01 13 2021

VOL. 18 ISSUE 6

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The Street Sense Media Story, #MoreThanANewspaper

Bethany McAllister, a woman experiencing homeless, photographed picking up food from Martha’s Table.

Originally founded as a street newspaper in 2003, Street Sense Media has evolved into a multimedia center using a range of creative platforms to spotlight solutions to homelessness and empower people in need. The men and women who work with us do much more than sell this paper: They use film, photography, theatre, illustration, and more to share their stories with our community.

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At Street Sense Media, we define ourselves through our work, talents, and character, not through our housing situation.

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// 3

NEWS IN BRIEF FROM OUR CEO:

It’s up to us to defend democracy

BY BRIAN CAROME brian@streetsensemedia.org

2021 Point-in-time count Wednesday, Jan. 27 / 9 p.m. - 2 a.m.

The D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness and The Community Partnership are looking for volunteers to aid with this year’s point-in-time count, an annual effort to determine the number of people experiencing homelessness in D.C. Volunteer survey teams led by trained homeless outreach professionals will canvass the city for unsheltered, homeless persons and will conduct a brief app-based survey about their experiences and circumstances.

This year, volunteer teams will meet with their team leaders in the neighborhood they will be surveying on the night of. Trainings will be held in advance on dates that are still to be decided. PPE will be provided to all volunteers and they will be required to use it for the duration of the count. Volunteers will also have to take a COVID test before the count and submit to a screening on the night of the count.

Volunteers can register for the count here: https://preview.tinyurl.com/point-in-time-count-volunteer

MONDAY, JAN. 18

UPDATES ONLINE AT ICH.DC.GOV

SATURDAY, JAN. 16

Homeless Youth Virtual Chat & Service Day

D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness Meetings

2nd Annual MLK Feed the Hood Weekend of Action

10 a.m. - 12 p.m. / Online

Executive Committee Jan. 12 6, 1:30 p.m. //

12 p.m. - 2 p.m. / 3006 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE

Housing Solutions Committee Jan.18, 3 p.m. //

Hosted by ANC 8C, ANC 8E, the NAACP DC branch & the National Black United Front, this event will feature two socially distant community clean ups throughout the weekend. They will also deliver 200 care packages to the 801 East Men’s Shelter and Harriet Tubman Women’s Shelter.

For more information contact chair@dcnbuf.org

Sasha Bruce Youthwork and the Presidential Inaugural Committee, will host a workshop where you will be able to hear from formerly homeless youth about their experience and how community members can be of support.

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***For call-in information, as well as meeting info for unlisted working groups, contact: ich.info@dc.gov.

Submit your event for publication by emailing editor@streetsensemedia.org

We are, as a nation, increasingly divided. I do not think it is overstating our current state of affairs to say that our democracy is at stake. In the White House sits a president tethered neither to his oath of office nor a respect for the Constitution. Last week he called upon a violent mob, incited by his months of wildly false and baseless rhetoric as to the legitimacy of the November election, to attack the very seat of our democracy. Congress was not buckling to his will. And so, he directed a group of domestic terrorists to intervene with the goal of overthrowing Congress and overturning the election. It mattered not to the president that, had they succeeded, that which binds us as a nation would be gone. This president has consistently demonstrated an inability to see that far ahead.

And yet, it would be a mistake to believe that last week’s insurrection was simply a symptom of the Trump presidency that will dissipate when he leaves office. For instance, while the president is adept at manipulating and using white nationalism to his advantage, it is a stain that dates to the beginnings of this nation. And unfortunately, those who espouse it are not going anywhere and not likely to change their perverted world view.

Therefore, it is up to those of us who believe in democracy and inclusion to be about the work of building this more perfect union. Democracy demands involvement. It also demands tolerance.

We need to encourage and partake in civil debate.

We need to stop demonizing or ridiculing those we disagree with. In fact, we need to be in proximity with people who have views that differ from ours. At the same time, we need to call out and denounce those who espouse hatred and bigotry. We may not be able to change hearts, but we need to visibly align ourselves with those being targeted by hatred.

And this is not about saving democracy for the sake of democracy. It’s about supporting a system of governance best equipped to address societal needs – be it more accessible healthcare, equal education, pathways to employment, or affordable housing.

All of us will likely remember where we were when we learned that the U.S. Capitol had come under attack. Those who come after us need to know how we responded and what we did to rebuild and advance democracy and the politics of inclusion.

Rioters storming the Capitol. PHOTO BY

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Andrew Anderson @showlove2020

We need more programs like [BITS] for Washington’s trans. community.

9:46 PM - DEC. 29, 2020

Monument Advocacy 12 Days of Giving Day 11!

For our eleventh day, we are featuring @ streetsensedc. @streetsensedc produces journalism, film, and more to provide economic opportunities to individuals experiencing homelessness.

6:28 PM - DEC. 24, 2020

4 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // J A N . 1 3 - J A N . 26, 2021

NEWS

PEP-V hovers around full capacity without enough housing options for vulnerable people

BY ATHIYAH AZEEM athiyah.azeem@streetsensemedia.org

A

lthea Thompson is a woman experiencing homelessness who transferred from the Harriet Tubman Women’s Shelter to the Holiday Inn on Rhode Island Ave. NW, which the D.C. Department of Human Services has used as a Pandemic Emergency Program for Medically Vulnerable Individuals (PEP-V) center since March.

Usually, residents are assigned case managers within three weeks of admittance, according to DHS It has been eight weeks and Thompson has yet to get a case manager.

Case managers are essential in helping connect shelter residents to housing, a process that can take years for many people experiencing homelessness in D.C. Without one, Thompson is completely unable to progress her case. She keeps asking DHS staff at the hotel why she hasn’t been connected to a case manager yet, and says the department’s personnel keep telling her she will eventually be given one.

“I’m sitting here and nothing is being moved!”

Thompson said. “I’ve been homeless for four years, I’m trying to get a place and get out of here. But if I can’t get a case manager, how am I going to leave?”

This is not an isolated incident — Thompson said her roommate does not have a case manager either, and has heard the same complaints from several other residents.

Thompson believes there is a significant chunk of the center’s residents that do not have case managers, as staff has told her they need to “process those who came in earlier first.”

Thompson also had to wait three weeks until she was put on a cleaning roster, where a contracted service would clean rooms every Thursday. She said she repeatedly called the hotel’s DHS hotline and asked staff at the front desk to have her room cleaned, but was not put on the roster. She and her roommate resorted to buying supplies to clean the room themselves.

When a Street Sense Media reporter called the Holiday Inn PEP-V hotline to ask if Thompson was put on the cleaning roster, a DHS representative claimed Thompson never asked to be put on it. Thompson was finally put on the cleaning roster on Dec. 7. Now, her room is being cleaned every other day.

“Look at how it is,” Thompson said. “It took me calling and calling to finally get my room cleaned.”

Sarah Parker has been facing slow responses to complaints at another PEP-V center, the Fairfield Inn of New York Ave. NE. She was also transferred to PEP-V from the Harriet Tubman Women’s Shelter at the end of October, then transferred to another room on Dec. 13.

For two weeks, she was stuck in a room with bed bugs.

She woke up on Dec. 15 to find four bed bugs visible on her bed, and bite marks on her arm. She immediately dialed the PEP-V site’s DHS extension to report the problem, which a representative agreed to resolve. Parker expected a staff member to come up to her room, but when that did not happen, she went downstairs to follow up with staff. They told her they called an exterminator, who would come the next day.

All PEP-V rooms now have two beds to potentially accommodate two residents, but as Parker had yet to get a

roommate, she was able to sleep on the other bed instead for the night. But she again woke up to see a few smaller bed bugs, which Parker suspected were “babies.”

“This room is just infested,” Parker said on Dec. 24. “I have said to [DHS staff,] ‘Could you just take me out of here and put me in another room?’ They said, ‘No, you ain’t gonna get another room.’”

No exterminator came throughout her stay in the room.

She found bed bugs in her hat, which she stored in her closet. She said she never laid her hat on or near her bed.

Fearing getting bitten again, and knowing both beds had bed bugs, she slept on a chair and propped her legs up on trash cans. She put all of her clothes in plastic bags, fearing that bed bugs had nested into them like they did in her hat. She said she slept in fear for two weeks waiting for DHS to resolve her issue.

“It’s ridiculous. They can’t tell me they didn’t know there were bed bugs in this room before I was in here,” Parker said. “Now I gotta stay in here, and now I gotta suffer.”

She said she is emotionally exhausted with dealing with DHS staff members’ lack of empathy for her situation.

“It’s not in their house, so they can’t be bothered.”

Parker was finally reassigned to another room on Dec. 26.

To add to both Parker’s and Thompson’s frustrations, PEP-V only allows residents to leave the center for three days a week, and they must return by 7 p.m. The hours were extended to 10 p.m. on Christmas Day. Thompson was able to spend a short amount of time with her family on Christmas but wasn’t able to go on any other day during the holiday season due to the 7 p.m. curfew, including New Year’s Day. “Christmas, New Year’s, you spent time with your family,” Thompson said. “I couldn’t even spend time with my family.”

