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First, let me introduce myself to the Street Sense Media community. My name is Donte Kirby, and I’m honored to be your new deputy editor.
I was born and raised in Philadelphia. After a stint in the Peace Corps teaching English in Rwanda, I came to the DMV as a digital equity reporter during the peak of the pandemic in 2020.
For anyone unfamiliar, digital equity is a lot like equity in housing, health care, or education. Black, brown, and people on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum get the shorter end of the stick. I covered the winners and losers of the tech economy in Baltimore and the District through a digital equity and solutions-focused lens. This resulted in stories that showcased the ways tech companies like Google disproportionality push Black people out and stories that held the tech industry and government accountable for how tech should benefit everyone — instead of just wealthy shareholders.
I know there’s been a lot of change at Street Sense, but what will always remain the same is our dedication to original reporting that holds the government accountable for how it uses funds dedicated to ending homelessness, and illuminates the realities of living in poverty in the District. With media outlets like DCist gone, Street Sense’s stories are all the more important. My goals are to continue to grow the reporting staff of Street Sense and find new ways to amplify the voices of vendors.
I want to thank Annemarie for the opportunity and for keeping the editorial side afloat. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can build in this new chapter of Street Sense Media.
Please feel free to reach out at donte@streetsensemedia.org with any tips on stories or ideas for how Street Sense’s editorial department can grow.
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Congratulations to our theater workshop for their fantastic performance of “Pericles: Lost & Found” on April 3. The original play explored themes of grief, redemption, and justice. You can catch them performing three more times this spring and summer. Watch this space for dates and locations!
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Editor’s note: This is the second installment of a biweekly column, “Encampment Updates.” Each edition, a Street Sense journalist will write about past and upcoming encampment clearings and closures in D.C. More information about upcoming clearings and closures can be found at https://dmhhs.dc.gov/page/encampments.
D.C.’s Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services (DMHHS) removed an encampment in Anacostia on March 27. No one living there was present at the time of the encampment closure, and D.C. officials discarded everything they found in the encampment. According to a representative from DMHHS, one person had been living there, but left the area prior to the March 27 clearing.
The encampment was located near 1500 M St. SE, near the CSX Line freight train route, and a few hundred feet away from the Washington Yacht Club.
According to DMHHS’s website, the agency was both conducting a “full clean-up” and enforcing D.C.’s no-camping ordinance — meaning that had a resident been present, they would not have been able to continue living in the encampment.
“It was 12 feet from the train tracks. That’s not safe for anyone,” said Jamal Weldon, DMHHS’s encampment response program manager, when asked for comment at the scene.
The closure began promptly at 10 a.m. Using two garbage trucks, a bulldozer, and a large dumpster, DMHHS officials completely cleared the encampment within about 45 minutes. DMHHS and Department of Public Works (DPW) staff discarded a mattress, a chair, a rug, multiple tires, and a pair of shoes, among other items.
According to their encampment protocol, the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) should “make reasonable efforts” to store any belongings that are “safe to store and of apparent value,” even if the person living in the encampment is not present at the time of the clearing. It was not possible for Street Sense to determine whether any items matched this description, although a DMHHS representative said no items there met DMHHS criteria for storage.
At the time of the closure, the National Weather Service had issued a coastal flood warning that would last until midnight
(Later, the warning was downgraded to an advisory). There was only light rain at the time the clearing began, but within five minutes the area was in a downpour. While DMHHS provided answers to other questions submitted at the same time, the deputy mayor’s office did not explain its decision to proceed with the clearing despite the rain.
A DMHHS representative wrote to Street Sense that the encampment had been “on the radar” of DMHHS for 45 days prior to the clearing. According to the representative, Community Connnections, a D.C.-based mental health and housing nonprofit, had unsuccessfully attempted to offer support services to the resident.
Another clearing, this one at 3rd and Virginia Ave SE, was scheduled to occur on the following day at 10 a.m. However, DMHHS canceled it less than 24 hours before. Two closures for the week of April 1 were also canceled — including one near Garfield Park and one near Judiciary Square. According to DMHHS, residents of these encampments had voluntarily removed “hazardous” and unwanted items from the encampment before the clearings, leading the agency to determine that the clearings were no longer necessary.
Upcoming encampment engagements include: April 10 at 10 a.m. at 1899 9th St NE, April 11 at 10 a.m. at the bridge underpass in the 3900 block of Minnesota Ave NE, April 17 at 10 a.m. at the rear alleyway of 4915 Quarles St NE, and April 18 at 10am at 23rd and E St NW.
Unity Health Care (UHC) physicians and advanced practice providers, represented by the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, have begun contract negotiations with UHC after unionizing five months ago.
Unity Health Care was founded in 1985 as the Health Care for the Homeless Project. It initially provided primary care to families and individuals experiencing homelessness. Now, it is one of two federally qualified health centers in D.C. providing services to residents in underserved communities through its 20 locations — which include homeless shelters, schools, and the D.C. Jail.
About 85% of Unity’s medical providers voted to unionize in November 2023, citing safety and workload concerns. Through negotiations in the coming months, providers hope to establish protections to improve workplace conditions and better serve patients.
Unity providers, some of whom spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation, report being forced to prioritize the number of patients they saw over the quality of care they provided. They said this inevitably led to burnout and high turnover rates.
Jimmy Tracy, a family nurse practitioner, said a new practice of filling no-show slots with more patients created additional stressors for staff already pushed to the limits from pandemic care. In 2021, UHC changed the time providers were allowed to spend with patients, to ostensibly improve care. But employees said increasing it from 15 to 20 minutes was still insufficient to account for a patient’s complex medical history or trauma.
“We’re all working on the razor’s edge to begin with, especially after the pandemic,” said Tracy. “We just don’t feel we’ve been given the tools we need to make this a reasonable job.”
Several providers also described safety concerns at community clinics. At the Columbia Road Health Services location, two providers said that instead of installing or repairing a fire alarm, UHC hired people to watch for fires and evacuate the building if needed.
At the D.C. Jail, UHC providers said they often felt unsafe while seeing high quantities of patients without corrections officers present. On top of high caseloads, providers felt forced to choose between personal safety and providing care to patients in need.
Others explained the organization experienced high levels of turnover as a devastating cycle: overworked staff feel the need to meet the high-visits-per-hour targets set by UHC; and when they leave, providers said their workload remains despite the loss in personnel. When staff unionized in 2023, UCH had 18 unfilled provider positions.
So far, union negotiators met once with the team representing UHC on March 13 to outline priorities like workplace safety. According to Tracy, they hope to meet more regularly as the summer begins.
Steve Kaufman — the lead negotiator with the Union of American Physicians and Dentists — is wary of setting a deadline for when workers could expect a final agreement with UHC.
“I’m hopeful that everyone can have productive, good faith negotiations that will get us to agreement in the relative near future,” Kaufman said. “But how long it takes, I don’t even want to guess.”
When reached for comment on union negotiations, a UHC spokesperson responded with a statement by email: “Unity recognizes the important role that our providers play in caring for our patients and looks forward to working collaboratively to support our commitment to the mission of reaching people wherever they are to promote compassionate, comprehensive, high-quality health care that is accessible to all and advances health equity in Washington, D.C.”
