StreetWise Vendor Jimmie Beckless Introduces stepson Semaj to the Vendor Force

by Samantha Friedkin

Jimmie Beckless has been a StreetWise Vendor for 13 years. Over the years, Jimmie has moved around between three different spots, but he has been able to settle into one location with loyal and friendly customers.

Jimmie was homeless for about four years before coming to StreetWise. His friend and fellow vendor, Charles Dixon, brought him to the organization and he’s been with Street- Wise ever since. Even during the pandemic, Jimmie has been able to build up his customer base at a Chicago Starbucks location. “The management and customers are really great,” he mentioned while talking about his vending experiences throughout the pandemic.

One of the biggest challenges for Jimmie has been connecting with the local residents and finding opportunities to tell people what StreetWise is and why he is selling the magazine. At first, “a lot of people would turn their heads and not even look at me.” Jimmie said. This was “good with him” and he tried to not let it discourage him or let it anger him.

“I had to let people know what StreetWise is about: that it helps prevent people from being homeless and it empowers them to work,” Jimmie said. “People saw me out there every day trying to support myself.” Jimmie mentioned one of his biggest strategies to do this was to let people into his life. He would talk to his customers about his life before Street- Wise and about his military career. Jimmie said that he would talk to people every day as they walked by. He learned to tolerate it and accept it if people did not want to talk back to him. Jimmie learned that if he didn’t let this bother him, “people would start to talk with me and engage, and eventually they would buy a magazine.”

Jimmie says that the one thing keeping him out and selling StreetWise is his family. “They have been very supportive and understanding.” Jimmie said. He has a 14-year-old son who is a straight-A student and Jimmie wants to see him graduate from high school in a few years.

Recently, Jimmie has brought his stepson Semaj to StreetWise. Semaj was always interested in StreetWise and learning the ins and outs of sales. “He wanted to get into it to learn more about how to sell, and he thought this would be a good way to do it.”

Jimmie found him a location a few blocks away from his own location at another Starbucks. Although they do not sell together as a team, Jimmie is still able to help Semaj learn and grow through his own experiences vending. The management and the customers at Semaj’s location know Jimmie very well. He said “They look out for [Semaj] and they support him.”

Jimmie is committed to selling StreetWise as long as needed to support his family. Even through the pandemic, Jimmie has maintained a positive outlook and looks forward to greeting his customers each day. “I want to say thank you to the customers who have supported me and I appreciate their cooperation with me,” Jimmie said.

He wished the world “a very happy holidays” and he hopes “COVID-19 will end soon because people need to be healthy and survive this thing.”