Holger (53) sells Hinz&Kunzt at the Isemarket in Hamburg Eppendorf. Here, he looks back on his earlier life, which was turned upside down in the 1980s when he worked at a shop selling stolen goods and was blackmailed by his physically abusive boss. The support of friends on the street led him to Hinz&Kunst 20 years ago; now, his life is full of hope – and love.

V.W. found StreetWise after attending a homeless luncheon in 2010, during which she learned about the magazine and met other vendors. She has now been selling StreetWise for nearly three years. Here, she talks about her life as a vendor and about the sense of hope that she has regained thanks to her work.

Cologne-born Linda, a Draussenseiter vendor, was homeless for eleven years. Now, she runs her own self-help group for women on the streets and is passionately committed to ensuring that homeless women are properly supported. Here, she looks back on her life and discusses the positive legacy of her homelessness: those years endowed her with a sense of purpose that she has channelled into helping others.

Old lady Zhong, as she is known, has been a Big Issue Taiwan vendor for two years. Here, she tells her life story; from her days spent caring for her paraplegic father to her professional life and motherhood. She also reflects on the support that she has received from various benefactors throughout her life and speaks of her desire to carry out similar acts of kindness for others.

When The Big Issue Australia published their first issue, 60,000 Australians were homeless. Now, that number is almost double. New census figures released this month show that there are more than 116,000 people who don’t have a place to call home. For their latest edition, The Big Issue decided to go beyond the statistics to hear from the very people these numbers represent – their vendors. Their stories are illuminating, devastating, and hopeful, and evidence that homelessness is more than not having a place to sleep.

Boban Pajkovic has been living in Vienna for over 50 years, after moving to Austria from Serbia in 1967. Here, the talks about his work as an Augustin vendor, the kindness of a man called Mr D and the tells story of how he lost the little toe on his right foot.

Kralji Ulice vendor Edin first took up a pitch to sell street papers as part of his community service after having some trouble with the law. But now, he recognises that the chance to sell the magazine was a lucky opportunity to fall into.

John has spent the last 40 years working as a handyman all over Washington state. He has been homeless since the age of 18. Here, he talks about his family background, the challenges that he currently faces and the importance of appreciating how lucky you are.

Aristeo wanted to be a sport star. But somewhere along the way, he lost himself. Thanks to Mi Valedor, things are looking up for him. Here, he explains why.

Vancouver vendor Priscillia Tait took the winning cover photo of the 2018 Hope in Shadows calendar. Here, she talks about the setting she chose for the photograph, as well as her family, growing up in an Indigenous community and her experience of homelessness.

Tina first arrived in Portland two and a half years ago and she now sells Street Roots from her pitch outside Target in Downtown Portland. Here, she reflects on her childhood struggle to reconcile her outer gender with her inner self, how welcoming Portland has been for her as a trans woman and the rich feeling of hope that her mother endowed her with.

Curbside Chronicle vendor Steve talks in depth about his childhood, growing up, his experiences of homeless and what it is like to work as a street paper vendor in Oklahoma City.

Constantin (60) is a vendor for Hinz&Kunzt at the REWE-Center in Dorotheenstraße. After losing his home and his family in his native country of Romania, he travelled to Germany looking for work. After finding himself sleeping rough, he turned to the German street paper for help.

The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, takes place this Sunday, so Chicago’s StreetWise asked its vendors to view a handful of the Academy-nominated films and share their thoughts. It’s a hotly contested year, with quality filmmaking running throughout the nominations, as well as some big surprises and a welcome turn towards greater diversity. (Be warned, there are SPOILERS ahead).

Tommaso, a Scarp de’ tenis vendor in Italy, tells us about his close relationship with his brother and how it has helped him push through some of the more challenging periods of his life.

Our vendor on the pitch, Nancy Mngqelana, 53, sells The Big Issue magazine in Claremont. She shares her inspiration and aspirations, and her story ‘sew’ far.

Big Issue vendors from across Australia offer words of advice, reflection, consolation and love to their teenaged selves in these special letters written for #VendorWeek 2018.

The Big Issue Australia vendor Cameron has become an internet sensation after a Facebook post about his unique idea to celebrate Valentine’s Day went viral.

The future beckons for high-school student Jusuf, who is looking forward to entering the world of work. Here, he tells us his story and talks about his life, desire to travel and love of dancing the tango.

In honour of #VendorWeek 2018, Megaphone vendor James Witwicki and L’Itinéraire vendor Yvon Massicotte had a ‘face-to-face’ interview to swap experiences of how both wound up selling street papers.

Ahead of this year’s #VendorWeek celebration, Canadian street paper Megaphone announced their Vendor of the Year – Craig Baron (who was also recently featured in our Vendor Moments series). Here, he tells us about his life and what it’s like being a Megaphone vendor. Celebrating our vendors is what #VendorWeek is all about.

To mark #VendorWeek 2018, US street paper Denver VOICE published a four-page spread completely dedicated to their vendors, as well as hosting a Big Sell event in the city. In the feature, vendors talk about their pitch, their daily routine, and we even here from readers showing their appreciation for their local vendor.

#VendorWeek 2018 is just around the corner, so we caught up with nine StreetWise vendors. They praise the magazine for giving them hope for the future, the opportunity to interact meaningfully with others and the promise of self-sufficiency.

For Hinz&Kunzt vendor Peter, the Kiez area was his home. After his death, his colleagues, friends and neighbours honoured him with a funeral march through St. Pauli. The tour ended in the pub called Silbersack – so did Peter’s sales tours in the past.

Only vendors know the realities of what it is like to sell Norwegian street paper Sorgenfri to the public. Last year, after being challenged to do so by a vendor, the publication’s Trond Ola Tilseth spent a day selling the magazine on the streets of Trondheim.

Nicusor, 56, comes from Romania and has been selling Big Issue North since 2016. He tells us about his hopes of finding work as a carpenter in the future, learning English and the joy that he finds in playing music.

Klara has been selling Augustin in Vienna for seven years. She tells us about her life as a street paper vendor, her sadness at being separated from her children and the companionship that she enjoys with her dog, Rocky.

Emmanuel Salter has travelled all over the USA, driven by his thirst for adventure. Now a Real Change vendor in Seattle, Emmanuel looks back on his life and reflects on the present, in which his is not homeless but ‘home-free’.