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Volume 13: Issue 11 April 6 -19, 2016

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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.

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Margaret Chapman, Max Gaujean, Margaret Jenny, Robyn Kerr, Jennifer Park, Reed Sandridge, Jeremy Scott, John Senn, Kate Sheppard, Annika Toenniessen, Martin Totaro, 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, Zachary Caplette, Joseph Doyle, Abby Hershberger WRITERS GROUP LEADERS Donna Daniels, Susan Orlins, Willie Shatz 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, Leonie Peterkin, 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, 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 April 6 - 19, 2016

$13 Billion Emergency Relief Bill Introduced to End Homelessness The Ending Homelessness Act of 2016, introduced to Congress on March 23 by Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), represents legislation that would be the most significant federal response to homelessness since The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987.

“Homelessness in many parts of America has reached crisis proportions,” Waters wrote in the bill’s executive summary. The proposed act is designed as an emergency relief bill, which Waters compared to the Hurricane Katrina emergency relief funding bills of 2005 and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

The legislation would provide additional funding to programs that are already in place and have proven successful, such as Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and the National Housing Trust Fund. In addition to increasing access to affordable housing, the resources provided by the bill would focus funding on outreach work to connect people to the services they need.

Additionally, funding would be provided to improve the technology infrastructure to support the outreach programs.

Representative Waters’ legislation would provide a total of $13.27 billion over five years to bolster theseDepartment of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs.

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance grants would receive an additional $5 billion to create 85,000 units of affordable housing. Under this part of the Act, McKinney-Vento’s funding formula would be revised so that funding is distributed more accurately to communities based on need. Government and nonprofit service

YES!

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NEWS IN BRIEF providers who receive the grants would have to allocate 75 percent of the funds towards permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless people until the until those providers can certify that they have functionally ended chronic homelessness.

The Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) program would receive an additional $2.5 billion to provide 295,000 – 300,000 housing vouchers, giving preference to those who are homeless or at risk of being homeless. This section of the act also includes an increase of administrative fees (up to 10 percent in some cases) to public housing agencies, to ensure there is sufficient capacity in place to help homeless families.

Outreach funding totaling in $500 million would be competitively distributed to provide case management and social services for homeless or formerly homeless persons.

Another $20 million would be allocated towards HUD’s Healthcare and Housing (H2) Systems Integration Initiative to expand its ability to provide technical assistance to help state and local governments coordinate their healthcare and housing initiatives.

In addition to these influxes, a permanent $1.05 billion of mandatory spending would be appropriated for the National Housing Trust Fund, creating approximately 25,000 new units in the first five years. These units would be affordable to extremely low-income households, charging tenants no more than 30 percent of their gross incomes.

The Ending Homelessness Act of 2016 has been referred to the Committee on Financial Services as well as the Committee on the Budget for review and markup. It is too recent to appear on the public schedule of either committee. If the bill makes it through the committes, it would still need to be voted on by both the House and the Senate.

“It is all too common to hear Members on both sides of the aisle express their concerns about the homeless, but it takes more than sympathy to address this issue; it takes robust resources,” Waters said. “It is simply shameful that there are nearly 600,000 homeless people living on the streets in the richest country in the world, but this is not an insurmountable problem.”

—Desmond Austin-Miller

Report Highlights Solutions to Rental Crisis Eleven million families are struggling to pay their rent nationwide, according to a new report published by the Make Room campaign. The coalition of policymakers, nonprofit organizations and advocates recently released a list of 12 policy and statistically driven reasons for a more intelligent and fair housing policy in the United States.

The report argues that housing policy should seek to benefit those in the lower and mid-ranges of America’s income brackets. According to the campaign, policy tools already in place such as Section 8 rental assistance vouchers and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits could

bkeep Low-Income families adequately housed, if they were adequately funded.

A recent study from HUD found that families leaving homeless shelters with Section 8 vouchers were more than twice as likely to remain stably housed and avoid foster care placements compared to families leaving shelters without vouchers.

Federal spending on rental assistance has decreased in recent years, while the number of low-income renters has continued to rise. Make Room reports, “only 23 percent of households who are eligible for federal rental assistance actually receive it, leading to decade-long waiting lists and lotteries for rare openings.”

Make Room suggests it is crucial to simultaneously create more balanced policies and begin tackling some of the systemic problems of concentrated poverty. “In order for families to remain stably housed in a decent neighborhood, they need to earn an income that reflects the actual cost of living in that community.”

Related research published in 2015 by the National Low-Income Housing Coalition supports this conclusion. “In no state can a person working full-time at minimum wage afford a one-bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent.”

—Desmond Austin-Miller

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BELOW: Brook Hill, a Georgetown law student, presented his paper “How to Retain Affordable Housing and Character of Place” at the second annual Dick Wolf Memorial Lecture, organized by the Capitol HIll Restoration Society. | PHOTO COURTESY OF CAPITOL HILL RESTORATION SOCIETY

Dick Wolf Memorial Lecture Continues Public Housing Debate

By Reginald Black “Da Street Reportin’ Artist” The second annual Dick Wolf Memorial Lecture, held March 19, showed many implications of how development may shape Washington. Affordable housing was an interest of Wolf’s, according to those who knew the community planner. The Capitol Hill Restoration Society, for which Wolf had served as board president, established the annual lecture in lieu of a plaque or statue.

“Because of Dick’s involvement in advocacy, preservation and planning - we decided to have a living memorial to encompass those concepts,” said Monte Edwards, the Dick Wolf Memorial Lecture program chair.

Georgetown law student Brook Hill won the 2016 Dick Wolf Memorial Lecture prize for his paper “How to Retain Affordable Housing and Character of Place,” which he presented at the event.

Hill emphasized the responsibility of the city to affirm fair housing. Rising rents have the effect of pushing out low-income African-Americans and other minorities.

This has intensified the effect of residential discrimination. The duty to affirm fair housing requires the city to reject any policies that may create residential discrimination, and to take steps to prevent existing segregation from intensifying.

Gentrification has created an affordable housing crisis in the D.C. The city must take steps to end segregation, according to Hill, who suggested implementing the

Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), a program that would allow the District to purchase apartment buildings to be converted into affordable housing for its residents. Hill also suggested more organizing to support making TOPA effective.

“The city should refuse any planned unit development agreement [PUD] that results in affordable housing lost,” said Hill, who suggested that a much larger percentage of new housing units be deemed affordable.

was asked some hard-hitting questions about regulations, including the Fair Housing Act, which protects against landlord discrimination. “Our office has been looking at regulations and talking to stakeholders. Ultimately it’s about the residents and not the developers,” Ladd said.

Ladd was also asked about DHCD’s involvement with the PUD process, which allows developers to amend zoning restrictions in exchange for providing public ben-

“Gentrification has created an affordable housing crisis in the D.C. The city must take steps to end segregation” Affordable housing is rented or sold below the market rate to those who qualify based on their income, at several levels. To Hill, truly considering fair housing would mean 90 percent of new housing in the District should be affordable.

The lecture featured a panel from the community which answered a few moderated questions.

Allison Ladd, a Ward 6 resident, has been living in Washington for 15 years.

She is also chief of staff at the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).

“I realize a lot that was shared can be how the city uses these resources to preserve affordable housing,” Ladd said. She

efits, such as increased affordable housing.

“Currently it’s not a procedure we use.

We could if it was asked of us,” she said.

“The mayor’s $100 million [investment in the housing production trust fund] is unprecedented in DC. We can only fund 49 percent of a project or less. Eighty percent of the 49 percent has to be units that are 50 percent or below the area medium income. This may not sit well with taxpayers that are rent burdened.”

Ladd continued: “Many residents believe that the Housing Production Trust Fund will build them a structure to stay in, but evidence of this not taking place can be seen in the area’s last PIT [pointin-time] calculation, with roughly 7,300

people using shelters, soup kitchens and serving on the streets.”

