The ''Homeless Grapevine'' was a

street newspaper Street newspapers (or street papers) 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 iss ...

sold by

homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

people in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, United States. It was published by the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) from 1992 to 2009. Vendors bought the paper for 25 cents per copy and sell them for 1 dollar. The papers attempted to be a voice for the homeless and content was entirely dedicated to homeless issues, much of it written by current or former homeless. It was a monthly magazine of 16 pages and as of 2004 had a circulation of 5,000 copies sold by 15–20 vendors. Sellers were often at The West Side Market, Public Square, E. 9th St., East 12th and Coventry.

History

It was started in 1991 by

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

student Fred Maier and was originally photocopied and sold for 25 cents. In 1993 it was taken over NEOCH and its former director Bryan Gillooly, who published the first issue of the new Homeless Grapevine that spring. The special issue 65(a) in May–June 2004 was entirely dedicated to Daniel Thompson, the poet laureate of

Cuyahoga County Cuyahoga County ( or , see ) is a large urban county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The county seat and most populous city is Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,264,817, making it the second ...

, who was also a homeless advocate and had often written for the paper. The ''Homeless Grapevine'' was listed as a "notable entry" in the 2006 Knight-Batten Awards with the comment "A pat on the back for job well done". The paper won the Greater Cleveland Community Shares ''Social Justice Reporting Award'' in 2005. The ''Homeless Grapevine'' was discontinued in 2009. The following year, NEOCH launched its replacement, ''The Cleveland Street Chronicle''.

Legal activities

In the mid-1990s, the city required that ''Grapevine'' sellers have a peddlers' license, costing 50 dollars. After one vendor was ticketed, the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

of Ohio argued that it was a violation of the

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and the charges were dropped. A lawsuit was also filed on behalf of homeless vendors and the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A centralized and hierarchical organization, the NOI is committed to black nationalism and focuses its attention on the Afr ...

that was selling their newspaper '' The Final Call'' in public. A district court ruled with the vendors, but the Sixth Circuit Appeals Court reversed it, siding with the city. According to ACLU representatives, the ''Grapevine'' coverage also played a major role in resolving another ACLU lawsuit,Clements v. City of Cleveland, filed October 4, 1994 (N.D. Ohio). which had been brought against the city for transporting homeless to isolated areas.

References

External links

The Homeless Grapevine website

Homeless Grapevine blog
{{Street newspapers Street newspapers Defunct newspapers published in Cleveland Newspapers established in 1991 Newspapers disestablished in 2009 1991 establishments in Ohio 2009 establishments in Ohio