02. 25. 2015

Volume 12: Issue 8 February 25 - March 10, 2015

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Performance and Oversight Hearings of all city agencies will continue through March 12, 2015. A complete list and live video may be found at dccouncil.us/calendar

STREET SENSE February 25 - March 10, 2015

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Despite Improvements, City Finds Room to Grow in Foster Care System

By Jennifer Ortiz, Editorial Intern Foster children and leaders of many of the District’s youth services voiced concerns and suggestions for the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) on February 18. Training for foster parents and support for foster youth who are aging out of the system were the predominant issues at the performance oversight hearing held by the Committee on Health and Human Services (CHHS).

Delores Whitaker, an 18-year-old youth staff member at the Young Women’s Project, said she has had trouble obtaining clothing under the foster care system.

Foster parents receive a monthly check, of which $80 is allotted for clothing. Whitaker explained that she had to constantly remind her foster mother that she needed new clothing and that the $80 for clothing should come out of her foster parents’ monthly check, not her monthly allowance.

Marie Cohen, a social worker in D.C.’s foster care system, said she has spent much of her time on many requirements, benchmarks and paperwork that do not benefit the children.

“Foster parents not paying for clothing is actually very common,” said Cohen. “It

was bad enough that I had to spend so much time engaged in useless paperwork, but it was worse that I had to see clients placed in loveless homes with foster parents who could not be bothered to pick them up from school when they were sick, attend school meetings, or take them to their therapy sessions.”

Michele Rosenberg, who works for the CFSA, said foster children and their foster families are matched through intensive screenings and assessments of children’s’ needs. Foster parents go through an eightweek program for training in evidencebased practices, according to Rosenberg.

The foster parents must submit references, comply with child protective screenings, and participate in notified and random home studies.

Shannon Mack, another member of the staff at the Young Women’s Project, aged out of the foster care system in June when she turned 21. She said that her social worker took her to a homeless shelter, where Mack had only her clothes.

“Once you age out of the system, there is no one who cares for you...There should

President’s Proposed Budget to Fight Homelessness

By Jennifer Ortiz, Editorial Intern

President Barack Obama’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget proposal, released on February. 2, includes increased funding for homeless children and families as well as significant investments in child care.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) webinar analyzed Obama’s annual federal budget proposal regarding its effects on federal funding for homeless-assistance programs.

The proposal indicated an 8.7 percent increase for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which would be $4 billion more than 2015.

The president proposed $2.48 billion for the McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Grants, 16.5 percent higher than last year.

This proposed funding can continue the HUD services under the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act (HEARTH).

From this HUD funding, Continuums of Care (COC) would receive $2.22 billion, which would aid in the creation of 25,000 permanent housing units, as well as fund 15,000 rapid re-housing interventions, as reported on the NAEH webinar. This also includes $7 million for National Homelessness Data Analysis and new vouchers.

According to the NAEH, these resources are sufficient to end chronic homelessness by the end of 2017 and enough to build resources needed to end family and youth homelessness by 2020.

Also in the proposal was an increase of $1.5 million (for a total of $10.1 billion)

to Head Start, an early childhood development program, in efforts to make it a full day and year round program. The president also proposed universal access to preschool for children in impoverished families.

The proposed budget suggests tripling funds for the domestic violence hotline as well as providing $9 million to help combat human and sex trafficking among homeless youth, $6.2 billion more than last year.

The president’s proposal also called for a rise of more than $21.1 billion for tenantbased vouchers, the amount that is needed to simply maintain the 2.4 million households in Section 8 housing, according to NAEH. This does not include any new HUD Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers.

The U.S Department of Veterans Affairs would receive $1.4 billion under the president’s proposal. NAEH said this amount is necessary to end homelessness among veterans by the end of this year.

NAEH encouraged “advocates [to] strongly make a case to their members in Congress” for this budget proposal by raising awareness in local communities about how these proposals can help aid the homeless community at large.

“We can continue to talk about what we need to do about homelessness in our communities as a way to raise awareness of the spending caps that need to be loosened,” said Steve Berg, NAEH’s vice president for programs and policies. “If the caps don’t get raised, spending will be cut significantly.”

be a program or some kind of foundation for them when they don’t have a family.

Youth need housing, but we also need resources and people who really care and take the time to understand where the youth are coming from,” Mack said.

Raymond Davidson, interim director of the CFSA, said the agency has made some great strides in 2014 and wants to continue doing so in 2015 with the support of community-based services.

“CFSA has improved in serving abused and neglected children and their families, but I also want to make clear that we aren’t making these strides alone. CFSA is the child welfare agency, not the child welfare system,” he said.

Davidson added that CFSA’s priorities for this year include supporting “more aspects of well-being so that children, youth and families can move on from our involvement with greater stability, capability and hope.”

Winter Blast Brings Cold Emergency Outbreak

By Jesselyn Radack, Volunteer

Valentine’s Day weekend brought a Cold Emergency Alert, a blinding blizzard, brutal snow squalls and flash freezing. This winter, the D.C. Department of Human Services has issued a number of Cold Emergency Alerts. These alerts are called when the temperature falls, or is forecasted to fall, to 15˚F or below including wind chill. One or more of the following conditions may also cause an alert: snow accumulation of 3 inches or more; steady precipitation for 60 consecutive minutes; ice storms or freezing rain; sustained winds of more than 10-15 miles per hour; or other meteorological conditions or threats as determined by the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.

During a Cold Emergency, additional

services and support systems are put in place to protect the region’s most vulnerable population: homeless residents.

These measures are added to ensure that they are protected from extreme temperatures, illness, injury and death. Such measures include increased shelter access, warming buses and designated public buildings used for emergency shelter.

To request support, homeless D.C. residents who are on the streets should contact the Shelter Hotline at uposh@upo. org; dial 211; or call the toll-free number (1-800) 535-7572 from a payphone. D.C.’s Hypothermia Shelter Hotline provides transportation to emergency shelters and distributes items such as blankets, gloves and jackets.

National Canned Food Drive Honors Lives Lost

By Julie Gallagher, Editorial Intern

Three students were shot and killed on February 10 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, after what police described as “an ongoing neighbor dispute over parking.” The incident quickly sparked a national debate on whether this act of violence was one of hate toward the victims’ religion or just a random act of violence.

Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23, attended the University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry. His wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, expected to study at UNC in the fall, and her sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19, attended North Carolina State University. All the victims were Muslim.

A neighbor of the victims, Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, was arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder after turning himself in to police.

Twitter exploded the morning after the shooting with the hashtags #MuslimLivesMatter and #ChapelHillShooting, and with tweets that expressed sadness for the victims and opened a dialogue about the average citizen’s intolerance toward Muslims in the U.S. Those close to the victims explained

that all three constantly gave back to their communities. Barakat’s last post on Facebook on January 29 was a photo of people delivering free dental supplies and food to people experiencing homelessness in downtown Durham, North Carolina.

“These were students who wanted nothing more than to change the world, who basically thought the most important thing in life was helping people who were less fortunate than they were,” said UNC Chancellor Carol Folt, according to the Raleigh News Observer.

The selfless nature of the victims has inspired many people across the nation to give back to their communities in the victims’ memory.

A National Canned Food Drive, called Feed Their Legacy, has been organized to honor their memory and continue the work of Barakat and the Abu-Salha sisters.

People can donate canned food items to help feed the hungry. Learn about how to get involved at www.feedtheirlegacy.com.

“They lived to serve others, so let us serve them,” was a post on the Feed Their Legacy Facebook page.

Tenants Gear On Sunday, February 22, District residents from every ward—many from Ward 8—crammed into a hot meeting room in the basement of the Anacostia Library and stayed until the loudspeaker announced it was closing time. Everyone was there to discuss the potential displacement of hundreds of African American families living in the Barry Farm Dwellings public housing project.

Attendees gathered to talk solutions, formulating ground rules such as “be respectful” and “no campaigning.” They also agreed to use Barry Farms, plural, because “nobody from D.C. says Barry Farm.”

The previous weekend, members of Empower DC—a grassroots organization that promotes collective power for low-income communities—and the Barry Farms Tenants and Allies Association spent four hours going door-to-door through Barry Farms to drum up turnout for the Sunday forum.

They offered childcare and rides to the Anacostia Library.

“Not everyone understands why we’re fighting. That’s why we’re having the forum,” Schyla Pondexter-Moore, Public Housing Organizer for Empower DC, told Street Sense.

Empower DC and Barry Farms tenants are concerned about displacement now because last October city government finally approved the New Communities Initiative (NCI)’s first stage Planned Unit Development (PUD) for Barry Farms.

Although public housing is federally subsidized for low-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, Barry Farms residents worry that if displaced, they will not find housing elsewhere that they can afford.

In 2012, Pondexter-Moore led a successful campaign to preserve public housing at her own Ward 8 residence, Highland Addition. A court case presided over by DC Superior Court Judge Joan Zeldon resulted in a settlement that would keep Highland Addition as public housing for the next 40 years, post ongoing renovations.

“Displacement through redevelopment is part of the reason for the homelessness boom in the District,” Pondexter-Moore said to the packed meeting room.

Despite the PUD approval, DC Housing Authority (DCHA) asserts that there is no

funding, and thus no set date to break ground at Barry Farms.

The New Communities Initiative was established in 2005 by former Mayor Anthony Williams to demolish four large public housing projects and replace them with mixed-use communities—residential and commercial—and mixed-income housing: some market rate, some affordable and some public.

