04 03 2019

VOL. 16 ISSUE 11

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Real Stories

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The Cover

The Street Sense Media Story, #MoreThanANewspaper

Monica, Pete, and their dog Sassy were the subject of a recent cover story that led to more than $40,000 of donations to help them leave homelessness behind.

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

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EVENTS

// 3

NEWS IN BRIEF Capital Region Housing Challenge looks to raise $1 billion for affordable housing by 2020

BY NOAH TELERSKI noah.telerski@streetsensemedia.org

Tour Frederick Douglass’ Old Anacostia Saturday, April 13, 3 p.m. // Sunday, April 28, 11:45 a.m.

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site Visitor Center // 1411 W Street SE

A challenge to raise $1 billion in commitments of funding for affordable housing in the D.C. metro area was issued by a coalition of nonprofits and private corporations on March 20. The Housing Leaders Group of Greater Washington will encourage the commitment of $500 million in private capital and $500 million in public funds by the end of 2020, according to a press release.

“The Capital Region Housing Challenge is a down payment toward the investments needed to truly solve the region’s housing needs, especially for lower-income residents,” said David Bowers, an executive with the nonprofit development firm Enterprise Community Partners, in a Housing Leaders Group press release.

Join local reporter and historian John Muller on a walk through Old Anacostia, blending historic research and contemporary Ward 8 politics. Stories of presidents, famed one-time resident Frederick Douglass, 19th-century architecture and neighborhood folklore will be woven throughout. Questions and photography are encouraged throughout the walking tour! All tickets – $20. This is a private walking tour of the Anacostia neighborhood conducted by an authorized local historian. Wear walking shoes, total travel is 1.5 miles. Not ADA accessible. Metro: Anacostia (Green Line) / Free parking on site. TICKETS/INFO: tinyurl.com/april19-douglass-walk WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3

UPDATES ONLINE AT ICH.DC.GOV

Multilingual Summer Job Fair:

All full-time, 40 hrs/wk

3 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Reeves Center // 2000 14th St, NW More than 500 summer seasonal jobs available in Aquatics, Camps, Summer Meals, Roving Leaders and Operations.

Organized by The Department of Parks and Recreation, along with the Mayor’s Offices on African Affairs, Latino Affairs, and Asian & Pacific Islanders Affairs.

D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness Meetings Housing Solutions Committee April 3, 1:30 p.m. // TBD * Most likely 1800 MLK Jr. Ave. SE Full Council Meeting April 9, 2 p.m. // 441 4th St. NW *Committee schedules only.

For issue-focused working groups, contact ich.info@dc.gov.

Racial Equity Legislation: Hearing & Prep Sessions April 15, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

2907 MLK Ave SE April 18, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

3935 Benning Rd, NE Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie’s proposed Racial Equity Achieves Results Act will have its first hearing on April 25. Attend one of two upcoming prep sessions to learn about the legislation, discuss its strengths and weaknesses and develop testimony and talking points before the hearing.

INFO/RSVP: (202) 234-9119 x107

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

AUDIENCE EXCHANGE New Hope Housing @NewHopeHousing

Arthur Delaney

@ArthurDelaneyHP

Someone asked @streetsensedc if they should give to panhandlers. So the editors asked their vendors. Check out their responses.

....@streetsensedc has assembled a panel of experts on the question of panhandling and whether passersby should give — and it’s excellent.

10:15 AM - 28 MAR 2019

4:15 PM - 20 MAR 2019

A depiction of the region where the members of the Housing Leaders Group of Greater Washington aim to drasticly increase invetment in affordable housing.

COURTESY OF THE HOUSING LEADERS GROUP OF GREATER WASHINGTON

All commitments must go towards the construction or preservation of housing for households earning up to 120 percent of the area median income, a number set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development used to determine eligibility for housing assistance programs. For a family of four, 120 percent the AMI in 2018 was $140,650.

The Housing Leaders Group will not be collecting the funds themselves during the challenge. Instead, the group is trying to highlight and direct investors to existing projects in the region. They will track these commitments and provide the first progress update June 11 at the Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers’ annual meeting.

Follow more headlines at StreetSenseMedia.org/news

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NEWS

Residents in Ward 3 seek to understand homeless services

BY REGINALD BLACK Artist/Vendor

W

ard 3, home to American University, seems to be thriving. But in the midst of many middle- to high-income earners, there are people dealing with homelessness. Last month, the University of the District of Columbia hosted a panel to talk about homelessness in the most affluent ward in the city.

The community had received attention due to legal challenges from some residents in ANC 3C who opposed using a Ward 3 location for a new family shelter, one of seven that would replace D.C. General family shelter, which was closed last year. More recently, at a D.C. Council oversight hearing in February, residents of the Sedgwick Gardens apartment building in ANC 3F testified that low-income recipients of housing assistance were being “dumped” in their building, not receiving enough support, and sometimes endangering other residents. The Washington Post reported that the D.C. Department of Human Services responded to this testimony by assigning licensed social workers to the building in the evenings.

The UDC-hosted panel, proposed by commissioners from ANC 3B, was co-moderated by Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh and Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau.

“We can be the government that ends homelessness,” Nadeau said, setting the stage for the night’s conversation.

“There is not one solution, there are many solutions,” Cheh added.

Responding to a written question from the audience asking what can be done to house people who are on the streets, Nadeau called for “more places like La Casa.” La Casa was once a low-barrier shelter in the Columbia Heights neighborhood made up of several trailers. In 2014, several years after its closure, the site was converted into permanent supportive housing for about 40 men.

Larry Handerhan, representing the D.C. Department of Human Services, gave the audience a rundown of services that DHS provides for people experiencing homelessness. “The work to end homelessness is a priority of the mayor and what we come to work every day to do,” he said. “We want people to live in the community and use the choices they have.”

Jean-Michel Giraud, executive director of Friendship Place, spoke of programs offered by his organization. He said the solutions to homelessness are economic and advocated for more job placement and soft skills training programs, which Friendship Place provides. He said homeless people don’t have time to wait for jobs and no one can make a difference alone.

“If you look back, you got a hot and a cot,” he said, speaking of former days. “Then, with services and housing, came a number of conditions. We opened up the doors, we made it more humane.”

Jesse Rabinowitz, representing The Way Home Campaign and Miriam’s Kitchen, which provides meals and case management for people experiencing homelessness, said, “We don’t want to manage homelessness, we want to end it.” He said that 41,000 people experience homelessness in the District and 16,414 of those people experience chronic homelessness.

He added that the average age of those people is 55 and their life expectancy is cut short, to an average age of 62. Rabinowitz shared that clients at Miriam’s Kitchen include people who are working and some who take classes at the University of the District of Columbia.

Rabinowitz said, “Most people want to belong to a community,” and went on to explain the idea behind creating permanent supportive housing. “Everybody is housingready. Research shows when we put people in housing, then everything will come.”

Jean Michele-Giraud, Waldon Adams, Jesse Rabinowitz, Larry Handerhan and Mary Cheh. Not pictured, Brianne Nadeau stands at a podium to the right. PHOTO BY REGINALD BLACK, ARTIST/VENDOR

Cheh said that these incidents cannot be used as reasons to discriminate against low-income tenants.

Beyond the situation at Sedgwick Gardens, Cheh went on to describe several predatory situations low-income tenants are vulnerable to. She worried that some apartment owners are letting their units run down until they become uninhabitable. When people clear out because of the poor conditions, the owners are free to do what they will with the properties, Cheh said.

Some bad acting property owners have been exploiting a loophole to get around rent control: they make rent-controlled units available to voucher holders, whose benefits pay more than rent control would normally allow. Then, when the voucher holder moves, the apartment can be rented to the next tenant at the higher rate.

“This, I believe — and I’m worried about it — is a strategy to convert rent-controlled units to market rate apartments,” Cheh said, urging residents to pay attention and not brush discrimination concerns to one side, either.

It remains to be seen just what path the conversation in Ward 3 will take regarding homelessness and permanent supportive housing. Cheh stressed the importance of continued dialogue among residents.

