Real Change News | Vendor of the Week

July 15, 2009
Vol: 16 No: 32

Vendor of the Week

Vendor of the Week - Paulette Bade

by: Alex Becker , Real Change Intern & Contributing Writer

Photo by: Alex Becker , Real Change Intern & Contributing Writer

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“I think Real Change brings people together,” Paulette says matter-of-factly.

With 12 years of experience, she knows. That’s how long she has been selling the paper. And the amount of time she has lacked stable housing.

“It’s not just alcohol or drugs that make you homeless,” she adds, “It’s a lot of things.”

In Paulette’s case, at least most recently, it was an unscrupulous landlord. The price of rent for her one-bedroom Rainier Valley apartment started at $300 a month. By the time of her eviction notice it had been raised to $900. Not to mention the utility bills he was trying to stick her and the other tenants with — thousands of dollars worth of water bills, water they sure as heck didn’t use. When she refused to pay, he harassed her. So she took him to court and got a no-contact order. He picked the wrong lady to mess with.

She didn’t have to pay the outstanding bills, but the settlement still didn’t protect her from the streets. She and her two kitties had to find a new home, and without enough cash for first and last month’s rent, that home became Nickelsville.

“It was hard,” she says of her stay there during the winter, “But I met a lot of good people.”

Like, for instance, her fiancé.

Now, after bearing the cold in a tent, they happily share an apartment in North Seattle with their two kitties, and things are looking up. “We haven’t set a date yet, but we just get along fantastic,” she says smiling, her face changing hue.

And unlike her last nightmare, now she has a great landlady: “She’s very nice… she’s not going to raise our rent at all.”

You can find Paulette selling Real Change around the U-District and near the Rising Suns Farm & Produce Stand on NE 65th St. and 15th Ave.

To her customers she says: “Thank you for being there for me.”

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