Megaphone magazine, which helps marginalized people tell their stories, has hired a new vendor co-ordinator for Victoria, with help from a Victoria Foundation grant.
The magazine is typically sold on the streets by homeless and low-income vendors. The venture provides people experiencing poverty and homelessness a much-needed employment opportunity.
The magazine has been available in Vancouver since 2008 and on Victoria streets since 2014. But the lack of a local co-ordinator has limited the hiring of more vendors.
The grant will provide the funding to hire a part-time local vendor co-ordinator for the first year of the new program.
“We’re over the moon with the funding. We see so much potential for the Victoria market,” said Jessica Hannon, executive director of the magazine.
“But with no boots on the ground, we were hesitant to take more vendors on.”
The main role of the co-ordinator is to provide support for the vendors.
“Vendors face rejection every day. They have to be incredibly courageous individuals to begin with, so it is valuable for there to be somebody who can help and support them,” she said.
The co-ordinator will go out on the streets with the vendor, providing them with the skills, tools, training and support to improve their sales, better manage their finances and hone interpersonal and communication skills.
The vendors will also sell the Hope in Shadows calendar, which features photographs taken by the magazine’s homeless and low-income vendors on the themes of hope and joy.
Every June, the magazine invites Victoria and Vancouver Downtown Eastside low-income community members to use a supplied camera to take images for inclusion in the following year’s calendar.
The photo contest is an opportunity for participants to share stories from their lives on the streets.
For more information, go to megaphonemagazine.com.
