05 03 2017

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Volume 14: Issue 13 May 3 - 16, 2017

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CLIMBING OUT

in a City of Trees pg 6

OF POVERTY

Speci al topic teaser t in thi o be found s NOT u issue, DO s every e for issue pg #

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R e a d A r t i s t / Ve n d o r s Michael and Barbara’s interview with Richard Hoehler, previewing the off-Broadway production he is bringing to D.C. StreetSense.org

COVER ART ABOVE: Washington Parks & Pe o p l e ’ s G r e e n C o r p s members scale a tree.

BELOW: Michael Samuels emerges from Metro.

PHOTOS BY KENYA RAYMOND, COURTESY MERIDIAN HILL PICTURES

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STREET SENSE May 3 - 16, 2017

Missing You, Michael Stoops

3

NEWS

By Street Sense Staff (Vendors, Volunteers, Interns and Paid Employees)

I

t is with great sadness that Street Sense says goodbye to Michael Stoops, who passed away peacefully on the morning of May 1. Michael directed community organizing for the National Coalition for the Homeless, which he helped found in the 80s. No individual has been more committed to or instrumental in empowering people experiencing homelessness.

This trait put him on the national stage during the frigid winter of 1986 when Michael slept on the sidewalk grates of Washington with activist Mitch Snyder and others. They successfully urged Congress to pass the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which remains our government’s most significant financial response to homelessness. Food stamps, Section 8 housing, Health Care for the Homeless, community mental health services, education assistance and much more — all McKinney-Vento.

But this was only a moment in time. Mitch Snyder and Michael Stoops, 1986. Susan Sarandon and Michael Stoops, 2014.

Michael had already been administering PHOTO COUTESY OF NATIONAL COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS. PHOTO COUTESY OF NATIONAL COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS. shelters and advocating around local issues in Oregon for a decade. He went collaboration among street papers across Michael’s couch when first moving to the on to create NCH’s speakers bureau, the country. Michael served on our board District to work on Street Sense. “The which trains and pays homeless and for many years. same couch that George Siletti slept on,” formerly homeless people to share their He instituted National Homeless Persons Ted Henson confided in a hospital hallway experiences with students, professionals Memorial Day more than 20 years ago to after visiting Michael. Siletti, who also and lawmakers. He instituted National honor the lives of anyone who dies while recently passed away, was a dedicated Homeless Persons Memorial Day more than homeless. He led an annual effort to track member of the NCH speakers bureau and 20 years ago to honor the lives of anyone hate crimes against homeless people and published poetry in the early editions of who dies while homeless. He led an tirelessly pushed for homeless bills of rights Street Sense. Clearly Michael opened his annual effort to track hate crimes against legislation. And, including the founding of heart and his home to many. homeless people and tirelessly pushed Street Sense, Michael fostered a network Yet he never asked for anything in for homeless bills of rights legislation. of collaboration among U.S. street papers. return, except more work. Even though He was instrumental in the founding of He served on our board for many years. he was the kind of person with the kind Street Sense and fostered a network of One of our co-founders lived on of Rolodex that could get Susan Sarandon

on a plane to Washington to demand Congressional action on homelessness.

After suffering a major stroke in 2015, Michael continued to consult on NCH efforts. In his wheelchair, he participated in the 2015 and 2016 National Homeless Persons Memorial Day marches and interfaith services here the District, which included accompanying advocates to lobby councilmembers in the Wilson Building. He was greeted with a nearstanding ovation when he attended the Street Sense annual celebration last year to see our artists perform.

In addition to lawmakers, Michael was also committed to educating the next generation on homelessness and the root inequalities that lead to it. “Sixth Graders Demand Equal Rights for District Homeless Community” — Michael. “Georgetown Freshman Founds Press, Builds Solidarity in Homeless Community” — Michael again.

NCH Speakers Bureau member Eric Sheptock wrote in an email that Michael would always introduce speakers by saying “I’ve been doing this work for 40 years; and, if we don’t begin to do more than feed and shelter the homeless, then in 40 more years when all of you are my age, we’ll still be trying to end homelessness.”

It would be impossible to count the number of lives Michael has changed for the better. And he would never ask us to. But you can show it. In lieu of flowers or condolences, we are sure he would appreciate a well-crafted call or note to your senator, your representative, your city official or a person struggling on the street.

Rest in peace, Michael. We love you. ■

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City Reaffirms Need for Downtown Service Center

By Reginald Black Artist/Vendor

W

ill there be a new daytime haven for D.C. residents who spend their evenings in the shelters? Most shelters require guests to leave early in the morning and not return until a specified time at twilight.

For any of those residents who are unemployed, unhoused and without help from family or friends—the day is long. Especially in very cold or very hot weather. Paid access to computers can be expensive at copy centers, and most restaurants and coffeehouses will admit only paying customers.

For the longest time, people in this situation spent their days in Washington’s central public library, located at Ninth and G Streets NW. The library offered free computer time, a large central lounge on the first floor and even the privilege of eating inside which is not allowed in most public libraries. There is a soup kitchen across the street, so you could cross, pick up your food and return for a brief repast before hitting Facebook again.

But no more.

On March 4, the Martin Luther King Library closed for renovations, a project that will take up to three years. The location was once a de facto resource for individuals experiencing homelessness.

D.C. libraries even hired a social worker.

For three years, advocates, city officials and developers have held discussions concerning the library and decided that homeless people needed a serviceoriented facility downtown.

Three weeks after the closing, the Department of Human Services held a March 29 meeting with community members to see how they were being served or adversely affected by the new service plan. They met at First Congressional United Church of Christ, right next door to the closed library branch.

“I fully believe that we will be able to find a downtown day center,” said Kathy Harris, the administrator of the DHS Family Services Administration.

“We knew our biggest population was at 801 East,” Harris said, referring to a men’s shelter run by Catholic Charities located on the grounds of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. “And we came up with a plan to accommodate that population.”

Harris described a two-part plan to assist the unhoused during the day, indicating that DHS has expanded hours at the Adams Place day center in Northeast.

“We knew it wasn’t downtown, but it was already operating,” she said.

Harris also described community engagement strategies used before the changes were brought online.

“We visited every church in the downtown area,” Harris said.

D.C.’s spiritual communities were open about their resources.

“They told us what they did and what they couldn’t do. We took that information and created the [resource guide] card,” she said.

“Everything everybody feared did not happen,” Harris said, adding that she is optimistic about DHS’s relationship with the downtown community.

However, the community members in attendance still had questions.

“We didn’t have a lot of options,” said Melvyn Smith, an administrator at DHS. Mentioning the dilemma of inadequate public restrooms, Smith spoke of Adam’s Place, which has a drop-in day program that “served anywhere from 110 to 114 individuals. We’re looking to have the same setup downtown.”

Michael Coleman, a consumer-advocate member of the D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness, pointed out that during the inauguration, the shelters stayed open all day. “Who paid for [the shelters] to be open?” Coleman asked.

Coleman pointed out that if the District could pay for the shelters to be open all day on Inauguration Day, certainly the funds could be provided for additional hours. Coleman worried that the unhoused are not having their needs met.

“I know there’s outreach being done, but it’s not reaching people at the bottom,” Coleman said. “Street outreach is critical.”

Another shelter resident, who identified herself as Mickey Joe, seconded this by saying it does no good to call the shelter hotline. She also had multiple negative experiences at the Adam’s Place day center. “[The food] was so little of a portion but the men said it was pretty normal,” Joe said. She also suspected an identity theft issue when she participated in a vulnerability assessment for housing, and discovered that an assessment had already been completed on her behalf. “It was done without my knowledge. I’m kinda not going over there if, well you know, everybody’s got to tighten up. D.C. DHS seems to be a fool bar.”

