Washington state currently ranks second in the U.S. for the most unhoused people per capita. As the cost of living continues to rise and fixed income rates remain stagnant, so many people are just one life change away from needing to rely on support services. There is no denying that times are getting tougher and tougher for our low-income and homeless neighbors.
We’ve all felt the pressure from the aftereffects of the pandemic, as rampant inflation continues to drive up the cost of living. We experience it while buying our weekly groceries, paying rent, doing our taxes — everything costs more than it once did. Our unhoused neighbors continue to feel these burdens the hardest.
For 30 years, Real Change has been a consistent community resource, supporting our vendors in their personal and professional goals. With our community, we’ve been able to provide immediate, low-barrier employment opportunities as well as services including food assistance, medical and veterinary care and even access to the arts.
We’re more than a job opportunity, and we’re more than a news publication. We’re a community and a chance to grow. Last year, our Vendor Program provided an income to 437 vendors, putting a collective total of over $1 million directly into their pockets by selling Real Change’s newspaper. Our donors are a vital pillar to this success. They nurture the programs that make this possible.
This spring, we’re hoping to raise $150,000 to keep our doors open, fund our programs and continue this transformative work. We recognize this is a substantial amount of money and an audacious goal, but it’s critical to Real Change’s sustainability.
Real Change connects hundreds of people each year to meaningful, low-barrier work and an opportunity to find stability. One of these individuals is Real Change Vendor Dawn Comiskey (badge 13757).
Dawn became a Real Change vendor after going through several life-changing events. Dawn moved to Seattle in 2008 to care for her grandmother after her father passed away. Then at the age of 28, she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and was unable to work due to debilitating chronic pain. Not long after she received her diagnosis, Dawn’s mother and grandmother also passed away.
With no family left, Dawn became homeless.
“I wish people could understand the flip side, because I’ve lived on both sides,” Dawn said. “I tried to do everything the American way, the ‘right way.’ That was the last of my family. I didn’t have another couch to fall on. I lost everything.”
Dawn was introduced to Real Change while she was living on the streets in 2017, and she became a vendor not long after. She’s been selling in the Lake City and Wedgwood neighborhoods ever since.
Our Vendor Program was founded to meet people where they are — to empower vendors and provide an opportunity to anyone who needs it. To us, this means making resources available and creating a supportive community to lean on.
As a vendor, Dawn has cultivated a powerful community through Real Change and found stability with the support of Real Change staff and customers.
“They’re as close to family as I’m ever going to have anymore,” Dawn said.
Through Dawn’s hard work and the generosity of customers, later this year, she will celebrate four years in permanent supportive housing.
Dawn knows that Real Change works, because she has lived it.
“It gave me the opportunity to earn a living wage without feeling like I’m begging for it,” Dawn said.
We know that you, as a Real Change customer and reader, believe in the power of our jobs, journalism and justice. When you give to Real Change this season, you guarantee that Seattle’s street paper vendors have access to the resources they need to grow and thrive.
And so we thank you for being a part of this movement and ask you to please consider making a donation today at any level to help us accomplish our spring fundraising goal of $150,000.
Donations made throughout our spring campaign will be matched dollar for dollar up to $40,000, thanks to a generous matching grant provided by a group of local supporters. Make your gift today to take advantage of this match and have your gift go twice as far!
Read more of the May 15–21, 2024 issue.