All four providers that spoke with Street Sense emphasized that their primary goal in contract negotiations is improving the quality of care for patients and workplace conditions, not a bigger paycheck
We want the clinic to be the kind of place where people can and want to stay,” Tracy said. “I feel optimistic that we can work together to make it a better place.”
he last Chinese residents of Chinatown have long been mobilizing in an effort to preserve what remains of their neighborhood. However, a new proposal to build a nine-story lodging, intended to be somewhere between a hotel and an apartment building, threatens to decimate their already dwindling community.
TDuring a public hearing on March 27, eight Chinatown residents urged the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) to reject the proposal by the developer, Rift Valley Partners. Residents had two main demands: first, that D.C. preserves Full Kee Restaurant and Gao Ya Hair Salon, the two small Chinese businesses that would be displaced by the project; and second, that D.C. supports the establishment of a mid-size Asian grocery store.
Although the hearing was virtual, residents gathered at the Chinese Community Church, where organizers with Save Chinatown Solidarity Network — a newly formed organization — could help them navigate conference technology.
Lamenting the steady gentrification of D.C.’s Chinatown, witnesses voiced concerns that the proposed hotel between 5th and 6th streets on H Street Northwest would contribute to rising rent, declining employment, and further displacement. Many of Chinatown’s residents expressed that if this trend of displacement were to continue, “there would be no Chinatown in the future.”
“There used to be thousands of Chinese families, lively businesses, and prosperous communities here,” said See Ming Chan, a long-standing resident of Chinatown and the president of the Wah Luck House Tenants Association. “But the development of Chinatown has greatly reduced the number of residents.”
In the 1970s, there were roughly 3,000 Chinese residents of Chinatown; but only 361 responded to the 2020 Census. Of Chinatown’s remaining residents, the overwhelming majority live in Wah Luck House, an affordable housing complex that is directly across the street from the spot of the proposed project. Because of existing zoning requirements to protect the cultural integrity of Chinatown, the BZA would have to grant Rift Valley Partners a zoning exception to construct the proposed hotel. Chinatown’s sub-area regulations dictate that the ground floor and street frontage of buildings should be devoted to retail that emphasizes Chinese culture, and other operations that serve residents and visitors. The BZA is expected to release its ruling on Apr. 10.
According to residents who testified, Full Kee Restaurant and Gao Ya Hair Salon, which would be demolished, are two of a handful of surviving small Chinese businesses left. “Chinatown used to be a prosperous neighborhood with lots of Chinese businesses, like bakeries and grocery stores,” said Hui Xia Li, who has lived in Chinatown for 30 years. “But now there are no stores to buy what we need.”
The last full-service Chinese grocery store in Chinatown closed in 2005. The other residents echoed that the loss of small Chinese businesses in Chinatown meant that, despite their old age, they had to travel long distances in order to obtain goods and access services that catered to their specific wants and needs.
“I am getting older each year, so are the other residents. My mobility isn’t good and walking is hard,” said Yong Jian Chen, who has lived in Wah Luck House for over 20 years. “Yet I
have to go to Maryland or Virginia to find Chinese groceries.”
Historically, Chinatown has been a victim of D.C.’s development. As part of the McMillan Plan to beautify the National Mall, many Chinese residents were displaced to create space for the Federal Triangle government office complex in the 1920s — pushed to the presentday Chinatown. For many Chinese residents and small Chinese businesses, the opening of Capital One Arena in 1997 dealt the final blow, as soaring rent forced them into the suburbs.
The language barrier has prevented residents from meaningfully advocating for themselves for decades.
“It shows the difficulty of our residents to be included in what is happening in their own neighborhood,” said Ren Lee, an organizer with Save Chinatown Solidarity Network.
Frederick Hill, who chairs the BZA, said this was the first time such “robust” translation services had ever been made available at a hearing. (Chinese is one of the six languages the D.C. government is legally obligated to provide support services for upon request.) Court-certified Mandarin and Cantonese interpreters were brought in by the BZA, since none of the residents spoke English.
Because of the language barrier, residents of Wah Luck House had not been aware of the proposed hotel until early March. These residents, who are primarily Chinese elders with limited English proficiency, said this was because government notices are usually only posted in English. The hearing for the proposal to build a hotel was originally scheduled for last November, before it was postponed.
As a result, the Wah Luck House Tenants Association was late in filing for party status, which would have allowed it to participate in zoning proceedings. Party status is given to individuals or groups who can prove that they are more “uniquely affected” by a proposed zoning action than the general public.
Nashrah Ahmed, a staff attorney with Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center and the lawyer for the Wah Luck House Tenants Association, argued that the Wah Luck House Tenants Association qualified for party status on the grounds of proximity to the proposed hotel and employment opportunities in the businesses that would be displaced.
However, the BZA ultimately voted at the hearing to deny the request by Wah Luck House Tenants Association for party status, with Freeman Kyrus, the lawyer for the developer, contending that the proposed hotel would only displace businesses, not residents.
“That is equivalent to saying, we aren’t going to directly displace villagers — we will just remove their wealth, their sources of food, and make it completely impossible to exist
as a community,” argued Lee, the Save Chinatown Solidarity Network organizer.
Without party status, the Wah Luck House Tenant Association was restricted in its ability to participate in the hearing, diminishing the weight of the testimonies of residents on the decision-making process.
The fight to preserve Chinatown has also exposed a split between wealthier Chinese landowners and working class Chinese people. The Moy family, a local Chinese family who currently owns the plot of land in contention and has their own family association, supports the construction of the hotel.
“The voices of landowners, like the Moy family here, tend to be the loudest and most influential and often overshadow the residents and employees who feel beholden to them,” said Zoe Li, another organizer with Save Chinatown Solidarity Network.
Residents likewise bemoaned the lack of outreach to them, especially since they are, in their words, “the ones who make Chinatown what it is.”
“The developers may think that they have already had plenty of discussions with local Chinese organizations,” said Chan, the Wah Luck House Tenants Association president. “We understand that this is [the Moy family’s] land. But are they the ones who actually live in Chinatown?”
While they own properties in Chinatown, members of the Moy family moved to the suburbs in the 1990s. Eddie Moy, the president of the Moy family association, currently resides in Montgomery County, Maryland.
“We are excited for any new developments, including the proposal of the H Street hotel,” the Moy Family Association wrote in a statement to Street Sense. “Any revitalization in our historic Chinatown that is respectful for the heritage and growth is welcomed.”
But organizers and residents of Wah Luck worry. “This proposal is meant to eradicate working class Chinese people from these streets and replace them with luxury businesses that serve the wealthy,” Lee, the Save Chinatown organizer said. “Essentially, this is the extinction of working class Chinese society here in D.C.”
Over 7% of all children in D.C. under age three experience homelessness, according to a recent report. That is more than any state in the U.S.
This report claims to be the “most comprehensive” analysis of its kind, and the first ever to collect state-by-state data on infant and toddler homelessness. It was published by SchoolHouse Connection, an advocacy organization that aims to “[overcome] homelessness through education.”