Since that time and throughout the development process, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development—which houses NCI—and the DCHA have met with residents to gather community input. District law guarantees public housing residents receive at least three months notice before a required relocation. However, close to a decade of stalled plans and continued meetings has left residents feeling uncomfortable and powerless. Many fear losing their home, not just a housing unit.

*** Tenants worry there will not be enough units to house all of the current residents.

At the approval meeting of the first stage PUD, officials agreed they didn’t have enough housing for all the current residents to be relocated, according to Phyllisa Bilal, co-founder of the Barry Farms Study Circle and a panelist at the forum.

“When there is a plan in place, every family will be offered relocation,” Christy Goodman, Media Supervisor for DCHA assured Street Sense.

Some attendees spoke of first-hand experience with displacement from D.C. public housing.

Robyn Fields, a resident of Arthur Capper Carrollsburg, was displaced for ten years when D.C. government changed the public housing development into a mixed income community. She went through an extensive background and credit score check before she was allowed back into the community.

“I went to every meeting and stayed informed so I could come back to Arthur Cappers,” Fields said “But, everybody ain’t going to do that.”

DCHA plans to work with Barry Farms residents to determine what, if any, return criteria will exist.

A federal public-housing revitalization program and fund called Hope VI was created in the early 1990s. The District is second only to Chicago in having the most Hope VI grant projects active.

“We were one of the first housing authorities in the country to adopt onefor-one. It became federal law after we did it,” Goodman said. “Residents have been a part of the redevelopment process this entire time. There is no reason to change that.”

*** A recent report assessing the New Communities Initiative does little to comfort residents, however.

The report was requested by the city and completed last fall by Quadel Consulting and Training LLC; it recommends that New Communities representatives be more clear about their policies, including residents’ “right to return/stay.” According to the report, “While a guiding principle, there is not a guarantee that every resident will return.”

Now the NCI’s website lists this principle as “the opportunity to return/stay in the community.”

Quadel reports that “One-for-One Replacement does not mean that the unit mix of the demolished structures will be replicated in the new developments; [Onefor-One Replacement] refers to the total number of replacement units produced.”

This means smaller units can be created in place of the six-person units that exist among smaller units in Barry Farms.

Quadel recognized NCI’s slow pace of transformation and recommended adjusting timeline and financial planning to improve both results and public confidence.

*** The news that on January 30 there was a Space Finding Bus Tour for business people searching for new commercial locations made residents wary of new progress on the development. The bus tour meandered through Ward 7 and 8 and stopped in Barry Farms.

“They’re anticipating displacement,” said Pondexter-Moore.

Empower DC held a meeting before

the bus tour. Pondexter-Moore said the residents wanted to protest because they felt the tour was disrespectful. She drew a parallel between the bus travelling through Barry Farms and a safari.

When the bus showed up the protestors were ready with signs that read “Black Homes Matter.” They held the bus up for at least 30 minutes until the police arrived.

“We made them sit like a little child in the corner and think about what they are doing,” announced Pondexter-Moore at the Sunday forum.

Inside the bus the protest got people talking. Riders were uncomfortable and asking questions, according to Terry Scott, a Ward 8 resident who rode the bus looking for spaces to promote art in his ward.

According to Scott, someone from NCI spoke to the bus riders about opportunities available at Barry Farms and explained that the whole community would be demolished.

Pondexter-Moore said such blunt language is never used in community meetings or in front of the City Council. “They say, ‘We're going to redevelop and everyone's going to come back.’"

*** The forum began with a trailer for a documentary by Tendani Mpulubusi El on the history of Barry Farms. The land was bought from the Barry family by the Freedman’s Bureau during Reconstruction.

African Americans, including some former slaves, were allowed to own small plots on the farm and run businesses.

Mpulubusi El’s explained that he wanted to spread an understanding of the history of Barry Farms to develop pride among

STREET SENSE February 25 - March 10, 2015

5

COVER STORY

Up to Fight Displacement the residents. The historical significance of the place signaled to some not only a new source of pride but a new way to prevent redevelopment. Attendees proposed that acknowledgement from the Federal Historic Preservation board might prevent Barry Farms from being demolished.

Forum moderator Max Ramone, leader of a campaign against demolition of public housing in Miami, noted the possibility but warned that similar status did not protect a community he worked with in Florida.

“They designated four houses as a museum to the black people who used to live there,” Ramone said.

DCHA maintains that Barry Farms Dwellings is beyond repair and in need of redevelopment.

“These were built in the ‘30s,” Christy Goodman pointed out during an interview.

Empower DC told forum attendees that engaging government officials and direct resistance-such as the bus protest—are two ways the organization works to prevent displacement.

Johnny Barnes, the self-described people’s lawyer, proposed that they claim New Communities would force irreparable harm to the residents.

Pondexter-Moore thinks Empower DC’s tactics have been working. She said NCI stopped applying for the Federal Choice Grant, similar to Hope VI funds.

“We chose not to apply for the Choice implementation grant because it would require we change the commitments we’ve made to the community,” Goodman explained. “DCHA will not break any promises we’ve made to residents.”

*** At the end of the meeting Pondexter-Moore suggested an “Occupy Barry Farms” movement might come to pass in the future. She asked people to provide their phone numbers so “at the drop of a hat” Empower DC could call their supporters and ask them to camp out in the community and prevent it from being bulldozed.

One attendee asked why the panelists weren’t in favor of working with the prospective developers and why they couldn’t just move to nearby Sheridan Terrace, now Sheridan Station.

Sheridan Terrace was a Ward 8 public housing project that sat vacant for ten years after the last resident moved. In 2007, with Hope VI funding, DCHA moved to revitalize the project.

DCHA sought out former Sheridan families and to-date has put 17 of them in rental properties and made two of them homeowners.

“You asked why we don’t want to move to Sheridan Terrace? It’s not Barry Farms,” Phyllisa Bilal replied.

Another attendee, and resident of Barry Farms for 56 years, echoed this feeling. “I raised 5 children here.” He said, “This is my monument.”

Fields lamented the love she used to find in Arthur Cappers, lost now that it is a mixed-income community.

Paulette Matthews, a resident for 20 years, appreciates the sense of community in Barry Farms. She says if a young mother needs to go to work or get food stamps, her neighbors will watch her kids.

She also enjoys decorating her front yard for Christmas and watching birds in her backyard.

*** One forum attendee feared that redevelopment would change D.C.’s and Barry Farms’ culture. She said that D.C. used to be called the “Chocolate City.”

Pondexter-Moore likened the Space Finding Tour and the redevelopment of “new communities” or “developing neighborhoods” to colonization. “It's like you're discovering something that already exists.”

She objects to the “concentrated poverty” theory to which she says D.C. government ascribes. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Gregg Justice has expressed similar concerns, requesting other wards share low-income housing placement. According to neighborhoodinfodc.org, Ward 8 is the poorest ward in the District, with a poverty of 36 percent.

Pondexter-Moore says that the government thinks people of higher income will act as role models if they are mixed into lower income communities. She believes forcing the mixed-income transition is not a solution.

“You're coming into a community and you're telling people ‘this is how you should act’ and ‘this is how this should look’ and you're making it for somebody else and you're not uplifting the people that already live there,” Pondexter-Moore said.

Field said that in her mixed-income community, money is spent on things she doesn’t care about, like dog parks.

One attendee laughed at each mention of a dog park or ritzy restaurant.

“Don’t forget the bike lanes!” she said.

*** A press release sent out by Empower DC calls the New Communities Initiative and the Space Finding Tour racist.

“The reason that we say this is racist is because of the impact… It's impacting a

certain demographic. It's impacting lowincome blacks,” said Pondexter-Moore.

Professor Amanda Huron from University of the District of Columbia, gave a presentation on the changes she has studied in public housing at the forum. She said there had been a twenty percent decrease in public housing since 1963.

The community may need some revitalization. The historical documentary on Barry Farms shown at the start of the forum called the project “one of the most impoverished and chaotic communities in Washington, D.C. and the nation.”

When Paulette Matthews moved into Barry Farms in 1995, her brother asked her if she wanted a gun when she. She brushed it off.

Pondexter-Moore says that crime happens in Barry Farms but it happens in other communities too.

“I'm really really sick of public housing communities being held to a different set of standards than other communities,” she said. “You don’t solve crime with displacement. You don’t give people jobs with displacement.”

“There’s no doubt about it that Barry Farms needs improvements and repairs,” Pondexter-Moore acknowledged. But, she says, there are ways to avoid displacement and uplift the community. “The way the city has been doing it has been a catastrophe.”

*** The people at the forum had some new ideas to suggest.

Empower DC wants to incorporate the community so they can take ownership of their neighborhood and bring in their own businesses.

Matthews, a panelist on Sunday, said, “It’s just a matter of redoing the homes so people can live here.”

Matthews suggests they renovate the homes street by street and have people fill the vacant units while waiting to move back into their homes. She thinks this would keep people in the community and

decrease the time spent waiting to move back home.

Previous renovations weren’t sufficient and didn’t revitalize the community. Matthews thinks “they didn’t even want us in the beginning,” because “they used the cheapest everything.”

Instead of beginning to build new homes for the current residents, the Grey administration began work on a new recreation center. Empower DC protested this because the old rec center had to be demolished first, removing one of the last places for children to play.

The new Barry Farm Aquatic Center, an indoors facility complete with spiraling slide and water jets shooting above the surface, opened in December 2014.

“What’s the point if we’re not going to be able to enjoy it?” Matthews said. “They could have made homes instead.”

*** “Under the previous administration, they failed to meet the needs of the most vulnerable citizens,” said the communications Director at the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development.

