Last week, Real Change celebrated our 20th anniversary by hosting a breakfast for about 500 friends. Interim Editor Rosette Royale dressed as a unicorn. Vendors of the Year Nick Maxwell and Susan Russell brought the room to its feet. Keynote speaker Betsy Leondar-Wright spoke about recognizing class cultures in social-change organization.
And we raised more than $106,000 to support the work of this organization, which is only getting better.
Two things that make for a good life are work and community. Real Change puts those within anyone’s reach. We believe in creating opportunity, and we believe in meeting people where they’re at.
We believe in quality journalism that makes the vendors proud. We won 16 first-place regional news industry awards this year. And we keep getting better.
We believe in standing up for those who have the least. And we believe in taking risks with our organizing. Our biggest wins have been the most unwinnable: stopping a new city jail; beating back the criminalization of the poor.
We’ve taken time this year to think about our future, and we’ve boiled it down to a new strategic plan with four main goals.
We’re committed to more people buying and reading the paper. That means more places where vendors can sell. It means better marketing and more use of social media. It means making a version of the paper you can read on your phone or tablet. It means being able to buy the paper using a phone app when you don’t have cash.
We’re committed to being a model organization working at the intersection of race and class. People of color are disproportionately affected by poverty and homelessness, and the work for economic and racial justice is joined at the hip. And we’ve amended our mission this year to reflect that commitment: Real Change provides opportunity and a voice to homeless and low-income people, and takes action for economic, social and racial justice.
We’re also committed to building for power. That means reaching out across class and race to build a city for all of us. It means involving our vendors as activists and developing their leadership. It means supporting our allies and developing the tools that will make us most effective.
Finally, Real Change is committed to still being here in 20 years, as a powerhouse of an organization built for long-term stability, with deep community roots and a broad base of support.
Recently, I ran into a vendor near where I live. He’d just started selling the paper a few months ago, and he showed me the little wad of cash he’d made that day. Four hours of work and $45 in his pocket. And this guy was just beaming.
He said it wasn’t always like this for him. He’d been on the street along for 15 years, going from city to city, dealing with mental illness. Now, he’s in a SHARE tent city and sells Real Change. He’s still homeless, but now he has work, community and hope. And his whole being lights up when he talks about it.
I don’t know how to express the value of this. I don’t know how to quantify the difference between despair and hope, or isolation and community, but I see the change we make in people’s lives every day. It makes me very proud of the work we do.
Thank you for being a part of our success. If you missed the breakfast celebration, you can still make a 20th anniversary gift by visiting https://www.realchangenews.org and making your tax-deductible donation. Real Change is made possible by the remarkable generosity of thousands of supporters like you. We all make this happen together.