2019 is well and truly underway, and the new year has brought with it an impressive array of street paper covers to cast the winter blues away!

Jason Sheer has been involved with Street Roots for eight years and he credits the magazine with bringing an increased level of stability into his life. Here, he talks about his experience of homelessness and the support that he has received from Street Roots. He is hopeful about what the future will bring.

Luc Lenoir is 59 years old and sells L’Itinéraire from his pitch at the corner of De Maisonneuve and Saint-Denis Streets in Montréal, Québec. He is a L’Itinéraire pioneer: Luc has been involved with the magazine since the mid-90s and was one of the organizers of its launch. He credits the magazine with helping him to forge meaningful relationships with others and providing him with independence.

Marlies Dietiker worked as a Surprise vendor for over ten years from her pitch at Olten station, a railway hub that links Switzerland’s major cities. She sadly hasn’t been able to return to work after undergoing two major surgeries in the last three years. Although no longer working as a Surprise vendor, Marlies has many fond memories of her work as a vendor. Here, she explains why working for Surprise was the perfect thing for her.

In the most recent count of the homeless community in Multnomah County, Oregon, 1,355 adult women were identified as homeless, making up 36 per cent of the total homeless population, a 16 per cent rise from the previous survey. Street Roots spoke to five of its vendors about what women living on the streets experience.

Jackie Turner is an artist and Street Sense Media vendor whose experience of homelessness has changed her worldview. She is acutely aware of the fact that homelessness happens for a range of reasons and that being homeless can be a depressing and hopeless experience. For Jackie, learning to love herself and appreciating the beauty around her has helped her to feel a powerful sense of connection to the world.

To kick off 2019, UK street paper The Big Issue is implementing cutting edge augmented reality technology with an edition of the magazine to create an interactive reading experience, allowing Big Issue vendors to tell their important stories of experiencing homelessness directly to readers, as well as much more.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. In the final instalment of this series, Zebra vendor Happy talks about his love of gospel music.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. The street paper Z! is sold in Amsterdam. Four of its vendors spoke about their contributions to the playlist.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Two Tagessatz vendors explain why they made their contributions.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Trott-War vendor Peter chose a song that stands out from the surrounding pack – a rap song about the German football association.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. A bunch of StreetWise vendors in Chicago explained in depth about their contributions.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Seven Surprise vendors chipped in with their choices.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Today, we hear Strassenkreuzer vendors Georg and Brigitte on The Velvet Underground and Tony Marshall.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Street Sense vendors in Washington DC talk about their song choices, which range from festive classics to T-Pain.

Since 1990, communities across the US, while shoppers frantically prepare for Christmas, meet on the first day of winter and longest night of the year to commemorate those who have died while homeless in the last year. This year, 150 such gatherings took place on what is known as National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. Among them were those attended and organised by US-based street papers, accounts of which are collated here.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Street Roots vendors in Portland, Oregon, run through their choices.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Kine, a Sorgenfri vendor and a musician, is inspired by Damon Albarn, musical polymath and the brains behind animated band Gorillaz, in both her music and her life.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Shedia vendors Irini and Magda have contrasting reasons behind their song choices.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Scarp de’ tenis vendor Claudio reminisces about the Italian countryside through his favourite song of all time.

Megaphone celebrates the festive season by profiling a few of their hard-working vendors, who pass along a message to their valued customers.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. One Step Away vendors in Philadelphia are like a microcosm of the entire street paper network – they have diverse musical tastes.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Mi Valedor vendor Erasmo talks about his love of singer José José and how it links with a lifetime of struggling with alcoholism.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Megaphon vendor Stephen is a musician himself, and believes that his songs are perfect for Christmas.

With the festive season in full swing and Christmas Day less than a week away, we take a moment to cast our eye over the street papers, calendars, books and other goodies on sale by vendors during December.

Brigitta has been a Big Issue vendor for three years now, after moving from her home in Romania in search of a better life and a greater chance of finding work. Here, she talks about her family, her pitch and how she gets on selling The Big Issue.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Megaphone vendors talk about the songs they selected.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. For Freedom, a Marie vendor, “an African beat makes me forget my worries”.