morris Zobaida Falah • Kristy Lee Czyzewski• • Treasurer Lauren M. Webber Secretary • Vice-Chair Tom Kroma For Sven, the attack came out of nowhere. In the evening, he had some drinks so that By Benjamin Laufer and Jonas Füllner Ohlsdorf station in Hamburg when he was slashed across the neck in an unprovoked attack that could have cost him his life. His life-threatening injuries were infl icted on him by a 27-year-old, who admitted that he was drunk at the time of the attack and who later handed himself into police after running away from the scene of the crime. Hinz&Kunzt learns more about the attack and its repercussions. Translated from German by Hazel Alton Courtesy of Hinz&Kunzt / INSP.ngo • • • • Bryce Roberts Chair respect the space of other vendors, particularly the space of vendors who have been at a spot longer, and will position myself at least two blocks away from a working vendor unless otherwise approved; 45-year-old Sven was sleeping outside • “I get scared by every little noise”: The aftermath of a violent attack • Board of Directors – 2018 Mail: 913 Madison Street Toledo, OHIO 43604 CONTINUED FROM P 3TOLEDO STREETS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, CORP. OUR GLOBAL INSP COMMUNITYOur Global INSP Community Page 19 understand I am not a legal employee of Toledo Streets but a contracted worker responsible for my own well-being and income; • not buy/sell Toledo Streets under the infl uence of drugs or alcohol; agree to sell no additional goods or products when selling the paper; his illness. “I want to get my life back on track,” he said, after four months in custody. Sven’s life has been unsettled since the attack last winter. “Sleeping has changed,” he explains, “I get scared by every little noise.” Sven would most like to have his own apartment, or at least a room of his own. When you have your own place, he says, “you can sleep properly again.” agree to treat others- customers, staff and other vendors - respectfully, and I will not “hard sell”, threaten or pressure customers; only purchase the paper from Toledo Streets staff or volunteers and will not sell papers to other vendors; agree not to ask for more than a dollar or solicit donations for Toledo Streets by any other means; All vendors must agree to the following code of conduct to: The following list is our Vendor Code of Conduct, which every vendor reads through and signs before receiving a badge and papers. We request that if you discover a vendor violating any tenets of the Code, please contact us and provide as many details as possible. Our paper and our vendors should positively impact the city. While Toledo Streets is a non-profi t program, and its vendors are independent contractors, we still have expectations of how vendors should conduct themselves while selling and representing the paper. Vendor Code of Conduct understand Toledo Streets strives to be a paper that covers homelessness and poverty issues while providing a source of income for the unhoused and underprivileged. I will try to help in this effort and spread the word. understand my badge is the property of Toledo Streets and will not deface it. I will present my badge when purchasing the papers and display my badge when selling papers. I realize badges cost $1 to replace when lost or damaged; always have in my possession the following when selling Toledo Streets: my Toledo Streets badge, a Toledo Streets sign, a vendor’s license waiver from the mayor, and Toledo Streets papers; agree to only use professional signs provided by Toledo Streets; Abby Sullivan Shannon Nowak Shawn Clark Amy Saylor LaParis Grimes Wanda Boudrie Our vendors purchase each paper for $.25 and ask for a dollar donation. In exchange for their time and effort in selling the paper, they keep the difference. They are asking for a hand up, not a hand out. By purchasing the paper, you have helped someone struggling to make it. Not just in terms of money, but also in dignity of doing something for themselves. We thank you. FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER Crystal Jankowski Our Staff EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR John Keegan WRITING TEAM LEADER Jonie McIntire ART DIRECTOR Ed Conn Toledo Streets seeks to empower individuals struggling with extreme poverty to participate on a new level in the community through self-employment, job training, and contributorship. Our Mission Toledo Streets is a registered nonprofi t corporation in Ohio. While your gifts to the vendors, who are independent contractors, are not taxed deductible, any donations you make directly to our organization are deductible. These monies go to supporting programming, which includes job training and skills development. Our vendors purchase each paper for $.25 and ask for a dollar donation. In exchange for their time and effort in selling the paper, they keep the difference. They are asking for a hand up, not a hand out. By purchasing the paper, you have helped someone struggling to make it. Not just in terms of money, but also in dignity of doing something for themselves. We thank you. Toledo Streets is a monthly publication called a street paper. We are part of a worldwide movemment of street papers that seeks to provide simple economic opportunities to homeless individuals and those experiencing poverty. Toledo Streets is a registered nonprofi t corporation in Ohio. While your gifts to the vendors, who are independent contractors, are not tax deductible, any donations you make directly to our organization are deductible. These monies go to supporting programming, which includes job training and skills development. Our Mission Toledo Streets seeks to empower individuals struggling with extreme poverty to participate on a new level in the community through self-employment, job training, and contributorship. Our Staff EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Arika Michaelis VENDOR MANAGER Claire McKenna ART DIRECTOR Ed Conn INTERNS John Brindley, II Julia Holder Trinity Episcopal Church Toledo Streets is a monthly publication called a street paper. We are part of a worldwide movement of street papers that seeks to provide simple economic opportunities to homeless individuals and those experiencing poverty. Vendor Code of Conduct As a vendor representing Toledo Streets Newspaper , I: • • • • • • • • • • • • agree not to ask for more than a dollar or solicit donations for Toledo agree to treat all others—customers, staff, pressure customers. agree to stay off other private Toledo property and highway understand I am not a legal employee of for my own well-being and income. Streets Newspaper vendors—respectfully, exit Toledo under and ramps when selling Streets Newspaper agree to sell no additional goods or products when selling the paper. will not buy/sell the in luence agree to only use professional signs provided by Toledo Toledo Streets badge, a Streets sign, and of but drugs will always have in my possession the following when selling Toledo Toledo Streets papers. understand my badge, vest, and sign are the property of Toledo them in any way. Toledo I Streets will Toledo a or Streets Newspaper. Streets Newspaper agree that badges and signs are $5 to replace and vests are $10 to replace. understand that when you are wearing your vest you are representing Toledo inappropriate behavior while representing Streets Newspaper may result in Streets Newspaper : my Toledo will and Streets Newspaper, disciplinary not alter thus action any by any not contracted alcohol. will respect the space of other vendors and will position myself at least two blocks away from a working vendor unless otherwise approved. other means. “hard sell,” threaten Streets Newspaper. worker responsible or Page 15
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