INSP Advent Calendar: day 16

The editors of The Curbside Chronicle make room in every issue to share personal stories from Curbside vendors, as their goal to document the challenges of homelessness. Homelessness can be an extremely difficult path and going it alone is never easy, which is why readers might notice that some of the magazine’s vendors have pets. In a series of conversations with Curbside vendors, we find out more about the furballs who have wagged their way into vendors hearts and become an integral part of the Curbside community.

Mr. Huang sells The Big Issue Taiwan from his pitch outside the Qizhang metro station in Taipei. His life changed five years ago when two workplace accidents and a cancer diagnosis transformed his physical health. Having made peace with the past, Huang is grateful that being a Big Issue vendor provides him with a steady income and is looking forward to the future with hope.

Clothes make the man: a principle that vendors of Düsseldorf street paper fiftyfifty had the chance to experience first-hand as the subjects of an unusual photo shoot. Advertising agency Havas collaborated with the world’s leading photo agency Getty Images to create a completely new perception of people living on the street, with the aim of helping to challenge existing prejudices. Their campaign, called “Repicturing Homeless”, has received media coverage all around the world.

Surprise vendor Ali Nur Mohammed was badly injured in an attack carried out by Al-Shabaab terrorists in Somalia. He lost his right leg in the attack and the prosthetic limb that he has worn ever since causes him chronic pain. After reading about him in an issue of Surprise, Ronnie Schenkein set up a fund for Mohammed. This is what happened when the two met for the first time.

When we hear from vendors, it is usually to learn more about their experiences with homelessness and how working as a street paper seller has helped them. But vendors do all sorts of outstanding, inspiring things that we might not know about. Gerald “Spike” Peachey aims to use all of his experiences from the streets to help build a city where everyone can live their best lives by running for councillor in Vancouver’s civic election later this month. He sets out the reasons why the people in his district should vote for him.

Ewa, 51, sells Hinz&Kunzt at her pitch in front of the Douglas perfume shop on Mönckebergstraße, Hamburg. Earlier this year, she worked in the KunztKüche, where her hard work and dedication were noticed by her co-workers and, in May, she was the winner of the ‘Mit dir geht mehr’ (You make our city better) campaign. Hinz&Kunzt met up with Ewa, who has high hopes for the future and who has done so much to support others in her community.

Chon Gotti, a vendor and salesman, discusses how he found himself without housing and how he moved beyond that point. A former officer, an advocate and parent, Gotti sees life as a matter of pride, confidence and strength. Along with discussing his business strategies, Gotti works to be a reminder that the homeless are not a stereotype, but people just like anyone else.

This Big Issue love story begins at a wheelchair touch football game and continues on through joy, devastation and more love – an abundance of it. The Big Issue Australia’s editor Amy Hetherington speaks to newlywed vendors Kelly and Greg.

Castrenze has been hit hard by Italy’s financial crisis, more than once in his life. But now settled in a home as a Scarp vendor, things are looking up.

Making a documentary film is an intricate and lengthy process. Here, Hans-Albrecht Lusznat describes his role as cameraman during the production of BISS’s documentary about the lives of four of its vendors. Filmed over a period of three years in Munich, Germany, the film follows four vendors and documents the trials and triumphs that they experience while working for BISS.

Street Roots vendor Gail talks about her upbringing in New York, moving to Portland with her daughter and using selling the street paper to combat social isolation.

37-year-old Mélanie Noël sells L’Itinéraire from her pitch at the Verdun metro station in Montreal, Quebec. Here, she looks back on a childhood spent moving from home to home and her troubled relationship with her sister, while affirming how positive her time as a L’Itinéraire vendor has been. She loves her work and has found strength through relationships forged with friends and mentors.

Randolph B. has found security through his work selling The Contributor. He knows that he will always be able to sell the magazine, regardless of his work situation, and that he has the support of customers with whom he was forged lasting friendships. Despite having recently taken on paid work with Rock City Mechanical, Randolph still sells The Contributor in the evenings and at the weekend. Here, he speaks of his love for his customers and for his adopted hometown, Nashville.

This week, the 2018 INSP Global Street Paper Summit has been held in Glasgow, giving street paper staff from countries throughout the network the opportunity to discuss the issues affecting their vendors in our modern world. According to recent news reports in the US state of Portland, 52 per cent of all arrests last year in the Portland area were made against people on the streets, and 86 per cent of those were for non-violent violations. The city’s street paper, Street Roots, surveyed its vendor about their first-hand experience with law enforcement.

With the INSP Global Street Paper Summit in Glasgow this week, it’s a great opportunity to hear from one of the city’s vendors. Daniel is a familiar face in the west end of Glasgow, and you might even recognise him from past stories featured in the INSP website and News Service. He even went viral not that long ago. Here, he tells us how he came to be a Big Issue vendor, getting back into education and his love of graphic novels.

Petra, 55, sells Hinz&Kunzt in front of the Edeka supermarket in the Winterhude quarter of Hamburg, often in the company of her dog, Luna. Here, Petra talks about the friendly relationships that she has with many of her customers and talks about what life has been like since she became homeless three years ago. One day, she hopes to have a place of her own that she can call home.