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Volume 12: Issue 14 May 20 - June 2, 2015

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Hearts Minds & Doors With 30 percent of D.C.’s homeless population identifying as LGBTQ, Ruby Corado seeks to provide shelter, love and understanding pgs 4-5

Human Trafficking

occurs much more frequently among vulnerable homeless population pg 7

Congress

considers legislation to better-support LBGTQ homeless youth pg 8

Street Sense aims to serve as a vehicle for elevating voices and public debate on issues relating to poverty while also creating economic opportunities for people who are experiencing homelessness or poverty in our community.

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COVER ART

Ruby Corado, founder of the District’s only LGBTQ-specific shelter, demonstrates some of the values that make Casa Ruby home.

PHOTO BY MATAILONG DU

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STREET SENSE May 20 - June 2, 2015

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Sixth Grade Civil Rights Activists Plan Rally for District Homeless Community

By Alex Zielinsi Volunteer For the past six years, students at Alice Deal Middle School have dedicated one day near the end of the school year to community service. Previously, the “Deal Gives Back” service day has organized fundraisers, shifts at Capitol Area Food bank, cleanups at Rock Creek Park and mural painting. This year, however, rising student awareness of local homelessness issues has inspired them to take it to the next level.

One hundred middle school students will lead an all-day rally in front of the Wilson Building on Wednesday, June 3 in support of homeless anti-discrimination legislation.

“This year, we wanted to give the day of service more meaning,” said Mike Martini, a sixth grade geography teacher at Alice Deal who’s been involved in Deal Gives Back for four years. “We didn’t want it to just be one day of helping, we want the students to actually learn about the service they are contributing to.”

Martini and his fellow teachers have spent the past year educating students about homelessness across the curriculum.

From learning about homeless stigmas in Social Studies to crafting agreements for homeless rights in English class, the students have been fully immersed in this often-unexplained symptom of poverty.

Knowing this, the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) asked the school to partner with them on new legislation to

include the homeless population in city anti-discrimination laws.

“I didn’t know homeless people in D.C. could be turned down by law enforcement for help,” said Nico Foxley, Alice Deal sixth grader and member of the student committee behind the event. “I don’t think enough people know about it. That’s why I’m involved.”

Foxley, along with other studentsturned-advocates, has spent the past month writing letters to and calling the offices of Councilmember Mary Cheh and Mayor Muriel Bowser. After reading NCH re-

ports (and others) on homeless rights, the student committee created a PowerPoint presentation with their findings and reasoning behind supporting NCH’s legislative push. Ideally, Martini said, the students will present their slides to both the Mayor and councilmembers at a formal meeting.

“I really hope they listen and consider our requests,” Foxley said.

Whether they get a meeting or not, the students are taking all the right steps to make sure the rally goes as planned, according to Martini. A sixth grader even made the call to get an

Nico Foxley (left) and Sophia Giorgianni (right) attend the sixth grade at Alice Deal Middle School, where they have been learning about homelessness for the past year. Foxley and Giorgianni are preparing to lead a rally with their class at the Wilson Building on June 3rd.

PHOTOS BY DAVID PIRTLE

event permit from the city. The experience has been eye opening to Martini as a middle school teacher.

“I’ve gotten to see an understanding, emotional side of the students, one you don’t seen when you pass them in the halls with their friends,” Martini said.

“They are much more open-minded to these issues than you’d expect. It’s great watching them interact with homeless people, and realize it’s okay to do—especially when they learn how just a smile can change someone’s day.”

The most challenging part was breaking the preconceived stereotypes some students had about homelessness, according to Martini. After that, convincing them that homeless people had rights too was a “pretty easy sell.”

“I learned that anyone could be homeless, and it wasn’t a choice,” said Sophia Giorgianni, another Alice Deal sixth grader.

Giorgianni first became interested in homeless people when she volunteered with a friend at Miriam’s Kitchen.

“It was really cool. Well, no, it wasn’t just cool—it touched my heart. And made me very fortunate to have a home,” Giorgianni said.

She is also a member of the student committee organizing the June 3 rally and has high hopes for its success.

“I want it to be a chance for the community to stand up for someone more. For people to actually do something,” Giorgianni said.

Has this project motivated the students to work for homeless rights in the future?

Giorgianni and Foxley agree: “Absolutely.”

THE NUMBERS ARE IN: Regional Homelessness Down to 11,623 People

By Grace Owen Editorial Intern Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments released its annual report analyzing on number of homeless people living in the D.C. metro area on a single night of the year (the Point-in-Time count). This count is crucial for service providers, lawmakers and advocacy groups to better understand the changing needs of the homeless community.

As demographics change, needs change. The major focus of the report was on families, defined as households with children. Family homelessness has increased because it is still extremely hard to find affordable housing, concluded the report.