PEP-V at Capacity All three of D.C.’s PEP-V sites have been at or near capacity since the start of December. As of Jan. 8, PEP-V is only at 4% availability, according to DHS. This means the Fairfield Inn, which just opened as a PEP-V site in October to expand capacity for the program, was likely at or near full capacity when Parker requested another room.

Still, residents were unaware of PEP-V being full and Parker was never given an answer for why she could not be transferred to another room, beyond being told “no.”

Vacancies only open at the sites when a resident moves into housing, predominantly Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH). But those units are quickly getting full: According to a Dec. 17 occupancy report of available shelter beds and subsidized housing units in D.C. — PSH is over 90% full. There are 625 residents in PEP-V waiting for housing as of Jan. 8.

The three PEP-V sites — opened in March, May, and October — are in hotels where a maximum of two residents stay in each room. Unlike most of D.C.’s temporary shelters, PEP-V is a “non-congregate” site that does not pack multiple people in a single room or facility.

“DHS has done a good job in rolling out the three sites that they have, and they’ve been incredibly effective in limiting infections in those PEP-V sites, and protecting those people from really severe outcomes from catching the virus,” said Wes Heppler, a board member of the

Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless and a member of the D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

Due to the sites’ effectiveness, Heppler advocated during the last ICH Shelter Capacity working group meeting in December for DHS to set up another PEP-V site to meet the demand. He noted that all 639 beds are either full or nearly full, and 600 more eligible people are waiting to enter PEP-V. According to DHS, out of more than 800 residents served since the first PEP-V center opened in March 2020, a total of 89 residents have leased up and moved into PSH and TAH. A significant portion of the city’s homeless population would qualify for PEP-V as well. According to data from the 2020 Point-in-Time Count of people experiencing homelessness in D.C., 15% of the homeless population is over 62 years-old. 20% have chronic health conditions, and 18% have disabilities. And while the overall count of people experiencing homelessness has decreased over time, the rate of homelessness in D.C. has been consistently the highest by state in America.

PEP-V is 75% funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency through a program dedicated to opening non-congregate shelters across the U.S. When the program began, a room was provided for each person. After capacity became a concern, DHS changed its practices to implement rigorous testing to facilitate doubling people up with roommates except for cases of special needs.

Once awarded the FEMA funds, state governments had been required to apply for time extensions every 30-days.

However, as of Dec. 16, FEMA extended the time limit on funding from one month to the duration of the pandemic.

Governments can also request to use FEMA funding until 30 days after the end of the pandemic.

“That is why we believe that another PEP-V site (paid for primarily by FEMA) would both increase non-congregate shelter and help allow continued COVID spacing in the congregate shelters as we head into the two months that traditionally have the highest use of shelters (January and February),” Heppler wrote in an email to Street Sense Media.

He expressed urgency during the ICH meeting, as in his experience, it takes weeks to set up a single PEP-V site.

“That is unfortunate as this is the time they should be acquiring a site and beginning the process of staffing and setting it up,” Heppler said.

On a Jan. 8 DHS call to update its partners and stakeholders, Director Laura Zeilinger stated that as the shelter system contains a large category of people who qualify for PEP-V based on age and medical conditions, the demand for PEP-V is “always going to be larger” than there are available rooms.

“We have not ruled out the possibility of opening a new PEP-V center,” Zeilinger said. But for the moment, she said DHS is focusing on getting PEP-V and other shelter residents housed, and “allow[ing] people as soon as possible to access a vaccine.”

People experiencing homelessness are included in Phase 1B of the District’s vaccine rollout, which will begin the week starting Jan. 25.

As of Jan. 12, DHS has not started to set up any additional PEP-V sites. Heppler still believes that most of DHS’s staff agree with the idea of having another site, but says pushback from the Mayor’s office over funding and staffing may be a factor in the lack of action.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

// 5

Bezos charity makes major donation in DC, grows philanthropic presence in region

BY JAKE MAHER jake@streetsensemedia.org

F

our D.C.-area nonprofits — Friendship Place, House of Ruth, Housing Up, and the National Center for Children and Families — announced in December that they received one-time grants of $2.5 million each from the Bezos Day 1 Families Fund.

According to Tonia Wellons, CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation, Amazon and its associated charities are becoming important players in the region’s philanthropy through grants like this. $2.5 million is as much money as some of the Community Foundation’s partner charities give out in total in a given year, and that sum could be “transformative” for a nonprofit, she said.

[Disclosure: Street Sense Media receives some funding via the Greater Washington Community Foundation] Sheryl Chapman, executive director of the National Center for Children and Families (NCCF), spoke excitedly about the places her organization looks to expand with the grant.

NCCF operates the Greentree Shelter, the largest emergency family shelter in Montgomery County, Maryland, and Chapman hopes to use the funding to cut the average length of a stay in the shelter down from the current 63 days.

She also noted that despite its reputation for affluence, there are still many pockets of poverty in Montgomery County, and many of the young families NCCF serves prefer to exhaust all other options before seeking outside help. She wants to use the grant money to launch a new program to closely monitor young families and understand why they don’t turn to other diversionary programs before resorting to the emergency shelter. Overall, the grant is “enough money to shift and do something very humane,” Chapman said.

Friendship Place will use the funds to focus on its core activity: getting families into permanent housing, according to JeanMichel Giraud, president and CEO of the organization. They hope to add features to the existing program at the Brooks, their short-term family housing facility, like added employment supports and therapeutic services to handle the trauma of falling into homelessness. These kinds of services are things Friendship Place had aspired to offer but were not covered by the existing government contract to run the Brooks.

Giraud added that although the grant was not designed to go out during the COVID-19 pandemic specifically, the timing was perfect.

He said he expected a rise in homelessness by as much as 45% due to the pandemic and a growing need for Friendship Place’s services.

In May, Columbia University economics professor Brendan O’Flaherty developed a model predicting homelessness in the United States could increase by as much as 45% percent due to the coronavirus pandemic. In December, O’Flaherty’s model predicted a 6% -7% increase in homelessness in D.C., which he said is due to the already high rate of homelessness in the District.

Sandra Jackson, executive director of House of Ruth, a provider of supportive housing, child development services and a support center for survivors of domestic violence, said her organization is going to use the money as the first step towards a total of $20-25 million they hope to raise to build 100-120 units of supportive housing.

House of Ruth is already looking at a couple of properties to buy for that project, she said.

The grant will also enable Housing Up, a D.C. nonprofit housing developer, to continue creating units of affordable housing. Since 2010 the organization has developed 372 units of housing for tenants making less than 60% of the area median income with an additional 290 units on the way. The money will also go to a variety of support services they offer, like case management, assistance finding and leasing housing, and a youth tutoring program.

“As the families we serve approach another challenging year, this generosity from the Day 1 Families Fund comes at a pivotal time,” said Phil Hecht, president and CEO of the organization, in a press release. “Our goal is to build diverse, equitable and thriving communities in D.C.; this award allows us to take major steps to reaching that goal.”

The Bezos Day One Fund was founded in 2018 with $2 billion to distribute to organizations that work with family homelessness, through the Day 1 Families Fund; and to build a network of nonprofit preschools in low-income communities through the Day 1 Academies Fund.

This philanthropic extension of the secondwealthiest person in the world increased its presence in the D.C. region through this year’s donations. In 2018 it gave $5 million to Community of Hope and $2.5 million to the District Alliance for Safe Housing; in 2019 no D.C. area organizations received money.

The shift in the D.C. region follows a nationwide growth in Amazon-related charitable giving after years of notable absence from philanthropy. As recently as 2012, the Seattle Times reported on the relative lack of philanthropic work Amazon did. In the years since, according to Seattlebased philanthropy consultant Barbara Dingfield, the company has sought to grow its footprint in the charitable giving world.

Amazon and Jeff Bezos, its CEO, have donated $200 million to nonprofits and

businesses in the Seattle area and to Seattle public schools. Amazon has taken a special interest in housing and homelessness. Beyond the work done by the Day 1 Families Fund, the company built Washington state’s largest family shelter within its corporate campus in Seattle.

The shelter opened in March of last year.

But if Amazon’s and Bezos’ philanthropic expansion in the D.C. region, home to Amazon’s second headquarters, is comparable to its expansion in the Seattle region, home to its first headquarters, the road ahead could still be rocky.

In the Pacific Northwest, the company has been accused of causing the very problems it is trying to solve through its philanthropy work, specifically in terms of housing prices.

According to the Seattle Times, home prices in King County, where Seattle is located, have risen by 140% since 2012 and average rent has increased by 65% over the last ten years, partially due to Amazon’s influence. Business Insider reported that homelessness has grown by 9% each year since 2014 in King County.

In the Pacific Northwest, the company has been accused of causing the very problems it is trying to solve through its philanthropy work.

