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Monday 10am - 3pm Tuesday 10am - 3pm Wednesday 10am - 12pm Thursday 10am - 12pm Friday 10am - 12pm

The Contributor

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The Contributor

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This is our official page. Welcome! The Contributor is Nashville’s street paper.

Like other street papers around the world, The Contributor focuses on the issues surrounding homelessness and poverty, and is sold on the street, by homeless and formerly homeless individuals who keep the profit.

10/08/2026

WOW! We are SO grateful to all of you for joining The Contributor Breakfast Club by donating to our recent fundraising campaign. Our hearts and our bellies are full of gratitude to everyone who liked and shared our posts, forwarded our emails, and donated online, in-person, and via mail. Not only did we meet our goal, we EXCEEDED IT! There simply wasn’t a big enough stack of pancakes to represent your generosity!

Thanks to YOU, we get to enjoy another year (and more!) of feeding our vendors and our unhoused neighbors. Even as grocery prices rise and food security remains difficult to navigate for many of our clients, we are so glad to know that we can be a place where they will continue to find hearty meals and a warm welcome.

Sincerely yours,
The Contributor Breakfast Club 🥞

09/23/2026

Welcome back to Why We Do It Wednesday! We are rounding out the staff features with our Co-Editor, Amanda Haggard!

Amanda has worked with The Contributor team for TWELVE years! In that time, she has shaped the way we tell stories and share our passions with all of you. She has a remarkable skill for honing in on what an author is trying to communicate and highlighting it in the way that makes the most impact. Amanda is one of the first people to see every article that we publish and we could not be more grateful for her eye for detail and generous spirit.

When asked what drives her to continue in this work, Amanda shared,

“I’ve always believed in the power of words and stories. Over the dozen years of writing and editing for The Contributor, this feeling has only grown stronger. The chance and choice to amplify the voices of people in the city who often aren't given a venue and the ability to write or edit stories that represent Nashville as a city of real people is an honor. Aside from the opportunity to publish work that tells the stories of people on the streets, there's not a place in town where I've felt the warmth, love and community that exists at The Contributor.”

Here’s to Amanda, whose passion for storytelling guides our work!

09/14/2026

We want YOU to join The Contributor Breakfast Club!

For the next month, you will see more posts like these as we aim to raise $10,000 to fully fund the next year’s worth of bi-weekly breakfasts for our hard-working vendors.

Our paper release breakfast allows us to feed our vendors and community members in multiple ways: they are physically fed a warm, hearty meal to fuel them for the day ahead, and they are surrounded by our team members, volunteers, and fellow vendors who feed their humanity by providing both social services and a sense of community.

We’d love to have you join us by donating at the link in our bio or at the QR code in this post (make sure you select “Breakfast Club 2026” as the cause). You can also attend breakfast and get to know us! Breakfast starts at 8:30am every other Wednesday, and our next one is on Sept. 23rd!

And please share this post so we can spread the word like jam on toast!

09/09/2026

Welcome back to Why We Do It Wednesday! This week we are delighted to introduce you to Lindsey Longoria, our Community Engagement & Gratitude Officer. She's also our social media manager, so she's writing this (hi!).

Lindsey started working with The Contributor as a Housing Stability Guide (shout-out to the housing team!) before moving into her current role. While Lindsey loves working directly with clients, her heart is in community-building. She believes that in sharing with one another, we learn more about ourselves and the world around us, especially in unexpected places/people. It is this passion which drives her to continue advocating for the importance of this work, and she does so through everything she does from cooking our bi-weekly paper release breakfast, to meeting with community partners to plan collaborative events, to seeking out new funding opportunities, and ultimately, through getting to know you and helping you get to know us!

When asked why she is passionate about this work, Lindsey shared,

"I believe stories are the lifeblood of people, and what better way to share stories that matter than through organizations like The Contributor? I believe in the power of communal care and collaboration, and I am so fortunate to get to see all that and more every day through the work we do."

Here's to Lindsey, who feels weird posting about herself, but is doing it anyway!

09/08/2026

We are grateful to announce that The Contributor has been chosen as a grant recipient by Metro Arts! This funding allows us to invest in more of what we do best -- serving our unhoused neighbors and empowering them to gain income, housing, creative opportunities, and social supports. Thanks to Metro Arts for investing in our mission!

09/07/2026

Welcome back to Meet the Vendor Monday! You know we couldn't hold off any longer on introducing you to Beverly P.!

Ms. Beverly sells the paper on Hillsboro Pike by Men's Wearhouse and Trader Joe's, alongside her husband, Albert, whom she met through the community at The Contributor! Beverly has one of the best smiles in town, and the positive attitude to match. She always has a kind word to say and a grateful spirit to share with anyone and everyone.

We are so grateful to have Beverly as one of our vendors, and to get to see her whole household succeed as she and Albert work together toward their shared bright futures. We'd love to hear your stories about Beverly too! Drop them below!

09/03/2026

We are so pleased to announce that The Contributor has been chosen as a recipient of Vanderbilt University's Fall Community Impact Fund. This funding is crucial to empowering us to continuing to do what we do day in and day out. We are grateful to our friends at Vanderbilt who have chosen to share this funding, and who also have coordinating brand colors. 😉

09/02/2026

Welcome back to Why We Do It Wednesday! This week we our rounding out our housing team by introducing you to Zero Mannino, one of our hard-working Housing Stability Guides!

Zero serves our recently housed neighbors through a case management system called Critical Time Intervention (CTI). What does this mean exactly? It means Zero is in the community daily meeting with clients to help them learn how to successfully stay housed. This looks like: delivering a food box from a local food bank, attending medical appointments to help clients advocate for their needs, teaching clients how to set up bank accounts and payment systems so their bills get paid, and truly anything in between!

Beyond being a stellar housing team member, Zero is also an advocate for mental health, and they co-lead a peer support group called the Tennessee Voices and Paranoia Collective.

When asked why they were drawn to this work, Zero shared:

"I want to be the person to others I wish I had during some of the worst seasons of my life. When I was young, I was bullied. Every day on the way to school, I passed a Contributor vendor who had positive messages surrounding his spot. Those interactions were one of the things that kept me going. I know how it feels to be alone, misunderstood, and what it is like to navigate mental health systems. I find great purpose helping others connect to resources."

Here's to Zero, who models what it means to draw alongside our neighbors in good times and bad!

09/01/2026

Kinda chic to jump on social media trends to promote our hard-working vendors! We would love to see your photos and videos too! If you have a favorite vendor, a cool memory with The Contributor, a story to share, or anything in between, please send it our way or tag us! Thanks for being part of our celebratory community!

08/24/2026

Meet the Vendor Monday is back with our special guest, Albert!

If you drive through Green Hills frequently, you’re likely familiar with Albert. Albert (and his wife and fellow vendor, Beverly!) vend on Hillsboro Pike in front of Trader Joe’s and Men’s Wearhouse.

Albert is a kind-hearted, soft-spoken man. He has the kind of work ethic that even the toughest of bosses would admire. No matter what the weather or what’s going on in his personal life, Albert never stops. Even throughout the extremely hot days we’ve had recently, Albert was out there making friends and selling papers.

We’re so proud to have Albert on our team serving as a model for what it means to be fully committed to the work.

And if you follow the NECAT Network, you’ll see and hear more from Albert soon! 😉

Address

154 5th Avenue North
Nashville, TN
37219

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 3pm
Tuesday	10am - 3pm
Wednesday	10am - 12pm
Thursday	10am - 12pm
Friday	10am - 12pm

Telephone

(615) 499-6829

Website

http://www.thecontributor.org/donate

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