Joe then left the meeting abruptly, stating that she had to be at Patricia Handy Place for Women by 4 p.m. in order to claim a bed.

Another meeting participant described the staff at some shelters as rude and John McDermott, a founding member of the People for Fairness Coalition, suggested that representatives from this meeting go to shelters to discover what the homeless need right now.

McDermott concluded, “I’m upset. The board of the church that I go to voted not to let [people displaced by MLK’s closing] use the bathroom. This is the United States.” ■

The entrance to Martin Luther King Jr. Library.

PHOTO BY REGINALD BLACK

LAST CALL FOR ENTRIES! 8TH ANNUAL STREET SENSE

EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS Entries must: address the causes, consequences, and/or solutions to homelessness. relate to the D.C. metro region or national policy on homelessness. have been published between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016.

Print, web, television, and radio pieces will all be considered.

You may submit more than one article in each category.

Categories

News/feature reporting Opinion and commentary Photography

Please send submissions and questions to AWARDS@STREETSENSE.ORG Anyone can nominate a story. Please submit a link or PDF of the article.

Please also indicate the category and provide your email and phone number.

The deadline has been extended through May 12, 2017 You may view past winners at http://streetsense.org/awards

Frequent Medicaid Disruptions Aggravate Health Issues for Homeless

By Jeanine Santucci jeanine.santucci@streetsense.org

D

ominique Anthony made a routine visit to the pharmacy recently and was surprised to find that the essential daily medication needed to treat her HIV would not be covered by her insurance. To her knowledge, she had not received notice that her Medicaid coverage had expired, yet she was informed at the pharmacy that her insurance had lapsed.

Medicaid has an annual renewal process to verify that individuals are still eligible to receive benefits. For most people who qualify for a category of Medicaid coverage based on modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI, this is simply “passive renewal,” which is automatic renewal of Medicaid coverage. This means that many people have their insurance renewed without having to go through additional steps or provide paperwork.

If the automated system finds questions pertaining to an individual’s eligibility status or if there is a need for documentation, the system sends a number of notifications to the person’s home address with instructions on how to renew coverage. After the expiration date, there is a 90-day grace period during which individuals can recertify their coverage without having to reapply altogether.

But for individuals like Anthony, who are homeless or experiencing housing instability, mailed notifications or automated phone-call reminders are not reliable methods of contact. According to D.C. Medicaid Director Claudia Schlosberg, about 75 percent of the 260,000 individuals covered by Medicaid in D.C are eligible through the MAGI category.

Schlosberg said that 90.3 percent of individuals with MAGI-related coverage whose insurance was set to expire in the between January and May have had their coverage passively renewed. This means that 3,185 individuals were not passively renewed, though their coverage was not necessarily terminated if they were able to supply the additional requirements.

Dr. Anne Cardile, the medical director at Unity Health Care’s clinic at Community for Creative Nonviolence (CCNV), pointed out that when passive renewal does not go smoothly, the problem can be substantial.

She said she and other health care providers see housing-unstable patients every day whose Medicaid coverage has lapsed because they do not have a fixed address and may never see a notice.

“Their lives are so chaotic with just trying to keep up with other things — food, shelter — that even if they have

notice of it, it can be overlooked because other things take priority,” Cardile said.

“So it happens every day.”

As an example, Cardile described a patient she has been seeing for many years, a man who has diabetes and requires daily insulin to control his blood sugar. Though he works for a construction company, he experiences homelessness.

His insurance paperwork is not always up-to-date and he sometimes does not keep up with his visits to the doctor. This person often goes for several days without insulin and other needed medication.

“He has difficulty making sure that his Medicaid is always active because it requires the documentation, and his life is just chaotic,” Cardile said. “He’s trying to make sure he has food in his mouth and knows where he’s going to sleep that night and that type of thing.”

Medicaid rules allow pharmacies to

“Their lives are so chaotic with just trying to keep up with other things ... [lapsed coverage] can be overlooked ....”

— Dr. Anne Cardile, Unity Health Care

dispense emergency three-day supplies of medications at no cost to patients when coverage may have lapsed. When coverage is reinstated, Medicaid reimburses the cost of the medication. These rules include restrictions to dispensing a threeday supply, including if “there are clinical issues that must be resolved” or if “the rejection is due to an error that only the provider can correct,” according to a Medicaid notice on pharmacy services.

However, Cardile said that some individuals who come to CCNV and experience homelessness may not be able to access pharmacies due to chronic mental health issues that cause difficulties interacting with others. Additionally, some individuals come to the clinic whose medical situations are too severe to take the extra step of going to a pharmacy.

The clinic at CCNV is one of many Unity Health centers that has a cache of medications available to help alleviate some of the strains that disruptions in insurance coverage can cause. These medications are available to people experiencing homelessness without insurance or without the ability to access a pharmacy. The store of medication is sponsored in part by the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health and was established for individuals who are homeless and who have mental health issues.

“It’s a tremendous blessing for us certainly and for many of our patients.

Without it we would just be in desperate situation after desperate situation,” Cardile said.

When patients do experience lapses in coverage due to missed paperwork, Cardile said Medicaid is usually very quick to respond to the inquiries filed by Unity Health’s social workers, who work to help clients stay linked to insurance. She noted that the process still takes a few days.

“I can’t get my HIV medicine right now without insurance,” Anthony said after three days without her medication. “[I have to take my medication] every day because it’s going to save my life. I called my doctor and asked my doctor if she could give me some samples of my medicine. She said she don’t have any.

That’s crazy.”

Anthony scheduled an appointment with the Department of Human Services to restore her coverage. The process could take up to 30 days after her appointment because her coverage had expired.

Anthony reported having two seizures after a week without her medication.

When Street Sense inquired about Anthony’s situation, Schlosberg looked into her case and discovered that her coverage had been terminated by mistake, most likely due to human error.

Her coverage was reinstated within a day, and a three-day supply of medication was authorized.

Schlosberg said the best thing individuals can do if they discover their Medicaid coverage has lapsed due to an error or a missed notice is to go online at dchealthlink.com/individuals/renewalD2, call (855) 532-5465, send the renewal form through the mail or visit one of the service centers in person.

“The Department of Health Care Finance, working in collaboration with the Department of Human Services Economic Security Administration, is committed to ensuring that all District residents who are eligible for Medicaid are able to access and maintain their benefits,” Schlosberg wrote in an email to Street Sense. “We continue to upgrade and make improvements to our service centers and to work toward the full automation of our eligibility systems.”

Cardile believes that increased awareness of how difficult it is for homeless individuals to stay linked to insurance is key to improving the system.

For the client with diabetes, for example, lapses in insurance have led to problems with blood sugar control.

“None of that would have to happen if his insurance were active all the time — and with ease — because he could make sure he had refills. It’s a constant issue for him,” Cardile said. ■

STREET SENSE May 3 - 16, 2017

5

NEWS

Using Vacant Federal Property to Develop Affordable Housing

By Adam Sennott Thrive Detroit — Michigan The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP) is offering a helping hand to municipal governments who want access to thousands of free properties from the federal government to permanently house homeless people.

The NLCHP launched its Public Property/Public Need toolkit Monday to help state and local governments and nonprofit organizations find and apply for property available under Title V of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, NLCHP said in a press release. The program was started in 1987, and in December the government clarified that federal property can be used to permanently house homeless people.

