Happy new year from all of us at Real Change!
We are excited to start off 2023 strong, and your contributions to our Winter Fund Drive ensure that. Together we raised $176,523!
Thank you for donating and uplifting our work.
After nearly three years of uncertainty and unexpected challenges, there is so much to celebrate at Real Change. Despite record-breaking heat waves, meme-worthy snow and ongoing health concerns, our community of supporters made magic happen all year long.
Vendor Program offered new work opportunities and community.
In January, we partnered with Volunteer of the Year Patrick “Mac” McIntyre to produce our exclusive crossword puzzle book that sold out at 500 copies immediately! This opportunity offered a new way for vendors to generate income to offset the decrease in newspaper sales since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
We hosted our annual Vendor Picnic in person for the first time since 2019. Vendors and staff came together at Madrona Park to roast hot dogs, eat a ridiculous amount of donuts (me specifically), raffle off free papers and garner healthy competition playing spades.
The afternoon was a refreshing reminder of the power of in-person connection.
Editorial spotlighted vendor voices.
Gorgeous wildlife photos from Bryant Carlin adorned the cover twice, and candid op-eds from Carl Nakajima advocated for social housing and racial justice. Real Change vendors are compensated for their contributions to the paper — compensation made possible by your generous donations.
We read new profiles on vendors each month in 2022, thanks to Real Change staff and volunteers. We’re committed to being a voice for our community, and vendor profiles are a keystone of that.
Last, but certainly not least, Real Change Advocacy made history.
House Our Neighbors! championed to get I-135 on the ballot — and won. This coalition organized hundreds of volunteers to gather signatures in every single Seattle neighborhood and fought tirelessly till the end.
Thanks to this dedication, we have the opportunity to establish social housing in Seattle and get one step closer to housing justice.
Thank you for making a year of jobs, journalism and justice possible. Our work continues.
We set an ambitious and critical goal of $200,000 this Winter Fund Drive to power our programs into 2023 and help us work toward our mission.
This new year presents opportunities and countless possibilities. Real Change will continue focusing on vendor success and building programs that respond to the needs of our community with your support.
We rely on grassroots, individual donors like you to make Real Change possible.
If you haven’t given yet, there’s still time before we close out the drive.
Visit tinyurl.com/RCwinterdrive to contribute now.
Your generosity puts us in a great position to provide low-barrier work to all who need it, publish award-winning journalism and organize for meaningful change.
Real Change is committed to our mission. Our staff and volunteers are working wonders to support vendors, improve the paper and radically change our city.
We will continue increasing vendor visibility across the city and building our circulation back up in innovative ways. Our Vendor Week “Day of Heroes” event is in person again this year, and our second edition of the Real Change Zine is coming too!
Our advocacy journalism is ready to tackle more challenges in 2023. Look forward to more vendor profiles, In Their Own Words columns and youth voices.
The news team strives to make a dynamic product, constantly seeking to include new people with different backgrounds and perspectives so that there’s always something to learn when you buy a copy.
Election Day — Feb. 14, 2023 — is an opportunity for us all to radically address the ongoing homelessness and housing crisis in Seattle. We are excited at the opportunity and know that it will take all of us to make this happen.
Thank you for being a part of this movement.
Thank you to every person who donated, volunteer who made phone calls and staff member who showed up every day.
Your care and generosity put Real Change in a strong position to keep vendors connected to services, publish award-winning journalism and drive advocacy for meaningful change.
Together, each of us contributed to the success of this Winter Fund Drive, just like we contribute to the mission of this work.
Together, Real Change is possible.
Read more of the Jan. 4-10, 2023 issue.