01 27 2021

VOL. 18 ISSUE 7

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JAN. 27 - FEB. 9, 2021

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EVENTS

// 3

NEWS IN BRIEF Vaccine rollout will begin in low-barrier shelters Feb. 1

Cancelling Rent and Promoting Housing Stability in Greater DC Wednesday, Jan. 27, 3:00-3:45 p.m. / Online Join the Urban Institute and the Urban–Greater DC Initiative for a virtual discussion on strategies for promoting housing stability during an economic downturn as the eviction moratoria end in the DMV region. The conversation will focus on potential policy solutions — such as cancelling rent — for promoting housing stability, preventing a wave of evictions, and contributing to a more equitable recovery in the region.

Register for the event here: tinyurl.com/urban-institute-event THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4

UPDATES ONLINE AT ICH.DC.GOV

MONDAY, FEB. 8

ONE DC right to housing committee meeting

D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness Meetings

6:30 - 8:00 p.m. / Online

Youth Committee Jan. 28, 10:30 a.m.

Barry Farm-Hilldale in Anacostia: A Historic African American Community

ONE DC’s Right to Housing committee supports long-time D.C. residents to fight against displacement and for safe and affordable housing. Contact Patrick Gregoire at pgregoire@ onedconline.org with questions.

6:30 - 7:30 p.m. / Online

Executive Committee Feb. 9, 1:30 p.m. ***For call-in information, as well as meeting info for unlisted working groups, contact: ich.info@dc.gov.

RSVP here (Zoom info provided upon RSVP): tinyurl.com/one-dcevent

Hosted by the Anacostia Community Museum: Join curator and historian Alcione M. Amos as she discusses her newly released book, “Barry Farm-Hillsdale in Anacostia: A History African American Community.”

Register at: https://tinyurl.com/ anacostia-book-reading

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

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William Neff

A beautiful piece about Lee Stringer & Street News in NYC, one

@wneff Finally took a few minutes from my oh-so-busy existence to

of the first modern day street papers created in the late 1980s.

talk with Duane Foster, who camps at Tenleytown CVS and

Today, there are more than 100 street papers in 35 countries in

writes for @streetsensedc as “Black Fields.” His story ain’t

25 languages. Thank you readers for supporting your local street

exactly The Waltons, no. But his wisdom, perspective are

paper vendor.

profound. Nice guy 12:15 PM - JAN 19, 2021

5:26 PM - 23 OCT 2017

D.C. will begin distributing COVID-19 vaccines to people experiencing homelessness in lowbarrier shelters, including hypothermia overflow shelters and Pandemic Emergency Program for Medically Vulnerable Individuals centers, starting Feb. 1, according to an announcement by the D.C. Department of Human Services.

The department is collaborating on the rollout with Unity Healthcare, a nonprofit that offers medical services to people experiencing homelessness in D.C. This distribution is part of Phase 1B of the vaccine rollout in the District, which includes essential workers and at-risk populations.

The initial rollout will include homeless people living outside the shelters “to the extent possible” pending resources and availability, said William Kuennen, a program manager with DHS, during a Jan. 22 briefing. The number of doses allocated for low-barrier shelters has not been confirmed, according to the department.

Unity Healthcare will work with DHS to provide medical direction and clinics at the selected shelter locations. Vaccines will be administered beginning at shelters with the largest number of residents and continuing to locations with the fewest people. Staff at shelters are encouraged to receive the vaccine but are not required to do so at this time. Unlike most vaccine appointments in the District, a photo I.D. is not required to receive the vaccine at the shelter clinics.

The rollout is predicted to take eight weeks to complete the second dose. Kuennen said DHS is focused on effective communication, with an emphasis on affirming that the vaccine is safe and free.

—kaela.roeder@streetsensemedia.org

CORRECTIONS 1. In the previous edition of Street Sense, the article “McPherson Square cleared ahead of Trump rally” stated that the U.S. Park Police had moved homeless people’s belongins out of McPherson Square on Jan. 5. This was a misrepresentation of remarks made by Daniel Kingery, who had been staying in the park. Kingery had told Street Sense Media that the Park Police were present at McPherson Square on Jan. 5 and that officers handed out printed copies of regulations regarding unpermitted structures in federal parks. His statment has been corrected in the online edition. Park Police did recommend DowntownDC BID inspect unattended belongings, which was done prior to Jan. 6.

2. Also in the previous edition of Street Sense, the article “PEP-V hovers around full capacity without enough housing options for vulnerable people” said Wes Heppler, a board member of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, was also a member of the D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness. He is not a voting member of the council, but regularly sits in on ICH working group meetings. His affiliation has been corrected in the online edition.

4 // ST REET SENSE ME DI A / / JA N. 2 7 - FE B . 9, 2021

NEWS

DC attorney general sues to uphold ban on filing eviction complaints during pandemic

BY JAKE MAHER jake@streetsensemedia.org

I

mmediate relief could be on the way for about 500 D.C. tenants who have had eviction cases brought against them since the COVID-19 pandemic started, due to an appeal by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine.

In May, the D.C. Council passed two moratoriums: one prohibiting all steps of the eviction process during the COVID-19 public health emergency and another that invalidated all eviction complaints from that point forward until the end of the emergency period and retroactively back until March. In D.C., landlords are required to handle all evictions by filing a formal complaint with D.C. Landlord Tenant Court. They can only evict a tenant after a judge rules in their favor.

The second moratorium was challenged in court by landlords who filed eviction complaints between March and May, while it was still legal to do so, only to have those complaints later invalidated.

Last month, D.C. Superior Court ruled that those cases were allowed to proceed. Of the approximately 1,800 cases, all but 458 had been settled outside of court by then. But a new challenge from the Office of the Attorney General has put those cases on a stay. If the OAG is successful, those tenants will be safe from eviction until the public health emergency ends — though not necessarily safe from the long-term effects of having an eviction complaint on their rental record.

“Since the start of this public health emergency, OAG has enforced and defended the Council’s protections for our most vulnerable residents,” Racine said in a press release. “For many District households, these measures — eviction protections chief among them — have made the difference between enduring this crisis and falling to ruin.”

Judge Anthony Epstein of the D.C. Superior Court wrote in his Dec. 16 ruling that the effect of invalidating the ban would not be a flood of new eviction complaints.

“The only short-term impact of the Court’s ruling,”

Epstein wrote, “is that the Court will schedule a hearing in these cases as soon as it reasonably can, property owners will have to try to prove their case, and defendants will be able to raise any defense or seek any relief to which they are entitled.”

Landlords still cannot begin filing eviction notices again until after the public health emergency ends.

The local housing justice organization ONE DC led a campaign on Twitter calling on Racine to take up the case.

Shakeara Mingo, a resource organizer for ONE DC and the leader of that campaign, said the organization was “elated” by the legal action from Racine. Racine’s press release said his office “carefully consider[ed] public input” in the decision to challenge the ruling.

The legal dispute over the moratorium against simply filing eviction complaints, whether or not they are carried out, comes as D.C. politicians arrive at a broadening understanding of the effects of eviction. Racine acknowledged that eviction complaints can be used to intimidate residents into leaving without the need to follow through. “We know that many residents may leave their homes in response to an eviction filing,” he said in his press release, “whether out of fear, pressure, language barriers, or a lack of awareness regarding their rights.”

