It’s best to watch what one puts down because exactly what one puts down can turn around and one day have motion.
Franklin Web Printing nearing 50 years of age & The Contributor Inc nearing 20 years of age it’s an honor that the two have united to and for a positive impact. The Contributor Inc and its vendors along with Franklin Web Printing Co. have played an important role in work, dignity and opportunity.
The relationship goes back to the very beginning. Franklin Webb printing has printed the Contributor since the newspaper’s first issue in 2007. The Contributor later recognized the company with an Editorial Ally Award, saying the newspaper would not be what it is without the printer’s consistent work and commitment to the organization’s mission. It began with the ideas of Tasha French Lemley taking photos of homeless and former homeless people, Will Connelly wanting to hear stories of homeless and former homeless people and of course Steven Samar and Tom Wills played very strong parts as well. These four met with Lee Stringer, who was associated with Street News, a street newspaper in New York City. They eventually obtain a tool kit from the International Network of Street Papers (INSP). They used that model to establish their own newspaper, The Contributor.
Because of those four advocates of homelessness there’s individuals that are homeless that have the ability to share our/their ideas, our/their words and the ways that we/they see things in this world. So before a paper ever reaches that printing press, it begins with people “homeless & formerly homeless.” The Contributor’s editorial team works with the vendors at times to help bring out an individual’s writings or their art works which helps each individual to develop their contribution towards a better future. Once the stories, the pictures, the crosswords have been completed and designed and arranged, the newspaper is sent to Franklin Web Printing where those individual words, photographs and ideas become thousands of of printed newspapers. Franklin Web Printing has therefore occupied an important place in the process for nearly two decades. The finished newspaper then makes its way back to The Contributor’s vendor operating post at the Downtown Presbyterian Church. That’s where Tom Wills and his family have long been a part of.
The next transformation is where vendors are able to become the entrepreneur that they are. We vendors are able to share our words, our voice and art in the the paper then come replenish our stock as we buy wholesale and sell retail, getting a job done. Every paper that is sold gives a vendor a better outlook at prosperity, and every paper that has been taken and read should give a customer satisfaction of the knowledge that’s within the Contributor community. So watch what you put down because life is a circle what you put down now just might end up having motion.