You might want to buy a copy of Megaphone as a way of helping people who are homeless.
But you should also buy it because it’s a really good newspaper.
“If people want to know how to help the homeless, that magazine will guide them,” says Stephen Scott, Megaphone’s 2014 Vendor of the Year and one of this year’s recipients of Coast Mental Health’s Courage To Come Back awards.
Research shows that five people become homeless in Metro Vancouver every week; the number of “unsheltered” people has grown 26 per cent every year since 2011.
Every month, Megaphone tackles the issues with the insight of people who know what life on the streets is like and the journalistic chops of a professional news team.
This month’s edition is “Solutions to homelessness” and features three Megaphone salespeople holding a sign that says “Let’s change the story.”
Inside, executive director Jessica Hannon writes that “it’s time to treat homelessness as the emergency it is.” A subsequent feature — the conclusion of a six-part series — explores how cities such as Portland and Seattle have declared states of emergencies which allow city officials to work around zoning and design restrictions to make it easier to open homeless shelters.
The April edition also includes the annual Voices of the Street literary edition featuring poetry and prose by Megaphone’s vendors and community writers from the Downtown Eastside, as well as two profiles by vendors.
“It’s the only way people on the street can express themselves,” says Scott, who is a frequent contributor. The paper is also a source of information on social and cultural events that support the homeless.
A vendor buys the paper for 75 and then sells it for $2, keeping the difference. On average, Scott sells about 30 issues a week. That’s not a huge source of income but for many people, it really helps. Luckily, after years on the streets and in SROs, Scott now has a disability pension and lives in subsidized housing far from the temptations of the DTES.
Scott says all levels of government need work together to create more social housing in all neighbourhoods of the city. While there’s been a lot of focus on the plight of immigrants to Canada, he believes that shouldn’t be at the expense of people who already live here in dire conditions. Housing should also be more of a priority than bridges.
“We need more shelters and more support [including] a safe place for people with mental health and addiction problems and more peer support workers on the streets,” he says.
If you feel the issues are overwhelming and the impact of a single action futile, Scott wants you to know that a simple action can mean a lot. If you don’t feel comfortable giving someone on the street money, buy them a sandwich or a cup of coffee, or give them the apple from your lunch like he does.
“Do one good thing to help once a day,” he says. “To do a good act once a day would be awesome.”
If you would like to support Megaphone, it is encouraging a monthly donation of $5 or more to support its mission while reducing fundraising costs. Go to MegaphoneMagazine.com for details.