“The program provides eligible homeless service providers with a right of first refusal to properties no longer needed by the federal government— including warehouses, administrative buildings, and vacant land,” NLCHP said. “The federal government is required to deed or lease these properties to successful applicants for free.”

Maria Foscarinis, executive director of NLCHP and primary architect of the original McKinney-Vento Act, said in a statement that the program was a sustainable and cost-effective way to combat homelessness.

“Permanent housing is the most effective and cost-effective solution to homelessness,” Foscarinis said.

“Through the Title V program, cities and nonprofit service providers can turn federal properties that are now sitting vacant—and costing taxpayers money— into housing and services, ending homelessness in a sustainable and costeffective way.”

While 2 million people have been housed in 500 buildings on nearly 900 acres of land, NLCHP said it is only a “small fraction” of the program’s potential impact.

Courtesy of Thrive Detroit / INSP.ngo

Recession-Era Jobs Program More Relevant than Ever

By Bryan Gallion bryan.gallion@streetsense.org

I

n Meridian Hill Pictures’ documentary “City of Trees,” Washington Parks and People faces opposition and fights to continue its job-training program in the six months leading up to an April 2012 grant deadline. While the program has continued since the grant’s expiration, the film captures a local snapshot of unemployment struggles during a national economic downfall.

About 20 people watched the story unfold on screen at an April 21 showing in Ward 8’s Anacostia Community Museum where the film’s producer, Lance Kramer, and two of its subjects, Steve Coleman and James Magruder, discussed the filmmaking process. “ C i t y o f Tr e e s ” t e l l s t h e s t o r y o f Wa s h i n g t o n Pa r k s a n d Pe o p l e ’s Green Corps. At the height of the country’s recession — and when Ward 8 unemployment was around 25 percent — the job-training program was funded by a $2.7 million stimulus grant in 2010.

Steve Coleman, Washington Parks and People’s executive director and president, and his staff were given two years under the grant’s stipulations to hire 150 jobless D.C. residents to plant several thousand trees and to teach the trainees the soft skills needed to find sustainable employment.

Since its creation in 1990, Washington Parks and People has worked to reduce poverty and violence in D.C. neighborhoods by improving community parks. Starting the Green Corps allowed the nonprofit to conduct intensive job training for the first time. The program aims to “shine a light on the power [the trainees] already have,” according to Coleman.

“You can have all those so-called job training programs in the world, but there’s a thing you can’t really teach,” Coleman said at the April 21 screening. “You just have to kindle it in somebody, have them find it within themselves — and that’s the sense of pride and possibility in their lives.”

The film’s subjects each manifest the program’s positive impacts despite varying employment barriers. Charles Holcomb, a program graduate who was hired as a team leader, anticipates his daughter’s birth as the film begins. He hopes to provide her with the life he never had. With his brother serving a lifetime jail sentence for murder, Holcomb seeks a career with longevity that can support his family.

“I got my own family to raise,” he says in the film. “I got to be an example now.”

Recently released from federal prison after a drug conviction, Michael Samuels wants another chance at employment. A majority of Green Corps trainees enter the program with previous records of incarceration.

Ward 8 community members oppose the Green Corps’ presence in Oxon Run Park during the film after not being informed that trees would be planted in their park. They express their discontent through actions ranging from slashing the organization’s van tires to allegedly pulling out a gun in front of a worker.

To alleviate the tension, Washington Parks and People hires Magruder, a Green Corps graduate, in the film to conduct community outreach in Ward 8.

Magruder has continued his community outreach work for Washington Parks and People to this day. Being a lifelong Ward 8 resident has helped him in this role, he said at the screening.

“The community helped raise me. I

attended schools here. I played sports.

I guess, in a sense, I’ve always been doing outreach all my life and connecting with people,” he said. “People are more comfortable with familiar faces—someone they can relate to, someone who shares the same struggles.”

With funds running out and the grant deadline approaching toward the end of the film, the Washington Parks and People staff fear job cuts and the program’s conclusion before meeting its goals.

Then-Green Corps Director Karen Loeschner questions, if trees planted by the organization are maintained for two years after they are planted, what can be done to maintain graduates once they leave the program?

The film ends with Holcomb being let go from his Green Corps position due to a lack of program funds. But he finds work as a street cleaner for the nonprofit Capitol Hill Business Improvement District.

After graduating from the Green Corps, Samuels works as a building manager for the nonprofit So Others Might Eat. “City of Trees” premiered at the American Conservation Film Festival in October 2015, where it won the Audience Choice Award. The film is currently being screened at festivals and at community events such as the showing in the Anacostia Community Museum.

The production company behind the film, Meridian Hill Pictures, was founded by brothers Brandon and Lance Kramer.

The company began operating in Lance’s basement in 2010, the same year they began working on the film. Brandon directed “City of Trees” while Lance produced it.

They were interested in telling a story about how people dealt with the recession

and its recovery—a story not being told at the time.

“We felt like if there was a way to try to represent both those hopes and those struggles in the film,” Kramer said at the screening, “it could be something that could really help—we hoped—teach people something about this moment.”

They shot about 275 hours of footage for the film, which took nearly six years to produce.

Seven years since the Green Corp operation began, Washington Parks and People has been able to continue the program despite depletion of the stimulus grant funds. It has graduated 14 cohorts, and over 75 percent of Green Corps alumni find jobs or enroll in additional training post-graduation, according to Washington Parks and People.

“It wasn’t about grants, actually,” Coleman said at the screening. “It was about what the community had done to build the capacity permanently in Parks and People.”

T h e s t a t e o f t h e D i s t r i c t ’s unemployment has continued to improve since the recession. Ward 8’s unemployment rate was 12.9 percent this past January, according to the Department of Employment Services — still double the District’s average. The number of employed D.C. residents increased by 600 over the month of March, according to an April 21 press release, while the civilian labor force increased by 1,100. ■ The next screening of City of Trees will take place Friday, May 5, at 7 p.m. in the Carnegie Library at 801 K St. NW. More information is available at www.CityOfTreesFilm.com.

D.C.’s Former All-LGBTQ Gang Seeks to Pay It Foward

By Henrieese Roberts Artist/Vendor The homegrown documentary “Check It” is now being screened at various festivals worldwide, including recent local appearances in the March Annapolis Film Festival and April D.C. International Film Festival.

The story follows the first known all-LGBTQ gang, a somewhat violent retaliatory group against anti-gay bullying. It all began when several harassed ninth-grade students banded together in 2005 to fight stereotypes and their homophobic persecutors.

They called their tribe the Check It and membership eventually swelled to more than 200 young people.

The gang effectively rose to the defense of threatened LGBTQ youth but also participated in petty crime and robbery in D.C.’s Chinatown neighborhood.

Then, starting with T-shirt sales and

Annapolis FIlm Festival Advisory Board Member Chris Haley, a Check It gang member, Director Dana Flor and Mentor “Mo” Morten.

PHOTO BY HENRIEESE ROBERTS

fashion shows, some sartorially-talented members led the group to divest from crime and start their own clothing startup, Check It Enterprises LLC, which obtained a storefront in Anacostia. Now that the young adults are trying to get

their act together, they’re receiving help from a number of mentors such as ex-convict Ron “Mo” Moten.

The documentary was directed by Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer — both known for “The Nine Lives of Marion

Barry” — and received support from famed Hollywood actor Steve Buscemi and a $60,000 crowdfunding campaign.

