What’s been making the front pages of street papers during the past month?

Portland’s Street Roots has a periodic column about the parts of homelessness most people don’t talk about. In the US, the proportion of elderly people experiencing poverty and homelessness has risen by more than 20 per cent in the past 15 years. For this instalment, Street Roots explores what being homeless is like for people in the later years of their lives.

Edward Johnson has been working as a One Step Away vendor for over a year and moved into housing in August. Over 5,000 Philadelphians are affected by homelessness on any given night and, until recently, Edward was one of them. One Step Away finds out more about the sequence of events that led to Edward losing his home and hears about how One Step Away has given him support that he is richly grateful for.

The Big Issue has been reaching out to vendors across the street paper network to get the inside scoop on the cities they know best. This instalment features Mi Valedor vendors Erasmo, Antonio, Juan and Isaias talking about Mexico City.

Samuel Diarra, 71, was born in Mali and now works as a CAIS vendor at the Campo Pequeno in Lisbon. Samuel dreams of being a poet and talks enthusiastically about his love of the arts. He also speaks fondly of his adopted hometown of Lisbon and about why happiness is the value closest to his heart.

The Big Issue has been reaching out to vendors across the street paper network to get the inside scoop on the cities they know best. This instalment features Peatón vendor Eremia talking about Piura, a city in northern Peru.

Sue is a 50-year-old Tla’amin woman whose delicate frame belies her personal strength and great stature within her community. She has endured numerous personal losses and has responded to these tragedies with resilience and growth while, within her community, she is known for helping others finds strength by supporting those around her.

Vendors of The Curbside Chronicle documented their lives through a disposable camera photo essay with a magic hour theme for the Oklahoma street paper’s 55th issue, with some stunning results.

San Francisco’s Street Sheet is the oldest current member of the International Network of Street Papers, and this month is celebrating its 30th anniversary. INSP spoke to the paper’s current editor Quiver Watts about the publication and the city, and hear excerpts from Street Sheet’s anniversary issue about the experiences of vendors and former staff over the years.

Lothar is a Draussenseiter vendor with an extraordinary connection to the outside world: he loves to walk. And we’re not just talking about rambling or hiking here: after he set off on his first walk in July 2016, Lothar walked over 2,000 kilometres around Germany. His walks allow him to indulge in his love for nature, to let his mind wander and to discover new things. They have also taught him that less is more.

Health care is a hot topic in the United States and the debate about health care is likely to be a key issue in the run up to the presidential election in 2020, and differing opinion on how it should be reformed has already been core to the ongoing Democratic Primary. The prohibitively high costs of accessing health care, combined with the high number of people without medical insurance, means that many Americans cannot access the care that they urgently need. Two vendors talk to The Contributor about their experiences of the American health care system.

Previously, INSP brought stories from those living on the streets of Berkeley, published in the city’s street paper Street Spirit, that told tales of paranormal experiences, brushes with what could have been actual ghosts and, more eerily, the ghosts of memory. Here are two more pieces of writing, also by people who have experience of homelessness, which talk more about the truthful horrors that can occur while homeless.

Happy Halloween! The end of October is nigh, and we’re ready to dust off the cobwebs and send shivers down your spine with our round-up of covers from the past month.

To coincide with Halloween, Berkeley, California’s Street Spirit asked those who lived on the city’s streets for chilling, ghostly stories intersecting with their experiences of homelessness.

Randy Humphreys has been working as a Street Roots vendor for a few months and experiences great enjoyment in his work. He enjoys the contact that he has with his customers and is focusing on leaving his past behind him and moving forward with his life.

The Big Issue has been reaching out to vendors across the street paper network to get the inside scoop on the cities they know best. This instalment features Faktum vendor Eija talking about Gothenburg.

Last summer, Sylvie was left reeling after she lost everything. But there was something that helped her to get through: L’Itinéraire. Thanks to her time as a vendor years earlier, she was aware of the support that was available for women experiencing homelessness. But it wasn’t easy to secure the help she needed. Now, Sylvie has a room for her own and is appreciative of the friendships that she has formed within the L’Itinéraire community.

As Toledo Streets celebrates its 10th anniversary, its original founder writes about its inception and the events that led to it, as well as the struggles of setting up a street paper in a relatively small city and the breakthroughs that meant it could establish itself and carry out its mission.

Standing in the corridor outside the exit gate of Hsinchu Railway Station, Li-qiu is waiting for customers to buy copies of Big Issue Taiwan from her. She is still adjusting after moving to her new pitch less than a month ago after construction work started at her old one. “I’m trying to get used to it. I’m not quite familiar with the environment and customers over here,” she says. Despite the fact that sales have been slow today, Li-qiu thrives on her contact with customers and is happy to be working.

The Big Issue has been reaching out to vendors across the street paper network to get the inside scoop on the cities they know best. This instalment features Nota Bene vendor Peter talking about Bratislava.

Nikola Babic, 50, sells Surprise in the centre of Langenthal, Switzerland. He moved to Switzerland from Serbia five years ago and has remained in Switzerland because of political problems in his home country. He contacted Surprise while struggling to find work and is grateful to have been given the opportunity to become a vendor. He is looking forward to spending his remaining years before retirement doing the very best he can at his work.

The Big Issue has been reaching out to vendors across the street paper network to get the inside scoop on the cities they know best. This instalment features bodo vendor Jessica talking about Dortmund.

James Jenkins sells Real Change from his pitch at the QFC grocery story on Broadway and Pike Street in Capitol Hill. Jenkins has Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a rare neurological disorder that makes working nine-to-five unfeasible for him. He enjoys working as a Real Change vendor because it offers him the flexibility to work on the days that he feels well enough to do so.

We’ve rounded up the best of the street paper covers we’ve seen being sold on the streets this September.

The street paper network was represented at a recent gathering of the best in the magazine and publishing industry by INSP, Nikoleta Kosovac of Liceulice and Big Issue editor Paul McNamee. Spreading the word of the work of street papers, Kosovac and McNamee were involved in a panel, joined by individuals from other extremely influential publications, talking about how magazines can make change in the world.

Earlier this month, the Organisation for World Solidarity (OEW), publishers of INSP member zebra., celebrated the five-year anniversary – and 50th issue – of the street paper with a party in its home base of Brixen, in the South Tyrol region of northern Italy.

Jan became homeless in 2000 and moved to Vienna from the Czech Republic seven years ago. He has struggled to secure long-term employment as a result of his visual impairment and returned to his work as an Augstin vendor earlier this year. Here, he talks about the importance of community and the experiences that led him back to Augustin.

INSP has been celebrating its 25th anniversary all year with events and projects, and sharing stories and memories. With more happening this month and towards the end of the year, INSP spoke to members of the network also celebrating the quarter of a century milestone in 2019 about what has changed and what is to come.