Buwa Binitie, managing principal at development firm Dantes Partners, presented a chart showing this situation.

“If we don’t work quickly to address these issues we are going to start looking a lot like Manhattan. ... All I do is eat, sleep and breathe affordable housing,” he said.

Binitie went on to say that, personally, he wouldn’t do another TOPA deal, reffering to the provision in the Tenant Opportuinity to Purchase Act which requires the landlord and tenant to enter into a sales contract within 240 days of the property going on the market. “You can’t pay me to do another TOPA deal. Just 240 days to engage residents —it just doesn’t happen.”

The panel also featured Will Merrifield, an attorney with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, who respectfully disgreed with Binitie’s assessment of TOPA. Merrifield sees the act as an amazing tool to protect existing communities.

“I think the District and the advocates don’t do a good job on the TOPA process,” Merrifield said. “The city just goes and gives its land away to developers. ... SThis fight will never be won if we rely on the private market. We live in one of the richest places in the world. We can afford to create public housing and integrate it into the city. It’s important that we use public land to solve these issues, and make housing a human right.”

STREET SENSE April 6 - 19, 2016

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NEWS

Street Sense Exclusive Interview:

The Overhaul of Human Services in Washington

By Michael Brice-Saddler Editorial Intern Mayor Muriel Bowser presented her Fiscal Year 2017 budget proposal to District Councilmembers late last month. It includes an additional $13.1 million toward homeless services and a $10 million extension for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, among other investments.

Representatives from the mayor’s office engaged with the public to gather input at a March 31 budget briefing organized by the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development. The so-called “Fair-shot” budget, which has been in development since last fall, is all about community priorities, said D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Director Polly Donaldson.

For more in-depth information about how resources will be allocated toward some of these priori-ties Street Sense sat down with Jay Melder, chief of staff at the Department of Human Services.

What specific strategies are being implemented to prevent families from falling into homelessness, and how will the budget impact those efforts?

Melder: The $13 million investment toward homeless services is a continuation of investments made in FY2016, which was the first time the District funded a homelessness prevention program specifically for families.

Last year, $2 million was placed specifically into prevention programs and another $1 million is being added to that this year.

“This prevention program is designed to catch families and keep them stable where they are, and really support them where they are. We want to make sure that the shelter doesn’t become the front door for housing solutions.”

Homeless prevention programs should give people the support they need to maintain stability, such as help with rent, utilities, bills and groceries.

“Sometimes just the small things can help a situation become a lot more tenable.”

Thus far, the District’s homeless prevention efforts have helped over 900 families stay out of homelessness. This new funding will continue those efforts.

Why was TANF extended again? Will it be extended another year for Fiscal Year 2018?

Melder: The reason for this extension—

District officials met with community members to review the mayor’s proposed FY2017 budget at an event organized by the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL BRICE-SADDLER

which provides an additional $10 million to continue to assist families who have received TANF benefits for longer than the program’s 60-month limit—is different than the reason for last year’s TANF extension.

Last year, with the FY2016 budget, the Department of Human Services felt as though we had not held up our end of the bargain for families in the TANF program. There is a lot more to be done and this extension is primarily about allowing time for the community to talk about better solutions.

“We’re going to see a lot of policy about the TANF extension moving forward, and we’re going to have to work with the council, the community and our TANF experts in the D.C. government to shape a policy that’s going to work.”

I cannot be certain, but TANF probably will not be extended again for the 2018 fiscal year. “I think that this is about getting it done this year,” At the March 31 budget briefing, Department of Human Services Director Laura Zeilinger said that the extension includes ongoing monthly benefits for families who would be ineligible under the current law. “We’re going to offer this extension one time,” Zeilinger said. “We’re going to im-prove the services we offer.”

What changes can we expect to see to Department of Human Services over the next year?

Melder: The Department of Human Services will continue to invest in the Interagency Council on Homelessness’ strategic plan to make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring. In order to do that, a $13.1 million increase has been granted for proven solutions, such as permanent sup-portive housing, rapid rehousing and targeted affordable housing.

Supplementing, bolstering and enhancing these solutions will be the most efficient way to end homelessness in the District. Furthermore, it is essential to create a balance between short term solutions and long-term solutions.

“In years past there’s been less of a focus on how people get out of homelessness, but instead on how to manage it with a shelter system. We have to have a homelessness system that lifts people back up quickly, keeps people from falling into homelessness and makes sure that they stay out of it.”

the design should be. However, for people in shelters and also those living in encampments, the solution is a permanent home or apartment of their own.

“We need to make low-barrier shelters more dignified, but we have to make sure we’re investing in housing solutions that work.”

Will any of this budget go toward the improvement of shelter conditions?

Melder: At the present, there are a little under 900 people in overflow locations.

But they are not same people who were there last month.

“It’s not going to be the same families, these families are resilient folks going through a tough time, getting the resources they need to be out and back in the community. We’ll be supporting families going through the same things, but not the same people.”

Melder: This new contract allows the Department of Human Services to look at methods to im-prove shelters using money that is already spent. The Pat Handy Place for Women, a brand-new shelter built as part of the DC General closure plan, is the vision for all future low-barrier shelters.

The District will also work directly with local communities to get input on what

Is there a plan for the new DC General replacement shelters once their leases are up?

Melder: “We’ll always need a crisis response system for families. We’re extremely confident in the District’s ability to renew those leases and negotiate what we need when we need it.”

What is the plan for families currently staying in hotels and motels as overflow shelters when the DC General replacement facilities open?

How a Legendary Black Newspaper Defended Race and Changed America

By Ann-Derrick Gaillot Street Roots, Portland When African-American lawyer and printer Robert Abbott started The Chicago Defender newspaper from his landlady's kitchen table in 1905, he had one mission in mind for his new publication: to be a defender of race against the violence and disenfranchisement America reserved for African-Americans.

Over the next 110 years, The Defender would grow from its humble beginnings being distributed by Pullman porters along rail lines to become one of the most popular and influential African-American newspapers in the country. Its pages would expose the horrors of Jim Crow-era lynchings across the South and feature the writing of such influential African-American writers and journalists as Ida B. Wells, Langston Hughes and Willard Motley. More than just recording history, The Defender made it in its editorial pages, speaking out against segregation and racial violence, most notably playing a pivotal role in encouraging the Great Migration of African-Americans to the North during World War I and integration of the armed forces in World War II. Journalist and author Ethan Michaeli had no idea of The Defender's history when he walked into the newspaper's offices for a job interview in 1991. A white Jewish kid from New York, he was fresh out of college and eager for the excitement of the newspaper world. The fact that he would be working at a black newspaper was, at the time, just a side note. However, over the course of his five years as a copy editor and then investigative journalist, Michaeli would come to learn all about The Defender's heritage as a black publication and its role in American history.

Michaeli has told the entire story of the paper in his new book, "The Defender: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America." Michaeli spoke with Street Roots by phone from his home city Chicago about The Defender's impact and

the lessons its story holds for news writers and readers today.

Ann-Derrick Gaillot: Robert Abbott started The Defender out of his landlady's kitchen with almost no money. How did its being a community funded newspaper affect its trajectory?

Ethan Michaeli: Robert Abbott was a trained printer, and he knew that the printing industry was undergoing a dramatic technological revolution. Printing, which had been slow and expensive, suddenly changed so that you could show up at a printing press with some handwritten pages and a few dollars and essentially get a newspaper printed up which you could then sell. He did not immediately get the rousing support of everyone in the community, who had never seen a mass-circulation newspaper for African-Americans before. It took some very difficult years of committed work from Robert Abbott and a small coterie of allies before the newspaper really caught on. And then it became, really, a national sensation, the first national communications vehicle for African-Americans.

How much did the program he had with the Pullman porters help propel The Defender to national popularity?