It is a story of hope and transformation that also serves as evidence of the v i o l e n c e , p o v e r t y, h o m e l e s s n e s s , exploitation and turmoil that many youth experience in the nation’s capital.

In interviews and at panels following these screenings, Check It members have repeatedly cited the dearth of organizations meeting the specific needs of Black LGBTQ youth.

The group aims to fill that gap by expanding its business to become a social enterprise. It has again turned to crowdfunding. According to a GoFundMe page seeking $15,000, Check It Enterprises plans to renovate its shop and purchase equipment to “help provide services to our peers as well as providing space for other young entrepreneurs who need the same opportunity but have limited resources.” ■

STREET SENSE May 3 - 16, 2017

Homeless LGBTQ Youth Remain Undercounted in the District

7

NEWS

By Ashley Clarke ashley.clarke@streetsense.org

F

orty-three percent of the homeless youth counted in D.C’s 2015 Homeless Youth Census selfidentify as LGBTQ. Many of them face unique challenges.

“A lot of the dialogue that’s happened in our culture has been talking about kids as being liabilities and victims and we need to start seeing them as assets and resources in our community,” said Sean Read on Wednesday, April 19, at Friendship Place’s annual Education and Advocacy symposium.

This year, panelist discussed different issues that directly impact LGBTQ youth.

The symposium, which took place at the George Washington University, focused on the need for the District to do a more efficient and adequate job at counting homeless youth because many homeless youth are left uncounted.

Panelists also discussed the necessity for policymakers, service providers and other advocates to extend the age in which they consider someone a young person. They also discussed the necessity of altering qualifications in which a young person is considered homeless. Throughout the symposium, they provided information about different resources and ways to empower homeless LGBTQ youth.

Kahlib Barton, vice chair of the Young Black Gay Men’s Leadership Initiative, said the adolescents can extend well beyond the years of 18 especially when a young person has battled with homelessness.

“At some point you have to be cognizant of the fact of things that happen to someone in adolescence then definitely plays a part in the way that they are going to act or interact in the world,” he said.

Barton said he believes that someone as old as 25 can still require the assistance of a young person.

“If this person wasn’t provided with the proper tools between zero to 18 then they are still not going to be able to know how to navigate the world,” he said.

Barton said it is unfair that young people who have to break laws all through their childhood in order to survive that the

Panelists Diego Miguel Sanchez, Leandrea D. Gilliam, Kahlib Barton, Timothy V. Kane, Sean Read and moderator Ray Suarez. | PHOTO BY ASHLEY CLARKE moment they turn 18 they are penalized to the highest extent of the law.

Barton said the goal is to expand the definition of not only what it means to be a young person but also expand the definition of what it means to be a homeless youth to include more young people who are “couch surfing,” staying with a significant other and other living arrangements that are temporary and not a guarantee.

While the count does include those youth, they are still undercounted.

Dr. Eddy Ameen chair of the youth working group at D.C. Center said in an interview with Street Sense that he is hopeful that in the future the census will see improvement.

“A count is only as good as its methodology, and even really good methodology has been shown to undercount the population that’s being surveyed or not capture the full reality of their experiences,” said Ameen. “This is only our second year at it and I have faith that we are committed to continuous quality improvement.”

Ameen said he believes the data has been useful in helping the District allocate more resources to determine who has highest need for various services offered.

Leandrea Gilliam, program analyst and housing specialist from the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, said there needs to be more permanency in programs that assist youth into homes. Short-lived housing solutions do not take into account the future after a child turns 18. Many

programs for homeless youth are geared towards children 18 years and younger.

“What do you do if you haven’t had the behavioral health care that you need to be able to survive on your own? What do you do if you don’t know how to manage money?” asked Gilliam. “These programs that we have are just on a temporary basis and we need to have that structural change to make them more permanent.”

Gilliam applauded LGBTQ Tech’s program that provides cell phones to homeless LGBTQ youth so they can look at all the resources available to them in the area. She said programs like that will make a longer-lasting impact.

“That is one of Mayor Bowser’s major frameworks. Making sure that every resident in the District of Columbia is taken care of and can have a viable and resourceful life living here,” said Gilliam.

Gilliam stressed the importance of allowing young people to have a voice in what happens to their future. She also said if the District is able to help these youth today, they could be the ones in the future to help other young people in the same way.

In addition to providing LGBTQ youth with the necessary support to survive, Read said risk management is equally as important. He said when it comes to risky behavior that jeopardizes a person’s health, such as drug use and unprotected sex, you can tell them not to do it but unfortunately that does not mean they can or will stop.

Read said that it is important to reduce the impact of harm to individuals.

He said that people involved in a lot of unprotected sex or sex trafficking can receive safe-sex kits from some service providers. He also mentioned that there are some organizations in the District that do clean-needle exchanges.

“It continues to come around to the preservation and providing the basic needs of an individual,” said Read. “When we’ve done that with young people they see that we are genuinely concerned with their overall well-being.”

Read said he believes that if the physical needs of young people experiencing homelessness are met, then they will be able to think about greater change. “[It’s] often the case that identity has been taken away or has been caused to be suppressed for an individual because they haven’t felt that they can be their true self,” said Read. “When we start to meet those basic needs we then began to see that individual for who they really are and it’s a beautiful thing” When removed from the home and placed into foster care it is harder to place LGBTQ youth, according to Diego Sanchez, PFLAG’s director of policy.

“We are never the easiest to place: because there is more explanation there are more barriers, checking the household in a different way, checking for cultural competency,” said Sanchez, who is a trans man of color.

Sanchez said he believes that if Rep. John Lewis’s Every Child Deserves a Family Act (ECDFA) became law, the foster care and adoption system would become safer and more beneficial to LGBTQ youth. ECDFA prohibits discrimination against foster children based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. It also prohibits any child welfare agency from discriminating against potential foster or adoptive families based on their sexual orientation, gender orientation, or marital status.

All the panelists agreed that a more consistent support system has to be put into place for homeless youth in the District and around the nation. It is imperative that there is someone to listen to their story and acknowledge their differences. ■

If you are a young person battling with homelessness in D.C. there are organizations whose number one priority is you.

SMYAL creates opportunities for LGBTQ youth to develop life skills, and engage their community through service and advocacy.

410 7th Street SE | (202) 546-5940 HIPS provides safe sex materials, syringe access and disposal, HIV testing, a drop in center and many other services.

906 H Street NE | (202) 232-8150

CASA RUBY is a bilingual multicultural LGBTQ community safe space that also provides services from hot meals to legal services counseling.

2822 Georgia Ave NW | (202) 355-5155 THE TREVOR PROJECT provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ youth. | 1-866-488-7386

Ivy City Residents Gain Little Amid Development Boom

By Ashley Clarke ashley.clarke@streetsense.org

S

mall Northeast D.C. neighborhood Ivy City is going through a major transformation – new shops, restaurants, bars and apartment buildings are popping on practically every corner.

M o s t o f I v y C i t y ’s r e s i d e n t s a r e low-income. Cluster 23, a D.C. Government designated that includes Ivy City and three other small neighborhoods, is 87 percent Black, has a poverty rate of about 30 percent and has an unemployment rate of approximately 18 percent, according to data prepared by NeighborhoodInfo D.C., a project of the Urban Institute.

There have been efforts to revitalize the area over the past decade. When you first enter the small community, it appears to be one big construction site.

The new MOM’s Organic Market, Nike store, and historic warehouse turned luxury apartment complex all sit blocks away from small homes with boarded-up windows. New row houses border one side of the dilapidated and fenced-off Crummell School, some of them sporting solar panels.