The panel also featured Waldon Adams, a peer specialist with Pathways to Housing D.C., who is formerly homeless. “I was one of the first housing first participants,” Adams said. “By the time I came to Friendship Place I was really sick. I’ve been to every psych ward in the city. It cost more to keep me in the psych ward for six months than to have me housed for three years.”

Adams said life has gotten a lot better for him and housing saved his life.

Stressing the importance of permanent supportive housing, which is what Adams benefited from, Rabinowitz said there is often tension between voucher holders and A Weekly Social Justice Conversation Series existing residents, who do not receive rent subsidies, when they begin sharing a building.

He suggested this discomfort stems from racial differences or differences in economic status.

Councilmember Cheh acknowledged constituent complaints about Sedgwick Gardens, and said that she has visited the Connecticut Avenue building. Cheh said voucher holders occupy approximately We are so excited to have organizers from the DC chapter of the Poor half of the 140 units, which is People’s Campaign to teach us about the platform and principles of an unusually large number. the campaign, as well as give some background on the poverty tours Fifty percent of the rentsubsidized residents of they are about to embark on this spring.

Sedgwick Gardens receive "The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival federal housing vouchers through the D.C. Housing is uniting tens of thousands of people across the country to Authority and the others challenge the evils of systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, are provided with vouchers ecological devastation and the nation’s distorted morality." by the D.C. Department of Human Services. The housing authority operates independently of the mayor’s ad min is tr atio n , b u t tw o bills introduced at a Feb. 5 legislative meeting may The Epiphany Power Hour is a weekly series of free lunchtime change that.

“The number of calls for conversations focused on social justice issues, featuring leaders service by the police have with actionable ideas for shifting the balance of power in our increased way up,” Cheh said. community. Refreshments provided.

“And the incidents that have occurred, from barricading an THE CHURCH OF THE EPIPHANY • 1317 G ST. NW • METRO CENTER: 13TH ST. EXIT apartment to actual criminal activity, are not to be pushed to one side.”

THE EPIPHANY POWER HOUR

THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 12:10 PM-1:00 PM

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

// 5

Hollywood’s Emilio Estevez visits Cleveland Park Library for a sneak peek at his new film about how librarians are help the homeless community BY: GRACE COLLINS grace.collins@streetsensemedia.org

C

leveland Park’s iconic Uptown Theater has played host to plenty of movie premieres and Hollywood stars over the years. But Emilio Estevez, famous as a director and for his roles in movies such as “The Breakfast Club” and “The Outsiders,” switched up the script last week when he instead appeared at the Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library on March 26 for an early screening of “The Public.” Estevez wrote, directed, and starred in the film alongside Jena Malone, Alec Baldwin, and Christian Slater.

The story is set in a public library in Cincinnati that becomes the site of a peaceful sit-in by homeless patrons when the city is hit with bitterly cold winter storms and all the homeless shelters have reached maximum capacity.

The Cleveland Park event was one of about 30 free screenings held in recent weeks at public libraries across the country.

Estevez said he wanted to give the movie wide exposure to the audience he was trying to honor, including librarians and library patrons, before introducing the film to more mainstream Alicia Horton of Thrive D.C. discusses “The Public” with Emilio media. It will open in theaters nationwide on April 5.

Estevez at the Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library on March 26.

Roughly 200 people packed the library conference room, PHOTO COURTESY OF THE D.C. PUBLIC LIBRARY. with audience members, one of them At-Large Councilmember David Grosso, laughing and applauding during the screening. Tribune, one homeless audience member said at a screening, Afterward D.C. Public Library Executive Director Richard “A lot of people don’t pay attention to what we have to say.

Reyes-Gavilan introduced Estevez and Thrive D.C. Executive Thank you for educating people.”

Director Alicia Horton to discuss the film.

Estevez wanted “The Public” to be a tool to help viewers “start Estevez said he started working on this project around 2007 to check their bias when it comes to people on the street.” He after reading “Written Off,” a Los Angeles Times article by Chip altered the film to decrease its rating from R to PG-13 so that it Ward, the former assistant director of the Salt Lake City Public could be used more easily in schools, libraries, and church groups.

Library, about his experiences with mentally ill and homeless Though it took Estevez about 12 years to bring the project library patrons. Ward’s descriptions of to fruition, he ended up with a sense of librarians’ increasingly complicated roles “Libraries have always urgency to bring the story to the big screen. provided Estevez with the starting point for “Watching the news, I knew this was a welcomed people “The Public.” movie that had to get finished,” he said.

Making an independent film with a small longer this movie didn’t get made, who are experiencing “The budget meant balancing the commercial the more relevant it became.” needs of Hollywood, and telling a respectful homelessness into their In some ways, “The Public” comes across and authentic tale was on Estevez’s mind as a feel-good movie. However, Estevez buildings. We don’t throughout filming. He said he worked hard recognizes that advocacy does not always to avoid exploiting poverty and mental to a Hollywood ending. “We know it discriminate about who lead illness and peppered his film crew with doesn’t always end this way. More often questions such as “Are we glamorizing than not, it ends violently.” comes in or out.” this?” and “Are we getting out of our lane?”

Estevez drew inspiration for the movie’s Seeking authenticity, Estevez conducted depictions of activism largely from his father research by spending time in public libraries Martin Sheen’s own history with advocacy.

Jean Badalamenti and talking with patrons and librarians. “It’s Sheen was arrested in D.C. alongside activist that fine line between being a journalist and Mitch Snyder in 1987 after gaining entry to a vulture,” he said, explaining that he encountered some patrons the Farragut West Metrorail station entrance after hours. They who disliked his probing so much that they spit on him. Some were protesting Metro’s refusal to allow people experiencing of the stories he heard were heartbreaking, some hilarious. He homelessness to take shelter in the entryway after midnight, attempted to use that humor to humanize the characters in the according to a Washington Post report. On screen, Sheen narrated movie, and to make it more marketable. the 1988 documentary “Promises to Keep” and starred in the “The Public” has thus far been received positively by 1986 made-for-TV movie “Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Story,” librarians and homeless viewers alike. It sheds light on the both of which follow the efforts of Snyder and the Community for fact that many librarians have become de facto social workers, Creative Non-Violence to establish one of the country’s largest and dispels the myth that librarians sit and read all day. It also shelters, now located at 2nd and D streets NW. seeks to show viewers the importance of listening to the voices Estevez is hopeful that “The Public” can begin to change of people experiencing homelessness. According to the Chicago the way we think about homelessness. “We need to treat

homelessness as a situation, not a condition.”

In the District, the DCPL accepted its role as de facto day shelter with the creation of the Peer Outreach Program in 2014. The program, which is being piloted throughout D.C., trains workers to engage directly with patrons experiencing homelessness. It is funded by the same federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that funds other homeless service providers in the District, including Miriam’s Kitchen, Pathways to Housing, MBI Health Services, and Community Connections.

Jean Badalamenti — the Health and Human Services Coordinator for DCPL who oversees the Peer Outreach Program — was only the second social worker to be employed in a U.S. library when she was hired in 2014. She is responsible for systemwide initiatives to engage homeless patrons at all of DCPL’s branches.

According to Badalamenti, the Peer Outreach Program currently employs three specialists certified by the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health who are responsible for engaging one-on-one with homeless patrons. These workers are “peers” because they have each had past experience with homelessness. They help patrons obtain documentation such as non-driver IDs and birth certificates, direct them to local mental health services, and refer them to substance abuse support systems. The library’s peer workers have even helped place 10 people in permanent or transitional housing.

While the Peer Outreach Program does not document the number of homeless patrons it serves, Badalamenti said that tracking the number of workers’ engagements with homeless patrons helps the program to gauge its success. These interactions can include meeting new patrons, helping them to obtain IDs, connecting them to resources such as shelters, or helping them to receive benefits such as Medicaid. In February alone, the program documented 103 such engagements.

In the future, Badalamenti looks forward to the reopening of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library downtown and hopes to expand both the number of Peer Outreach Program workers and the number of opportunities specifically for homeless patrons. One ongoing program the library offers at multiple branches each month is “Coffee and Conversations,” which provides patrons with coffee and a safe space to socialize and discuss important issues.

