The Contributor is a monthly street newspaper

Street newspaper

Street newspapers are newspapers or magazines sold by homeless or poor individuals and produced mainly to support these populations. Most such newspapers primarily provide coverage about homelessness and poverty-related issues, and seek to strengthen social networks within homeless communities...

 published in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, United States. The paper is published the final Wednesday of every month. The Contributor is sold on public property by homeless and formerly homeless people (vendors) who purchase papers for 25¢ each and resell them on the street for $1 each plus tips - keeping the entire profit of the sale. The paper's content focuses on issues surrounding homelessness

Homelessness

Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...

 and poverty

Poverty

Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...

 and is written by local journalists as well as people experiencing homelessness or working within the homeless community.

Vendors of The Contributor have a 30% rate of finding housing utilizing income from their paper sales.

History

The Contributor was established in 2007 by a core group of volunteers. The first issue was published in November of that year and had a circulation of about 800 copies. The paper publishes consistently on a monthly basis and has greatly expanded its circulation and vendor network to become the highest-circulating street newspaper of its kind in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

—circulating more than 100,000 papers per month.

In 2010, The Contributor received 501(c)(3) status, becoming an independent non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

. One of the founders of The Contributor received the Tennessee Titans

Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...

 Community Quarterback award for their volunteer efforts with the paper. The award came with a $10,000 grant.

In July 2011, the newspaper sued Brentwood, Tennessee

Brentwood, Tennessee

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 23,445 people, 7,693 households, and 6,808 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 7,889 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.63% European American, 1.89% African American,...

 for banning the sale on its premises.

The Contributor is one of many street newspapers in the United States, including Real Change

Real Change

Real Change is a weekly street newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, USA. It is sold by the poor, many of whom are homeless, providing them an alternative to panhandling. It is written and produced, however, by professional staff, and covers mainstream news as well as homelessness issues...

 in Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

 and Spare Change News in Boston, Massachusetts.

Affiliations

The Contributor is a member of the North American Street Newspaper Association

North American Street Newspaper Association

The North American Street Newspaper Association is an organization of street newspapers papers that provide employment opportunities, community, and a voice to homeless and other economically vulnerable people. it has 28 members in the United States and Canada with a total monthly circulation of...

 and the International Network of Street Papers

International Network of Street Papers

The International Network of Street Papers is an organization of street papers that provide employment opportunities, community, and a voice to homeless and other economically vulnerable people. It spans 94 papers from 36 countries, in total selling about 32 million copies each year. INSP was...

.

External links

• The Contributor home page