Homeless to hawk Salt Lake City 'street paper'

SALT LAKE CITY — The first edition of Salt Lake's first "street newspaper" — news about homelessness, sold by homeless vendors — hit the streets Monday.

"The Salt Lake Street News" is one of 110 similar papers in 40 countries, according to The North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA). The Salt Lake version is a product of The Salt Lake City Mission.

"This is a grassroots movement to help the homeless and the less fortunate of Salt Lake become self-employed, become motivated and live a better life," said Salt Lake City Mission spokesman Brad Jaques. "It's an honest way to earn an income." He expects it will help curtail downtown panhandling.

Vendors will buy papers from the Mission for 50 cents a copy, then sell them to the public for $1.

The premier 16-page edition includes a feature about the Fourth St. Clinic, as well as articles gleaned from the NASNA website, according to Jaques.

— Elaine Jarvik