On the other side, wires dangle in front of dingy, outdated row homes. The school has been vacant for decades but will soon be home to new development.

Rather than pricey shops and housing, a community center has been the longtime dream for residents — who want a safe place for their children to play in an area with double the city’s frequency of violent crime, according to NeighborhoodInfo D.C. “It’s not as bad a neighborhood as they make it out to be, said Nathaniel Scruggs, 32. “Every neighborhood has its flaws. But one thing I must say is this neighborhood will welcome you with open arms.”

Scruggs has lived in Ivy City for six years and described the community as familyoriented. He hosts regular cookouts with some of the neighbors. However, like other residents, Scruggs does not think the new development projects prioritize Ivy City’s current residents.

“Right now the kids have nothing to do but ride their bikes in the street,” Scruggs said. “We already know that they are pushing us out. We would just like

something in the meantime, for the kids.”

In November, Ivy City Partners, a development team that includes real estate developers and a wholesale seafood company, were chosen to redevelop 18,000 square feet that includes the Crummell School and an adjacent parking lot, located on Gallaudet and Kendall streets NE. The plans call for new townhouses, restaurants and commercial spaces.

Ivy City Partners was chosen out of three applicants. Due to strong community interest in the site, the Office of the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development generated the project’s request for proposal through the city’s OurRFP program. The initiative holds town halls with residents where new development will take place to identify their priorities and reflect those values in the city’s solicitation for developers.

OurRFP has been implemented for two locations since its inception, Parcel 42 in Ward 6 and Crummell School.

”When we talk about giving residents a seat at the table or a voice in their own neighborhood, essentially the OurRFP gets at the heart of that,” said Joaquin McPeek, DMPED director of communications.

M c Pe e k s a i d w o r k s h o p s w h e r e developers gave presentations and answered questions were held after business hours and on weekends. Many residents attended, he added.

“We do take into consideration the community’s perspective and the opinion on the proposals we get,” said Anna Shapiro, a DMPED project manager.

Nathaniel Scruggs said people from DMPED did canvas the neighborhood but he did not see the extensive community outreach they claimed to have done. “At one point in time they asked us … I don’t think they really did a big push to see what we wanted,” Scruggs said.

Parisa Norouzi, executive director of the community-organizing group Empower D.C., does not believe the District or the

development team are making these improvements for the current predominantly low-income and Black residents.

“It shows the continuation of the same pattern we’ve seen, which is the city using public land as a tool for gentrification rather than as a tool for serving community needs and promoting community development,” Norouzi said.

Anthony Williams has lived in Ivy City for three decades has seen the neighborhood change a lot over the years. “We need some kind of rec center for the kids and the adults,” he said, standing in front of his home. He had just finished doing pushups on the sidewalk.

Williams’s younger brother, Percy Williams, was part of a group of young people pushing the District to use the old Crummell School as a community center for years. Percy submitted written testimony of this request to D.C. Council in 2008. He was fatally shot in Ivy City in 2015 at the age of 20, according to Anthony.

Recently constructed row houses juxtaposed next to original row houses in the rapidly gentrifying Ivy City neighborhood.

PHOTOS BY ASHLEY CLARKE

THE

Residents say the whole city feels like a construction zone.

PHOTOS BY ASHLEY CLARKE

“They can put all these nice stores here but this area is still dangerous,” said Officer Mike Johnson, a retired police officer found patrolling near the new MOM’s Organic market. “I have never seen more car jackings then I have in this area.”

Johnson has been working in that police district since 1989. He described seeing young children with no other outlet for recreation riding bikes up and down the streets late into the night.

But the community may finally be getting its wish. Ivy City’s development plan now includes a “state of the art facility for recreational and desired community uses.” DMPED is still in negotiation with the development team and will come up with a Land Surplus and Disposition Agreement to be presented during the fall D.C. Council session.

“The actual structure itself will be a community center,” McPeek said. The development team is planning to reach out to the community to discuss the future programming that will take place within. ■

PEOPLE’S CLIMATE MARCH Photos by Ken Martin, Artist/Vendor

Of the many climate marchers who passed through Tenleytown on April 29, the most common description of the event that I heard was “AWESOME,” which is appropriate when you get a convergence of 150,000 people in alignment.

STREET SENSE May 3 - 16, 2017

9

NEWS

Meanwhile on Pennsylvania Avenue.

PHOTO BY JENNIFER MCLAUGHLIN

OPINION

MOVING UP:

Getting Your Money’s Worth

The Politics of Smear and Slander

By Arthur Johnson

By Jeffery McNei

Everyone deserves a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. Some employers, however, feel that the best way to increase profits is to take advantage of naive employees and exploit them by either paying them less than they earned or not paying them at all; in other words, wage theft. Thankfully, the District has laws in place that help you get the money you have earned.

First, who is a target for wage theft?

One of the most exploitable groups of people is undocumented immigrants.

Their status makes them a prime target for unscrupulous employers who utilize fear and take full advantage of the lack of knowledge about the laws to underpay the workers. Employers can also exploit undocumented workers by threatening to call immigration authorities if they attempt to stop wage theft or stand up for their rights.

All uneducated workers are a prime target because they tend to be easier to intimidate and often are not aware of their rights or the resources available to them.

To fight wage theft, keep good records of the hours you work. This is especially possible if your employer uses an electronic payroll system to handle personnel matters. (The company would require you to have a password so you can log in to request time off, etc.) If they use one, you should check it frequently to make sure your records match with the employer’s and try to make copies in case there are disputes.

The District’s Wage Theft Protection Amendment Act also protects workers from wage theft. The law requires employers to make any notices available for employees and also requires employers keep detailed and accurate records of exactly when the employee worked. The law includes strict financial penalties for employers if they violate it.

I m p o r t a n t l y, t h e a c t a l s o s t o p s employers from retaliation. If you file a complaint alleging a violation of wage theft, the employer cannot take any

action against you for 90 days that is considered to be retaliatory. For example, if you have worked 35 hours a week and file a complaint when overtime is not paid, and then your hours are reduced to 28, it would be considered retaliatory.

The employer is also required to pay your attorney’s fees if you win, and, in some cases, you can collect liquidated damages of up to 3 times the wages you were owed.

This law will only become more vital.

The District is moving toward a $15 minimum wage and employers are moving their offices over the river into Virginia, where the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, the federal standard.

This becomes problematic when an employee works for an employer that does most of its work in the District (such as catering) but is based in Virginia.

That employer should be required to pay the D.C minimum wage while in the District, but may not.

If you suspect that your employer is in violation, talk to the people at the Employment Justice Center – all for free. The center holds workers right clinics on Wednesday evenings at Bread for the City NW (1525 Seventh St NW) from 5 to 9 p.m. or on the last Saturday of every month at Bread for the City SE (1640 Good Hope Road SE) from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Neighborhood Legal Services Office (2811 Pennsylvania Ave SE) also holds clinics on the first and third Friday of every month.

Employers may try to intimidate you because they feel they have the upper hand and that you will give in to their tactics. Don’t let them. You work hard for your money and deserve to be paid for all of your work.

Arthur Johnson is a Street Sense contributor. If you have any questions or comments about this article, email ajohnson@streetsense.org.

