05 05 2021

VOL. 18 ISSUE 16

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EVENTS

// 3

NEWS IN BRIEF Deadline approaching to claim your stimulus check: May 17 No address and no bank necessary, but you must file a 2020 tax return

Accelerating Public-Sector Apprenticeships

As Street Sense previously reported, people experiencing homelessness qualify for all three COVID-19 stimulus checks, which were implemented as tax rebates paid in advance.

However, the IRS is requiring all beneficiaries to file a 2020 federal tax return in order to claim the funds if you haven’t already received them. This year’s deadline to file your tax return was extended to May 17. If you earn less than $72,000/year, you may file your return online for free at irs.gov/ freefile. Anyone may request an extension by using that address as well, allowing you until Oct. 15 to file your return. Our guide to local clinics to help file your taxes is available at the bottom of this article: tinyurl.com/dc-tax-help-21. The IRS has collected links to other resources here: tinyurl.com/irshomeless-tax-21.

Tuesday, May 11, 2-3 p.m. // Online Public-sector apprenticeships are a powerful and underused tool for workforce and economic development.

Apprentices benefit by earning wages, learning new skills, and building valuable work experience.

Join the Urban Institute and the Council of State Governments to learn about the advantages of public-sector apprenticeships, how states can apply to receive support to launch or expand such apprenticeships, and the benefits of participating in the apprenticeship consortium. This panel will feature both Urban and CSG experts and youth apprentices employed in the public sector.

Register at: tinyurl.com/ui-apprenticeship-event

SATURDAY MAY 8

UPDATES ONLINE AT ICH.DC.GOV

FRIDAY, MAY 7

Shepherd Parkway Community Clean-Up

D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness Meetings

10:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. // 555 Newcombe Street SE

Executive Committee March 11, 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Online via WebEx

Peace and Justice during COVID: Discussions with Black Women Peacebuilders

The Ward 8 Woods Conservancy will gather to clear trash and invasive vines from the Shepherd Parkway, a federally-owned parkland corridor between I-295 and Congress Heights and Bellevue.

Register at: tinyurl.com/shepherdparkway-cleanup

***For call-in information, as well as meeting info for unlisted working groups, contact: ich.info@dc.gov.

3 - 5 p.m. // Online Georgetown University’s Center for Social Justice and the D.C. Student Consortium on Women, Peace and Security will host this panel on Black women’s reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Register at: tinyurl.com/blackwomen-peacebuilders

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

Second DMV-region health company accused of bribing homeless people to defraud Medicaid The D.C. Office of the Inspector General, the FBI, and other agencies filed a criminal complaint against Holy Health Care Services, LLC last month for paying homeless people to help the company defraud Medicaid. Holy Health allegedly paid homeless individuals $25 to sign into fake appointments three times per week — since at least 2017 — allowing the company to bill Medicaid on their behalf for mental health services it did not provide, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. In March, Street Sense Media reported that the D.C. Office of the Attorney General sued a different company, Vizion One, for similar activity. The home health care provider’s employees allegedly canvassed outside of homeless shelters and social service agencies to recruit people willing to accept a bribe in exchange for falsely claiming a need for care that the company could bill for without providing any service. The lawsuit claims Vizion One defrauded D.C.’s Medicaid program of more than $3 million in two years: 2012 - 14.

CORRECTIONS

Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater DC

In our last print edition, the article “Council advances Comp Plan amid concerns of racial inequity” included the wrong spelling of Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George’s first name.

This is poet #AyubAbdul his poetry is on pg 11 of this weeks @streetsensedc called #thepromise Ayub said it was given to him to give me to give to many. So if you see him in #catherdalcommons let him know it worked I had a better day indeed.

This April, @streetsensedc doubled the frequency of publishing their street paper. More frequent publication helps their vendors meet daily needs & allows artists to receive payment twice as often. Read more about this impactful & growing publication here: https://cfp-dc.org/blog

In our April 21 edition, the opinion piece “There is no silver bullet for affordable housing in Ward 3” misidentified co-author Bob Ward as an ANC commissioner. He is the chairman of Cleveland Park Smart Growth and is not an ANC commissioner.

6:12 PM - 27 APRIL 2021

9:30 AM - 23 APRIL 2021

AUDIENCE EXCHANGE Nelson Jacobsen (them | him) DC @sonofnels

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NEWS

DCHA falls short on transparency in Barry Farm development

BY NENA PERRY-BROWN // Greater Greater Washington

First published by Greater Greater Washington on April 7.

Although the D.C. Housing Authority’s (DCHA) redevelopment of Southwest’s Greenleaf Gardens community is starting off with some promising signs of transparency, the agency is still leaving a lot to be desired when it comes to the plans for some of the other public housing developments under its purview. One of the more obvious examples is just two miles, or two Metro stops, away in Barry Farm, from which over a hundred households have already been scattered and left wanting for more input on what will happen next.

The history of Barry Farm and its redevelopment

Simultaneously, a historic preservation application was filed for the community, leading the istoric reservation eview oard to grant landmark status to five buildings at Barry Farm in January 2020. Prior to the ruling, the co developers had already pared back their plans in light of the remand, proposing a total closer to 1,000 units. After the landmarking, however, the co-developers stated that plans would have to be scaled back further, leaving many under the impression that a new proposal for the development would require additional approval and/or would follow passage of the revised Comprehensive Plan.

Instead, the city s ce of lanning applied to re one the arry arm site last year in order for the development team to move forward, as a matter of right, with a redevelopment plan from 15 years ago.

Site of proposed BF Zone.

Barry Farm’s redevelopment was part of the city’s New Communities Initiative (NCI), a program with its own long history of over-promising and under-delivering to public housing residents that have long experienced subpar living conditions. Located a block off the Anacostia Freeway and Suitland Parkway intersection, the Barry Farm neighborhood was originally built out by the Freedmen’s Bureau after the Civil War, with the U.S. Housing Authority delivering the Barry Farm Dwellings across 34 acres of the settlement during World War II. y the early s, the neighborhood had significantly deteriorated, making it a candidate for redevelopment under NCI. A co-development team with Preservation of ffordable ousing , and evelopment was selected, and in 2014, the Zoning Commission approved a planned-unit development (PUD) that would enable a project exceeding the allowable density, slated to deliver 380 replacement housing units and another 1,000 mixed-income units, 55,000 square feet of commercial space, and a central park.

However, the Barry Farm Tenants and Allies Association (BFTAA), composed of residents of Barry Farm and the ade oad partments in partnership with organi ing nonprofit Empower .C., appealed the oning approval, putting the project on hold. D.C.’s appellate court sided with BFTAA in 2018, remanding the project back to the Zoning Commission for reconsideration — but the development team withdrew the PUD application instead.

In the meantime, Barry Farm residents had already been given vouchers and relocated to apartments all across the city (and in a handful of cases, the Maryland suburbs).

A by-right attempt to move forward ast eptember, applied for a oning amendment to create the arry arm one, and applied to re one the 25.4-acre site where the community once stood from low density esidential partment oning to and . Each of those ones would have sub one designations that sketch out the height and density and uses permitted throughout the site. Although the applications don’t specify what the new development plans will entail, representatives for the co-developers stated at a meeting for displaced residents in October 2020 that there will be 380 for-rent replacement units for the residents, another for rent units affordable to households earning 30-80% of D.C.’s area median income (AMI; $37,800-100,800 for a family of four), 40 for-sale units for households earning up to 80% of the AMI, and 160 for-sale units at market rate. There would also be roughly 40,000 square feet of retail, including some in the newly-designated landmarked buildings.

At that same meeting, it was shared that the development would take place in two phases over an 8-10 year period, starting with a 108-unit senior building next to the Barry arm ecreation Center with replacement units. side from a couple of renderings reused from previous plans, the details of the redevelopment and its components are yet to be shared in full with former residents or the public.

But these plans supposedly follow the prescriptions made in the arry arm ark Chester ade oad Community evitali ation edevelopment lan, a mall Area Plan (SAP) so outdated that one of its three titular communities (Park Chester) has already been redeveloped.