Around 2.5%, or over 364,000, of children under age three experience homelessness across the country, according to SchoolHouse Connection. Their report builds on the findings of a 2023 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which revealed that children under age five are the largest age group of people who have had an eviction filed against them in the United States. Furthermore, 15.2% of infants and toddlers across the country live in crowded housing.
The SchoolHouse Connection report centers the definition of homelessness from the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, where “homelessness” includes not just people who are visibly unsheltered or staying in shelters, but also people who do not have a lease to their name and subsist in precarious housing situations. This thus sets the report apart from common metrics for homelessness like the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count — a federally-mandated survey of the people sleeping in shelters as well as in streets and other places not intended for habitation.
Because of this distinction, the PIT Count is generally accepted as a drastic undercount even though it is a go-to annual data point for measuring homelessness. It overlooks many unseen unhoused people who cannot access shelters due to shortage of space, eligibility requirements, or fear. And it deliberately excludes people who temporarily “double up” with family, friends, or acquaintances with no guarantee for the longevity of their stay.
Education data, like what SchoolHouse Connection analyzed, is also collected annually. But it uses the McKinney-Vento Act definition of homelessness, instead of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s more narrow definition that the PIT Count relies on. Public schools often report higher numbers of students experiencing homelessness than the PIT count. While families in fluid doubled-up housing circumstances are considered unhoused under federal early care and education law, they are excluded from data like the PIT count.
For Erin Patterson, the author of the report, child homelessness demands especially urgent attention because children who experience homelessness face long-term repercussions, including delays in language, literacy, and socio-emotional development — as well as mental illnesses and complex trauma.
This persists throughout the lifetime of infants and toddlers. Only 68% of high school students experiencing homelessness graduate — the lowest out of any subgroup — compared to 85% for all students across the country. High school students experiencing homelessness are also 10 times more likely than their peers to become pregnant or get someone else pregnant.
“I would encourage anyone who is in a position of power to really understand a one-year-old experiencing homelessness
now will be a kindergartner experiencing homelessness in four years,” Patterson told Street Sense Media. “In 18 years, they will be in high school or trying to graduate, because homelessness has long-term, lasting negative consequences on young children.”
SchoolHouse Connection advocates for early childhood development programs to break the cycle of homelessness. Currently, only 7.4% of infants and toddlers experiencing homelessness in D.C., or 171 children, are being served by early childhood development programs. (Free early childhood development programs, like early head start, are available to low-income families in D.C. through organizations including but not limited to Martha's Table, 202-328-6608; Bright Beginnings, 202-842-9090; and United Planning Organization, 202-238-4733.)
Patterson pointed to “innovative solutions” that bundle early childhood development programs with housing programs, like Head Start on Housing in Connecticut. Under this program, which started in January 2022, the Department of Housing in Connecticut allocates housing vouchers to families whose children are enrolled in Early Head Start or Head Start programs. Consequently, this allows families experiencing doubled-up homelessness to access housing assistance.
Patterson believes such solutions could be modeled in D.C.
“D.C. was one of the first cities to have universal Pre-K, so I think there is a lot of room for innovation here when it comes to meeting these needs in creative ways,” Patterson said.
The future of social safety net programs — from early childhood development to housing — remains up in the air.
On Apr. 3, Mayor Muriel Bowser released her proposed budget for fiscal year 2025, in which many such programs were cut: including the Emergency Rental Assistance Program and the Home Purchase Assistance Program.
Advocates for early childhood development programs rallied ahead of an education conference on Apr. 5 in protest of the slashing of the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund, which promotes early education through offering teachers and caregivers money to compensate for their low wages.
“Eliminating the Pay Equity Fund and gutting the child care subsidy program will decimate the early education sector, said Tazra Mitchell, Chief Policy and Strategy Officer at D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, at a budget oversight hearing on Apr. 8 chaired by the Committee on Health.“[Bowser’s] approach will set back the progress that DC has made on poverty reduction, greater economic inclusion, and closing racial and gender disparities that harm us all.”
Laura Gutowski lives just down the street from the Grants Pass home she resided in for 25 years. Her son used to play baseball in Morrison Centennial Park, where she now stays in a tent not far from the diamond. Her kids were born and raised in the neighborhood, the same place where her husband died unexpectedly in 2021.
“Still hard,” she said. “Still hurts.”
Grants Pass is a city of 39,000 residents in southern Oregon’s Josephine County, an hour’s drive northwest of the California border on Interstate 5. It is nestled between the Siskiyou and Cascade mountain ranges, and the southern edge of its city center sits on the banks of the Rogue River. Baker, Tussing and Riverside Parks offer access to the Rogue, where crows gather near hotel lots and restaurant patios.
The city is also at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court case that is expected to have broad implications for homelessness policy across the country.
The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in Grants Pass v. Johnson on April 22. Grants Pass says civil and criminal punishments are necessary for enforcing laws banning homeless individuals from public spaces. Lawyers representing a class of homeless residents argue penalizing people who have nowhere else to go constitutes cruel and unusual punishment — a violation of the Eighth Amendment.
The Oregon Law Center initially filed the class action lawsuit on behalf of Debra Blake in October 2018. Blake passed away in 2021, and Gloria Johnson and John Logan stepped in as class representatives as the case made its way through the appeals process.
The question at the center of Grants Pass v. Johnson is whether penalties against involuntarily homeless individuals constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
Gutowski became homeless soon after her husband died. She can’t talk about him without choking up, sitting outside her tent, leg resting on a bucket holding a tarp down on the grass.
“It kind of all piled on at the same time,” she said. “Flipped my world upside down. I never expected to be out here for this long.”
Gutowski thought she’d be without a home for a month at the most, but a month tumbled into two. She spent the third month sleeping in her car after moving to a different park. More than two years later, she still considers herself part of the Grants Pass community but said the housed residents in the area don’t. “It can happen to anybody,” she said. “Anybody at any time.”
The question at the center of Grants Pass v. Johnson is whether city ordinances leveling civil and criminal penalties against involuntarily homeless individuals constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
“The point is to make it uncomfortable”
The city, for its part, was not shy about its approach from the beginning. On March 28, 2013, the Grants Pass city
council held a community roundtable to “identify solutions to current vagrancy problems.” In its own words, the purpose was to “focus on developing strategies to modify behavior (and) connect people to services.” At that meeting, Lily Morgan, the council president, stated, “The point is to make it uncomfortable enough for them in our city so they will want to move on down the road.”
City code explicitly bars anyone from sleeping in public spaces, including parks, sidewalks, and in cars, or using sleeping materials for the purpose of maintaining a temporary place to live, under threat of criminal and civil penalty. In city code, “parks” are defined as city halls, community centers, police and fire stations, parking lots, traffic islands, or urban beautification areas owned or maintained by the city.
At times, the city has shut off the water in public parks and closed the restrooms, a tactic Josephine County Public Health voiced concern about, saying a lack of access to handwashing stations could have ripple effects in the broader community. Some homeless residents have no option but to use the Rogue River for bathing, restrooms, and drinking water.
“They’re trying to put us in this situation, and put us in society’s view as what they would consider homeless, or how they view homeless in their minds,” Gutowski said.
