
11/30/2022
Get your holiday wrapping paper! Available now from your local vendor. $2 for a paper and 6 sheets of wrapping paper! A deal!
This is our official page. Welcome! Donate to The Contributor. http://thecontributor.org/donate The Contributor is Nashville’s street paper.
Operating as usual
Get your holiday wrapping paper! Available now from your local vendor. $2 for a paper and 6 sheets of wrapping paper! A deal!
We’re so grateful for everyone who made a donation to The Contributor yesterday for ! The donation drive extends through the rest of the year! All donations that come into The Contributor will be matched (up to $1,000!)
This also includes a year’s worth of Monthly donations! Consider setting up a monthly donation during this drive. You can do that here: https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTM0MTQ5
It's still !
With your support over the last year (and a lot of hard work and patience from Johnny!) we were able to move Johnny G. into his own apartment this year!
On this , NewsMatch is matching donations. When you give, it goes even further to keeping a nonprofit street paper like us ready to help our neighbors find safe and stable housing.
Your donation is matched when you donate today! https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTM0MTQ5
It's ! The purpose of our paper is to educate Nashvillians about homelessness and poverty in their city, but we'd never do it without including the voices of people who have experienced that, too. Norma B., has been writing for The Contributor since 2016. She’s written extensively about her family, her customers and her love for Garth Brooks. Her stories and so many of the stories we’ve published over the last 15 years give our readers an inside look into the lives of our vendors who sell the paper day after day.
On top of it all, that very newspaper provides a means of income and stability for our neighbors climbing out of homelessness.
Your donation is matched when you donate today! https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTM0MTQ5
We've grown and changed over our 15 years, but we've always been a street paper first. It's the door that opens to income, community connections, and ultimately, housing.
On this , NewsMatch is matching donations. When you give, it goes even further to keeping a nonprofit street paper like us ready to help our neighbors climb out of homelessness.
Donate Here: www.thecontributor.org/donate
Tomorrow is , a global movement to give to organizations you love, to kick off the holiday season.
This year, it's for us, as we are receiving matching funds from NewsMatch until the end of the year! And monthly donations are matched for a full year!
Donate Here: www.TheContributor.org/Donate
We’ve housed 32 people so far in 2022!
Because of your donations and community partnerships we were able to find housing for 32 people and helped provide them with furniture, household items and other documents and fees they needed to get set up in their new place!
Help us house even more vendors in 2023 by making a donation during our NewsMatch donation push! NewsMatch is matching all donations (including monthly donations up to a year!) through the end of the year.
Donate Here: https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTM0MTQ5=
Mark Your Calendars! One week from today is . It's a global movement to give to organizations you love, to kick off the holiday season.
This year, it's for us, as we are receiving matching funds from until the end of the year! Monthly donations are also matched for a full year!
Donate Here: https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTM0MTQ5=
Keith D. has been one of our top sellers for the past 5 years! He is always talking about his meaningful relationships with his customers and he brings us fresh produce from his huge garden every summer!
Starting now — through Dec. 31 — NewsMatch will match your new monthly donation 12 times or double your one-time gift, all up to $1,000! This keeps vendors like Keith able to maintain a home and a garden and a community.
Donate today! www.thecontributor.org/donate
Can you believe The Contributor is celebrating its 15th anniversary this month!
We take a look back at the early years in this issue. Find a copy from your local vendor! $2 Cash or Venmo!
DID YOU KNOW The Contributor is part of NewsMatch, a collaborative fundraising movement to support independent, public service journalism, And it kicks off today!
We’re excited to be joining ~300 nonprofit news orgs around the country in this movement to sustain journalism that matters. When you make a donation to The Contributor between Nov. 1 - Dec. 31, NewsMatch will double the impact of your donation!
Donate Here! >>> www.TheContributor.org/Donate
Check out this cool and informative animation from INSP! We’re proud to be part of this global community working together to fight poverty and homelessness. Check out for stories from around the world.
We’re proud of the stories we publish in The Contributor. Stories of Nashvillians that — like the video says — don’t get told very often. Help us keep telling these stories by making a donation to The Contributor today! Thanks to NewsMatch, your donation during the next two months goes twice as far! They are matching all donations up to $10,000.
Donate Here! >>> www.thecontributor.org/donate
New issue on the streets!!
We’ve published our THIRD ballot breakdown in collaboration with !
Get your copy today from your local vendor! $2 cash or Venmo!
We are THRILLED to be recognized by the for this media collab with !!
And we’re not done yet!! Our third ballot breakdown of the year will come out on Oct 26 ahead of the Nov. 8th election!
We are THRILLED to congratulate long time vendor Johnny G. on moving into his own place!!
Johnny sells on Woodmont and Hillsboro and always has a smile on his face!
Since 2020, The Contributor has expanded its services to offer housing navigation to vendors. Move-in days are always a highlight and this one felt extra special.
Leave Johnny some love below!
Today is a GREAT day to email Metro Council!