The Pullman porters were essential to The Defender's success. Frank "Fay" Young, who was a dining car operator, was one of the first people to begin working with Robert Abbott. He was able, because of his job, to collect newspapers from around the country and bring them to The Defender's office where he and Robert Abbot would sit together and go through the papers looking for articles that could be rewritten from an African-American point of view. Fay Young started working with other Pullman porters to get the paper distributed all over the South.

Porters were selling subscriptions and supplying small businesses with stocks of newspaper on a regular basis. The fact that small-business owners, sharecroppers and small farmers in the South and all over the United States were paying a dollar a year to a newspaper in Chicago, were handing it over to a Pullman porter, that involves a lot of trust, and Robert Abbott took that relationship very seriously. The porters were essential to that whole relationship and that whole process of making the newspaper, as I said, a national communications vehicle for African-Americans.

And then when it was nationally known, The Defender not only reframed the narrative of a lot of things going on in the United States but also actually directed readers on what to do, like encouraging people to move North.

That trust relationship that I was talking about with your last question was very much a part of the newspaper's influence. So when it came, for example, to the Great Migration, The Defender was reporting accurately on what was happening in Chicago. It was not sugarcoating things like the 1919 race riots or the vicious attitudes of some whites even in Chicago when it came to AfricanAmericans. The editorial page would then be able to argue convincingly that, "Hey, you read the truth on the news pages, but you know it's still better than life in the South, so why don't you join the migration to come here." It was able to have authority because it could rely on the news on the front pages.

By the time Robert Abbott died, there were a number of black newspapers.

Was it that trust that he established in the beginning that eventually set The Defender apart?

The Defender was not always the most popular or the most highly circulated African-American newspaper. It was superseded for some time by the Pittsburgh Courier, which in the '30s and '40s took a very aggressive line when it came to getting the best African-American columnists around the country and focusing the newspaper as an opinion shaper. That was cutting edge for its day. Eventually, The Defender started to do very similar stuff and over time reclaimed the mantle of the most widely circulated African-American newspaper. So the black press, there's some ebbs and flows, but it remains a powerful institution and a voice of conscience in the country today.

What aspects of The Defender captivated you so much that you were willing to spend all these years working on a book about it?

Honestly, for me, I was re-educated at The Defender. I didn't know anything about Black America or race relations in the United States, or Chicago for that matter. And I learned all of that there. It made

me feel differently about the country and differently about American history and differently about my responsibility to both of those. When the opportunity came to do a book about it, I seized on that because this was a way to walk a reader through the entire history of the newspaper. It was a way to give them the experience that I had of reunderstanding or getting a new understanding of American history and finding out really what was missing.

Toward the end of the book, you say that working at The Defender helped you understand the truth about race in America. Could you talk a little bit more about how going through the process of writing this book changed your understanding of race or informed it more?

Well, I knew that there had been a lot of violence and oppression of course from white people against African-Americans in the South after the Civil War. I did not know how overt and popular that violence was. And that oppression, the violence, was a part of a whole pattern, a whole program of oppression that went along with suppressing electoral rights, suppressing rights of economic prosperity, of educational attainment.

All of these things were closely monitored by Southern white authorities. It really was a totalitarian state for AfricanAmericans. And that I don't think is well appreciated by people today, nor is it appreciated how creatively, thoughtfully and successfully African-Americans fought back, not just through The Defender, of course, but through myriad ways in which they resisted this kind of oppression and eventually overturned the regime, if not all of its institution. So all of that was definitely surprising and revelatory.

Although, I can't say that I walked away from the book with a great sense of optimism and a belief in progress in this country, because frankly there hasn't been. There definitely hasn't been enough progress. Perhaps an argument could be made that there has been some progress, but I am deeply disappointed and deeply dissatisfied that we sometimes seem to make gains in some areas only to lose more in others.

In Chicago, of course, we're dealing with the police killing of Laquan McDonald and the revelation of the video of that killing. And we had so many reactions to it, but my one thought I had was that one

STREET SENSE April 6 - 19, 2016

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NEWS

Legislators, Advocates Seek Self-Empowerment for People with Disabilities

By Abby Hershberger Editorial Intern

Former President Harry Truman, John Sengstacke and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley ride in the 1956 Bud Billiken Parade. Truman and Daley owed much to Sengstacke personally, and much to the African-American electorate generally.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CHICAGO DEFENDER CHARITIES

In the midst of a packed agenda at the March 15 People for Fairness Coalition (PFFC) meeting, Jennifer McLaughlin, an activist and member of the group managed to slip in a few words about the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act. The ABLE Act was passed at the federal level in 2014, and has been sporadically debated in individual state courts since then. The law would allow people with disabilities to set up tax-exempt accounts to collect funds that can be used for disability related expenses, such as medical care, education, employment training, and assistive technology.

McLaughlin keeps an eager and positive disposition, even when discussing difficulties paying her bills. “Medicare only pays for so much,” she said. “I’m not eligible [for Social Security Disability] because of my income.”

The current Social Security system makes it very difficult for some people with disabilities to adequately provide for themselves. Since many disability benefits are only intended for those below a certain income level, recipients who work must limit both their earning potential and the amount they save.

“Social Security has income limits, and you have to stay below those numbers to keep your benefits,” said Sara Hart Weir, president of the National Down Syndrome Society. “If you go over, you put all your benefits in jeopardy.”

The average national income limit is around $733 per month, which is well below the poverty line. ABLE legislation aims to alleviate the continual poverty that many workers with disabilities fall into. Opening an ABLE Account would allow them to accumulate savings without worrying about losing benefits.

There are currently 38 states that have approved the law, according to Chris Rodriguez, Senior Public Policy Advisor at the National Disability Institute (NDI). The first programs are expected to be set up in the next few months.

There are no specific dates set, but the NDI has compiled the information that is available into an easy-to-navigate infographic, which can be seen at www. ablenrc.org.

The first iteration of ABLE Legislation

required accounts to be set up within the clients’ states of residency. That has now been modified to allow residents of one state to set up an ABLE Account in another. So if a resident of a state that has not approved the ABLE legislation would like to set up an account, they will still be able to do that through another state’s ABLE program.

Despite the potential impact that this law could have on the lives of people with disabilities, McLaughlin is concerned that not enough local lawmakers are educated about it.

“I went to [city] council to talk to them about it, but they didn’t know what it was. I had to give them a copy!”

McLaughlin is now working to keep ABLE Act information spreading throughout the District, both to the local government, and those who may soon be eligible to open an account. She’s been working with the DC Advocacy Partners Program, which offers leadership training and guidance to people with disabilities and those who wish to advocate for them.

The ABLE Act’s journey from idea to reality has been long. “It’s been almost ten years, really,” said Sara Hart Weir. But Weir believes that the time will prove worthwhile, as people with disabilities gain further autonomy and dignity. “Being able to save money leads to greater independence,” she said.

At the PFFC meeting, McLaughlin expressed concern about an age cutoff, as original legislation required that ABLE account holders certify that their disability was present before age 26. Just two days after the meeting, however, the age requirement was challenged at the federal level. The ABLE Age Adjustment Act amended the cut-off age to 46 to better account for conditions that arise later in life.

When McLaughlin learned that the eligibility age had been changed, she was ecstatic. “It’s a win!” she exclaimed.

Although there are still obstacles that stand in the way of McLaughlin and others’ access to government assistance, she sees this change, and the ABLE Legislature overall, as proof that help for people with disabilities is moving forward.

The current Social Security system makes it very difficult for some people with disabilities to adequately provide for themselves.

Robert Abbott, founder of The Chicago Defender, stands with his newsboys in this undated photo from the 1920s.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CHICAGO DEFENDER CHARITIES

of the great tragedies is Laquan McDonald had been abandoned by our city and our system long before he ever got into that confrontation with the policemen.

