Please Keep The Regina Streets Magazine in your thoughts.

The Regina Streets Magazine in Regina, SK, Canada is a recent startup and has already run into great success...and difficulty. I have become friends with one of their founders, Greg.

They are not a member of NASNA, but we're all in this together, imo.

This is from their Facebook recently:

"Greetings…

It is hard to believe that roughly six weeks have gone by since our triumphant launch. These weeks have been chaotic and both Stacey and I have been disgustingly busy. So, before I say anything else, I want to apologize for not being more attentive to Facebook.

Our second paper hit the streets on June 17. It contains a rousing article by Dr. Joyce Green, some rather interesting articles by other authors, and some incredibly embarrassing errors. It wasn’t our best work but, again, we’re learning as we go along.

We got some really unfortunate news today. Someone complained about us and we were essentially shut down for the immediate future. Our vendors still fall under Regina’s anti-panhandling laws despite the fact that they now sell a publication. In order to keep distributing the magazine, they have to apply for ‘tags’, which are reserved for citizens in ‘good standing’. Failure to produce a ‘tag’ can result in up to a $5000 fine and we don’t want our vendors to take that kind of risk.

Stacey and I still have some copies of our June issue left. Rather than let them go to waste, we are going to sell them to anyone interested. eMail us at ReginaStreets@gmail.com if you would like to get a copy.

As for the future of the magazine, we are both rather shocked right now and don’t have a clue what we are going to do. We will refrain from making a comment at this time, but we will keep you updated as we learn more.

Peace.Greg"

and a more recent update:

"Hey....

I want to thank all of you for all the support you have provided and give you a bit of an update on our publication. I can not tell you how humbled Stacey, Julianna and I are by the attention and by all the incredibly nice things that people are saying about us. I also hope that this eMail finds you incredibly happy and healthy.

We are working on getting our people their permits and are anxiously awaiting word from the City. If they get their permits, we will be able to legally distribute the magazine (in our way) as of July 15th, 2008. Moreover, we have asked to be listed as "Interested Parties" when the Tag Permit bylaw comes up for review. We believe that we will be approved - the City of Regina is run by some incredibly intelligent, compassionate people who will realize that we are not a threat. In the event that we aren't approved, our magazine will not die, it will merely go underground for a little while.

Our publication is about one thing and one thing only. We exist to give people an opportunity to make a living wage doing what they are good at and what they are capable of. My friends who sell the magazine are united in one thing - they don't want your spare change, they want their lives to change. Our magazine is not about the articles, it is not about the pictures, it is not about the media, and it is certainly not about us and our egos. Our magazine is about giving some really amazing people a sense of hope and a real chance of freeing themselves from poverty.

In this 'fight', it is important to remember that most people don't resort to begging in the twilight years of a really happy, fulfilling life. Childhood abuse, mental illness, and substance abuse are epidemic amongst street populations. Mental illness and substance abuse create a particularly dangerous treadmill - when people get stuck on this treadmill, their very survival ends up in doubt.

I have no desire to get into a fight with the city. I have difficulty referring to myself as an activist. And I'm not doing this to thumb my nose at 'the establishment'. I'm doing this to improve Downtown Regina (which is where I make my home and where I spend the vast majority of my time). And, I am doing this to hopefully improve one or two lives and maybe give one or two people a little bit more hope - hope in one day living a better life, hope in no longer having to be 'a bum', and hope of one day actually being respected members of our society.

Hope is the most important factor in any kind of recovery. How can we expect people to get clean when we can't give them any reason to believe that tomorrow will be better than today?

It is very important to remember that our mode of distribution is our primary message. It is even more important to remember that I will fight to the bitter end for my people and for their right to economic opportunity and to free expression. The Regina Streets Magazine is not going anywhere but up.

Be peaceful and compassionate and may this message help alleviate suffering in our community and throughout the world.

Greg Hluska
OMPH"