Research by Georgetown University professors Eva Rosen and Brian McCabe found that only 5.5% of eviction complaints result in an executed eviction. However, since eviction records are publicly available, landlords can use them to maintain a blacklist of tenants with complaints against them, whether or not those complaints resulted in an eviction.

The D.C. Council has taken steps toward addressing the issue by passing the Fairness in Renting Emergency Amendment Act on Oct. 6. The bill sealed eviction records in as little as 30 days if no eviction was carried out and as little as three years if an eviction was carried

Landlords can use [eviction complaints] to maintain a blacklist of tenants with complaints against them, whether or not those complaints resulted in an eviction.

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, photographed in 2017.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

out. Emergency legislation can be enacted in the District with a single vote, instead of the usual two, and without Congressional approval, but expires after 90 days. This bill will expire on Feb. 7. A permanent version of this measure had been introduced by Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh in 2018 and again in 2019. The Eviction Record Sealing Authority Amendment Act of 2019 received a hearing in October but ultimately stalled out in the last legislative session.

However, Racine’s appeal over the terms of D.C.’s moratorium does not affect the deeper issue facing D.C. renters: the back rent that will be due eventually when the public health emergency ends.

“For [families behind on rent,] both the eviction and filing moratoriums do not solve the underlying problem – the moratoriums only delay the day of reckoning that they face,” Epstein wrote in his ruling. “The Court hopes that the legislative and executive branches of government will find ways to enable the families to keep or find affordable housing after the current public health emergency ends.”

The D.C. and federal governments have taken some steps to address the issue. D.C. made $10 million available for affordable housing providers in grants that cover 80% of missing rent payments, up to $2,000 per month, between April and November if they choose to forgive the remaining 20% of missing rent. And most recently, President Joe Biden has called on Congress to extend the federal eviction moratorium, provide an additional $25 billion in rental assistance, and $5 billion for services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

// 5

December relief bill keeps DC afloat, but the District and its workers look towards a Biden stimulus package

BY MATT GANNON AND ANNEMARIE CUCCIA matt.gannon@streetsensemedia.org

P

resident Biden proposed $1.9 trillion of funding in a third federal COVID-19 recovery effort.

Twice the size of December’s bipartisan stimulus package, his first major legislative move could allow the government to continue providing extended and increased economic aid through the fall.

Under Biden’s proposal, unemployment insurance would be expanded to $400 weekly through the end of September 2021, the federal minimum wage would be more than doubled to $15 per hour, and $350 billion would be allocated to state and local governments. The package would also include direct payments of $1,400 to supplement the $600 checks currently making their way to many Americans.

Through the CARES Act in March, the federal government created two programs to supplement normal unemployment insurance. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) constitutes $179 weekly payments for 39 weeks for selfemployed workers, contractors, and gig workers not covered by traditional unemployment. 15,000 workers in D.C. currently receive or are seeking PUA according to Doni Crawford, a policy analyst at the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute. Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) is a 13-week extension of normal unemployment insurance, which lasts for 13 weeks and currently aids 26,000 D.C. workers.

December’s second federal stimulus package provided jobless D.C. residents with boosted unemployment aid to continue until mid-March.

Both PUA and PEUC were set to expire on Dec. 26. But after nearly nine months of debate over a second aid bill, Congress voted on Dec. 21 to extend the programs for 11 weeks.

The second relief bill increased the time that individuals can receive benefits to a maximum of 50 weeks, allowing workers who were about to exhaust their benefits to continue receiving them through March 13. It also added $300 to weekly unemployment benefits for all workers and an additional $100 each week to some self-employed and gig workers.

Ongoing challenges Tazra Mitchell, policy director at DCFPI noted that for D.C. residents receiving or seeking benefits as of Jan. 25, these programs are a lifeline. “Unemployment benefits are really important because they replace lost wages, so they provide a crucial economic stability to unemployed workers,” Mitchell said, adding that giving individuals more money can also spur the economy’s recovery. “Our lawmakers should be centering a people-focused economic recovery.”

But despite the increases provided by the December relief bill, many people are still receiving less than they did at the start of the pandemic.

“We know that the $600 dollars a week extra that the federal government gave their workers during the initial part of COVID really kept families afloat,” Mitchell said before the details of the December stimulus were released. “Anything short of that dollar amount, I think, would be unwise.”

In addition, claimants in the District continue to struggle to use an application system that has been widely criticized as inefficient. Applicants must navigate long wait times, an

The prospects of Biden’s COVID recovery plan in Congress are in doubt, according to some political spectators, due to the impeachment of former-President Donald Trump and partisan gridlock. PHOTO COURTESY OF MARTIN FALBISONER / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

outdated online portal, and backlogged phone lines. Some D.C. residents have reported being unable to collect the full sum for which they are eligible, and D.C.’s complex system has caused other residents to miss opportunities for back pay, extended benefits, and PUA. Furthermore, although the second relief bill was signed into law on Dec. 27, leaving no gap in funding for PUA and PEUC, brief payment delays were reported as local agencies awaited instruction from federal authorities in the Department of Labor.

Crawford also noted that “Black D.C. residents, primarily residing in Wards 7 and 8,” where unemployment remains highest, “continue to be hit the hardest” by the economic downturn.

The increased benefits, moreover, are temporary. They will last through March 13, at which point Congress will have to return to pass another bill, meaning workers only have another month of guaranteed benefits. “They shouldn’t have to keep coming back every three months to pass new [unemployment insurance] benefits increases,” Mitchell said. “Otherwise help is delayed.”

Local Unemployment Aid While D.C. cannot run a deficit to provide aid the same way the federal government can, the District has taken a few steps to provide aid to workers.

On Dec. 7, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the District would provide a one-time “local stimulus” check of $1200 to residents on PUA. Department of Employment Services (DOES) Director Unique Morris-Hughes noted that about half of the 40,000 PUA applicants at that time were D.C. residents, meaning

that about 20,000 workers were eligible to receive the stimulus check. The first payments, which came from D.C.’s CARES Act funds, reached residents during the week of Dec. 15.

Some derided the one-time checks, which total $1000 after taxation, as an insufficient emergency measure. According to recent reporting, the combination of high unemployment rates, higher-than-usual healthcare bills, costly pandemicrelated PPE, and typical credit card and grocery payments has left many D.C. residents struggling financially even with the support of stimulus payments. Biden’s proposed federal direct payments would bolster residents’ income, but are opposed by a crucial minority of lawmakers, leaving many worried about mounting bills.

Biden’s relief plan faces an uphill battle against spendingweary Republicans and Democrats and is likely to be tabled as former-President Trump’s second impeachment trial occupies Senate business for the first few weeks of the legislative session.

Unless Biden’s stimulus plan is passed, D.C. may have to borrow money from the federal government to keep paying out unemployment benefits. In order to bankroll unemployment insurance programs, employers pay taxes into an unemployment trust fund. At the beginning of 2020, D.C.’s trust fund had a balance of $521 million, which was drawn down to $100 million by the start of November. As of Jan. 25, its balance hovered near $39 million.

According to Mitchell, the trust fund’s solvency is at risk.

Crawford added that without joining 21 jurisdictions in borrowing from the federal unemployment trust fund, the city’s fund could be depleted by March. Crawford said that the Mayor ordered DOES to begin that process in November; it is unclear when those funds will be dispatched.