“The Bowser administration will speed up the process by recommitting to the New Communities Initiative by creating quality units for residents and making sure that current units are safe and sound.”

Pondexter-Moore hopes that the new mayor will change things.

Empower DC and the Barry Farm Tenants Association will be meeting with Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development in March to discuss how the city plans to fund the project.

When asked how Empower DC and the Barry Farms tenants will prevent displacement, the Mayor said, “We are willing to do whatever it takes.”

One panelist, Ari Theresa, a Howard Law graduate and someone who works closely with Empower DC in Barry Farms, seemed similarly determined.

“We have some tricks up our sleeves,” he said.

Bowser Welcomes Budget Input, Ward 1 Health Center Obliges

By Jacquie Lee Editorial Intern On Thursday, January 19 Mayor Muriel Bowser hosted a community input budget forum at Wilson High School in Northwest D.C. to hear what locals want to keep or cut from the 2016 budget.

“All of us are budget makers. I make a budget for this city and you make budgets every month, some of you make budgets every day,” Bowser said to the crowd.

This forum is one of three input meetings that Bowser plans to have with the public before the final draft budget is due April 2. The last meeting, reschedule due to inclement weather, will occur at Anacostia High School on Saturday February 28 at 1p.m. Bowser’s Communication Director, Michael Czin, told Street Sense that the Mayor and her staff hope to prioritize funding in order to close a quarter million dollar budget gap.

The meeting included discussions on a wide variety of issues, including education, public safety, libraries and services for citizens in poverty or in need, which is what drew Community of Hope CEO and President, Kelly Sweeney McShane, to the forum.

Community of Hope is a non-profit organization that provides low-income families in D.C. with health care, housing and other programs to ensure quality of lives.

The organization runs three community health centers throughout the city. However, Community of Hope’s Marie Reed Health Center, located in Ward 1 for the past 35 years, may have to be shut down due to lack of funds, according to Sweeney McShane.

The Marie Reed Learning Center, the building where Community of Hope’s health center is located, is undergoing major renovations, but Community of Hope has yet to receive funds for the renovation project.

Currently, Community of Hope is advocating to keep their location in the Marie Reed Learning Center, as well as double the number of patients they can take on, Sweeney McShane said.

They provide a wide range of services, including prenatal care, pediatric care, chronic disease management, immunization, adult well and sick visits, dental care and other specialty medical procedures.

Surrounding service providers will most likely be unable to take on Community of Hope patients if the Marie Reed Health Center shuts down.

“We have heard from other partners that the surrounding health centers are

appointed in Washington, D.C. if they let “I’m sure they’re going to get funded, not likely to have the capacity to absorb that place close.” they are a vital part of the community,” our 6,500 (over 2 years) patients,” SweeMartin said. “I would be extremely disney McShane said.

Some Marie Reed Health Center patients are unlikely to travel to another Community of Hope health center across town if the Marie Reed center shuts down.

One patient, Ken Martin, 60, would not commute to Community of Hope’s Southeast health center location because the stress on his body would be too much, he said. He has heart disease and his mobility is severely limited.

“I can’t handle the stress of going back and forth from Southeast each day,” he said. “I have too much on my plate as it is.”

Martin has been a patient at the Community of Hope since before his daughter was born.

“I have been there longer than most of their furniture,” he said.

Many people would stop seeing a doctor altogether instead of traveling to another location if the center closed, he said.

Mayor Bowser talks affordable housing with community members at the February 19 “Too many things [Community of Budget Engagement Forum, held at Woodrow Wilson High School.

PHOTO COURTESY OF @TEAMMURIEL Hope provides] are vital for the health of the community,” he said.

Mayor Bowser is

By Ken Martin, Vendor unsure whether or With the exceptions of Laura W. and not Community of one other person , I have been at ComHope’s Marie Reed munity of Hope (COH) long enough to to Health Center will welcome the staff.,That fact makes me receive funding, reasonably knowledgeable about COH. she said at the budI can’t count the number of times get meeting. or ways they have prolonged, let alone “If the Marie saved, my life!

Reed Health CenI can’t name everyone who went ter is not a part above and beyond the call of duty for of the Marie Reed me. But I will say that Drs. Sugarmann, L e a r n i n g Ce n te r Vaughn, and Foxen - each of whom has Modernization moved on to other assignments - left beproject, chances hind a tradition of charity, faith, trust, of finding another and yes, Hope. A Community of Hope. affordable location Need a place to vent? Got diabetes? in Adams Morgan Need to lose some inches? The wellare slim,” Sweeness programs are as good as those in ney McShane said. any hospital! The staff are congenial, Community of intelligent, and compassionate. They Hope is currently set the tone for the community. For working with local poor folks, it is essential that medical agencies to find services are provided with a spoonful funding for the of dignity; otherwise, patients won’t health center. If participate in their own recovery. The they can find fundleadership (staff) needs to be empaing to expand the thetic and filled with Hope. center, they expect Charity, self sacrifice, empathy, trustto double their worthiness, encouragement, dignity, space to ten thouand compassion are things you’ll find at sand square feet the COH. I wish I found more of those in and expand their the CODC (Community of D.C.)! highly demanded dental care.

COMMUNITY VALUES: The Hike I Can’t Make

STREET SENSE February 25 - March 10, 2015

The Person First Project can be found online at www.facebook.com/personfirstproject

7

NEWS

Young Professionals Find Value in Storytelling By: Jennifer Ortiz Editorial Intern

Person First Project co-founders Julie Schwartz, Robyn Russell and Shiza Farid.

PHOTO BY JENNIFER ORTIZ

Shiza Farid, Robyn Russell and Julie Schwartz want everyone to know there is a person behind every unique experience of homelessness and poverty. With the Person First Project, a photo blog created in December, they aim to break down barriers between people experiencing homelessness and those who pass by them every day.

The blog shares the stories of people experiencing homelessness and attempts to provide hope by recognizing that homelessness is a transient state.

“When you come out the other side, people are more aware that it was an experience and not a state of being. When people are able to recover, it feels important to them to make sure you say ‘a person experiencing homelessness’ because they are no longer in that experience,” Russell said.

Michael Stoops, Director of Community Organizing for the National Coalition for the Homeless, recently helped connect the Person First Project with people who want to share their stories.

“It’s a great project in the sense of allowing homeless people to tell their stories in the first person,” Stoops said.

“Julie, Shiza, and Robyn talk to people experiencing homelessness in a personal, professional and ethical manner, so they

can feel comfortable telling their stories.”

Russell told Street Sense that the people they’ve connected with through Stoops have allowed them to show a “whole” story of how someone fell into homelessness, struggled, and then overcame that obstacle.

Facebook is the main platform for the Person First Project. An Instagram account also gives a snapshot of the full story that can be found on Facebook. Through the use of free social media, the co-founders strategize that the blog will reach the millennial generation and people outside the advocacy community.

“When you stop and talk to people who are experiencing homelessness, you hear that they’re really just like everybody else. They are moms. They are dads.

They are daughters. They are sons,” said Russell. “If we could share this with other people, I think it could be really powerful because there are a lot of misconceptions around homelessness.”

The Person First Project collaborates with PoPVille.com, and one of their stories is featured every Friday on the popular D.C. neighborhood blog.

“I knew immediately that this would be a great addition to PoPville because it highlights a perspective not often seen on the

Conducting an interview for the blog. PHOTO BY JENNIFER ORTIZ

site,” Dan Silverman, creator of PoPville. com, said. “I hope folks may realize that we all have a story to tell and we are all residents sharing the same city. It’s easy to barrel through a day without realizing there are other stories besides our own out there.”

Schwartz said the weekly feature in PoPville has already sparked conversations. Through the comments section, she saw readers’ suggestions to hear the story of a person experiencing homelessness who greets passersby every day outside of the National Postal Museum.

Schwartz interviewed him for the Person First Project. “Maybe now people will know his name and two things about him.

Who knows what will happen from there?” she said.

The three co-founders of Person First Project have full-time jobs in different fields, yet all see ties between this sideproject and their careers.

Farid and Russell work at the United Nations Foundation, specializing in uni-

versal access for sexual and reproductive health rights for women. Schwartz works to implement public health contracts overseas with ABT Associates.

“This has inspired me to understand the power of storytelling as an advocacy tool,” Russell said, adding that “... sharing individual stories can open other people’s eyes ... in a way that a fact sheet full of stats, facts and figures can’t.”

The co-founders are aware of many organizations in Washington that provide services for people experiencing homelessness. They believe some of the value of the Person First Project is that it contributes to changing perceptions.

“It’s not that people don’t care. I think they do care and I think they don’t know what to do. That’s how we felt,” Russell said regarding the public who pass by people experiencing homelessness every day. “We hope our project can open their eyes and help them feel like maybe they can stop and talk to somebody.”

Garcia greets passersby every day outside of the National Postal Museum. Person First Project interviewed him following encouragement from PopVille.com commenters.

FACEBOOK.COM/PERSONFIRSTPROJECT

Small Health Clinic Delivers Massive Results

By Julie Gallagher Editorial Intern Tucked away among the historic buildings of Columbia Heights lies Christ House, a 24-hour residential medical facility for the homeless.

What makes Christ House unique is the transitional supportive housing and case management the staff provides to help patients thrive after leaving the facility, something a typical hospital cannot offer.

Patients treated at Christ House reap incredible benefits, but there are only 34 beds, limiting the number of patients Christ House can take.

The small-scale nature of the facility is why Larry Sullivan, a patient at Christ House, described it as “D.C.’s best kept secret.”

