WHAT IS STREETSENSE LIKE?
StreetSense in Chicago’s only true and honest media reporting on real news from the streets about the homeless.
StreetSense is a new, honest, and timely publication focused specifically upon homeless populations in Chicago. There are homeless people in big cities, small towns, and rural areas also. What is similar about them is the fact they do not live and sleep in a home. The stories here will highlight who the homeless are and why they ended up on our streets.
WHAT IS STREETSENSE NOT LIKE?
StreetSense is not a glossy nonsense magazine showcasing impossible stories like the homeless woman who camps out in front of a company and then suddenly finds a good job, then completes a master degree, and then becomes CEO of the company. It is not a publication full of corporate ads paying to direct the stories away from the truth like another paper sold on our streets.
WHAT STORIES WILL STREETSENSE FEATURE?
StreetSense will bring you real stories from the heart of a growing part of our vulnerable people living on the streets in The Windy City. We will feature:
PROFILES There will be news of actual homeless persons and organizations to help them. You will hear from the people directly who have to sleep each night in the cold and violent city.
INTERVIEWS We will talk to homeless experts, social workers, and others who help find resources for homeless persons and provide advice to them. Some interviews will feature volunteers at agencies; others may feature staff members assigned to help homeless people negotiate legal and financial challenges.
DEFINITIONS We will also provide some insight into the schools of thought of those who study the homeless and try to help them. We will explain terms like “housing first” and talk about the implications of that approach to helping people. We will explain terms like “chronic homeless” and “hardcore homeless,” showing the differences.
RESOURCES We will show how homeless people can find food and shelter, help explain the difficulties they face when trying to access them, and recommend some solutions to issues they face. Being homeless can mean many different kinds of things. Simply providing hand warmers, socks, and sandwiches may not address any of the needs of the individual seeking assistance.
BOOK REVIEWS There will be reviews of books and other media meant to help individuals and these could be guides, novels, directories, or catalogues. Homeless people need resources and just like other people out there have varying interests and education.
LITERATURE REVIEWS Compilations of studies on certain homeless populations can be of great benefit to students and researchers alike to see what has been studied, what has been written, and what needs to be investigated further. Discussion sections of research studies contain clear ideas about what needs to be looked into next.
ESSAYS AND OPINIONS Recommendations, musings, and anecdotes from experts working with homeless issues on a regular basis can inform not only doctors and social workers but also the general public. There is a lot of ignorance about what homeless persons want and need. Informing the public is an important and basic purpose of journalism.
LETTERS AND NOTICES We encourage everybody with ideas to write for us! Guest pieces and letters to the community may come from anyone who want to help the homeless.
WHY SUB SCRIBE?
We encourage everybody to subscribe to support our work fighting for the homeless.
Simply go the page marked “Subscribe” and enter your payment information. You can subscribe for whatever amount you feel comfortable with, but we encourage beginning at the $10 per month level so that we can support our homeless people.
Stories will be regularly featured on several days each week.
The stories are from the heart of brothers and sisters who have fallen on hard times!