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NEWS

Inauguration Airbnb cancellations leave unhoused people hanging in the balance

BY MEREDITH ROATEN Volunteer

W

hile organizers celebrated a win in their campaign to keep pro-Trump groups out of the District during the inauguration, some advocates worried that the unhoused community was being left behind.

Airbnb announced on Jan. 13 that it canceled all reservations for D.C. during the week of the presidential inauguration, citing security concerns from Mayor Muriel Bowser and federal authorities. Advocates interviewed for this article knew of at least nine unhoused people who had Airbnb reservations before this decision was made.

Nonprofits told DCist that they are struggling to find shelter for people experiencing homelessness to keep them from living outside while the security risk is so high. Bowser has urged residents to stay away from the downtown area during Inauguration and for visitors to stay away from the District altogether after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol building in early January.

Shutdown D.C., a group that co-organized the campaign calling for Airbnb to cancel the reservations of white nationalists shared resources to help people seeking food, shelter, or other financial support. The group’s Twitter account shared a document listing various mutual aid groups around the District to “support one another.”

Safety concerns Trupti Patel, the ANC 2A03 commissioner who supported the campaign and spoke at a Shutdown D.C. press conference on Jan. 14, said Airbnb’s decision to cancel reservations and prevent new ones was the best option to keep people in the District safe.

“At the end of the day, Airbnb had to implement the policy that it needed to because we needed to keep the Nazis out of this city,” she said. “You can't have members of our community, whether housed or unhoused, being terrorized in this neighborhood.”

She added that marginalized groups and unhoused people alike would be at risk from visitors to D.C. and the two groups shouldn’t be pitted against each other. If the D.C. government had sufficiently housed individuals because of the pandemic or the District-wide state of emergency, Patel said, unhoused people wouldn’t be at a disadvantage in the current situation.

“We intentionally did not call for unilateral cancellation of reservations because we know many unhoused folks are using Airbnbs to stay safe this week,” Black Lives Matter D.C., the other co-organizer of the campaign, said in an email newsletter to its supporters. “We call on hosts to honor these existing reservations. We will be reaching back out to all hosts we've contacted so far to ask them to keep housing-insecure neighbors safe. If other organizations want to offer to house this weekend please contact "sddcairbnbs@gmail.com."

The D.C. Department of Human Services will do outreach next week to let people experiencing homelessness know that encampments might be disturbed during next week’s events.

Three days ago, an anchor for a right-wing news outlet shared a video of homeless people who live in tents near the Capitol calling them suspicious. It has been shared more than 9000 times. The man who posted the video has collaborated with whites supremacists, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center and promoted the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory that led a North Carolina man to travel to D.C. and fire an AR-15 rifle inside Comet Ping Pong in 2016.

DC government preparations A city official told Street Sense Media that DHS is also pairing unhoused people with donated Airbnb’s through a nonprofit partner. DHS was not able to be reached to confirm but At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson later shared the same information on Twitter late Friday night.

“DHS has authorized outreach providers to do enhanced intervention and bill DHS for reimbursement for things like transportation, hotel rooms, pet boarding, food,” Henderson said in her Tweets, elaborating on the city’s efforts to protect people experiencing homelessness. “We know there are lots of reasons some people don’t wish to come into shelter, & DHS has been working with partners to minimize the disruption Inauguration presents.“ According to the city official who first alerted Street Sense Media to DHS’s efforts, the department authorized service providers to pay their staff overtime to conduct outreach regarding these resources over the weekend “as long as reasonable and safe” to help make safety plans for people.

The Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services has asked MPD not to displace encampments within the security perimeter, according to Henderson’s Tweets. She said operations of the two shelters located within the perimeter, Patricia Handy Place for Women and the Community for Creative Non-Violence, will not be affected. DHS will also be staffing an operations center from Jan. 17 - Jan. 24 to help that service providers can call that for support with any inauguration-related issues.

Canceling reservations Another short-term rental company, VRBO, declined on Friday, two days after Airbnb’s announcement, to cancel reservations for the week but suggested renters report harassment or discrimination.

Shannon Clark, co-organizer of the mutual aid group Remora House, said she was aware of at least six people whose reservations were canceled and were being moved to hotels.

Clark said she supported Shutdown D.C.’s goal of protecting residents from potentially dangerous visitors but that canceling Airbnbs makes it hard for unhoused residents to find temporary housing.

“A lot of these actions, [protecting the unhoused] seems like it's an afterthought,” Clark said. “And then those of us doing unhoused advocacy and outreach are kind of left holding the

A Jan.14 press conference held by activists outside of the Capitol Hilton hotel on 16th Street NW. SCREENSHOT COURTESY OF SHUTDOWN D.C.

bag, trying to figure out how to keep people safe.”

Staying in a hotel for a short time is one alternative to Airbnbs but they typically have more logistical barriers, like requiring IDs that match a credit card, Clark said. She said Airbnbs provide more autonomy for unhoused people because they can access the space without having to go through multiple steps.

Shutdown D.C., alongside Black Lives Matter DC, is still advocating for hotels to cancel their reservations as well to prevent visitors to the District. Clark said it’s hard to balance that need to keep D.C. safe but that if the campaign succeeds, the cancellations will leave few options for those temporarily staying in hotels.

“Hotels shouldn't be prioritizing profits over people,” she said. “But at the same time, we really do need to get unhoused people off the streets if we can.”

Rev. Glenna Huber of the Church of the Epiphany said she knew of three people who were moved into Airbnbs before the cancellation was announced. She said that her church and other places of worship around the District wanted to provide financial support to those affected and were worried about people on the streets during Inauguration.

Crystal Green, a parishioner of Epiphany who often serves people experiencing homelessness at the church, said options for unhoused people who lose temporary housing are limited.

And the closure of downtown D.C. makes it hard to connect with the people affected by the cancellations.

“Sometimes we don't really know exactly what they need until we ask them,” Green said. “However, due to this current administration and the disaster that has happened, we're not able to do that and quite frankly, that makes me very angry.

That makes me angry. And it makes me sad.”

[Disclosure: Street Sense Media rents office space from the Church of the Epiphany] Maurice Cook, the executive director of Serve Your City D.C., said the campaign to cancel Airbnbs in the city did not consider the unhoused.

Though he said he had not directly heard from any unhoused person whose reservation was canceled, he expressed his concern that unhoused people were not consulted during the course of the campaign and that there was not a plan in place to ensure they had access to resources like mutual aid groups.

“I just don't think people thought this through,” he said.

He added that young people who earn low wages are often the ones who utilize short-term rentals like Airbnb.

Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George suggested in a Tweet that the D.C. Council should provide emergency housing to unhoused individuals in hotels. George said in a statement that cancelling reservations during the inauguration was the “right decision,” while adding that the streets of the District are still unsafe.

“We must now work to ensure that this decision doesn't leave D.C. residents without permanent housing out on the streets during a really dangerous time,” George said.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

// 7

AT A GLANCE

Community for Creative NonViolence files lawsuit against federal government over site of DC Central Kitchen

BY KATE SANTALIZ kate.santaliz@streetsensemedia.org

T

he Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV) filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Health and Human Services and General Services Administration for breach of contract on Jan. 8, alleging that the HHS and GHA attempted to dispossess CCNV from their property and disrupt their activities. This suit is the latest move in an ongoing struggle between the federal government and CCNV over the use of the property currently occupied by the D.C. Central Kitchen, which CCNV has used for 30 years to provide essential services to D.C.'s homeless community.

