Street Sense is a 16-page, Washington, D.C., area newspaper sold by people experiencing homelessness to help them earn an honest income. Founded in 2003, Street Sense publishes every two weeks and features news, feature stories, editorials, poetry, fiction and photographs contributed by homeless or formerly homeless people and other volunteers.
The newspaper features news, editorials, poems and art about homelessness, poverty, and other social issues. About 50% of the paper is written by homeless and formerly homeless individuals and the other articles come from our staff and volunteers, who include journalists, students, advocates and a wide variety of other professionals.
Street Sense vendors pay 50 cents for each paper to cover publishing costs and distribute paper for a suggested donation of $2. Vendors choose their own sales locations, and can be found in downtown D.C. and some suburbs on busy corners and near Metro stations, usually during the lunch and evening rush hours.
Street Sense is one of about 30 street papers in the United States and more than 90 worldwide. Street papers drastically vary in size and circulation but produce social-issue focused newspapers sold by vendors who make an income on newspaper sales. For more information on other street newspaper or background on street papers in general, visit www.nasna.org.
