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Volume 13: Issue 8 February 24 - March 8, 2016

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Read more and get involved at www.streetsense.org | The DC Metro Area Street Newspaper | Please buy from badged vendors

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Street Sense is the street media center of our nation’s capital. We aim to serve as a vehicle for elevating voices and public debate on issues relating to poverty while also creating economic opportunities for people who are facing homelessness in our community.

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OUR STORY Street Sense began in August 2003 after Laura Thompson Osuri and Ted Henson approached the National Coalition for the Homeless on separate occasions with the idea to start a street paper in Washington, D.C. Through the work of dedicated volunteers, Street Sense published its first issue in November 2003. In 2005, Street Sense achieved 501 ( c ) 3 status as a nonprofit organization, formed a board of directors and hired a full-time executive director.

Today, Street Sense is published every two weeks through the efforts of four salaried employees, more than 100 active vendors, and dozens of volunteers.

Nearly 30,000 copies are in circulation each month.

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Margaret Chapman, Margaret Jenny, Elizabeth Canizares, Reed Sandridge, Max Gaujean, Heidi Keller, Robyn Kerr, Jeremy Scott, Jennifer Park, Martin Totaro, John Senn, Anne Willis EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Brian Carome EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Eric Falquero SALES & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Jeffrey Gray VENDOR & SALES MANAGER Josh Maxey COORDINATOR OF EVENTS & AUDIENCE ENGATEMENT Shira Hereld INTERNS Desmond Austin-Miller, Michael Brice-Saddler, Zack Caplette, Joseph Doyle, Abby Hershberger, Emily Kaye EDITORIAL BOARD Rachel Brody, Arthur Delaney, Britt Peterson EDITORIAL & PAPER SALES VOLUNTEERS Jane Cave, Cheryl Chevalier, Nathalia Cibotti, Pat Geiger, Roberta Haber, Mary Henkin, Karen Houston, Erum Jilani, Leone, Hannah Northey, Jesselyn Radack, Andrew Siddons, Jackie Thompson, Marian Wiseman, Eugene Versluysen, Alex Zielinski VENDORS Shuhratjon Ahamadjonov, Gerald Anderson, Charles Armstrong, Lawrence Autry, Daniel Ball, Aida Basnight, Roberta Bear, Phillip Black, Reginald Black, Melanie Black, Phillip Black Jr., Maryann Blackmon, Viktor Blokhine, Debora Brantley, Andre Brinson, Donald Brown, Joan Bryant, Elizabeth Bryant, Brianna Butler, Melody Byrd, Conrad Cheek, Aaron Colbert, Anthony Crawford, Walter Crawley, Kwayera Dakari, James Davis, Clifton Davis, Charles Davis, David Denny, James DeVaughn, Ricardo Dickerson, Dennis Diggs, Alvin Dixon-El, Ronald Dudley, Charles Eatmon, Deana Elder, Julie Ellis, Jemel Fleming, Chon Gotti, Marcus Green, Barron Hall, Tyrone Hall, Richard Hart Lorrie Hayes, Patricia Henry, Jerry Hickerson, Ray Hicks, Rachel Higdon, Ibn Hipps, Phillip Howard, Leonard Hyater, Joseph Jackson, Carlton Johnson, Donald Johnson, Harold Johnson, Allen Jones, Mark Jones, Morgan Jones, Linda Jones, Darlesha Joyner, Juliene Kengnie, Kathlene Kilpatrick, Hope Lassiter, John Littlejohn, James Lott, Scott Lovell, Michael Lyons, Jimmy M. Ken Martin, Joseph Martin, Kina Mathis, Michael Lee Matthew, Authertimer Matthews, Charlie Mayfield, Jermale McKnight, Jeffery McNeil, Ricardo Meriedy, Cynthia Mewborn, Kenneth Middleton, Cecil More, L. Morrow, Evelyn Nnam, Moyo Onibuje, Earl Parkin, Lucifer Potter, Ash-Shaheed Rabil, Henrieese Roberts, Anthony Robinson, Doris Robinson, Raquel Rodriquez, Lawrence Rogers, Joseph Sam, Chris Shaw, Patty Smith, Smith Smith, Gwynette Smith, Ronald Smoot, Franklin Sterling, Warren Stevens James Stewart, Beverly Sutton, Sybil Taylor, Archie Thomas, Shernell Thomas, Craig Thompson, Eric Thompson-Bey, Sarah TurleyColin, Carl Turner, Jacqueline Turner, Leon Valentine, Grayla Vereen, Ron Verquer, Martin Walker, Michael Warner, Robert Warren, Angelyn Whitehurst, William Whitsett, Wendell Williams, Sasha Williams, Judson Williams III, Ivory Wilson, Denise Wilson, Charles Woods

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STREET SENSE February 24 - March 8, 2016

President Obama has proposed that $11 billion, over the next ten years, be invested in housing homeless families. This will be accomplished through new allocations for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) budget in fiscal year 2017 and beyond. HUD Secretary Julián Castro held a briefing on February 9 to discuss the new funds, which he said will be applied directly to proven community-based and cost-effective strategies to combat homelessness.

“It’s a blueprint for opportunity so that more Americans can succeed no matter where they’re from, what they look like, or who they are,” Castro said. “Basically, when every person gets a fair shot in our nation.”

The budget calls special attention to family homelessness, which Castro and the Obama Administration plan to absolve completely by the year 2020. This can be achieved by connecting housing to economic and educational opportunities that will promote economic mobility, according to Castro.

This investment also calls for new units of permanent supportive housing, expanding availability of rapid rehousing, and a dramatic increase in funding for rental assistance. The budget will also include $2.7 billion in homeless assistance grants, a $414 million increase.

From 2010 to 2015, under the Obama

NEWS IN BRIEF Administration, the United States has seen a 19 percent drop in family homelessness, a 26 percent decline in chronic homelessness and a 36 percent reduction in veteran homelessness, Castro reported. He said the proposed budget seeks to build on this work.

“What we’re doing we know is working,” Castro said. “We’re convinced these investments will accelerate our progress and bring us closer to that day where every American has a place to call home.”

The 2017 budget is a 4 percent increase over fiscal year 2016, Castro said.

States and local communities will compete through their local continuums of care for funding to address homelessness in their communities.

“I’m proud of this budget, and even prouder of the initiatives it’s going to support and the communities it’s going to strengthen,” Castro said.

-Michael Brice-Saddler

Refugees Transform Former Prison Camp with Street Art Up in the northwest corner of Iraq lies one piece of history layered in even more history: a former Saddam Hussein-era prison camp covered in street art by its Syrian refugee inhabitants.

Every Friday, Syrian youth participate in the Castle Art Project, taking paintbrushes to the dreary walls of their tem-

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porary home and drawing murals of a brighter future mixed with memories of their tragic past.

The project was started in April 2014 by the Rise Foundation, a local nonprofit, as a creative outlet for the youth of Akre Syrian Refugee Camp and a way to improve the oppressive atmosphere of the barred windows and cracked concrete walls. But it has grown into a community gathering activity for the refugees and a source of income for its young artists. As the project has helped develop the youths’ art skills, they have transitioned into painting canvasses as well. The Rise Foundation holds occasional galleries and art auctions.

They are artists in every sense of the word. Not only is their work talented, but it embodies the greater motivation of telling their story. Coming from Damascus and the surrounding areas in Syria, they have seen a lot of violence and have struggled to escape across the border into Iraq. Islamic State (IS) has destroyed their homes, their families and their sense of identity.

“Many of these girls have experienced violence, conflict and homelessness all before becoming teenagers, and the opportunity to reflect on these experiences in a positive and safe way, while developing their skills and talents, is very special,” said Rise Foundation volunteer Maria Mulcahy.

When the project began, participants only painted pictures of war. Pages and pages of blood, bombs and tears scat-

tered their notebooks. As the project has progressed, so have their paintings.