The suit seeks to have the property title granted to the CCNV and monetary compensation for no less than $100,000.

In October 2020, the HHS took action to reclaim the property through a “notice of revert,” arguing that CCNV was violating its terms of use outlined in a 1993 deed agreement.

CCNV in response is arguing in its suit that the HHS breached that deed agreement when it failed to work with the CCNV to improve the property's conditions. CCNV approached the HHS in 2018 regarding the deteriorating physical conditions of the

shelter, seeking financing for a redevelopment project. CCNV says that instead of agreeing to improve the conditions of the building, the HHS manufactured claims that the property was being used in an "unapproved" manner. CCNV further argued that these actions failed to coincide with D.C.’s 2015-2020 Interagency Council on Homelessness Strategic Plan, which stated that the physical conditions in the vast majority of its shelters are “simply unacceptable and offer very little to help reduce the trauma of whatever life events have led individuals and families to shelter." The suit argues this refusal delayed efforts by the CCNV to improve the poor condition of the shelter and that the HHS should compensate with monetary damages.

While D.C. currently maintains control over the CCNV shelter building, the deed is set to expire in July 2020. When the deed expires, the CCNV will outright own the property, leaving the federal government with no legal claims to the land.

Amid cold temperatures and the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization says it has had the stability of its operations jeopardized, threatening the safety and wellbeing of the 1,000 residents they host nightly.

Chefs work together during D.C. Central Kitchen’s Culinary Heritage Day. PHOTO COURTESY OF WILLIAM NEUHEISEL / FLICKR

Chad Jackson

I love America and I love my city.

I feel that D.C. loves us, too.

Please don’t look down on us because we’re homeless. We are still human beings. On top of that, I’m a veteran.

I’ve been with Street Sense Media almost six years and it’s family. Street Sense saved my life.

We care about us and life.

One love.

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

8 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // J A N . 2 7 - F E B . 9, 2021

NEWS

Difficulties persist for those claiming unemployment benefits in D.C.

BY ANNEMARIE CUCCIA Editorial Interns

C

laiming all your unemployment benefits in D.C. can be a time-consuming, arduous process, workers report.

A series of hearings this fall revealed the difficulties jobless workers have had accessing federal benefits, including long wait times to speak to the Department of Employment Services (DOES), and months-long waits for benefits. With Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) extended until March, workers’ complaints about these programs have risen to the surface.

“Workers are still facing long hold times and unanswered emails when trying to fix their claims,” said Zachery Hoffman of the D.C. Bar and Restaurant Workers Alliance at a Dec. 9 roundtable. “There’s very little guidance on how to do this properly.”

As the number of people applying for unemployment increases, DOES has come under increasing strain to provide benefits to workers. According to DOES Director Unique Morris-Hughes, the agency currently responds to 48% of claims within two weeks and 63% of claims within three weeks. However, in public hearings held by the D.C. Council Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, applicants have continued to testify they have been waiting for claims adjustments for months.

At-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman has been holding these hearings in an attempt to bridge what she calls “the communication gap” between DOES and workers seeking benefits. “A lot of our workers are having trouble deciphering what to do, and then there’s a lack of information, understandable information, and guidance to help them,” she said.

According to Doni Crawford, a policy analyst at the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, 41,000 people in the District are still seeking or receiving some kind of unemployment benefits.

Two main problem areas with these programs have emerged from the public hearings.

The first is that workers are struggling to apply for PEUC, the 13-week unemployment extension program. For workers who have wages in multiple states, applying for the second set of benefits can be complicated. Anyone who applies for PEUC and is flagged as having wages in multiple states must contact the other state, apply for unemployment benefits there and be denied before D.C. can approve them for PEUC.

Workers are still facing long hold times and unanswered emails when trying to fix their claims.

There’s very little guidance on how to do this properly.

Zachary Hoffman, D.C. Bar and Restaurant Workers Alliance “If you’re earning in another place, that means your PEUC claim is not a seamless process, it creates a lot more steps,” Silverman said. This process is made more difficult because

DOES Director Unique Morris-Hughes testifies at a Dec. 16 hearing. IMAGE COURTESY OF THE D.C. COUNCIL.

the burden has been placed on workers, who are less likely to be familiar with the process than unemployment offices. “It’s unclear whose responsibility it is to determine whether you’re eligible in that other state or not,” Silverman added.

While this process is the result of a federal regulation and mandated everywhere, it is particularly burdensome in D.C., where a significant portion of workers have second jobs or earn wages in Maryland or Virginia. The requirement to contact multiple states and put more effort into claiming benefits is disproportionately put on low-income workers, who are more likely to have multiple jobs, Drake Hagner from D.C. Legal Aid testified.

“The underlying rules and laws around designing the PEUC system really disadvantages low- and middle-income workers,” Hagner said.

Hagner suggested the unemployment agencies in the three jurisdictions work together to create a set of standards that would explain which workers might be eligible for unemployment in each jurisdiction, eliminating the need for workers earning below a certain amount of wages to apply for unemployment just to be denied. This could streamline the applications of many hospitality workers who primarily work in D.C. but picked up a few shifts at a location outside the District, and now have to apply there even though they only made a few hundred dollars.

While DOES has not indicated whether a solution like this is on the way, they have begun to provide applicants who need to contact other states with a script to use when doing so to ensure they get the information they need, according to Morris-Hughes.

Meanwhile, those applying for PUA are facing a separate holdup. In order to get money to applicants quickly, when applicants first applied this spring they were sent the minimum payment for PUA, $179 weekly. However, some workers who had income in the last year are eligible to have that rate adjusted, and then receive back pay for any weeks they received the lower rate or were not on PUA despite being eligible.

According to Silverman, several people have informed her they are still waiting for this monetary redetermination. “A lot of our PUA claimants are still struggling to get that back week payment as well as the monetary redetermination,” she said.

When asked for the exact number of claimants waiting for back pay or monetary readjustment in the hearing, MorrisHughes said she did not have them, and, according to Silverman, has not yet provided them.

“Our goal is to do this as quickly as we possibly can but given the deluge of claims it's difficult to be at the same benchmark we were at pre-pandemic,” Morris-Hughes said at the most recent hearing.

Monika Stumpo, a bar and restaurant worker who testified at the hearing, expressed frustration at all of the difficulties in the process of getting the benefit workers like her so desperately needed.

“There really should not have been any reason it was a complicated process to prove that you lost your work, it was obvious that you lost your work because everything was shut down,” Stumpo said.

Anyone who is having trouble claiming unemployment can contact Silverman’s office for additional help.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

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Report highlights bias-motivated violence against people experiencing homelessness

BY LILLY TANENBAUM Editorial Intern

I

n its report, “20 Years of Hate,” published in December, the National Coalition for the Homeless analyzed the conditions around bias-motivated crimes against people experiencing homelessness. The report documented all known incidents and discussed causes for the prevalence of these hate crimes as well as solutions for reducing them.

