Street paper give voice, hope to homeless – KVAL News
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011KVAL News :: Jun 1, 2011 at 9:09 AM PDT. EUGENE, Ore. :: Kelly Koopmans reports:
— Every Tuesday afternoon, class is held under the Washington Jefferson Bridge in Eugene. Word by word, line by line, Eugene’s homeless put their stories on paper.
“I like to write about social issues,” said Mary Louise Wragge. “I try to express my personal experiences because many times people on the streets aren’t heard.”
On a pop-up table under writers prefect their prose with the help of David Gerber. Gerber produces The Oregon Vagabond out of his home office, and relies entirely on content written by those who call the streets of Eugene home.
Gerber said he pays his homeless writers $5 for every story.
The articles range from adventurous travel stories, to poetry, to tales describing life as a homeless person.
The Oregon Vagabond’s writers are also the vendors. Along with the $5 for every story, they make 75 cents for every copy they sell.
“For some people it just means more than anything to be captured in history and published in the papers,” said Gerber. “They feel invisible sometimes and this helps give them a voice.”
KVAL News first met Gerber last year as the Oregon Vagabond began to sell. He said now, one year later, circulation is up.
Gerber said the paper is currently experiencing the best sales they’ve ever had. He said vendors sell between a total of 1,500 and 2,000 papers each week….”