Now, their favorite things to draw are eyes and flowers.

The Castle Art Project aims to create agents of positive change and social transformation through empowering the artists to express themselves and take a stand.

The artwork they create validates their experiences and arguably helps them work through the developmental challenges they inevitably face as refugee children.

“Seeing such a group of people come together after all they have endured through art has taught me so much about resilience and community, which is what makes the project so addictive,” said Glenn Field, a local teacher who also volunteers with Rise.

Through the project and its collaborations on mural art, young people have formed strong friendships, made leaps in their artistic ability, and have grown in their overall confidence. Whether it’s a mural of the world’s largest bunny or a somber tribute to the migrants who drown everyday attempting to get to Europe, they support each other and share in the experience.

But despite all the progress Castle Art Project and its young artists have made, the project’s future is in jeopardy.

“If it wasn’t for the grueling fundraising that we do, this project of hope would surely disintegrate, so we need all the help we can get,” said Field.

-Courtesy INSP.ngo/Spare Change News

CALL FOR ENTRIES

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Obama Pledges $11 Billion Toward Ending Family Homelessness

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Street Sense Excellence in Journalism Awards

To honor excellence in reporting on homelessness and poverty in mainstream media.

Send submissions to awards@streetsense.org no later than April 1, 2016.

For more information visit streetsense.org /awards Must have been published or broadcasted in 2015 Categories include: Breaking News, Features/Investigagive, Opinion, Photography, Broadcast

Communities Feel Left Out of Planning

By Desmond Austin-Miller and Abby Hershberger Editorial Interns Ward 5 residents shuffled into New Canaan Baptist Church on February 11 to hear details about the proposed location and amenities of yet another shelter in their community. Construction of this new shelter is a part of Mayor Bowser’s plan to close DC General by building small replacement facilities in each Ward to house the current residents of the District’s largest family shelter. Rashad Young, the District’s recently appointed City Administrator, led the presentation and took questions during the open floor.

Residents were unimpressed with the new shelter’s 25th Place NE location, claiming its proximity to several nightclubs, a bus depot and a trash management facility made it possibly the worst place in Ward 5 to house families.

“You’re putting children in an area that’s going to cause them health problems,” said a resident of the Langdon neighborhood, where the shelter would be built. She works in a nearby school and regularly teaches homeless children, whose weak immune systems she claimed would be further compromised in the proposed shelter location.

The neighborhood was largely opposed to hosting another homeless shelter in a ward already home to multiple. Several residents contended that they weren’t opposed to a shelter in their ward, only to the specific location the Bowser administration had identified without community input. One resident claimed Bowser could have had a small army of community members helping to identify the best loca-

tion, had they been given the opportunity.

The mayor arrived an hour into the meeting, checking-in as she had at every other community meeting happening simultaneously around the city. Her presence did nothing to soothe the room, as all of the burning questions and critiques shifted from Young to her. Multiple residents pointed out a statement Bowser made as councilmember for Ward 4 in 2010: “How

planning process and her refusal, at this stage, to consider other locations to build the shelters.

Bowser gave the D.C. Council a public introduction to the plan during a MayorCouncil breakfast meeting two days prior.

Washington D.C. has struggled with homelessness for years, and has a legal obligation to shelter families. Of the roughly 7000 homeless individuals in the

“You’re putting children in an area that’s going to cause them health problems.”

- Langdon Resident, Ward 5

could a government agency ask people in a two-block radius to support three homeless shelters?” she had said. If the proposed facility is constructed, the Langdon neighborhood would contain four sheltering facilities within just a few blocks of each other, the others being the Days Inn and Quality Inn—both of which shelter families that won’t fit into DC General— and the men’s shelter at Adams Place NE. The land for the proposed Ward 5 site at 2266 25th Place Northeast is tied to Douglas Jemal and located in an area Douglas Development Corporation describes as “ideally suited for industrial and commercial uses” on its website.

Similar criticism was received at the other seven ward meetings. Residents across the city called the mayor out on her lack of community involvement in the

city, there are X families in D.C. General and 500 more housed in ostensibly temporary hotel rooms.

“Many more are just a [missed] paycheck away from being on the street,” said Laura Zeilinger at the meeting, the director of D.C.’s Department of Human Services (DHS). This number has increased 40 percent since 2010.

DC General, a former hospital, has been used by the city as a homeless shelter since the early 2000s. It is notorious among District residents as being dirty, dangerous, and unsustainable. Community members and local government alike share a desire to close the massive structure and replace it with smaller, safer facilities. “It’s costly, it’s ineffective,” said Zeilinger, who has been leading an overhaul of the city’s shelter system. “This is

not what our homelessness system should be looking like.”

Zeilinger and Bowser’s administration hope to close DC General and replace it with smaller, short-term shelters by 2018.

Each ward will gain a new shelter, with the exception of Ward 2, where a 213bed women’s shelter is expected to begin operation in March (see page nine). All of the replacement shelters are expected to come with several programs to help temporary residents gain permanent housing and employment. “We know homelessness is a solvable problem,” Zeilinger said.

She emphasized that the new shelters will offer “small, dignified, serviceenriched, residential housing” to their clients. On-site case management and housing consultation, along with 24-hour staffing and security are part of this push toward more service-oriented housing.

The Bowser administration also publicly released the proposed addresses of the shelters for the first time during the meeting.

After the presentation, Chairman Phil Mendelson allowed questions and comments from the council. Many expressed their gratitude toward Bowser and Zeilinger. “This is the most hopeful I have ever been about how we are dealing with the temporary homeless,” affirmed Ward 3 Representative Mary Cheh.

Representative Kenyan McDuffie was the only member to voice strong doubts about the location of the shelter in his ward. “There are strip clubs, night clubs...a number of challenges I hope

5

STREET SENSE February 24 - March 8, 2016

COVER STORY

Optimal D.C. General Closure you’re all aware of,” he said, naming a few of the same concerns that Ward 5 residents would mention at the Thursday community meeting.

Yvette Alexander, representative of Ward 7, commended the council for distributing shelters throughout the city, but also stressed that “case management is going to be the key.” She voiced further concerns about locations later at the February 23 D.C. Committee on Health and Human Services Performance Oversight Hearing. She noted that despite the claim that all shelters would have easy access to transportation, some are being built in “deserted areas.”

Alexander also asked Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services, Brenda Donald, to comment on the process behind the Bowser Administration’s search for suitable shelter sites, and the lack of community involvement.”

“Site selection was an extremely thoughtful process,” Donald said. She said

that while she believed that the administration had been clear and transparent, the information came as a delay to District residents because “the Mayor wanted the [sites] to come together as one complete package.”

A full list of considered sites was released the same day as the Performance Review.

“We wanted every ward, every community to be a part of [the process],” said Jenna Cevasco, a senior policy advisor for the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. According to Cevasco, one of the main requirements was that the new sites be small, about 300 square feet per location. “This is really important for us because we want it to be different from DC General,” she said. She also listed access to public transportation as one of the deciding criteria.

Unfortunately, not all of the chosen sites meet these requirements. Women at the Ward 2 shelter will have safe, easy

routes to a number of grocery stores, schools, and modes of transportation.

Those in Ward 5, as described above, will not. The poor environment of several of the proposed shelter sites gave rise to suspicion that there may have been issues other than community approval and neighborhood safety that went into the search for locations.

Community members are not the only ones feeling left out of the planning process. Some currently homeless D.C. residents feel that they have also been excluded from the mayor’s plan.

“If you’re going to make new shelters, listen to the ideas and concerns of current [shelter] residents,” a D.C. General resident who spoke under the condition of anonymity, told Street Sense. She was unconvinced that the District’s officials had any of their opinions in mind. “The mayor has not taken many people into consideration. At least make it clear [that] you want our input. If you don’t want to come

to us [yourself], send someone else! The government looks at D.C. General residents and thinks: ‘You guys will take anything.’”