“Housing as community infrastructure”
Doug Walker, a retired builder and member of the city’s Housing Advisory Committee, seems to never stop working. This winter, Walker and his team have been working to retrofit a building, turning it into an emergency shelter and navigation center, run by the local organization Mobile Integrative Navigation Team, or MINT.
Early one morning, Walker cut materials and delegated tasks inside “Parker’s Place,” a small building neighboring a charming used furniture store and a large Bi-Mart parking lot.
Inclement weather was expected to settle in, and MINT staff hoped to accommodate people the following weekend.
Walker said temporary shelters are part of the solution, but Grants Pass needs to get to work building more apartments and affordable housing. He said the current scenario is a result of the policies of the past 50 years.
“We have woefully underbuilt housing, and I think we have to start to look at housing as infrastructure — as community infrastructure,” Walker said.
Grants Pass has been under a district court injunction since July 2020, and a circuit court injunction since September 2022, barring the city from enforcing its ordinances. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s opinion that the ordinance violated the cruel and unusual punishment clause because Grants Pass residents had no other option for shelter.
The only continual overnight shelter is the Gospel Rescue Mission, a high-barrier shelter, meaning clients are required to abstain from using substances, attend daily Christian services, and abide by a host of other rules as a condition of their stay.
The Mission helps people develop routines during their stay. It also requires residents to turn over all medications and stay nicotine-free. It does not permit socializing between members of the opposite sex except at approved events. The Mission acknowledges gender and sexuality in “Biblical terms,” meaning residents must “dress and behave according to their birth gender,” according to its house rules.
Brian Bouteller, the Mission’s executive director, said he believes people need to be compelled to seek help, and the problem of homelessness is growing in Grants Pass because organizations are handing out material things like coats to people who choose to sleep in parks.
“They have the option to not sleep in the park,” he said. “I mean, we have forests all over the place.”
Asked if he believes the enforcement of city ordinances constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, Bouteller said he doesn’t believe it is. As an example, he said when he received a $300 speeding ticket as a teenager, it made him think about the way he drove and changed his behavior accordingly.
“It changed my desires because it was painful,” Bouteller said. Walker said the Mission does help certain people, but the approach “doesn’t work for everybody.” Still, he said the idea that people should be made uncomfortable “is in the ethos” of many living in Grants Pass.
The Ninth Circuit Court cited its Martin v. Boise decision from 2018 as the backdrop for the Grants Pass case. That ruling found the U.S. Constitution blocks cities from imposing criminal penalties for sitting, sleeping, or lying outside on public property upon homeless individuals who cannot obtain shelter.
The two cases are closely related, and liberal and conservative city and state governments across the West have argued the court’s injunctions obstruct them from resolving homelessness.
An amicus brief submitted by the city and county of San Francisco said the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision has hamstrung its efforts.
“The homelessness crisis defies ready solutions,” the brief said. “By restricting San Francisco’s ability to enforce those laws, judicial intervention has thwarted both the city’s ability to provide services to persons experiencing homelessness and its ability to protect the health, safety, and welfare needs of its residents as a whole.”
Local and state governments, police departments and chambers of commerce across the West submitted additional briefs in supporting Grants Pass, making similar claims.
Ed Johnson, the Oregon Law Center’s director of litigation, who brought the initial suit against Grants Pass, said the case is specifically about whether civil and criminal enforcement of anti-camping regulations violates the U.S. Constitution when people have no other place to go.
He said penalizing people in need of housing will do little to solve the larger problem.
“Some politicians and others are cynically and falsely blaming the judiciary for the homelessness crisis to distract the public and deflect blame for years of failed policies,” Johnson said.
Walker, the Gospel Rescue Mission director, said no matter what he tries to do to address the housing shortage, he tends to
face resistance. Glen Crest Cottages, a 14-unit housing project proposed in 2023, faced significant challenges from nearby neighbors, despite being a grant-funded project on donated land, specifically built for veterans.
“I think we have the right as tax-paying citizens to want to remain safe and have our property values remain the same as they currently are,” one complaint said. “It is questionable if we can even sell them if this development goes in.”
Walker said the Foundry Village project, a long, narrow piece of land alongside the railroad tracks offering 17 transitional housing pods, faced similar pushback. The project ultimately went through despite some community members’ objections that helping people only enables them.
Walker and his team worked for a year and a half to raise the money and spent another year building. He said half the people living at Foundry Village are ready to move into housing but can’t leave because there is nothing for them to move into.
“That’s the nut at the center of the thing,” Walker said.
“They’re so misunderstood”
People living in Grants Pass are required to move every 72 hour s. Police officers come to parks every Monday and Thursday, hand out 72-hour eviction notices, and give $295 citations for something called “scattering rubbish,” a loosely defined term for any item officers find near a tent. Left unpaid, fines for violating camping ordinances increase to $537.60.
As police hand out penalties to local residents, MINT has negotiated a relatively workable schedule, offering to help residents move their tents every Saturday.
MINT began as a community project with Josephine County Public Health, providing vaccines to homeless residents in 2021. Leah Swanson, the county emergency preparedness coordinator, said she saw inequities between COVID-19 vaccine rates in people who were housed and those who were unhoused. So, she started a program to build trust and meet people where they were.
“That’s quintessential public health work,” Swanson said.
Cassy Leach, a nurse at a local hospital at the time, volunteered to help early on. As she built trust in the community, people started asking for other supplies, like the life-saving overdose reversal medication Narcan. She acquired some to give to people in the parks and their work grew into a mobile service for multiple needs. That was the beginning of MINT.
The organization recently acquired a van and customized it to allow them to provide medical care in the parks. Bruce Murray, a retired internist, runs the medical team with his wife, to whom he lovingly refers as the “wound god.”
Murray said the medical situation is dire in Grants Pass parks due to minimal access to basic hygiene services.
Alongside a small group of volunteers, Murray works with Leach and her colleague Jesseca Mueller — who refer to themselves as “Jay and Silent Bob” — checking in on people in the parks during the week. They ask about upcoming appointments and developments in the daily lives of the people they serve, nurturing personal connections with anyone who wants to talk.
“These people are just beautiful souls who have amazing stories, and they’re so misunderstood,” Leach said.
Murray said the city council and the community have been suspicious of what MINT is doing, and said it isn’t uncommon for people to drive through the park and take photos and videos to share on social media.
“They really don’t understand what we’re doing,” Murray said.
“The ‘crime’ of having a common cold”
Grants Pass city municipal code states if a person receives two or more citations within a year for violating park rules, officers can give an exclusion order, barring them from being in the park for 30 days under threat of criminal trespass. A person found guilty of criminal trespass can be punished with up to 30 days in jail and a $1,250 fine.
Brodia Minter, a Southern Oregon public defender, said in a matter of three weeks her clients Helen Cruz and her partner each received $295 citations for violating park use regulations, two separate $295 citations for camping in parks, followed by an exclusion order kicking them out of Morrison Park. She said court scheduling made it impossible for Cruz to have her day in court on the initial citations before officers issued the exclusion order, violating a right to due process.
“We’d tried to adjudicate them but she was getting an exclusion order and swept before those tickets were adjudicated,” Minter said. “There was literally nothing she could ever do to be doing it right.”
