“A lot of people were shocked,” said Anthony Mateos, a senior at ETHS, of the reactions to him writing the book “Who We Are: Stories From the Chicago StreetWise Community.”
The reaction is warranted, considering that Mateos has a lot going on. He is a leader on the varsity rowing team, along with the ETHS club Team ASAP. However, writing a book was always in the plans for Mateos.
“I always knew I wanted to create a book,” explained Mateos. “I never really knew what I wanted the topic to be, but I wanted to serve a purpose.”
As it turned out, Mateos did not have to look any further than the street corners around him to find this purpose. Anyone who has spent some time walking around Evanston or Chicago is familiar with vendors selling StreetWise magazine. The magazine provides employment to homeless individuals in the Chicago area. Vendors buy the magazine for $1.50 and sell it for $3.00, keeping any profit made. These longtime staples of the community became the inspiration for Mateos’s book.
“I always saw vendors around the community as columns of not just Chicago, but also Evanston, so looking back on those fond memories of talking to them and getting to know each one of them, I decided that that should be the main focus of this book,” said Mateos.
These vendors all have a complicated story, as homelessness is an extremely multifaceted issue, especially in a major city like Chicago. “Who We Are” aims to tackle this issue and peel back the layers of what life is like for those who sell StreetWise while dealing with the challenges of being homeless.
“One thing that stuck out to me is that homelessness isn’t something that happens by choice, but rather by circumstance,” stated Mateos. “Many people are homeless, not just in Chicago, but across the world due to poor circumstances of how they were raised or their environment,” he explained, “and so many vendors are just as intelligent as anyone else you’d find in the Chicago community.”
While Mateos achieved his initial goal of serving a purpose by informing people about this topic, he wanted this book to go above and beyond to serve the homeless community itself. This prompted him to decide that all proceeds from the book would go to StreetWise; so far, the proceeds have already made an impact.
“As of now, we’ve raised about $2,400,” stated Mateos. “I have made no money off of this book, and the sales continue to rise.”
The book has gotten a lot of media attention as well. Mateos has made appearances on Chicago news stations ABC 7, WGN and WTTW, where he has spread awareness about his book and the cause it supports.
“It was such a great experience,” Mateos said about appearing on TV. “They welcomed me, made me comfortable and I’m really grateful I got to go on each of them.”
While Mateos is dealing with a busy senior year schedule, including applying to college, he is not planning on writing another book any time soon. But it is not something he is ruling out.
“The door is open,” stated Mateos. “I could see myself writing and publishing another book in the future, but right now it’s all focused on college stuff.”
With “Who We Are,” there are several messages Mateos hopes readers take away. He wants to clear up problematic misconceptions not just about StreetWise, but also about the Chicago homeless community as a whole.
“I want people to find out how to support people facing homelessness in Chicago,” said Mateos. “Chicago has a large homeless population that requires aid, and even through just purchasing a copy of this book, you’re helping the cause.”
“Who We Are: Stories From the Chicago StreetWise Community” by Anthony Mateos is available for purchase at Lulu.com (a self-publishing website) for $14.50, with all proceeds supporting StreetWise in their cause to empower Chicago’s homeless community.