It is no secret, however, that Christ House has positively impacted many of the people that have been cared for. In 2013, Christ House cared for 269 people.

The facility has had more than 7,000 patients since 1985.

Julie Turner, a social worker in the District, has been working with Christ House for decades. Turner says that during that time, she has seen the opportunity it provides for patients to “allow their pieces to fall into place.”

All patients receive a bed and personal space for their belongings. They eat three quality meals per day, and have access to clothing and showers, according to Administrative Director David Inoue.

When Christ House was founded in 1985

by Janelle and Allen Goetcheus, it was the first facility of its kind in the country. It remains the only one in the District.

The medical staff offers care for a wide variety of chronic illnesses and other ailments. These include cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, respiratory illnesses, wounds and fractures.

To be admitted to Christ House, patients must be referred by hospitals, clinics, shelters or other medical outreach organizations. There must be a physical problem that would make re-

turning to the streets considerably unsafe for the patient.

For example, if a patient admitted to Christ House has frostbite, which is seen often during the winter months, the medical staff will treat the patient’s wounds until they are completely healed. They will repeatedly dress the wounds and help prevent infections. In the meantime, staff will help coordinate with the patient and case managers to find more permanent housing after they heal. Without intense follow-up care like the care Christ House provides, a patient would be forced back to the streets and be at further risk for infection or injury.

“We accept people as they are and do what we can to heal them physically, and in the process of treating them like good, normal people we heal their spirits in some ways,” said John McCarthy, a nurse practitioner who has been with Christ House since 1995.

The medical staff is comprised of five or six people at any given time – usually two nurses during the day, one throughout the night and two aides, according to McCarthy.

McCarthy described Christ House as a “low-tech hospital” and said that if the staff cannot provide the appropriate care on site, they arrange appointments and transportation to other locations. This is often seen with patients who are battling cancer and need chemotherapy.

In addition to a psychiatrist who visits Christ House weekly, support is offered for addiction. The New Day Program is a three-month, in-house drug and alcohol recovery program that meets three days a week for two hours each session. Alcoholics Anonymous also meets four times a week at Christ House.

McCarthy says that going through recovery at Christ House really “allows people to have a month or more of sobriety and of things being calm.” McCarthy estimated that 80-90 percent of patients participate in the New Day program.

In addition to its medical care, Christ House places a huge emphasis on the feeling of community. To achieve that sense of “family”, as Sullivan described it, activities coordinator Jenny Markowski plans a slew of activities for the patients. There are weekly structured activities, for example, playing Nintendo Wii on Mondays.

There are also special outings, including concerts, games and museums.

“The main thing I’m excited about is experiencing things with all of the guys here because I am new to D.C. as well,” Markowski said. She added that she takes the interests of the patients into consideration while planning events, and always checks with the nursing staff to determine what is safe.

Christ House recently held a Valentine’s

Day party, and every Friday there are mandatory health workshops. “We really like to emphasize the feeling of community,” Markowski said.

Sullivan said that throughout his time at Christ House, he saw a lot of compassion among the staff and they really pushed the patients in a positive direction. “They build people up. A lot of people come in angry, but after a week or so they realize how much the staff loves them and cares for them,” Sullivan said. “They’ll love you until you love yourself.”

He credits Christ House as the reason he is still alive.

Sullivan is now a part of the Kairos program, a permanent supportive housing program associated with Christ House. Those in the Kairos program often have chronic illnesses and are on track to recovery. The residents are required to work part-time jobs and volunteer on a weekly basis.

“I think it’s living proof that if you treat someone with kindness and you make that the foundation of your work, it can take the edgiest individual and can soften their edges,” said Turner about Christ House. “That’s what I’ve seen there for the last 30 years.”

A patient at the Christ House Valentine’s Day party.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIST HOUSE

A statue installed in the Christ House courtyard.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIST HOUSE

STREET SENSE February 25 - March 10, 2015

9

FEATURE

Public School Meets Staging Hope!

King Hedley Is Honest

By Cynthia Mewborn Vendor Last Month “Staging Hope”—a Street Sense Theatre Group Workshop directed by George Washington University professor Leslie Jacobson, Roy Barber and Rachel Buck-made its debut at Saint Andrews Public School. Former and current homeless actors performed a collection of scenes, monologues, poetry and songs. Afterwards, high school students were given a Q&A session to interview performers.

Education has always played a vital role in breaking stereotypes and Street Sense performers didn’t fall short, shattering future prejudices and biases against homeless individuals. Allowing homeless people to share their stories, creativity, talents and intellect provides broader opportunities to teach and educate the general public. Providing a genuine homeless perspective brings light to “Our voices” where only darkness and “shame” once dwelled.

And this catalytic light creates a platform for authentic social change, mutual respect, dignity and justice for all. When a stage promotes and demonstrates difficult, real-life situations, gaps are closed through conversation and dialogue. Ultimately, the world begins to see people who appear different to be not that different at all. So once again, thank you Saint Andrews for allowing the homeless community to have a voice in your community and we look forward to future performances in other communities and public venues in the future.

Laud the Change

By Angie Whitehurst , Vendor

The change too long in coming has happened. The adjustments were made with gaveled hands and a unanimous vote for establishing the rightful compromise for the great peace led by freedom’s serrated chains of stress, struggle, wars and battles lost and won. Thank God the rock of apartheid was cracked, broken and undone.

Congratulations to the Bokamoso Youth Center group that just visited from South Africa. Their truth and voice through performance is proof of the hope, vision and faith for a new nation of many working as one. Staging Hope was honored to meet the group, who volunteers Leslie Jacobson and Roy Barbar also work with, and see them perform.

ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF DAN FRAISER, PHOTOS COURTESY OF C. STANLEY PHOTOGRAPHY/ARENA STAGE

By Eric Thompson-Bey Vendor On February 12, 2015, I was invited to attend King Hedley II, a play by August Wilson performed at the Arena Stage in Southwest D.C. At the play’s start, King Hedley (Bowman Wright) has returned to the Hill District in Pittsburgh after seven years in prison. He and his friend Mister (Kenyatta Rodgers) try to deal with the everyday struggles of life.

He was trying to do the right thing. He was trying to be an entrepreneur.

The play was funny and interesting. It had me guessing; I didn’t really know how it was going to end. I understand why they were robbing the store, but it was too early in the play for King to get caught or go back to prison like I thought he would.

In the end King gets killed, which is the saddest part of the play. I thought he’d come out to be successful.

The play focuses on a realistic situation in the black community. King’s death gave the play a true life feeling.

I’ve met people who went to jail for murder and came out wanting to get a fresh start for their life. Things don’t go their way. You commit crimes because things don’t go your way. Heck, I did.

For me, the important message that could’ve come out of it is that if King would’ve stuck with it or had patience it could’ve worked out. But for me, it’s just real life. I know guys that came out of prison with way longer time than that.

You try and do the right thing and it seems like everyone’s against you and nobody’s trying to work with you.

The set for the play was not that spectacular. There were not many props, just an open stage and floor. The costumes were everyday clothes, but I have to say,

Elmore’s (Michael Anthony Williams) three piece suit really fit the character. He was a con artist who came to the hood to hustle people out of their money.

Elmore (Michael Anthony Williams).

The play was set in 1985, and it really fit for that time and era. My favorite and funniest character was Stool Pigeon (Andre Desheilds), with his quotes from the Bible.

What really caught my attention was the language and the slang of the actors.

Stool Pidgeon (Andre Desheilds) in front of King Hedley (Bowman Wright).

A good group of actors and actresses played the roles: Andre Desheilds, Bowman Wright, E. Faye Bulter, Kenyatta Rodgers, Jessica Dukes and Michael Williams.

King Hedley II will be showing on the Fichandler Stage through Sunday, March 8, 2015.

COMICS & GAMES

es m o C d orl veland!

W k r Sha to Cle

C=MB2: Take Care of Our Planet, or We Will All Be Homeless

By Cynthia Mewborn, Vendor H u m a n i t y, o u r planet needs our help by saying no to Hydraulic Fracturing; saying no to the Keystone Pipeline proposal; saying no to future chemical spills; and definitely saying absolutely no to drilling offshore along the Atlantic Coast. Our planet cannot repair or recover when we allow decades of catastrophic disasters to repeat themselves. How many more calamities must occur before we take a stand? We are our planet’s voice. If we do nothing and allow this continuation of assaults on our dear, beloved planet, then we won’t have a fighting chance for survival.

How much more are we to take from our life-giving planet, which gives all life?

EVERYTHING? God forbid. Every human being should be ashamed that we consume more than any other species; we waste more than we consume; and our efforts to recycle, reuse, and reduce has had very little effect thus far. Our actions have only shown that we don’t care about nature, life, or our beautiful, magnificent planet -- because our actions speak louder than words. We will not be able to survive without our planet, and going to Mars would ultimately result in the same situation we have created for this planet. We

would do the same things to Mars.

Just recently, a pipeline ruptured in one of our beloved national parks. These decades of spills are completely inexcusable, unacceptable, and completely irresponsible by those who continue to allow business to implement improper safety measures in preventing these spills from occurring. In North Carolina, thousands upon thousands of tons of coal ash resulted from generating electricity; a decision is currently under debate about whether to add additional preventive measures to avoid future leaks from its current storage place.

How much more are we to take from our life-giving planet, which gives all life?

Our planet cannot recover if we continue to make bad choices resulting in devastating consequences and do not implement proper safeguards for prevention. We must start today in making safer decisions about protecting our environment so that not only does our planet have a second chance, but all of life as well. WE can do better for our environment and our planet. So let’s start today. It’s not too late!