The SAP is billed as a plan whose creation was led by the residents, but a lot has changed since 2006, and even if the current plans include everything residents wanted then and now, it still seems worth sharing how that is the case with the people who would be most affected.

Miscommunication and missing communication

A view of Barry Farm.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NENA PERRY

ased on testimony at oning hearings, and over letters of support (primarily consisting of vaguely-worded signed form letters) added to the record, the primary concern of former Barry Farm residents is getting the ball

IMAGE FROM OFFICE OF ZONING APPLICATION

rolling as quickly as possible so that they can return — a priority shared even among residents who are opposed to the pending re oning case. or many, rushing to approve a re oning should not come at the e pense of being kept in the dark and given only nominal opportunities to weigh in on what they will be returning to. Some residents, stakeholders, and even DCHA’s own boardmembers also seemed blindsided by a redevelopment potentially moving forward this year, expressing confusion at the March 2021 DCHA Board meeting.

DCHA Director Tyrone Garrett suggested to his team at the board meeting that they should begin holding monthly update meetings similar to what is currently happening for residents of Greenleaf Gardens. Considering all of the entities involved with the redevelopment (DCHA, , evelopment, , the ce of the eputy ayor for lanning and Economic evelopment , there has been a lot of room up to this point for absconding responsibility to communicate with former residents.

POAH has been sending out monthly newsletters by snail mail and email and holding sporadic events, most of which are billed as holiday celebrations, giveaways, and cleanups. However, these don’t seem like, and are not used as, appropriate forums for meaningful engagement about the actual redevelopment. The opportunity to build new units before displacing residents has already been missed nearly all but the landmarked buildings were ra ed on a rolling basis starting in , after the oning remand and before all of the residents had relocated. The current push to build by-right, however well-intentioned, seems disingenuous when the onus is once again put on residents to draw information out of DCHA and the co-developers.

“We’re not going to be able to solve every single issue in one fell swoop, but I think the communication is one key ingredient to making things happen and to accomplishing the goals that everyone wants to resolve and wants to have at the end of the day,” Director Garrett said at the October resident update meeting.

The D.C. Zoning Commission postponed Barry Farm’s hearing, originally scheduled for May, until June 7 in anticipation of the D.C. Council potentially making a final vote on the Comprehensive lan on une . he commission also asked the ce of lanning for a supplemental report that gives guidance on how new language in the proposed Comprehensive Plan on displacement and racial equity should be considered.

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// 5

Moe Abbey-Bey, a champion for harm reduction policy, dies at 64

BY ELLIOT WILLIAMS DCist

First published by DCist on April 15.

Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen described a committee hearing in 2018 when Abbey-Bey came in to Most days, he roamed around the streets of D.C. in a white testify about fentanyl tests, which help users detect whether outreach van belonging to the harm reduction organi ation drugs have been laced with potent additives that can cause HIPS, handing out clean needles and condoms to residents who users to overdose quickly. needed them and administering life-saving Narcan to people he strips had only recently been legali ed in .C. on a experiencing drug overdoses. Known to his colleagues and temporary basis. As was the case with most drug paraphernalia, friends as the “Jesus of the streets,” or simply “Moe,” the the ban on their use disproportionately affected the lack D.C. native led an incredible life, one that took him from the community — over the past decade, roughly 80% of the dark pits of opioid addiction to the forefront of drug policy paraphernalia-related arrests in D.C. have been of Black changes in the city. residents, according to the Drug Policy Alliance. (The D.C. Abbey-Bey died on April 5 after a battle with leukemia, Council went on to permanently legali e their use in . according to his family, and leaves behind his wife and work At the hearing, Abbey-Bey reached into a bag and took out partner, Charmaine Sauls, three biological sisters, and 17 nieces what appeared to be pieces of aluminum foil. and nephews. He was 64 years old.

I remember turning to my staff, and I was like, Is he about Friends, family, and coworkers describe Abbey-Bey as an to test for fentanyl right now and my staff was like, I think he unmatched force of nature in D.C. He changed the lives of is. Fentanyl is illegal, should we stop him?’” Allen recalled. “I just about every person he met — and he met with everyone said, o, this is incredibly powerful and real. et it play out. he could, from people experiencing the worst conditions on Allen and the rest of the committee leaned forward in awe as the streets to high profile politicians, spreading his gospel of they discovered that Abbey-Bey had pulled out a row of used ending drug-related deaths across the U.S. (Senator Bernie heroin cookers he collected himself from across the city. Testing Sanders highlighted Abbey-Bey’s work for International them all on the spot, each one came back positive for fentanyl.

Overdose Awareness Day.) Allen said Abbey-Bey’s advocacy directly led to the permanent WAMU once spent a day with Abbey-Bey as he handed decriminali ation of fentanyl testing strips in and the out syringes and explained the dangers drug users face decriminali ation of drug paraphernalia in . bbey ey when injecting with used needles. He described the horrific also sparked conversations about the possibility of opening safe things he’d seen, like people use sites in D.C., places where using contaminated water to people can use pre-obtained cook heroin. drugs under the supervision of As a former heroin user, trained staff.

Abbey-Bey knew these stories With Abbey-Bey’s help, personally. A family member HIPS partnered with D.C. gave him his first shot at 12 Health in 2016 to start giving years old, he once said. He was clients naloxone (or Narcan), to incarcerated for about 30 years reverse opioid overdoses. on drug charges, but when he got “When we talk about policy out of prison in 2003, he didn’t and legislation, sometimes it’s let those experiences define hard to make it accessible and him. He got clean at 45 and real,” Allen said. “One of the Alexandra Bradley empowered others by sharing real strengths that [Abbeyhis journey, promoting safe use Bey] had was to communicate and helping others overcome addiction. With his personal story in effectively and normali e the conversation around what might tow, he helped create the Chosen Few, a HIPS initiative focused otherwise be to policymakers an intimidating change.” on research, peer-to-peer education, and supporting those who he passionate advocate was also a family man. eese have been most impacted by the War on Drugs.

Johnson, Abbey-Bey’s niece, said he managed to be present, Everybody knew oe, said le andra radley, the I even while incarcerated. outreach manager. Everybody knew that if you wanted a “We wrote each other throughout the years when I was old conversation with Moe, you got in the van. That was where he enough to write,” Johnson said. “He would always send gifts did his thinking, it’s where he told all his stories. He used to go out and pictures, all types of unique things. I couldn’t understand with staff and interns to teach them and take them under his wing. how he was able to do so much in prison. But I got birthday Bradley was a volunteer in 2015 when she met Abbey-Bey, cards and birthday calls. He made it known who Uncle Maurice who was supposed to interview her for a full-time job. She was was even if I was never going to be able to meet him in person.” on the fence about it, but Abbey-Bey showed up to her house But meet in person they did. Johnson said when Abbey-Bey in the van, told her to hop in, and proceeded to share words left prison and started making his mark on the city, he never of wisdom and encouragement. The heart-to-heart ultimately bragged about his accomplishments; but he never had to, as his convinced radley to oin the staff. work spoke for itself. He began volunteering with HIPS in 2012, “He had really big dreams, thoughts, and ideas,” Bradley and just a year later, became a secondary exchange peer educator. said. “He was never afraid. If anybody walked up to him with s he gained e perience in the field, I tapped him to become a microphone, he was always ready. He lived and breathed the organi ation s full time syringe e change specialist in . harm reduction, and it was beautiful to watch.”

HIPS executive director Cyndee Clay said Abbey-Bey’s Those closest to Abbey-Bey describe him as a gifted orator work opened doors for the treet based organi ation and and an open book. ut he was also a fighter who had a direct paved the way for its workers and volunteers going forward. impact on D.C. policy, not an easy feat in a city where Congress oe wasn t the first person to help us create inroads with has to approve its laws. the community, but he really had a passion and was a leader in

He was never afraid. If anybody walked up to him with a microphone, he was always ready. He lived and breathed harm reduction, and it was beautiful to watch

SARAH VOSS / PHOTO COURTESY OF HIPS

making sure those tough conversations were being had,” Clay said. “He was dedicated to being out there and saving lives.”

