Street Talk is folding after being printed for 15 years as a way for poor Calgarians to earn money. (CBC)A newspaper that helps poor Calgarians earn money and learn new skills is being forced by rising costs to stop publishing.

Street Talk was created by the CUPS Health and Education Centres to "tell the story of poverty in Calgary."

The non-profit society's clients assist in producing the monthly paper, buy copies from the organization and then sell them on the streets.

But after 15 years in print, Street Talk has become too expensive to produce, said CUPS spokesman Robert Perry.

"The end of Street Talk is the end of Calgary's community newspaper and it's the end of something that ... our editor loves doing, our contributors love doing," he said.

"There's a lot of passion associated with this paper and that's the end of that."

Vendor Rob Champion, who has been selling the newspaper in Kensington since its first issue — and writing a regular column for it — said he is in shock about its demise.

"My stomach has been in butterflies ever since I found out."

CUPS is trying to develop a transition plan for each client who works selling the newspaper, Perry said.

"It's going to be hard. They are upset. They want to know what to do and they are asking me those questions," he said.