CALL TO ACTION!!!
Ask Metro Council to commit $50 million in ARP funds to addressing housing and homelessness!
On Tuesday, August 16th, the Budget and Finance Committee of Metro Council voted to defer four resolutions that would have committed $50 million to addressing issues of housing and homelessness. Tonight, September 29th from 5:00-7:00 p.m., these resolutions (RS2022-1696 through RS2022-1699) will go before a joint committee meeting for one final opportunity for questions from both Metro Council Members and the general public to be addressed.
You can read questions submitted by Metro Council Members in the document at www.linktr.ee/OpenTableNashville outlining how these resolutions aim to spend this $50 million. The resolutions will be up for a final vote before the full Metro Council on Tuesday, October 4th.
The council members on the committees (Human Services, Budget & Finance, and the COVID-19 Financial Oversight) that these resolutions must go through before a final vote from the general Metro Council body next week need to know that these resolutions have been adequately vetted by the community and that this funding needs to be employed through the coordinated plan encompassed in these interconnected resolutions.
How can you help?
1. Show up in person TONIGHT. We need you to show up tonight (Thursday, September 29th) from 5:00-7:00pm at the Metro Courthouse (1 Public Square) to show your support of these resolutions! You may speak for two minutes to express your support.
2. Can’t show up in person tonight? Use our sample email to contact council members. Ask them to support RS2022-1696, RS2022-1697, RS2022-1698, and RS2022-1699! Send emails today through Tuesday, October 4th! Our sample email can be found at www.linktr.ee/OpenTableNashville
Our annual poetry issue has hit the streets! We gathered our favorite vendor poems throughout the year for you! Get a copy this weekend from your local vendor! $2 cash or Venmo!
Have you bought your Titan's tickets yet???
Seven days left to use promo code: CONTRIBUTOR
https://offer.fevo.com/titans-nonprofit-fundraising-program-6d9b622?fevoUri=titans-nonprofit-fundraising-program-6d9b622%2F%3Fpage%3D1
Support The Contributor when you this month!
For every ticket you buy using the promo code: CONTRIBUTOR we get $10 of the ticket sale!
Buy tickets on this link: https://offer.fevo.com/titans-nonprofit-fundraising-program-6d9b622?fevoUri=titans-nonprofit-fundraising-program-6d9b622%2F%3Fpage%3D1
Support The Contributor when you this month!
For every ticket you buy using the promo code: CONTRIBUTOR we get $10 of the ticket sale!
Buy tickets on this link: https://offer.fevo.com/titans-nonprofit-fundraising-program-6d9b622?fevoUri=titans-nonprofit-fundraising-program-6d9b622%2F%3Fpage%3D1
📰New issue on the streets!! 📰
In this issue we look at two decades of in Nashville!
Buy a copy from your local vendor. $2 cash or Venmo!
Ridley Wills II began writing a column titled “Nashville History Corner” in 2014. This year he compiled those columns into a book and all proceeds go to The Contributor!
He’s signing books today alongside Contributor vendor Maurice B (who is featured on the book’s cover!) from 3-5 TODAY at the Wills Visitor Center at the Belle Meade plantation.
Have you bought this Labor Day issue yet?? $2 from your local vendor! Cash or Venmo!
Tonight is the last chance to vote for us for Best INSP Cover 2022. The theme was something we know our paper and our vendors have shown throughout the years: resilience.
Vote now! (Link in comments below.)
Vote The Contributor
Introducing the eighth of our 10 finalists in the running for Best Cover at the INSP Awards 2022 – The Contributor.
Nashville based photographer, Angelina Castillo, captured the cover photo at the Tennessee State Capitol protest, where people gathered to demand a bust of K*K leader Nathan Bedford Forrest be removed.
The image showcases what was happening at the time in Nashville – anger and solidarity at the racial injustice in the United States. Whilst this young man is masked, he stands with his fist raised, angry, hopeful and defiant. The sky is blue, but there are still clouds.
The Contributor decided to run this cover without a headline because the image was striking enough on its own and said a lot without having to splash words over it. Anyone buying this paper during that time in Nashville would know immediately what this cover was about and would likely know which protest it was associated with.
More than a year after this photo was taken, the bust was taken down.
The Contributor was formed in 2007 to provide an income for homeless people and initiate a conversation about homelessness and poverty. It was named “The Contributor” to infer that the vendors are “contributors to society” and the buyers are “contributing to their work”.
Today 70% of vendors who have worked selling The Contributor for six months or more have found housing. In addition to selling the biweekly newspaper, vendors can contribute to the publication by writing stories or poems or submitting art, and are paid for their contribution.
Vendors are also supported with health care, housing navigation, social support and food support. The community of Nashville has embraced this unique social enterprise making it one of the largest street papers in the world, selling over 6 million copies and contributing over 15 million dollars into the local economy.