Accepting loss is hard for some. Liberals truly believed the presidency was their rightful inheritance. In their eyes, what happened on Nov 8, 2016, was an act of terror. Sixty-six million Americans went to the voting booths to voice their dissent. Despite bullying, threats and lost friendships, millions wanted the right to determine their destiny instead of being told what’s best for them. They voted for President Trump. His election was our second Independence Day. We the American people want our liberties and freedoms back from a ruling class that has become pompous, arrogant, and out of touch.

Donald Trump drives liberals mad because he’s not one of them. It makes them mad that President Trump and his wife Melania sleep in the sheets that were reserved for Queen Hillary.

No one suffers from this sense of entitlement more than the Fake News Media. In their zest to control the narrative, they have gone off the deep end plotting impeachment, while some, such as MSNBC guest Malcolm Nance, have suggested ISIS bomb one of President Trump’s properties. Leftists have gone guns-blazing in their quest to destroy someone elected by the people. They have taken two scalps in Michael Flynn and Bill O’Reilly, and now they’re trying to make 66 million voters rue the day they elected Trump. if Democrats can’t be president they’re going to create as much havoc as they can. They’re not interested in dialogue and debate. I encountered leftists that resented that I wasn’t a Good Negro who supported Massa Hillary. These selfproclaimed champions of colored folks show their true selves when a Black man doesn’t shine, Jemimah or jangle.

I have a thick skin. I shouldn’t be bothered but I’m angry. I don’t like when people smile at me but lay like vipers spewing their poisonous venom. Today I realized they truly believe they didn’t lose the election. They believe Americans don’t know what’s best for them. They are professional victims and want you to lie in the sewer with them.

The concept that one ought to govern themselves rather than be controlled is trivial and tiresome to the left. They’re jealous people that hate that you are being blessed. They provoke and antagonize Trump supporters for political purposes, while never denouncing “Anti Fascist” and “resistance” groups that also stoke the fires of intolerance and hatred. While they talk about hate crimes, never once have I heard them defend the women and minorities that faced death threats and intimidation to elect President Trump.

The Democratic party won’t learn why it lost a winnable election. They have doubled down on multiculturalism and identity politics. They don’t think their ideas are wrong, they think you’re wrong for not supporting their vision of a globalist utopia. They don’t like the Bernie Sanders enthusiasts anymore than Trump supporters. Bernie’s not one of them. He didn’t go to Sidwell, Yale or Dartmouth. He doesn’t vacation in Cape Cod or Martha’s Vineyard like the Kennedys, Kerrys or Deans. Establishment Democrats don’t want Bernie in their party anymore than they want working class supporters because neither will surrender their guns, religion or freedom to the Deep State.

When you deal with Leftists, you have to get them to be honest, you have to expose them on what they believe. When they blather about why they should have

If Democrats can't be president they're going to c r e a te a s m u c h havoc as they can. control over their bodies, ask them why those that object should pay for their birth control. When they become self-righteous about illegal immigrants, ask them if they pay illegal workers a living wage. When they advocate allowing refugees to come to America ask them how many Muslims, live in their neighborhoods. It’s easy to be a liberal when they risk nothing.

Thank god for President Trump. He is the only thing standing between America staying a free society or being enslaved by a global cabal that thinks Americans are too stupid to rule themselves.

Jeffery McNeil is a Street Sense vendor and columnist.

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STREET SENSE May 3 - 16, 2017

1#1

OPINION

‘Property Values' — A Gross Reason To Oppose Shelter

By Arthur Delaney Ever since the city announced its plan to close the D.C. General family shelter and transfer its residents to new facilities in seven of the city’s wards, the new shelters’ prospective neighbors have complained about how a homeless shelter might affect their “property values.”

Last year, a New York Times article explored the delays to the city’s effort to close D.C. General, which, the article explained, hosts single mothers and babies alongside rats and raccoons.

“Yet in the struggle to close the shelter, those concerns are outweighed by fears over neighborhood property values or classroom slots for homeless children at local public schools,” the Times reported.

Examples abound. A flyer in wealthy Ward 3 complained about “the safety and health issues and the negative impact on home values because of the shelter.” It takes gumption to complain about safety even though the proposed Ward 3 shelter will be right next to a police station.

And of course some residents of Ward 1 complained in a flyer that the new shelter at 10th and V would cause “congestion, loitering, safety, decreased property values.”

These objections, as well as cost concerns, have helped delay the closing date for the old shelter from 2018 to 2020.

The latest obstacle is that an architect named Suman Sorg apparently wants more money from the city for the plot of land she owns at 10th and V Streets NW. For many years the spot has been empty except for a vacant landmarked church.

According to reporting by the Washington City Paper’s Andrew Giambrone, D.C. officials said at a community meeting that Sorg wants $11 million for the property.

“Suman is always looking for the next best, higher deal,” one of her former employees told Giambrone.

I asked spokespeople for Sorg if this really is a simple matter of holding out for more money. No response.

Studies have suggested that shelters generally don’t hurt property values, according to a Washington Post review of the literature. But even if they did, why would a theoretical decline in the value of a homeowner’s property be more important than giving a family with children a safe clean home?

District homeowners already benefit from absurdly rising home values. I live in a house that abuts an alley near H Street Northeast. Every few weeks, somebody pees on my house. One time somebody even pooped on my house.

There have been murders nearby. And yet, people keep buying houses in my neighborhood at higher and higher prices.

The value of my own house has increased substantially, pee stains and all.

Those concerned about the impact of a shelter seem to think its residents would walk around committing petty crimes and

that new potential homebuyers would be unwilling to pay high prices for nearby homes. This line of thinking may reflect an unwillingness to differentiate between family homelessness, often caused by the vagaries of the free market, and the more visible, but far less common, kind of chronic homelessness that is often caused by mental illness. Acknowledging that high housing costs drive families into shelters would also force people to acknowledge that property values are actually part of the problem.

Property values are typically assessed by looking at how much people paid for comparable properties nearby—not by assessing the range of current residents.

The ultimate irony is that if the city meets Suman Sorg’s million dollar demands for the unused lot at 10th and V Streets NW, nearby property values will go up.

Gross!

Arthur Delaney is a volunteer editor for the Street Sense opinions page.

I OF THE STORM AN OFF-BROADWAY SOLO PERFORMANCE AT STREET SENSE MAY 4 Performance: Doors at 6:30, Show at 7 PM Location: 1317 G St. NW, 20005 Free Tickets: bit.ly/IoftheStorm ($10 Suggested Donation at Door)

MAY 5 Acting Workshop with Richard Hoeh1er: 1-3 PM RSVP: events@streetsense.org

The Street Sense Writers’ Group is led by writing professionals and meets every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. The group’s goal is to develop ideas and collaborate on the next great issue of Street Sense.

Living the Dream

By Robert Warren, Artist/Vendor My mother once told me that when I was a child of two she took me to a great march I know I had dreams I still believe that was the start When my people became to me like the stars at night just the beauty of their sight to behold their faces felt so right their smiles said “come into the light” A king’s dream guiding our life to the promised land of the lord the true and faithful living in peace The thought of my child and who she could one day be the love of a mother I could always believe the dream of my brother what we could one day achieve Sometimes life is such a beautiful thing these are the days to live the dream For every soul has a test in life and the forgiveness of another day another chance to get it right and the Lord’s mercy and the promised land to keep in sight All told in a dream 50-plus years and told today O Lord let me dream of the stars and my people’s smiling faces that still shine in the memory of a king’s dream just look this way Would Malcolm shed a tear for the dream delayed?