Many residents of D.C. General, while aware of the Mayor’s multi-shelter plan, had not received any information in terms of locations for each site.

A clean, safe shelter is important, and D.C. General residents know better than most people how devastating it can be to live in a place that feels dangerous and unwelcoming. “Everything—experiences, feelings, emotions—is wrapped up in being somewhere you don’t want to be,” said the resident.

Community complaints have not gone unheard. D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson’s office confirmed that a council hearing has been set for 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 17 to discuss the plan to replace DC General.

Reginald Black contributed to this report.

Neighborhood for Family SheltersPlacement Replacing DCEquity General DC General Amenities Replacement Shelter

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

ward Bus Lines, 1 mi.

7

2 closest park

potential hazzards

alternatives considered

6

0.1 mi.

2 min walk

closest Metro

public schools

90 70 91 74 92 72 96

ward

PK-5 (0.4 mi.)

1-8 (0.5 mi.)

80 220 P6 240 X2 260

0.2 mi.

4 min walk

2

0.3 mi.

PK-8 (0.39 mi.)

9-12 (0.61 mi.)

0.7 mi.

ward

3

30 31 33

1.4 mi.

27 min walk

2

PK-5 (0.4 mi.)

6-8 (0.7 mi.)

0.4 mi.

U St. Nightlife

4

DATA COURTESY OF MAYOR.DC.GOV AND GOOGLE MAPS.

2

6

ward

6

62 70 63 74 E4 72

1.5 mi.

30 min walk

2

5-12 (0.5 mi.)

6-12 (0.5 mi.)

.4 mi.

ward

1

B2

1.9 mi.

39 min walk

3

PK-5 (1.2 mi.)

PK-8 (1.0 mi.)

PK-8 (0.9 mi.)

.7 mi.

ward

P6 V1 74 D300 A42

9

A46 A48 735 850

ward

2

U5 U6

ward

6

A6 A46 A8 A48 A9 W1

0.5 mi.

10 min walk

0.8 mi.

15 min walk

1.5 mi.

30 min walk

PK-5 6-8 (0.34 mi) (0.48 mi) 9-12 (1.71 mi) 9-12 (1.87 mi)

PK-5 (0.14 mi.)

6-8 (0.65 mi.)

9-12 (0.98 mi.)

PK-5 (0.6 mi.)

6-8 (0.62 mi.)

9-12 (0.73 mi.)

4

0.0 mi.

3

0.4 mi.

3

0.5 mi.

Liquor Store

Echostage Bliss Nightclub Strip Club Bus Depot Railroad Trash Facility

Southeast Fwy

No easy access to grocery stores or pharmacies

Isolated neighborhood

0

2

4

4

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Outside/In:

A Cultural Tour of D.C. Statehood

By Desmond Austin-Miller Editorial Intern A February 6 walking tour in the vicinity of the National Mall aimed to spread the word about the D.C. statehood movement to tourists visiting Washington.

“No taxation without representation.

That’s a belief our country was founded on, yet [taxation without representation] is right here… We pay the highest federal taxes in the country, yet we have no representation.” said Mara Cherkasky, a local historian who spoke during the event.

The activists hoped to inspire visitors to carry the message home. “We need you, the people around the country, to stand up for us, to get your representatives to stand up and vote for us,” said Anise Jenkins, a co-founder of Stand Up! for Democracy D.C. According to Cherkasky, opposition to D.C. statehood in the Republican-controlled Congress is based on race and demographics.

“It’s the four too’s,” Jenkins agreed. “[Opponents of statehood believe the city is] too progressive, too urban, too black, and too Democrat.”

She is not alone in that belief. “We shouldn’t be discriminated against on the basis of what political party we belong

to,” said Michael Brown, United States Shadow Senator from the District of Columbia. Though the position of Shadow Senator is recognized by the government of the District of Columbia, the shadow senator does not have a vote, a voice or a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Participants praised Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.’s non-voting delegate, for her past efforts to achieve voting rights for African Americans as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. They also lauded her continuing commitment to full Congressional representation for citizens of the District of Columbia.

In 2007 and 2008, Norton was able to shepherd the D.C. Voting Rights Act through the House and Senate. Had that bill become law, the District would now be able to elect a voting member of the U.S. House of Representatives. However, after opponents of the bill attached an amendment that would have eliminated D.C.’s gun safety laws, Norton dropped her support for that iteration of the bill.

She continues to fight for statehood for the District of Columbia.

Photo courtesy of Outside/In.

STREET SENSE February 24 - March 8, 2016

7

NEWS

OPINION: Lessons of Hope

By Ken Martin, Vendor/Artist

Ann Marie Staudenmaier, Tyrone Roper, Gerald Anderson, Jennie Simpson and Armando Trull.

PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN.

Panel Analyzes District’s Criminalization of Homelessness

By Michael Brice-Saddler Editorial Intern In an effort to curb the criminalization of homelessness in D.C., Street Sense hosted a panel discussion on Thursday, February 11, at the Church of the Epiphany. Panelists illustrated the ways homelessness has been criminalized locally and offered ways in which the audience of 85 community members could hold their government accountable.

“When we say criminalization, we’re talking about laws and ordinances enacted by cities and jurisdictions that prevent daily activities done in public,” said panelist Jennie Simpson, a policy analyst at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

People experiencing homelessness are impacted by laws that restrict many things we take for granted, Simpson said.

This list includes everyday activities such as naps, bathing, and sleeping.

Ann Marie Staudenmaier, a staff attorney at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, noted that although panhandling is constitutionally protected, D.C. outlaws “aggressive” panhandling — meaning this activity is not permitted at any metro stops or within 10 feet of an ATM machine.

Police in D.C. will often use these panhandling policies to threaten peaceful panhandlers, according to Staudenmier, making life more difficult for the homeless than it already is.

Tyrone Roper, an expert on the behavioral health system, was able to provide

additional context through his experiences as the associate director of criminal justice for Behavioral Health System Baltimore.

Panelist Tyrone Roper.

PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN

Roper noted that in order to help the homeless, more guidance is needed within shelters and court systems. In Baltimore, Roper said, people without homes are connected with services through courts and shelters to get them treatment or assistance if it is needed.

The panel also included Street Sense vendor and author Gerald Anderson, who recounted his experiences battling home-

lessness and times where he saw innocent people being mistreated by city police.

“A lot of people don’t have anywhere to stay,” Anderson said, recounting a story of a homeless woman who was disrespected by police and had her belongings nearly thrown away. “There are two sides to every story.”

WAMU’s senior reporter Armando Trull interviewed and moderated the group.

When asked by audience members what the average person can do to end the criminalization of homelessness in D.C., panelists implored them to familiarize themselves with local legislation and get involved in local politics. ”Go to city council meetings, have your voice heard,” Simpson said. ”That’s one of the most powerful ways to change things around you at a local level.”

“It’s always been on my heart to reach out to the homeless population and see what I can do to help,” said audience member Pia Clark, who was told about the panel by a friend. “But getting involved with our city council and reaching out to local officials — that’s something that has never crossed my mind.”

Clark’s views were echoed by others in attendance.

“I’m definitely going to get a hold of the mayor’s office and the deputy mayor’s office and send them a note,” audience member Roger Munter said.

It is an honor for me to serve my community in any capacity. It was a pleasure and a privilege to serve in the capacity of outreach worker.

I'm not really up for the door knocking, recruiting, one on one, "make em shamed," fire and brimstone" work of the eighties. Sounds worse than it was...

I worked to increase voter registration, adult literacy, college enrollment, employment, consumer education, sobriety and other forms of self-improvement.

To say these were easy tasks without the benefit of today's technological advances would be a gross understatement.

Alas (I love to use that word), those were less selfish times. Pardon me: I should be more PC and say these days people are consumed with self-interest.