The company also received criticism in 2018 for its role in overturning a tax increase on Seattle businesses that was intended to fund homelessness services. The city council, which first voted to approve the tax hike, later voted to overturn it after a public pressure campaign partially funded by Amazon and an implied threat that the company would leave the city if the tax was allowed to stand.

Kshama Sawant, a Seattle city council member who is a vocal critic of Amazon and supported the tax increase, called the Day 1 Fund an attempt on the part of Bezos “to mitigate his image” in 2018, the Seattle Times reported.

Many of the same criticisms made against Amazon in Seattle were also made in the D.C. area in 2018, when Arlington was bidding to be the site of the company’s second headquarters. Left-leaning activist groups in Northern Virginia argued at the time that Amazon’s presence there would raise rents to levels that only its own employees could afford without benefiting the people already living there. Activists in New York, arguing on similar grounds, were able to kill Amazon’s

deal to open an office in Queens.

The company has recently taken steps to address these criticisms head-on, most notably through its Housing Equity Fund, a $2 billion effort to preserve and build affordable housing in three areas with major Amazon presence: D.C., Seattle, and Nashville. As of Jan. 12, Bezos’s net worth was $182.1 billion, according to Forbes.

In the D.C. region, this housing investment translates to almost $340 million in belowmarket loans and grants and $42 million in grants to the Washington Housing Conservancy, a local nonprofit affordable housing developer.

Dingfield, the Seattle-based philanthropy consultant, raised the possibility that Amazon’s donations to the D.C. region may also be an effort to build goodwill among community organizations as protection against the possibility of federal antitrust regulation.

Many shared that speculation at the time about Amazon’s choice to come to the D.C. region for the second headquarters.

Nevertheless, among the nonprofit recipients on the ground, there was a sense that the Day 1 Families grants were a genuinely new development in philanthropy.

The grants aren’t open to competition; instead, the fund reaches out to organizations and simply asks what they would do with the money if they had it. The approach was refreshing for Chapman, the National Center for Children and Families director, who said the simplicity of the application “triggered so much excitement on my team, we had to sit down to talk about it.”

Both Chapman and Giraud, the Friendship Place CEO, noted that the fund also took a hands off approach with monitoring what the money was used for, giving their organizations the room to innovate and focus on results rather than line item-level micromanagement.

Friendship Place also received a $1 million grant from Amazon in 2017 that allowed them to pilot an innovative evictionprevention program.

The Bezos Day One Fund’s tactics represent a “new approach,” Chapman said. Her closing thoughts on the experience were that she wished other billionaires took note of the way Bezos was handling his fund. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, there were three other U.S. citizens with a net worth of more than $100 billion at the end of 2020: Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. Technology companies like theirs have seen immense growth in profits throughout the pandemic, while many businesses in other sectors have been decimated and millions of Americans face food insecurity and extreme poverty. There is only one other person with that level of wealth in the world: Bernard Arnault of France.

6 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // J A N . 1 3 - J A N . 26, 2021

NEWS Jan. 6 outside of the U.S. Capitol.

PHOTO ESSAY BY BEN BURGESS www.KStreetPhotographyDC.com

People experiencing homelessness’ items packed in canvas bags and stored under benches at McPherson Square, Jan. 6, 2021. This was done a day before the “Trump Save America” rally.

PHOTO BY ATHIYAH AZEEM

McPherson Square cleared ahead of Trump rally

BY ATHIYAH AZEEM athiyah.azeem@streetsensemedia.org

Six people died and more than 120 have been arrested so far in the wake of the pro-Trump protests at the White House and violent breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 aiming to delay certification of the 2020 election results. The mob scene following a trend of violence demonstrated at previous pro-Trump protest events in December 2020 and included multiple factions of racist, white supremacist and far-right extremists.

Ahead of the rally, U.S. Park Police had McPherson Square cleared of people experiencing homelessness on Jan. 5 due to its proximity to the White House, according to Daniel Kingery, who has been sleeping there. People who stay at the federal park often carry or store their items in the area. The DowntownDC Business Improvement District Dispatch, an outreach team that is part of DowntownDC BID, received concerns from Park Police about such unattended items, and was asked to inspect it.

The U.S. Park Police did not respond to requests for comment.

A team of Dispatch staff including Gerren Price, director of public space operations, went down and matched belongings to people at the park and identified items that had been left out for a significant amount of time.

“Anything that we did inspect, a lot of it was wet, mildewed and molded, or chewed through by rats … those things we ended up discarding completely,” Price said. It is the group’s policy to remove and dispose of unattended or unidentifiable items in poor condition.

When unattended items are in good condition, valuable, and/or have any identification with them, it is the organization’s policy to hold those items and attempt to reach out to their possible owners. People can contact Dispatch at dispatch@downtowndc.org or 202-624-1150 to reclaim their belongings.

“We really try to reconnect people to their belongings through Pathways to Housing or the DowntownDC Day Services center,” Price said.

According to Kingery, two people had come back to the park to find their belongings missing. One of them contacted Pathways to Housing and obtained a new blanket. Kingery previously stayed in Lafayette Park by the White House, which has been fenced off since June when law enforcement responded aggressively to protests over the police-killing of George Floyd.

Some items were also stored in large, blue, seemingly waterproof bags and kept under several benches at the park. Price says this was not done by Dispatch. None of the five park residents approached by Street Sense Media knew where the bags came from.

Pro-Trump crowds are expected to return. An internal FBI bulletin obtained by ABC News said the bureau had received information about armed protests being planned at all 50 state capitols and again at the U.S. Capitol between now and Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

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SSM FAMILY UPDATES

A cake for Eboni purchased at Costco.

PHOTO BY SASHA WILLIAMS, ARTIST/VENDOR

Artist/Vendor Sasha William’s first daughter, Eboni, is celebrating her 8th birthday this month!

— COMMENTARY — These last few days, Trump supporters have detoured my life.

They remind me of Jim Jones’s cult juice. Some of these people were so far gone that he could have probably gotten each and every one to drink the suicide juice that day.

Trump is a coward hiding behind his security and Twitter account — and that last one has been taken away. It takes so much denial to not see him for what he is that these people don’t know what reality looks like anymore.

But if it would have been African-Americans storming the Capitol instead of Caucasians, we’d be planning a lot of funerals right now. They had to give a lot of ground before a gun was even drawn. That right there says a lot. White people are policed differently than Blacks. That was brave of Congress to go back to certifying Biden’s victory as our newly elected President of the United States of America. Will they hold Trump accountable for inciting a riot and aiding and abetting manslaughter?

Moving forward, let’s hope he doesn’t take another stab at the presidential race in 2024. Historically, Donald Trump will be known as the most lame president ever. I pray his supporters, after the deadly consequences of their actions and the many people now being arrested for their actions, will never come to Washington, D.C., again.

Thanks to my Street Sense Media customers. God Bless.

— Marcus Green, Artist/Vendor Donald Trump takes others’ lives as a joke. All my life I have been against politics and politicians because of the special treatment they seem to get over the public and those they consider beneath them and their colleagues. Instead of coming up with ways to help the homeless, they focus on who is going to hold a particular position in the very system that seems to be failing us so many people struggle just to get by.

Stunts like what happened when Trump urged his supporters to come here and contest the election are not only dangerous but also make the U.S. look weak to the world. It appears we cannot even secure our own Capitol, which other countries used to view as invincible.

When the BLM protests took place this summer, the police had the city on lockdown before anyone could think of doing anything. Those protests had true meaning. Meanwhile, Trump supporters act like spoiled brats that can't get their way. I’m not a Democrat or a Republican because I believe both parties are the same — they just have slightly different approaches for how they want to control the world.

When I was in high school, government was the class I disliked the most because of who the laws didn’t protect and how those laws were built off of a racist culture that looks down on others. Our government is saturated with older individuals that are stuck in their ways and complacent with the values that were on full display during the unchecked riot.

It's time for a change. And for others to start accepting the harsh reality that no one will ever have things 100% in their favor. Lets come together and help those that are ready to help themselves and our society by displaying positive mentalities. We are all blessed to be alive.

— Marcellus Phillips, Artist/Vendor

To me it was hell and stressful. Not necessarily because of the evilness of the Trump supporters, because as I still had to carry on with my errands that day, I still would say “hello” to the Trump supporters that I saw, trying to be nice and kind. Even though we understand the evilness behind their intentions and their being here, I feel you still should be nice somewhat, not bring about more hatred.

But the part that stressed me badly was that because of the curfew at 6 o’clock, we all had to go home or stay at home. I am always out and about doing things, running errands, helping others. I felt I had to be forced to go into a shelter that’s bad for me. The shelter is bad and stressful for me. I felt like I was locked in somewhere.

That was the stressful and the hurtful part. I tried to sleep, write some poetry — I want to write an article — so I tried to keep myself busy in this room at the shelter. Because of the rioters and the nature of the event, they forced us again to do something not so pleasing, and stop our daily activities.

To be having to be there at 6 o’clock, amongst the people who live at the shelter, to me it was terror.