The work Abbey-Bey helped start has only picked up. Due in part to the loneliness and chaos sown by the pandemic, 2020 became the deadliest year in overdose deaths in D.C. as cases also surged nationally. Clay said that, over the past year, requests for HIPS’s mobile services have nearly tripled.

And despite having to scale back some of its operations at the height of the pandemic, the outreach team distributed over half a million unused syringes to people in need just last year.

Even in his absence, bbey ey will continue to make an impact. Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day, and I staffers say they will celebrate it in honor of oe. nd, most fittingly, he will still be in the van well, technically, he’ll be on two of them. “We’re back on the streets this week, and we’ve got this beautiful memorial to Moe that we’ve put on the side of our vans,” Clay said, “Because he’s always going to be out there with us.”

Moe at a HIPS event in 2017.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HIPS

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NEWS

Housing activism turn confrontational in face of deepening housing crisis

Amber Rain and Gage stay at the 509 camp in Tacoma, Washington. Many residents of the camp have participated in militant housing activism campaigns. Gage said he was part of a group of 20 to 30 people that led a civil disobedience campaign that culminated in the creation of Tent City Tacoma, a selfgoverning houseless camp that existed from 2013 to 2016.

PHOTO BY HENRY BRANNAN / STREET ROOTS

BY HENRY BRANNAN Street Roots

A

cross the country, battles that were fought primarily in courthouses and through legislation, nonprofits and community centers have evolved.

Now, some of these battles are waged from behind the barricaded doors of formerly vacant public housing and in front of eviction courts rendered inaccessible as tenants link arms, blocking their entrances.

Spurred on by the country’s deepening housing crisis, this wave of militant housing activism has enveloped the nation. With roots in Moms 4 Housing’s late 2019 takeover of vacant housing in akland, California, the phenomenon has intensified during a pandemic that has caused economic pain for many families. n Christmas Eve , members of acoma ousing ow — a direct-action-oriented housing activism group — paid for rooms in a motel ust across the uyallup iver from acoma, Washington. Then they refused to leave and sent the bill for what would become five additional nights to the city and county. ne organi er with the group, ebecca arson, told he ews ribune that at least five houseless people had already died of exposure that season, including one of the group’s houseless members, Thomas Lee Hutchinson. Hutchinson died while sitting in his wheelchair one night, less than a month prior. “There was frost on the ground last night,” Parson, who also serves on Tacoma’s disabilities commission, told The News Tribune during the occupation.

Tacoma declared a state of emergency around houselessness more than three years ago, but Parson said the problem has only gotten worse.

The occupation, which housed over 40 houseless Tacoma residents at its peak, ended on December 30 with local police evicting the group after receiving widespread pressure as farright media picked up the story.

The day after the eviction, driving back to the camp where many houseless members of the group live to drop off hot coffee and check in with everyone, tringy, an organi er with acoma ousing ow, told treet oots about the group s structure.

Stringy said Tacoma Housing Now meets houseless members where they are at, holds weekly meetings at a houseless camp and has “gotten to know them as people” by doing so.

For Stringy, it is important that the imbalance of power between housed and houseless members of the group is minimi ed. Information and communication are key to that, he said.

“All the residents that were from the camp and went to the motel were aware that this is a protest and not a permanent housing solution,” he explained. “They knew the risk going into it. They all are part of the movement.”

For some unhoused participants in the motel occupation, it was simply a way to get out of the cold for a few days, shower and have access to other amenities. But for others, Stringy’s statement rings true. athaniel told treet oots he started working with members of Tacoma Housing Now four months ago when they brought food and other aid, under the name Tacoma Food Not Bombs, to the large encampment where he lives under the name Tacoma Food Not Bombs. rom there, the relationships between the housed organi ers and many residents of the encampment, called “509” due to its location under ashington tate oute , grew and led to a short-lived occupation of the abandoned Gault Middle School.

Nathaniel said the group doesn’t just bring food and work with them in the fight for housing it also brings hope. hen we first got into the ault school, everybody had a smile on their face and a sense of relief,” he said. “When we got into the motel, it was like a sense of relief also, and it felt good.” nd he e plained that while benefits like warmth, showers, safety, and phones to call family during the holidays are important, he is on a larger mission.

“We have demands that we want to get met,” he stated.

Nathaniel said it’s about having a place where they are allowed to live more than the need for a structure. He said the group is capable of building — he gestured to the sturdy, recently winteri ed camps surrounding him but if we had a property that we could occupy, I think that would take care of a lot.”

And that isn’t unprecedented in Tacoma. Gage, another resident of the camp, e plained to treet oots that both he and Nathaniel were part of a larger group of 20 to 30 people that led a civil disobedience campaign that culminated in the city capitulating and allowing them to create Tent City Tacoma, a self-governing houseless camp that existed from 2013 to 2016.

Houselessness is nothing new, but the situation is getting worse. y last couple months being at the acoma escue ission, I’ve seen more and more young people down there looking for places to stay,” Nathaniel said.

Hearing him say that, Pink, another resident of 509, added: “I’m 51 years old. I’ve been here 20 years, 21 years, and I’ve never seen this many.”

And the numbers back them up. Pierce County, where Tacoma is located, saw its houseless population grow 28% from 2019 to 2020 to a total of 1,897 people, according to the city’s Point-in-Time counts. These surveys are widely understood to be undercounts. The county’s houseless population is also disproportionately made up of people of color — 46% in a county where people of color make up only 27% of the general population. ore specifically, the I code where the acoma escue Mission is located was one of the 20 most rapidly gentrifying ZIP codes in the U.S. between 2000 and 2016, according to a study by E Caf .

And straddling that 98402 ZIP code is the city’s Hilltop neighborhood. Hilltop, which is home to the other primary encampment that Tacoma Housing Now works with, is a formerly redlined area. The neighborhood is still the heart of lack acoma, but it is rapidly gentrifying as eattleites ood in amid massive public and private capital infusions.

It’s also where Billy, who is Blackfeet, grew up. He participated in the motel occupation, and he still lives in Hilltop – only now in the encampment with his sister, Vicky Swims Under (also Blackfeet) and other family and community members.

“I came up here in 1979 — I was only 9 months old — with my mom,” he told me. Swims Under joined him in 1997, living housed in the city until a robbery four years ago pushed her onto the streets.

Swims Under, back at the camp the night after the eviction, told me that she joined in the occupation to get out of the cold because of the relationships Tacoma Housing Now had formed

with her encampment and because of serious fears about antihouseless vigilante violence.

“I’m afraid that I might be here by myself and get shot or stabbed or something. And since being back here, I just think about ashbacks of everything in my mind, wims nder said, referring to a particularly brutal incident earlier that month.

Her friend of 12 years, Patrick Nathan Shenaurlt, was murdered while protecting her and others at the camp from two anti-houseless vigilante attackers. Pierce County prosecutors said the attackers came armed to the camp to confront the campers about perceived crime and to “force all the people living in the tents to leave the area,” as Q13 Fox Seattle reported. ichael ed Cloud and homas earson have since been charged with second-degree murder. rosecutors said ed Cloud beat the campers and their tents with a 2-inch-by-2-inch piece of lumber, hitting Swims Under and her daughter in the process. y daughter came out and said, et away from us, and he started swinging the bat and hit her arm and broke it, and then (he) started swinging on other camps. Then he got mine, put, like, five big holes in it, and then I got hit over the head and knocked out,” Swims Under remembered.

Prosecutors said that before Shenaurlt was killed, he produced a BB gun from his tent in an apparent attempt to scare the attackers off. Campers said that earson shot him and continued to fire at him as he ran away after being struck. tanding beside henaurlt s newly vandali ed memorial at the camp, Swims Under said, “Now that we got booted out, we re back in the same spot again free ing cold.

