Louisa Smith ’11

student

It was during a meeting of HOPE, Brown’s housing and homeless advocacy group, that Louisa Smith (’11) recalls her first introduction to Street Sights. The few-page paper about homelessness in Providence was brought to HOPE in 2007 by Brown upperclassman, Elizabeth Ochs, (‘07.5) who was searching for volunteers to assist with the publication’s expansion. Eager to engage in community work and hopeful her skills could be of use, Louisa was immediately intrigued by the opportunity. At the time only a freshman, she didn’t realize that Street Sights would come to shape an important part of her undergraduate experience in Providence.

As a former contributor to her high school newspaper and literary magazine, Louisa was well suited to meaningfully contribute to Street Sights. Over the next academic year she joined a staff of homeless individuals, students, and community members for bi-weekly meetings in downtown Providence. Each month this small group of committed individuals worked collaboratively to publish a paper which served as a forum for spreading accurate information about homelessness among advocates, the homeless, state officials, and the general public. In her role as the technical editor, Louisa spearheaded the development of a Street Sights website, and also contributed articles and editorial assistance.

During the summer of 2008 Louisa received the Swearer Center’s C.V. Starr fellowship, allowing her to engage more expansively with Street Sights and the community it serves. For three months she devoted herself to the paper full-time, deepening her connection to it and to its staff. In part due to Louisa’s committed efforts, Street Sights quickly grew in length, readership, and coverage.

Today Street Sights’ 16-page issues comprise stories from across Rhode Island, and they are distributed to readers in over 60 locations. During July of 2010, Louisa and other staff members attended the North American Street Newspaper Association (NASNA) conference in Chicago, where an article from Street Sights was honored as a 'Best Vendor Essay.'

In addition to its growth as a publication, Street Sights has developed new meaning for Louisa as a student activist; the paper represents a community, of which she is a valued member. The close relationships she has developed with other staff members are a large part of her motivation for continued commitment.“Knowing that people are out there counting on me,” she says, is what keeps her going each week.

“I’ve learned so much about the community surrounding Brown”, Louisa reflects, now three years after the HOPE meeting at which a short version of Street Sights first circled the room. In her final year as an undergraduate she remains an integral part of the Streets Sights team. As “Assistant Managing Editor” she maintains the website and social media sources, and manages email correspondence with the paper’s growing list of subscribers. She is also a part of the collaborative editing process, during which the staff works together to produce a final draft.

Louisa describes her work at Street Sights as an important way of “filling the gap” in media coverage of homelessness and the policies shaping it. This is particularly important in a city where affordable housing remains a widespread problem. To Louisa, the paper is about “getting the news out there, because if it reaches to the right audience, it’s activism in its own way.”

links

www.streetsights.org
Street Sights