To me it’s more terror at the shelter than walking through the Trump supporters. Because as I was walking through the Trump supporters I would nod and say “welcome.” I was almost a little at peace saying “i,” even though we knew their intentions. But then to have to go into the shelter at 6 o’clock, it made me sick.

— Queenie Featherstone, Artist/Vendor

BIRTHDAYS Lawrence Autry Jan. 13 ARTIST/VENDOR

Frederic John Jan. 17 ARTIST/VENDOR

HEALTH Wendell Williams

Recovering from a rought bout with COVID-19 ARTIST/VENDOR

Our stories, straight to your inbox Street Sense Media provides a vehicle through which all of us can learn about homelessness from those who have experienced it. Sign up for our newsletter to get our vendors' stories in your inbox.

www.StreetSenseMedia.org/newsletter

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NEWS

Black & Indigenous Transgender Safehaus shows need for inclusive housing programs Caption: Two BITS members at pride in 2019. PHOTO COURTESY OF BITS

BY ANNEMARIE CUCCIA Editorial intern

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s more community-based organizations and mutual aid networks pop up across D.C, one group continues the struggle for housing justice they began two years ago.

The Black & Indigenous Transgender Safehaus, also known as Casa BITS, or just BITS, provides free or pay-what-you-can short-term and transitional housing for individuals whose race and gender identity provide additional barriers to housing or employment.

BITS aims to mitigate those systemic inequalities by managing an apartment for Black and Indigenous transgender and intersex people of color in the District.

“BITS was created, obviously, out of necessity,” said Ahanu Tapepechul, part of the group’s leadership team.

BITS began in 2018 when Tapepechul and another BITS member moved to D.C. Both experienced homelessness before Deidre Martin, another part of the leadership team, offered them a spot at her apartment. “It just kinda became the people’s apartment,” Tapepechul said. “That’s where BITS has its roots, just welcoming in trans people of color who needed a place to stay.”

Martin, who is a white trans woman, was also houseless for about a year while she attempted to find an apartment.

The difficulty of this experience, despite her relative privilege, reinforced for her the importance of mutual housing aid targeted at transgender Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). “I just thought about how impossible odds it was, even with the privilege that I had, to get this place,” she said. “I wanted to make sure other people had a chance to catch their breath and have their basic needs met.”

Describing themselves as a “community haus,” BITS centers underserved communities in the housing market, including deaf and undocumented individuals, young people over 25 who no longer have access to youth-specific resources, and migrants from Latin America. In addition to one managed apartment, BITS also provides a safe meeting space for the network and support for members scattered across the District in individual or collective homes. BITS has between five and 15 members at any given time, including the leadership team, residents in the apartments they provide, and others being helped by the collective across the District.

Across the country, transgender individuals are overrepresented in the homeless community. About 20% of trans people experience homelessness in their lifetime, compared to 7% of the entire population. These numbers are higher for BIPOC trans individuals. Nearly all the trans people

Tapepechul knows in D.C. have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives.

“That’s just kinda the reality of being trans, like we get kicked out and we’re not always prepared or we get fired from a job, and finding a new job is really really difficult,” they said.

“That need is definitely greater among Black and Indigenous people because you also have systematic racism.”

In Tapepechul’s experience, D.C. is home to a lot of trans people because the health care system in the District is better than in other areas in the country, preventing discrimination and mandating insurance companies to provide health care to trans residents. However, many trans BIPOC face difficulty getting housing because landlords discriminate against them, or offer apartments at unreasonably high rates. BITS, as well as other organizations like the They/Them Collective and No Justice, No Pride help to fill that need without causing more harm, Tapepechul said.

BITS generally finds people who are in need of housing through informal processes. Once someone reaches out, if BITS has a spot and the individual agrees to the house rules, they can move in. Documented individuals can stay in the space for up to three months, and undocumented individuals can stay longer on a case-by-case basis. The organization can house two people at a time. They also assist trans BIPOC who have housing by helping to subsidize rent.

“There’s always more demand than we are able to provide, whether they know about us or not,” Tapepechul said. “That’s just the reality in D.C.” Though they normally manage two apartments, one location was recently converted into a storage space following transphobic verbal and physical attacks and the sexual assault of one of their members. The landlord at that location is also being sued by D.C.’s attorney general for neglect and unsafe conditions.

“That location is kind of shut down,” Martin said, though BITS is still working with other residents of the building to organize. “Eventually, we would like that location to open up and flourish, but we kind of had to downsize a little bit there.”

BITS relies on community donations via their website and grants to subsidize rent for their members, in addition to groceries and education costs for students who have requested help from BITS. Through their Facebook, they also solicit aid for any members facing a housing or medical emergency, asking for rapid donations or help moving.

“When it comes to running all this, it’s a lot of money,” Tapepechul said.

The organization has raised around $65,000 in the last two

years, which all goes back to the community because none of the leadership team is paid, according to Martin. She said.

BITS tried to obtain as much funding from grants as possible to avoid straining the community they are trying to serve by asking for donations.

The organization has also helped enroll students, especially undocumented students, in the Carlos Rosario School, which focuses on workforce development and English as a second language. BITS helps applicants with the application and providing housing documentation. “We just basically help them navigate that system,” Tapepechul said.

In addition to providing funds for groceries for their members, Casa BITS has been working with other community groups to provide free meals every week via mutual aid groups and nonprofits such as Empower D.C. They also provide deliveries to tenants in the same building, whether or not they are part of Casa BITS. “Everyone is on a rent strike in our building, so we all have kind of solidarity with each other,” Martin said. “It’s not something we were formed to do but we ended up just engaging with the community in that way.”

Many members are also working to reform the housing system on a broader level. Martin is a representative in the D.C. Tenant Union, and is pushing for the District to take action on homelessness. She’s also been helping to organize with tenants at the building on rent strike and is asking D.C. to cancel rent.

In the beginning, BITS served the people who have now become its leadership team, who work closely together. “We’ve formed a nice little family,” Tapepechul said.”That’s what it takes to keep something like this going.”

Since then, the community has expanded to include everyone it has served, keeping in touch with former residents and helping them where they can. This type of mutual aid is crucial, according to Tapepechul.

“I think it’s something that’s so valuable in this place and time,” they said. Tapepechul is Indigenous, and has seen the benefits that community-based aid can have. “That’s something I really value within working with BITS,” they added.

This community can be especially important to transgender individuals, who may not have a safe or accepting environment in their other circles, and benefit from having a support network.

“It’s kind of like a chosen family, being able to provide that,” Martin said. “It’s also great to see that, if people’s basic needs were just taken care of, things would be different.”

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Martha’s Table distributes food to people experiencing homelessness every day — Christmas was no exception

BY ATHIYAH AZEEM athiyah.azeem@streetsensemedia.org

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his Christmas, Martha’s Table distributed over a 100 hot meals to people experiencing homelessness in D.C., as part of their ongoing daily food distribution program, McKenna’s Wagon.

This was in addition to dozens of dry and shelf-stable meals distributed that day. Martha’s Table Assistant Director of Office Operations Natalie Rojas spearheaded the effort on Christmas Day, having done it over 100 times in the three and a half years she’s been with the nonprofit. A Street Sense Media reporter rode along with Rojas.

The McKenna’s Wagon program distributes food at two locations: New Jersey Ave. and I St. NE just outside of Chinatown, and 15th and I Streets NW at McPherson Square Park. Even through pandemic operation restrictions, Rojas says they have been able to distribute every single day this year.

“I’m glad we could do this throughout COVID times,” said Rojas. “I don’t know what I would have done if I couldn’t do anything.”

They’ve been able to achieve this through staff involvement in the otherwise volunteer-led program. As most of McKenna’s Wagon volunteer drivers were elderly, during the pandemic, Martha’s Table saw a drastic decrease in the number of volunteers. Whitney Faison said that on days when there are no volunteers, the CEO would step up to help drive the vans.

“This is a 365 day operation,” Faison said. “We know how important it is to show up everyday, we’re committed to that.

We will do whatever we need to do to fulfill our mission.”

Other obstacles include police roadblocks and protest routes during the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer, that sometimes blocked the way to these locations. But Rojas said they were still able to park nearby and guide people who were waiting to their location.

In June, McKenna’s Wagon could be seen passing through a National Guard blockade several blocks away from the McPherson Square stop, with then-Volunteer Engagement Manager Robbie Delaney sprinting to the normal location to let people know that food was still available nearby.

“They always know we’ll be there,” Rojas said.

Usually, Rojas said, the volunteer list for distribution on Christmas Day would be fully booked weeks in advance. But as Martha’s Table drivers are mostly elderly, the nonprofit has seen a drastic reduction in volunteers due to the pandemic.

Regardless, Rojas packed food into the van with help from her partner and two people from the Osei Foundation, a public family foundation who provided 200 hot meals for the day.

The food was prepared and catered by Shareen’s Cuisine, a catering company in Richmond.

McKenna’s Wagon, named after Martha’s Table founder Horace McKenna, is a program. But it is also a large van specially built to hold much more food than a typical van. The wagon is used on special events such as Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving, while two or more normal-sized vans are sent out for standard daily distribution.