Cruz decided to appeal after reading a notice at the bottom of the exclusion orders saying she had the right to do so within two days of receiving the order. She was the first person in Grants Pass to appeal an exclusion order but had to wait for the proceeding until later that month. The city council ultimately upheld the order, barring them from Morrison Park from midJuly to mid-August.
Cruz lost everything when she was swept out of the park. She said police dumped an ice chest onto sentimental photos and important documents. Her blankets were soaked. She couldn’t set up her tent again because the police intentionally broke the tent poles.
“Everything was just destroyed,” Cruz said. “It took my self-esteem and … just stomped on it basically.”
Minter said unless the city is providing no-barrier shelter there are no legitimate options for people with no source of income.
That encapsulates the narrow question before the Supreme Court. The court is tasked with determining whether people can be punished for the involuntary status of being homeless. Johnson said decades of precedent holds that people cannot be punished for any involuntary status.
The Ninth Circuit Court affirmed that basic principle in Martin v. Boise, saying, “A person cannot be prosecuted for involuntary conduct if it is an unavoidable consequence of one’s status.”
That decision was based in part on a 1962 Supreme Court case, Robinson v. California, which determined states cannot punish a person simply for the involuntary status of being addicted to the use of narcotics.
Justice Stewart’s majority opinion illustrated the cruelty of punishing a person for something they cannot help.
“Even one day in prison would be a cruel and unusual punishment for the ‘crime’ of having a common cold,” Stewart said.
“I thought it was a lynch mob”
On May 17, 2023, three days after one homeless man killed another homeless man in Riverside Park, the Grants Pass city council held a public hearing and closed the park to all members of the public for one month.
During contentious public testimony, community members doubled down on the push to make homeless residents uncomfortable, calling to privatize the parks, saying Narcan
was a “crutch,” and the idea of providing shelter was “crummy.”
“We’re just so scared,” one person said.
Cruz said she was planning to speak on behalf of the homeless residents, but backed down quickly when she saw the community’s ire.
“It’s kind of scary because these people were like — they were furious,” Cruz said. “I thought it was a lynch mob.” Her fear is not unwarranted.
Vigilante groups have started harassing homeless residents, calling themselves park watch groups. They show up at the parks, harass and provoke homeless residents — slashing their tents, emptying shampoo bottles and scattering belongings.
Walker said some in the community misdirect anger, focusing on crime and drug use because it’s too difficult to address the fact that homelessness is a broad, societal issue affecting a diverse population, including young children.
The most recent Oregon Point-in-Time count, or PIT count, shows 756 school-age children were homeless in Josephine County in 2023. PIT counts are widely understood to be a substantial undercount but provide a baseline for annual homelessness statistics.
Organizations like Maslow Project work in Josephine and nearby Jackson County to help homeless kids with the resources they need. Many young people have moved into the nearby hills despite its danger and distance from services. Nicole Ritterbush, a case worker for Maslow Project, said that is a consequence of the city pushing people to the edges, where there is a lower threat of criminal penalties.
“The mental health stress and toll it takes on them to have to constantly be moving and not be able to sleep is not good,” Ritterbush said.
Phone service is less available out of town, meaning young homeless residents have a difficult time staying in school and connecting with case managers like Ritterbush who could help them integrate into other parts of society.
Gutowski knows the struggle of trying to stay in school while homeless. After her husband died and she lost her housing, she went back to college to study Family Support Services so she could support young people struggling with social and behavioral challenges. Without consistent access to electricity, she was often unable to keep her laptop charged, and she couldn’t afford gas to drive to and from school each day. She had to drop out after the first term.
“Which was irritating, because I had finally gotten up the guts to actually go to college in the first place,” she said.
Gutowski said it proves unfeasible to take steps out of homelessness in Grants Pass, as debts from citations become insurmountable, or police and vigilante groups provoke and harass people for various reasons — in her case, for doing her homework, she said.
Johnson said despite the national attention to the case, the Supreme Court’s decision may do little to materially change the situation in Oregon. ORS 195.530 and Article I, section 16 of the Oregon Constitution require city ordinances to be objectively reasonable regarding people experiencing homelessness. Still, the decision is likely to impact the way cities and states approach homelessness regardless of whether it is sound public policy.
“My fear is if cities are allowed to criminalize without any limitation, we’re going to wake up in a few years and we’re going to have twice as many homeless people as we have right now,” Johnson said.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments for Grants Pass v. Johnson April 22 in Washington, D.C. Street Roots will be there reporting in a media collaboration with Oregon Public Broadcasting.
This story is courtesy of Street Roots and the International Network of Street Papers.
nhoused individuals are often forced to seek shelter in public spaces. However, a large percentage of public spaces are intentionally inaccessible to those who need them most. This is a phenomenon called “hostile architecture,” which the Cambridge Dictionary defines as “the design of public spaces in a way that stops unwanted behavior.” In practice, it is the means by which governments and businesses design public spaces to restrict unwanted behaviors by marginalized groups. In Washington, D.C., like many other cities, it seems the government and other organizations with jurisdiction over parks and public spaces are intentional about where they place hostile architecture, making it harder for people who sleep outside to find safe places to sleep.
UHostile architecture manifests in the form of altered public amenities. For example, benches in public spaces can have unneeded armrests in the center of the bench to prevent sleeping and prolonged usage. Adams Morgan Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Peter Wood shared one example of this in Hargrove Park via X (formerly Twitter) in 2021. He called on the city to remove the middle armrest. (He tells Street Sense the city has since done so.) Governments can also install spikes or barriers to prevent people from lying down and dwelling in certain spaces, as seen in the case of the NoMa underpasses where people slept until D.C. cleared encampments in 2021. There’s even the removal of amenities — better known as “ghost amenities” — to discourage the use of a certain space, such as taking away benches from New York Avenue Presbyterian Church or water fountains at the Great Hall of Union Station.
The city’s difficult history with homelessness intertwines with long-standing racial and economic inequality. 88% of those unhoused in Washington, D.C. identify as Black, compared to 45% of the general population. In 2022, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office announced that homelessness in D.C. had decreased by 47% since 2015, partially due to the reformation of shelters and homelessness prevention programs. The mayor’s goal to make homelessness “largely nonexistent”
in D.C. by 2025 is commendable. However, in the past year alone, the number of people experiencing homelessness in D.C. has increased by nearly 12%.
While the D.C. government has had success in developing shelters and preventing homelessness, it has not done enough to improve the state of homelessness for unsheltered individuals. Individuals who are forced to live in public spaces are still subject to the exclusionary practices of hostile architecture. A Seattle study found that hostile architecture led to feelings of confinement and exclusion amongst unhoused elders. The spikes and other rigid designs can also inflict harm.
people experiencing homelessness that push them away from city centers and support services, actively inhibiting the reach of the same homelessness response that the D.C. government spends millions on each year.
Legislation to ban hostile architecture isn’t a new concept. Last year, it was proposed in Connecticut’s state house. Banning hostile architecture in D.C. would do more than aid in our response to our neighbor’s housing security -- it would remove a message to people experiencing homelessness that they are unwelcome.
ust a little pain, enough to remind all of us, with a fickle tension, of the true nature of experience… suffering. What can surpass the senses’ capacity of perceiving this wonder of life in all its might?
