Help Launch Tucson's Street Paper
Donation protected
Hi, I'm Mari Herreras, a longtime Tucson journalist with a passion for justice and community. When I returned home to Tucson in 2007, I was lucky to be hired by the Tucson Weekly. For a decade, I reported for the Weekly, focusing on stories that centered the voices of marginalized communities and called attention to a range of issues facing our city and county. Now, I'm asking for your help to take that work further.
I’m launching a street newspaper in Tucson—inspired by Seattle’s Real Change, where I volunteered back in the 1990s. These papers do more than tell stories—they change lives. In Seattle, Real Change is sold by vendors, many of whom are unhoused, creating meaningful, low-barrier income while bringing the community stories that matter.
We need that here.
Your donation will help me:
- Produce the first issues of Tucson’s own street newspaper.
- Organize an advisory board rooted in the community and their experiences.
- Develop a vendor program offering low-barrier employment to unhoused and low-income residents.
- Build a sustainable newsroom that centers marginalized voices and holds power accountable.
Street newspapers work. Real Change has grown into a nationally recognized model of ethical journalism, community organizing, and economic empowerment. Let’s build Tucson’s version—a paper that speaks truth, builds solidarity, and offers opportunity.
Please join me in making this vision a reality. Your support, at any level, will help bring this project to life.
Together, we can create a paper that informs, empowers, and belongs to the people.
Thank you for believing in community journalism.
— Mari Herreras
Organizer
Mari Herreras
Organizer
Tucson, AZ