No. That's not Politically Correct!

It's true, though not PC. I digress. An elder's privilege.

The Forum Committee: Julia Zur, Martha Johnson, Rachael Buck, Shira Heard, Laura Mandeville, Elizabeth Gary,Garrett Koller, Nicholas Parrish, Justin Feltman, Kaitlin Estill, Hope Ann, and Sasha Williams are inspiring young citizens who seek to — and actually do — change the world! They post and pin and tweet and link and do stuff that makes networking, social.

More to my understanding, they educate all who will listen by providing quality information about the non-domiciled (PC for homeless) from unimpeachable sources. This committee, consisting of members as intelligent as their guests and as humble as the target population they voluntarily assist, does a lot and asks very little.

Following each forum the audience is asked to commit to an action by posting their name tags to involvement boards.

How many actually follow through, I do not know. What I do know is that Lessons of Hope are given to the audience. As are handouts, solutions, communicative network, service opportunities, qualified mentorship and motivation to contribute.

I know because I attended one forum and have been with them ever since!

Thank you so much to the celebrity vendors that came out during Vendor Week 2016 to show support for the hard working men and women that sell our paper! Thank you also to the skilled vendors who took the time to train and sell with them! (in collaboration with the International Network of Street Papers)

I’m Celebrating Black History Month!

By Evelyn Nnam, Vendor/Artist

Black History Month is a great month to celebrate. It’s filled with heroes and stars who changed the world. Because of many people and their great determination, we all can be together as one whole, one creation and one people.

Many greats that we remember today are such persons as Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Malcom X, Rose Parks, Harriet Tubman and Nikki Giovanni. I applaud them all.

Many are remembering these great people by visiting their museums, having Black history related programs, and many more activities to remember them by. It wasn’t easy to do what they did when they made the change.

When different races become segregated we can’t think together and work together. When we are joined it becomes an environment of differences and collaboration no matter who you are or where you come from. We all can make a difference and it can start now.

Happy Black History month and God Bless!

Who We Are

By Gwynette Smith Vendor/Artist I watch you and try to understand who you are.

Your suit and briefcase.

Do you also have a beach home or a ski lodge?

You look at me and try to understand who I am Do I have any home at all?

I ask you to buy my paper.

Sometimes you do, And I appreciate you.

We all can find our dreams have Fallen Our happy place is somehow Stolen For it doesn’t matter if you are Rich or poor Black or white At times, helping each other is Just the thing That’s right.

Things I Need in Life

By Larry Kelly Vendor/Artist I need an I.D. card I need a Social Security card.

I need a birth certificate.

I need a makeover.

I need a home or apartment.

I need a girlfriend. I need my kid back.

I need a better job.

I need a car.

I need to pay the DMV $100 dollars.

I need to make $100 dollars a day.

Every day.

I need a cell phone.

I need food stamps.

I need to pray.

I need to get out of homelessness.

I need new friends.

I need to sell 50 Street Sense papers a day.

Thank You!

By Aida Basnight Vendor/Artist

I want to thank Dan, Vivian, Dana, Jennifer, and other loyal customers for supporting me throughout the months! And all of my newest customers on the 14th and L Street for all the wonderful gifts I received back in December.

I know a few people have been wondering where I have been lately. Unfortunately, I’m back in the unemployment line because the owner of Fruitcycle sold her business to another business called “Together we Bake”.

Her product is still on the market and is still called “Fruitcycle” even though the founder is no longer in charge. This reduced my hours during the week, so I will still be selling Street Sense during the day and evening. I also had back surgery that required stitches and some rest. I had to stay home for a few days but I am doing very well now.

I hope to see you soon!

STREET SENSE February 24 - March 8, 2016

9

FEATURES

New Shelter for Women Prepares to Open in Chinatown

The interior facilities of the new Patricia Handy Place for women.

PHOTOS BY REGINALD BLACK

Exterior of the Patricia Handy Place for Women on Fifth Street Northwest. | PHOTO BY REGINALD BLACK

By Reginald Black “The Street Reportin’ Artist” The Patricia Handy Place shelter for women held its ribbon cutting ceremony on February 10. The new facility, located in Chinatown at 810 Fifth Street NW, will replace two low-barrier women’s shelters that were housed in the Federal City Shelter building at 425 Second Street NW. The Second Street location is where the Community for Creative Nonviolence (CCNV) and several service providers have operated for 30 years out of a building obtained through the advocacy of the late Mitch Snyder and other activists. As one of the largest shelters on the east coast, these organization have provided beds for up to 1,350 men and women at a time.

The building where this brand new shelter will be located used to be the Gospel Rescue Mission. The Mission was a shelter that asked residents to pay a small fee or do volunteer work to secure a space. In 2013, Gospel Rescue Mission merged with Central Union Mission in a smaller facility on Massachusetts Avenue Northwest.

The brand new Pat Handy facility is a great step up, boasting a pantry on every floor and ten beds to a room on the four low-barrier floors. The shelter also offers single bedrooms on the fifth floor and a huge multipurpose room in the basement.

The women will be able to receive mail there. A conference room can be used by residents and potentially by District officials to discuss homeless services and engage residents.

The Patricia Handy Place for Women will provide 213 beds for single women beginning in March. This will replace the John L. Young and Open Door shelters, which served a maximum of 195 women at any given time. This move brings into question the future of CCNV, but it is a

sign that the administration might be ready to tackle homelessness head on.

In 2014, a city task force met throughout the year to discuss the future of the Federal City Shelter properties, which include the shelter and an adjoining parking lot on prime downtown real estate.

An official set of guidelines was passed three weeks prior to Mayor Bowsers’ inauguration. But no official plans have been publicized. The Homeward DC 5-year strategic plan lists CCNV capacity as “To Be Determined.”

“People have worked for decades, sometimes unnoticed,” Bowser said at the ribbon cutting event. “They are the ones who are getting the hard work done for people.”

“My team is very focused on how a prosperous city can give people a shot, a second chance,” she said.

All of the city’s housing and homeless big leagues, past and present, were on hand for this event. Including Patricia Handy’s father, Dr. Perry Handy.

Dr. Handy described in detail his daughter’s relationship with the shelter hotline. The hotline assisted those people who would not seek the comfort of a shelter. Workers distributed blankets, food, water, shoes, boots, and provided medical attention for referrals. Throughout her career, she was able to assign people to permanent living spaces in apartments and to provide preliminary mental health assessments.

“I would like to express my gratitude to honor my daughter,” he said. “Patty would be so pleased for this occasion. Her calling in life was caring for the homeless,” Handy said.

Many of the speakers discussed Patricia Handy’s dedication to service throughout

her lifetime. She worked for the government for 32 years, with 9 of those having a focus on homelessness. Bowser commented that naming this shelter after Patricia Handy marks the third time in her government career that a building has been named after a government employee. All the speakers reiterated the message that Pat Handy worked persistently and passionately to elevate the lives of people experiencing homelessness.

With a new single women’s facility on the way, hopefully Washington is heading away from the extreme gentrification that is taking many communities by storm, to a place where everyone does get a fair shot.

Hear the poem Dr. Handy read on StreetSense.org! Emily Kaye contributed to this report.

Dr. Handy honors his daughter’s memory.

PHOTO BY EMILY KAYE

Mayor Muriel Bowser and Department of Human Services Director Laura Zielinger celebrate the ribbon cutting of the Patricia Handy Place for Women.

PHOTO BY EMILY KAYE

OPINION

MOVING UP: Minimum Wage Setbacks Don’t Have to Hold You Back

By Arthur Johnson Most everyone is aware now that a recent court decision has derailed a D.C. ballot initiative to increase the minimum wage in the District to $15 per hour.

While it is a decision that will be hard for many residents because it keeps wages where they are, the focus should now be on trying to come up with an alternative to increase income.

