By the people, for the people, worldwide independent newspapers like ours are pioneered by the sidewalks and the street corners. Unsheltered and marginalized individuals are centered in this form of press, as they are the vendors and often contributors. Stories and other media are collected, formatted and printed by a team of organizers at API. From there, vendors purchase papers for $1 to cover supply costs and sell them for $4, keeping the profit, thus effectively starting their own small business.

This creates a viable employment opportunity for people who are otherwise turned away for lack of address or general discrimination. It also exists as a response to Asheville’s controversial panhandling ordinance, giving our most poverty stricken neighbors a legal method to acquire the financial means necessary to survive in this country. 

The Intersection is the local beginning in a long-standing, international tradition of street papers. Driven by the sidewalks and the street corners, the modern street paper is a movement defined as a tangible combatant to homelessness. Over 100 different cities in 30 different countries have adopted this model, and we at API, after extensive planning and research, are proud to share that we are bringing it home. 

There is a rich history in this practice of alternative, dissident and underground form of media, with the earliest editions tracing all the way back to 1879, with The Salvation Army’s paper, The War Cry, which was followed by union worker and religiously affiliated social justice newspapers such as The Catholic Worker. 

The origins of the movement's current model began with New York City’s Street News and San Francisco’s StreetSheet. Both were launched in 1989, as a direct response to the war on drugs and mainstream, political stereotyping of the homeless population as drug-addicted and criminal, stereotypes which persist to this day.

Now, there is an International Network of Street Papers, the INSP, whose vision we share, as they define on their website: “People living in poverty have opportunities to earn an income and have their stories heard and understood.” This directly speaks to API’s mission of poverty education and brings a new outlet for our hands-on community work to grow. 

While of course the main goal and focus is providing employment opportunities to those most affected by poverty, the scope of this mission only grows deeper. This paper invites people who are experiencing homelessness to learn job skills, to use their voices and share their stories, and to build connections within the community.

Beyond that, it brings a new, alternative media outlet, revolving around the streets we travel every day. Traditional media seems to center the sensational– the tech giants, the celebrities, the national politics, the crime. It relies on the most shocking headlines, to generate the most clicks, to generate the most profits. Our paper exists as the antithesis of this.

Our paper aims to empower– the vendors, the writers, the local organizations/businesses, and especially its readers. Through educating about our neighbors, our support systems, and our issues, we can effectively foster a sense of solidarity in our communities. Now more than ever this is critical.  In a world where attention is a commodity, being intentional about it is powerful. What better to pay attention to than the only area each and every one of us has the ability to impact?

Uncensored, no click-bait, no fear-mongering. We are prioritizing in-person connection and keeping print media alive in a very disconnected digital age.

• Local news, exclusive interviews

• Social justice issues and Op-eds

• Aid education

• Information and education pertaining to homelessness and homeless issues

• Creative works and poetry from our home writing group, Moonlight Cheese Alliance

• Intentional classifieds: advertisements for local businesses who we support, and who support us

• Astrology

• Puzzles and games

• And More!