Through the folks he has met, Chapiro has acquired a small RV that he lives in, a truck that he uses to move the RV, and a bike he can ride to work.

Chapiro, 48, first came to Seattle in 1993. He was seeking a job in the fishing industry after seeing a flyer at a Salvation Army in San Francisco. By the time he arrived, the jobs were gone and all he had left in his pocket was $35.

He sought work in other parts of the country, but was drawn back to Seattle by the social services that made an impression on him.

“I left my heart in Seattle,” he says. “There was help, there was hope.”

Chapiro, a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, first started selling Real Change to avoid manual labor, but being a vendor quickly became more than just a job.

He became involved in advocacy against poverty and homelessness, testifying numerous times at City Hall and at the State Legislature. In 2006 he was named the Real Change Vendor of the Year.

“Real Change has given me dignity,” he says.

As Chapiro sells papers on a recent rainy afternoon, he jokes with passersby in a soft-spoken, friendly manner. As a customer hands him a dollar Chapiro quickly glances at the back of the bill, then flips it over.

“I check every one dollar bill I get,” he says, explaining that he reads the Latin around the pyramid before flipping the bill over to see if George Washington’s eyes are clear. If the eyes aren’t clear, he says it’s an indication that the person who handed him the bill could be feeling under the weather.

The ritual only takes a few seconds, but Chapiro worries customers might think he’s looking at the bill, thinking, “Oh, it’s only a dollar.”

That’s not true he says.

“I’m thankful for every dollar.”

– Joel Turner