STREET SENSE February 25 - March 10, 2015

How to Deal With Taxes:

Super Bowl 49

By Arthur Johnson Volunteer

Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to two fourth quarter touchdowns as they defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in Super Bowl 49. After trailing 24-14 after three quarters, Brady threw one to Julian Edelman for 3 yards and the winner to Danny Amendola for four yards.

The Patriots drew first blood after a scoreless first quarter. Brady threw his 50th touchdown of the post-season--an 11 yarder to Brandon LaFell, to take a 7-0 lead with 9:51 left in the quarter. Marshawn Lynch tied it at 7-7 after a hard 3 yard touchdown run, which was set up by Chris Matthews’ 44 yard reception. Brady then connected with Rob Gronkowski for a 22 yard touchdown to take a 14-7 lead with 36 seconds left in the half. The Seahawks stormed back after Russell Wilson hit his new star receiver Matthews in the corner of the end zone to tie the score at the half.

The third quarter was all Seahawks.

On their first possession of the half they drove 72 yards in 7 plays and got a 27 yard field goal from Steven Hauschka to break a 14-14 tie with 11:09 left in the quarter.

Brady then got his first possession of the half, which ended after just 6 plays and 12 yards. Brady was intercepted by Bobby Wagner at the New England 40 yard line, he returned it 6 yards to the 34 yard line, but a 10 yard penalty moved the ball back to the 50 yard line. Wilson then drove the Seahawks 50 yards in 6 plays, finishing the drive with a 3 yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin, to take a 24-14 lead.

Brady’s next two possessions totaled 6

Self-Employed Sales Persons As we approach tax time, many people who work as independent contractors-including street vendors--struggle with how to file the necessary tax documents.

There are several things you need to know to operate efficiently and keep up on your taxes. The first is about Self-Employment Tax. This basically consists of Social Security and Medicare taxes.

These taxes are usually split between the employer and employee, but when you work for yourself, you pay the entire amount. Social Security tax is 12.4 percent and Medicare tax is 2.9 percent. These taxes are in addition to federal and state (or District of Columbia) income taxes.

A silver lining is that the Self Employment Tax is deductible from your income tax.

To determine what income tax you owe, you must calculate your net profit: revenue (sales) minus expenses. For example, a Street Sense vendor who sells 30 papers each day at the suggested donation of $2 would have revenue of $60 and expenses of $15 (cost of $0.50 per paper) for a net profit of $45 per day. Over a five-day week, this would be $235. On that amount, Social Security tax would be $29.14 and Medicare tax would be about $6.82. Therefore, Self-Employment Tax for the week would be $35.86.

Self-employed persons assume responsibility for all of these taxes, and you should set aside enough money from these

sales to cover them in order to avoid interest and penalties later. It is advisable to set money aside in a separate account or pay it quarterly to make sure you are not surprised at the end of the year. You must file a tax return if your net profit will be in excess of $400.

Businesses whose sales have a potential liability must also purchase liability insurance. This would be an unnecessary expense for a Street Sense vendor; however, it would be essential for a vendor operating a food cart to cover the possibility of people getting sick from the food.

I strongly recommend you find tax help to make sure you do not make serious errors. Beginning on February 1, 2015, in partnership with Community Tax Aid DC and the AARP, DC Libraries have been offering free tax help between one to six times per week, depending on the library.

The complete listing can be found at dclibrary.org/services/incometax. If you are self-employed, you can use a Schedule SE form to determine the amount of selfemployment taxes owed. Vendor will like file a Schedule C and 1040 for their tax return. I repeat, it is strongly recommended you seek tax help to avoid errors.

In the next issue, I will explain how to handle back income taxes and what to do if you owe money for back Self-Employment taxes. I will also cover other free and low -cost help with filing your return.

11

OPINION

By Eric Thompson-Bey, Vendor

plays and 9 yards. The National Football League’s number one defense had held Brady in check for the third quarter. The fourth quarter was all Brady. He completed 13 of 15 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns, with a 140.7 rating for the quarter. His last pass was the three yard winner to Edelman.

The Seahawks had one last chance for a comeback. They started their drive at their own 20 yard line. Wilson’s first pass was a 31 yarder to Lynch, which put the ball at the New England 49 yard line. Wilson then threw two incomplete passes. Then, on third and 10 Wilson completed an 11 yard pass to Ricardo Lockette to give Seattle first and 10 on the New England 38 yard line. On first down Wilson passed deep right to Kearse , who had appeared to drop the ball, but the ball never touched the ground giving Seattle first and goal from the New England 5 yard line. Lynch then went left tackle for 4 yards putting the ball at the New England 1 yard line. Then, on second and goal from the 1 yard line Wilson was intercepted by Malcolm Butler, ending Seattle’s repeat hopes.

The Problem with Obamacare

By Jeffery McNeil Vendor I’m not a fan of b i g g ove rn m e n t , but I’m a living testimony that not all government is bad.

Before I started using Medicaid, I was a substance abuser and suffered from bipolar disorder. Once I was diagnosed and received treatment, I began to take better care of myself by taking my medications and today I am no longer homeless.

The problem with government is that it helps the very rich and very poor, but penalizes people who want assistance over dependency. Medicaid put me on prescriptions that I can't afford. Now I’m told I will have to prove that I’m poor to stay on my medication, or have to pay for the drugs that help me function in society.

I don’t want to sound like Ben Carson

or other black conservatives who want to deny struggling people the same opportunities that contributed to their own success, such as food stamps and Medicaid. However, after leaving the D.C. Health Link office (D.C.’s new health insurance marketplace), I can understand why conservatives want to abolish the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare.

Obamacare extends coverage to younger, healthier taxpayers to share in the expense so that people who are unhealthy do not have to pay higher prices than more healthy people.

Everyone who is sick should be able to get treated. However, does it make sense that in order to save a broken system, we need to break everyone else also? Thats pretty much what Obamacare does.

This is a consequence of lies and distortions from our politicians. The Baby Boomers are ready to retire and many cannot

afford to pay their medical bills, so the federal government basically decided to take over the health care system and forcing the children of The Woodstock generation to buy health insurance through an “individual mandate” requiring everyone to either purchase health insurance or pay a tax penalty.

The beneficiaries of Obamacare are insurance companies that stand to make huge profits from the added number of insured people. The profits they make will offset any losses they incur by being forced to take on sicker people. Those who cannot afford health insurance will have the taxpayer pick up the bill for them because our elected lawmakers felt it unjust for people to take responsibility for their poor choices, such as smoking, lack of exercise, and poor diets.

There’s no denying that the health care system is broken and needs to be re-

formed; however, there are better ways to fix it. Rather than come up with a health care plan that involves high taxes and mediocre coverage, why not build a system that reflects American values such as hard work, personal responsibility, and shared sacrifice? A good model is the Veterans Administration, in which incentives are based on the common good rather than the motive of profit, is better.

An American plan could be paid for not by high-income earners who could put that capital to better use, but rather use incentives that are means-tested and that Americans support rather than loathe.

We need a humane health care system that's more in line with Judeo-Christian principles: clean living, virtue, and morality, instead of a system that encourages people to live recklessly and then demands everyone share the burden of expensive healthcare costs.

The Street Sense Writers’ Group is led by writing professionals and meets every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. The group’s goal is to develop ideas and collaborate on the next great issue of Street Sense.

Learning at Zero's Gate What You Don’t Like

Plead to Ward Eight

By Gabriel Raphael, Vendor

By Jacqueline Turner, Vednor

Off of Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. and Alabama Ave., S.E., there is a troubled place. Five people have been shot in the past 30 days. I know this because I live there. A father and son, a young man and woman, and now a child have been victims. Every night it is like a war zone. You hear gunfire and fights with teens, and older people too.

Children are scared to go to the store.

Some adults don’t go out at night. My grandchild is afraid of a lot of people around the store, because they bum rush you out of the store to hit you up for cash.

A girl was raped at 2:00pm in the afternoon, grabbed off of the street only two apartments down from me. Everyone has been robbed at one time or another. I spoke with a lady who was in her late sixties and told me that her neighbor robbed her twice. They took her television and now she has nothing. She said she was afraid to call the police because she is old and alone.

Last night, I became really concerned about the people and crime in our neighborhood.

The law can only monitor, and the government can only look and make laws. We have to learn to love ourselves.

Where Do I Begin?

By Beverly Sutton, Vendor

I became homeless in 1987 because I was abused as a child until I was 18.

I don’t know how it happened, but I became homeless after my last foster mother died. I remained homeless until I was 52-years-old, as I can remember. I was sleeping in and out of the streets, panhandling and asking people for food. I was drinking all the time. I would drink more than I ate. Because of that, I became depressed. I was even suicidal for a long time.

I just felt sorry for myself because I didn’t think anybody cared. It was because, at that time, I didn’t have anyone to care for me. I would just go off all the time. One day, I was walking by and I was about to jump off a flight of escalator steps. A police officer rode by on his bike, he then jumped off of his bike and grabbed me to keep me from going off the steps. A judge ordered me to go to St. Elizabeth’s. I was there for five years because I was no longer considered safe on the streets after that one suicide attempt.

Learning at zero's gate?

Hop on board, There's time to wait.

Absolute zero still wings.

The only things that last Are things.

