Poor Magazine

Lisa “Tiny” Gray-Garcia is an author, activist, and self-described poverty scholar who grew up with a single mother in the Bay Area, CA and survived chronic poverty, houselessness, domestic violence, post-traumatic stress, and incarceration for living outdoors. The two supported themselves by creating and selling art. In 1996, Ms. Gray-Garcia and her mother founded POOR Magazine, a poor and inidgenous people-led nonprofit network of artists and activists dedicated to art, media, education, and advocacy on issues related to poverty across the globe. She also established Homefulness, an affordable, permanent collective housing option for houseless and formerly houseless individuals and families, with on-site child care and educational programs, and a performance space and sliding scale cafe. Today, Ms. Gray-Garcia wears an orange jumpsuit to raise awareness about the criminalization of poverty and homelessness.