One option for many people would be to speak to your manager and offer to “clopen.” That is a term that refers to workers who shut down a store or restaurant and then are in the next morning to open. Many people hate it (parents and people who have busy social lives), but it is a way to get hours because you are filling a need for the employer. It’s also something you can bring up when you are being considered for a raise or promotion.

This practice has been criticized by many, but if your circumstances allow you to do it, you will be looked at better by management. Starbucks ended the practice of “clopening” after receiving criticism in an article published in The New York Times.

Other employers might have followed suit but if you are looking to get more hours at your job, it might be a good idea to ask.

Another thing to strongly consider is

Fast food workers across the USA walked out on strike to hold protests and marches demanding a $15/hour minimum wage.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FIBONACCI BLUE/ FLICKR

going back to school. If you lack a college degree, this is a really good time to look at furthering your education. Even if money will be an issue, there are a number of grants and loans available to help finance your studies. (In a future issue, I will explain the different options available

to pay for college. ) One thing to keep in mind is that if the initiative had passed, you would have not seen an increase in your income for quite a while. Employers would no doubt have gone to great lengths to reduce hours to offset the increase in payroll costs that the

minimum wage hike would have produced.

Those of you who have been reading my column for a while know I am a strong advocate for entrepreneurship, and this makes the idea of starting a business look even better. With a job, you are at the mercy of an employer and how much they are making in sales and profit. If they are losing money, they will look to reduce expenses by cutting your hours, which impacts your earnings. That makes it very difficult to survive since your income becomes very unpredictable.

An important thing to keep in mind is that one issue in the minimum wage battle is that employers are willing to pay more for workers with demonstrated skills. That is why it is so very important to take any opportunity that you have to improve through education or training.

In the next issue, we will start taking a more in-depth look at starting a business.

I will be looking at being an independent contractor – what is involved and whether it is something you should consider.

Arthur Johnson is a volunteer writer focusing on finance and economic issues in his column Moving Up.

Donald and Bernie Won’t Be Controlled

By Jeffery McNeil The establishment has no one to blame but themselves. The seeds were sown decades ago, and now bedbugs and lice are more popular than Washington. People are tired of the special interests that make it their business to keep people polarized because they are more concerned about their interests than the national interest.

Americans will appreciate what Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have done for Democracy. Not because of what they stand for but because these two are making a stand. What you’re seeing is the splintering of the two party system. Both are wresting power from the powerful and giving it back to the people.

Americans are waking up. They are no longer interested in ideologues and partisans that offer nothing but soundbites and talking points. People are tired of telling their representatives that it’s raining and then being told they’re not getting wet. And the establishment is nervous because neither Trump nor Sanders can be controlled.

Somewhere along the way in American history democracy has been hijacked and politics has become a pissing match where everything has been turned into who can be more extreme and fanatical than the

other. Once upon a time there were never true liberals nor true conservatives -- it was, “What is the best course of action for our country?”

We have greater threats than each other but somehow there are people that make it their business to keep people at each other’s throats. It’s easier to blame somebody than to find common ground.

then are shocked that their supporters are rock solid in their support. I can’t believe how arrogant these people are -- how can you scold and shame people, then expect them to support you?

What you are seeing with Trump and Sanders supporters is The Tea Party and Occupiers growing up, maturing and becoming more organized. Although I don’t care

People are tired of telling their representatives that it’s raining and then being told they’re not getting wet Everything descended into tribalism where if you are not black and liberal you are a sellout or if you disagree with feminists or gays then you’re a hater and should be chastised. If you’re a Republican and don’t believe Planned Parenthood should be defunded then you are not a pure conservative.

These people are clueless. I turn on the television and hear these partisan hacks call Trump supporters “low information” and Sanders supporters “dreamers,”

for either group I do admire that they are fighting back and it’s good for America.

The Beltway is clueless but they’re going to get a clue this election cycle.

It’s not about Trump or Sanders -- it’s revenge. Both parties have given up trying to co-opt these groups and now are trying to hold onto their power. However, trying to rig a landslide is as futile as trying to dam a tsunami. That’s what the establishment is looking at -- a total rejection of politics as usual and the two-party sys-

tem.

I used to consider myself a liberal. Today I consider myself the most pro-gun, anti-state, anti-tax person on earth. I’m not a right-winger or a left-winger -- I have grown to despise all liberals and conservatives. I’m not interested in what any politician has to say -- the best thing a politician can do for me is leave me alone.

I am at the point where I don’t care anymore. People in Washington are like infants. Most of them live in a bubble and don’t have real world experiences. They can send hate mail, unfriend me or have hissy fits and not speak to me.

I love them both but I can only vote for one. It’s not about Trump -- I’m doing it because I’m feeling naughty and vindictive. I’m tired of groupthink and tribalism and the arrogance of the left that feel because I’m dark in color that I need to feel aggrieved and bitter.

Donald Trump is the black man’s middle finger and with my vote I will say to Obama and the progressives, “I’m doing things my way.”

Jeffery McNeil is a frequent writer and columnist for Street Sense.

Have an opinion about how homelessness is being handled in our community? Street Sense maintains an open submission policy and prides itself as a newspaper that elevates community voices and fosters healthy debate. Send your thoughts to opinion@streetsense.org.

STREET SENSE February 24 - March 8, 2016

1#1

OP-ED

How Social Media Can Get You Hired

By Kushaan Shah How do you make the most of a job search?

Job sites like Monster and Indeed seemed revolutionary in the early 2000s, but a computerized job search saw many resumes and well-intentioned job seekers overlooked by machines. Many would spend hours on a resume simply to see it vanish into the darkness. Even worse, there were fewer opportunities to justify common barriers – including gaps in job experience, legal problems or lack of education. How can you explain your potential without even being able to talk to a human being?

With close to a 7.5 percent unemployment rate in Washington, D.C. and over 60,000 struggling to make ends meet, many are still struggling with barriers to employment that can’t entirely be fixed by a computer or traditional job search.

And D.C.’s homeless population – reaching over 11,000 as of the last point-in-time count – face a growing urgency to make a living wage in order to find affordable housing, maintain government benefits and get off the streets of the district.

Thankfully, job recruiters are increasingly valuing personality, culture fit and company interest in addition to skills and experience. This gives individuals experiencing homelessness a chance to leverage their most powerful tool: their story.

If you’ve talked to any individuals at Street Sense or those working with social services programs like LIFT and Thrive DC, you’ll immediately notice tenacity, ambition and a willingness to beat the odds.

These are all redeemable qualities at any workplace, but we’ve often experienced

the job search process in a vacuum; it privileges skills, work experience and education over the fight against struggle or reconciliation with a difficult past. We admire those who have rehabilitated and often highlight those who have taken advantage of their second chances – so how can people who have experienced homelessness and struggle use their stories to their advantage?

Social media tools like Linkedin and Twitter can help enormously in people’s job search by connecting like-minded interests and breaking down communication barriers. Here’s how social media can offer struggling individuals a fair chance at employment: Market personality. Do you have an interest in a social issue? A quirky hobby?

Maybe you’re a comedian or easily excited about music. It doesn’t take income or years of job search experience to have a unique aspect of your personality that can be fit for a job. Social media allows you to share experiences, be candid about your hobbies and professional goals and connect with others who may have these same goals. If you are someone who enjoys a good joke or tends to be the bubbly and optimistic person, use an anecdote in a Twitter bio or Linkedin summary to illustrate how this can be an advantage in the workplace.

Leverage recommendations and endorsements. On social media sites like Linkedin, you can allow advocates to provide validity and credibility to your candidacy through personal endorsements and recommendations. Instead of machines deciding your fate, the people who know you best can make a case for your em-

ployment. If you’ve personally impacted someone through your work, cheered someone up or have simply proven to someone that you can be trustworthy, this can go a long way when others are considering you for long-term employment.

