Members of a local service organization have created a newspaper that they hope will provide income for the homeless and promote awareness of the problem of homelessness.
The Homeless Cooperative, formed by volunteers at the Madison Warming Center Campaign and some of Madison’s homeless people, released the first issue of its monthly newspaper at the end of October. About half of the content, which includes reporting, opinion pieces and poetry, is written by the paper’s distributors, who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless.
“It’s a proactive means to empower homeless folks in the Madison community,” said Mel Motel, a UW- Madison student and co-editor of the paper.