Homeless Tabloids

I first encountered these tabloids while walking on the streets of London a few years ago. Instead of a homeless person sticking his hand out for a handout, he was instead waving a small newspaper out trying to sell it to me. Of course, I stopped to find out what he was trying to promote. It was a tabloid on homelessness for a cost of one pound. The tabloid was called, The Big Issue. Click here to see Big Issue.

This person who was homeless was paid to sell newspapers (a real job), and the public was able to read about homelessness from the perspective of homeless writers.

Although not as phenomenal as the Beatles, this new British wonder still arrived on the shores of America in the late 1980s. (At least in San Francisco.) The Los Angeles Times covers this homeless tabloid in today’s paper. Click here for LAT article. It is called the Street Sheet, and is patterned after the British homeless tabloid.

In San Francisco, the tabloid sellers get paid $25 per day, not even minimum wage. But I guess it is a start. It certainly is a great way to educate the community on homelessness.

Such tabloids could help motivate a community to join the cause to end homelessness, but to pay people less than minimum wage is not going to help these individuals end homelessness in their own personal lives.