Metro Part 2

By Phillip Black, (The Cat in the Hat)

By Robert Warren, Vendor Things I don’t like— I never think much, about things I don’t like

Like poverty babies, needing somewhere safe to sleep, people having to live on the street Like a man who holds rude conversations, while one is trying to eat

On February 4 someone was stabbed on the Orange Line Metro. On February 3, I saw a young lady had money coming out of her pocket at the Metro.

There was a guy standing behind her waiting for the money to drop.

“Excuse me Miss, but you have money in your pocket about to fall out,” I said, “Thank you very much,” she replied and secured the money. The guy looked at me as if he wanted to kill me, it was scary.

The police will always tell you, if you see a crime being committed, don’t get involved. It’s easier said than done. With this kind of activity going on in the Metro, they still raising the fare. We have to bring change to our Metro system. It’s unsafe, but a lot of people like me depend on the system.

That’s why we need more police present on the Metro. Seeing them will make us a little bit safer, and we need that.

People who talk about things, but never take time to read, like wars to feed man’s greed

reached. It’s a little trick I learned from my father. He used to keep an 800 number so we wouldn’t have any excuses about not reaching him. But after spending so many of all those years there kind of lying in wait, and then ending up homeless after my brother finally did get home from prison, is just plain old crazy and unacceptable. Yet it is a REALITY for me.

Then to have those services denied me is a bit much! I can’t move on and restore my family? As if I haven’t suffered through those years enough? You know they say when you do time, your family does time with you...I mean, for the longest time, I couldn’t understand my brother’s logic.

But I’ve moved on from allowing others to meddle with my mind. Right now, it (this struggle I’m in) is like a resistant germ or fungus or bacteria when it gets in your body. You utilize antibiotics, yet it

still seems to thrive and resist and exist despite your best efforts.

So I have my hands full with this Mountain of Achievement. I’m trying to persevere. So I can’t worry about those things that my family are now responsible for. I feel that it is now their duty to care for my child since it is they who prevented me from reuniting with her! That totally knocked me out the box and bumped me out of my spot (literally), like they judged that they could do it better! So let’s see what sort of pull they have because, quite frankly, my hands are full and again, that blame is due to them not telling me anything and throwing me to the wind. It was quite similar with my niece, when she refused to listen and then other folks allowed her to do what she willed. Then it became their responsibility to look after her, and all that went and came with it.

Women who walk around dressed like they are with their man, in their honeymoon suite People who waste food, hungry people or birds can eat “Like” is a big word with me I don’t like people thinking they know more than the Lord himself and me I don’t like people who look down on those of different colors, of little wealth, that may have some needs The truth is I don’t like not liking things and people who do things that I may not like them for I do like one thing it’s true The Lord and me, Okay, that’s two

Wherefore Art Thou Promises?

By Levester Green, Vendor

I’m left to wonder about the whereabouts of my family. I originally had the idea that I could get some help and assistance with retrieving them, but when services stalled, I kind of looked for alternatives. I hoped II would get a return word from my family, but no bueno! You know, I started listening to Kanye West’s song “Family Business” and it hit home, especially after my ordeal at the University of Maryland, when I tried to express myself through my class assignments. The next thing I know, I’m being railroaded to prison after numerous stops and harassment.

The fact remained, though, that I was not being properly served. My needs were not being met... It simmered with me for a

little while, complicated by the fact that I spent about 15 years with my mother helping to raise my brother’s kids, and now I was faced with and handed this bitter pill?!

I sought to gain some understanding by interviewing my mother since I was informed by several family members that my daughter had in fact been in contact with her.

That would be in line with everything else that isn’t right by people not opening up to me about her whereabouts and situation. It alienated me even further, but I had faith; after all, she’s a part of their family too! I would expect them to look out for her the same as I have looked out for my nieces and nephew.

So it was disappointing, but I have my faith! Life can be that way sometimes.

Just ask Hillary Clinton. But, yeah, you have to overcome adversity. I try to keep the same phone numbers so I can be

STREET SENSE February 25 - March 10, 2015

13

VENDOR WRITING

MY KATRINA: Part 28

By Gerald Anderson, Vendor

PREVIOUSLY: Some people had little bitty small dogs on the plane. Blind people had they big dogs. The airport folks let everyone bring their animals. It was like Noah’s Arc with all the hamsters, parrots, iguanas, and snakes. The waitress showed me how to push a button to make the back of my seat recline. I closed my eyes and all them dogs got me thinkin’ about Bundy, my friend’s dog, the baddest dog around.

Last dog I seen him fight, he killed that dog. Bundy’s owner feed him raw steak. It chills in my body that the dogs shouldn’t fight. But it’s just part of life in the projects. The plane bounces me back with a jolt; with the jolt and all the animals it’s like the world comin’ to the end...

I look around and people be staring at they family pictures, but not too much talkin’ on the plane. Not that we couldn’t talk or anything, but people praying, look-

ing out the window, mumbling to theyself.

One guy was singing gospel. The more the plane goin’ into the clouds, the more worried I was gettin’.

I sat next to the window and my little shade was open.

It was gettin’ real dark as the plane went up, up, up into the clouds, a sight I never seen. I couldn’t sleep. Me never bein’ that high before, I worry if we gonna make it.

The waitress comin’ around talking, askin’ if we need anything. I put in my mind why should I be scared when this female waitress askin’ these questions? I told my homegirl, “It like the old song, ‘Fly Like the Eagle into the Sea.’” I started to talk, tried to motivate everybody around me, tellin’ them, “We come this far, we gonna make it.” Maybe I was trying to convince myself.

Then a man’s voice on a loudspeaker said, “Attention everyone.” I was lookin’ around for him. I thought he was right there. But I couldn’t see him. “He was saying so much I couldn’t hear him the way I wanted to, but I did hear, “It’s not too long until we reach our destination and the plane will be landing.”

I was saying to myself, How they gonna land this big ole plane? The waitress was telling me we gonna drop—it may hit your stomach a little bit.

I say, “Why it gonna do something to my stomach?” And I think, Oh my God. I try to fake sleep so I don’t feel it. I put the blanket over my head, tryin’ to trick myself. I worry how it going to hit my body like boom when we land, so I stick my head out when I hear the waitress passing by. I ask her, “How this go?”

Really I was tryin’ to take my mind off

this plane crashing. It had me stressing.

But talking to the lady made me feel better. I was asking her how long you been working on this plane? All kind of question to take my mind off my scary thoughts.

She was a real nice lady.

Now that we about to land, all I feel is sudden jerking. You feel funny. My homegirl sitting next to me, I got my head on her shoulder she got her head on my shoulder.

After a bit, I opened the shade and I could see the plane coming down and then come the BOOM. We bouncing and we be landed. It hit my stomach in a way I never felt before.

I say, “I hope the brakes on this plane good, ‘cause we still like we flying, but on the ground.”

In my mind I was thinking, What’s gonna happen now? I never could have guessed. (to be continued)

If I Can’t

By Rachel Higdon, Vendor If I can’t wander endlessly around my mind, how can I begin to wander the world?

If I can’t unleash the chain in my brain, how can I release the chain around my ankles?

If I can’t learn about myself first, how will I learn about the world that surrounds me?

PERCEPTION OR REALITY: Rights and Focus

By Robert Williams, USMC, Vendor

Here I am again, my most cherished and faithful readers and supporters of Street Sense publications. You are much appreciated.

I shall once again provide you with information and insight for you to decide for yourself, is it perception or reality?

How beautiful this city, the Nation’s Capital, is becoming, or should I say more beautiful?

As a native Washingtonian, I have always thought it was a great place to live, even though it is extremely expensive. Having traveled in and out of, as well as across, the United States, I can think of no other place I would prefer to live. Imagine that!

However, here in the Nation’s Capital, you find homeless veterans, some of whom have volunteered to sacrifice their lives for the freedom and security of others.

Veterans of the United States combined military forces have given up their employment, their families, and even their dreams, to fight with life and limb so someone else (you and your family) might realize your dreams. We veterans sacrifice so that someone else (you and your children)

might achieve the level of education you so desire. Imagine that! Sacrifices, selflessly made so that you and your children might have a better country to live in, so that ALL might enjoy the comforts and benefits not afforded to the rest of the world. So that you may live in a country unlike any other, where you might be able to realize the reality of the rights for ALL people not afforded to those in other countries.

Those rights include Freedom of Speech, Religion, the Right to Vote, and even the whole democratic process. Let’s have human rights for all people, the actual experience of the Constitution of the United States. Please help, support me and other organizations I affiliate with, such as F.A.C.E (Focus Attitude Commitment to Excellence), Miriam’s Kitchen, Coalition for the Homeless, and others under D.C.’s umbrella of hope. Help veterans from being such a large percentage of the indigent population in need of health care, affordable housing, and employment. Let’s work together to achieve the dream of Martin Luther King Jr.-- that one day people of all colors, races, and religion, regardless of economic background, may all be afforded the same rights and may live together in peace.

By Chris Shaw “Cowboy Poet” Episode 27

The Bad Senator Makes His Move Hastings Marsh was not amused. Either he was more snockered than usual, or Skipper, his less-than- lovable wife, had changed the locks on his caped roof Cleveland avenue mansion. He punched out a lunette window next to the front door and stomped back to his Cadillac. He bellowed to Lyman, the trusty Filipino driver, “Back to my office!”

Moments later, Marsh pounded on the divider, dislodging a blood-soaked hankie from his wounded right hand. “Dammit all.” He motioned crazily for the pilot to swerve by a shabby Dupont Circle basement pied-a-terre where Wanda Riley was likely to be lurking.

