The $2 street magazine that helped put $1.1 million in people's pockets
A street paper gave Curbside its first product, its first customers, and the model for a social enterprise built around people’s everyday purchases.
The founders: Ranya Forgotson and Whitley O’Connor
The business: Curbside Enterprises, 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides income and employment opportunities to people struggling with homelessness
2025 impact: 197 individuals ended their homelessness or maintained housing through Curbside’s programs
In Fine Print, In Stock is talking shop with the niche sellers, small presses, and zinemakers building businesses at the intersection of publishing and commerce. Two things we happen to care a lot about.
In 2013, Ranya Forgotson co-founded Curbside Chronicle in Oklahoma City with two goals: to provide immediate, low-barrier employment for people experiencing homelessness and poverty, and to publish stories that helped humanize those experiencing homelessness.
The magazine, which is sold using a street paper model, gave vendors a product to sell, and local readers a reason to stop, buy, and learn. And in the process, it also gave Curbside a model for social enterprise focused on the everyday products that are the foundation of community life, making it possible for locals to support without needing to shift their spending behaviors.
What started with the Chronicle has since expanded into Curbside Enterprises, which encompasses the flower business Curbside Flowers, the apparel shop Curbside Apparel, the snow cone stand Sasquatch Shaved Ice, the holiday wrapping paper pop up Wrap Up Homelessness, and support services. The nonprofit works with over 400 people across their employment programs (those who sell magazines are referred to as vendors; everyone else is considered a client), with Curbside Chronicle still sitting at the center. As Forgotson puts it, “We call the magazine our front door.”
Rachael: Curbside started with the Chronicle. What was the original problem you were trying to solve, and why did a street paper feel like the right model?
Ranya Forgotson: Street papers like Curbside Chronicle exist all over the world. We brought the concept to Oklahoma City because we saw the impact it had in other communities.
The Chronicle offers employment and opportunity to people currently experiencing homelessness and poverty, and it is immediately attainable employment for folks who otherwise might have barriers to traditional employment.
We really loved street papers because they gave people the dignity of employment and met them where they currently are in life. It was twofold: How do you involve the broader public in this complex problem and show people that in their everyday lives they can make a difference by simply buying a magazine? And then, how do we give people money they can use to end their homelessness?
Before launching, we spent time building relationships and hosting writing workshops with people who might eventually sell the magazine. That mattered because whenever we had a magazine to present to them, we weren’t strangers saying, “Hey, you should go out and sell this.” We had relationships and trust.
Rachael: Once you had the model, how did you decide what a Curbside Chronicle story should be?
Ranya: Quality was really important for us. We didn’t want to do black and white. We didn’t want to do a newspaper. We wanted to do something slicker, more eye-catching, more visually appealing, because we need to catch people’s attention outside.
We went with a high-gloss, 32-page magazine. We work with local artists to develop our covers and illustrations, local photographers to capture images, freelance writers in the community, and some of our clients self-author stories, too.
We do traditional news coverage, but it’s also important to humanize people and not only focus on what makes people homeless. Our vendors share talents, interests, and lots of things that readers can connect with. We don’t want someone to pick our magazine up and feel depressed reading it every month. People going through homelessness are experiencing hardship, and they also have moments of joy. We are multifaceted.
We’re always looking at how this product is amplifying people’s voices and giving them money. Yes, this is a publication, but it’s also a tool for economic empowerment.
Rachael: At what point did you realize the Chronicle could become the foundation for something bigger than the magazine itself?
Ranya: That was pretty fast. Whenever people started buying the magazine and resonating with it, we would hear, “This is so awesome. I feel like I can finally do something. This gives me an easy way to help.”
A year in, when people on social media would post and talk about it, [my co-founder] Whitley and I were like, “We don’t know who those people are. These are strangers engaging with this now.” That’s when you start realizing, okay, this is bigger than us. We’ve made something that resonates.
Rachael: You started with a magazine, but eventually expanded into wrapping paper, flowers, apparel, and more. How did you start to see readers as customers for businesses?
Ranya: We’re not afraid to borrow ideas and concepts that work in other communities and tweak them for our local community. A Nashville street paper turned their newspaper into wrapping paper around the holidays. It was not directly applicable to our magazine format, but we loved the concept. Everyone needs wrapping paper.
We had the idea that we could work with local artists, come up with 10 custom wrapping paper designs, and sell that as a package. Our printer was able to also print wrapping paper, so we made that as an additional product. Vendors hit the streets in November and December with magazines and wrapping paper packages, and people bought them.
Then Valentine’s Day was coming up, and our wheels started turning: How do we continue to offer employment and more income to people who are in poverty? We decided to put little bouquets together—just a couple of stems, nothing like what we’re doing nowadays for design. It was just testing a concept. We posted on social media and said, “Our vendors have hit the streets. We have 100 mini bouquets. Grab one for your loved one this Valentine’s Day.” They sold out that afternoon.
Rachael: The Chronicle has a suggested price of $2. How does the financial side work for vendors?
Ranya: We advertise the magazine at the suggested price of $2, and thankfully, people are very generous. On average, our clients are making $5 per magazine sale. They keep everything but $0.75. It’s a wholesale model.
Most folks might not have a dollar in their pocket when they come through the door, and that’s okay. Everyone gets their first 15 magazines for free after completing orientation and training. After that, they buy magazines for $0.75 each to re-up and then sell them for the suggested price of $2. They make at least $1.25, but on average they’re making $5.
It costs a lot to print a 32-page magazine and have editorial and pay artists for art, so the charge doesn’t cover our production costs. It allows our vendors to practice responsible saving and spending habits. With this model, there is some skin in the game.
Rachael: How do the other Curbside businesses fit into that model?
Ranya: We call the magazine our front door. That’s how everyone enters, because it’s such a low barrier. If you don’t have an ID, it’s not a problem. We’re going to help you get an ID, but you can start working with us while you’re waiting for your birth certificate to come in.
Everyone’s really focused on housing when they first join our program. That’s the goal. It’s hard to maintain traditional employment without stable housing. Behind the scenes, our social service team helps people make budgets, find affordable housing, and cover barriers like deposits, first month’s rent, transportation, or utility debt. Typically, once we help people get into housing, they move into one of our other employment avenues, like apparel, Sasquatch Ice, or the flower shop, for more traditional shift labor.
We’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Yes, we run multiple businesses, and yes, they generate revenue, which is wonderful. We’re about 50% sustainable, so 50% of our annual operating budget comes from the revenue we generate through our businesses, and the other 50% comes from grants, donations, and things like that.
Rachael: What outcomes are you seeing from that ecosystem?
Ranya: Last year, we put about $1.1 million of income into the pockets of our participants through all of our businesses. We helped 197 people end their homelessness or maintain their housing who were previously homeless. That’s huge to us.
Rachael: That’s amazing, and a huge testament to what you have built with Curbside. What has running the other businesses taught you that the magazine alone couldn’t?
Ranya: What we’ve learned through all of this is that if you can meet people’s existing needs, and you can do it in a social way, people will likely consider you for their business.
Quality remains very important. Yes, there’s a social mission, but if we didn’t deliver and we didn’t have good quality and standards and procedures, maybe someone would buy from us once, but they’re not going to buy anniversary flowers from us every year.
Sadly, people expect that a homeless-serving business might be lesser. So people are often very surprised when they see how polished we are, when they see how good our quality is. It subverts that stigma, and we want to keep doing that.
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To learn more about Curbside Enterprises or support its social service programs, visit curbside.org. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.