For Tacoma Housing Now, events like this and other recent deaths of houseless Tacomites underscore the urgency of the fight.

“We can’t wait any longer,” Stringy said. “It’s the middle of winter. We want to house people. We don’t want one more death.

“There’s empty buildings all over the city that people could live in and not be out in the free ing cold, he continues, and that’s why we see direct action as a way to house people in Tacoma — and in the shortest amount of time possible.”

The path of most resistance While the situation in Tacoma is dire, it is certainly not unique.

Around the country, cities are facing similar problems and

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// 7

AT A GLANCE residents are taking similar approaches in their attempts to address them.

In Oakland, the houseless population grew by 47% to about 4,000 between 2017 and 2019, according to the city’s Pointin-Time counts. The Mercury News found there are about 1,580 more vacant homes in Oakland than there are houseless people — a fact Moms 4 Housing didn’t overlook. The group of Black mothers highlighted that reality when they targeted a gentrifying property developer during their occupation of a vacant home in Oakland.

In hiladelphia, amid mass sell offs and the privati ation of the city’s public housing stock, the city set a record in 2019 for the most construction permits issued in a year since the city started keeping records in 2007, WHYY reported.

Around the same time, longtime housing and houseless activists formed Philadelphia Housing Action. The group, working in-tandem with #OccupyPhiladelphiaHousingAuthority, the Black and Brown Workers Cooperative and other groups, occupied a soon-to-be-developed lot across from the Philadelphia Housing Authority to pressure the agency to provide housing. When that tactic didn’t work, and while the authority’s more than 40,000-person wait list for the city’s dwindling public housing wasn’t shrinking, they began taking control of empty Housing Authority-owned houses and giving them to families to make their own. eanwhile, in os ngeles, gentrification is reaching deep into some of the city’s historic non-white neighborhoods, The ashington ost has reported. owever, in the El ereno neighborhood, activists with eclaim and ebuild ur Community pushed back by breaking into and occupying a number of empty homes owned by Caltrans, California’s transportation agency.

In Seattle, as of 2018 (when the most recent census data was available) the city was the fastest growing in the country, Seattle Times reporting shows. And with the population leap, the median income rocketed from $33,000 to $93,500 between 2010 and 2018. Amid this, protesters, freshly swept from a houseless encampment at Cal Anderson Park, took over a nearby abandoned house.

Portland, meanwhile, was the fourth-fastest gentrifying city in the . . as recently as , according to a study by ealtor.com.

And, according to a recent report by Portland State University’s omelessness esearch and ction Collaborative, there were as many as 38,000 people experiencing houselessness in the tri-county area in 2017, with Black people twice as likely and Indigenous people five times as likely as white people to experience houselessness.

Protesters in Portland have engaged in a number of militant actions including defending a large houseless camp at aurelhurst ark from a sweep and the ed ouse on Mississippi’s eviction defense.

In Kansas City, Missouri, gentrification is also making its mark. Blavity reported on the anger and anxiety among longstanding Black residents as a so-called “urban architectural renaissance” and more white faces are driving up prices in the city’s historically Black neighborhoods. There, protesters with KC Tenants staged an eviction court blockade, rendering the court inoperable and demanding stronger eviction protections.

The similarity in the groups’ approaches is no coincidence.

Enabled by mass media, social media and national activist networks, groups from all parts of the country are seeing and hearing about one another’s responses to their similar situations — and taking action.

A banner displayed outside of the Tacoma motel occupation underscored this. It cited ortland s ed ouse on ississippi, os ngeles eclaim and ebuild ur Community, Philadelphia Housing Action and Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park as in uences and allies in the fight. imilarly, in a conversation with treet oots, hiladelphia ousing ction and ccupy organi er ennifer ennetch said that when she saw Moms 4 Housing take over vacant housing in Oakland, she looked around and saw the rapidly disappearing public housing and housing crisis around her, and she knew what she had to do.

These actions, militant orientations and the means through which they spread are reshaping activists’ collective understanding of what is possible and how it can be achieved.

And, as the nation sits on the edge of an eviction crisis as pandemic-era eviction moratoria are set to expire, they show no signs of slowing.

This article was originally published by Street Roots on Feb. 3.

David.

ARCHIVE PHOTO

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of long-time community member, vendor, and friend, David Denny. He was 65 when he died on May 1.

Memorial service information will follow. If you knew David and would like to either be interviewed as we research his obituary or to submit a written tribute or other media to celebrate his life, please contact editor@streetsensemedia.org.

BIRTHDAYS Jeff McNeil May 7 AUTHOR/VENDOR

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

Protest signs remain outside the Red House on Mississippi Avenue in North Portland on 9 January 2021. PHOTO BY HENRY BRANNAN

www.StreetSenseMedia.org/newsletter

8 / / S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A / / M AY 5 - 11 , 2 0 2 1

NEWS

When trans and non-binary people age out of homeless services, there’s nowhere to turn

BY KAELA ROEDER Editorial Intern

W

hile LGBTQ-focused youth programs and housing assistance are growing nationally and in the District, transgender adults are being left behind after aging out of these programs in their mid-twenties.

“The system, the city does not do well,” said Earline Budd, a local advocate of over 35 years and a non medical case manager at the nonprofit onoring Individual ower and trength, or I , which is a istrict based organization specializing in harm reduction.

Many housing programs for LGBTQ people across the country are geared towards youth, with an aged based cutoff at . In the District, multi-year long-term housing services by SMYAL and the Wanda Alston Foundation, as well as an 18-month housing program by Casa uby, are all for individuals .

After someone ages out of that system, there are limited avenues for care besides general long-term shelters, safe houses, and affordable housing. ut these options are limited and can be dangerous for trans populations because of continued violence and ongoing discrimination against the group. In , at least trans people were killed in the nited tates.

Budd, who transitioned at 13 and experienced homelessness, addiction, and incarceration herself, came into the field because of her personal experiences with the system. e re trying to figure out, how do we help people beyond , she said. eople are literally ... dying on the street because they cannot get housing.”

One in five transgender individuals has experienced homelessness at some point in their lives, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality, and these numbers are increased for transgender individuals of color, especially lack trans women.

In her work at I , udd has seen the lack of affordable housing first hand. he inputs clients to various waiting lists

DATA COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO END HOMELESSNESS. GRAPHIC BY KAELA ROEDER

for housing, but in most cases, the wait in getting assistance is years, she said.

“You're praying and hoping that one of your clients gets selected for housing, but in most cases, a lot of times they don't get to yours,” Budd said. “And unfortunately I've had clients, even as recent as like days ago, I ve had clients that have died before getting housing.” ong term shelters not specified to be a rming are often an unsafe and dangerous route for transgender individuals, said amika pellman, an advocacy director at I .

“As a trans woman, we in D.C., we have the option to have a women's shelter,” she said. “And a lot of times it's not a healthy environment because the women do not want us there, so it's uncomfortable for them. It's uncomfortable for us.” ut shelters slated for men aren t an option either, she said, as violence is common against trans women in men s shelters. igh rates of homelessness are a result of family re ection, housing discrimination, and ob discrimination, pellman said.

There has been a systemic problem on a “historical basis” when it comes to equity, she said.

It s absolutely ridiculous that we have not advanced at any time or point to where there is greater stability when it comes to transgender women,” Spellman said. “The rest of the LGBTQ umbrella are generally taken care of. hey left out the .

Why is there little support for transgender adults?

Tamika Spellman (left), an advocacy director at the District-based organization Honoring Individual Power and Strength, and a friend (right). PHOTO COURTESY OF TAMIKA SPELLMAN

The main reason that LGBTQ housing assistance is youthoriented is a lack of compensation or concentration around the transgender adult population, according to Budd. pellman added that there s a huge gap in services for

those in their mid twenties, which she s e perienced personally. pellman, now , said when she was growing up, youth services for ages were not in e istence.