Nothing like compassion.
Nine minutes away from me, a man was burning himself — for the world to understand that amidst our nice sensory satisfactions — our abundance, and our ‘securities’ — exists a hidden turbulence that can easily be described as the hottest cauldron of hell. In this place that we prefer not to think about lies a fulcrum of evil where people are exterminated — literally killed for existing. But this lightning hits the ground so far away from our blessed “reality” that we can’t hear the thunder roar.
So loud is this thunder’s roar that even the lion’s roar in this jungle passes, unheard. Until finally, thanks to the ultimate sacrifice of one of us, a torch of dignity — a burning lamb — shines brightest.
pril 22 is Earth Day, a time to celebrate our planet - but also call attention to the fact planets die, and this one is on life support. If we do not work together, we will not have a place to live. Earth is very likely to die before we can inhabit another planet. Significant scientific analysis and data support this fact.
On March 11, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) addressed the Senate on this issue. According to Whitehouse, out of 1,200 analytical scenarios, only 11 would allow us to bring global warming back under 1.5 degrees Celsius. I was there watching that Senate session. I was shocked this warning was not on news channels (and still has not been publicly discussed). I bring this news to you all now because we can only achieve change if we work together.
Carbon capture technology, large-scale air filtration plants, and a ‘pollution tax’ are viable methods to keep Earth habitable. But greed is keeping the government from funding these solutions, including Whitehouse’s Clean Competition Act and its companion about methane reduction.
I love the Earth. I want to keep living on it. It pains me to think I won’t get the chance to raise children. We will all lose the Earth if we all do not agree to fix the only planet we have.
Artist/Vendor
It’s spring. So, what are we going to do?
1. look-up 11. face-up
2. get-up 12. clean-up
3. be-up 13. stay-up
4. pray-up 14. book-up
5. go-up 15. climb-up
6. cast-up 16. stand-up
7. grow-up 17. jump-up
8. close-up 18. put-up
9. shut-up 19. volume-up
10. crap-up 20. lift-up
Just make sure you don’t…GIVE-UP!
This year, flowers bloom into more vibrant colors and stand taller than the last season. Birds are born all over the world, sprouting beautiful colors. Meanwhile, the caterpillars wait their turn for God to paint them the vibrant colors of mouth-dropping beautiful butterflies.
Black bears come out of hibernation to mate and display the cuteness and mischievousness of all baby animals.
Springtime is almost here! When it arrives, let everything leap forward and leave winter behind. Birds will sing. Butterflies will fly. So will kites. I like my green kite. What color kite do you like? Whatever it is, let it fly high to the sky! Spread love.
MELODY BYRD
Artist/Vendor
I want my customers to understand our new price. We are a nonprofit that must compete for our readers’ funds, which are sometimes limited. So I think raising our price by $1 is reasonable. We have to keep up with the cost of living, just as you do.
Thank you for your understanding and please keep buying our papers.
Spring plays a vital role in our world’s rotation. Once spring stops rebirthing, the world, our globe, stops rotating.
That’s why spring rebirth is one of the most important seasons that men, women, and children must protect. Allow the bears, butterflies, bumblebees, and birds to do God’s work while on Earth.
I love spring because it allows all living things to see another summer, fall, and winter.
Let’s go on vacation. Let’s take a breather. Rejoice with our families. It’s fun out here in the garden, with flowers and roses flaunting themselves with pride.
Here, friendly people serve you with a smile. You can eat all the goodies that money can buy without thinking about your diet.
Let’s have fun and laugh on the tangling catapult ride.
If you’re tired, we can rest. Or walk and interact with other people on the path. A delightful, colorful brown little chipmunk darts past you in a flash. Did you see him?
Let’s go onto the wavering water rapids and get wet to cool off from this beaming sun. It’s hot out here!
Now, we can roam the hill and go around a heart statue that says: “Love life, and animals too.” We might come across a large arcade filled with video games. Roll this little ball into these many holes and claim your prize after collecting tickets. You can pick out prizes with your tickets, so play a lot to get large prizes.
Down paths on either end, we see animals of all sorts. Take a snapshot with your phone or camera of them playing or sliding themselves under trees. Exchange picture and stories with people, and get their opinions on what you see.
At last, enjoy the park.
Peace and bless you!
JENNIFER MCLAUGHLIN
Artist/Vendor
Easter has always been a fun time for my family. We dress up for church with pretty dresses, white shoes, and the best of everything in our closet. Then we celebrate with a big dinner, featuring a big ham.
DOMINQUE ANTHONY
Artist/Vendor
When the storm comes in, it takes out the light and the bright sun
When the storm comes down like Ziggy Marley said, the Lord comes down and the Lord will come down when he comes but my grandmom Flossie would say there will be light after the storm
I have been through many thunderstorms in my life and I always felt there was
No light
No sun
No rainbow
The storms that happened to me
Were those bad storms
Like lightning and
It was like the gods were crying in the sky
God is crying when it rains
God and I cry together
God is good all the time
God loves you and me
God loves me as well
Artist/Vendor
Do we play with father
Do the best with father
Does father want me
Do I deserve a chance with father
Does father play games with me
Does the will come to me
Do I have a chance
Tempus fugit here In Olympus. Zeus Strikes as the clock. Kronos sends His only flame, his Targets, his marks, His insults towards all. Athena reigns with Mars, with wisdom. Shedding fear and Eating demons with Poseidon. Long live The king and Queens of the Half-moon Titan!
CHON GOTTI
Artist/Vendor
On Earth’s grand stage, where time unfurls, On April’s morn, where joy whirls, A soul was born at dawn’s embrace, With grace and promise, love to trace. In realms of fate, where destinies blend, Two families intertwine, hearts to mend. The Smiths, with strength, like iron forged, Their love, a fire that never disgorges. Kellys, like rivers, flowing and free, Their laughter echoing through eternity. Together, they weave a tapestry rare, A legacy of love beyond compare.
On this sacred day, Earth’s sweet rebirth, We celebrate the gift of your worth.
For you, dear one, a symphony sings, Of the joy that your existence brings. To the Smiths and Kellys, pillars strong: In your embrace, we all belong. With every sunrise, a promise anew, Of love and blessings, forever true. May your journey be adorned with light, Guided by stars in the darkest night. On this Earth Day, as the world celebrates, Your presence, dear one, is forever great.
So let us raise our voices high, To the Smiths and Kellys, by and by. For on this special day, we see, The beauty of love’s symphony.
To understand our lives, we need to know what matters to us
What makes us happy, makes us smile, Gives us strength and beauty
When we understand most things die, Life matters to us
It helps us all, it gives us strength, Gives us truth, gives us mercy
Why do I matter?
I matter because I love you
I breathe, I eat, I woke up this morning because God gave me life
So her mercy, her grace, her beauty
It’s all on me
I matter because God told me she loves us — she loves me; Jesus loves me
And I am worthy
That’s the reason I matter
To know it is pure of heart
To get through life, to know you matter
When you know this, you feel better
What matters?
