For the first time in almost 17 years, Street Sense Media won’t be publishing a print edition as scheduled.

Street Sense CEO Brian Carome announced the suspension of print distribution on Thursday in light of the city wide shutdown and growing threat of coronavirus infection in the District. “Our top priority is, and must always be, the health and safety of all,” Carome wrote in the announcement, citing “concerns for the safety of all Street Sense Media vendors and Street Sense customers.”

The decision leaves the publication’s 130 vendors without their normal source of income.

Street Sense is a “street paper” that reports on housing inequality and insecurity in the District. The publication features poetry, columns, and cartoons from individuals who are facing or have faced homelessness, and allows them to distribute the paper across the city in exchange for money. Street Sense sells copies at wholesale price to the vendors, who then sell the papers to readers for suggested donations, typically between five and ten dollars. (Disclosure: the author previously interned at Street Sense).

According to Carome, vendors make $780 on average per month from distributing the paper. To account for their drop in sales from the last issue, Street Sense is currently buying back any undistributed papers for double the wholesale price.

“Vendors use this income to survive,” Carome says. “Those who have transitioned beyond homelessness into apartments use it to pay rent, some folks use it to secure hotel rooms or other lodging, and they use it for food, medicine, and other supplies that are critical to their survival.”

In the first three weeks of March, as the coronavirus outbreak took hold in the city, Carome says the paper saw a significant decrease in distribution income from the same three weeks in 2019, as residents began practicing social distancing and quarantining.

Street Sense joins a cast of local publications hit by the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus. Earlier this month, Washingtonian Magazine laid off its four fellows and instituted a 10 percent pay cut for staffers making above $40,000 as advertising dollars dwindled. The Washington City Paper and local arts and culture outlet Brightest Young Things also face profound economic uncertainty.

While the paper pauses its print distribution, readers are encouraged to donate through Street Sense’s mobile app   — the can make direct payments to specific vendors that they visit frequently, or donate directly to Street Sense Media.

The Street Sense office will remain open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, so vendors can continue to claim their cash payments from the in-app donations. They can also use the office to rest, use the restroom, and work on pieces for upcoming issues of the paper. Street Sense’s case managers will be working on-call throughout the pandemic, connecting vendors with critical services and emergency health care.

Carome says that the current public health crisis poses an increased risk to people experiencing homelessness, who on average have a life-expectancy about 20 years shorter than people who have not faced chronic homelessness. For those without stable housing, the daily anxiety of securing basic needs is only heightened by the threats of the coronavirus.

“Most Americans are experiencing a level of uncertainty that we’re not used to right now. Our folks live day-in and day-out with that level of uncertainty. ” Carome says. “They battle anxiety about where is my next meal, where am I going to be able to sleep tonight, if I’m housed am I going to be able to pay my rent. These are folks that were living on the edge of our economy before this came along, and that’s why it puts them at such a significant risk for instability.”

In addition to in-app donations, Street Sense is asking for gift card donations for local grocery stores and pharmacies for those in need of food and essential medicines.

“This pandemic gives our community an opportunity to do what communities do at their best,” Carome says. “It gives us a chance to really live up to the ideal of what community is supposed to be all about, and we trust that this community has an abundance of kindness and it’s going to do its best to ensure that we mitigate to the best we can the impact of this crisis.”

Street Sense will digitally release its next issue on April 1.

This story has been updated to remove an incorrect percentage drop in distribution