StreetWise INK is Memphis’ only T-Shirt Screen Printing Workers-Cooperative that is organized and operated entirely by people with experiences of homelessness. StreetWise was founded in late 2012 when a group of people with current and previous experiences of homelessness came together in the midst of one of the longest standing encampments of the Occupy Movement. A Homeless Caucus, whose membership would later become the driving force behind Homeless Organizing for Power & Equality (H.O.P.E.) was organized as a direct response to the needs and issues of people most directly affected by many of the economic policies challenged within Occupy. During those initial meetings, the predecessors of H.O.P.E. came up with the four core values that were most necessary to the group as a whole:
Dignity, Self-Determination/Autonomy, Mutual Emotional Support, and Solidarity.
H.O.P.E. realized that if they were to keep these core values in a system that makes it nearly impossible for people experiencing homelessness to find work (let alone sustainable, dignified work that pays a living wage), that it would have to come from their own efforts to make it so. This concept sparked the idea to form a worker-owned and operated screen printing cooperative made up entirely of, for, and by people with experiences of homelessness.
Since then, StreetWise INK has greatly benefited from the contributions and expertise of individuals and groups from their immediate community as well as the broader community at large. From having received timely advice from New Memphis Institute fellows, to having been the recipients of a generous grant from Sparkplug Foundation for equipment, to having recently become proud Community Coop Partners with Democracy at Work, StreetWise INK is well on their way and achieving their goals.
Through donations from university groups (that have come from as far away as Purdue and Kansas), as well as from individuals and organizations that sign up for the hands-on, donation-based Screen Printing Trainings facilitated by Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, they are able to sustainably provide the needed supplies for the Screen Printing and Worker-Cooperative Trainings that are free to people with experiences of homelessness, extreme poverty, and other limiting barriers to self-sustainability through meaningful and dignified cooperative work. With the free Screen Printing and Worker-Cooperative Trainings, members and individuals from the community come together to share useful skills, experience, and knowledge as they work together toward incorporating as a member-owned and managed cooperative screen printing LLC.
***If you are interested in signing up individually or as a group for the donation-based Screen Printing Trainings, please follow this link to find out more about our suggested donation ranges for the different trainings.***
***If you or someone you know has experience of homelessness, living in poverty, or other barriers to sustainable, dignified employment, please feel free to sign up for one or all of the Free Screen Printing & Worker-Cooperative Trainings that are every other Saturday from 2pm to 5pm at First Congregational Church, located at 1000 Cooper (near Cooper-Young intersection).***
StreetWise INK’s Price Quote Request Form.
Email: streetwise@midsouthpeace.org
Phone: 901-725-4990
Follow StreetWise INK on Facebook: https://facebook.com/streetwiseink/