Only the Lord knows the outcome of the stories of the day I won’t lose faith in the dream and yet I pray that the dream could fully be recognized and lived today For my mother who took me to that great march 50-plus years ago I still remember her tears when he was slain Yet the promised land the dream will come from living the lord’s way

Friendship Place

When They See Me

By Marcus Greene Artist/Vendor

By Jacquelyn Portee Artist/Vendor

Veterans First, a program that is part of the nonprofit Friendship Place, helped steer me in the right direction.

My angel, Nicole Jackson, is a comprehensive, thorough, and caring case manager.

The Friendship Place staff helped me with temporary housing, transportation and getting my security deposit back. I recommend its programs to everybody trying to move forward in their lives.

I have many more goals to accomplish, but I have fewer than before, thanks to Ms. Jackson and the Friendship Place staff. May God and the donors keep giving to veterans and their families!

The way the public sees me as a homeless person varies with each individual.

Most people, deep in their mind and heart, want to see us in a positive light. Some will reach out to try to help homeless people any way they can, especially those people whom the public believes are trying to better themselves and do not necessarily want to remain homeless.

However, other people who do not want the homeless around have made me feel invisible at times. Those people can be cold and uncaring when it comes to the homeless.

They ignore you when you try to talk with them and they give you angry looks and stares.

Finally Saying "No!" to Alcohol

By Patty Smith Artist/Vendor Aunt Cindy was my favorite.

I grew up with her. Even though she was 12 years older, we did everything together. Once grown, however, I moved to Washington from Pittsburgh and left my family behind. I had developed a drinking problem in Pittsburgh.

In D.C., the drinking became worse. I was in school, but I had stopped studying.

Consequently, my grades dropped. I had to leave because of my addiction to alcohol.

Then I remembered Cindy saying that if anything were to happen to her, she wanted me to go back to school so

I could take care of myself. Only after having to leave school did I realize what a terrible mistake I had made.

So, I fell into my books and started studying. Soon I had to meet with the dean to see whether I could re-enter.

I took all my documents and presented them to her. She said she would readmit me but I would have to take out a personal loan. Unfortunately, I never found a co-signer.

So, I couldn’t return to school. But then I took out a different loan that didn’t require a co-signer. That money enabled me to attend Career Tech in Northwest D.C. Going to school helped me cut back on my drinking.

It took a while, but I stopped. Years later, the taste for drinking is all in the past. Like a distant memory, it’s all gone.

Thugs on Metro

Life

By Phillip Black, a.k.a. “The Cat in the Hat” Artist/Vendor

By Barbara Pollard Artist/Vendor

Life is more important than money. If three or four guys ask you for your phone or your wallet, please just give it to them. Your life is more important. A robbery happened last week on the Metro.

When the man refused to give them what they wanted, they beat him up really bad, took his phone, credit cards and money.

Some thugs travel in packs on the Metro and are up to no good. If they try to rob you, just give them what they want. You will feel better, and you can save your life.

As people, we need to stay alive Just as the trees and flowers live God gave life to people and animals We are God’s people We need to enjoy God’s creations and need to stay in our own mind to make it in this world

STREET SENSE May 3 - 16, 2017

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

13

ART

By Amin Massey Artist/Vendor

Going Back to Church

On Saturday, April 15, Major League Baseball honored the legacy of Jackie Robinson and his impact on teams in ballparks across the league.

“Who is number 42?” my Dad quizzed.

“Which one?” I replied.

This type of banter is normal for our dynamic, but on that day, in Nationals Park, the timing was great.

I met my father outside the main gate after he was able to secure lastminute tickets. Growing up in a singleparent household, raised by my mother, I would often meet him outside Union Station before our weekend visits. These weekends would consist of us playing catch, going fishing and, of course, taking in a game or two.

The impact of players such as Robinson, Bob Gibson and Ken Griffey Jr. has been enormous on young players who are just coming up in the league.

At the same time, the impact of surrogate fathers in the community is just as immense. I remember when I was a young boy, a friend of mine lost his father and my dad stepped in and took him fishing.

While I was possessive in my thinking,

With a verse in my heart Got a demon in my soul That’s tryin’a tear me apart

By Ronald Dudley, Artist/Vendor

I got a road I’mma take To guide me to the light I got a prayer I’mma say to guide me tonight I got a scripture in my head So I pray for the dead ‘Cause if momma was alive She’d be telling me this

Jackie Robinson is honored at Washington Nationals Park on April 15, 2017.

PHOTO BY AMIN MASSEY

I knew then that my friend would never have his father to do that with and it eerily reminded me of a scene from “Boyz N The Hood,” the classic John Singleton film.

To this day, my dad still participates in youth sports activities with my little brother and his friends. Being a positive role model is important to him because he did not have his dad at home growing up and had to become the man of the house at an early age in the Deep South, during segregation.

Back to the game.

The Nats fell 4-2. It was a good game that featured a couple of home runs, a few web gems and two great pitching performances.

But it pales in comparison to the feeling of being at the park with the one who gave you your first mitt and passion for sports. All in all, it was a good day for celebration and reflection for such a momentous occasion.

Feeling Good on Revisiting the Longest Night Earth Day

By Ken Martin Artist/Vendor

By Chon Gotti Artist/Vendor To d a y i s a beautiful day.

Let’s just take this special day to stretch and relax our muscles.

Breathe in the extra pollen in the air along with the positive energy from throughout this amazing land of promise.

Let us pray: Dear Lord, continue to guide me in the right direction and deliver me from negative images that bleed on the innocent people of the land. Dear God, you have always been with me from the very beginning, blessing me and my family each and every day. Thank you for spreading your wealth of love and promise to all the people of the world.

I thank you, Lord, for my birth on April 22. Now let the people say, “Amen.”

I never thought “The Longest Night” would be drawn out so, well, long! When I heard the once popular song by The Crusaders for the umpteenth time (albeit a year or two between takes), I became inspired to write about my own. I thought maybe my readers would find it interesting.

Never had I imagined those readers would include Editor Toni Gallo of Academic Medicine, the journal of The Association of American Medical Colleges; or that my story would be requested as a tool (with revisions) to educate physicians.

Of course, I was honored! And thrilled.

And intimidated.

Fortunately for me, I have the benefit of classes in public speaking, opinion writing and digital marketing with some great volunteer editors to boost my confidence. That version of the story was posted on AAMC’s blog that accompanies the journal.

Much to my surprise and maybe chagrin,

the blog piece was very well received.

This led to a call from Dev Clarke, video specialist with AAMC. This time the request was for that which I dread most: a video interview.

I hate being on camera for many reasons: mostly vanity, with a touch of cowardice. Selfish though I may be, I’m at least rationally so. If my experience can be a comfort and aid to others or my story used to prevent another from suffering, how dare I withhold or withdraw?

As another Street Sense writer once admonished, “Get off our apathy and do something about US!” The video was posted on Association of American Medical Colleges website on April 26. I was very impressed by their production and honored to be a contributor.

M a n y t h a n k s t o To n i G a l l o a n d Dev Clarke, who were not only professional but made this an enjoyable collaboration. When encountering citizens that may be housing deprived, it would be wisest for our actions and comments to be prefaced by the Hippocratic oath: “First, do no harm.”

They are going through enough.

Son, don’t you forget To pray for your family My life is your life And your life can really be something If you just be humble and patient Momma in heaven I’m patiently waiting They say the power of prayer is amazing Father forgive me, for my reevaluation Father forgive me, for all of my sins I was then sinner, for all of my friends I was just looking for someone to find All of a sudden now you on my mind.

