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Voices, faces, stories and souls

Posted on September 30, 2010 by Staff

By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer

Talking Sidewalks is a literary magazine, one among many in these wordy parts. What sets it apart though is its prerequisite for authorship in this particular magazine — homelessness.

Talking Sidewalks was started by a group of UNC students two years ago and strives to be a place of community and conversation. The semi-annual magazine has published four issues, including one commemorated, just a few weeks ago, by a launch party at Flyleaf Books.

“Homelessness had always been one of those issues I was curious about, because it’s right there in front of your face,” said Jonathan Young, a UNC senior and a founder of the magazine.

Young got involved with the Campus Y’s HOPE (Homeless Outreach Poverty Eradication) committee when he transferred to UNC in 2008. At that time, committee members were in talks to film a documentary about homelessness, which became Faces of Franklin.

“We basically walked into the shelter one night with a video camera and a sign-up sheet,” Young said. “We ended up getting really lucky.”

Several shelter residents were eager to share their stories with Young and the other students, who listened to their words over and over again as they edited their work.

The process broke down any misconceptions or stereotypes Young and the others had about homelessness, he said, and he realized what the homeless community could offer in the form of a publication.

“Anyone has a story,” he said. “Anyone has opinions and ideas.”

Young and other volunteers then began holding weekly meetings at the IFC men’s shelter, women and children’s shelter and on campus. When Young and other students first approached the IFC about their project, they had a difficult time convincing staff and residents they weren’t like other students working on class projects, who come to the shelter all the time.

“It’s really hard to work in a homeless community because of lot of them have been taken advantage of and been school projects and things like that,” he said. But the group of volunteers who work on Talking Sidewalks is different because “all of us are there because we love doing it.”

Now, Young’s heard that shelter staff encourage residents to come to Talking Sidewalks meetings.

“It’s one of the few positive spaces that you can find in there,” he said. “We try to bring a positive energy.”

Every meeting begins with introductions, followed by a question to inspire storytelling. If participants have written things they’d like to share, they then offer readings, followed by an inspirational reading from volunteers.

Time is set aside for authors to work on their writing at the end of each meeting.

“Some of them are really talented and spit out amazing stuff in 20 minutes,” Young said, while others choose to work on their writing outside of meetings.

Though the publication volunteers do a little editing, most of the words are printed exactly as the authors wrote them.

“We absolutely try to preserve all the content,” Young said.

Authors change from issue to issue, though there are a few who have contributed more than once. For residents of the shelter, Young said, it can be inspirational to work on Talking Sidewalks with former residents who have since moved out. The writings themselves also serve as inspiration, as some of them depict sobriety and recovery.

The magazine provides a chance for people from the homeless community to own and be proud of something, Young said.

“People write about homelessness, but people also write about different ideas,” he added.

Printing 1,000 copies of each issue of Talking Sidewalks costs about $1,000. Though the students are able to secure some funding through HOPE, they cover most of the costs through sponsorships from local businesses.

Volunteers distribute Talking Sidewalks at local coffee shops and at the UNC Campus Y. Readers also can view Talking Sidewalks online at talkingsidewalks.com

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