New this year is a specific category for Transition-Age-Youths, ages 18-25, re-

quired by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The median age of adults in homeless families is 25, causing considerable overlap between these two categories.

These young parents struggle with finding living-wage jobs. As rent continues to increase and affordable housing remains scarce, it is difficult for these families to find stable housing.

It can be difficult to accurately count homeless youths. They often do not stay where they can be easily found by volunteers, such as in shelters. Even when found, homeless youths often will not admit to being homeless.

The Point-in-Time count also does not account for people who are “doubling up” or sleeping on the couches or floors of friends and family. Many homeless youths are fleeing abuse or fear they may be placed in foster care. These factors make

it hard for youth to receive support from advocacy groups.

Specific subpopulations of the homeless community, such as chronically homeless people and veterans, have received targeted resources for re-housing in the past year and seen success. The D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness’ new 5-year plan to end homelessness aims to end veteran homelessness in the District this year, and chronic homelessness by the end of 2017.

Mayor Bowser’s proposed budget for the District included a .25 percent sales tax increase. This tax increase was debated by the D.C. Council’s Committee on Finance and Revenue, with Councilmember Elissa Silverman supporting the tax. The proposal would raise sales tax from 5.75 percent to 6 percent, which is the same as neighboring counties in Virginia and Maryland and therefore not a competi-

tive disadvantage economically. The tax would provide more revenue for homeless services, include emergency shelters and affordable housing.

“If we don’t deal with the housing situation now, we’ll pay more in the future,” Councilmember Silverman explained. “I support a housing-first approach. In moving away from that approach, the city hosts families at DC General and in motels, both of which work out to costing the city about $150 a night. If you multiply that out to a stay of a month, it’s about $4500 per family, which is the cost of a pretty expensive apartment in the city.

It’s just not cost-effective.”

The councilmember went on to state, “Yes, we have to put money in now, but it’s a good return on investment. If we can shelter our families for paying a slightly increase sales tax, I think that’s a good return on investment.”

Ruby Corado in front of her Georgia Avenue LGBTQ-specific shelter.

PHOTO BY MATAILONG DU

“WHAT ARE YOU?”: Finding a Place for Transgender Homeless People

By Sabrina Caserta Editorial Intern

Laze Ma coats her eyes with dark liner, adding a few sparkles for fun. She dabs her lips with plum gloss and picks out her favorite dress. Even though she’s been chronically homeless for six years, she’ll do everything in her power not to look it.

“I used to wear towels on my head and glue fake nails on my hands with toothpaste. I knew I wanted to be a woman, but I didn’t think it was humanly possible,” Ma said.

The 30-year-old native Washingtonian began her transition from male to female when she was just 17. That’s when her trouble began.

Her mother, never fully accepting her transition, kicked her out of the house.

After that, Ma was forced to seek shelter from the District. Roughly 62 percent of homeless gay and transgender youth have experienced discrimination from their families, according to a 2010 study by the Center for American Progress.

Members of the transgender community are at high risk for social isolation, physical and emotional trauma, chemical dependency, sexually transmitted diseases, and discrimination. These all act as limitations when seeking employment, housing, and health care, according to the Healthcare for the Homeless (HCH) Clinicians Network. Experiencing homelessness only heightens these risks.

In late February of this year, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julián Castro mandated that all nationwide, federally-funded shelters provide a bed, if available, to transgender individuals seeking shelter. From that point on, they can’t be denied shelter due to their gen-

der identity or expression.

One in five transgender individuals have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality. However, the city of Washington, D.C. shelters trans-females— men who self-identify as female, whether or not they have physically changed genders— in the same shelters as men, putting them at risk for sexual violence and hate crimes.

“I couldn’t do the streets. I know a lot of trans-females who live on the streets because they can’t deal with it at all in the shelters. I’m able to do that: stay in shelters, have a bed. But it’s still really treacherous,” Ma said. “It can be very dangerous, especially if a particular person doesn’t like our transition.”

Ma has stayed in a multitude of allmale Washington shelters, including NY Avenue Men’s Emergency Shelter, 801 East Men’s Shelter, Adam’s Place Shelter, and Sherwood Shelter-- the only co-ed one of the bunch.

When Ma enters the shelters she’s greeted by bouts of mockery, laughter and questions like, “Are you a man? Are you a woman? What are you?” In order to just make her time in shelters bearable, Ma engages in sexual relations with some of the other men in the beds over from hers.

“If you have sex with them, it’s not that bad, but if you don’t have sex with them, you’re gonna have problems,” Ma said. “I did some things--entertain them, appease them in some way, so it’s okay... It’s not fair at all. The thing I always worry about is violence and sexual assault.”

Approximately 58 percent of homeless gay and transgender youth have

experienced sexual assault, compared to 33 percent of homeless heterosexual youth, according to the Center for American Progress.

One time, when Ma was showering at the Adam’s Place Shelter, a man came into the shower behind her and touched her.