My children, my family, my friends
My life
Things that make me happy, smile, understand
Things that make God happy
To know we love her so much
To understand her love,
Her blessing, her mercy, grace, and kindness
That’s the reason I matter
When we think about ourselves
What makes us happy?
To know God’s got us 24 hours a day
To know pure love, that matters
To know we are worthy
To ask God for forgiveness for all of us
To me, that matters
My space goes with me everywhere
I go,
It stays with me, rent-free.
There are no tiffs, spats, fights, or melees,
Together we are one, at peace.
My space sounds an alarm, It rings my brain to tell my mind
To think, pause, stop, breathe, exhale
To the point of stillness.
And await the calm to rise, And it comes.
My space never fails, it stills the soul,
Cannot be stolen, and is always at home.
No eviction.
My space is a human right
That needs protection, For it is mine, and not a threat.
Homelessness does not exist, It will never come, That only happens outside of my body,
Outside of my mind.
In the world of blinded inequity, If only I could give to the human race.
My roots show me growth in myself growth that is uneven I can straighten them roots out with a cut my roots are getting old they’re turning gray guess I will be thrown away maybe I can prolong this procedure by hiding my growth deep down in my roots there is a story leading to wisdom coming from wisdom my roots started out cute, now they’re mature my roots are my roots, yours are yours I know I will be picked one day, by the one who is meant to get nourished by my roots I can feed, love, and grow more roots but my roots will only grow for you
Here is an imagined interview with renowned philanthropist and entrepreneur Sarah Breedlove, born Dec. 23, 1867, better known as Madam C.J. Walker. Research came from “On Her Own: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker.”
Madam C.J. Walker: I came from the cotton fields of the South. From there, I was promoted to the cook. And then I promoted myself into manufacturing hair products. I built my factory on my own. Nikila: Wow. You are proof that how you start is not how you finish.
Madam C.J.: Let me tell you more about my upbringing. My father and mother are Owen and Minerva. My siblings, Louvenia, Alexander, James, Solomon, and Owen Jr, were all born into slavery. I was the first born into freedom.
My mother died when I was six and my father remarried. Then
CARLOS CAROLINA
Artist/Vendor
Learn yourself, know yourself, love yourself.
A. Learn yourself.
State condition, mode, posture, and status.
Even though you may have a situation or may be in a situation, it doesn’t make you your situation. That’s the equivalent of being stuck in a condition or mode.
B. Know yourself.
In order for you to know yourself, you must first set standards for yourself.
It sounds easy but setting standards, especially for yourself, is never an easy task. You must have morals. Live by ethics. Abide by principles. This way, you will have a better chance to persevere mentally, physically, and emotionally through life’s adventures.
C. Love yourself.
Love you for you. Create a character, have pride, set goals, be ambitious. And most importantly, love yourself.
he died a year later when I was seven. This made me an orphan. So, I moved in with my oldest sister Louvenia and my brother-in-law. Let’s just say that didn’t work.
Nikila: Can I ask you a question?
Madam C.J.: Of course, that's what this interview is for.
Nikila: How did you get the name Madam C.J. Walker?
Madam C.J.: In January 1906, I married Charles Joseph Walker, a newspaper advertising salesman I met in St. Louis. That's how I became Madam C.J. Walker.
I founded one of the most memorable salons of the Harlem Renaissance. I entertained Harlem and Greenwich Village writers, artists, and musicians - as well as visiting African and European royalty. I was called the joy goddess of Harlem by Langston Hughes.
Nikila: Why did you create glossine and pressing oil, wonderful hair grower, cream cosmetic, the world's first hair-straightening formula, and the hot comb?
Madam C.J.: Having hair loss myself, it made my self-esteem low. I figured out hair is beautiful and hair is power. The formula came through a dream.
Nikila: Now I can't wait to dream. I believe you've been married three times and you have one daughter and a granddaughter?
Madam C.J.: That is correct. My daughter's name is A'Lelia Walker and my granddaughter's name is Fairy Mae Bryant.
Nikila: I too am a grandmom. We have a lot in common, minus the money. I'm just happy knowing I'm the first person to interview you from my time.
Madam C.J.: I moved to Pennsylvania in 1908 and opened a factory and hair school called Lelia College of Beauty Culture, named after my daughter. I accomplished all this in a highly segregated and sexist society.
Nikila: Walker died May 25, 1919, of kidney failure and hypertension. She was the first Black woman millionaire in America. She is still making history.
Young man, the standard rate of living is so high now. It makes me wish I could start over.
On my first day of skipping school, I found myself at Pentagon City in Alexandria, trying to make sense of my living situation. At the time, I didn’t know this would be it.
I’ve been homeless for 16 years, and now I’m on a housing voucher. I’m looking like a young bum but not dumb, just still searching for the real me. I found him. I dress him but I still question him: Who are you, really?
Someone who was supposed to have my best interest in life lied to me. Lied about the value of family and life. Some family members will never let others shine. As a man now, I see from childhood, who from my family really had my best interests in mind.
Everybody! I was wrong. I don’t know who has my back. I know God does. But here on this breathing, smelling earth, isn’t your family supposed to support you and have your best interests?
Young man, who really has your best interest? Who do you trust? How do you trust when your best interests have been played with?
I am not only writing my own book, but I also want to provide a platform for others to share their stories and experiences. By offering affordable options for my colleagues and coworkers to publish their own books, I want to give them a voice and a chance to make a difference in our community. I am dedicated to helping those who may not have the same rights or support as others when it comes to disability, mental health, and reentry into society. I am an advocate for those who need it most, and I am determined to make a difference in their lives. My hard work, perseverance, and commitment to creating change are evident in everything I do. I am not afraid to speak up and stand up for what I believe in, and I am determined to make a positive impact on the community. Through my work with Street Sense and my writing, I am making a difference, one story at a time.
Across
1. Gestation location
5. Hunt-and-____ typing
9. Pal from the ‘hood, in dated slang 14. Once popular, but now-banned, fruit orchard spray
15. Cross inscription
16. Like a two-position power switch (2 wds.) (2,3)
17. Euros replaced them in Rome (Ital. pl. ending)
18. Like centenarians
19. Letter-shaped opening (1-4)
20. The award-winning periodical in which this puzzle appears, for one (2 wds.) (5,9) (PREP’S ALLOWANCE anagram)
23. Aptly named mentholated cigarette brand with linked rings
24. Parisian’s Christmas fowl (Fr.)
25. Gives a leg up
28. *Conform to the cadence of one’s fellow paraders (3 wds.) (5,2,4)