In the May dusk, Marsh staggered out of the rear compartment and up the broken flagstone walk until he reached the entry to Miss Riley’s pad. She was stoned on poppers, he could tell, as she grabbed a flimsy gown and poured herself out and into his arms.

“Wha’ssa matter Hasty? You’re bleeding...”

“Why are you even home at his hour— how about the Evening Watch program?”

Wanda gazed up, helplessly. It wasn’t even necessary to add that she’d been fired from the news station— it was fairly obvious. “Come on, then. I’m heading back to the Caucus Room. Guess we can uhh, canoodle there, y’know what I mean?”

Meanwhile, Skipper Marsh and the bejacketed Billy Luck were busy checking out of the Willard Hotel. “Ridiculous little self-pitying note Alice left me, huh Billy?”

She crumpled the pink paper cavalierly in her dainty paw.

“Oh well, I think Alice ain’t at all a bad sort, but—” “Let’s leave it lie, Billy,” whispered

Skipper as she swooped her GoldCard through the credit card reader.

“Madame has luggage,” Gagee, the unctuous Haitian major domo drooled.

Skipper shook her lovely head impetuously, but slipped him a twenty smoothly, implying that she’d like him to ‘spot’ them on exit — for safety reasons!

“And I wonder if that rat bastard husband has figured out he can’t get back in yet!” Skipper snorted in triumph; Billy said nothing back as they glided down the Willard’s carpeted main stair to leave.

Marsh smoked a big, stinky El Producto, as he barked diabolic instructions to an entity whom we soon realized was Ferret. “Ahhh Go’Dammit, f’get Luck for now, babe. Let’s silence that pesky Jackleg preacher once and for all!! Suddenly, Wanda, hacking and gagging pathetically on all of Marsh’s cigar effluence, blurted out, “I don’t suppose you knew I have seen JED HARRIS traipsing around Dupont, and Chinatown lately,?”

Marsh, in turn, dropped his telephone desk set on the dirty carpet and then just about swallowed, then spat out the slimy cigar stub. “You saw WHO??! HARRIS—Where, Wanda? (Gulp) WHEN d-did you see that chump?!” Wanda jumped up, terrified, wriggling away as the hulking senator lunged in blind fury.

“Why,” he continued his deafening rant, “HARRIS IS DEAD!! I saw him fall—-!!

W-Wanda, Tell Me—-!!?”

“No, Hastings. He is alive. Much the worse for wear, but he is ALIVE...” (to be continued)

I am Going Through a Rough Storm

By Sybil Taylor, Vendor

PASSERBY: Dave

By Ron Verquer, Vendor

I have seen Dave many times at Miriam’s Kitchen. He told me once that he had an auto repair shop in Virginia Beach. Recently, possibly due to the holiday season, I saw Dave sitting by Foggy Bottom Metro asking for money and looking really down.

He told me he was a veteran. It turns out Dave served from 1996 to 2000. My Faith compelled me to tell him that the Liquid Spirits he was seeking money for were not the answer. His slow speech signaled to me that something was wrong though. When I asked, he told me his 27 year old son had died.

I stuck to my Faith and told him his son was in Heaven and would want him to have a better life. Dave stuck out his hand and I shook it. We kept talking about his problem.

Days later he told me that he was going to detox. I was really concerned he was looking for more Liquid Spirits. But I’ve seen him since and he looks better.

His eyes are brighter. Vets like Dave have been on a sojourn. Isn’t it \time for them to have a place to rest?

Mr. President, is there anywhere that could be used for veterans to stay? How about Walter Reed Campus - could that soon be used to house vets?

STREET ZODIAC: Water Carriers and Fish

By Sasha Williams, Vendor We’re leaving the Zodiac’s Aquarius season (January 20-February 19) and going into the star sign Pisces. Astrology has been used by virtually every advanced civilization for thousands of years. It is also said that that the Zodiac signs are linked to the planets and some signs share the moon. While Aquarians (my birthday falls on the last day, hello 30 to me, yea!!!!) are water carriers, the Pisces ( February 19 - March 20) are fish.

Be you a water carrier, fish, or other - you never ever know what will and who can make your day, maybe a season or a year. Creativity is positivity. Creativity is not holding back. There is so much that life can give to each individual and that each individual can bring to the world.

I am going through a rough storm in my life where I need support and love and care from others. I am struggling alone with sadness in my heart due to my father’s illness. My mother is having a hard time, as well as my sisters and brother and his wife and the rest of my family members and good friends of my father, who often call him and go visit him at home. At times he is very cheerful and sometimes sad.

Nobody knows my pain

my heart

my struggle

my prayers

my concern

my sadness

my cry for help

my cry to the Lord

my problem at my house Now with the worst living arrangement, I have my godmother’s niece staying with us. She bullied me, called me all kinds of nasty names, and wants to fight me.

I am the only one who gets picked on by this person. I prayed that the Lord will

move her out. She has made my life a living hell. I was at peace until she came. I need everyone to pray for peace and for her to move out. I have been very stressed about this.

I cannot do all my normal living arrangements due to this person. I feel imprisoned by a lifeless human being. All my joy and happiness has left me. I am miserable and unhappy. I have no support, help, love, or understanding. Sometimes I cry all day for help. No peace. Why me? I have no desire to do all the things I used to do.

When I visit with my father, I have to see him lying in the bed in a lot of pain.

He’s taking morphine, the strongest medicine for pain. I do not like to see him sick.

It brings sadness and tears to my eyes.

Why my dad? He is a very humble spirit.

All day long he hurts. He wants to be his

old self again, when he worked outdoors planting a garden and always keeping the grass cut. Keeping the yard looking good.

Running errands to the store. Keeping the bills paid. Doing taxes. Making everyone around him feel special. He was the spark and the sunshine and the moon glow and the twinkling stars above. He will be a winner at the end of all his pain. The Lord will see him through all of his suffering.

He will be much stronger and happy.

I’ve been very sad but I am glad to know about my healing God and what He can do.

I need strength and people to talk to during the struggle in my life. Please understand everyone. I have not been myself because of all this. My father is looking a little better. Please continue to pray for him and his strength and happiness and joy. Remember we have a friend in Jesus.

Sybil has unfortunately lost her father since writing this article. She invites her friends to honor him:

The Funeral of Henry Matthew Taylor Friday February 27 | Viewing 10a.m., Serive 11a.m.

Washington Chapel | 2617 Pennsylvania Ave SE | Washington, DC 20020

The Meaning of “Home”

By Reginald Black, Vendor

she believes in building a Washington.

D.C. that works for everybody--that is affordable for all Washingtonians.

“The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation for America (NACA) helped me buy my first house,” she said. “When I think about $100 million [to be spent on affordable housing], I know we have to think about the entire spectrum. We can do it with the right commitments. My commitment is not housing or shelter for a night, but a home.”

She added, “Some people are a little mad at me right now because of some ideas that haven’t worked so well. We are going to take a hard look at them.”

Mayor Bowser has inherited a budget deficit for this coming year. She praised those who advocate for housing. “You know how to advocate in a strategic way. When you have good jobs and good wages, you have a lot of places to live in the District”

It has been four years since the Coaltion for Nonprofit Housing & Econimic Development (CNHED) launched its “Housing for All Campaign,” and on February 7, 2015, CNHED held its fourth annual Housing for All Rally.

CNHED held a writing contest in which the youth and the community came together to present, “what is home to me.”

Anyia Ward wrote, “To me, my home is not materialistic things. Home is a place I could be.” She said, “Home is where I live, but I think otherwise my home is in music. I’m grateful to have a place to lay my head. Home is a place I can learn from my mistakes.”

I used to be homeless, but I made it.

Let’s hope that all the homeless in Washington, D.C. make it. Alvinn Coates says, “I was a single male who was preparing to buy a home by cutting my expenses. These things

alone helped me increase my credit score, but they did not help me buy a home. Like a gift from God, Manna (a non-profit housing re-developer) came into my life. Homeless Prevention Activities Program was a plan that allowed me to borrow up to $50,000 dollars for free. I’m here now to say, ‘let other people have the opportunity I had.’”

Waldon Adams described chronic homelessness as a recurring constant, treatmentresistant, and hard-to-eradicate problem.

“I’ve been homeless since I was 18,” he said. He found out six years ago that he had contracted HIV. “I didn’t have anyplace to go. Today is my birthday. In a month, I will have gone six years without drugs and alcohol. Next week, I’m running my thirteenth marathon. Somebody like me would have never made it [without housing support].”

Mayor Bowser said she is “always happy to be at a Housing for All rally” and that

Making It

I’m Learning the Truth About Me

Hi everyone! I am Kaulette Barnes, and I just joined the Writers Group. I am 31 years old. I live in the streets. But my mom and my sister still visit me. Other people support me, too. They give me stuff because they think I’m nice. I think I present myself well. I must, because I have a lot of friends.

I also have many things to do, like selling Street Sense. I like doing that, but I am still looking for another job. I want a Big Job so I can have Big Money and build a Big House.

I feel sad. I feel a lot of pain. I know I made a lot of mistakes. And when you say something, you hurt people and it can be a mistake, but you can’t take it back.

My daughter wouldn’t listen to me and I used to call her names and that wasn’t good. She was 27 and now she is 32. I have learned to think before I react. When I was 16, I wanted to be a party girl and a mother at the same time. So I did a lot of drinking. My mother raised my daughter and so did God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

I was in and out of her life and I tried to

By Kaulette Barnes, Vendor

By Elizabeth Bryant, Vendor

make amends with her, but she didn’t accept it, and I understand that, because so much had happened to her. Now I’m trying to be the best person I can: by going to AA, not drinkin’, not druggin’, and on Jan. 2, I celebrated eight years sober and clean from drugs. I go to school and I go to therapy every two weeks. I meet with my caseworker every Tuesday. I am doing well. A year ago, I got my own place. I’m fixing it up, making a house a home, not something I just lay in. I feel like God and Jesus have been good to me.