People have come to rely on Martha’s Table’s daily distribution. Through freezing temperatures, people lined up to receive food, water, and blankets.

Bethany McAllister, who has been homeless in the District for three and a half years and currently stays at Patricia Handy Place for Women, said she’s been picking up meals from the wagon on New York Ave. and I St. for two years.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s pouring rain, if it’s snowing, whatever.

They’re here,” McAllister said. “It’s Christmas and they’re here.”

McAllister is vegetarian and says she has always been able to rely on the wagon to provide that meal option. She says the meals from the wagon are much better than what is provided at the shelter.

Christmas Day netted fewer people at the wagon than usual, according to Rojas. Street Sense Media counted 10 people lining up at the first location, and 35 at the second location. Rojas says that on a normal day, 100 people would line up at 15th and H streets, down the road and extending around the corner.

She said this is normal on holidays, when people may stay at a hotel or a relatives’ place for the night. That was the case for Robert Coleman, a father of five who was staying at his friend’s place for the night with his family. He was McKenna’s Wagon’s last customer, rolling up to the van with two kids and a stroller holding his youngest child. All wagon volunteers

Martha’s Table staff member Natalie Rojas, her partner, and Samuel Osei of the Osei Foundation set up a table to give out food at one of their stops on Dec. 25, 2020. PHOTO BY ATHIYAH AZEEM

Robert Coleman receives hot meals and blankets from Martha’s Table on Dec. 25, 2020. PHOTO BY ATHIYAH AZEEM

helped pack meals into a cardboard box, and tucked a blanket into the stroller to keep the child warm.

Coleman and his family moves between friends’ and relatives’ houses and hotel rooms, and will come out during the day to panhandle for food. While he and his family have shelter for Christmas, he says their situation changes daily. They have also been waiting for a Section 8 voucher for eight years.

“It’s been hard,” Coleman said. But still, he was able to get some gifts for his kids. “My kids didn’t get everything they wanted, but they got some stuff for Christmas so they’re happy.”

With the lower turnout, volunteers were able to give out double meals to people who requested it. By the end of the night, they had close to 75 hot meals left. Samuel Osei and Danielle Stewart, co-owners of the Osei Foundation who provided meals for the night, transferred them to Osei’s car and gave the rest out to people experiencing homelessness at Union Station and the tent communities on M and L streets NW. Most of the meals for the night were meat-based with vegetables. The Osei foundation also runs It’s Electrik, a company that sells plant-based diet products and produces educational materials about the benefits of this lifestyle.

Stewart said the company has been working since the summer to integrate its resources with the foundation’s homeless services and put more focus on providing affordable plantbased options for low-income communities “Just speaking with Martha’s, there are people out today that are vegetarian,” Stewart said. “The next time we do this, we want to have plant-based meals. We really want to provide [the] homeless, impoverished community that healthy option.”

The foundation has often distributed food in this area, as noted by several people experiencing homelessness staying in Union Station. But this is the first time they have partnered up with a nonprofit to distribute food.

“We figured it would be better to go with someone like Martha’s Table who already has routes set up in D.C.,” Osei said. By the end of the night, they were able to distribute 25 more meals, and gave out the rest to a shelter in Richmond.

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OPINION

“Here to help each other”

BY CHARLIE MUSOFF

I

n the case management department, we are often bound to government programs. If someone lacks health insurance, we help them apply for Medicaid. If someone can’t pay for groceries, we help them apply for food stamps. And if someone is between jobs, we help them apply for unemployment. Though our staff gets a lot done on its own, Street Sense Media is ultimately a small organization with limited resources, and we need to rely on larger systems to connect our clients with the services they need.

But what does one do when those systems fail? An ongoing problem I’m working through with a client has forced me to confront this question head on and interrogate whether these programs serve our clients in the first place.

This story starts in late October. Well before my client’s unemployment benefits were set to end, she and I had applied for an extension. If the system were working smoothly, her payments would not have lapsed. Instead, when we filed for unemployment the first week under the extension, the Maryland Department of Labor blocked the money.

Initially, I thought the problem might resolve itself after a week or two, that it was just a rocky transition.

But nothing changed. Each week, the government put another payment “on hold,” hundreds of dollars just accumulating somewhere in the unemployment portal.

We spent November and December seeking answers from the state itself. We called and called customer support but never got through to an agent. We chatted and chatted with the virtual assistant but never got past the automated responses. It felt like Maryland was choosing not to listen.

Meanwhile, the bills didn’t stop — she needed this money to pay her rent. She had to take on the stress of negotiating with her landlord, asking favors from friends, and cobbling together the rent money despite her ongoing reluctance to share her business with the world. This holdup made my client feel shame when the system was in the wrong, not her.

I doubled down in my efforts, trying to be persistent in my research. At some point, I stumbled upon a subreddit called r/MarylandUnemployment with the subtext, “Here to help each other,” and over a thousand members. I started reading other Marylanders’ testimonials and found that my client was far from alone. Some people had two or three times as many payments on hold as my client did; some people had spent hours calling the Department of Labor only for an eventual agent to give them a new hoop to jump through; some people had compiled long lists of contact information for staff in the unemployment division who just might have the right sway to fix things.

I felt like I had struck gold — there were far more paths forward than I had thought and scores of people who could guide us along them.

However, it quickly became clear that this forum’s use was limited to brainstorming; there were no reliable solutions within. For every filer who finally gained access to their money, ten more got hung up on again. Breakthroughs were random. I appreciated this community as a place to commiserate, but I didn’t have it in me to navigate the answering machine yet again. I had to break the harsh reality to my client that I had done

what I could do to get her her benefits, and I had no idea how much longer it would be before the Department of Labor released them.

Now, over two months later, the state owes my client over $1250. All of it is on hold for what the web portal calls “unresolved issues.” We continue with her weekly certification, but it feels futile. I know that I’ve done my part, but something keeps bringing me back to that subreddit. Something about so many people with the same bone to pick feels powerful. The other day, I pinned down what it was.

Even though I feel pessimistic that the state of Maryland is going to listen to its residents’ urgent needs any time soon, I feel optimistic that these Redditors can instead help each other, as their motto hopefully suggests.

I came across a plea from a single mother who didn’t have the money to buy a Christmas gift for her four-year-old.

Within the first few comments in the thread, multiple people had reached out to her, offering what they had to spare. Scrolling down, I saw an invite to a protest against the Department of Labor and a call for testimonials to be posted on the Department’s Facebook page.

What these glimmers of hope have in common is their refusal to work within the system, to continue asking for

the release of people’s unemployment benefits using the state’s toolkit. If Maryland isn’t meeting people’s needs, why play by its rules? People on the internet are banding together, taking care of each other, and pressuring the state to actually serve its citizens.

For me, this experience has reaffirmed that until the government prioritizes its people, we need alternative routes to care and resources. The emergence of mutual aid networks and community organizing on this discussion board demonstrates to me that these are tools that could help. I feel pushed to be more creative, more critical, and more human.

For my client, redirecting the effort she and I expended on their unemployment benefits means we now have more bandwidth to explore other options. The next time she comes into the case management office, we plan to focus on her existing skills and social supports as we craft our strategy to keep her housed and healthy. And, when the Maryland Department of Labor finally gets its act together, my client will happily collect the hundreds and hundreds of dollars she is due.

Charlie Musoff is a case manager for Street Sense Media.

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF PETER RAILAND / JUSTSEEDS.ORG

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What Should Biden Do About Trump Post-Inauguration?

BY JEFF TAYLOR

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any people are asking that question. It raises concerns both about the safety of American citizens and restoration of the rule of law. Thus far I’d say president-elect Joe Biden has been playing it right: Saying he’d like to move on, but will support the Justice Department’s findings, wherever they may lead. That’s not popular with the far left, which pretty much wants to see Donald Trump rot in prison. But even the tiniest thorn in left’s side pleases the far right. By walking down the middle, Biden is in a good place at the moment. And that’s coming from a far lefty.

I’d love to see Trump, his eldest children, and a slew of others behind bars for the various crimes they’ve committed in and out of the White House. But I also understand that the smartest and the most humane approach must be to address the subject with unwavering integrity and a strong commitment to the belief that each of us has faith in one another’s shared common interests. We have to be able to trust each other!

Reestablishing mutually accepted norms of civilized discourse and rules of debate is a must! Uniting the country is a fine and noble ambition. But Biden’s speechwriters will really have their work cut out for them. And the Democratic party will be wise to have tight, supportive messaging to back him up.

A confession: In the past I’ve had a less tolerant attitude towards Trump supporters and their idiocy. I just can’t abide willful ignorance and bigotry. So I’ve enjoyed with them. I want us to return to a time when assholes have sense enough to hide their stupidity again.

A rioter uses a piece of fencing as a weapon during the attack on the Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021.

