BUSINESS
Allison Wei
The Detroit News
Ann Arbor — A panhandler on the sidewalk. Someone holding a sign at an intersection. This is probably what comes to mind when thinking of someone who's experienced homelessness. You don't think of Ken Parks.
Parks, 81, has been intermittently homeless throughout his life, but that doesn't define his identity. He's also been a seminary student, union painter and community organizer — all of which he brings to his work as a vendor and writer for Groundcover News in Ann Arbor.
"It's my way of being in the intellectual world," said Parks, who has written about everything from former President Donald Trump to the U.S. relationship with Cuba.
Groundcover News is a street paper, hawked by those experiencing homelessness or poverty. Such people face a host of employment barriers and street newspapers are one of the few legal jobs in which they can quickly get cash, though how much in a given day varies quite a bit.
Vendors like Parks buy the papers at cost and sell them, keeping the profit.
Besides providing income for the homeless, street newspapers also aim to combat stigma, provide a sense of community and serve as a link to social services.
That's certainly what Parks has experienced. Thanks to a friend at Groundcover, Parks was able to go from being homeless to having an apartment through Avalon Housing, a housing nonprofit.
"I was in the loop of homeless housing bureaucracy," Parks said. "I'd try to get housing, then get dropped because of something I didn't know I had to do ... my friend coached me so I could actually move up the list and get moving."
Parks' story shows the impact street newspapers can have amid rising homelessness in Michigan, where the number of people without a permanent residence climbed 8% in 2022, according to the latest report by Michigan's Campaign to End Homelessness.
Groundcover is one of 90-plus street papers around the world, according to the nonprofit International Network for Street Papers. There's a large variation: from scrappy papers like Groundcover running on slim budgets and volunteers to glossy national magazines that cover national news and celebrities like The Big Issue in London.
"The number of street papers worldwide is growing," said Mike Findlay-Agnew, CEO of the International Network for Street Papers. INSP currently oversees 92 street papers in 32 countries published in 25 languages. INSP provides training to start your own street paper and supports existing street papers with a news wire that papers can draw from and a translation service.
Most street papers in North America are nonprofits that rely heavily on donations and partnerships in addition to paper sales and advertising. This model has largely worked since the inception of these publications in the late 1980s. But in recent years, street papers have had to grapple with a host of new challenges, including the shift toward online reading and rising newsprint costs.
In response, operators have gotten more innovative. Post-pandemic, many papers have added cashless payments, and some have added online editions or gone entirely digital. During the pandemic, instead of shutting down, many street papers simply pivoted to offering direct services to those experiencing homelessness.
"Street papers are creative and flexible," Findlay-Agnew said. Although the pandemic hit some papers very hard, many have bounced back. "There hasn't been one closure I've heard of that we weren't expecting. Many papers have started printing again."
In a challenging operating environment, street papers continue to persist as a voice of empowerment and a vital means of income.
Thrive Detroit: 'Staying afloat'
Thrive Detroit was one street newspaper that transitioned to fully digital during COVID. But they haven't been able to bounce back so easily, not resuming print. Even then, they remain committed to the mission and the community they serve.
Delphia Simmons, who works for the homeless nonprofit COTS Detroit, started Thrive in 2013 after hearing about street newspapers from a coworker. She printed a monthly 12-page paper featuring book and movie reviews, self-development articles and occasionally stories from those who experienced homelessness.
People who sold the paper were able to make $100 or more a day, Simmons said.
"Detroiters are generous," she said. "Most of them gave way more than the cover price for the paper." One vendor on the brink of homelessness was able to save up enough money to buy a used car, Simmons said.
The United Way's 211 On the Go program helped sustain Thrive Detroit's print product for a time by helping distribute the paper to potential vendors, but the end of that support and Simmons' difficulty keeping vendors led her to reduce the print schedule to quarterly, and then online only, where it remains. Currently, Thrive posts articles to its online blog periodically.
"We're staying afloat," she said.
But Simmons holds out hope for returning to print: "Street papers are a great concept ... we're going to keep going until the right opportunity comes along."
Speak Up Zine: A Traverse City trial
Bill Shaw is well acquainted with the time and energy it takes to run a street newspaper. He and his wife, Deborah, have done it twice.