The National Coalition counted 83 incidents of bias-motivated violence toward unhoused people in 2018 and 2019, during which 35 victims lost their lives. This is a decrease from the previous two-year period, during which 48 victims died. Although the new report focused primarily on 2018 and 2019, it discussed findings dating back to 1999. NCH has released a hate-crime report every year since then, documenting a total of 1,852 incidents of violence against people experiencing homelessness, 515 of which were fatal. The incidents discussed in the report occurred in 29 states and D.C..

Advocates consider this data to be an undercount. NCH recorded 14 total incidents of bias-motivated violence against homeless people in D.C. between 1999 and 2019.

However, while the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner recorded eight homicide deaths among people experiencing homelessness in 2019 alone, none were determined by the Metropolitan Police Department to be the result of hate crimes In May 2020, a 62-year-old homeless man named Darryl Finney died in a homicide.

He was set on fire by his attacker, who was charged with first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill, arson, and destruction of property. According to court records, the man who killed Finney had thrown a flaming t-shirt onto another sleeping homeless person just 30 minutes beforehand. That individual escaped without injury. The case is still pending a grand jury. MPD again recorded zero hate crimes against people experiencing homelessness for the year 2020, indicating that Finney’s death was not considered a biasmotivated crime.

Alaina Gertz, MPD Public Affairs Specialist, said MPD is not currently investigating Finney’s death as potentially being motivated by hate or bias. In order for MPD to do so, additional evidence that “the reason Mr. Finney was killed was because he was homeless” would be needed, said Gertz. She added that MPD will

present the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the USAO can then decide if it wants to charge the case as a hate crime.

“D.C.[’s] hate crimes law includes homelessness as a protected class, yet that law is rarely used,” said Ann Marie Staudenmaier, a staff attorney at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. Many of these crimes go unprosecuted, she said.

In addition to being undercounted in government data nationwide, the report also claims that the number of hate crimes is underreported by unhoused individuals themselves. Donald Whitehead, NCH’s executive director, attributes this in part to a distrust of law enforcement. “There is a fear that nobody is going to take them seriously, and that it is useless to make that report,” he said.

This distrust may stem in part from criminalization policies enforced against people experiencing homelessness, according to Whitehead, referring to policies that criminalize daily practices homeless people must do to survive, like sleeping in public.

According to the report, such laws have been implemented in 187 U.S. cities.

“If you are criminalized for no more than being poor, you’re not going to trust what would be the visual arm of that,” said Reginald Black, advocacy director for the People for Fairness Coalition.

[Disclosure: Reginald Black is also an artist/vendor with Street Sense Media] According to the report, criminalization policies contribute to increased bias against people experiencing homelessness because enforcement of them ostracizes those individuals. Staudenmaier believes these policies “dehumanize” people experiencing homelessness. The report proposes the removal of these policies as a way to combat the prevalence of bias-motivated crimes.

NCH also proposes adding people experiencing homelessness as a protected class under federal hate crimes status. Hate crimes, by definition, are motivated by bias toward an aspect of a person’s identity. While the D.C. Bias-Related Crime Act of 1989 includes “homelessness” as one of 15 traits the perpetrator’s prejudice may be based on, the U.S. Department of Justice’s definition of a hate crime does not include homelessness as a possible motivator for the perpetrator.

The benefit of including homelessness in the federal definition of hate crimes would be to “reduce the incidents where people think they can get away with attacking somebody for hate-based or bias-based reasons,” Staudenmaier said. Another benefit would be the deterrent of increased penalties that come

with committing a hate crime, according to Whitehead. These increased penalties vary by state. In some states, hate crimes can be considered felonies.

Despite being counted in the D.C. BiasRelated Crime Act, homelessness is not a protected trait in the D.C. Human Rights Act, which “prohibits discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations and educational institutions.” Nor is it protected by federal anti-discrimination legislation.

The Michael A. Stoops Anti-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2019, named for NCH co-founder Michael Stoops, aims to add homelessness to the list of more than 20 traits that are protected by D.C. law. The bill died in

committee last year, but will “hopefully” be reintroduced in this new D.C. Council session, Staudenmaier said.

Black said community members should research the Stoops bill and push their elected officials to reintroduce it “so that people can have the tools necessary to have these nuanced instances really looked at in a way that is humanizing for them.” This specific protected class would also provide more attention to anti-homeless bias before it reaches the level of an attack like those described in the 20 Years of Hate report, according to Black.

“The way things are now,” said Black, who is formerly homeless, “you are dehumanized because you are poor.”

Locations of hate crimes committed against homeless individuals from 1999-2019

National

Appendix C: All Recorded Hate Crimes from 2018 and 2019 TABLE 3: ALL RECORDED HATE CRIMES AGAINST HOMELESS PERSONS, 2018-2019

2018

2019

2 Year Total

Total Lethal Incidents

21

14

35

Total Non-Lethal Incidents

25

23

48

Assault with a Deadly Weapon

10

9

19

Police Brutality

2

2

4

Beatings

4

6

10

Harassment

3

4

7

Rape/Sexual Assault

4

0

4

Media Exploitation

1

1

2

Abduction

1

1

2

Total Incidents

Breakdown of Non-Lethal Incidents

GRAPHICS COURTESY OF NATIONAL COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS

1 0 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // J A N . 2 7 - F E B . 9, 2021

OPINION

A monster out of control

BY JEFF TAYLOR

At the time of this submission, what we all knew was that more "protests" were planned for all 50 state capitols. Most of us were also aware that the U.S. Capitol insurrectionists of Jan. 6 had threatened to execute by hanging elected officials starting with former Vice President Mike Pence!

And he's supposed to be on their team! Out! Of! Control!

What few of us knew, though, was that a growing minority of Trumpists felt betrayed by the dear leader in his call, weak as it was, to end the violence. Their attitude toward former President Donald Trump was now "get out of our way." So I was hoping and praying there would be no loss of life on inauguration day.

How crazy is that? How the hell did we boil to the verge of a second Civil War? Well it didn't start with Trump, oh hell no.

The insidiousness we have witnessed—and only emboldened by Trump—since electing the first Black president is a sick and evil mindset that still glorifies the old South and brings to mind the slavery era.

It was rekindled decades ago with Nixon's Southern strategy and flared up during the Reagan administration with the mythical so-called "welfare queens." It furthered with the end of the Fairness Doctrine and rightwing extremism's dominance of AM talk radio. It was nurtured during Bush the Lesser's administration by the likes of Frank "The Messaging Guru” Luntz, Karl "We Create Our Own Reality" Rove and Grover "Drown Government in a Bathtub" Norquist.

And it was galvanized by the astroturfed tea party movement during Obama's first midterm election giving Republicans back their House majority. The scary Black man wanted to establish death panels and kill grandma, Republicans appeared to suggest; in reality, it was a handful of very rich and influential white guys who were already deciding grandma should die unless she had lots of money or really good health insurance. You see what that is? It's called projection, and it's a GOP staple. You falsely accuse your opponent of exhibiting your own behavior.

Speaking of lies, up until the Trump era, the mainstream media has been reticent to call out rightwing lies in real time, if at all. It hasn't helped that FOX News has been treated as a legitimate independent source of information.

But with the coming of Trump and his blatant habitual lying, the media had no choice if they were to retain a shred of credibility among decent people.

So there you have it. We have a monstrous evil in bigotry, perpetuated by the Republican Party. And while we may never fully defeat it, we can sure as hell drive the bastard back into a closet. But it's going to take work, commitment, and vigilance.