PHOTO BY BENJAMIN BURGESS / K STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

In the mean time, however, as MAGA dead-enders continue to descend upon our nation’s fair capital, I recall all the acts of violence and destruction already instigated and committed by the Proud Boys and others on their last visit and worry for what may be yet to come. This issue will hit the street one week past whatever craziness the Sore-Loser-in-Chief will have whipped up on Capitol Hill on January 6. The raging, rabid, ranting hardcore Trumpies will have been on our streets and our subways. They will have made us simultaneously sick, sad, mad...and afraid. They will have made us feel unsafe in our own city.

But it’s their city too, by virtue of it being the nation’s capital. I’m not gonna mess with these crazy-ass mothers.

I’m not even sure I’d want to try to engage in the most calm and “Christian” of circumstances, largely because I seriously doubt we’d share the same notion of what it means to be a “Christians.” But if there is a way to defuse the hate, anger, and fear, let us go about finding it.

Unfortunately, a huge swath of voters seriously believes Trump was robbed of a second term. And truth be told, most of these same seriously misguided souls would give Dear Leader another term or two if only they could, Constitution be damned.

This is not a small problem.

Among these deluded patriots there will undoubtedly be some who would gleefully inflict harm on anyone who isn’t part of the extreme right. Many people have died already in domestic terror attacks, and even more may die in the future.

If something can reasonably be done to mitigate the chances of future attacks, then let it be done. I know I personally have to soften my tone and watch my tongue. All of us who live in reality must hone a message for the right that, as inoffensively as possible without condescension, boils simply down to: “You’ve been lied to. You must come to terms with that perhaps embarrassing reality. But don’t feel bad. Certain interests knew your mindset and just how to manipulate it.”

There really ought to be a twelve step program. I’m not kidding. Let me explain.

Now is time for the science behind conservative thinking to be brought to the fore. As I mentioned in another piece titled, “Is Conservatism a Birth Defect?”, studies have shown that there are physiological differences between conservative and liberal brain structures. Damage to the prefrontal cortex, whether due to injury, or to extreme religious or other social indoctrination, is responsible for exaggerated fear responses.

Republicans and right-wing interest groups have for years now used the right wing media distortion machine — all too often with an assist from the lazy, so-called left wing media — to shamelessly exploit people vulnerable to their message.

I speak from experience. I was raised in an environment of extremist indoctrination. Though I was fortunate as to have escaped that environment in early adulthood, I can’t say it didn’t have an impact, causing exaggerated fear responses. In flashing moments, right wing talking points still make sense.

But all it takes is to calmly think through the argument, look at the actual facts, and identify when lying fear-mongers are just trying to push my buttons.

I hope and believe that at some point in the not-so-distant future, teaching professionals and the psychiatric community alike will denounce extremist indoctrination as a form of child abuse. Teaching a child to close his or her mind to truth serves neither the interests of the child nor the community of which that child is a part! This is common freaking sense!

Finding a way to communicate these concepts in a nonthreatening manner could go a long way toward helping de-fang

the influence of right wing media and extreme evangelical Christianity. If effective messaging can dissuade even one would-be domestic terrorist from acting out because he or she will perceive Trump is being given a fair shake by Biden it will have been more than worth it. But Biden must establish trust and cannot break that trust, with either the left or the right.

Biden must commit to never even bending the truth, let alone lying. Period! No exceptions. He has to overcompensate for Trump and all others who ever uttered even the whitest of fibs.

He can’t knowingly give political ammunition to the right, because they won’t hesitate to use it. Restoring the centrality of truth to human survival will require totally neutering the sad “both sides” arguments and pointing out just how brazenly mendacious the Republican party has been for at least the last decade.

Accountability also needs to be restored. No one is above the law! Trump needs to do some time, whether in a prison or a mental hospital. If it be prison then let Biden pardon him, perhaps after some brief period. Then leave Trump for New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and New York State Attorney General Letitia James to deal with. They can then, out of an abundance of compassion, support a recommendation of hospitalization. And there is no shortage of mental health experts who would support such a recommendation. Donald Trump suffers severe antisocial personality disorder and his illness puts us all in danger. Now that he is facing literal eviction from the White House and the possibility of moving into the Big House, he is becoming more and more dangerous with each passing day, like a cornered animal. Some type of incarceration needs to happen sooner rather than later.

Although much of Trump’s power will be tremendously diminished at noon on January 20, 2021, let’s not assume this sociopath won’t look for ways to cause harm. It’s just what sociopaths do. They hurt other people. It will be important to the safety and well-being of the American public to thoroughly expose Trump as the truly weak-minded, delusional narcissist he so obviously is.

Does Trump deserve our ire or our pity? Perhaps both, certainly the former and at least a little of the latter. He is who he was raised to be: A self-centered asshole, simple as that. In his own way, he was born disadvantaged, from a psychological and developmental perspective at least.

We on the left are generally committed to taking the high road. The high road here is to prosecute where appropriate, and grant clemency when it’s deserved. Donald John Trump is mentally ill. He needs hospitalization. Let those who are officially diagnosed unwell also be hospitalized or otherwise monitored as well, but the people who have used Trump are not, as far as we know, mentally ill.

When it comes to Trump’s eldest kids, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, and numerous others, let them do hard time. It’ll warn those who need warning without really pissing off as much of his base. The rule of law must be restored, and dealing with Trump and Trump alone will leave us vulnerable to future bad actors.

We can’t be sure that Donald Trump won’t still wield some kind of crazy cult influence from within a psychiatric hospital.

But his image, ranting from within a padded cell, should be so ridiculous by that point that most MAGA people will crawl back under their rocks.

Jeff Taylor is an artist and vendor for Street Sense Media.

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ART

Good & Bad

BY LEVESTER GREEN // Artist/Vendor

Russell & Reese asking for a piece. Excuse me, sir, but you sound sweet. Well at least 2 me, like trick or treat. Straight & narrow down the back. That’s a crease.

Hope you don’t get stained by some grease.

In & out is how I keep my peace. Remember when we were kids & that kind of laughter never ceased? Now relax, relate, release.

That’s let go the sweet cheeks. Naw, I never heard of sweet cheese. Swiss cheese. Do for it as you wish.

As you please. I’m at ease. No need for me 2 tease. A Buddy, I’m chilling like the E.U. Freeze. Up until the scent in the air made me sneeze! Got a “GOD bless you” & I ain’t even have 2 get on my knees. Stood for something like I had that King’s disease.

Inhaling trees, unlike COVID, it helped me breathe as I shoot the breeze, running through the… #BigCity!~

Overcoming challenges

BY CARLOS CAROLINA-BEY Artist/Vendor

2020 was a sad year for most, yet for others it was wonderful. For me personally, I faced many challenges, many adversities, and many struggles last year. When you live “Life” on Life’s terms, You Take Turns.

Turn Here Turn There Turn Left Turn Right

My Turn Your Turn

So I been practicing taking turns with my family, while living Life on Life’s Terms.

We take turns going to the store, doing chores, and helping other family members.

Now I’m looking forward to a new year, new challenges.

And will “Overcome.”

2020 was one of the best years of my life!

BY COLLY DENNIS Artist/vendor

I know it’s weird, but for me 2020 has been the best year of my life. As someone who has been struggling in and out of the streets, from shelter to shelter, I finally managed to get housing through the D.C. Housing Authority.

I got just so much in 2020 that I can’t wait to get into 2021 with a bang. That said, it’s really sad to see what’s going on in the world now: COVID-19, presidential election drama, and the civil unrest via protests nationwide, even worldwide.

I am glad to say I was blessed to get what I did when I did. Unfortunately, there are some people out there who have suffered and experienced brutal trauma and force last year. These might be your neighbors, family members, friends or anyone you might have passed by on the street.

There are many people who have struggled to put food on their tables. Then you have those who, because of all they went through even before 2020, seem to have been born to suffer.

That’s the group that has been devastated and

almost broken to pieces lately. It includes homeless people, low-income communities, and anyone else living in poverty. Many of them already depended on food banks to survive, like so many more do now. It’s sad when you see the evening news saying that the food banks are running out of food. In September, the national food bank network Feeding America estimated it would be 6 - 8 million meals short by the same time in 2021. It makes you wonder what’s the next step for all these people.

Life might not be the same for everyone after 2020, but there are signs of hope, of better things to come. The biggest problem about 2020 is that poor people’s plights have been forgotten due to everything going on at the moment. They now blend in with the masses.

Many people are still waiting for public resources like housing, medical care, etc. But all that has been put aside to resource other services like care for those with COVID-19 and police to fight protesters, while putting other services on hold.