The couple started their first publication, The Jeepney Magazine, in the Philippines after moving there in 2007. The Jeepney was popular, even featuring celebrity interviews from singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and boxer Manny Pacquiao, but it was costly. The Shaws were contributing about $20,000 annually to keep the paper running, and as their funds ran low and their kids started college, they moved back to Michigan.
But the Shaws still kept their passion for street newspapers. In 2014, they launched Speak Up Zine in Traverse City — a branch of Speak Up Magazine, which their son, Matt Shaw, had started in North Carolina.
The couple published it as a 24-page biweekly zine that featured local vendor stories and shared content from Speak Up Magazine.
With fewer cultural and linguistic barriers, Speak Up Traverse was less capital-intensive to run than The Jeepney: each zine cost only $1 to produce. Sponsorships from local businesses helped cover additional costs. Speak Up Magazine also helped with editing and designing the magazine. But the biggest challenge the Shaws encountered was managing vendors.
"We had some difficult individuals we had to deal with. There were some vendors with addictions and various psychological issues," Bill Shaw said. "We probably needed a social worker on staff." When a typhoon hit the Philippines in 2015, they left Speak Up to help with relief work there.
Although running Speak Up Traverse was not easy, the Shaws believe they made a difference. "We had one vendor that passed away and wanted all his funds to go towards Speak Up," Bill Shaw said.
While the couple are now retired, son Matt continues to run Speak Up Magazine at-large. During COVID, Speak Up pivoted to being digital-only, launching a blog with dozens of firstperson stories of homelessness. The publication resumed a print edition earlier this year, but the digital blog has stayed, providing a larger platform to raise awareness and garner funds.
Groundcover News: Bouncing back
Groundcover News also went web-only temporarily during the pandemic but is back to printing, publishing a 12-page edition every other week, put together by dozens of volunteers and sold by 40 vendors who distribute 4,500 copies a month.
"In a world where people are moving faster and don't know their neighbors, having that human relationship with street vendors is what we need," said Lindsay Calka, the paper's publisher and managing director. "You're able to connect with someone across class and race and now someone you might never have talked to knows your name and says hi."
James Manning, 41, a Groundcover vendor from New Hampshire, said he's formed relationships with some customers who have become regulars. He's earned as much as $300 in a day as a Groundcover vendor but also recently pulled in just $9 another day for hours of standing and keeping a friendly face.
Still, he struggles with the stigma of being homeless as he tries to sell the paper. "People look at me as a bum," he said. "Every day, I'm rejected and ignored."Ray Daniels, 27, of Detroit, is homeless in Ann Arbor and is in the process of getting hired to sell copies of the paper.
"People should treat Groundcover vendors better," he said. "They're just trying to make a living.
In the meantime, he's been panhandling — something that carries its own stigma. "I don't feel good about panhandling, and I try not to do it, but how can I have pride when I need to survive?" he said.
Part of Groundcover's mission is amplifying such underrepresented voices. Through its freelance writing program, writers who've experienced homelessness or poverty are paid $25-$150 per story. But writers aren't pigeonholed to only write about homelessness — they can write about anything from art to politics to local events, although local housing issues are often spotlighted.
That contributes to building the paper's brand, which along with deep community involvement, allowed Groundcover to sustain itself through the pandemic.
Although physical paper sales stopped, the heart of the paper — supporting vendors and fostering connection — was more alive than ever, Calka said.
"When the pandemic hit, we had to pivot. But we knew our purpose: providing people with community, access to cash, and the ability to meet their basic needs," she said. "When traditional newspaper sales were taken away, we simply thought about doing those three things in different ways."
Instead of in-person sales, Groundcover started offering online subscriptions to give vendors income. Volunteers distributed food and cellphones, and the paper started a vendor buddy system to support vendors' mental health during the lockdown.
Groundcover also has received community support, from low-cost office space from Bethlehem United Church of Christ to partnerships with the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor District Library. Local businesses also advertise in the paper.
Since the pandemic, Groundcover has bounced back. Last year, the paper hired Calka as its first full-time paid staff member. Groundcover has also expanded from monthly to biweekly printing, started a special semi-annual magazine, and is expanding to sell in other areas of Washtenaw County, such as Ypsilanti and Dexter.
Its mission remains unchanged: empowering those in poverty, being a platform for underrepresented voices, and building a more caring and inclusive society.
Manning puts it simply: "I just want people to treat me like a human being."
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