“By the time they actually came into existence, I was already aged out the system, and it left me out there in the streets trying to figure it out myself, she said. r. ennifer lick, an assistant scientist at the ohns opkins loomberg chool of ublic ealth and fre uent scholar of transgender health and housing, said there s little programming for older individuals because most research is focused on LGBTQ youth. “Then, their data drives initiatives for young people, lick said. iko owell of the an rancisco Community ealth Center said research and resource development focuses on LGBTQ youth because it s easier to empathi e with that age group. hich ust seems very short sighted to me, he said.

“Particularly with the trans community, there are so many elements to why there might be barriers to housing.” ata on trans homelessness, in general, is also lacking, said oy oses, the director of the omelessness esearch Institute at the ational lliance to End omelessness. tatistics are mostly taken from oint in ime counts that take place annually to track the rates of homelessness. ecause the count takes place on one night and relies on volunteers, it s likely that people and areas are missed. espondents may also conceal their identity as or trans, depending on who s asking and the nature of the situation, oses said. he epartment of ousing and rban evelopment announced in April that transgender people would be protected from discrimination at federally funded homeless shelters, scrapping a Trump-era rule that would have allowed shelters to turn away transgender individuals. udd said actions like this are a positive sign.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

rans individuals and youth often turn to se work Some individuals need structure in combination with at a young age to survive and earn money independently housing, as well. Coordinating services to tackle mental to avoid the structure and requirements of many housing health issues and substance abuse is necessary, Budd said, programs, she said. in addition to housing.

“A lot of times it starts out with them getting caught up in “I'm not putting anyone down because of that,” she said. life and not having a safe place to go,” Spellman said. “A lot of “One has to address those issues before you start to go on the trans and youth turn to se work as an easy way to and take on a whole apartment and do all the things that one provide for themselves, and to get housing wants to do.” without restriction.”

Other advocates, including Spellman, Interaction with police is heightened are fans of grassroots and mutual aid when unsheltered, as is the need for organizing to help trans adults aged out emergency room visits. of the system, like the work o ustice These statistics increase further when No Pride does, instead of increased comparing unsheltered lack transgender government involvement. individuals and white transgender “A lot of these programs, especially for individuals. or e ample, of lack LGBTQ youth, have a lot of requirements respondents cited police contacts while and restrictions that keep a lot of people of white respondents cited interaction. from not really wanting to engage with it. pellman has worked with o ustice o Everybody doesn't need structure,” she said.

Pride on this issue in the past few years, lick, with other researchers, published which is a trans, se worker led abolitionist a study in that outlined solutions to Tamika Spellman collective providing housing and resources housing instability among transgender in the District. populations in the nited tates. any respondents raised Criminali ation of se work is criminali ation of poverty, the importance of transgender inclusive shelter pro ects, Spellman said. societal prioritization of housing and raising the minimum wage. lternative models like the five safe houses o ustice o Alternative housing models and ride operates in the istrict are effective, pellman said. government involvement is needed ong term and permanent assistance is offered in addition to short-term and emergency accommodations. No Justice No Advocates have cited a variety of solutions to the ongoing high ride follows a housing first model, pellman said, where levels of transgender individuals experiencing homelessness. there are few requirements needed to receive help. ome look to government involvement, and others prefer an ousing creates a stable environment for people to grow alternative approach. and change,” she said. “And even if they don't, they still Budd said the government needs to be involved in solutions. deserve housing.” he is working with the .C. Council and government agencies he organi ation also offers connections with lawyers, health like the .C. ousing uthority to reinvest funds into housing providers, healing spaces with trauma-informed mentors and assistance programs for trans adults over . name- and gender-change guidance. lternative models like safe houses and mutual aid “When it comes to housing, we need to be outside of the organi ing work, but there needs to be ade uate resources to bo , pellman said. nd we need to take into consideration tackle the issue, she said. people's circumstances and situations. There are nuances.”

“Housing creates a stable environment for people to grow and change. And even if they don't, they still deserve housing.”

e first ational rans isibility arc in 20 ere trans en er advocates and allies gathered to celebrate the progress in the movement and march for equity. PHOTO BY KAELA ROEDER

“I applaud the Biden administration,” Budd said. “I believe that Biden is doing all that you can do right now.

I'm trying to give them a little bit of time, he's only been in o ce for days.

Trans homelessness is cyclical, experts say igh rates of trans homelessness is a cyclical problem, lick said, and the issue needs to be approached from multiple angles and levels. rans, nonbinary folks are set up at an early age, lick said. hey face family re ection, they face discrimination in schools, which then sets them up to not necessarily have access to high-quality education, access to high-paid employment that comes with health care, etc.” omelessness increases the risk of health issues, and these are exacerbated by being unhoused and unsheltered, according to a study by the ational lliance to End omelessness.

Chronic health issues and substance are much more likely to occur among unsheltered populations versus those who are sheltered and homeless.

Trans adults typically have a deeper level of mistrust in the shelter system and medical care systems, especially elders, said ydney opp ichardson, the director of the ational Elder ousing Initiative at E. “If you've had an entire lifetime of not trusting medical providers because of medical trauma, that catches up with you as you age,” she said.

Job insecurity and hiring discrimination also contribute to high rates of homelessness among trans populations. study by the .C. ce of uman ights found of employers appeared to prefer at least one less ualified applicant perceived as cisgender over a more ualified applicant perceived as transgender, and of employers offered interviews to one or more less ualified applicants perceived as cisgender while not offering an interview to at least one of the more ualified applicants perceived as transgender.

Even with a political science degree from the niversity of labama at irmingham, pellman herself struggled to find employment for years.

It s sad to say that it took me until I was years old as a lack transgender woman with a college degree, to gain employment,” Spellman said.

// 9

o ustice

o ri e a trans sex

or er le abolitionist collective rovi es ousin an resources in t e

SCREENSHOT COURTESY OF NO JUSTICE NO PRIDE’S TWITTER ACCOUNT

istrict

1 0 / / S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A / / M AY 5 - 11 , 2 0 2 1

OPINION

I hope that Derek Chauvin’s conviction is only the beginning

BY AIDA PEERY

It was a great victory on ednesday, pril , , that a white former police o cer was convicted on all three charges of murdering a Black man. his is the only beginning of the convictions that will hold both white and lack o cers accountable for their actions towards people of color, who are ordinary citizens — and show that they aren’t above the law! eorge loyd wasn t the only victim who has died in the hands of white police o cers.

Days before Derek Chauvin’s conviction, a 20-year-old Black man was shot and killed by im otter, a white female year veteran of the force and trainer of other o cers.

She said she meant to use her taser instead of her gun. We all know that’s a bald-faced lie! She intentionally shot that Black man in cold blood because she assumed the jurors wouldn’t convict her former colleague Derek Chauvin on all three counts against him!

Daunte Wright, the young father whom Potter killed, was not resisting arrest. He called his mother because he was frightened of being shot by a white police o cer. is mother said the phone went completely dead, and Daunte Wright died by the hand of a 26-year veteran who couldn t tell the difference between the weight of a taser and her gun es, Wright had a warrant out for failing to appear in court — but that shouldn’t be a death sentence after a tra c stop. otter had the sense to resign rather than get fired, which could result in the loss of her pension and other perks of serving for decades on the police force.

The Department of Justice now wants to investigate the Minneapolis police force. Well, the Justice Department needs to do that in all states in the South and Midwest, especially North Carolina and Georgia! Maybe they can reopen some cases that involve Black folks dying at the hands of police.

New attorneys fresh out of law school can do that kind of work, to evaluate cases of Black people serving time who shouldn’t be in prison at all. They need to also look at all the evidence that wasn’t presented in Black folks’ trials, too, and hold every prosecutor and judge accountable for their role in those cases! They aren’t above the law either! The Justice Department needs to probe all states’ judiciary systems, because it’s never a fair sentence if you were born Black or Latino!

I hope it doesn’t take nearly a year to convict Kim Potter like it did for Derek Chauvin.

It’s plain as day that she intended to shoot and kill a young Black man. ow, some police union presidents and chiefs of police claim that police o cers are resigning because of the anger towards them, and recruiting has become di cult. e, the people, don’t need bad cops in our cities!