For Street Sense vendors who have many customers a day, some of the most loyal relationships can turn into endorsements.

Learn from others. One of the biggest challenges in job interviews is showing a company how much passion and interest you have in their work. For individuals who are digitally isolated, this may prove to be very difficult. Do you know what the company did yesterday? Do you know exactly what the company sells? Do you know what excites its employees? Social media opens the door to help you learn from others in real time. While typical job searching means don’t allow you to build human relationships with hiring managers and employees, sites like Linkedin and Twitter give you an advantage that can help you learn even more if you’re a fit.

Build a community. Going through the emotional process of a job search isn’t easy – it can sometimes take a village. Social media is predicated on just this. Through connecting with recruiters, friends, mentors and professional job tips at the click of a button, you can meet others that can help you in your job search.

It costs nothing to follow someone on Twitter or send them a tweet asking for assistance. In my conversations with individuals at various social services organizations, many of them cite the lack of direct networks or lack of supportive friends and family as a huge barrier to the job search.

Social media allows you to build this com-

munity from scratch regardless of your previous socioeconomic situation.

Focus on the future. If you want to leave your past behind, it may be tough to do that on a resume, one which often predicts your success based on the past.

Social media allows you to illustrate your story with a clear focus on the future.

If you are currently homeless and have wanted to be a teacher, a cook or a singer, here is your chance to tell your story. Even if you have 10 years of experience in a completely unrelated field, what inspires you? What made you yearn for a certain profession after years on the street? What do you want to see in a job? What would make you happy? Instead of focusing on the past, focus on your potential and highlight this across social media profiles.

Best of all – most social media applications are free services. This enables many individuals who face conventional income barriers to level the playing field. Social media allows people to be found, be visible and be connected across an impressive network of open jobs and employers. It allows people to add a human component in a process that is often marred by uncertainty. While I truly believe social media has the power to connect us as humans, I also believe it can have a huge impact on our economic independence. All it takes is one click.

Kushaan Shah is founder of a non-profit Social Rise, focused on improving digital literacy and teaching social media to empower disadvantaged community members. He is a consultant at IBM, speaker, writer and advocate for digital innovation in the social sector.

Build Equity With Cooperative Housing

By Tim Farrell

When I first moved here a year ago, I wrote an article about my experience looking for a small apartment. Because I had no job, commercial landlords (as opposed to private houses) were requiring as much as $24,000 in the bank to secure a lease on a one-bedroom apartment.

Since this time, I have become aware that cooperative housing is available in the District starting at around $100,000.

Cooperatives offer an ownership interest in a corporation that owns a building and give the owner a right to lease a unit in the building. While not an ownership interest in the actual property, cooperatives are still a way to create equity.

Although even the price of the most affordable apartment in the District sounds like a lot, anyone who is considering a move, or is a recent arrival to the District, with anywhere near the assets required

closing costs and has 0 percent interest for the first five years of the loan, payment of which is itself deferred for that period. The program allows for purchases of homes up to $417,000, more than is needed to get into a small place. Priority is given to very low- or low-income people, with a cap of $50,000. For those who qualify, the DHCD is an excellent resource. The Department even has a list of places available on its website.

So, if you are new to the District and have found a job – any job – check out the DHCD and see if it can help you to find an alternative to renting and an opportunity to build some equity.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PUI SHAN CHAN/ WIKIPEDIA

to rent should consider buying instead. A typical mortgage on such a property could be about $500, with a monthly lease fee of $500, significantly less than the $1,500 median monthly rent paid in the District.

In addition, the District’s Department of Housing and Community Development has a program for first-time home buyers called the Home Purchase Assistance Program. The program pays up to $4,000 in

Tim Farrell is a member of the D.C. bar association.

Home Sweet Home

My Ideal Home

Ranch Home

What Makes a Home?

Having reached a certain age, I think more and more about my ideal home. I used to live at the YWCA. I had a Home Health Aide. Let me tell you about her and some reasons that I would like an ideal place as I retire.

She would come in the morning. First, she took off her coat. She brought me my cigarettes and coffee on a tray. And she took so much care with my bed, straightening it up. Next she straightened up my dresser then started cleaning the room.

She swept and mopped the floor, and then she did the dishes.

She went in the bathroom and cleaned everything. She kept my place so clean, that when I retire I would like to have a gorgeous place like this. Spic and span with a nice patio, out back.

Yes, I would like to live in a ranch home. You know, I had a girlfriend that I met at the age of 16. We were both in the 7th grade. I had just changed schools and had gotten into a fight with a girl who had run a comb through my hair. Well, when my friend found this out, we soon become the best of friends.

Years went by and we remained friends.

Even went to the discos on double dates together. After 12th grade, she had been engaged. She had gotten married a couple of months afterward. Later, she got divorced and met someone else. They had bought a ranch house and it was perfect!

Living room and dining and bedroom with a complete bar to entertain guests, especially for the holidays. So, looking back, that is what I would like my house to be like.

To me, home is a place where you can relax, a place where you can raise a family, a clean place where you feel safe, a place for entertainment, a place to cook, to bathe, to wish and to study.

That is what makes a house a home.

By Patty Smith, Vendor/Artist

T

he Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development’s “Housing For All” campaign has held an annual writing competition every year since 2001. This year, youth and adults were asked to respond to the prompt “Home Sweet Home.” This year’s rally, titled “Fulfill the Promise,” calls on city officials to uphold a promise made at last year’s rally to contribute $100 million to the city’s Housing Production Trust Fund.

Members of the Street Sense writers group shared the following stories with the writing competition.

The annual rally will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday March 5.

Among other events, writing competition winners will be recognized and the winning submissions will be read aloud.

By Patty Smith, Vendor/Artist

Home Sweet Home

By Damon Smith, Vendor/Artist

Home is where the heart is. Many people have a definition of what home is. To some, it’s a personal space with a lock and you have the key. To me, home is a sanctuary, where you rest your head, escape the madness of the world, a secure place.

I am homeless. To me home is nowhere.

I was born in Washington, D.C., so this is my home, in thought not place. I have relatives and friends you would classify as having nice homes, but I’m not welcome. I can’t wait till I have a place to come to at the end of a long day—and call my own. I’ve been homeless most of my adult life. Living on the streets, you spend the days wandering around and wondering where the time goes. There is no worse feeling than wondering when the day is over where you’ll sleep and be safe. The few times I’ve had a place there was not a better feeling. Sometimes, we take it for granted. Many have never known this feeling nor would they understand it.

Many homeless people don’t like conventional homes – they feel locked in. I feel like I am stuck on a merry-go-round of hell, going through this terrible situation day after day. Many times it gets overwhelming, but I pull it together and move on. I am in the process of getting out of this madness and becoming stationary instead of being a nomad, moving from place to place. This is one of the most dreadful experiences I have ever been through. I can’t wait until I kiss the floor of my own place.

What Is a Sweet Home?

By Deborah Brantley, Vendor/Artist

Where I live now does not seem like “home sweet home.” I live in an apartment for the handicapped. For one thing I do not like the women that live in the place with me. They are much too bad off (in every way). And they are much too difficult to get along with. I don’t want to be bothered, and from now on, they are not going to bother me. This is something that I hope for in the future.

I don’t too much care for the people of the D.C. area. They are not friendly, even though I have met all sorts of interesting people since I’ve been back here. So as far as areas to live in are concerned, D.C. is not Home Sweet Home.

For me, Home Sweet Home would be in a trailer park. You can meet all sorts of interesting people there. Many stars come from a trailer park existence. The rent is cheap, so I think one of these would be my first home.

An apartment is a nice step up to self-sufficiency in between. I would like to make over my “home sweet home,” changing the décor to my liking. This, I feel would be a good step for me, in the right direction.

Dear Domicile!

