Real Change

Mission

Real Change exists to provide opportunity and a voice for low-income and homeless people while taking action for economic, social and racial justice.

Who We Are

We tackle Seattle's housing crisis head-on through our jobs, journalism, and justice.

Job loss was cited as the #1 reason for people experiencing homelessness in the 2020 point-in-time count, and barriers make finding a job nearly impossible for many. That's why Real Change offers low-barrier employment for anyone who needs it. 

Real Change is an award-winning weekly newspaper that provides immediate employment for hundreds of low-income and unhoused people each year.

Vendors find low-barrier, meaningful work and community at Real Change. Annually, this program puts over $1M directly into the pockets of vendors. 

In March 2018 Real Change released the first edition of the Emerald City Resource Guide, a portable, pocket-sized guidebook of social services across the city. This guidebook connects people to the services available in the city, from meals and shelters to immigration legal services and more. This project has grown, with over 200 partner agencies across our region, printing 50,000 copies yearly and has become a staple for human service organizations. We continue to print an updated edition every summer!

Real Change empowers people experiencing homelessness to act for long-term policy solutions. We don't just advocate on behalf of those experiencing poverty - we empower our vendors to speak up and advocate for themselves. Through the Vendor Organizing Committee, participants review the policy and budget decisions on the city, county and state levels, and organize action-campaigns on the issues that will most impact their quality of life. We include vendors in all advocacy projects, like our campaign for social housing in 2022 and 2023.

Our community makes us strong. Real Change depends on grassroots, individual donations for about 60% of our income. Each gift is not just an investment in someone's job today, it is also a contribution to a more just and caring world where all people have the means to live with dignity.

This year, all donations up to $25,000 will be matched by a generous anonymous donor!

With your support...

We can:

Offer classes, trainings, and other community resources to our vendors to support them with reaching their personal and professional goals.

Expand opportunities for our community members with lived experiences of homelessness to share their personal stories, like the Lived Experience Speakers Bureau.

Build up our Equity Fund to adequately compensate youth, Black and Brown writers for their contributions to our newspaper.

Train a dedicated group of vendor activists to engage directly with their community for change through our Vendor Organizing Committee.

Expand our Emerald City Resource Guide to include Spanish and other non-English language editions.

Please give to Real Change today. Together, we can build a more inclusive and equitable future for our shared city. Thank you. 💙