Police are supposed to protect and serve, not to shoot to kill or place people in chokeholds, their knees on a person’s windpipe when he’s clearly saying he can’t breathe, or someone talking on the phone after stopping when a police car puts on its siren to pull over. It s a shame that my whole family has to check to see if their license plates are fi ed properly, stickers are updated, headlights aren’t broken and they drive under the speed limit regardless of if they have an emergency while Black.

I’m afraid to be accused of panhandling or soliciting while I walk down the street, which has happened as I was walking out of emergency rooms in Chicago and Washington D.C. I only can thank my angels for looking out for me. I could be in prison or dead.

Some of these police have a lot of hatred in their hearts, just because I was born Black.

Change we can believe in? I think not

BY WENDELL WILLIAMS

I woke up on Wednesday night just as President Biden started his talk with the country and decided I would listen. I have never been so underwhelmed with a political speech. As far as lack people s lives are concerned, what did he really commit to It s sickening how he continuously uses eorge loyd s name like some common bu word. e keeps bringing up his meeting eorge s daughter, attempting to pull on our heart strings, gain favor, and hold us at bay while the murders of Black people continue to pile up day by day. Ask yourself how many were killed this past week It happens so often you re not sure, are you Some of you will point out that the Department of Justice will be looking into some things in some cities. But it seems to be too little, too late to stop the carnage. This conviction of Derek Chauvin actually changes nothing. et s see how many are brought to trial and sentenced from this point on. “The proof is in the pudding,” my mama said. I need to see at least 50% of the charged perpetrators handed stiff sentences to make a believer out of me that something has really changed. nd a conviction rate for a prosecutor would get them fired pretty d uick. ow does it look to frican mericans that iden issues e ecutive orders to protect transgender people and sian merican people, yet after years of brutal suffering we still can t get an anti lynching act nd these killings are no more than modern day lynchings. ver bills have been introduced and failed. here s our e ecutive order, r. resident his guy reminds me of an old school used car salesman who sells you blue sky. I ain t buying ere we are in the same week that a verdict came through for eorge loyd s murderer, and at least one Black person has been killed by police every single day since, all around the country. iden had no problem giving his support to the rmenian people by calling urkey s past moves against them genocide, but he still hasn t looked in the mirror at our own country s actions towards Black people. What do you call a Black person being murdered daily by police other than a human rights violation e don t even have the right to go to the and come home safely.

Some people thought he did such a great job addressing Congress, and he did do a good job for lots of people whose concerns don t fully align with mine. y concern is that me or my kids could be killed for an improper lane change. He sold happy times and "things are going to get better. ut he didn t lay out anything concrete to affect the change I need to see. here s our e ecutive order es, he called on Congress to pass the eorge loyd ustice in olicing ct by the one year anniversary of loyd s death. ut that s a distraction that shifts responsibility away from him.

For the majority of the white people I know — decent folks — Black people getting killed isn t their top priority. hey were more concerned with issues like climate change or the opioid epidemic before C I became a part of the mi . here does that put us If one white person was being shot and killed by police each day, what would the country s response be It would be a 180-degree change, the same way we now recognize people need treatment for opioid addiction, but needed stiffer prison sentences when the addicts were lack. ur allies should be in the street right now. Instead, everyone s celebrating that Chauvin was convicted. nd I really won t believe change is in the air until he is sentenced. ince , thousands of people like me have been killed by the police. And Chauvin was just the eighth o cer convicted of murder. In his first days, I haven t seen iden value lack lives any more than he did on the campaign trail. iden s a ro an horse for lack people. e talks the talk, says all the right things, but he doesn t walk the walk. e s like someone who moves into a gentrified neighborhood a lack person has been pushed out of and puts a "Black Lives Matter" sign in his front yard. his lack of significant action speaks for itself lack lives don t matter. nd now we re celebrating progress. Just like when this country thought it solved homelessness, people have already moved on. Too many of our "leaders" are getting their bread buttered by the same system they should be calling to task.

Wendell Williams is an artist and vendor with Street Sense. He has also been documenting the many unique masks people where to protect others from COVID-19. See the project at www.1000masksofcovid-19.com.

Aida Peery is a vendor program associate with Street Sense Media.

A silent march for justice for George Floyd in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, on the day before Derek Chauvin trial was scheduled to begin. PHOTO BY LORIE SHAULL / FLICKR

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// 11

ART

COVID vaccines

Cicadas

BY SYBIL TAYLOR // Artist/Vendor

BY WARREN STEVENS Artist/Vendor UN CT JIS OJE R RK PA N P

BY OU DA E N CA TH CI OM FR

Cicadas — they’re back! This batch after being underground for 17 years. They bring a new tune or “song” for 2021, which is loudly sung by the male and female.

“It is a joy to be back after 17 years, to get adjusted again to the wilderness and ying around, they ll say.

“While people fear us we are no threat to people or to animals. We hum very loudly our own songs of rhythm. We look funny to people. We enjoy the trees and the owers and the garden and nature at its best. e sing all day and y all day.

So sit back, relax, and listen to their summer songs.

Everybody have a great “Humming Day!” And if you want to another seasonal hit you can dance to, “Hot fun in the Summertime” by Sly and the Family Stone is the best song for the cicadas.

The children are suffering from this COVID-19 virus. The news every day is talking about children needing ventilators and adults getting vaccine shots to protect them from this COVID-19 virus.

Hopefully in the next couple of years things will get back to normal.

People will have a social life and see their family and friends. And my godson and his family will be able to live healthier. He works as a security guard in the District.

Treading the waters, Part 36

BY GERALD ANDERSON Artist/Vendor

When we were last with Gerald in New Orleans, he was maneuvering the social circles of the streets with his two closest friends, Greg and Minew, at his side together for t e rst ti e I’ll tell you a story about my man Craig. Craig was a funny dude.

All of us had a little shop, a little gig where we hustled at. It was a little caper house.

A policeman called Sarge used to always come through the hood. Sometime he take his bolt cutters, cut the gate.

But Sarge is a crooked cop, so he can’t come to court and win no cases on you. His credibility is no good.

But he gonna play hero, so, you know, we always keep a “hero” in the picture.

Sarge used to come because we had a daycamp school across the street from us and we had to be sure to close down. We had to close down because, yeah, we violatin’ the law, we selling drugs, but if you got caught during the school hours... 30 years.

So one day, we got a camera. It don’t record you, it

video you. It can tell when somebody by the gate, or when somebody doing activity. If you have a cat, it’s gonna go “Beep!” y man Craig used to shoot the rock, dope and stuff. o one day he back there and shot where we went out and shot at. But we had the cameras. So he called me in the alley.

He said, “Black, come back here for a minute.” He pressed the button, “Come back, let me holla at ya.”

So we chat for a minute. He say, “That’s that little n****, Shorty, out there?”

I said, Yeah!”

He say, “That n**** playin’ with me.”

I say, “Craig, he not talkin’ with ya, he ain’t ask ya nothin’…”

“I heard what he said!”

Craig thought Shorty was talking about him with me. That’s how high you can get, think people talkin’ about you, askin’ about you. Shorty ain’t sayin’ nothin’ about this dude. But this how Craig feel.

So Craig say, “Wait till I come from back here, let me clean myself up.”

He cleanin’ himself up. He come from behind. Next thing you know, I seen Shorty out in the street.

BOW! He done knock Shorty out in the street!

I say, “Man, what up?”

“I told you I was gonna get that n****!”

Shorty say, “Wha?” Then when he did got up, he said, “What you do that for?”

He said, “You was talkin’ to Black about me, plotting up on me.”

I had to laugh so much. When I told Greg about it, Greg said, “What the f***?! Craig going Hulk!” Craig was a Hulk dude, husky, like the Incredible Hulk.

Craig went over later and tell Shorty, “My bad. I’m gonna get you high later on. I ust ashed out. here s some cra y stuff out in the street.