Blessed 24:7

BY DON GARDNER Artist/Vendor

Today I can truly say I am blessed As for my days past I must confess I have felt much less For when the sun rises It rises on the just As well as the unjust And when it sets It sets on everybody and everything For there are good days And there are bad days And there is no room for complaining Because it serves no purpose And solves no problems There are wars and rumors of wars Gang violence, crime, and murder Ring out all over the land Even terrorists Have gotten a little out of hand Disease stricken countries And mouths unfed People walking the streets And children don’t have a place To call home The elderly are weary And can’t rest their feet How can this be In a world full of the blessed Because they have turned their backs And cared much less We must stop and think And act on this quest And ask “God” to help us Undo all this mess We walk in the darkness And all the foundations of the Earth Are out, of course, Self-centered, selfish, greedy, And destructive It is time we must pray And get out of the way “Let go and let god” For there are some Who do believe That there is a Heaven and Hell And all is not well And one day “God” will even the score And close the door…

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Spiritual Unity

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Coronavirus prayer

BY JOHN LITTLEJOHN // Artist/Vendor

BY ROCHELLE WALKER // Artist/Vendor

First of all, what is the meaning of “spiritual unity?” Some of the definitions for “unity” provided in The Merriam-Webster Dictionary include “the quality or state of being made one (unification),” “a condition of harmony,” and “a combination or ordering of parts ... that constitutes a whole.” Meanwhile, “spiritual” is defined as “of, relating to, consisting of, or affecting the spirit” and “related or joined [together] in spirit.”

The Holy Bible talks about togetherness in the Book of Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” I myself think that we need spiritual unity on a national and international level to help tackle this hard-to-tackle issue of homelessness. We are all in this together, so let us all unite to end homelessness for good. Amen!

The Holy Bible talks about unity once again in the Book of Ephesians 2:5. “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).” Amen!

But I personally think we need to unite with self first before we can come together with others in harmony.

In 1722, a small group of Moravian Christians, who lived in what is now the Czech Republic, found refuge from persecution on the estate of a generous German count.

Within four years, more than 300 people came.

But instead of an ideal community for persecuted refugees, the settlement became filled with discord. Different perspectives on “Christianity” brought division.

What they did next may seem like a small choice, but it launched an incredible revival. They began to focus on what they agreed on rather than on what they disagreed on. The result was spiritual unity. Amen!

It is truly a blessing when we can give cheerfully to those in need and receive cheerfully from those who just might have more than they need. Amen! Hallelujah!

It’s better to give than to receive. Give and it should be given back to you. Amen!

The apostle Paul strongly encouraged the believers in the church in Ephesus to live in spiritual unity. Sin would always bring trouble, selfish desires, and conflicts in relationships.

But those who were made “alive with Christ” were called to live out their new identity in practical ways. Primarily, they were to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”

This spiritual unity isn’t just simple camaraderie achieved through human strength. We are to “be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.”

From a human perspective, it’s impossible to act in this way.

We can’t reach “spiritual unity” through our own power but through God’s perfect power “That is at work within us.”

How are you experiencing division or unity in your world of faith? What efforts can you make in God’s strength to keep the unity of the spirit?

Father, you who are over all and through all and in all, live among us in such a way that spiritual unity will be present. Hallelujah!

The Holy Bible talks about separation in the Book of Romans 8:35-39 and it says “Who shall separate from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen!

The things that hurt me the most

BY LATICIA BROCK // Artist/Vendor

I want to trust the vaccine

BY AIDA PEERY Artist/Vendor

I’m a bit wary about taking the new vaccine. They got it out fast and I’m aware that medical science has produced better machines and medication for us to have better health longer.

But, as a Black woman, I can’t shake out of my mind what happened back in 1932: the “Tuskegee Experiment,” the infamous syphilis study where 399 sharecroppers who participated in that study were left untreated and allowed to go insane, blind, and experience other health ailments.

I probably ought to stay off of Facebook because of all the theories about this COVID-19 vaccine to supposedly get people’s faces all twisted after taking the vaccine. There’s another one that they are tagging people with chips while getting the vaccine. But Channel 9 verified on December 20th or 21st that the tagging chips story is untrue and that doctors are saying everyone should get the vaccine to slow down the spread of the virus.

That makes sense to me. But is everyone getting the same vaccine as the rich and the politicians? That’s what has me wary of taking the vaccine.

Father, can you hear me? We need your love today.

Father, send your Angel to help us today.

I never seen so much pain.

Father, we need your healing power.

The covid virus is taking control of us.

Father, hear us, stop the pandemic killing now.

Our soul said yes, we will listen to your words.

Your ways we shall obey.

Father, we thank you for your masks and gloves, but we need the vaccine today.

Father, stop the spreading, killing and destroying the people.

And all the children say, “Yes” and “Thank You.” It's done.

Sure, the vaccine has side effects, but it’s still 90% effective against the virus. That has me fretful and wary to not take the vaccine, as a Black woman.

The infamous Tuskegee Experiment reassured all 399 Black sharecroppers they would have 100% complete bona fide health care during this study. All the while, they knew penicillin was the best treatment for syphilis at that time.

So, why do the study in the first place?

In Michigan, many Black people are saying that they won’t even get tested for COVID-19, much less vaccinated.

That has me really want to take the vaccine again.

A lot of information is being sent out on Facebook and on our local news stations. It’s almost too much. I’m getting stressed out by all this information. So, I’m opting out in getting that vaccine until someone can reassure me that it’s OK to take.

The President and Vice President, other politicians, or other rich folks are not the ideal people to make me take the vaccine.

Harm’s way has never been my M.O. No matter what I did in life, I always wanted to see people grow The power of God, through me, has helped a lot of people eat But just like Jesus took, I take a look On that cross where he died for me No matter how many stripes he was beat with, I can take them, too Why y’all not honest in this world?

Why take someone’s cellphone, boo?

Why rob innocent people that work hard for theirs, And wonder why y’alls life is just a government stare?

Sitting and then waiting on a hand out Do a job and wait for your boss to pay out Hard work always makes me feel good I don’t care if I make a dollar, I hustle hard in my hood Y’all crabs in a bucket don’t wanna see each other grow Why hate on each other left and right?

The same ones who smile in your face will rob you at night They “Sis” and “Bro” and “Ma” you to death But will rob you for your credentials to get personal wealth I see why y’all parents are not in the picture Because y’all still hard-headed, smell bad, and won’t listen I try to help build y’all up and help y’all grow But y’all rather freeze to death and smoke all day That’s the things that hurt me the most Word from Tent City Ma: Get up and clean up those encampments before the city makes them vanish.

1 4 // ST REET SEN S E ME DI A / / JA N. 1 3 - 2 6 , 2021

FUN & GAMES

Novice Sudoku Puzzles, Volume 1, Book 1

Sudoku #4

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© 2013 KrazyDad.com

Fill in the blank squares so that each row, each column and each Sudoku 3-by-3 block contain all of the digits 1 thru 9.#3

SUDOKU: Fill in 4 puzzle 7 without 3 9 guesswork.

6 8 5 1 2 If you use logic you can solve the the blank squares so that Need a littleeach help? row, The hints page 8 shows 9 5a logical 1 2to solve 3 order 4 the 6 puzzle.

7 Use it to identify next square you should solve. Or use the answers page each columntheand if you really get stuck.

6 1 2 4 7 5 3 9 8 each 3-by-3 block contain all of the 9 2 6 1 4 3 7 8 5 digits 1-9.

LAST EDITION’S PUZZLE SOLUTION >>

1 5 4 8 2 7 9 3 6 7 3 8 5 9 6 1 2 4 2 4 9 6 5 1 8 7 3 3 6 1 7 8 4 2 5 9 5 8 7 2 3 9 6 4 1

Sudoku #5 9 1 4 5 6 2 5 7 3 8 7 4 4 9 1 2 8 6 3 1 5 7 2 8 1 4 9 6 2 5 6 3 7 3 8 9 Sudoku #7 7 4 2 1 3 5 8 9 9 1 6 4 6 3 1 5 2 9 5 7 8 7 4 6 1 6 7 2 4 2 3 8 5 8 9 3

3 6 2 9 8 3 1 2 6 6 7 8 5 9 4 4 3 9 8 5 7 7 4 1 2 1 5

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The little mind who loves itself, will write and think with the vulgar; but the great mind will be bravely eccentric, and scorn the beaten road, from universal benevolence.

-- Oliver Goldsmith

5 2 7 1 7 9 9 Answers 4 Sudoku #1 9 1 5 1 4 6 6 6 43 2 25 7 9 4 3 2 3 1 8 5 3 2 8 8 9 3 6 1 2 5 47 34 6 3 9 8 1 7 6 5 6 3 23

Novice Sudoku Puzzles, Volume 1, Book 1

Sudoku #2 9 4 2 6 6 8 7 5 3 1 5 8 2 5 8 7 4 3 6 9 7 9 1 3 8 2 3 1 5 7 4 2 1 6 9 4

5 8 3 2 4 9 9 4 6 2 6 1 3 4 2 8 7 1 4 5 2 6 7 6 9 5 8 9 1 3 5 3 8 7 1

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BY PIERRE JOHNSON Artist/Vendor Uncle Willie is a character inspired by many people I have known over the years. He looks out for everyone in his community, and he knows how to have a good time and take life one step at a time — never too seriously. The woman featured in this particular strip is based on someone I met just days before writing and drawing this comic.

At the end of the day, I wish all of my readers a safe and stable year and thank you for buying Street Sense.

Sudoku #4 5

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Sudoku #6 6 9 4 7 8 7 3 5 5 2 1 3 1 4 8 6 3 5 9 1 7 6 2 4 4 8 7 9 2 3 5 8 9 1 6 2

5 3 7

Sudoku #8 2 5 9 3 3 4 6 5 8 1 7 6 5 3 4 8 9 6 1 4 7 2 8 9 1 7 3 2 4 9 2 1 6 8 5 7

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8 1 5 6 2 9 9 4 8 7 9 3 2 8 4 3 5 1 1 6 2 4

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Author Gene Weingarten is a college dropout and a nationally syndicated humor columnist for The Washington Post. Author Dan Weingarten is a former college dropout and a current college student majoring in information technology. Many thanks to Gene Weingarten and The Washington Post Writers Group for allowing Street Sense to run Barney & Clyde.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

COMMUNITY SERVICES

SHELTER HOTLINE Línea directa de alojamiento

(202) 399-7093

YOUTH HOTLINE Línea de juventud

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE Línea directa de violencia doméstica

(202) 547-7777

Education Educación

Health Care Seguro

Clothing Ropa

Legal Assistance Assistencia Legal

Case Management Coordinación de Servicios

Food Comida

Employment Assistance Assitencia con Empleo

Transportation Transportación

Showers Duchas

All services listed are referral-free Academy of Hope Public Charter School 202-269-6623 // 2315 18th Place NE aohdc.org

Bread for the City - 1525 7th St., NW // 202-265-2400 - 1640 Good Hope Rd., SE // 202-561-8587 breadforthecity.org

Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Good Hope Rd., SE calvaryservices.org

Food and Friends // 202-269-2277 (home delivery for those suffering from HIV, cancer, etc) 219 Riggs Rd., NE foodandfriends.org

Foundry Methodist Church // 202-332-4010 1500 16th St., NW ID (Friday 9am–12pm only) foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities

Friendship Place // 202-364-1419 4713 Wisconsin Ave., NW friendshipplace.org

Catholic Charities // 202-772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

Georgetown Ministry Center // 202-338-8301 1041 Wisconsin Ave., NW georgetownministrycenter.org

Central Union Mission // 202-745-7118 65 Massachusetts Ave., NW missiondc.org

Jobs Have Priority // 202-544-9128 425 2nd St., NW jobshavepriority.org

Charlie’s Place // 202-232-3066 1830 Connecticut Ave., NW charliesplacedc.org

Loaves & Fishes // 202-232-0900 1525 Newton St., NW loavesandfishesdc.org

Christ House // 202-328-1100 1717 Columbia Rd., NW christhouse.org

Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org

Church of the Pilgrims // 202-387-6612 2201 P St., NW food (1-1:30 on Sundays only) churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach

Community Family Life Services 202-347-0511 // 305 E St., NW cflsdc.org

2375 Elvans Road SE 2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE

Miriam’s Kitchen // 202-452-8926 2401 Virginia Ave., NW miriamskitchen.org

My Sister’s Place // 202-529-5991 (24-hr hotline) mysistersplacedc.org Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

Covenant House Washington 202-610-9600 // 2001 Mississippi Ave., SE covenanthousedc.org

N Street Village // 202-939-2060 1333 N St., NW nstreetvillage.org

New York Avenue Shelter // 202-832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave., NE D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 202-347-8870 // 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW dccfh.org

Father McKenna Center // 202-842-1112 19 Eye St., NW fathermckennacenter.org

Patricia Handy Place for Women 202-733-5378 // 810 5th St., NW

Samaritan Inns // 202-667-8831 2523 14th St., NW samaritaninns.org

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOTLINE Línea de salud del comportamiento

1-800-799-7233

Housing/Shelter Vivienda/alojamiento

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1-888-793-4357 Laundry Lavandería

Samaritan Ministry 202-722-2280 // 1516 Hamilton St., NW 202-889-7702 // 1345 U St., SE samaritanministry.org

Sasha Bruce Youthwork // 202-675-9340 741 8th St., SE sashabruce.org

So Others Might Eat (SOME) // 202-797-8806 71 O St., NW some.org

St. Luke’s Mission Center // 202-333-4949 3655 Calvert St., NW stlukesmissioncenter.org

Thrive DC // 202-737-9311 1525 Newton St., NW thrivedc.org

Unity Health Care 3020 14th St., NW // unityhealthcare.org - Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500 - Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699 1500 Galen Street SE, 1500 Galen Street SE, 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE, 1660 Columbia Road NW, 4414 Benning Road NE, 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 555 L Street SE, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, 1717 Columbia Road NW, 1313 New York Avenue, NW BSMT Suite, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 828 Evarts Place, NE, 810 5th Street NW

Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless 1200 U St., NW // 202-328-5500 legalclinic.org

The Welcome Table // 202-347-2635 1317 G St., NW. epiphanydc.org/thewelcometable

Whitman-Walker Health 1701 14th St., NW // 202-745-7000 2301 MLK Jr. Ave., SE // 202-797-3567 whitman-walker.org

For further information and listings, visit our online service guide at StreetSenseMedia.org/service-guide

JOB BOARD Peer Specialist

Pathways to Housing DC // Washington, DC Part-time, 20 hrs/wk Peer Outreach Specialists identify and engage individuals experiencing homelessness in a geographically assigned area, assess their needs, proactively initiate non-judgmental conversation and a consistent presence; offer basic assistance, and help develop a collaborative goal plan with each person.

REQUIRED: High school diploma / GED; Peer Training with certification; 1 year previous work experience in mental health program, Be a consumer of mental health services.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/pathways-dc-pt

Restaurant Team Member

Shake Shack // Washington, DC Full-time and part-time opportunities As a Shack Team Member, you will learn as you grow – training on every station in the Shack while increasing your responsibility and pay. You will earn various certifications along the way as you grow into a Shack Trainer, Cross Trainer, and Shift Manager at your own pace!

REQUIRED: Flexibility to work any shift APPLY: tinyurl.com/dc-shake-shack

Patient Care Technician

MedStar Health // Washington, DC Part-time day / evening / night shift with rotating weekend Performs a variety of direct patient care activities for a designated nursing or clinical department. Assists medical and nursing staff with procedures and/or tests, assists patients with Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s), obtains non-invasive body fluid specimens, and may draw blood and/or perform EKGs. REQUIRED: High scholl diploma or GED; and one of the following: 1) Completed a Certified Nursing Assistant program or equivalent 2) Completed a national Registered Emergency Medical Technician or Paramedic program/ course with at least six months or more experience as an EMT, CCT, or EMTP; or (3) a Nursing Student (RN Program) with completion of at least one year of clinical rotation or a graduate of an approved nursing program (LPN or RN) APPLY: tinyurl.com/medstar-tech

Delivery Driver

Papa John’s // Downtown DC, Chinatown Full-time and part-time openings [1-2 sentence description] REQUIRED: Valid state drivers license; Acceptable motor vehicle record (but does not have to be ‘squeaky clean’); Proof of car insurance; - Reliable vehicle that you can use for deliveries.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/pj-chinatown-drive

My writing is now a podcast Worldwide news! I've taken my screenplay, "The Big Fat Rat" to the airwaves!

The nine-part series about organized crime in Washington, D.C., led by boss Dean, the big fat rat himself, was first published in Street Sense in 2016.

It is now being released on Spotify, narrated by me, as "The Fat Rat story."

—Ivory Wilson, Artist/Vendor Listen now, on your podcast platform of choice: www.Anchor.fm/ivory-wilson5 ILLUSTRATION BY IVORY WILSON

The Magic of Love

BY AYUB ABDUL Artist/Vendor

Like a symphony of symphonic music to enchant the soul. The sound that makes the body roll. Holding hands as the heart beats faster and plays a melody.

Butterflies fly to the rhythm and dance gracefully throughout the bellies. While the nerves rock back and forth doing a waltz.

Sweet candy cane kisses that take your breath away and make the moon light seem to be brighter to your amazement.

So dizzy from head to toe feeling like bubbles that flow. Embrace against one another for eternal love knows no other, but lasts forever.

Federal law enforcement personnel and national guard soldiers at Black Lives Matter Plaza on June 1, 2020. PHOTO BY ERIC FALQUERO

Tides A stormy age ande lyrick are suoet.

Fleeted ar thyn words to dare ma savvey uit poorer fare.

BY FRANKLIN STERLING Artist Vendor

Thank you for reading Street Sense!

From your vendor JAN. 13 - 26, 2021 | VOLUME 18 ISSUE 6

WWW.INSP.NGO

No. 7: When One Door Closes...

BY SAUL TEA // Artist/Vendor

This is page seven of a 13-part song book accompanying the “Hell’s Bottom Congress Of Puppets” folk opera, created by Saul Aroha Nui Tea. The song is loosely inspired by “The Band Played Waltzing Matilda” by The Pogues and “Chim Chim Cher-Ee (Winds in the East)” from the musical “Mary Poppins.”

Look for the rest of the opera in future editions of Street Sense and find music videos made with puppets of the characters, along with more information about the project, at congressofpuppets.blogspot.com.

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