Badalamenti was part of the crowd at the Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library that got a sneak peek at “The Public.”

“It was definitely a Hollywood movie,” she said with a laugh.

Even so, she described Estevez’s portrayal of public libraries as fairly accurate and said she appreciated that he showed the library’s homeless patrons taking agency and standing up for their rights in a peaceful way.

“Libraries have always welcomed people who are experiencing homelessness into their buildings,” Badalamenti said. “We don’t discriminate about who comes in or out.”

She sees DCPL as part of a larger movement of libraries around the country that are beginning to find even more ways to help.

According to the Chicago Tribune, there are now at least 30 library systems around the country that employ full-time social workers, including San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, and Brooklyn.

“People are here — let’s meet them here, and let’s help them,” Badalamenti said. “I feel like libraries want to be a part of that.”

This article was co-published with www.TheDCLine.org

NEWS

Children’s book facilitates discussion about how to help homeless people

BY GRACE COLLINS grace.collins@streetsensemedia.org

In his new children’s book, “I See You,” Michael Genhart tells the story of a woman experiencing homelessness and a young boy who is the only one who seems to notice her. The catch is that he tells the whole tale without writing a single word.

The story, told entirely through illustrations by artist Joanne Lew-Vriethoff, shows a little boy’s growing curiosity and concern for a local homeless woman he sees from his window every day. He watches the daily stigma and hardship she experiences over the course of a year as she sits at the bus stop.

Throughout most of the book, the woman is illustrated in black and white while the other smiling people who sit at cafes, APA BOOKS AND MAGINATION PRESS walk by with their shopping bags, paste advertisements for “Luxury Condos on Sale,” or wait for the bus are depicted in vibrant color. When people do take notice of the woman, it is to pinch their noses or to sweep her angrily off their doorstep.

Her humanity remains invisible. In the end, when the boy gives the woman his favorite blanket as a holiday gift, the bystanders finally take notice of her. The boy’s gift returns her color and her visibility to the rest of the world.

Genhart said he chose not to use narrative in the story because he “didn’t want to tell people what to think or feel.” Illustrations facilitate more questions and can spark a conversation in the classroom or between parents and children. The use of color shows the contrast between everyday life for many people and the isolation and invisibility felt by the woman experiencing homelessness.

The author is a licensed clinical psychologist who has written several children’s books about topics that can be difficult or uncomfortable for parents to broach, such as jealousy and LGBTQ pride. He chose to write about homelessness, he said, because it is a worldwide problem that he wanted to address the best way he knew how.

The compassion of children is a main focal point of the book. “I think it is human nature to care,” said Genhart. “But homelessness makes us uncomfortable, overwhelmed.

Whatever gestures we might want to make seem like they’re not enough, so why bother?”

However, like the little boy in the story, children tend to have questions and compassion about issues many adults have ceased to notice. His book shows that children notice and learn from everything, including the way some adults act fearful of or indifferent towards the homeless.

“I think kids are not afraid,” said Genhart. “As adults, we shouldn’t teach them fear.”

Instead of fear, Genhart’s book seeks to teach kids curiosity and empathy. In the back of the book is information and advice for adults about how to broach the subject of homelessness with their children, and how to answer their many questions in a way that fosters compassion and understanding for the people experiencing it.

There is also information about how to help people who are homeless, such as by preparing small care packages with snacks and hygiene products that can be kept in pockets. According to Genhart the book has already been used in classrooms as well as by parents, and he has received “super positive reactions.” According to one parent, the book cover caught the eye of her three-year-old son and led to a discussion about some of the hardships faced by people experiencing homelessness. A fifth-grade student wrote in a letter that she liked the book “because it gives a message to the world that everyone’s the same even if you are poor, rich, Spanish, American, Muslim, black, white or homeless.” Many other readers were inspired to recreate the care packages from the book’s instructions, or to design their own projects.

By including information for both children and adults, Genhart said he “really wanted to start a conversation in a natural way.” He suggested that parents follow their child’s lead when deciding when or how to begin talking about homelessness, and to give ageappropriate, honest answers like the ones in the back of his book. Parents should "address both the content and feeling of the question,” said Genhart. The narrative and morality of the story may be sufficient for younger readers, but older children might benefit from discussing homelessness in their own city using resources from the back of the book.

Genhart noted that adults are likely to learn as much from his book as their children.

Children’s questions can lead to reflection and further research, and their desire to help can rub off on parents and teachers. Ultimately, adults can relearn to acknowledge and feel compassion for the homeless, even if this just means saying “hi.” “I will consider this book a success if it was able to build a conversation,” said Genhart.

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// 7

OUR COMMUNITY

The DC government is still finalizing a list of qualified developers before exercising new powers to preserve affordable housing under a decade-old law

BY NOAH TELERSKI noah.telerski@streetsensemedia.org

W

hile there is more rental housing in the District of Columbia today than a decade ago, the share of units available for less than $1,000 per month has shrunk from 69 percent to 34 percent. As the D.C. government works to preserve and grow the city’s affordable housing stock, officials have a new tool, as of late last year, to help reach those goals. The District Opportunity to Purchase Act, introduced by then-Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry, became law in 2008 — but nearly a decade passed before city officials put into place regulations enabling its use.

DOPA allows the city to purchase properties with five or more units if at least a quarter of the apartments are affordable for people making less than 50 percent of the area median income, a number set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that is used to determine eligibility for housing assistance programs.

The law does not apply to homeowners renting out single units such as basement apartments, or to small landlords with buildings of up to four units. D.C. housing officials are finalizing a list of qualified developers who can exercise the government’s purchase rights if and when the District opts to invoke the law — which enables the purchase of a residential building before it hits the private market if the tenants choose not to exercise their own rights to purchase it.

The city can also use DOPA to target “at-risk” affordable properties, including those with elderly and disabled tenants or a high number of family-sized units. The law’s criteria make it more likely that the city will opt to acquire a property if it is located in a neighborhood where average housing costs are above fair market rent, a number set by HUD to determine the value of housing vouchers. The average fair market rent for a twobedroom apartment in the D.C. metro area is currently $1,655.

The city can use DOPA only after the tenants of a property have had a chance to exercise their right to purchase under the existing Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which dates to the 1970s. While the two processes will run concurrently, when a property is offered for sale, the city’s DOPA claims are always secondary to the tenants’ rights under TOPA.

Ana Van Balen, affordable housing preservation officer at the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development, described DOPA as a unique tool that complements existing means of preservation, like TOPA. “This is an exciting time to be working on affordable housing in the District,” Van Balen said.

“Other jurisdictions are looking to us in this effort.”

DHCD issued its first set of proposed regulations in December 2017, followed by revised rules last June with significant edits in response to public comments. The regulations defined what constitutes affordable housing and how the DOPA timeline would run concurrently with TOPA. The rules also outline the city’s ability to assign purchase rights to a private, qualified developer, letting developers purchase a property if the city decides it wants to preserve the property but not acquire it directly.

Only pre-qualified developers will be eligible to bid on DHCD projects when the department receives a DOPA notice and determines that the property qualifies for preservation. DHCD released an initial request for qualifications on Nov. 16, the same day it published the final DOPA regulations. Applications for pre-qualification were due Jan. 11 and the final list will be published on DHCD’s website once the review process is complete. Participating developers will be expected to maintain affordable rents after they purchase a property.

In February, at the request of the mayor, D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson introduced legislation that would amend DOPA’s definition of affordable to be “equal to or less than 30% of the annual income of a household with an income of 60% of the area median income.”

The present law specifies households with an income of 50 percent of the AMI, and the chief financial officer’s fiscal analysis notes that the “new affordability threshold could increase the number of housing accommodations eligible for purchase through DOPA.” That would not affect the availability of funding, however, since decisions on whether to invoke DOPA are discretionary.

Though the median annual income for a household of four was $117,200 in 2018, for Black families in the city it was $41,000, according to a report completed by the first appointed chair to the D.C. Commission on African-American Affairs.

