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Word on the street: Donations get newspaper started for the homeless

[3] By Michael O'Malley, The Plain Dealer [3]
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click to view video of Angelo Anderson selling the Cleveland Street Chronicle

The Homeless Grapevine, a newspaper for street people, stopped publishing in 2009, but a reconstituted tabloid with a new name, the Cleveland Street Chronicle, hit the streets this month.

Editor-in-Chief Brian Davis, who is also director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, said hard economic times killed the Grapevine, as sidewalk vendors, mostly homeless people, faced more and more tight-pursed pedestrians.

Now he's keeping his fingers crossed for the fledgling Street Chronicle.

"The hope is the economy will get better in 2011," said Davis, noting that the goal is to publish every month, but acknowledging that finding the money to do so is very challenging.

The cost of publishing the first issue -- 6,000 papers currently being circulated by six vendors -- was $1,600, raised by a group of Cleveland-area poets.

"I don't know what we'll be able to do for the next [edition]," said poet Ben Gulyas who spearheaded fundraising for the paper's maiden run.

Gulyas tapped into a network of fellow poets for contributions and passed hats at poetry readings. At a reading one night at the Bela Dubby coffee shop/beer joint in Lakewood he raised $200.

The effort, said Gulyas, was primarily an act of human kindness and a way to draw public attention to the cause of homelessness.

It was also a way to honor the late poet Daniel Thompson of Cleveland Heights, who died in 2004. Thompson, a poet laureate of Cuyahoga County and a supporter of the Grapevine, worked quietly for years delivering food, blankets and fresh water out of the trunk of his car to street people.

"I didn't want to wave the poet flag," said Gulyas. "I just wanted to get the job done and give a nod to Daniel for all the work he did."

Marvin Fong, The Plain DealerAngelo Anderson sells the Cleveland Street Chronicle Wednesday at the Westside Market. Anderson was once homeless many years ago and now works for a local shelter.

Like the Grapevine, which was launched in 1992, the Street Chronicle is 16 pages of profiles of homeless people, poetry, photography and news about local homeless issues. It also publishes a list of where people can volunteer to help the needy.

Davis said the goal is to sell the 6,000 copies by the end of January. Vendors buy the papers for 35 cents each and peddled them for $1.25, keeping the profits. "The paper is the first step back into the workforce for many," said Davis.

After the death of the Grapevine, some former vendors held onto old copies while they panhandled. If the cops showed up, the beggars would pull out a Grapevine and say they were vendors.

Davis said six former vendors have been banned from selling because of the scam.

Street Chronicle vendors now wear green badges with their names and identification numbers printed on them. The Homeless Coalition's phone number is also printed on badges in case problems occur.

Vendors usually work Public Square, the West Side Market and the retail section of Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights.

Angelo Anderson, a former homeless man who had sold the Grapevine since its beginning, said sales of the Street Chronicle during this holiday season have been solid. "We're trying to make a go of it," he said. "But it's too early to tell."

Marvin Fong, The Plain DealerAngelo Anderson, a former homeless and jobless man, is now the coordinator of education and employment at a shelter for men the near East Side of Cleveland. When not doing shelter work, he peddles the Cleveland Street Chronicle, a new newspaper for the homeless.

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