Every Tuesday, staff of the Real Homeless Herald meet up in a back room of the Day Center in downtown Wilmington to plan out their upcoming issues. It’s a busy space: a homeless shelter where folks can get lunch, a cup of coffee, and some respite during the day. As Pastor Meg McBride heads up this meeting, one team member walks in with her dog.
"So Russ just asked we're going to try to do this every month right on the first of the month, is our goal to release our edition on the first." McBride says, before greeting Luna the dog and her owner, Theresa Sheively. "Hi Puppy! I started typing your article. We have to work on it a little bit, but add a little fluff in there, Theresa.”
The first issue came out October 1, and the staff plan to put out a new issue every month, with reporting, editorials, and comics, all written by currently and formerly homeless individuals.
The community seems to be backing this effort — with many folks asking for PDF versions of the newspaper to print off and distribute. The Cape Fear Literacy Council showed up as well, providing computers and helping set up a Google Drive account for the staff.
Tuesday’s meeting felt much like any newsroom editorial conference: The editor leading with questions for potential stories.
Sheively led some initial discussion: "I got a phone call from the City Council last night. They asked me if I wanted to speak," she said. She's been attending council meetings and writes about her experiences for The Herald.
McBride asked her, "Do you feel comfortable reading it? We could give you some feedback?"
Sheively began reading her notes: "Homelessness is not a crime. We need more low income housing. What Wilmington has is not enough. Hiring more social workers to keep up the demand is what we all need as well…. Also talked about the police and how it's not their job to harass the homeless.”
"Do you have an example of that that might bring some clarity?" McBride asked.
"There was one time that we were kicked out of a place and the cop told us to 'get out now', you know?" Sheively explained. "And I'm like, what can you just give me five minutes?"
“Let's just have a little dialog about that.” McBride asked her about her views on community policing, and they discussed the new homelessness ordinance. The editorial meeting continued with planning for the next issue — they’re already creating more material than will fit on a regular page of printer paper, so they might need to size it up. One of the biggest benefits of the Herald is that it gives the unhoused a chance to share their own stories, when few typically ask them for their opinions or experiences.
Sebastien Bastey-Enriquez is an interviewer for the paper. He’s been homeless for years, first in San Antonio, now here. He was known as the ‘walking miracle’ there because he was struck by a train and unexpectedly woke from a coma three months later.
“A lot of people drive on past the homeless. Very few people come help with them," he said. "They’re probably — they're going through stuff that y'all may think is minor, but it is very major to them.”
He said a small thing like getting a shower is a huge deal for someone living in the streets, like a friend of his: "He went outside and rain, grab the grab the bottle soap and showered in the rain.”
The Herald gives the housed population a chance to hear these stories directly from the people experiencing them, so people can develop more empathy for the struggles of homelessness. McBride sees it as having another benefit, though: "What I am seeing is this purpose is kind of like bubbling up, and it's giving persons who are experiencing homelessness, who often have — what I make the assumption of — kind of like lives that can be drab or dole or very anxiety ridden, something to focus on, right, something to strive towards, something to work towards.”
She’s getting to know her staff better because of the discussions they have in that room. And she hopes that locals who read the Herald can get a sense of that from the monthly paper. The next issue should come out Nov. 1.