To be continued. nderson s rst oo Sti Standin o an on o nd Sa ation in t e ood aters o atrina is a ai a e on a on co

1 2 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A / / M AY 5 - 11 , 2 021

ART

Inevitably involving evolving eventually

Joy and Happiness

BY DANIEL BALL // Artist/Vendor

BY LEVESTER GREEN Artist/Vendor

So I think, no, I know folks can get “leading by example” misconstrued, especially if they’re ill-willed anyway in the first place. They’re just sitting back waiting for their opportunity 2 take advantage! When all the time you were just trying 2 set the example for them 2 aspire 2 #huh?

So with their ill will & tainted motivations they’re pulling & tugging against your example when you were simply sacrificing on their behalf & benefit. Which would mean that their true colors, once revealed, would be unappreciative anyway in the first place! So is it a wasted effort? So are they answering the true calling that you were trying 2 defer them from, being in your business, or is this all operating on another different, higher level of existence & acknowledgement? #ThisisLife! & where does #evolving & #evolution fit in & take place? Again #ThisisLife~ e ester s oetr co ections e or and e ere st oanin

ort e ort or a t s a c an

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e ie e o can t stress o t en o a e o in o r i e t in anot er ord or o is a iness nd so e eo e et o readin o r Street Sense ne s a ers ne a o et eace is indin so et in t at rin s o o i e readin o r o i e se en da s a ee So ease ra or a o r endors eac S nda And a e a er er nice da e er da

ort

Little Process Babies

BY CARLOS CAROLINA Artist/Vendor

Violent Spring

proc-ess ba-bies Noun

BY SASHA WILLIAMS Artist/Vendor

I ain’t writing about bunnies and the enjoyment of spring, which would be somewhat of a distraction.

I am writing because I was threatened with a gun when I was so it has affected me.

I am writing because some people have a change of heart.

I want to write about a better place where there is no shooting, cause guns are not going off on their own people are using them for wrong... eople are fighting to end gun violence and most are fighting to have protection. We don’t actually know who is protecting and destroying, but that is a topic for another time...

I am writing because the terms “mass shooting,” school shooting,” “homicide,” and “suicide” exist.

People have no right to end lives, period!

Some individuals are not seeing why others are killing people and why it should not be happening at all.

Like the reasons why most people get away and slip through the cracks is because people put the cracks there.

1.

I am writing because killings and bloodshed have to end and stop. Yes there are bad people and good people — but I also think there is a difference between wrong and right. nd it s not to udge specific individuals but it s to dig to find reasons.

There are survivors.

There are suspects.

But there shouldn’t be people who pay to hurt people as well.

Who is really fearful?

Who is taking advantage of vulnerable citizens?

Who is organizing crimes?

Who is protecting citizens?

It’s 2021 and systematic racism still exists.

There is an awareness for why everyone is losing a mom, dad, sister, brother, son, or daughter from being killed.

So a gun isn’t violent, the wrong person holding it is...

Taking away B.S. I am writing for a reason but more to come...

We are babies in life’s process. In order to grow, it’s going to take a process.

M itt e rocess a ies et s a e ro ress a o et etter o er ti e t it s a rocess a o ind t at en o c i Far away from the pavement Things can get strange in a way Don’t let it turn you from the greatness i ast t e dan er past the anger And when you get there S o re o e to aters aters onna ate it t t at ain t o t t e at s a o t Satan and is is or

ood od

itt e rocess a ies

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

// 13

COVID still kills

BY QUEENIE FEATHERSTONE // Artist/Vendor

1 die, 2 die more is not ee in score t rises and soars

You are a narcissist, the devil

pr sho ers r

y o ers

BY JACQUELYN PORTEE Artist/Vendor

Photo courtesy of Mike Mozart / Flickr

Taking a walk in the cool spring breeze, in the soothing warmth of the sun.

The sweet smell and aroma of the beautiful flowers fill the air, with lots of colorful flowers to enjoy everywhere.

April showers bring May flowers, with lots of entertainment and fun activities to look forward to.

I do enjoy the sweet scent of the flowers, Then comes the rain, with misty honey dew.

April showers bring May flowers to brighten up my day.

April showers bring May flowers, keep the faith in God and don’t forget to pray.

That’s all for now, and enjoy a lovely day.

Open my heart, Lord

The Ride

BY ROCHELLE WALKER Artist/Vendor

What we take as simple and easy Makes us the wisest of God’s children What makes you overcome with joy The Ride It forgives To me, she shows what is real I feel in her everything The air The water And the earth beneath us Breaths like a dragon’s breath She is the Lord, our Saviour The Ride

BY RON DUDLEY, A.K.A. “POOKANU” Artist/Vendor

can t tr st riend ca se e s a sna e can t tr st riends ca se t e a e M a a a s e i e riends e a e t e a e t e a e They pretend, they cheat, they steal, and they lie anna i e t t e ant e to die ad a a a de i it orns et t e de i en a as orn sa t e si ns i e ti es t ace a de on it t e e i est ind et t e de i ci er Satan e tried to i e it re a in e too e t ro e t ne er ca e ac e sa t e de i is etter t an crac Sa t e de i ta e o er ie sa t e de i a e o e to ie sa t e de i atc is i e i er rot er en e i ed is o n ot er a ter e to d er o ed er t is de i is a onster a east e too o er drea s tried to i e in s ee o e e and tried to i e a ain en t e de i screa ed and to d e a o r riend t is de i is to ic en io s ea o s ried to irror e t as st too e i or stice This devil’s energy is always chasing me e ot fl in on e s t at t in a o t erasin You are a narcissist, the devil Even the tree of life couldn't help you

e

Open my heart to your eyes, Lord, I want to see you Open my eyes, Lord, I want to trust you Glory, glory, glory Open my heart to your eyes, Lord I’ll be a firm believer in the world I want to go with you, I want to talk to you Open my eyes to your heart, Lord, I want to be changed I want your power, power, power I want to come home to that.

I know it is hard for people to trust Him But we have to totally trust in God

BY KYM PARKER Artist/Vendor

IMAGE COURTESY OF YINWEICHEN / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

1 4 / / S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A / / M AY 5 - 11 , 2 0 2 1

FUN & GAMES

Intermediate Sudoku by KrazyDad, Volume 10, Book 6

Sudoku #3 3 6 2

9 4

8 7 5 2 1

7

8

2

3

7 4

6 4

3

"Instead of loving your enemies - treat your friends a little better."

-- Edward W. Howe

5

9 2 3 7 1

2 © 2015 KrazyDad.com

Intermediate Sudoku by KrazyDad, Volume 10, Book 6 Fill in the blank squares so that each row, each column and each Sudoku 3-by-3 block contain all of the digits 1 thru 9.#2

SUDOKU: Fill in

8 2 9 3If the 8 without 4 1 guesswork.

3 7 6 5 9 you use logic you can solve the2 puzzle blank squares so that 6 7 5 1Need 9 6a logical 2 5to solve 3 the 7 puzzle. a littleeach help? row, The hints page 1 shows 4 order 8 Use it to column identify theand next square you should solve. Or use the answers page each really get stuck.

3 6 4 8if you 7 3 5 6 8 9 4 1 2 each 3-by-3 block contain all of the 7 9 8 5 5 7 2 8 1 3 9 6 4 digits 1-9.