The amendment was referred to the Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization, where it awaits committee review.

Implementation of DOPA through adoption of the longawaited regulations was one of six recommendations of the mayor’s Housing Preservation Strike Force in its 2016 report on how to preserve the city’s existing affordable housing stock. Creation of the Public-Private Affordable Housing Preservation Unit that Van Balen heads was another of the six recommendations.

Van Balen said DOPA is a unique tool that will work in conjunction with TOPA and the Housing Production Trust Fund to overcome obstacles to housing preservation in the District, such as evergrowing rental and construction costs. “In the next four years, we will have other good outcomes to look to,” Van Balen said. “We are excited to move forward and know DOPA will be a part of that.”

PRESENTATION SLIDE COURTESY OF THE D.C. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

This article was co-published with www.TheDCLine.org

Artist/Vendor Morgan Jones attended a lotion-making class at the Smithsonian with several Street Sense Media volunteers.

PHOTO BY ANN HERZOG

“Another step on Morgan’s soap-making journey: a great class at the African Art Museum. We all learned a lot. However, we made lotion instead of soap.”

BIRTHDAYS Marcus Green April 7 ARTIST/VENDOR

ACCOMPLISHMENTS Ibn Hipps

Hired for a new job!

ARTIST/VENDOR

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

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FEATURES

Uptown Saturday night at The Church of the Epiphany STORY BY ANGIE WHITEHURST, ARTIST/VENDOR & PHOTOS BY KEN MARTIN, VOLUNTEER

The Congressional Chorus “Jazz Hot!” performance on March 23 at Church of the Epiphany was unforgettable and exhilarating. The talent was outstanding and the show was only performed once more, the next day. It encompassed a broad history of jazz, which is such an important salute to African Americans’ contributions to the American genre of jazz.

The dance was beyond great, not contained to the stage but also moving throughout the aisles. And there was a mood in the air of a timeless era. It was sheer enjoyment.

Congressional Chorus breathed new life into classics like Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, The Ink Spots, Billie Holiday, and Louis Armstrong.

The chorus is multicultural as well as multitalented. The president, Natalie Grandison, is an African American and very prominent in the show. The choreographer, Davione Gordon, really hit the right chords and movements, capturing not just the steps, but the soul.

The conductor, David Simmons was awesome, watching him direct and lead the musicians, vocalists, and performers was a beautiful dance. The audience clearly loved the brocade jacket of white and blue swirls and beautiful shoes in the same colors.

The pianist, Chris Urquiaga, played clear, smooth, in-sync and flawlessly mellow. If he missed a beat, nary a soul felt it. He is most recently known for his Latin pop album “I’m Here.”

We left the performance wanting more, singing the tunes and dancing down the street.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the show,” said Ken Martin, a

Street Sense Media volunteer who went to the show with me. “The majority of the performances were exceedingly well polished. I found the most pleasurable parts to be the harmonic renderings of the Chamber Ensemble on ‘Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?’ and others; the resurrection of Billie Holiday with ‘God Bless the Child’ as performed by vocalist Donna Mitchell-Cox; and dancing in your seats in time with the beats of Fats Waller's ‘The Joint Is Jumpin’.’ These are but a few of the gems. This was a show like none other.

“It was as advertised: ‘Syncopated, Sophisticated and Sassy!” Martin quipped.

2019 marks the chorus’s 33rd anniversary and the first time ever they are taking one of their shows on the road to Georgia, Birmingham and Selma. In June, they will take audiences down the civil rights trail in “Let Justice Roll… from Montgomery to Selma to Birmingham,” using music to "shed light on the long and painful history of racial inequality in the United States," according to the group's website. This is a very respectable and beautiful way to recognize the value of all human beings. Some of the group’s shows are light-hearted, like “Jazz Hot!” But a big part of their mission is social justice. And I applaud them for their upcoming piece about the lynching museum down south and their efforts to recognize the hardship and struggle in our history to attain chainless freedom. It is even more important this year, which is the 400th anniversary of slaves arriving in Virginia. (Not to be confused with the start of the transatlantic slave trade, which stretches back much farther into history.)

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

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“I felt like I was drowning and now I can come up for air” How a Washington Post article and a public outpouring of support changed one homeless couple’s lives forever

BY AARON RAUBVOGEL aaron.raubvogel@streetsensemedia.org

M

onica Diaz, Pete Etheridge, and their dog Sassy were living on the streets for more than two years. Now, 12 days and one Washington Post cover story later, a GoFundMe page raised more than $40,000 from more than 700 strangers to ensure they will never be homeless again.

So much has changed in the past few weeks for them. Before, Monica worked full-time at a fast food restaurant, making less than half of minimum wage and working under-the-table. Every two weeks, Monica, Pete, and Sassy had to pack up their things and temporarily move in order to protect their belongings during the tent “cleanups” the District government does under several underpasses in the NoMa neighborhood and next to Union Station.

“I’d sort of lost sense of hope; you know by me being out there trying to get help from people that are around in my area and nobody would help,” Monica states. “I actually thought nobody cared” Monica and Pete’s journey out of homelessness began when Terrence McCoy, a reporter focused on poverty for the Washington Post, stopped by their tent and asked them some questions about their experiences being homeless. McCoy talked to Monica and Pete many times over the course of two weeks; he would show up and shadow their daily life for a couple of hours. Because he was there so often, he got to see the crux of their situation and how Monica tried to separate her work life from her personal life.

“She didn’t want people where she worked to know that she was homeless. It really shows the stigmatization of homelessness and poverty on the streets,” McCoy said. “No one wants to be associated with this non-person. She did not see herself as homeless, but everyone else did.”

The article begins with stories of how Monica’s old life was slowly stripped away through evictions and tent cleanups, where her valuables and IDs were thrown away by the city, contrary to its own protocols. A class-action lawsuit was filed last year against the city over property disposition during camp cleanups and is still making its way through the courts.

McCoy’s article ended with Monica’s emotional cry of, “Acknowledge us! We’re human beings! Please, just acknowledge us!”

And acknowledged she has been.

Within hours of the article’s publication online, McCoy started getting contacted about how to help Monica, Pete, and Sassy. So, he coordinated with Gabi Sevilla via Twitter, a close friend of Monica and Pete’s who he had met while shadowing the couple. After receiving several donations through Venmo, Sevilla set up a GoFundMe page to solicit public donations. The GoFundMe page has increased the goal from $2,000 to $20,000 and then again to $40,000 after lower amounts were met so easily. Sevilla initially met Monica and Pete after an encampment cleanup.

“She actually has done a lot for me,” Monica said. “She’s printed out resumes, she’s got me [and Pete] lifeline phones, she’s bought me clothing for interviews, food, dog food, shoes. Gabi has done a lot.”

Pete interjected,, “She’s the best one in the corner now. I trust her with my life.”

Sevilla, a Howard University Law student from Newark, New Jersey, has done so much for Monica and Pete that McCoy wrote a follow-up article for the Post, which may have contributed to the sustained popularity of the GoFundMe page.

Part of the reason Monica, Pete, and Sevilla have become so close is that Sevilla has been through a similar situation.

“I know what it’s like to not have family to support you, to not be a kid, to not have a childhood, just go from baby to adult,” Sevilla said. “I saw Monica and talked to her for maybe two or three seconds. I think one of the first things [Monica] said to me is that our dads came here from another country for a better life and look where we are, still struggling.”

Help did not come to Monica and Pete without personal feelings of shame, however. They were initially embarrassed by the idea of having their story published on the front page of one of the largest newspapers in the United States. But they overcame their fears and let McCoy into their lives because they felt it would better their situation.

“When [the story] came out, I’m going to be completely honest with you, I felt a little humiliated,” Monica said. “I felt like I had to humiliate myself to get help. But at the end of the day, I had to think about my family. If I had to humiliate myself, then, by all means, I’d do it” However, Monica and Pete are well on their way to finding permanent housing for themselves and Sassy. They have been approved for a Rapid Rehousing voucher from the Department of Human Services and they potentially could move into an apartment as early as April 3rd.

The reach of their story has astounded Monica, Pete, and Gabi too. Sevilla said she has gotten phone calls from as far as Puerto Rico and the Netherlands. Monica also noticed how she and Sassy have become public figures.

“I can walk down the street [and suddenly I’ll hear], ‘Hey Sassy!’” Monica said with a chuckle. “They don’t even say ‘hi’ to me, [Sassy]’s really popular. They’ll just be like, ‘Is that Sassy?’ Yes, that’s Sassy.”

Monica, Pete, and Gabi are happy that their story is increasing visibility about the homelessness crisis in D.C. and the United States, but feel that people need to recognize that homelessness has been a problem for decades.

“I used to always feel like I was always screaming in a tunnel about all the stuff I see every day, going to the encampment sweeps, my work at Washington Legal Clinic,” Sevilla said. “I would tell my classmates, write it in a group chat, and no one was listening. And now I think they are, so I’m not screaming in a tunnel anymore.”

Monica and Pete are grateful to everyone who supported them in the wake of the Washington Post article. They are planning on putting the money they raised in a trust and using it on rent for years to come.

“I want to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart for donating, this means the world to me. Without them, I don’t even know where I would be right now,” Monica states. “They took a whole bunch of weight off my shoulders because I felt like I was drowning and now I can come up for air.”

Monica and Pete holding copies of The Washington Post featuring their cover story. PHOTO COURTESY OF GABI SEVILLA

Preparing for a job interview.

PHTOTO COURTESY OF GABI SEVILLA

Monica feeding Sassy.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GABI SEVILLA

Gabi and Monica on Friday, March 29.

PHTOTO COURTESY OF GABI SEVILLA

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OPINION

This is what restorative justice looks like

BY BRIAN CAROME Brian Carome purchases a copy of Gerald Anderson’s book, which Gerald autographed for him after a third meeting to plot Gerald’s path back to working with our organization. PHOTO BY ERIC FALQUERO

The phrase “restorative justice” has been around for decades. It is the tried and true practice of using mediation between perpetrators and victims to ensure that enforcement of justice is not solely punitive, as is too often the case with our criminal justice system. But in my opinion, restorative justice is a somewhat catch-all phrase. Like other proponents of the practice, I agree that those who are fairly judged should neither automatically, nor forever, be stripped of their “right to return” to our community because they committed a violation of the community’s standards of right and wrong.

But to be successful, restorative justice must also provide tools to ensure success along the road back home.

In recent months, we have been struggling with the practice of restorative justice here at Street Sense Media. More than a few of our newspaper vendors and media artists arrive at our doors with blemished pasts – poor credit histories, including past bankruptcies and evictions; failures to successfully engage in treatment for illness, including addiction; criminal behavior and incarceration(s); or previous employment-termination for cause,

to name a few. Our policy – embedded by our founders in the DNA of the organization – is to welcome anyone seeking a path forward out of homelessness. We strive always to keep an open door to all.

At the same time, we aspire to maintain a strict Code of Conduct. It is the pact that binds the Street Sense Media community together. It is rooted in professionalism and common decency. It is meant to be respected between vendor and vendor, vendor and staff, and vendor and customer – current and prospective. It is our community standard of right and wrong. It encourages us towards behavior and practice that is best.

Our Code of Conduct is meaningless if we do not enforce it. Sometimes, enforcement is hard, even painful. Such is the case with vendor Gerald Anderson. Gerald is one of our very best vendors. His artistic talent, as a writer and oral storyteller, is of the highest quality. If you know him, and I have the privilege to know him just a bit, you have felt the power of his charismatic presence.

On March 21, following a judgment that he had violated our Code of Conduct, Gerald

was terminated as a vendor. As a result, he was stripped of his privilege to write for or distribute our newspaper. That could have been the end of this story, but it’s not – far from it.

At Street Sense Media, we believe passionately in restorative justice. Therefore, Gerald has the right to return, the right to reclaim his place in our community. In the hours after our staff and I reached the conclusion that a termination was in order, we hammered out a plan, meant to ensure that the hard-won stability Gerald had earned would not get stripped away when he surrendered his badge and vest – the tools he needs to purchase our paper wholesale and vend it to our readers. We helped pay his April rent. We bought a stack of his books on Amazon.com so he could sell them to his regular newspaper customers. We worked to give him the chance to earn money, to afford basic sustenance and to maintain the daily routines that keep him on the path away from reincarceration.

In short, we put our wallet where our ideals were. Next, we pledged to quickly identify a training opportunity to address and remediate the behavior that led to his

termination. Successful completion of that program guarantees Gerald’s return to our community, with full privileges. We then found a donor willing to pay for this new beta project to address Code of Conduct violations by vendor artists who are otherwise moving forward in life. And lastly, with this article, we are telling others what we have done because we believe it is a practice worth replicating.

Moving forward, our commitment to changing the story of homelessness via progressive policies and programs will take many forms . We will make investments in systemic advocacy and community organizing, and hire onto our paid staff former vendors or other poverty alleviation experts. Our aim: to build capacity around systemic advocacy and community organizing.

Our goal: to pay more and better attention to the front doors, and barriers to the back door, that lead into and out of homelessness. Why? We are on a mission to end chronic homelessness.

Brian Carome has served as Executive Director of Street Sense Media since 2011. He has worked at organizations committed to ending homelessness since 1985, in Washington, DC, and Fairfax and Arlington Counties in Virginia.

How do we keep workers afloat as more jobs are lost to robots?

BY STEVE LILIENTHAL

If you’re thinking of getting a food delivery job, FedEx has some sobering news for you.

The delivery service is exploring the use of fleets of drones and “bots” to deliver products. According to the Washington Post, the pursuit of economy and speed is leading FedEx to consider such new technologies, presumably at the expense of the regular workforce that does not have high-level skills.

And FedEx is not alone. UPS, Amazon and Google are thinking along similar lines.

Darn. There goes another way to earn money. The late American labor leader Walter Reuther foresaw this in the 1950s. An automobile company executive, when showing his company’s new machines, noted that the machinery did not pay union dues. Reuther questioned whether the workers displaced by the machines could afford to purchase new cars.

Decades later, the prospects for many American workers are not bright at all. Automation is already leaving many people unable to afford decent housing, medical care and education.

Estimates vary on the impact of robotics and artificial intelligence, but most are pessimistic. And the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) concludes that low-skilled workers are the most likely to suffer adverse consequences.

Here’s an example: Every week, when I enter a huge federal complex for meetings, I am confronted with not only security guards conducting security checks for weapons but also a person directing visitors to people who check IDs and produce stick-on badges. There are almost always more badge makers than needed. I could imagine a machine that scans

your driver’s license, matches the picture with your face on its camera, then automatically prints out an ID badge. But were those jobs automated, those badge-makers would lose their government benefits and likely suffer adverse physical and emotional impacts from unemployment. From that perspective, their salaries seem well worth paying.

So what are we to do about these low-skilled workers? The OECD report indicates that they will need retraining. But even if advanced industrial countries manage to train future generations to succeed in this new world of increased automation, the reality is that many people today could easily be left behind due to their lack of knowledge, skills and affluence.

Such people are already visible when one walks down the streets of large American cities. As our own country’s politics become more polarized and unsettled, American citizens and policymakers often yearn for the post-World War II economy when our country was the world’s economic leader in comparison to war-ravaged Europe and Asia.

But that period is gone. Can America now ensure a stable position for people who are unable to develop the skills needed to thrive in an advanced skill economy?

Here are some possible ways to help displaced workers through community service subsidized by the government: Many elderly people choose to remain in their homes instead of being warehoused in expensive nursing homes.

Workers could perform errands for them. Such a strategy could ensure people still can perform meaningful work and have a valued place in the community, even if this means ignoring technological advances.

Many urban neighborhoods lack access to fresh produce. Why not turn more unused land into community gardens and pay people to maintain them? Not only does it provide work, but it also helps deliver a needed product that could promote healthier food options. Governments could even pay someone to read to the workers to make their task less monotonous: a tactic tried

by Cuba during the 19th century.

Such programs would likely be controversial. In the 1970s, the Nixon administration’s Family Assistance Program proposed a guaranteed annual income of $1,600 for a fourperson family. Participants would need to receive job training or take employment. The idea was to assist all families rather than only fatherless households.

Although the plan was well received at first, politicians soon nicked it to death, with conservatives in Congress and the administration opposing the measure that stood to increase people on public assistance. At the same time, the National Welfare Rights Organization and some liberals argued that the minimum annual income should have been far greater. Although Nixon’s proposal languished, newly-elected Congressional representatives and other politicians are again discussing guaranteed income.

There are no easy answers to the thorny problem of displaced workers. It remains to be seen whether America’s political leaders can break from the politics of today, which is driven by unreflective partisanship, to start thinking about policies that could truly ensure a better tomorrow for low-skilled workers.

Stephen Lilienthal is a freelance writer who lives in D.C.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

Arlington’s first step toward more affordable housing

BY SARAH TASCONE

Veterans are vulnerable to homelessness. At any given time, they represent 9 to 14 percent of the homeless population.

According to the Military Times, there was a sharp increase in 2017 in veteran homelessness for the first time in seven years.

President Barack Obama was successful at the federal level to curb the number of homeless veterans; after redistributing funds at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the number of homeless veterans fell from 75,000 homeless in 2010 to 40,000 in 2016.

But veteran homelessness must be addressed at the local level, too. Arlington County effectively eliminated the problem in 2016, after launching a 10-year plan to end homelessness in 2018. But the recent surge in veteran homelessness nationwide predicts a reversal of that success. And it’s not clear if Arlington is prepared.

Despite good intentions, Arlington has not been reaching

Conceptual image for illustrative purposes only.

COURTESY ARLINGTON COUNTY AND DCS DESIGN.

the goals for affordable housing set in its 2015 master plan.

The city will have to generate 585 units per year in order for 17.7 percent of housing to be guaranteed affordable by 2040.

In 2018 it was short by 70 units and in 2017, by 29.

Thankfully, the Arlington County Board unanimously approved a plan in February to redevelop American Legion Post 139 to include affordable housing for veterans. The timing couldn't be better.

Board President Christian Dorsey said the project, developed in partnership with the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, should be complete within a few years. In a related action, the board allocated a $5.79 million loan from Arlington’s Affordable Housing Investment fund to build it.

The plans for the project are impressive. The environmentallyfriendly high rise will include 160 affordable units, built on a

MOVING UP:

Best uses for your 2019 refund

BY ARTHUR JOHNSON

In the last edition , I discussed places in the District to have your taxes prepared for free. If you have filed your return and received a refund, the next question is what to do with that money. For many people, their tax refund is the largest one-time payment they will receive all year. Let’s look at some different options for using the cash.

• Emergency fund for shutdown/recession relief. The 35-day shutdown earlier this year demonstrated very clearly the need to have money set aside. Many of the fears during the last shutdown (people not receiving SNAP benefits, Section 8 payments not made, etc.) could recur—and be realized—at the end of September, when it is likely another shutdown could happen. Another possibility to prepare for is a recession. There is not consensus as to when a recession may occur, but some economists have suggested it could happen in the near future. If your job is vulnerable to layoffs or a major reduction in hours from a shutdown or recession, you will want to keep a substantial portion of your refund saved to keep you going for several months.

• Housing. If you are looking to move to another place, it is a good idea to use your refund to help pay for any deposit or fees required for a new apartment. Those costs could include the first and last month's rent, a security deposit or other fees.

• Credit. If your credit is in really bad shape (and if your credit score is below 600), then it would be a wise idea to invest some of your refund into rebuilding your credit. This can be accomplished by putting some of your money into a secured credit card. You can get one through Discover for only a minimum deposit of $200, or you can get a secured Visa or MasterCard issued by a bank for a minimum deposit of around $300. Try to stick to large, well-known banks such as Wells Fargo, US Bank, Citibank and Bank of America. While there are other lenders that are more aggressive with marketing secured credit cards, they may charge people with poor credit high interest rates and extra fees that make their cards much more expensive. Many of the banks I have listed charge a modest annual fee, have good reputations for customer service and also have branches so you can make payments and speak to someone in person. Your deposit will be returned after consistent payments over a period of time (usually around six months) so your money is not tied up long term.

• Debt repayment. You should immediately start negotiating with any creditors or collection agencies to try and settle your debt or, if possible, catch up on your payments. Ask that any agreements you reach be mailed to you in writing.

Hopefully these suggestions will help you map out a course to put most of your tax refund to good use and help put your future on a path to bring you closer to your goals. Any questions or comments can be sent to AJohnson@StreetSenseMedia.org.

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pedestrian-friendly campus within walking distance of Virginia Square Metro station. The current American Legion Post 139 will occupy the ground floor, expanded to include services for veterans. The units will be reserved for families and individuals earning from 60 to 80 percent of the area median income, guaranteed for 75 years. The design focuses on being nonintrusive, including a wall that shields houses from tenant’s headlights and green space that will be open to the neighborhood.

Although some residents at the public comments portion of the meeting were skeptical about issues like parking and quality-oflife, no one wanted to shut down the project. Hopefully APAH will work with the community to everyone’s satisfaction.

Arlington’s plan is a good first step in the fight for affordable housing. Washington, D.C. is gentrifying more intensely than any other American city, and Arlington is following close behind. Buildings are shooting up, cranes are common fixtures and roads are constantly being detoured due to construction. Development is not necessarily bad, and new neighbors shouldn’t be unwelcome. But we can’t deny that one demographic is benefiting at the expense of another. With the American Legion project, the Arlington County Board has demonstrated that this trend does not have to be an inevitability.

Sarah Tascone is a freelance writer and an Arlington resident who advocated in support of the American Legion redevelopment.

Democrats better watch out, or workers will vote Trump in 2020

BY JEFFERY MCNEIL

Today’s Democrats are making the same mistakes that politicians did in Atlantic City -- once a thriving tourist attraction with a boardwalk, beautiful vacation homes and white sandy beaches.

Democrats and Atlantic City’s leaders suffer from the same traits of unspeakable arrogance, denial and a refusal to pivot even when it’s suicidal not to.

While Las Vegas was built on a desert, Atlantic City had the advantage of being between New York City and Philadelphia. But politicians managed to turn it into an eyesore with rampant unemployment, drug addiction and crime.

The Democrats had similar advantages. From 1933 to 1970 they were the majority party. But in the late sixties the Democrats began alienating workers with liberation theology and third world identity politics. It’s been a failing strategy, but Democrats refuse to change course. Now they want capitalism abolished altogether.

While Atlantic City forgot who vacationed and gambled at their casinos, Democrats abandoned labor for late-term abortion, gender fluidity and climate change. Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama won because they appealed to blue collar interests — not esoteric stuff the Manhattan and California elite care about. The average mechanic or plumber don’t care what Alyssa Milano thinks about climate change.

Politics is about building coalitions. Do Democrats think Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Ilhan Omar expand the tent or narrow it to the few who share their ideological purity? President Donald Trump does appeals to the plumbers, carpenters and working stiffs that helped build America. He talks about revitalizing America -not using our tax dollars to build other nations that mock us.

Some on the left actually believe waving the American flag and wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat is white supremacy. What it really means is retreating from the global arena and focusing on our own affairs. A dollar spent on the Middle East is a dollar taken from domestic priorities. America is lagging behind in education, science and our bridges are falling apart. It’s time for other nations to be more self-reliant.

One thing I learned advocating for the homeless is that you can be utopian and idealistic, but sooner or later you need to be coherent and organized.

You need to build institutions to challenge the status quo.

Do Democrats believe the Green New Deal appeals to truck drivers, mechanics and longshoremen? Ask George Mcgovern, Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis if running on higher taxes, wealth redistribution and the government controlling control every aspect of your life appeals to the deer hunter in Pennsylvania, the construction worker on Staten Island or the auto worker in Michigan.

Democrats abandoned their formula. The only effective program is a good paying job. I want to keep what I make, and if there’s a problem in my community let the people in my community solve it. I’m not interested in having my hard-earned money distributed to people who refuse to take advantage of their opportunities. It’s my money and I want the power to control how I spend it.

It’s workers who were the Democratic party’s bread and butter and it’s workers who will get Donald Trump re-elected. Without the workers Democrats won’t win. Believe that.

Jeffery McNeil is a Street Sense Media artist and vendor. He also contriubtes to the Washington Examiner.

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ART Stranger Danger:

The Norfolk Experience, Finale

BY JET FLEGETTE Artist/Vendor

One of my favorite lines from the Grateful Dead song ”Truckin’” is “Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it's been.” But I will say that strange isn’t always a bad thing. And I have learned a lot on this journey.

Last time, I wrote about my encounter with Shelley and how I was assaulted with a wine bottle. The encounter gave me temporary amnesia but also lead to Shelley saving my life and me gaining a understanding of Shelley’s fragmented memory.

I know after being hit over the head that the next thing I should have done is go to the hospital. But that is the last thing I wanted to do. More than ever, I wanted to find out where Shelley belonged. And to do that, we had to get back to the library to her phone.

Once her phone was fully charged, I could see that one number kept calling her over and over again. I asked her who the number belonged to and she said it was her brother in-law, her late sister’s husband. I would soon learn that Shelley lost her father two months before she decided to get in her SUV and head to D.C. to find Sarah McLachlan. Sadly, over the years, Shelley has suffered a lot of loss — starting with her first husband. Then her older sister. Then her mother. Shelley’s brother in-law was the only family that she had left that seemed to care.

When I finally got in touch with her brother in-law and told him she was in D.C., he was surprised but relieved.

He said the next move would have been a missing person’s report if I hadn’t called. I tried to tell her brother in-law about the missing SUV, but Shelley told me if he found out what happened she would get in trouble.

Shelley kept changing her story about what happened to her vehicle. She finally said that two girls she met took the keys and went for a joy ride in her car. The story was so convoluted I didn’t know what to believe.

Whenever I could break away from Shelley, I had a chance to call and ask the brother-in-law, Jim, a few questions. I figured I probably already knew the answer to my first question. But I wanted to give Shelley the

benefit of doubt. So asked in all seriousness, did Shelley work with or know Sarah McLachlan?

Jim said Shelley tends to think she and Sarah McLachlan are buddies when she is off her meds, lithium.

He said she had been off her meds when she left their home and their 15-year-old Labrador unattended and disappeared to the city. Suddenly everything started to fall in place and I wanted nothing more than to protect Shelley and to get her back home.

Because of her mental state I was asked to accompany Shelley back home via a Greyhound bus. Her brother in-law told me that Shelley came into a lot of money and I would be well compensated once I made sure she was back in Norfolk safe and sound. I made it a point to tell Jim that I’m homeless and I can use the money, but I would help her get back if she didn’t have any money because she saved my life and she didn’t belong here. My mission was clear and I stuck by her side.

The next thing you know, we were on our way to Norfolk, VA, which surprised me because since becoming homeless I had become cagey and stand-offish. I did not trust anyone. Now here I was being the Good Samaritan and stepping into the unknown with my service dog Bella.

Once we arrived in Norfolk, I was immediately transported into the Twilight Zone or a strange Steven King novel. Just like that, I was told Shelley had two homes right next to each other: one was hers and the other belonged to her late dad. The lawyer representing her father’s estate did not allow Shelley in her father’s house since she had abandoned everything and run off to D.C. But Shelley had a cozy abode. And to be honest, it was nice to see her place existed.

For me, it was some place that was better than the

Since becoming homeless I had become cagey and stand-offish. I did not trust anyone. Now here I was being the Good Samaritan and stepping into the unknown with my service dog Bella.

Unity

My new job

BY DWAYNE BUTLER Artist/Vendor

BY DARLESHA JOYNER Artist/Vendor

I am excited to get fresh start to life. I started working at a retail chain where I process all of the products when they are delivered to the store. I have to put all the tags and security clips on the clothes. I also help customers while the store is open.

This is great for my children to see mommy go to work and make money. I enjoy what I’m doing, even though my feet

streets or shelter. She let me sleep in the guest room, and that’s when I really started to feel for Shelley. Aside from her owning every Steven King novel known to man, Shelley had something that spoke volumes: She was an award-winning first responder. That’s right, she was a bigtime EMT who started to unravel when she lost her sister.

While I stayed in Norfolk, Shelley showered me with gifts and gave me money to the point of me being uncomfortable.

I was no nurse and Norfolk was not my home. It was nice to sleep in a bed and to have a good meal, but the fact remained that I was a stranger that could be in danger from the very person I just helped.

Remember the fables about the snake or the scorpion, and the frog that helped? Turns out I was the frog. But let me make it clear mental illness and homelessness are no joke.

While sleeping in Shelley’s house in her guest bed, I awoke one night to this strange humming. I got up to go see what was happening, and in the process I startled Shelley awake. Just like that, she forgot who I was and pulled a knife out on me, thinking I broke in.

I call Jim to remind her who I am and she calmed down. From that point on, I helped as much as I could but I had to get back to D.C. and back to being homeless, and back to getting the help I needed.

Have I heard from Shelley since March of last year?

Yes. She left Norfolk again in July of 2018 to look for me.

But by then I had met my now partner and I was excited about working for this paper, and, to my knowledge, she never found her SUV. I dedicate this story to Shelley and hope that she is safe. I’m happy that, for a time, I helped a stranger stay away from danger. As for me, I no longer panhandle. I write and I’m a vendor for this wonderful media center.

are hurting by the end of it.

I’m enjoying my new apartment, too. It has a washer, a dryer and a balcony. My son has his own room, and enough space to run around!

Life is really turning around, despite my mental health and being born HIV positive.

Anything is possible.

I recently saw three people jump on one man because ILLUSTRATION BY CHON GOTTI, ARTIST/VENDOR he accidentally bumped into one of them. I think it is incredibly stupid to fight with a person over an accident. People come together for many reasons.

Those can be either bad, e.g., for destroying other people or their possessions, or good, e.g., to help feed and clothe those who need it. I hope one day soon people will unite to help and not destroy. Not like what I witnessed.

We have to change and be better and above that type of behavior. We have to stop the hating and the blaming because it leads to a downward spiral for all.

People have to learn to love, care for, and help one another for positive common causes. We must come together for real justice. We must work to create peace.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

Water Wings

BY WILLIE SCHATZ // Artist-in-Residence

White, Yellow or Black

Goggles on mouth agape cravat askew feet flying black-suited Icarus sprints toward takeoff where the sun-parched sand and its ocean-kissed other half convene.

BY LATICIA BROCK, A.K.A. “PWEEZY” Artist/Vendor

I feel like my homeless community is in danger when we get locked up for getting food from a stranger

Unaware of the fate of the first to fly and that wings alone are not enough to escape gravity’s iron grip he trusts the quest for justice will propel him aloft.

Officer, I feel helpless You with your big gun I feel bad enough being called every name under the sun You think I’m going to settle For a wool blanket and a sandwich I want a job So, I can express my good manners

Soar, then, devil-may-care into the heat of the sun and land alone somewhere out there.

We are always the ones Always getting attacked Love your neighbors, White, Yellow, or Black.

Fed-bound: #44637007

Willie Schatz is the artist-in-residence who facilitates our weekly writers workshop and a similar group at the nonprofit Charlie’s Place. He was recently recognized as the top poet to enter the Rehoboth Reads contest this year, forhis poem “Water Wings.” All submissions had to evoke the feeling of being at the Lewes-Fenwick Island beaches. Congratulations, Willie!

BY MARCUS MCCALL //Artist/Vendor

Attention, readers! I’m in a work program for six months and asking for you to please write to me to send me your best advice.

I work outside on the donation line for Salvation Army from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sometimes, 10 to 6. I’ve been here since January to work on addiction recovery. Since I turned 18, I’ve been through many programs. Now, I’m back in recovery and trying to get it right one more time.

Ninety meetings in 90 days is not as easy as it sounds.

But I’m working at it and addressing my issues with addiction. I’m only human, with a lot of problems. Many have to do with mental health. Most of them are with depression because of my upbringing as a child. I dwell on the past even though I know I shouldn’t. I’ve been working so hard on trying to let go.

Now, judge me if you want. But I live every day with a lot of hate on my heart. The only way I can really release some stress is by writing to tell my Street Sense Media family what’s on my mind. I stay in my head. I like to call it deep thought.

But the pressure isn’t just psychological, it’s financial. I know

// 13

if I return to do what I know how to do best, MPD will have their hands full. A little monster like me, with as quick an “on” and “off" button like I’ve got — it’s easy for me to go rob a couple of people just to make my pockets right. If I return to what I know, selling good drugs, I will be PAID like no other.

And if I keep trying to play good boy, I will remain broke.

I discovered this principle of my life a long time ago as a child, that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I don’t really understand myself. I’m still searching, 100%. Only facts. So, as I work to find my way, and complete this program like my PO told me to, I’m asking for your advice.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”

— Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Marcus invites you to send an e-mail to marcus.mccall16@gmail. com or a letter to 3304 Kenilworth Ave, Salvation Army A.R.C., Hyattsville, MD 20781-1011.

There buen not of war’s distresses save for what I geyt oo ma clothes.

BY FRANKLIN STERLING Artist/Vendor

After early Ezra

1 4 // ST REET SEN S E ME DI A / /

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FUN & GAMES

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-- Steven Wright

4 9 Staying in the process 6 4 7 3 Super-Tough Sudoku by KrazyDad, Volume 1, Book 1 Sudoku #2 9 8 7 3 4 9 1 2 7 8 6 55 3 3 4 6 9 Everything I work on starts and ends with prayer.

And especially now, I would like to acknowledge 3 6 5 9 1 3 4 my Muslim brothers and sisters in New Zealand 6 1 4 7 1 8 3 6 9 4 with a prayer.

5 2 9 7 4 3 1 For me, I’ve prayed for housing, another wife, 1 5 9 3 2 and a financial breakthrough, just to name a few.

8 3 4 2 8 5 7 6 There are always steps to take, more prayers to 6 699 7 4 2 8 6 7 say, and networking and researching to accomplish.

4 2 1 8 9 You have to be faithful. But you also have to take responsibility for yourself and what you are capable 2 1 3 6 54 4 2 7 of. I plan on going back to work and am looking for

BY MARCUS GREEN

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5 1 3 7 3 2 9 6 9 6 1 3 LAST EDITION’S 6 8 7 9 PUZZLE 7 4 2 5 SOLUTION >>

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opportunities that include on-the-job training so that I can become even more capable.

Most of all, stay out of your own way and don’t block your blessings. Being a veteran helped me move to the top of the list for housing, and now I’m apartment hunting!

You’ve got to stick with the processes in your life and always try to move forward — things will work out.

Thanks for your support. Be blessed.

Adversity builds character

BY REGINALD DENNY // Artist/Vendor

Spring is in the air, but I really don't care. Even though it's nice, sunny, and dry.

We'll still find something to complain about. We’ll complain and bicker and cry, which only results in making us sicker.

What is it about the human mind that it so often gravitates to a place of discontent? It baffles me to the point of disbelief that one can't get to the space of just being grateful for what we got. We've come through dangers seen and unseen and we're still here! Trials, tribulations, perils, and the sword all come to make us stronger.

Remember, life's experiences are but for a season. Embrace the moment!

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

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 2114 14th St., NW marthastable.org

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

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

Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

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

D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 202-347-8870 // 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW dccfh.org

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOTLINE Línea de salud del comportamiento

1-800-799-7233

Housing/Shelter Vivienda/alojamiento

1-888-793-4357 Laundry Lavandería

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

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

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

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

New York Avenue Shelter // 202-832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave., NE

JOB BOARD Behavioral Health Receptionist Community of Hope // 4 Atlantic St, SW Full-time with benefits This position answers telephones; checks patients in; ensures all patient forms are completed; collects payments; ensures patients have a positive experience.

REQUIRED: High school diploma or GED, minimum of one-year experience as a Medical Receptionist, computer skills.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/health-receptionist

Warehouse Packer/Crater Central Intelligence Agency // McLean, VA Full-time with benefits This position packs, docks and manages inventory. REQUIRED: High school diploma or GED, 6 months work experience as a warehouse packer, ability to lift to 70 lbs.

Metro accessible location.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/warehousepacker

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

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

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

Unity Health Care // 202-745-4300 3020 14th St., NW unityhealthcare.org

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

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

My Sister’s Place // 202-529-5991 (24-hr hotline) mysistersplacedc.org

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

// 15

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

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

Unit Clerk MedStar Health // Washington, DC Full-time with benefits This position preforms clerical service; attends staff meetings; assist with the training of new nursing staff; prepares records and maintains charts. REQUIRED: High school diploma or GED, CPR card, 6 months of health service experience, computer competency.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/unit-clerk

Advocate I/II N Street Village // Washington, DC Full-time position with benefits This position responds to client needs; creates incident reports; handles case plans; plans group outings and activities.

REQURIED: High school diploma or GED, experience working with vulnerable populations, crisis management skills, computer know-how.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/advocate-dc

Express Team Member Target // 7828 Georgia Ave NW Full or Part-time with benefits This position performs store duties such as cashiering; stocking; presentation and price accuracy; guest service.

REQUIRED: Ability to handle cash register operations and lift to 40 lbs.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/target-member

Hiring? Send your job postings to editor@StreetSenseMedia.org

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Spring means flowers, butt erfl ies and wom en wearing sundresses. It means I can wear shorts if I want to feel cool. And the bees are busy making the honey I love to eat, especially on my deli ciou s butt erm ilk biscuits. Spring brings beauty to the city!

—Anthony Carney, Artist/Vendor

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Welcome to Spring

BY JACKIE TURNER // Artist/Vendor

The spring is like taking off the heavy and putting on the light. The world is brighter. The days last longer. No worries about either the cold or the snow. You love the wind because it moves things around that were stuck. Little by little, it blows them away. Spring is nature cleaning house.

Then the best parts: the flowers start to grow and the wonderful colors start to show. When those colors come and the air warms, so do peoples' spirits. That gives them the idea that they made it through and something better is coming.

Spring is beginning!

Sp rin gti me me an s no mo re Arcti c wi nd s an d mo re wa rm we ath er !

It wi ll be ea sie r to ge t to pla ce s tha t he lp ho me les s pe op le lik e me .

Wa rm ha nd s.

Ha pp y fac es .

—Ibn Hipps, Artist/Vendor

ILLUSTRATION BY CHON GOTTI // ARTIST/VENDOR

Thank you for reading Street Sense!

Healing the soul

BY ANTHONY CARNEY // Artist/Vendor

From your vendor APRIL 3 - 16, 2019 | VOLUME 16 ISSUE 11

WWW.INSP.NGO

PHOTO BY ANTHONY CARNEY, ARTIST/VENDOR

Go-Go music is the heart of D.C. It is our homegrown style. Actually, it's even more that: it is home. We are also the home of the godfather of go-go, Chuck Brown, where the day celebrating his life is held annually in Chuck Brown Memorial Park in Northeast.

That's why I enjoyed hearing Spread Love Band play at the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station on March 15. The New Orleans-style street band has four trombonists and one drummer. The group plays all around town. According to a 2015 Washington Post article, its favorite spots are outside the Farragut North Metro and 15th Street and New York Avenue, NW. At the time, the Post described the band's volume as having "earned the enmity of employees at two major Washington institutions: the Treasury Department and the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom."

As I watched and listened, I noticed the homeless people who make that Metro entrance their regular hangout really enjoying the music. This is so important. Homelessness is very stressful. Lots of times you don't know where you are going to sleep or how you're going to meet your basic needs.

But music heals the soul and the spirit. So, thank you, Spread Love Band, for making life a little easier for the homeless community that day.

u

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