Craig sells in the City of Victoria, outside the London Drugs on Yates St, between Quadra and Vancouver St.  

Richard sells in the City of Victoria, outside The Bay Centre, on the bench to the left of the main Douglas St entrance, between Fort and View St.  

Evelyn sells in the City of Victoria in Cook St Village, at the corner of Cook St and Oxford St.  

John sells Megaphone in Victoria. Find him outside the Bay Centre near the main Douglas St entrance, between Fort and View St.  

   “I first started out working as a street paper vendor around 1993—that was when the street paper in Victoria was called The Redzone. I heard about The Redzone through the community and I thought, well, I want to join in.    

“There’s a church on East Hastings that street people call the hot dog church. I used to work there years ago—in those days, we were serving 200, 300 hot dogs a night.

On Friday, June 6 of all nights, I wanted to go home and try to get in some early sleep. I knew it was going to be a busy day the next day, not only for me, but for a lot of people: the people from the Downtown Eastside. 

With a wide, warm smile and a contagious positive energy, Stephen Scott is a joy to be around, which makes him a natural for the cover of this issue. But the gregarious Megaphone and Hope in Shadows vendor has had more than a few setbacks in his life.

"I started selling Vancouver’s street paper 20 years ago, when it was Spare Change. I have problems with my feet that make jobs with too much walking impossible—that made even bottle-binning tough. I’d always had a hard time getting jobs, and the pain limited my options. I hit the streets every...

Judy Graves photo by Christine McAvoy. The City of Vancouver’s sole advocate for the homeless, Judy Graves, retired May 29, 2013. To commemorate her decades spent working to connect homeless people with housing, Judy’s colleagues at the city compiled a book featuring writing, artwork, and remembrances by the wide circle...