Home Sweet Home

By Frederick John, Vendor/Artist

By Beverly Sutton, Vendor/Artist

I have a social worker that helped me with housing. She took me to meetings at an agency to help me get a place to live. After I got my apartment, the agency helped me get furniture. To celebrate my first day off the street, my social worker, one of my nurses, and I went to a restaurant and had dinner.

I felt funny that first night getting into a bed in my own place after 35 years on the street. For the first time in all those years, I was so comfortable that I didn’t even want to get up to go to the bathroom (but I did)!

When I woke up, I felt great. I cooked myself some sausage, eggs, and grits. I drank Pepsi and water.

After I got settled down in my housing, I was going to Alcoholics Anonymous to quit

By Ronald Turner, Vendor/Artist

drinking and to quit smoking cigarettes.

Ever since then I have stopped drinking and smoking and I’ve been living a pretty good life, especially after all the misery I had been through.

When I was homeless, most nights I drank and smoked cigarettes before going to sleep in Chinatown, 5th and H Streets, in front of an old building. It was bad, but not as bad as when I was abused in foster care. I did have a home sweet home, though, with a foster mother. I stayed with her till I was 30 years old. A year after I moved out, my kind foster mother died.

Now with my own apartment, I thank God every day that I’m doing well and I pray to God every day that I will continue doing well.

I float home, my feet lifted by virtual elevator shoes.

Did a man or woman expire, to allow this humble childFoggy Bottom spawned, passage home to whence he was drawn?

My lofty view encompasses river and center stage.

Both benchmarks of this now-homed artists’ Golden Age! Older, wiser, more soberI humbly lower my head upon my feathered pallet.

No stake, no mallet.

Merely gratitude by the truck load!

STREET SENSE February 24 - March 8, 2016

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PAGE HEADING

AFTER KATRINA: A Ten-Year Roller Coaster, Part 15

By Gerald Anderson, Vendor/Artist

PREVIOUSLY: It was a nice warm April day outside, but inside the paddy wagon, it was dark and shadowy. I was seated in the cage behind two cops, my hands cuffed in front of my body and my ankles locked in shackles. We got to the 5th District Precinct, and they asked me my name, date of birth, and took fingerprints—the usual stuff they do. They also make me change into prison clothes. They escort me to a cell with around 20 other guys in it, all waitin’ to get transport through the system. When I first hit the cell, a few of them knew me. They were like, “Damn they got my man Orleans. We saw you on the news!” Homicide police detectives come to the cell, askin’ to talk about the crime in the neighborhood. Like askin’ us to be snitchin’...

After the detective tryin’ to get me to rat on other dealers, and me tellin’ him, “If I did know I wouldn’t tell you,” he threaten me with life sentences.

Then he say, “I know you wannna smoke a Newport.”

I say, “I sure do, but I’m not gonna rat to smoke a Newport. Give it to one of your rats, not me.”

After me bein’ in the cell four or five hours, a guy tell some of us, get ready to be moved. A van gonna be here soon to escort you to court.

With me knowin’ the system anywhere I go, I know I’m gonna be first on the list due to my last name beginnin’ with A. So after bein’ removed, we get in the holding tank, where we wait for them to call us to go see the judge. It’s the first time I ever heard the holding tank so quiet you could hear a rat pee on cotton.

It’s like a house of silence, because everyone be thinkin’ about they charges and what’s gonna happen. It’s very seldom somebody gets a break and gets to go home afterwards.

It’s very clean here in district court cells, no writing on the wall like in the state prison. In the holding tank you got

Mexicans, Spanish guys, Chinese, all different races. You don’t see too many kingpins—they like celebrities and the feds don’t want them to mingle.

I ask the Federal Marshall, “What time you think I be goin’ to see the judge?”

He told me no time soon, because we waitin’ on the other guy to come from jail, the one you was out on the street with.

I was thinkin’ to myself, I never dealt with the FBI. The people I know who deal with the FBI, they never see the street again.

Old guys in the state pen told me never to get caught up with the FBI, because they don’t play. Even my father told me that. But hard head as I am, I got caught up and now I’m miserable, screwed up in my mind about what’s gonna happen to me.

One thing I know: I’m a standup guy and I ain’t gonna tell on anyone.

After hours in the holding tank, they came and told me, “They’re ready for you to go to court.”

So they cuff my hands in front of me and do the same with my my co-defenders and then they escorted us to the courtroom in shackles.

That’s when the judge let us know what we bein’ charged with, how many counts, the bond, and stuff like that.

I got a state appointed lawyer—he say he represent me.

He say, “You got 38 counts indictment.”

I say, “Damn, can you tell me what the indictment is?”

He tell me, drug traffic—buying and selling controlled substances. He also say, wiretap, which means my phone was hit.

In my mind I’m thinkin’ I ain’t gonna see that blue sky again for a long time. ( to be continued) My book, “Still Standing: How an ExCon Found Salvation in the Floodwaters of Katrina,” is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle form.

ILLUSTRATION BY TYLER HARCHELROAD

By Ivory Wilson Vendor/Artist EXT – UNION STATION – NIGHT UNDERGROUND Dean went to the bathroom.

Rags: Whack Bill with a bat.

Epidemic: Why not that piece we found in the sewer?

Rags: No, the sound of the shot will bring the feds in on us.

Epidemic: How about that HIV-infected needle we stole from the bathroom at the bus station?

Rags: No. It will take too long for Bill to die that way.

Dean: Boys, I’ve got gas indigestion from eating all that good rotting fish last night that the crew from the Waterfront sent over.

EXT – CAPITOL HILL – NIGHT

My Birthday

Street Sense, My Story

My name is Elizabeth Bryant. I have been out for a while but I am back. My birthday was on Ground Hog day. I turned 56-years-old and really want my high school diploma or GED. So, I am going back to school on Wednesdays at 9:30. The school is located at 1816 12th St. NW. I have to be careful using my leg which means I have to be choosy about what I do. I am going for physical therapy one day a week. But first I have to complete some paperwork.

I have so many people pushing me.

That makes it easier to keep on trying.

It was the summertime and I joined Street Sense. It changed my life. I met so many special people, like Patty Smith and Mike Craig. They are like my family now. I have the opportunity to learn in my writing and art workshop classes.

As families do, we sit around the table and talk. When I go out to the world and sell my papers, I feel very special because I have very high spirits about homeless people getting better.

Some of my friends do not understand what I do. But the people who support me, such as my Street friends and customers, do.

Special thanks to Jeff Gray and Josh Maxey!

Bill: Willie! Hey Willie. You up there?

Willie: Keep it down Bill. The wife is ill.

What is it?

Bill: Willie. I need your help.

Willie: O.K. Bill. Anything for you.

Bill: I need you and your crew to be lookouts for me. Dean’s crew is trying to kill me.

Willie: (his eye getting large): Oh no! Wait a minute Bill. We could all be killed.

Bill: Remember when I saved your wife from Dean?

Willie: Okay. Okay Bill. I will help you.

By Latishia Graham, Vendor/Artist

EXT – CAPITOL HILL – A BRIGHT MOONLIT NIGHT The rats arrive carrying knives, chairs, chainsaws and a bat. The squirrels signal Bill.

Epidemic: I smell a rat. It’s a set-upboys.

Bill jumps the rats, biting them, snapping off arms and legs and tossing them everywhere. Bill has Epidemic in his teeth.

Dean returns to the room

Bill on a bench on the lawn in front of the House of Representatives. Bill looks over to a large oak tree trying to see Willie the Squirrel.

By Elizabeth Bryant, Vendor/Artist

Willie the Squirrel goes back up the tree.

Rags: Boss! Boss! Bill has Epidemic in his teeth. Bill’s coming our way!

EXT – UNION STATION – NIGHT Dean turns the table over and kicks the chairs.

Dean: I want Bill dead.

Bill, standing over the sewer, opens his mouth and drops Epidemic down the sewer. Epidemic lands in front of Dean, feet bleeding and too weak to speak. Dean looks down at Epidemic.