Visit StreetSense.org to read two Special Black History Month Submissions!

COMMUNITY SERVICES

To Judge a Man

By Leaonard C. Hyater, Vendor I want to tell you a story about a man named Po Benny. He likes to hang around the neighborhood, drink his Wild Irish Rose, smoke his pack of Kools, and talk trash to everybody.

I thought Po Benny was a bum until one day on my way to work, I happened to see him sitting at the bus stop, drinking his Wild Irish Rose and smoking his Kools. I started to have an intelligent conversation with him, and I asked him why everybody calls him Po Benny. He said he didn’t know.

Academy of Hope: 269-6623 601 Edgewood St, NE aohdc.org

Bread for the City: 265-2400 (NW) | 561-8587 (SE) 1525 7th St, NW | 1640 Good Hope Rd, SE breadforthecity.org

Calvary Women’s Services: 678-2341 1217 Good Hope Road, SE calvaryservices.org

Catholic Charities: 772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

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

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

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

Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place: 364-1419 4713 Wisconsin Ave, NW cchfp.org

Community Family Life Services: 347-0511 305 E St, NW cflsdc.org Community of Hope: 232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

Then Po Benny started telling me graphic stories about what he had done to protect this country.

When I found out that Po Benny had been a soldier in the U.S. Army for 20 years, and heard the graphic memories of what he had done, I started to cry. The reason I started to cry is because I had thought to myself that Po Benny was a bum, and all this time I never knew that he served his country in the military.

We need to show these guys some respect. We should also not judge a person by their outside appearance, but what is in their heart.

Gospel Rescue Ministries: 842-1731 810 5th St, NW grm.org

Jobs Have Priority: 544-9128 425 Snd St, NW jobshavepriority.org

John Young Center: 639-8569 119 D Street, NW

Martha’s Table: 328-6608 2114 14th St, NW marthastable.org

Transportation

Education

Legal Assistance

Food

Showers

Medical/Healthcare

Laundry

DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH ACCESS HOTLINE 1-888-7WE HELP (1-888-793-4357)

My Sister’s Place: 529-5991 (24-hour hotline) mysistersplacedc.org

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

Outreach

YOUTH HOTLINE (202) 547-7777

D.C. Coalition for the Homeless: 347-8870 1234 Massachusetts Ave, NW dccfh.org

Foundry Methodist Church: 332-4010 1500 16th St, NW foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities ID (FRIDAY 9-12 ONLY)

Clothing

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE (202) 749-8000

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

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

Housing/Shelter

Employment Assistance

Covenant House Washington: 610-9600 2001 Mississippi Avenue, SE covenanthousedc.org

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

15

STREET SENSE February 25 - March 10, 2015

N Street Village: 939-2060 1333 N Street, NW nstreetvillage.org

New York Ave Shelter: 832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave, NE

Open Door Shelter: 639-8093 425 2nd St, NW newhopeministriesdc.org/id3.html

SHELTER HOTLINE: 1–800–535–7252 Thrive DC: 737-9311 1525 Newton St, NW thrivedc.org

Unity Health Care: 745-4300 3020 14th St, NW unityhealthcare.org

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

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

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

Samaritan Ministries: 1516 Hamilton Street NW | 722-2280 1345 U Street SE | 889-7702 samaritanministry.org

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

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

Subscribe to Street Sense 1 Year: $40 2 Years: $80 3 Years: $120 I want half of my purchase to benefit a vendor directly Vendor Name Vendor Badge # Name

St. Luke’s Mission Center: 333-4949 3655 Calvert St. NW stlukesmissioncenter.org

Address Phone

VENDOR PROFILE: PATTY SMITH

By Jacquie Lee, Editorial Intern

Street Sense vendor, cancer survivor, veteran, and writer Patty Smith has seen and done almost everything.

Born in Mississippi, Patty Smith moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her mother when she was almost 6-years-old.

She came to D.C. when she was 24, and started a typing service. In her mid-20s, she bounced from job to job, and could afford to live all over Northwest D.C. When the money ran out, she went back to Pittsburgh to be near her mother and work temporary jobs.

Her aunt encouraged her to get a stable job, so Patty decided to move back to D.C. and join the Army.

She recalls going through basic training and alternate individual training. “[Every day] we got up at 4:00 in the morning and then exercised and did a bunch of stuff.

We got drilled, and got hollered at. We were tired out.”

She served with the military police for one year, and then moved back to Pittsburgh to work five years in the 302 Medical Battalion. Office management was becoming Patty’s specialty.

But then she got sick. Ovarian cancer forced her to take medical leave and get a hysterectomy. Patty continued to work temporary jobs and travel from D.C to Pittsburgh.

Street Sense came into her life in 2005, when she saw an ad on the Internet. She began selling papers part-time while working as a home-care aid.

Then, in 2007, Patty started school at Strayer University in D.C. “That was the first time in my life that I had ever seen new books,” she recalls.

She was amazed at how new everything seemed to be. Her dream was to become a writer. She was a member of a writer’s group during her time at Strayer, and was constantly seen with a writer’s instruction manual in

Tales from the Cold her hand. Those were, and continue to be, her favorite type of books to read.

However, disaster struck when Patty’s aunt grew ill and died. She went up to Pittsburgh for the funeral, and when she came back, she was dealt a second blow.

“You’ll never be a writer,” one of her teachers told her. Patty’s grades dropped significantly, and she dropped out.

During this time, Patty had been living at the YWCA, and has since lived there for 14 years. She was hospitalized after her case manager suggested she get caught up on her medication. After losing that housing, and being placed in temporary housing, she now has reapplied to live somewhere else.

She obtained permanent housing recently and is waiting for her move in date, according to her case manager, Julie Turner.

Despite what her teacher said, Patty became a writer. Her favorite story she wrote for the paper is, “My Mom the Car Driver.”

She loves the social aspect of Street Sense, and hopes to continue writing.

“I love seeing the people and talking to the people, and just having a good time selling the paper.”

Right outside the Catholic Charities headquarters, a new sculpture created by Timothy Schmalz shows Jesus sleeping on a bench. On February 18, 2014 (Ash Wednesday) Cardinal Donald Wuerl blessed the statue before the weekly St. Maria’s Meal Services.

PHOTO BY JENNIFER ORTIZ

I Love the Snow

A Day in the Cold

I love the snow, but not the black ice. Growing up in the country, we used to make snowmen and my favorite thing was eating real ice cream made from snow. I used to look outside and see the snow coming down in big flakes.

The icicles that formed on the trees were nice, too.

I have always had a job and was only homeless years ago for about one day, when I got lucky and found an apartment that I have had since 2002. From this day on, I hope to find gainful employment where I do not have to rely on a roommate to keep up with my expenses. I miss the freedom of having my own apartment where my two cats feel comfortable. Before I had to get a roommate to help with expenses, my cats were used to running freely in every room in the apartment.

My time in Washington, D.C., has been OK. I moved here in 1998 because my mother was ill and had to be put in a nursing home.

We lived on the top of Wilson Avenue on the North side of Pittsburgh. I was 16, and Shirly was 14. She was the child of my mom’s friend. We were best friends. One Christmas it snowed. So to waste the day we took some cardboards and sat on them and then sleighed down the hill.

We had fun. I still remember that day in the cold. Cindy, my momma’s baby sister, took pictures of us. In Pennsylvania, you learn to live in the cold.

By Betty Everett, Vendor

By Patty Smith, Vendor

The Winter Kill

By Jacqueline Turner, Vendor

Scott Lovell - February 26 February 25 - March 10, 2015 • Volume 12 • Issue 8

Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW

Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Washington, DC

Washington, DC 20005

Mail To:

Permit #568

Remember, buy only from badged vendors and do not give to those panhandling with one paper.

Interested in a subscription? Go to page 15 for more information.

The first day of spring is March 21. Yet the winter seems to have just begun. The last two weeks have been the coldest on record since the early 1990s. Temperatures are in the teens and the wind at 60 miles an hour is knocking over trees. Boston got 100 inches of snow in eight days—so bad that their transit system will suffer for months. February 20's 5 degree temperature broke D.C.'s 120-year-old record low" The homeless have been sought after for their own safety. There are hypothermia stations in churches and community centers. Still, my heart goes out to the forgotten ones.

When the temperature was 17 degrees with 40 mile-per-hour winds, I went to the gas station at 1:00 a.m. and there on the side of the walk-up window was a child. It shocked me. I asked him how old he was and he said eight-years-old. I said, “Baby what are you doing out here this time of morning?”

He said, “I am hungry.”

I said, “Where do you live?” He pointed across the street. I said, “Do your parents know you’re out here?” He said, “My grandma’s asleep.” I gave him money for food and I asked him to please get out of the cold and go home.

Make no mistake: this cold weather can kill you and just think if you are a hungry child, not to mention the criminals and crazy folks out looking for someone to prey on.

Sometimes hard times bring out the worst in people. When a family is shut in the house for a week or more you may have love, but you can get on one another’s nerves.

There are only twenty-five days before spring. We can only hope that the cold passes and that there is no more recordbreaking weather in store.

Spring might come early and it might skip to summer.

Be on the lookout for people who need help. We are God’s helpers.