About us

Street Spirit is a monthly newspaper that is sold by homeless people in Berkeley and Oakland. It is written by and for unhoused people and others who are interested in producing original journalism about the crisis of homelessness, and the issues with which it intersects. We report on the politics and policies that impact our community, and publish personal essays, profiles, and poetry, which illuminate the experience of homelessness with unique intimacy. Our mission is to provide economic opportunity for our homeless neighbors while also creating a platform where they can share their own stories. Learn more about our vendor program here.

Who we are

Bradley Penner is the Editor of Street Spirit. Alastair Boone is the Director. JC Orton and Kevin Sample are our Vendor Coordinators. Our board of advisors includes Yesica Prado, Talya Husbands-Hankin, Paul Boden, Osha Neumann, Shawn Moses, Ian Cordova-Morales, and Caron Creighton. We are fiscally sponsored by Independent Arts and Media (IAM).

Get in touch

If you have a tip or a question about our program, you can reach us by phone or email at:

(510) 982-6875

streetspiritnews@gmail.com

If you would like to contribute to our paper, email: bradstreetspiritnews@gmail.com

Editorial independence policy 

Street Spirit retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions.

Street Spirit accepts gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support.

Street Spirit may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but we maintain editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.

​Our organization will make public all donors who give a total of $5,000 or more per year. We will accept anonymous donations for general support only if it is clear that sufficient safeguards have been put into place that the expenditure of that donation is made independently by our organization and in compliance with the membership standards of the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Corrections policy

Transparency is essential to our ethos at Street Spirit. We will make quick and clear corrections in the event that we print a factual error or misleading statement. In these cases, we will make the correction online immediately. Because our print paper only comes out monthly, we will run a print correction in the following month’s newspaper, at the bottom of page 12.  Changes that substantially alter the balance and tone of the story should be made clear to the reader.

All corrections, clarifications, or retractions must be approved by the Editor in Chief.

Donor transparency policy

Street Spirit is committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization. Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services or opinions.

We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to help with our general operations, coverage of specific topics and special projects. Our news judgments are made independently – not based on or influenced by donors or any revenue source. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review or edit content.

We make public all revenue sources and donors who give $5,000 or more per year. As a news organization that is sponsored by a nonprofit organization, we avoid accepting charitable donations from government entities, political parties, elected officials or candidates seeking public office. We will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by our team, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.

Thank you!

Thank you to our donors who have gave over $5,000 this year! Charles Schwab Charitable, Gail Buuck, Grapevine Giving Foundation, Carol Boone, Suzi Garner, David Buuck, and East Bay Community Foundation—we couldn’t have done it without you.