Rags: Boss, we’ve got nothing to eat!

Dean (smiling): Wrong. We’ve got rat meat to eat!

They begin to laugh and start eating Epidemic The End

The Monkey and the Owl

By James Daniel Johnson, Vendor/Artist

By Michael Craig, Vendor/Artist

T

here once was a monkey that called himself “The Multi-Tasker.” He thought he was superior to all others. Everything was absolutely necessary, all the stress on him. Unfortunately, that came at the expense of his own feelings and the emotions of others.

One day The Multi-Tasker woke up in the hospital and didn’t know where he was. He looked up and there was a doctor. The monkey asked “where am I?” The doctor replied, “You are in the psychiatric ward of the village veterinarian hospital, because you had a nervous breakdown and we’ve diagnosed you with severe depression. I am Dr. Owl.”

The monkey was astonished and embarrassed. “Dr. Owl, I demand to be released immediately.”

“Not yet,” Dr. Owl said in defiance of the great multi-tasking monkey. “I have three prescriptions for you, and then you can leave.”

Three days later the monkey went back to his limb business. His employees were not particularly happy to see him at first. But monkey wasn’t feeling like such a multitasker any more. He tried to implement the prescriptions from Dr. Owl, but it took a while. Little by little he noticed changes.

He recognized that the other monkeys were becoming more relaxed around him: appreciative and accepting of him in. He was beginning to learn how to be happy in his life. He went so far as to throw an all-youcan-eat Banana Fest with coconut milk on the house.

The whole village showed up including, Dr. Owl. He was ecstatic and screamed out “this is great!” to everyone’s amusement. At the end of the night the monkey went back to his tree and Dr. Owl stayed on the guest limb.

in

The monkey thanked Dr. Owl with genuine enthusiasm for his new life and told him how he despised his former monkey persona of being arrogant and dominating to others. He smiled.

He was a new monkey, and his weekly out-patient visits to the psychiatric ward with Dr. Owl were discontinued.

Mine That Bird!

15

STREET SENSE February 24 - March 8, 2016

COMMUNITY SERVICES Housing/Shelter

Food

Clothing

Showers

Outreach

Medical/Healthcare

Transportation

Laundry

Education

Employment Assistance

Legal Assistance

Academy of Hope Public Charter School: 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

Community of Hope: 232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

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

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

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

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

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

Catholic Charities: 772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

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

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)

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

Community Family Life Services: 347-0511 | 305 E St, NW cflsdc.org

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

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

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

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

CELEBRATING SUCCESS! A Light for Dignity

By Cynthia Mewborn, Vendor/Artist How do we bring back respect and dignity to our armed forces, law enforcement and emergency responders? We should, as a nation, honor all government workers that protect our civil liberties and our lives.

Last Veterans Day Americans were encouraged to put a green light bulb in their home’s lamps. The idea was that when any veteran drove, walked, or ran past, they knew the light shining from each citizen's home demonstrated that when you go out

Samaritan Ministry: 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

to protect our nation you are not alone — that we will have your back on foreign soil or at home.

This was one of the simplest acts of unity demonstrated since the 60's. I remember when there would be day-long celebrations, parades and enormous crowds of people to recognize our troops’ sacrifices and service to our nation. Where has V-Day gone?

We should have a special day for Emergency Workers, and honor them by turning on a red light. Likewise, we should recognize law enforcement and shine a blue light on their day.

We can have no quality of life when we mistreat, neglect or abuse the very people who risk their lives to save ours.

Further, I propose a day-long on the Mall where all these individuals who serve America can have free

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

food, concerts, drinks, and safe transport home for them and their families. When American citizens forget how to honor the most important people in America, we have a problem.

My faith tells me lawlessness is not breaking man's law, its breaking God's law. "And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’" (Matthew 7:23) "There is NO Greater Love than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends," (John 15:13). Jesus will honor and thank our unsung heroes, but He should not be alone in doing so.

There is a lot of work ahead. Please start today by treating all these men and women who have risked their lives to save ours as heroes. They should be treated as such for the rest of their lives.

With honor, dignity and respect.

LAST WORD: IN SPITE OF

By Scott Lovell, Venodr/Artist

I enjoy my birthday in spite of losing my mother the day before my birthday on February 25, 1999. I have great memories of my mother. She taught me to always respect others in Spite of. She taught me to be grateful in Spite of. She taught me morals in Spite of. She taught me to trust God in Spite of. She taught me to love people in Spite of.

So I have learned to love others in Spite of. I enjoy my Birthday in Spite of. A lot of people told my mother that I would not live past the age of 21. When I was 21 I got hit by two cars on the same day. They counted me out then, but God wasn’t finish with me.

On the 26 of February I will be 55-years-old. HALLELUJAH

Marcus Green stands in front of a poster depicting his departed wife, Roberta Bear.

PHOTO BY EMILY KAYE

VENDOR PROFILE: MARCUS GREEN

By Emily Kaye, Editorial Intern

Elizabeth Bryant - 2/2 Clarence Williams - 2/19 Scott Lovell - 2/26 February 24 - 8, 2016 • Volume 13 • 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.

Marcus Green feeds the birds everywhere he stops to sell Street Sense. He cycles between three locations around town until he finds out which one is good for sales that day. But he always feeds the birds.

Good deeds should outweigh the bad in life, something Marcus says he learned from Islam. Although many people and religions share similar values, he believes that Islam goes above and beyond to recognize the non-monetary contributions that people can make to the world. And he hopes that more mosques will support homeless outreach efforts similar to what many local churches provide.

Marcus grew up in Southeast D.C. and graduated from Ballou High School. He was recruited by the Army almost immediately afterward. The Vietnam War had just ended, and the military maintained high numbers of recruits to demonstrate a sense of stability to the country. Marcus suffered from bipolar, yet they allowed him to enlist.

He struggled with drugs, and discrimination within the ranks. Marcus says that racism in the military was blatant then.

Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice give commanders enough room to dole out punishments to soldiers without the typical court proceedings. The soldiers would attend what Marcus likened to a kangaroo court, where the officer’s word would decide the punishments. As a result, officials frequently punished Marcus merely for being boisterous. The consequences ranged from extra duties, such as picking up cigarette butts, to pay deductions.

Around the same time, the army implemented urinalysis drug testing. Marcus was discharged when he tested positive.

He doesn’t blame anyone for his mistakes, but he cannot help but feel that race factored into his discharge. He is still trying

to navigate the paperwork to claim his full benefits and to upgrade his discharge.

In 1986, Marcus found himself in jail, but he says he found God there too. Islam helped him through tough times, especially through recently losing his wife in November. He couldn’t help but be mad at God for taking his wife from him. He struggled with his PTSD and bipolar disorder, eventually coming back to his faith and finding support in his Alcoholics Anonymous chapter.

He came to terms with his wife’s death after realizing that as much as he loved her, she always belonged with God. This acceptance does nothing to stop Marcus’ spontaneous crying fits, which he says come at the most inopportune times.

He laughed when thinking back on a particular struggle to hold it together on a crowded train, when all he wanted to do was cry.

Marcus still enjoys selling the paper, especially during the recent Vendor Week campaign. He was charged with teaching Ward 1 Councilwoman Brianne Nadeau how to sell Street Sense, and selling alongside her. He said she is very down-toearth and he appreciated her taking the time from her busy schedule.

Street Sense wasn’t supposed to be a long-term position. Similar to his cycle of sales locations, Marcus doesn’t like to stay anywhere for too long. Yet, after more than five years with the newspaper, he describes the people as family.

Despite Marcus’ love for Street Sense, he continues to search for more serious employment. He says that he would be willing to work any job, a testament to his strong determination and drive. If that means shoveling garbage, Marcus says he will “get me some rubber boots and get knee deep.”