It’s just too much evil I need peace Had to battle all my demons Then I conquered the beast Had to bury all my bad habits And all my bad ways Now I’m going back to Church to give God praise I used to be a hypocrite But that’s okay You keep being hypocritical I’mma pray that you get struck by Jesus Christ Right in the heart When God forgave him All his pain just stopped When God gave him All his pain just left Now he’s singing God, I love ya to death Yes, God is great And God is good When nobody else could God understood.

When nobody else can God understands.

Took a boy by the hand And made him a man Took a man by the soul And gave him a son Then he pointed straight to heaven And told them to run

Mirror Reflections

By Sasha Williams Artist/Vendor I am trying to habitually love myself.

To some, it may look like egoism.

But when I was young, I didn’t love and accept myself. I always looked up to others. I wished for a better life and thought everyone else must have the answers — everyone except me.

But now that I am an adult, if I don’t love and respect myself, how am I going teach my children? I no longer accept negativity. I’ve thought long and hard about why people would go there and criticize anyone else without fully understanding everything they deal with.

One conclusion several of my friends supported is that some negative people may be jealous of the people they hurt.

I could never really believe that someone would be jealous of me. But people may see a lot that you don’t pay close attention to day-to-day. I remember being in the shelter and someone actually

My Blessing, My Thoughts

By Charles Davis, Artist/Vendor

Sometimes, when I awaken in the morning, I am too tired or in too much pain to say my prayers. But I still say them. I thank God for another beautiful day that He gives me here on this earth, because any day I might be going home to my eternal life.

When I sit alone with my thoughts, He comes very strong after I pray. I do not know how or when they will come to me but I always thank God for them blessings, even when I am selling my Street Sense papers.

When I was growing up, my father always taught us how to pray, especially before we would go to bed. I really miss him. May he rest in peace.

As I get older, I love praying even more, because it has kept me strong in my faith. It makes me stronger when I go to church and praise God. My mother and father raised us right and made sure we had food to eat, clothes on our bodies and a roof over our heads. I try to follow everything my parents taught me, especially to have respect for others.

Even though I have been through a lot of ups and downs, including long periods of homelessness, I praise and thank God for the strength to lead me through those times. So, always keep your trust in God. Amen.

told me they were jealous of me. I was laughing, because I honestly thought they were joking.

But I am where I am today — not where I was years ago.

So I’m working to love myself. I know it is important. I want to be able to accept that there is nothing wrong with taking care of myself and investing in my future.

I can’t think about others, let alone help others, if my self is out of whack.

Disrespect challenges you to think outside the box and rely on self-love.

People will always have excuses about why they treat you poorly. But reflect on

that negativity and realize that, if they want to be walking in your shoes, you must be doing something right.

In the end, it does not matter what other people think. Regardless of how others want to paint your picture, you create your own destiny. If you start new chapters in your life, nobody is creating that book but you. You can learn from everyone, but you have to recognize which seeds are good and which seeds are bad.

Still Her? Teh gaze on the sien unhingyd, that een owls turn to preen and sum Theme grew dim prod ye, “At your whim, supos.” To sens thaim even in yew.

—By Franklin Sterling Artist/Vendor

Bubble tracks: large hadron collider particle trails. | IMAGE COURTESY OF SOVIBRANT

STREET SENSE May 3 - 16, 2017

15

COMMUNITY SERVICES Housing/Shelter

Food

Clothing

Showers

Case Management

Health Care

Transportation

Laundry

Education

Employment Assistance

Legal Assistance

Vivienda/alojamiento

Comida

Coordinación de Servicios

Seguro

Educación

Assitencia con Empleo

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

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

Ropa

Lavandería

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

Línea de juventud

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE: (202) 749-8000 Línea directa de Violencia doméstica

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOTLINE: 1-888-793-4357

Assistencia Legal

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

Línea directa de alojamiento YOUTH HOTLINE: (202) 547-7777

Duchas

Transportación

Community of Hope: 232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

SHELTER HOTLINE: (202) 399-7093

Línea de Salud del Comportamiento Jubilee Jobs: 667-8970 2712 Ontario Rd NW | 2419 Minnesota Ave SE jubileejobs.org

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

Loaves & Fishes: 232-0900 1525 Newton St. NW loavesandfishesdc.org

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

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

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

Catholic Charities: 772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

Central Union Mission: 745-7118 65 Massachusetts Avenue, NW missiondc.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) Community Family Life Services: 347-0511 | 305 E St, NW cflsdc.org

Vagrancy Comics #3: Young Bribes

By Justin Benedict Former Vendor

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

Food and Friends: 269-2277 219 Riggs Rd, NE foodandfriends.org

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

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

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

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

Foundry Methodist Church: 332-4010 1500 16th St, NW foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Patricia Handy Place for Women: 810 5th Street, NW, NW | 733-5378

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

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

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

DEAR MOMMA, YOU’RE THE GREATEST!

M

y mother is the greatest woman walking this Earth.

I write those words not because I came from her womb, but because of the unselfish and caring way she lives her life.

My mother doesn’t judge anyone or discriminate against anyone. If she doesn’t have a favorable opinion of someone, more often than not, something is amiss with that person. Not only that, she is also my therapist and my best friend. At times in my life I have been not so good a person. But even in those periods, she supported me and stood beside me. That support and prayer helped me along this eventful journey called life.

I know a lot of folks don’t have the gift of a mother in their lives. By the grace of God, I do.

And I thank my creator every day.

—By Damon Smith, Artist/Vendor

M

other’s Day is a day that we acknowledge our mothers for being wonderful.

It only comes once a year. And some people think that if they buy their mother flowers and a card that they have completed their duty for the rest of the year. But if we understood just a portion of what our mothers did for us as children, how they would literally die for us if needed, then we would realize that one day is not enough. Mother’s Day should be a time to remind us that we have wonderful mothers that love us dearly. That relationship between a mother and a child is sacred. Please, let us honor our mothers. They are God’s most compassionate and most selfless creations. We can never thank our mothers enough for all that they have done for us: being in labor, giving birth, all sorts of pain, waking up in the wee hours of the morning, preparing food, getting us ready for school, and getting us ready for life…

Mothers are the backbone on which we stand strong and successful today. They sacrifice everything just so that one child may become successful one day. So please, when that day comes, show your mothers or motherly figures that you appreciate them and love them to the ends of the earth. Make sure that when that day is here they will never forget that they mean so much to you. In closing, I would like to wish all the mothers a happy Mother’s Day. Thank you.

—By Evelyn Nnam, Artist/Vendor

R

aising four children is both challenging and rewarding. (Did I mention exhausting?) First, you must decide what is appropriate and what is inappropriate for them. That decision often depends on your child's age. For example, you would not have your 2-year-old sitting around adults all day, every day, or always hanging around adults watching their activities.

Children need their space and their friends until they can distinguish their own path.

Parents need to spend a lot of time with their children and help them discover the world of children. Sometimes we have to forgo our own events and activities to raise healthy and productive children. But once the child is old enough to think independently, the parents regain some freedom and mobility. They may even get a small piece of their lives back!

—By Sheila White, Artist/Vendor

M

y mom was Ms. Vivian Elaine Johnson She was very dear to me And I wish you could see

I wish I could write her a letter: Dear Mom Thank you for drying my tears when I cried Thank you for food on the table and shelter to hide

—By Tammy Michele Rice, Volunteer

May 3 - 16, 2017 • Volume 14 • Issue 13

Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW

Washington, DC 20005

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Thank you for reading Street Sense!

Clifton Davis — 5/11 Conrad Cheek Jr. — 5/15 Barron Hall

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