Charles Koch, a major Republican donor and multibillionaire, recently expressed remorse over “his partisanship,” according to the Wall Street Journal, and called the tea party “largely unsuccessful long-term.” In a new book, Koch writes, "Boy, did we screw up! What a mess!"

That's a hopeful sign that just maybe we can turn this thing around, but it'll take more. A lot more! The lying has to stop! And the media can't be allowed to let the lies go unchallenged again.

For now, we can only hope those charged with keeping us safe will be themselves kept safe from harm.

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

Nobody should become homeless during a pandemic. Here’s what to do if it happens anyway.

BY PAULA DYAN

It's 22 degrees outside after New Year's in Washington, D.C. There's no snow, but it's still frigid. Usually the alcoholics are the ones who freeze to death on nights like this. Seventy-four homeless people in Washington D.C. died in 2020. Nobody wants to live outside in that kind of weather, but sometimes that’s what happens.

What do you do when you become homeless?

And where do you put your stuff?

First order of business: Stay where you are, as long as you can, as long as it's safe. If possible, the city wants you to stay in your place, and there are additional protections during the pandemic to help you do so. In most circumstances, you cannot be evicted from your home until 60 days after Mayor Muriel Bowser declares an end to the public health state of emergency. Landlords are also not allowed to raise rents or charge late fees during that time. See: oag.dc.gov/blog/ know-your-rights-tenants-and-covid-19.

Even when the pandemic subsides, the city can still help. As soon as you know you can't pay rent, call the Office of the Tenant Advocate (OTA.dc.gov). Staff there can tell you about your rights and responsibilities as a tenant. The Department of Human Services (DHS. dc.gov) has programs to help you stay in your home, and to help with back rent or mortgage payments. The Department of Behavioral Health’s crisis line is available around the clock for talk therapy, counseling, and sometimes antidepressants. And when needed, call 202-399-7093 or "311" for a ride to a shelter.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the shelter hotline is acting as a navigator through D.C. social services.

Go to D.C.'s coronavirus website for the latest mandates and additional help: coronavirus.dc.gov/page/stay-home. Look under "View Operating Status by Agency" for information on how to contact an agency and complete applications for various programs.

Because there's so much uncertainty, keep checking back with coronavirus.dc.gov/gethelp, or coronavirus.dc.gov/rent for the latest updates and resources.

I've had the experience of being both homeless in my early 20s, and of working with people sleeping on the streets over 15 years as a mental health and social work professional. The District has a wealth of resources to help you cope during this pandemic. Arm yourself with information. It's extremely difficult to climb out of homelessness without help. Especially ask for help before you become homeless, and try to negotiate an arrangement with your landlord.

Still, as soon as you know you can’t pay rent, start packing. Even if you receive rental assistance, what are you going to do when that subsidy runs out? It's horrible becoming homeless and losing all your stuff, but if you pack now you have more control. And here’s the most important thing: Pack as if you're going on a two-week trip, with only the essentials. When you're homeless, you have to carry all your bags everywhere. There are no safe places to store your belongings, and some shelters let you bring in only one large bag.

Plus, if you move around a lot, you're going to lose things. It happens to all of us when we travel.

You forget the phone charger, your toothbrush, a favorite jacket. It can be gut-wrenching! If you lighten your load, the experience of homelessness will be less exhausting.

But what do you do with the belongings you can’t carry? The easiest way to downsize your stuff is to have a potlatch in your home, after you've packed. Invite friends to bring a dish for dinner, and during the party, they browse around and take what they want. Two days later, invite all your neighbors to take what they want.

Whatever is left over goes to the dumpster.

Take only what you can carry, usually three bags. A suitcase on wheels will carry a few clothes. Load your backpack with grooming items, a few cosmetics and tampons, and a phone charger. And take a shoulder bag with important papers, documents, notebook and pen. Keep your money, ATM/credit/EBT card, Social Security card, and birth certificate in your fanny pack, and your identification with your bus pass in a bus pass holder.

Make copies of your passport, diplomas, children's immunization records and documents for school registration, and keep the originals in your bank's security deposit box, or in a file at your case manager's office. Keep these papers in no more than two different places. If you store things in too many different places, you forget where you stored them.

Then, you're set to go!

Housing is a right, not a privilege, and there’s something wrong when the richest country in the world rewards greed by allowing landlords to jack up the cost of rent beyond what people can reasonably afford. The living wage for a single adult with no kids in Washington, D.C. is nearly $17. Even with D.C.’s minimum wage at $15, homelessness can still strike many people living on the edge at any time. If you’re in that position, know that there are people who can help, and ways to stay as safe as possible.

Arm yourself with information.

Paula Dyan is a former social worker who experienced homelessness for seven years.

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ART Looking ahead All people are created equal ILLUSTRATED BY ANGIE WHITEHURST

BY DONTÉ TURNER Artist/Vendor

Looking ahead nowadays is harder than looking back. It used to be that when you’re looking forward you can look back on what you’ve been through and how you got through what you’ve been through to get to where you are.

Now it’s more like, “What the hell?”

It’s hard for people to get jobs, IDs, medical treatment and all kinds of services because of this “pandemic.”

There’s still no explanation about this pandemic that I trust.

The more they try to explain the more sense it doesn’t make. They can close

churches, schools, and certain businesses but don’t shut down liquor stores or gentlemen clubs (strip joints, if you will)?

There’s hardly any social distancing unless race is involved. And I’m here to tell you from my own observations, homelessness has increased.

So what are we looking forward to?

Things just keep getting worse for those of us in need. things just keeps getting worse for us of those in need.

Icon design courtesy of Pixelz Studio.

Thank you

BY KYM PARKER // Artist/Vendor

For life you’ve given us For a world in its peace For family to keep us strong For protection of our souls For unconditional love And waking me up in the morning For all the blessings you have given us all For wishes not met Thank you, God, for all you’ve done Thank you

My history

BY ANTHONY CARNEY Artist/Vendor

Angie Whitehurst is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.r

Join the conversation, share your views - Have an opinion about how homelessness is being addressed in our community?

- Want to share firsthand experience?

- Interested in responding to what someone else has written?

Street Sense Media has maintained an open submission policy since our founding.

We aim to elevate voices from across the housing spectrum and foster healthy debate.

Please send submissions to opinion@streetsensemedia.org.

February is Black History Month. My forefathers fought in every American war, that’s a fact.

Sgt. William Havery Carney may have been a relative of mine. He was a Union soldier who was born a slave. And he was the first African American to receive the Medal of Honor.

I’m proud to be an African-American man.

Spread love.

Sgt. William Havery Carney.

1 2 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // J A N . 2 7 - F E B . 9, 2021

ART

Confessions, Pt 1: I’ve Paid for Sex

BY JEFF TAYLOR // Artist/Vendor

I like to think I’m a good person and I want to make sure I’m not BS-ing myself about that. Oh hell, I know I’m far from perfect. Like, really far, as you’ll easily see as you read further. But when it comes to trying to live by the golden rule (and not without a few major stumbles along the way), I’d give myself a solid B, maybe B+.

That leaves room for improvement and I’m willing, by the grace of the greater universe, to work harder at being an a**hole even less of the time.

When my physical comforts are threatened or diminished in any way, I’m too often too quick to get my hackles up. This is something I understand about myself from having done an Enneagram self-evaluation at a retreat sponsored by the National Capital Presbytery. It was required of me when I was newly hired as director of christian education at a lovely little church in Rockville, Maryland. So much more on that later. For now, more about my need for physical comfort.

Most needs for modest, physical comfort were met

handily before I became jobless, then homeless. I had decent jobs with decent pay. I paid my rent, car note, cable bill, etc. by myself. I could even afford to hire someone to clean my two-bedroom, one-and-a-halfbath apartment. I could still afford to smoke weed on a nightly basis.

Like most people, included among my physical comfort needs is the need for intimacy. Sometimes fulfilling this need was not that difficult. Other times, quite the contrary. I’m a not particularly attractive, overweight, gay male in a community where physical attraction is of utmost importance.

All I ever really wanted was someone to share my life with, a partner, a husband, a very best friend. But that just doesn’t seem to have been in the cards yet. And it has made me feel inadequate, incomplete. It’s always felt like the missing primary piece of my life’s puzzle, over every other human need.

If I had been born straight, life’s search for intimacy, for

Treading the Waters, Part 33

We was young. We just wild, man.

His brother was named Tony. He had a brother named Kenny, and a brother named Michael.

His aunt was funny. She look like she get pregnant every month. She had so many kids, she had ‘em back to back.

His daddy, Jimmy, used to drive boats in the Mississippi River. And Brett was his mother.

This is how close me and Greg were.

Greg mother used to tell him, “Where Baby Elephant at?”

They used to call me ‘Baby Gerald’, but she always say ‘Baby Elephant’.

“Where Baby Elephant at?”

He say, “He gone home.”

All the sudden, she hear something in the closet. She come in to get something, I fall right out the closet.

I say, “Oh!” “You ain’t need to be sleeping in this closet!”

To be continued in part 2, “I used to not care much about homeless or mentally ill people.”

How do we achieve unity?

BY GERALD ANDERSON Artist/Vendor

When we were last with Gerald on the streets of New Orleans, he was catching up with his long-time friend, Greg, who was fresh out of prison for the first time in a while.

that or even those special someone(s), would have been a cake walk. Girls found me , enough at some level that I was often considered boyfriend if not husband material.

A high school girlfriend once said to me, “Jeff, you’re not conventionally good looking, but your personality more than makes up for it.” It was kind of a backhanded compliment, but I knew she meant well.

But I wasn’t straight. I was gay. Always was, always will be. While I enjoyed the friendship of my “girlfriends,” when it came to intimacy I had to fantasize about sex with guys in order to achieve orgasm. Sexuality isn’t between one’s legs, it’s between one’s ears.

Anyway, after all the bills were paid, the fridge full, the house sparkling clean, I still — out of occasional desperation and not without a sense of shame — had just enough left over to pay for sex when it was needed.

So where did a semi-closeted gay male go to find intimacy? Well, in the good old days, there were plenty of places; bars, certain areas of certain parks, certain public men’s rooms, adult book stores, etc. Men hooking up with other men was still too icky a concept for a majority of American society to deal with, so gay and bisexual men were (and unfortunately in many cases remain) forced into the closet.

She work at Charity Hospital. I never forget the Third Floor. There was the crazy people up there on the Third Floor. Me and Greg used to go up there on the Third Floor when I was a young boy and mess with the crazy people.

When I say “crazy”, they send them in cages up there.

The funny thing about being in the hospital, on the Tenth Floor, oh my God, you might see anything. It’s like the movie “It’s Alive” on the Tenth Floor. That’s how funny...

Charity Hospital is a good hospital. It’s like a hospital you can sit in the Emergency Room and just watch people. I used to see so much crazy stuff come in there. Me and Greg used to see people in there.

Then sometime we go sit up in the Veteran hospital. Man, we see some guys from WWI had wires hanging out of ‘em.

I’m like, “Damn.”

We just wild. Wild.

To be continued. Anderson’s first book, “Still Standing: How an Ex-Con Found Salvation in the Floodwaters of Katrina,” is available on Amazon.com.

BY RITA SAULS Artist/Vendor

The ability to feel like I/we represent one family and one nation is critical right now. It’s nice to say, but are we really unified?

It seems this is the one nation where all stand by and are compliant with whatever pays the highest dividend, regardless of the outcome or consequence. In this one nation,many people are highly educated, but it seems no one is assigned in this government to oversee a breach of social contract. Everyone is out only for themselves.

How can I feel love for anyone that continuously violates every, or any, so called friend or situation for self gain? Especially up to the point where it could take their lives and anyone connected to them into a downward spiral or even death? Yet that’s what racism in America feels like. To say one thing and feel something else will never bring people together. That’s family I disown, divorce, cut the cord.

But there is light in the darkness. Kudos for these private organizations who have been serving the underprivileged for years, such as the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, and Street Sense Media — providing food, clothing, housing, job training, and financing for the key to everything: ID such as birth certificates and driver licenses.

We must all bring what we can to the table and support each other as one nation, one family.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

Looking for work

Cancel this virus

BY RONALD SMOOT // Artist/Vendor

Hello, my name is Ronald Smoot. I was laid off from my job months ago and I’ve been spending time with my wife at home. I was getting bored sitting at home, so I went back to selling this paper so I can help in my apartment to buy food. I’ve been looking for a new job so I can take care of my needs and help my wife out around the house. I’ve talked to a caseworker down at Street Sense Media to help me find a job on the computer.

My last job was working for Gilbane Construction at Georgetown and I went to work six days a week. I was picked to go there after

// 1 3

BY GERALD ANDERSON // Artist/Vendor

working for National Service Contractors on Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE. My supervisor was chosen and she picked me out of 10 people.

My job specialist picked that job for me and I was there for four years. So now I ask Street Sense Media to help me get a new job.

I’m looking forward to working again before I get too old. Right now I’m 54 years old and I don’t work. My bones are getting old. So I will pray to God to go back to work again. Can you all pray for me, too, please?

Thank you.

Even though we’ve got vaccines starting to be available and more being developed, this virus is no joke. It’s up to all of us to keep each other safe. If you plan to be around anybody you don’t live with, make sure you all wear a mask.

People of any age can get COVID-19, even healthy young adults and children.

But the CDC says people who are older and people who have certain underlying medical conditions are at higher risk of getting very sick from it. I hate worrying about where you could get it or who you could give it to. Infected people have experienced everything from no symptoms, to mild conditions to severe illness.

You just can’t let your guard down. Especially since you can develop symptoms anywhere from between two days and two weeks after being exposed to it.

I keep hearing doctors on the news talk about having “herd immunity” once enough people get the vaccine. But I think we all need to get that shot if we’re going to get past this.

The Rich vs The Poor

BY KAYODE MOSLEY, A.K.A. “TEM” // Artist/Vendor

Technology and Our Future, Pt 2

BY REGINALD SCOTT Artist/Vendor

Greetings ladies an’ gentlemen! Since my last article, my observations have gone even deeper into my open-mind stages while trying my best to stay firm and afloat with this future technology and abreast amongst my temporary predicament of being homeless.

I mean, this is my very first time being in such a situation.

Albeit it’s temporary, the situation still lands as “it is what it is.” I do concur with the equilibrium of my medulla to a certain extent, anent my progression from such stages of “life-living” levels to “living-life” levels because of future technology.

I still stand with puissance amongst my emotional elevation..

It’s sad that we’re at a point in time that a real dame has no recognition of a real man, and vice-versa. Ergo, has technology intervened in human beings’ era of control that should provide every person the opportunity to be at the life-living level?

I would surmise not, as “each one teach one” no matter the culture. The human being an’ the technology for the future shouldn’t be at odds anent the human being living-life levels but should be at odds anent da levels of life living.

To be continued. This is part of a trilogy.

Why must we beg for help? I don’t want to be rich. I just want to live. Why attack me rather than help me enjoy not being rich? Surely me wanting to be poor-er helps you to be rich-er. (Forgive my grammar, I did not go to Harvard.)

Where does this fear come from? It’s so puzzling to me, why you would go out of your way to dispute my choices and try to entice me to conform and be like you. Maybe I don’t want that. All I want to do is walk in the Sun all day, and learn what He’s doing, teaching, and providing. What’s wrong with that?

The sad part is, I can’t just walk around and do good in the Sun day by day; I’m poor and there is damn near no place to use the bathroom. I’m homeless, therefore you deem something is wrong with me!

“Pull yourself up by your bootstraps,” you tell me.

But I don’t want no straps, I just want to love life, and love you. Why hate me?

When I attempt to hide in alleys or behind cars to urinate or defecate, or to try and find a warm dry place to rest in the cold — you look at me with disappointment, anger, judgment. You chase me down and chastise me with your eyes and your choices of power.

You call it “good” to herd me like cattle from one block to another, from one neighborhood to another, from one state to another — just because I don’t have a home. Thanks to the Sun for creating a Sea, or else I might not never have a chance to rest my feet.

Surely you, Mr. Rich Man, have had to at least urinate outside at some point? But you must remember, Mr. Rich Man, that men and women were here before there were houses, before the words “rich” or “poor” or even “hate” itself passed over our lips. The sciences say mankind has been here for more than one billion Sun risings.

I am asking you to listen to me, this man who is poor in materials but rich in heart. Have the poor not proven by now that we love the rich? It’s just

perplexing why you don’t love us back. We insure your riches, by accepting our desire to handle being poor. Why impose sanctions, criminalizations, to make the poor go crazy? Do you desire me to walk around and talk to ghosts, spirits, or voices? Why make me pray so hard for a solution to be poor and at peace that I become loud in the streets and people look at me like I don’t make any sense? You won’t talk to me, so who should I talk to?

I have given so much for you to be rich, because I understand from mathematics that Mother Earth does not have enough resources for all nearly eight billion of our brothers and sisters to be rich. So why has my sacrifice for you been met with so much hostility? You would rather lock me up for urinating in the streets than provide me, at least, a place to urinate. Don’t you see,, it takes a lot of work to be poor, as it does to be rich.

Many, === Sun risings ago, as a youth I had a fight with a person who more recently became deceased. He flat out told me then, “I DON’T WANT TO BE RICH!!!” And it took me more than 10,000 Sun risings (27+ years) to finally understand what he was saying and to know the error in my own ways. He was right. And even if he hadn’t been, how childish it was to fight over a person’s choice, especially when that choice was neither Good nor Evil. It was his power to decide his own level of love for money. Not mines.

May he rest in peace.

In my first article, I asked you to consider what is good and what is evil? In my second article, I questioned power: Is it simply a choice? The question I leave you with today is: Do the masses really, in their heart, want to be rich? Or do they just love the fantasy of it but in their living mind make a choice to be poor for the rich?

Much love and respect.

1 4 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // J A N . 2 7 - F E B . 9, 2021

FUN & GAMES

Novice Sudoku Puzzles, Volume 1, Book 1

Sudoku #5 5

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1 2

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LAST EDITION’S PUZZLE SOLUTION >>

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

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No. 8: Another door opens

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 “Chim Chim Cher-Ee (The Screever)” from the musical “Mary Poppins” and “The Band Played Waltzing Matilda” by The Pogues.

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.

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

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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

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// 1 5

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Customer service representative Life of Riley // Adams Morgan Part-time The customer service representative will handle phone and email inquiries and checkins and checkouts and Life of Riley, a dog daycare and baording service.

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Sometimes

Fallen Leaf

BY RON DUDLEY, A.K.A. “POOKANU” Artist/Vendor

BY JENNIFER ORANGE // Artist/Vendor

You have wings did you not know? I allow you to be produced and nurtured on the tree.

Sometimes you gotta lose to win Sometimes you gotta lose a friend Sometimes you gotta lose a son Sometimes you gotta use a gun

Fallen leaf, you have purpose. I allow you to go through the birth process, as starting as a seed then becoming an ornament on a tree.

Fallen leaf, your process is to aid the tree with growth, beauty and design.

Using your elements as a leaf to cleanse the atmosphere.

Sometimes you gotta take disrespect And sometimes you gotta make them respect Sometimes you gotta say what it is And sometimes you gotta put up your fist Fallen leaf, your movement and gesture given by the winds of this life magnified the tree’s value.

Sometimes you gotta die just to live And sometimes you just wanna live Sometimes I wear shades not to see Sometimes this mask make my shades feel like me

Fallen leaf, in the book of Matthew Ch. 7 Verse 19, Jesus states - Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Sometimes I see what I want And sometimes I see what I was Sometimes I see what I could be And sometimes I put on this hoodie

Fallen leaf, just know that if you fall to the ground a greater seed is coming after you.

Sometimes you gotta take the abuse Sometimes the police gonna shoot Sometimes you gotta lose to win Sometimes you gotta lose a friend

Galatians Ch. 3 Verse 16 - Now to Abraham and his seed were the promise made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.

Fallen leaf, you did not die. But your original blueprint is still alive.

Fallen leaf.

Sometimes you gotta see the red flags Sometimes the gas light is a flash Sometimes the love bombing is amazing Now here comes the smear campaign After the devaluation

PHOTO COURTESY OF ENKI DING // UNSPLASH.COM

Sometimes.

Peace

Thank you for reading Street Sense!

BY SYBIL TAYLOR // Artist/Vendor

Me

BY PATTY SMITH Artist/Vendor

From your vendor JAN. 27 - FEB. 9, 2021 | VOLUME 18 ISSUE 7

WWW.INSP.NGO

Ladder Taking a higher step This little plaid woman In her college dress SSM vest

4 million READERS

ILLUSTRATION BY

MLK’s “I Have A Dream” speech was so powerful. It brought tears and laughter and joy to the world. Those words inspired lots of smiles and hope to help fight the sadness caused by a lot of segregation, bigotry, and hatred against Black people.

His speech left us to wonder why there is so much hatred in this world.

Why can’t we love each other and get along with each other regardless of our skin color? Dr. King wanted peace for America and instead he was murdered.

And before his death, he said he had seen his dream become a nightmare.

We face all this now. You saw it at the Capitol at the start of the year.

We can’t let haters with no love for one another win. We should honor the reverend’s legacy and keep pushing for justice.

We are facing challenging times.

COVID-19 is making everything very hard. I hope everyone gets the vaccine and that our new president makes a difference. I hope this year brings happiness and joy for everyone, with many blessings along the way.

Sometimes the pain is real Sometimes the pain can kill Sometimes your pain becomes your passion Your passion becomes your purpose Your purpose can make them nervous.

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