In a way, that makes it worse than the murder of Emmett Till, because Emmett Till at least had a lot more infrastructure behind him, a lot more opportunity ahead of him, than Laquan McDonald. So that's a real tragedy there, in addition to the tragedy of his murder. So, not to end my answer on a sad note, but I can't say I'm sanguine about where we are in terms of progress on race.

And what lessons do you think the story of The Defender has for digital media journalists today?

I think that it's really just a matter of time and creativity and effort until someone starts replicating the kind of success that Robert Abbott had at The Defender.

There is that opportunity out there to build a mass audience for media and to have a very strong voice as a result. It's not going to be the same way that we did it in the past, but that's what The Defender was. It was something new. Use the technology the way that you know it should be used. Others may not understand it at first and may pooh-pooh, may scoff, may even ridicule you. But if you know that you're right, stick to it and it will succeed.

Courtesy of INSP.ngo / Street Roots

ILLUSTRATION BY KANELL WASHINGTON

ILLUSTRATION BY TONI CALLOWAY

Survival (or SELF)

Balance Your Life

By Kanell Washington Vendor/Artist

By Marcus Green Vendor/Artist

First, let’s just say that I am amazed at Self, not others, when it comes to surviving. I am able to look at life on its own terms. And in these mean streets of homeless people, life and the world itself, one must teach Self the ups and downs. Yet the good people of this city tend to reach out to us as equals – I see them every day.

They can always see me. Just look on any park or corner and you will see me. Homeless.

The key to not losing balance is: 1.

Spiritually connecting with God, on a regular basis.

2.

Staying off alcohol and drugs, and staying away from negative people and places.

3.

For my physical body, I work out using free weights and walking.

I’m still hoping and praying for employment and will continue to sell the paper at the corner of 14th and I Streets. Prayer is always the first order of business. My good deeds should always outweigh my bad deeds. A kind word, praying for someone, a donation will go a long way. Always I pray for my family, friends and customers.

God Bless

Twinkle

By Frederic John, Vendor/Artist In Charlotte’s eyes, that certain Gleam; An elfin “twinkle” more bright Than ever Tinker Bell’s tinkle!

So inspiring to all of “us kids.”

Even Jon, who by lineage not hers, But a willing partner, to run through the furze Peculiar to Dorchester county lowlands.

I adore a Horse! And, of course, when Charlotte’s Steed, Un-horsed her indeed – why, she promptlyDespite some pain and harm Soon remounted with no alarm!

That’s the timeless, charging, caring Lady I knew, And all you deserve, as the panoply of your Life’s riches unfurlingIs to remain, undaunted, ever on the Go!

Wrixlian

Everywhar

Wintre es lent weth its shrud, by daye ond a night miltse, Thouh rime frost, wintur ys went!

I haf no care ov a thing.

Bi sid the eris blewth Spring also esie fra no thing than coolde.

Lamps lyhton da ceiling.

ILLUSTRATION BY TONI CALLOWAY

PHOTO COURTESY OF GEOGRAPH.ORG

—— Memorial Service for Mr. Phillip A. Howard Sr. —— Wednesday, April 13, 2016 @ 1 p.m.

STREET SENSE April 6 - 19, 2016

9

FEATURES

Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G Street NW | All Are Welcome

PHOTO BY STREET SENSE STAFF

2004

Phillip Howard with customer and friend Elaine Murray. Phillip passed away on March 9, after more than 10 years with Street Sense.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ELAINE MURRAY

Remembering Phillip

By Shernell Thomas Vendor/Artist

By Angie Whitehurst Vendor/Artist

When I heard that you had passed and that I could no longer see you, it hurt me deeply.

If by some chance my morale had faltered for a second, then a moment’s reflection of your life helped console me. You were unique in the way that you lived your life as a Christian man.

You were blessed with a barrel-load of charm. You were always a gentleman, who had learned early in life how to be respectful and kind. You lived your life that way.

You were a powerful cut above the rest, and I was happy that our lives crossed.

Once the news of your passing was out, tears remembering you immediately followed. I know that you will be missed. And I pray that we will meet again—not physically, but spiritually.

May you rest in peace.

I scream within my soul and a sadness rains within the core of my beliefs regardless of race color and creed.

My heart cries over the loss of your presence and the compassionate living and leading by example you shared and gave all of us. Yet for all of that, once tagged, you and hundreds of others were left alone and tagged, “homeless, no next of kin identified. “ Not even expired,” society and hipa, disconnected you.

Thank the heavens above that street sense and josh would not stand for it.

You have family and it is us.

The weight we carry, the overwhelming obstacles we face everyday; and still we uninhibitedly, advocate and battle the deficit ignoring inert deaf ears. Yes we live to change the world view by our active advocacy and care.

We keep going, doing for ourselves and others, always, every day in big and little ways. That is the essence of our street sense family.

We will keep being, not going away. Just like you Howard we will thrive home until one day we put Brian car one out of a job, for there will be no more isolated, disconnected, broken lives disrepaired wholesomely because of home_less_knot.

Thank you for living, being and loving us. God bless the child that cares.

The employees of Dressbarn would like to express their profound sadness at the passing of Mr. Phillip Howard. Mr. Howard was a very special member of our team. His kindness and ability to bring laughter and joy to us often was the highlight of our day.

Mr. Phillip Howard will be truly missed. Although we are sad at his passing, we know he is at peace.

Rest in peace,

Your Dressbarn Family

PHOTO BY LAURA LINDSKOV JENSEN

2012

PHOTO BY JANE CAVE

2013

PHOTO BY JENNIFER ORTIZ

2015

OPINION MOVING UP: Starting a small business in D.C. Is Trump a Bigot?

By Arthur Johnson In my last column, I explained how companies are having employees become independent contractors and avoid almost all regulations and taxes. In order to take advantage of being an independent contractor, it is very important to set yourself up as a business so you do not get surprised by the requirements. The first thing to do is determine the structure you will use. There are several options: You can start a sole proprietorship, which is the easiest to begin; or you can start a partnership; or you can incorporate or start a limited liability company.

You will file the paperwork to start your business at the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. They are located at 1100 4th Street SW. You can call them at (202) 442-4400 and their website is dcra.dc.gov. Their website has many of the forms you need and you can send them in online or you can get help at their office. They are open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except Thursday when they open at 9:30 a.m. There are several things you need to fill out, including a basic business license and also paperwork for the city’s “clean hands” tax compliance measure. One important thing about the business type is determining what you need for filing taxes. If you start a small business and only employ yourself, you will be able to use your Social Security Number (SSN). If on the other hand, you are planning on employing others, you will need to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN). Before you register with the District, you will want to set up a business bank account that is totally separate from your personal checking account. Get a business address: you can rent a P.O. box at a UPS store, Mailboxes, etc, or the post office. Then you will want to set up a business email account and purchase a cell phone. You can get a small no frills phone to start until your

By Jeffery Mcneil business is generating enough profit to get a smartphone for business use. After you have gotten started, you should set up a page on Facebook, Twitter, and build a website to promote your business. There are many free and low-cost websites that will help you build your website. You can do it from any computer, even at a public library. This may seem overwhelming, but the objective of this is to make sure you do not get surprised.

As I have stated before, many companies don’t tell you that you are an independent contractor until they send you the 1099 form at tax time. By then it is too late and you will be staring at some tax bills and penalties. If you know what you are facing ahead of time, you can be in control. One important thing to remember as well is even if you are based in the District, if your business will cross over the river to Virginia or Maryland, you may need to file additional paperwork to comply with their laws. For example, if you started a house cleaning or catering business, you would want to fill out the paperwork if your clients were in either of those states since you would have to collect sales tax and comply with any regulations those two states have.

Hopefully this will help you understand the different things to do to start a business. Make sure to visit the DCRA and use their resources. If you need help getting started, please visit SCORE. It is the Service Corps of Retired Executives and it is staffed by people who used to be executives in the business world and want to mentor new business owners. The Washington DC chapter is located at 409 3rd St SW suite 100A. You can call them at (202) 619-1000.

