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The Contributor is Nashville's street newspaper. We strive to print a monthly paper that provides both a diversity of perspectives on homelessness and a source of income for homeless and formerly homeless individuals while creating community between vendors and customers. Please contact us with any questions. Any donation is greatly needed and appreciated. Thank you so much for your support!
Featured Stories & News
Read selected stories from our publication and keep up with the latest news here.
Dear reader,
Thank you so much for supporting The Contributor. I wanted to take some time to update you on what this year has brought for us so far, let you in on our latest plans, and ask for your financial support as we work towards the future.
What an exciting year 2010 has been for The Contributor!
The Contributor is a publication that focuses on issues surrounding homelessness and poverty and is distributed on public sidewalks by homeless and formerly homeless vendors who keep the profit from each paper they sell. We have already more than tripled our January circulation of 12,000―and we ordered a print run of 60,000 for September. (We must pinch ourselves when we remember that our print run in January 2009 stood at a proud 1,500!)
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Please help us finish our year strong by making your tax-deductible donation today. You can donate electronically here on our website or mail your donation to The Contributor, P.O. Box 332023, Nashville, Tennessee 37203 |
We recently surveyed our homeless and formerly homeless newspaper vendors and found that of the vendors who had been selling for more than a month, 29% had found housing since they started selling. Vendors who had sold for at least three months had a 35% rate of finding housing.
In February, I was the recipient of the Titan’s Community Quarterback award for my efforts with The Contributor as volunteer founder, director and designer. And, thanks to your donations during our winter fundraising drive, The Contributor board of directors was able to hire me in March as our very first full-time paid staff member.
And, in May we were granted our 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit status from the IRS. More
by Danny Abbott
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One of The Contributor’s top vendors is a very pleasant gentleman by the name of James Redden. He sells papers on the corner of 14th Avenue and Broadway. James is from Jefferson City, TN, a small-town outside of Knoxville. While he was “born and raised in Tennessee,” he spent a few decades living in Texas.
James joined the United States Marine Corps in 1977 at the age of eighteen and served until he was discharged in 1981 at twenty-two at the rank of Sergeant. While serving in the Marine Corps he worked as a cook and then later served as an instructor for cooks. During his enlistment he was stationed in Korea and in Japan. Remarking that he is often asked if he is an ex-Marine, he explains that it doesn’t work that way: “You are always a marine—it’s a code of honor.” The honor that James speaks of is readily apparent not only in the way he treats other people but also in his sense of self-respect.
After serving in the military, James worked for many years as a cook, which he stopped roughly ten years ago. Over the past few years he has worked in construction and as a fork-truck operator. When asked how he became homeless, he calmly and without any resentment states that he lost his job. But although James was down, he was not out, and so he immediately sought work. Like most Nashville transplants, he moved to Nashville to find a job. Since December 2009, James has sold papers for The Contributor. More
Gaps in Services and the Need for Alternative “Tent Cities”
Lindsey Krinks
lindsey.krinks@gmail.com
Carol is a single mother with a 24-year-old son, Jesse. Jesse has a developmental disorder which affects his ability to function as an independent adult, yet doesn’t qualify him to receive disability benefits. In the fall of 2009, Carol lost her job, fell behind on her bills, and was evicted from her home. Because of Jesse’s age, he couldn’t stay in the Women’s Mission with his mother, yet he couldn’t function alone in the Men’s Mission due to his disorder. After wading through program after program and being told that they “didn’t meet criteria” or that they would have to split up in order to receive services, Carol and Jesse heard about Tent City and moved into a tent where they could live together while navigating Nashville’s social services system.
Lori and Rich have been together for three years and are devoted to their dogs. When they became homeless, staying at traditional shelters was not an option for them. Their lives, homes, and jobs had crumbled in around them and they had no stability or security, save in the reassurance of their relationship and the unconditional love of their pets. So rather than living 2.5 miles apart in the Men’s and Women’s Mission and giving up their dogs, they chose to camp in Tent City. After all, in Tent City, they could keep their family together, have a place to store their belongings, and work with outreach workers to begin rebuilding their lives.
Eli has paranoid schizophrenia and a criminal background and dreams of having his own apartment. For now, however, he is just trying to stay on his meds and out of jail. Crowded environments like shelters, group homes, and soup kitchens agitate his paranoia so he tries to strike a balance between keeping to himself and avoiding complete isolation. After trying to live in a variety of shelters and ending up in crisis centers, he decided to try camping. He established a quaint, quiet camp on the edge of Tent City and continued living day to day.
People like Carol, Jesse, Lori, Rich, and Eli fall through the cracks of Nashville’s existing homeless shelters and transitional housing programs. Without a safe place to go, they will spiral further into their despair and receive citations (and therefore court fees and a record) for non-criminal offenses such as sleeping on park benches (“trespassing”) with their belongings and pets at their sides (“obstructing the passageway”). In a city with an estimated homeless population of 4,000 but only about 1,500 beds at shelters and other transitional housing facilities, thousands are left with only two options: be invisible or be arrested. More
Chris Scott
chrisfieselman@aol.com
A dollar or two, not much to you
But it meant a lot to me
I bought a phone card
And called my family
Grabbed myself a bite to eat
Money to do my laundry
Spare change for someone in need
All because your path crossed me
For a paper sold on the street
So I said a prayer for you today
When you bought a paper God brought you my way
‘Thank you’ may be all you hear me say
But God bless your steps I pray
A simple act of charity what you get back
When you share with me
More than just a little something to read
It’s the something that’s missing
You know you need
It’s God watching out for you and me
Through a paper sold on the street
So I said a prayer for you today
When you bought a paper God brought you my way
‘Thank you’ may be all you hear me say
But God bless your steps I pray
Now it’s probably not a good get-rich-quick plan
Standing on a corner with papers in hand
Doing what we’re both supposed to do
Pray for me and I’ll pray for you
We all want world peace and harmony
Let it start right here with you and me
And a paper sold on the street
So I said a prayer for you today
When you bought a paper God brought you my way
‘Thank you’ may be all you hear me say
But God bless your steps I pray
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