About – Speak Up Magazine

Where it all began. A magazine written and sold by people facing homelessness.

Launched in 2011 in Charlotte, NC, Speak Up Magazine was based on a transformative model of empowerment and opportunity.

People facing homelessness write their stories.
Those stories become a magazine.
They sell the magazine and keep the money.
It creates a cycle of dignity and income.

As Speak Up has expanded and diversified into an interconnected ecosystem with multiple parts, print magazine publishing is no longer our primary focus.

However, two things endure:

Hundreds of powerful stories from people on the streets. We’ve recently launched a website to showcase some of the best work from the last ten years.
An ongoing invitation for street writers to publish their work with Speak Up.

Leadership

History

Speak Up began as a magazine written and sold by people facing homelessness. Fifteen years later it is an ecosystem: giving voice, caring for the poor, empowering leaders, life-changing prayer, creativity, and more.

2011

October 2011 — first issue of Speak Up published and sold on the streets of Charlotte.

IssueDumpster Diving for Awareness, Volume 1 Issue 1

Editor LetterFrom the first issue

2012

IssueParkour in Charlotte

2013

Seed20 Award winner!

IssueNever Giving Up

2014

Expansion! Speak Up Traverse City launches in northern Michigan.

The first Zine is printed in unique new newsprint format. More of the publication is written by writers facing homelessness.

IssueIn Their Shoes

LettersA Pivot for Speak Up · Intersections, Relationships, Transformations

2015

IssueThe International Issue

LettersSpeak Up Is… · I Will Thrive

2016

Explored issue themes: Hope, Perspectives, Gratitude, Invisible, Outsiders, Protest, Second Chances.

IssueOutsiders

ArticleLook at Me — Bill McIlmail

LettersClose Encounters (Three Kinds) · Glimpses and Snapshots

Carried worldwideCharlotte protests: a street paper vendor’s view from the epicentre of unrest — International Network of Street Papers · Vendor wishes: “We want to get our daughter back” — International Network of Street Papers

2017

IssueWhy Count the Homeless?

LetterFrom the March 2017 issue

2018

Experimented with multiple magazine formats. Further recognition from the INSP.

Published 35 issues in a single year.

IssueOne Week on the Streets

ArticleOne Week on the Streets — Vince Shumate

AwardBest Vendor Contribution, winner — INSP Awards, for One Week on the Streets

2019

Issue 90 printed! We called it “the final issue.” Spoiler: it wasn’t the last one!

IssueI Know the Feeling

ArticleI’m Not Bitter, I’m Better

2020

Model disruptions due to Covid.

Experimented with stay-safe stipends.

ArticleI was homeless and a business owner

2021

Going digital: embraced Substack. Homeless vendors explored selling subscriptions.

Launched Pursuit Packs: job in a box outreach kits that allow anyone anywhere to start selling print and digital versions of Speak Up.

ArticlesThe world needs more Vans · Homeless Again

Homeless Friendship

After 16 years of working with people on the margins, we’ve found the best model: friendship.

Magazine Selling

Speak Up equips remarkable people facing homelessness with a magazine that releases their voice and gives them a chance to work and earn money. As they buy and sell Speak Up magazines (and keep the profits), they discover dignity, develop skills, accomplish goals, and get off the streets.

If you are facing homelessness, you can write for Speak Up and sell the magazine. Your first 20 copies of the magazine are free. You’ll sell them for $5 per copy and keep all the cash! Then you can buy more magazines for $1 each—and you always keep the money from your sales.

Are you facing homelessness? Do you know someone facing homelessness who wants to give this a try? Let’s talk.

Individual Publications

Between 2015 and 2021, we produced nearly a dozen single-author issues of Speak Up: art books, storybooks, magazines featuring a single long essay, etc.

The approach now is focused on empowering authors to launch online platforms where they can create and share their work, connect directly with a meaningful audience, and earn money directly from their subscribers.

Here are two of the several Speak Up writers who have launched on Substack:

Ruth’s Life ruthhsieh.substack.com
Vince Shumate on Substack vinceshumate.substack.com

Pursuit Packs

Each pack contains resources for someone on the streets to earn emergency cash, establish long-term recurring income, meet basic hygienic needs, and impact their community in a positive way.

Volunteers anywhere can hand out Pursuit Packs, empower storytellers, support those in need with their social capital, and transform lives with dignity.

Pursuit Packs

The idea behind “Pursuit Packs” has been to offer a “job in a box” outreach kit that someone facing homelessness can use to earn emergency cash and develop long-term recurring income.

We’ve equipped volunteers in multiple states with these kits as resources they can give to someone who is begging or facing poverty. This goes beyond the standard handouts of cash or food and toiletries care packages. Each Pursuit Pack carries opportunity.

PURSUIT PACKS UPDATE:

Pursuit Packs with a focus on magazine vending have been phased out. Instead, we encourage outreach bags that supply basic necessities—paired with your time and relational investment.

Handing someone a resource bag is a great start! Thank you. Then take the next step and buy them coffee or share a meal together. Be a person to another person.