32. Full-length, as a movie
33. Avocado dip, briefly
35. Enero to enero (Sp.)
36. Cross a boundary... or a positional hint to answering the four starred clues (4 wds.) (4,4,3,4)
40. Form for movers, at the post office (abbr./initialism)
41. Ages and ages
42. Finnish smartphone maker
43. *Perennial best-selling author of “Carrie” and “Cujo” (7,4)
46. Lawyer, by trade
47. Tempe sch. where Sun Devils play in homecoming games (abbr./initialism)
48. Chocolate substitute
50. National book-selling partnership that has been in business since 1917 (3 wds.) (6,3,5)
56. 1978 Peace co-Nobelist Anwar of Egypt
57. “...well, not ____ many words, but...” (2 wds.) (2,2)
58. Couturier Cassini of fashion
59. Make a connection with (2 wds.) (3,2)
60. Type A, typically
61. Coffee-growing region of the Big Island
62. Smooth, shiny, and built for speed, as a car
63. Slippery snakelike swimmers
64. Word before dive or Lake
Down
1. Humpty Dumpty’s drop-off point
2. Hodgepodge
3. Cohn who hit big with “Walking in Memphis”
4. Splits, as a couple (or laughs hilariously at a standup’s routine)
5. Orchestral instruments with 88 keys
6. Longtime NBC/MSNBC chief foreign correspondent Richard
7. Sculling squads
8. *Spouses children by a prior relationship, to you
9. Feature of some balloons and many blowhards (2 wds.(3,3)
10. How freelance work is often done (2 wds.) (2,4)
11. Double agent
12. “___ one, think that...” (2 wds.) (1,3)
13. Newt, once
21. Numbers game
22. One way to cook eggs
25. Anheuser - ____ (big name in brewing)
26. Like a pirouetting ballet dancer (2 wds.) (2,3)
27. Earth feature that’s the primary absorber of excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions
28 .Yoga needs
29. A poet who is / Japanese would likely know / this rhyming scheme well
30. Bellybutton type
31. Musical inadequacy, informally (2 wds.) (2,3)
33. An earth sci. (abbr.)
34. Mantel piece
37. Event site in NYC’s Avenue of the Americas
38. Energy company bankrupted in a 2001 scandal
39. Recordkeeping journals in a ship captain’s quarters
44. Japanese martial art whose name means “empty hand”
45. “Ain’t appropriate,” appropriately (2 wds.) (4,2) (STINKO anagram)
46. Passions
48. Rapids transit?
49. Photographer Adams who was a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
50. Get-out-of-jail money
51. “Zip-___-Doo-Dah”
52. *Dodging move
53. Cocaine, in street lingo
54. Singer Horne or actress Olin
55. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer who wrote “The Candy House”
56. Holy ones (abbr.)
This crossword puzzle is the original work of Patrick “Mac”McIntyre. It is provided to us courtesy of Real Change News, a street paper based in Seattle, Washington. Learn more about Real Change News and the International Network of Street Papers at realchangenews.org and insp. ngo.
Housing/Shelter Vivienda/alojamiento Case Management Coordinación de Servicios
Academy of Hope Public Charter School
202-269-6623 // 2315 18th Pl. NE
202-373-0246 // 421 Alabama Ave. SE aohdc.org
Bread for the City 1525 7th St., NW // 202-265-2400 1700 Marion Barry Ave., SE // 202-561-8587 breadforthecity.org
Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Marion Barry Ave., 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 // 202-929-0100 1830 Connecticut Ave., NW charliesplacedc.org
Christ House // 202-328-1100 1717 Columbia Rd., NW christhouse.org
Church of the Pilgrims // 202-387-6612 2201 P St., NW (1-1:30 on Sundays only) churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach
Community Family Life Services 202-347-0511 // 305 E St., NW cflsdc.org
Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 4 Atlantic St., NW 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
Father McKenna Center // 202-842-1112 19 North Capitol St., NW fathermckennacenter.org
Food and Friends // 202-269-2277
(home delivery for those suffering from HIV, cancer, etc) 219 Riggs Rd., NE foodandfriends.org
Foundry Methodist Church // 202-332-4010 1500 16th St., NW foundryumc.org/idministry
Identification services
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 // 202-544-9096 1526 Pennslyvania Ave., SE jobshavepriority.org
Loaves & Fishes // 202-232-0900 1525 Newton St., NW loavesandfishesdc.org
Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org 2375 Elvans Rd, SE
2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE
Miriam’s Kitchen // 202-452-8926 2401 Virginia Ave., NW miriamskitchen.org
My Sister’s Place // 202-529-5991 (24-hr hotline) mysistersplacedc.org
N Street Village // 202-939-2076 1333 N St., NW nstreetvillage.org
New York Avenue Shelter // 202-832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave., NE
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
So Others Might Eat (SOME) // 202-797-8806 71 O St., NW some.org
St. Luke’s Mission Center // 202-363-4900 3655 Calvert St., NW stlukesmissioncenter.org
Thrive DC // 202-737-9311 1525 Newton St., NW thrivedc.org
Unity Health Care unityhealthcare.org - Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500 - Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699
1500 Galen Street SE, 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE, 1660 Columbia Road NW, 4414 Benning Road NE, 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 850 Delaware Ave., SW, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 1151 Bladensburg Rd., NE, 4515 Edson Pl., NE
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
Whitman-Walker Health 1525 14th St., NW // 202-745-7000 1201 Sycamore Dr., SE whitman-walker.org
Woodley House // 202-830-3508 2711 Connecticut Ave., NW
For further information and listings, visit our online service guide at StreetSenseMedia.org/service-guide
Chipotle // 1508 14th St. NW
Full-time/Part-time
Serve food, provide customer service, cook.
REQUIRED: N/A
APPLY: tinyurl.com/chipotledcjob
Costco Sample Associate
Costco // 1200 South Fern Street, Arlington, VA
Part-time
Introduce customers to new products.
REQUIRED: N/A
APPLY: tinyurl.com/costcosampledc
Pleasant News at DCA // 2401 Smith Blvd, Arlington, VA
Part-time//Full-time
Customer service: assist customers place orders, greet and guide customers, maintain a clean area.
REQUIRED: N/A
APPLY: tinyurl.com/dcanewsjob
Presented by Brother Govindananda, a monk of Self-Realization Fellowship
SYBIL TAYLOR
Artist/Vendor
WASHINGTON DC C ENTER OF S ELF -R EALIZATION FELLOWSHIP 4911 Niagara Road College Park MD 20740
For further information: (718) 902-4486
April showers, April flowers. In April, the trees, plants, and rose bulbs are blooming. More birds are singing new songs, more squirrels are searching for nuts. April is when spring starts.
This year, the cherry blossoms arrived early. There are more tourists. The days are lighter and longer. April brings food trucks and ice cream trucks, museum visits, kite flying, and sitting in the park enjoying the sunshine. There are no more coats, just jackets. We are spring cleaning, shopping, eating out more, and just enjoying the nice weather each day.
WARREN STEVENS
Artist/Vendor
This will be my first spring and Easter without my mom. I am still grieving her loss. She is very missed.
Easter Sunday was the day the Lord blessed. Family and friends came together at church to thank God for his blessings. The church served food and desserts to celebrate. Children went hunting for Easter eggs and dyed different-colored eggs to make Easter baskets.
I bought flowers to decorate my apartment. We cooked Easter dinner to enjoy, and spent Sunday watching movies.
The Cherry Blossom Festival is here already, with
warm weather and April showers. Parents will be taking their children to parks and historical outings. Voting time is here already, too. We as Democrats need to take a stand to free this country, so people here can live safe and in peace. Remember, Black lives matter.
Enjoy this beautiful weather and travel safely. My son and I have birthdays this month. We will be celebrating by eating in fine restaurants with his beautiful family. Happy Easter, love you all!
Friday, April 19th 7:30 P.M.
The Teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda