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

I’ve gotten a lot of grief since I decided to support Donald Trump. It’s painful.

Relatives hang up my phone calls, friends no longer speak to me, I’ve been called a Coon, Sambo and Uncle Tom. Many liberals love to smear Donald Trump and his supporters as racists. But it's hard to say Trump is racist when he has a list of prominent black supporters such as Ben Carson, Mike Tyson, Herschel Walker, several black pastors, and the video-bloggers Diamond and Silk. They say he’s Hitler despite having a daughter, son-in-law, and an executive vice president that's Jewish. The media lies, and people are hip to it. Why doesn't the media show the black Trump supporters? Are they not black because they disagree with the leftist agenda?

However, despite the ostracism, I can't deny my feelings that America is not great anymore and that Donald Trump will make America Great Again.

Trump has hired blacks and minorities to work for him. What has Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz or Hillary Clinton done for minorities except give them false hope and empty promises?

It’s insulting to call Trump supporters low-information when the only way the Democratic Party can get people to vote for them is by offering free lunches. Some of us don't want compensation or benefits, we want to pay our own way. It’s not the government’s responsibility to give people maternity leave and paid vacations, these conflicts should be discussed between owners and laborers. I don't need an advocate, please don't speak for me! If you're not happy working at McDonald’s, quit and go to Burger King. Do what successful people do -- go to school, raise your hand in class, give up the drinking and partying. Then you will be successful like Donald Trump. If you want socialism, there’s North Korea and Cuba.

Despite the baggage, I’m giving Donald Trump a chance because he has real world experience. He’s a businessman who ran companies, signed checks and knows something about the economy. Sanders, Clinton and Cruz are in the same category as Barack Obama. I don't think they're evil, they just don't have real world experience.

They are people who live in the cocoon of the Beltway, pontificating about Karl Marx or Friedrich Hayek while people remain starving and living on the sidewalk.

I think it’s ironic. The Democratic Party, the party of voting rights, becomes infuriated when you don't vote for their preferred candidate. Like many Trump supporters, I didn't care for him, I was weighing out my options. What pushed me toward him was that liberals said people should vote for Hillary because she’s a

woman. It’s arrogant and insulting that race and gender are there criteria for picking candidates.

They say Trump’s violent, but if you don't like what he has to say then take your whining butt home. No one cares about your grievances. America is the greatest country in the world. If you can't make it here, go to Venezuela. America is for the hard-worn and rugged.

Sanders, Clinton and Cruz are in the same category as Barack Obama.

I don't think they're evil, they just don't have real world experience.

Liberals created too many namby pambies, and like Ronald Reagan, Trump isn't going for it. He is a blessing from heaven.

He is driving the moneylenders from the temple and exposing the corruption of the two-party system.

I don't know the genesis of gridlock or dysfunction, but what I do know is that people are fed up with the two party-system. I want something different even if I have to cast my lot with a bigot. Trump supporters are on a mission. We will not be denied. We are in a throw ‘em out mood, and on Election Day, we are going to have our day of reckoning.

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

PHOTO COURTESY OF GAGE SKIDMORE

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 April 6 - 19, 2016

1#1

OP-ED

Support D.C. Families. Support TANF.

By Monica Kamen In recent years, there has been growing public attention to the city’s homelessness crisis. Residents have been calling on our city’s government to address this crisis by increasing investments in housing solutions, and the response has usually been investments in short- and long-term vouchers, emergency rental assistance and affordable housing construction. Indeed, housing is the solution to homelessness, and it is critical that we increase investments in housing solutions that work.

However, there is closely related issue that is often overlooked. How do we make sure that D.C. residents have enough income to support living in a city as costly as D.C.?

While the city overall has healthy employment rates, if you only look at D.C. residents with a high school diploma, the picture looks much bleaker. In 2012, unemployment rates for those with a high school diploma spiked as high as 21 percent, with underemployment, meaning residents are working fewer hours than they would like, almost equally as high at 22 percent. For those who are employed, low wages and unpredictable scheduling prevent families from earning a sustainable income to afford the high cost of living in the city. As a result, a recent report published by the D.C. Fiscal Policy institute found that the average income for the poorest fifth of D.C. residents is $9,300 (compared with the top fifth of D.C. residents making $487,000).

When public education fails to prepare

young people for a competitive job market, when the housing market doesn’t produce affordable homes, when jobs are low-paying and unaccommodating to working parents, when our justice system incarcerates a disproportionate number of community members, it is no wonder that record numbers of families and individuals are flocking to city services to meet their basic needs.

This is why the city’s safety net programs are critical to protecting the basic health and safety of our community members. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or TANF is one example of an important lifeline for families facing economic hardship. TANF provides a modest income benefit, childcare vouchers, transportation subsidies and job training for families for whom our traditional job

market is not working.

However, due to a rigid time-limit policy, more than 6,200 families, including 13,000 children, will lose all of their TANF benefits on October 1, 2016 if nothing changes. This will leave them with no cash assistance, no matter how hard they have tried to comply with TANF rules or how many barriers they may face to employment. Research shows that families cut off TANF are often unable to replace their lost benefits with employment income and fall into deeper poverty. Not surprisingly, the children in these families are harmed in ways that make it harder for them to succeed in school and in later life. As we recognize the failure of these broader systems to allow families to be self-sufficient, it is important that families can access important services to create career

pathways, in addition to receiving cash assistance to for clothing, supplementing rent, school supplies and field trips.

Mayor Muriel Bowser recently submitted her 2017 budget to the D.C. Council for review. It extends for another year TANF benefits (which have already been decreased) for families reaching their 60-month limit. This means a family of three will receive roughly $150 per month. While this is necessary and valuable assistance, a blanket extension does not address the larger problem: How do we best support families as they try to find employment, even if it takes longer than 60 months?

Last year, Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (along with five co-sponsors) introduced a common-sense bill that would create more extension categories for families currently receiving TANF. This legislation would recognize a family’s unique circumstance and make sure that they were receiving the income, childcare and transportation support they need as they continue to navigate the difficult job market and try to provide for their families.

Cutting children and families off of TANF would likely send them straight to the shelter door. However, investing in a smarter policy that supports families while they get on their feet would make a world of difference.

Monica Kamen is the Advocacy Coordinator at the DC Fair Budget Coalition.

PERCEPTION OR REALITY: An Industry of Misery

The Safe Hands of Metro

By Robert Williams, USMC

By Phillip Black

Keep asking yourself: what's really going on? No matter what topic we’re talking about, there is falsity. Whether it’s coming from the government, the media or a stranger on the street -- don’t let anything verbalized go without accountability. Your awareness must triumph over acceptance in ignorance.

Whatever you care about, know the facts.

Unless something is done to ease it, pain generally increases before it decreases. It becomes cyclical until you decide to take action to eradicate it. Operative word there being ACTION. But how do you eradicate something that so many are making such good money off of? Yes, poverty is a growing industry of misery, from which others accumulate abundance.

So, then, what would be the incentive for the powers that be, those that ben-

efit, to eradicate homelessness? Shouldn't it be enough motivation that our veterans sacrificed their lives, education, families and livelihood to afford others freedom and security? Yet thousands of them still languish homeless in society.

The acknowledgement of the actual existence of a problem must take place.

Again I ask, what's really going on? Even within a lot of charitable organizations or nonprofits that you so proudly support and boast about. Yes, really! Where is the bulk of the money going? Don't pretend to be oblivious to ease your conscience. Don't shut your eyes to the world around you.

Perception or reality?

Let's brainstorm! Your ideas and thoughts are quite valuable. They are no doubt more sensible than those made by decision makers on the Hill or anywhere decisions are made based on profit margins to line someone’s pockets.

So feedback is solicited from you: 1. What do you think the solution is for this apparently broken system? Is it truly broken or is it just that the functionaries aren't functioning the way they were designed to function?

2. How can we provide enough affordable housing?

3. How can we house the downtrodden?

Don't wait until the tragedy of the reality of this homeless epidemic hits home.

It's truly possible. Your or I are not exempt or immune. Reality, not perception.

Don't allow yourself to be pacified by being classified as satisfied with the "justice" of an unjust America.

Metro, again! It takes more and a 24hour shut down to fix Metro’s problems.

General Manager Paul Wiedefeld doesn’t know what is going on. He even admitted it. And I’m saying to myself, that really makes me feel safe! So for all of us who ride the Metro rail system, the best way for us to be safe….is to pray….pray like we’ve never done before.

Phillip Black is a vendor for Street Sense, also known as the “The Cat in the Hat.”

Robert Williams is a vendor for Street Sense.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSH HALLETT/FLICKR

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

Reflections

Let Me Introduce Myself

Watch Your Back

I love rap But why does it so often have to be about sex Slingin’ And yo’ gat Runnin around in cornrows and plaits Claimin’ you all that What about our children?

Grandmothers, aunts and innocent others Should they see us as blessed, or cursed?

Or perhaps even worse As just an object Some makeup in the devil’s purse Cornrows and plaits were symbols of cultural pride And all dat got pushed to the side For a fat knot And a fresh ride?

And now, you even gotta hide Fakin’ like you’re hard But leery wit the jitters When the cops pull their car Lettin’ somebody cuff you And even enCAGE you After they take you down Then tryin’ to look all HARD and savvy When you come back around An even BIGGER clown Talking about “man, I can get it back,” “just like that, I know my mind” But what about yo’ time?

Yeah, we gotta be careful what we listen to It might overtake you Leavin’ you sittin’ blue on a cold metal stool if you want to play the fool But rap is a beautiful means of communications As in commune, not eradication Let’s go to our hearts and brain cells, not jails cells and hell

Hello to my Street Sense supporters, especially those from Farragut West and Farragut North. This is 35-year old vendor #510 Donald Brown reporting. I am a class of 2000 graduate from NorthWestern High School in Adelphi, Md. I began working in downtown D.C. in 1999, first for nine months at a hot dog on Pennsylvania Avenue, NW—then for six months at a CVS pharmacy.

Then I became delivering goods by bycycle. That job paid good!

Unfortunately, I’m a gambler.

(Maybe that’s why I like going to Atlantic City.) Like most, I lost a majority of the time. My next job was at the Cleveland Park Jimmy John’s.

I worked there for a year doing just about everything: delivering orders, cashiering, washing dishes and cleaning the place. Then I was fired on my birthday, Aug. 15, 2014. (How’s THAT for a present?) So, I went back to delivery goods by bycycle downtown. After losing that job, I became a Street Sense vendor in October 2014.

I was inspired to do that when I was hanging out at Farragut North with my friend Marty Walker. A woman said how much she liked the paper. So I thought I’d try selling it. Now the paper humbles me no matter how depressed or angry I get. And Street Sense customers make me feel special.

I’m also becoming involved with Catholic Charities. It is going to help me obtain housing and getting some needed medical treatment. That’s my main focus at this time.

Americans, please watch your backs. We all know about the drug problems of the 60s and 70s, and how a lot of people came home from war addicted to dope.

Then crack came and took a lot of people down. More recently, we’ve seen the craziness of K2 and synthetic drugs.

Only for the heartland, the Midwest, to get back on dope! In Montgomery County, there are about 10 heroin overdoses each week. In Ohio, that number more than doubles: Twenty-three people each week!

Drug overdoses are second-highest cause of death in the United States. What else is coming? Please watch your backs. Because I can’t believe Americans want to kill each out there.

By Michael Craig, Vendor/Artist

By Donald Brown, Vendor/Artist

Reflections.

Connoisseur

By Duane Foster, Vendor/Artist “Connoisseur of fine things,” “gentleman of leisure,” “man-about-town…”

These are just a few of the things I’ve heard myself called over the years. But those days have since been lost to tears.

It seems as if I’ve been the center of attention and constantly in the midst of some kind of business venture. When I was younger, it seemed as if I had an eternity to work things out. I had a mental blueprint laid out to accomplish my goals and dreams. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that things don’t always go according to plan.

I’ve worked contracts, retail, real estate, Internet business, you name it. My head has been known to wear multiple hats. Add family to that scenario and it’s safe to say that I’ve spread myself thin over the years.

“Dad, do you think you can make it to my recital?” “Honey, will you be home for dinner tonight?” “Baby, my mother’s really sick, and needs someone. Do you think you will have time this weekend so we can check her out?”

Questions such as these always seem to abound. Juggling the responsibility of family, career and social life has been akin to walking a tightrope. It has shown me that money and material items aren’t the most important assets. Those fall behind me. Living my life with the people I want to be in it is most valuable. Thank God for my current wife, because before her all of my relationships failed.

I’ve been working 60-plus hours per week since I was in my 20s, a habit I’m not willing to sacrifice. But I’ve suffered grief because of it.

By Jackie Turner, Vendor/Artist

Health Care on Demand

By Jemel Fleming, Vendor/Artist

It is important for individuals who are suffering from poverty, homelessness and low-income to have healthcare. Benefits must be available through funding so more people will know their health care status no matter what their situation is.

People shouldn’t judge others. Middle and upper class citizens should be aware of the statistics demonstrating that people who are homeless often do not have healthcare.

Prostitution is not going away. Neither is drug abuse. People should always konw their health status. Health care should be available even for low-income individuals and people without housing or a job.

My Time

Ups and Downs

Never a day that I cannot say I am my own keeper Mostly pay my own way.

Darkness and daylight Mainly the same Unless you have money, Unless you have fame.

Not insecure, Not really sad, I have a place To put my head.

Don’t think I’m a bum With nothing much, Who has no one.

A real life is more Than the hours on a bill And still the emptiness No furniture fills Sunday in church, Saturday is me.

Love the times When I can be free, I know I have some kind of place.

Got to keep on Keeping on With life And its pace.

Being in this world may have its ups and downs. And sometimes I wonder if things will turn around. Faces come and go, so we pray to our heavenly Father and let it all go.

I try not to ask questions about how other people live, I just don’t want to confuse this from my own thoughts. If people come to me with a problem, I don’t brush them off like I don’t care. I give them a choice, so they know I am telling them to give to the creator and watch what He will do.

All I can tell you is that the creator never let me down. As I repented from my sins, my life turned around. So I say to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart and soon, as you leave this place, you will see the true face of God.

By Gwynette Smith, Vendor/Artist

By Hbdul Malik, Vendor/Artist

STREET SENSE April 6 - 19, 2016

13

PAGE HEADING AFTER KATRINA: A Ten-Year Roller Coaster, Part 18

By Gerald Anderson, Vendor/Artist

PREVIOUSLY: They put me in a cell with this old guy. We didn’t really talk other than he said, “Dang you came all the way up here from New Orleans and got into trouble?” I don’t really talk too much when I go in prison, other than with people I know. I was on a serious charge, and if I say the wrong thing, you never who you’re telling or who he works for. After a few days, though, we start talkin’. I ask him what he know about the court. He told me, “Man, you might don’t go home. I don’t know too many people who walk out of federal court.” I kept thinkin’, I’m gonna get life in prison! I worried I would never see the street again, cause remember I’m dealin’ with the FBI. I thought about how I would miss my family, miss bein’ on the street, miss bein’ free period. And I would miss eating fried chicken...

By Ivory Wilson Vendor/Artist INT.—WASHINGTON, DC—DAY UNION STATION

Dean drives a nail into Mick’s hand.

Mick screams.

Dean has set his site on Rosslyn, VA, which was run by the purple gang mob boss Bacterial from Detroit. He wasn’t ready to take the gang on so he aligned himself with them, making plans to knock off Bill, after which they will control VA, then take on the Spanish gangs, and Jewish gangs. Plans are in motion and the hit on Bill will be when the snow builds up on the White House lawn. Bill has a beautiful girlfriend, Penny, whom he has been dating for 2 years and plans to marry her in the winter. Larry plans to be Bill’s best man.

DEAN: Did Pee Wee go to the feds?

MICK: Please don’t kill me! I got a wife and kids! Please, I’ll do anything!

EXT.—UNION STATION—DAY UNDERGROUND RAGS: Boss, rubbing out a fed cat, if caught, we could get the chair!

DEAN: (cleaning his teeth with a nail) Feds will think Bill just got ill from eating something that killed him. (Laughter).

Rags, I want you to make sure Chinatown rackets keep paying RAGS:Okay, Boss. That Irish Boss we knocked off - we can expect retaliation from them.

Outfit arrives, with Mick the Tick.

INT.—WHITE HOUSE LAWN—DAY WILLIE: Hey, Bill, Hey Bill! Mick has just been grabbed by two of Dean’s goons.

BILL: How did that happen? Wasn’t he in Larry’s hole, hiding?

WILLIE: Yes, they were together when it happened, right outside Larry’s hole. While I was playing Jump Trees with the kids. Larry ran pass shouting ‘They got Mick.’

BILL: Penny is here. I am not leaving her. You go home to your family, stay in the trees, and be careful. Take no chances. You may be followed. We will find Mick later.

INT.—UNION STATION—DAY MICK: Please don’t kill me.

DEAN: Let’s say me and the boys here believe you.

RAGS: Boss, I don’t trust him. Let me chew on his legs. Then he’ll talk.

DEAN: Mick, a few of your crew is hiding at the Harrington Hotel, E 12 Street. You have 10 days to find Pee Wee or my outfit will find you.

Pledge: Boss! Here’s that rat!

Dean pulls the nail out from Mick’s hand.

Mick had been kidnapped from the Capitol Hill lawn. Willie is on his way to Bill to tell him the news that Mick was scared shaking.

DEAN: Mick, you’re free to go. Meet your gang and find Pee Wee. Mick jets into the sewer.

DEAN: Mick, do you want to live, or should I let Rags stick needles in your eyes?

MICK: I want to live, I swear to you! I don’t know where Pee Wee is.

(to be continued)

Me and my cellmate start to talk, gettin’ along a little bit. I also start goin’ out of the cell, minglin’. You can go out any time you want, except they lock you down at 4 pm when the shift change or when a fight break out.

You can go out on a quad—play cards, checkers. They got a basketball court. I like to play spades and poker. We play poker for chips, since we don’t have money. They put boxes of apples out, so sometimes we play for apples.

One night at midnight, a guard came down to tell me, “We have a court order to move you to CTF.” My cellmate ask me what he say. I tell him. Then he tell me CTF the rat floor. Then I tell him, “I ain’t goin’ up to the rat floor!”

This tall guard, who work the night shift, he say to me, “What going on, Orlean? You don’t wanna go?” He say He been workin’ on the prison system for twenty years.

I say, “They already offered me some deals. The day I got arrested they was offerin’ me a hamburger and a milkshake and a Newport.”

I say, “Take me to 7D, central lockup, and give me a bologna sandwich and a cup of Kool-Aid. I ain’t never gonna be a rat.”

He say, “What you know about that?”

I say, “Check my history. You’ll see that I’m not a guy gonna sit at the table and tell what I know.”

The guard say, “Don’t worry about it; they’ll deal with it in the morning. Maybe there be an error.

My cellie say, “Man don’t let them put you on.”

I tell him, “No way.”

My lawyer came to see me. He say, “I don’t wanna ask you this, but I’m gonna ask—I know you not that kinda guy. But the government wanna know if you willing to work with them.”

I said, “No comment. He knew what that mean.”

So we continue talking about other things like what kind of time I’m gonna get.

He say, “I already heard the rumor that they trying to separate you and put you in CTF.” I told him, “Nah, they tried last night but I ain’t goin’.”

The next morning, I get up and see the inmate who pick up the laundry. I tell him to pass the word to my codee (co-defendant) to meet me at medical. I need to see him ASAP. I had to let my codee know I wasn’t gonna snitch. If you real, you bring that kinda thing to your codee. If not, it’s like you workin’ with the government.

We meet up at medical around ten o’clock.

I tell him the correction officer tell me to go to CTF, the snitch floor.

I’m like, “Man this is crazy, I’ve got a choice of death, graveyard, or prison all at one 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.

Thoughts of the Day

By Lawrence Rogers Vendor/Artist Life revolves around decision making. You have to really take the time out to think before you do something that will affect you for years to come. Life is what you make it, but can’t nobody help you unless you’re really ready to step up and make that decision to help yourself. I came across this collection of meditations in a recovery program and think many more people could learn from them: “Show respect even to people who

don’t deserve it; not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of yours.” ­—DaveWillis.org “If you want to be interesting, be interested. If you want to be heard, listen.

If you wish to truly learn, teach. If you would like to be wealthy, be generous. If you desire to be understood, take time to understand. If you want to have many friends, be friendly. If you want the world to change for the better, make a positive change in yourself. If you long for peace, be peaceful. What you give to life is what life becomes for you. The treasures you accumulate all come from the good things you do. —By Ralph Marston

My Journey

By Eric Thompson-Bey, Vendor/Artist My journey to homelessness started in the summer of 1997 when my sister told me I had to leave her house. I was 30 years old and didn’t where to start.

I ended at the Randall shelter in Southwest. That was almost 19 years ago. On March 10th of this year I signed my first lease ever. That night I stayed in my first apartment.

The journey was not easy by far.

Mixed with drugs and prison I was making my situation even worst. Example I was called for a housing voucher in 2001, but I was in prison and had to start all over. I signed up again in 2005.

I’ve slept everywhere from in front of the Canadian Embassy on Pennsylvania Avenue to in front of the C.V.S. on 20th and M streets. These were my homes. I never want to live like that again. I’ve been awaken by the police and told that I had to move at 2:00 in the morning for no reason. I’ve had my property stolen and thrown away. These are just a few things that I’ve been through doing my journey. Now I feel so safe, so happy.

I never thought that the day would come that I would have the keys to my own apartment. I really can’t explain this special feeling. I am blessed. I want all of the homeless community to feel this special feeling. My thoughts were telling me that everyone won’t receive housing the system has major flaws that has to be fixed. Everyone deserves one chance to be housed.

My journey doesn’t end here, it continues. As it was explained to me doing the interview for my apartment there’s rules and regulations that I must follow, so that I won’t have to start this journey all over again. I’ll continue to share my housing resources with the rest of the community, like it was shared with me. I can’t lose focus on the rest of my life because I have housing. Life goes on the journey goes on.

I have to admit that these last 4 and a half years have been the most frustrating. I had come so close to being housed. Things didn’t work out. When I was released from prison in 2011 I knew housing would be a problem like always, but I stayed focused. I wanted to avoid sleeping on the streets. I used the money from selling Street sense to rent rooms. That didn’t work out either.

I spent the last 2 ½ at the C.C.N.V. Shelter. More goes on in the shelter than on the streets, corruptions, abuse, extortion you name it. I thank god everyday for the blessings.

I wouldn’t be writing this article now if it was not for two hard working ladies that kept on working when I gave up.

Julie Turner our case manager here at Street Sense and Crystal Hill my Case manager at Hillcrest family and children center. Thank you both for working so hard with me.

By Ibn Hipps Vendor/Artist For starters, I hope by the grace of the Lord I am still living.

I should have completed my whole life transformation into a sober, drug-free existence. No more looking over my shoulder. Fewer of our kind--people of African descent---are killing off one another.

Fewer tears and more smiles. My city will be full of love and care for one another.

Better education, better jobs, MORE jobs, and better job training. Affordable housing. More black-owned businesses.

By now I should be living in my own home built from the ground up and reunited with my four children, who will be grown. That will leave me to raise my grandchildren, making up for lost time with my children. Worry-free, alive and well. Happy. Satisfied. Teaching the true value of life: the way of the good Lord, which is the only truth to living.

By Ken Martin Vendor/Artist My daughter with a high school diploma in one hand and a full scholarship to Spelman College (in Atlanta) in the other. Her brother standing behind her in his cap and gown, a graduate of the college of his choice. My foundation for disadvantaged youth celebrating it’s second year anniversary.

Ken Martin Crowdfunds to Launch Business

By Abby Hershberer, Editorial Intern

Ken Martin’s love of hats goes all the way back to his childhood. “I was the youngest in a household of men that wore hats. That’s how you dressed.”

Martin remembers detectives, cowboys, and other pop culture icons that made him realize that a hat could be more than just an accessory, but also a way to claim an identity and an image. “They looked cool!” he said.

Martin has worked in several different hat stores and is now using his considerable knowledge about headwear to start an independent business. “I teach people how to take care of hats, how to wear ‘em and how to work ‘em. I do steaming, brushing, and rejuvenation.”

Martin is hoping to expand this venture through his GoFundMe account, which can be accessed at www.gofundme.com/kenmartin. His goal is to be able to continue his business without worrying about inclement weather and freezing temperatures. “I’m disabled, which prevents me from being in the elements. Having this hat store would provide me with a controlled environment.”

Martin currently runs an occasional pop-up shop on 18th Street NW across from the blues bar Madam’s Organ. He hopes to turn this into a more permanent

operation that will offer a wide range of products to his customers. “I’ll have hats, umbrellas, scarves, sunglasses, jewelry, visors, hair adornments, and handbags. And Street Sense of course! I want my customers to leave feeling like they accomplished something.”

One of Martin’s primary goals for his business is to educate his customers about the value of a caring for and preserving a hat.

“People think, ‘oh no, I don’t want to put out the money for a hat.’ But you can take the same hat and wear it year after year after year, and then pass it on. You can steam it, brush it, and put it in a box and it will last for years.”

Martin’s industry experiences coupled with the difficulties in his own life have taught him about perseverance and accomplishing goals. “I’ve always said to look for the three Gs in everything: the good, the gain and the God. They’re there in any situation. And don’t let anybody tell you what you can’t do.

That’s just what they can’t do. I’m a disabled black guy from D.C. and I used to own two businesses on K Street!

Don’t tell me what I can’t do ‘cause I’ve already done it!”

By Clarence P. Williams Vendor/Artist I will be: 1) In a subsidized apartment in Montgomery County.

2) Financially independent.

3) Married and running my own business.

4) A real estate investor flipping houses.

5) A person with good credit.

6) Cooking and dropping off hot meals to the homeless from my catering service.

By Patty Smith Vendor/Artist Help the homeless get housing.

Now we have a plan to ask our people on the street to band together with their systems in an effort to get city members off the streets and into housing.

We want to help all concerned and raise consciousness about the weather becoming cold and the danger of freezing to death when you live on the streets.

To help homeless people get housing and find them decent places to live, we need money. What is money? Money is made at the United States Mint. Congress has it. Politicians have it. A whole lot of people have it. Why not use some to build affordable houses for the homeless?

STREET SENSE April 6 - 19, 2016

15

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! The Most Beautiful Thing in the World By “The Amazing” Chon Gotti, Vendor/Artist

The most beautiful thing in the world is being able to wake up in the mornings, inhaling and exhaling the beautiful morning air, while the sun illuminates the gorgeous essence of your presence.

To be, or not to be is a matter of choice. Endurance and integrity succeeds through spiritual wealth. True success is not the end of the journey, it is the journey itself.

So, my brothers and dear sisters, live your life with the desired fruits of passion, the greatest gifts of life are balance and a commitment to maintaining the great God that resides in all of us.

So, if you can focus on maintaining the balancing acts of life, more than likely, your loyalty will find the most beautiful thing in the world.

Martha’s Table: 328-6608 2114 14th St, NW marthastable.org Miriam’s Kitchen: 452-8926 2401 Virginia Ave, NW miriamskitchen.org

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Positive Action

By Elizabeth Bryant, Vendor/Artist I am rising up. Every Thursday I have to go to the hospital, where the nurse sticks an I.V. in my arm to put iron in my blood. I also have Hepatitis. I have been taking medication prescribed by my doctor for months in order to see if it is effective – I’ll keep you updated through my writing.

But God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ are putting me back together.

I celebrated my 10th year of sobriety on January 2. I also now go to school

at the DC Library, Monday through Thursday. I’ll graduate with a diploma in November. I try to work on the computer several hours each week outside of class.

I still haven’t talked to my daughter and grandson or other grandkids. That makes me sad. But I continue to hope that God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ will guide them and keep them from making the same mistakes I did.

VENDOR PROFILE: WARREN STEVENS

By Zack Caplette, Editorial/Design Intern According to Saint Augustine, if “the world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page,” then Warren Stevens has read the book twice over. The native Washingtonian has seen it all. His early teenage years were spent as a world traveler alongside his father.

“I lived in Japan for 2 to 3 years and have traveled to places like Amsterdam, Paris, London, and Bangkok.”

The list of locations goes on and on. Stevens is rooted in global culture, yet the Street Sense vendor moved back to the District to work for the federal government. Now a retiree after 35 years with the postal service, Stevens continues to become involved in any type of work he can get his hands on — especially if it’s for a good cause.

This is what brought Warren to Street Sense. “I wanted to help the organization.

It’s a blessing.”

After standing outside of a Safeway one summer say in July 2007, Warren was intrigued by a sign that he saw. “The sign said ‘How to Make Money.’ I went to a meeting and found out about Street Sense.”

The job has been nothing short of rewarding for Warren. While being a vendor can be slow at times, Warren is passionate about the paper and appreciates the customers who take their time to read it and make a donation. “It shows that they are interested in the cause, it’s nice.”

Stevens has not experienced homelessness himself, only low-income. He resides in Northeast D.C. where he enjoys two hobbies inspired by his travels around the world: cooking and playing the guitar. “I learned to play guitar in Thailand. When I moved back to D.C. I played at The Potters House and at Church.”

With a passion for food and music, Stevens sees himself working for a restaurant in the near future, serving people and making sure his clients enjoy food just as much as he does. As for his love for traveling, Stevens hopes to continue his travels throughout the United States and revisit some favorite places abroad. Although his need for exploration is still strong, Warren Stevens continues to enjoy everything that his hometown has to offer.

April 6 - 19, 2016 • Volume 13 • Issue 11

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

LAST WORD: BEAUTY OF THE BLOSSOMS

By Evelyn Nnam Vendor/Artist

Oh cherry blossoms!

Oh how you are starting to bloom so beautifully!

As I look at how this year is going and the life that I live I see you lovely cherry blossoms sprouting and cracking from your shell into the light. Standing out like no other during the springtime! You have really changed the way I see spring. Sweet colors that will fill the sky for the cherry blossom festival, great wonders of the phenomenal uniqueness of your beauty. They say that you bring happiness, joy, love, and comfort for those who want to find it again. Resembling a new growth in the atmosphere. Shifting the presence to it

can be focused on only you. Declaring and presenting yourself to nations, spreading as far as you can go. Lifting up spirits and souls from nothing to something. Sharing yourself, so everyone can enjoy all of you, thinking of others like you always do. Lying on sidewalks, waiting for people to notice and be attracted to you awe. Causing many to be focused on your beauty, drawing their eyes to be indulged with you. I don’t blame you because you are a very attractive flower, you know what just to do with yourself for someone to be attracted to you. Thank you for what you have done in the past and what you will continue to do.

Continue to put smiles on people’s faces!

one paper.

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Marcus Green - April 7