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

1 5 7 4 5 7 8 3 9 2 3 1 2 6 4 9 6 8

6

9

2

3

8 9 6 4 5 8 7 5 4 3 1 7 2 1

7 9 8 3 2 5 5 4 6 8 1 9 2 8 7 1 6 3 6 7 1 4 5 2 9 3 4

3 7

1 4

5 2 8 9 6

7 1 2 5 6 4 9 4

Sudoku #4 5 3 6 7 1 2 7 4 9 8 4 1 7 6 3 9 2 5 1 6 8 4 9 5 6 1 5 3 3 7 2 8 4 9 8 2 Sudoku #6 7 6 2 9 9 1 5 6 3 8 4 7 5 2 7 8 6 9 1 3 8 4 3 2 2 7 6 5 4 5 9 1 1 3 8 4

4 5 1 8 3 2 2 1 5 9 6 4 5 4 7 1 7 6 3 9 8 7 8 3 6 2 9

2 8 5 9 3 6 8 4 7 3 1 2 4 7

4

9

8 7 1 9 6 2

9

1

5

6 5

3

3 6 5 2 2 5 4 8 7 3 8 9 6 4 1 7

1

3 4 7 8

9

6

1 2 8 5 9 1 4 6 2 7 5 3

Sudoku #8 7 5 9 1 8 2 6 4 3 2 4 3 6 9 5 1 8 7

Earth Day

IMAGE BY M. MAGGS / PIXABAY

BY AYUB ABDUL Artist/Vendor

A time when everyone stops to become conscious of the environment. We put this day and time aside to give the Earth special attention. It would be nice if we did it everyday.

Say, wouldn’t that be great?

Don’t be the last one to do it.

Get aboard, because this is your home as well.

Take a breath and tell.

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

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

COMMUNITY SERVICES

SHELTER HOTLINE Línea directa de alojamiento

YOUTH HOTLINE Línea de juventud

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE Línea directa de violencia doméstica

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOTLINE Línea de salud del comportamiento

(202) 399-7093

(202) 547-7777

1-800-799-7233

1-888-793-4357

Housing/Shelter Vivienda/alojamiento

Education Educación

Health Care Seguro

Clothing Ropa

Legal Assistance Assistencia Legal

Case Management Coordinación de Servicios

Food Comida

Employment Assistance Assitencia con Empleo

Transportation Transportación

Showers Duchas

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

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

Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Good Hope Rd., SE calvaryservices.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 ID (Friday 9am–12pm only) foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities

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

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

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

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

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

Laundry Lavandería

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

// 15

JOB BOARD Furniture mover Bellhop // Washington D.C. Full-time The mover will be able to create their own flexible schedule develop real-world service and problem-solving skills without being stuck behind a desk.

REQUIRED: None listed.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/bellhop-mover

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

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

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

Ice Cream Ambassador Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream // Navy Yard Part-time The ambassador will serve ice cream, gain real-world business experience, have opportunities for growth within the company, and receive competitive compensation.

REQUIRED: Must be available to work weekends and late nights (past 11 p.m).

APPLY: tinyurl.com/serve-icecream

Store Sales Associate PPG Industries // Washington, DC Full-time

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

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

Christ House // 202-328-1100 1717 Columbia Rd., NW christhouse.org

Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org

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

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

2375 Elvans Road 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 Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

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

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

New York Avenue Shelter // 202-832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave., NE D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 202-347-8870 // 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW dccfh.org

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

Unity Health Care 3020 14th St., NW // unityhealthcare.org - Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500 - Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699 1500 Galen Street SE, 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, 555 L Street SE, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, 1717 Columbia Road NW, 1313 New York Avenue, NW BSMT Suite, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 828 Evarts Place, NE, 810 5th Street NW

The associate will assess customer needs and provide solutions, tint and match paint products, ensure the store is clean and well stocked.

REQUIRED: Must be able to work flexible hours including evening and weekends, lift up to 80 lbs infrequently and 40-60 lbs routinely, have computer and internet application proficiency.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/ppg-sales-associate

Crew Trader Joes // Gallaudet Full-time

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

The crew will operate cash registers, bag groceries, stock shelves, and help customers find products.

REQUIRED: None listed.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/crew-trader-joes

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

Host Silver Diner // Cleveland Park

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

Full-time or part-time The host will greet and bring customers to their table.

REQUIRED: None listed.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/silver-diner-host

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

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

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

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

Happy Mother’s Day! Street Sense Media artists reflect on what Mother’s Day means to them

World’s Greatest Mom

Dear Momma

BY VENNIE HILL Artist/Vendor

BY DARLESHA JOYNER Artist/Vendor

Someone shared this list on Facebook, “10 things your mom never told you,” and every single point was true.

1) “You made her cry a lot.”

I remember nights when I never made it in the house. I didn’t call or anything to even let here know if I was dead or alive.

But when I hit the corner of our street, I could see she had been in that window looking for me day and night. Once I got into the door and called out, “Hi, Mom,” it always made her smile.

2) “She wanted that last piece of pie.”

I remember going out the house on one of my binge trips.

While doing this, you don’t eat out there. All you think about is getting high and staying high. But when your body gets tired and worn out, you’re ready to go home. Back then, I didn’t buy no food or nothing. My mom basically took care of me. I was in my middle twenties. It wasn’t embarrassing then, but it’s embarrassing now. Anyway, sometimes she would buy the things that she liked for herself. Coming off a binge, you want plenty of sweets and plenty of water. Sometimes, it would be her last. But she never hesitated to let me eat it. You never think to buy it for yourself, but you’re always quick to eat it.

3) “It hurt.”

I remember one incident when I had gotten myself into some trouble. I was locked up but didn’t return to court. That left me with a bench warrant. So when they came to arrest me at my mom’s house, I hid in my mom’s closet with her suits. You can go to jail for harboring a fugitive. And I heard them tell her that. But me being on drugs, I didn’t understand — couldn’t understand. All I knew was that I was getting locked up. The last word I said to my mom that day was that I hate her. I think I got 30 days. And she came to see me on visiting days. Never missed a one. Put money on my books and everything. I told her that I didn’t mean it. But I think it still hurt.

4) “She was always afraid.”

Like I said, sometimes I stayed out for days, no call or nothing. I’m babygirl, so you know how that goes. All my little so-called buddies around the way use to always tell me she would ask them if they seen me or where I was at. Man, I worried my mother half to death for 20 years. She was afraid that one day I wouldn’t make it home.

5) “She knows she’s not perfect.”

My mom use to drink about a little over 25 years ago. So whenever she feels that times is right, she tells me about things she use to do to remind me, “Vennie, it’s not like I’m perfect. I made my mistake trying to help you not to do the same as I did.” But that’s not what we hear. We hear “You are my child and I never want you to grow up.”

6) “She watched you as you slept.”

When I came home from being on the streets for three or four days, all I could do was crawl in my bed. She watched over me. She even fed me in bed because I was so sick and tired I couldn’t get up. AsI slept, I could feel her eyes on me, wondering if I was dead or alive.

7) “She carried you a lot longer than 9 months.”

Sure did, and she’s still carrying me today. If I need a new pair of shoes, or a bill is late, my mom is still right here.

8) “It broke her heart every time you cried.”

She always been here for me, through thick and thin.

She’s always on the other line to listen and give her best opinion. And things always turn out the way she says they will. Everything will be OK in the end.

9) “She puts you first.”

Growing up, I remember getting a smack one time. But I overreacted. I ran away from home and told my mom I was never coming back I was about 12 years old. I was hardheaded and didn’t listen to what she said. She wrote me this long letter telling me how much she loved me and that she would never put her hands on me again. Remind you, my mom come from a family of old-fashioned rules and old-fashioned ways. But she put away all that for the new times just for me.

10) “She would do it all again.”

Every morning when I wake up, the first person I call is my mom. She say, “Good Morning, Sweets,” because she knows it’s me. When we talk, I can hear how much she loves me in the words and in her voice. She always say “goodnight” before we go to bed at night. We always say “I love you” to each other and get right in the bed.

I love my 84-year-old mom. She’s love, she’s wisdom, and she’s mine. Love you, Mom. To all I say, stay safe and stay clean.

Momma, I miss you. It’s a lot we could have been doing together.

You have beautiful granddaughters and handsome grandsons. Hopefully I see all of their smiling faces on Mother’s Day. Other than that, I just want my kids to know I love them so much, and care about them a lot. I miss you all each and every day, dear angels of mines.

I wish life could have been different for us, Momma. I hate the fact your life was stolen from me. I miss you and love you. Happy Mother’s Day.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALI RAZA / PXHERE

Thank you for reading Street Sense!

From your vendor MAY 5 - 11, 2021 | VOLUME 18 ISSUE 16

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