StreetWise price increases, but vendors are getting a raise

A man at right declines a copy of the magazine StreetWise after making a donation to Alexandria Banks, January 29, 2013, at the intersection of East 53rd Street and South Kimbark Avenue in Chicago. Photo credit (Anthony Souffle/Chicago Tribune/MCT/Sipa USA)

By Bernie Tafoya

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The mostly homeless men and women who sell StreetWise magazine are getting a raise.

Starting Monday, the cost to buy StreetWise will rise to three dollars from two dollars.

“This is our first price increase since 2008 when we shifted from a newspaper to a magazine,” says Julie Youngquist, executive director of StreetWise.

She says vendors will make $1.85 plus tips for each issue they sell. That’s 75 cents more than they’re currently making, and it’s money that helps the mostly homeless men and women pay for transportation, housing and phones.

“We are celebrating our 30th anniversary and we do have vendors who have been with us that entire time. We’re also a great resource for people who may need us for that hand up and then move on to something else,” Younquist said.

Vendors selling StreetWise are different from panhandlers, she stresses.

“Our vendors will tell you, the hard-core vendors, that this is their job. They are micro-entrepreneurs. They are running their own business.”

Youngquist says she doesn’t think customers will mind the price increase.

“Our customers really are invested in seeing our vendors succeed and purchase the magazine because it’s that transaction. Right? It’s not the charity model.”

The circulation of StreetWise is about 12,000 issues per month.