VOTE The Contributor at: https://www.insp.ngo/get-involved/best-cover
Vote The Contributor
Introducing the eighth of our 10 finalists in the running for Best Cover at the INSP Awards 2022 – The Contributor.
Nashville based photographer, Angelina Castillo, captured the cover photo at the Tennessee State Capitol protest, where people gathered to demand a bust of K*K leader Nathan Bedford Forrest be removed.
The image showcases what was happening at the time in Nashville – anger and solidarity at the racial injustice in the United States. Whilst this young man is masked, he stands with his fist raised, angry, hopeful and defiant. The sky is blue, but there are still clouds.
The Contributor decided to run this cover without a headline because the image was striking enough on its own and said a lot without having to splash words over it. Anyone buying this paper during that time in Nashville would know immediately what this cover was about and would likely know which protest it was associated with.
More than a year after this photo was taken, the bust was taken down.
The Contributor was formed in 2007 to provide an income for homeless people and initiate a conversation about homelessness and poverty. It was named “The Contributor” to infer that the vendors are “contributors to society” and the buyers are “contributing to their work”.
Today 70% of vendors who have worked selling The Contributor for six months or more have found housing. In addition to selling the biweekly newspaper, vendors can contribute to the publication by writing stories or poems or submitting art, and are paid for their contribution.
Vendors are also supported with health care, housing navigation, social support and food support. The community of Nashville has embraced this unique social enterprise making it one of the largest street papers in the world, selling over 6 million copies and contributing over 15 million dollars into the local economy.
VOTE The Contributor at: https://www.insp.ngo/get-involved/best-cover
Contributor Vendor Wendell shows off his artwork of in the most recent edition! Get yours now!
Newest issue on the streets today!
Find your local vendor to buy (and READ!) a copy today! $2 cash or Venmo!
New issue out today!
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Buy it from your local vendor! $2 and we accept Venmo!
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Also peep from on the cover ❤️
New issue out this week! Huge thanks to for keeping us all informed on every candidate running in the August 4 election!
Buy a copy from your local Contributor Vendor today! $2 cash or Venmo!
The Contributor updated their business hours.
New issue on the streets!! Find a copy from your local vendor for $2! Cash or Venmo!
William rocking the spoons at pinnacle bank on Thompson lane. ❤️🤍💙
Happy Pride from your Contributor parade marchers!
Couldn’t pick a better cover to have for our first Contributor meeting since 2020!
Buy a paper from your local vendor!
~ $2 and we take Venmo! ~
New Issue on the streets! Our cover story features and her new album Brand New Day!
Buy a copy from your local vendor! Now accepting Venmo payments!
Here are a few picks from our Summer Read List! Pickup a copy of our latest issue to read more about these recommendations! (Or click on the link to our digital copy in our bio!)
Also all of these books can be checked out at . Plan your summer reading list now!
New Issue Alert!
We talked to Contributor writers, volunteers, and vendors about what they’re reading. Take a look at their picks and plan your summer reading list!
Available now from your local vendor!
Have you registered for our Annual Spring Breakfast at 7 a.m. on May 11 yet? Good News! There's still time! https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTQ4NTU0
Our Annual Spring Breakfast is just A FEW DAYS AWAY on Wednesday, May 11! Join us for a morning of food, speakers, and a celebration of our Top Vendors. Register here>>>> https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTQ4NTU0
Check out CONTRIBUTOR SPRING VENDOR AWARDS AND BREAKFAST by The Contributor, Inc.!
HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who read our posts, shared them and donated during this year's ! Your donations help us provide services for vendors and provide a space for vendors to purchase papers and form a community! ❤️❤️❤️
Please give today!
Dana was one of the 41 vendors who moved into their own place in 2021. We love seeing vendors with their own keys! Read more about her story here>>>https://issuu.com/the-contributor-live/docs/06.23.2021-digital/s/12608940?fbclid=IwAR0Gqo7EMFz_xM3RKH1oYavPP7PYzueT2GWsnli74Hkul9zLuOcAeCZLAcw
www.thebigpayback.org/thecontributor
154 5th Avenue North
Nashville, TN
37219
3 Blocks from Music City Central bus station
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Sneak peek of our newest video ahead of our Annual Breakfast Event on May 11! You can still register here: https://fb.me/e/1DjgFoSgh
Bringing this sweet video of Jamie receiving her medal out of the archives! Her consistency in business and style make her one of our top 15 vendors. Comment below if Jamie is your vendor!
The Contributor is a nonprofit street newspaper, which publishes bi-weekly and has been a part of Nashville’s fabric since 2007. People experiencing homelessness and poverty are welcomed to become a vendor, and start their own micro-business buying papers from us for 50 cents and selling them to the public for $2.
When you take the paper, you can read about issues that affect the homeless community, and the words of vendors themselves. Vendors can use their Contributor sales as proof of income to help them get into housing and other resources. But perhaps the most important outcome of The Contributor is the relationships that vendors and their customers form. We are a Nashville Solution to Homelessness.