She kept quiet and didn’t tell the guards because snitching makes things harder in the shelters, and the guards won’t believe her, Ma feels.

“I didn’t tell the guards because they’ll say, “You wanted it anyways,” Ma said.

“It’s tough not even having the staff to back you up. You really feel like you’re all alone.”

According to Ma, the lack of support is nowhere near the worst of it. Specific guards have toyed with giving her bed away; one wouldn’t assure her that she had her own bed until she finally sub-

Laze Ma. PHOTO BY SABRINA CASERTA

mitted and called him ‘Big Papi.’ Other times, she’s had guards proposition her for sex.

“It happens primarily to us, trans and homosexuals,” Ma said. “Guards came onto me, but it made things hard because I wouldn’t [reciprocate].”

According to Ma, there is a very small transgender and homosexual population that stays in the shelter system due to the treatment they receive from other residents and staff.

Family rejection, coupled with discrimination and violence, contribute to the disproportionate number of transgender and other LGBTQ youth who are homeless in the United States–an estimated 20-40 percent. Frequently, they are inappropriately housed in gendered space they don’t agree with, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality.

“I was definitely a spectacle at Adam’s Place,” Ma said. “I’m trying not to be emotional about it. It’s like I have to accommodate their curiosity just to be able to relax.”

“Persons who identify as transgender and were not placed in a facility that serves persons of the gender with which they identify, or have experienced discrimination or harassment or feel unsafe in any way, are encouraged to call the Department of Human Services (DHS) Office of Program Review, Monitoring and Investigation,” an official statement by the DHS states.

The District’s DHS affirms that all people eligible to receive homeless services will in fact do so, regardless of gender expression. According to their statement, service providers may not ask for proof of

STREET SENSE May 20 - June 2, 2015

5

COVER STORY gender upon entry.

Similarly, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, which is responsible for shelters such as Adam’s Place, New York Avenue and Harriet Tubman, states that they admit people as they present and see themselves.

“As a part of our agreement with The Community Partnership for the Homeless, we accommodate people who identify as female in a female shelter or male in a male shelter,” said Erik Salmi, Catholic Charities’ Director of Communications.

“We try our hardest to protect the most vulnerable and their needs, including members of the LGBTQ community who need shelter.”

However, according to Ruby Corado, the founder of Casa Ruby, the only LGBTQspecific shelter in the District, there are a slew of recent cases where trans-females have been turned away from female shelters and therefore forced to seek a bed at a men’s shelter.

“By law they can’t be turned away for being transgender, but most get turned away [from female shelters] by claiming that shelters are full and there are no beds available,” Corado said.

Casa Ruby, as an organization, began nearly 10 years ago when Corado began her advocacy for the LGBT community.

However, the shelter located on Georgia Avenue began in June of 2012.

On any given night, 10 emergency beds are reserved for LGBTQ adults, where the funding comes from within Casa Ruby.

The remaining 12 beds are for LGBTQ youth and are funded by the Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness.

Ma has been volunteering there daily for the past four months.

“Coming here to Casa Ruby has helped me a lot, to regain myself,” Ma said.

After being the victim of a hate crime nearly two years ago in Maryland, Ma refused to dress as a woman for a full year.

She was walking down the street, dressed in women’s clothing, when a man attacked her. During the course of the attack, he broke her arm, gashed her forehead and stripped her of her clothing, forcing her to walk home naked.

As many as 60 percent of transgender individuals have been victims of harassment or violence, HCH Clinician’s Network found.

“I showed him I didn’t want to cause him any harm even though he was causing me so much harm. But, he got off on that; he connected with it. He just wanted to hurt me. I was done after that,” Ma said.

“That attack scared me out of women’s clothes for a while.”

Stumbling naked through her front door, she was greeted by her mother whose facial expression seemed to say, Well, this is what you get, according to Ma. During the year that she abandoned women’s clothing, her mother took her back in, only to kick her out again when Ma returned to

her female identity last year.

“I didn’t invest all of my life just to back out. I paid the price for all that. I had to give so much, I can’t just leave it. Money, my family, relationships...my mind,” Ma said. “ It’s so free and uplifting to be able to dress as a woman. This is not a costume. It’s my identity, it’s who I am.”

Ma spent her life grappling with who she is, since she came out as a homosexual as a teenager and then a trans-female at 17. She turned to drug addiction and prostitution as a coping mechanism. Sober for a year now, Ma used to dabble in cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy.

“Since I came out, I used to do it--prostituting. Because, I used to hate being at home and the only people that came around were prostitutes,” Ma said.

Prostitution afforded Ma a cash flow for her transition, as well as a way out.

“The biggest issue for transgender people is just finding a place in this world,” Ma said.

“Homeless people need to be safe.

Unfortunately, for transgender and gender nonconforming gay and lesbians, the current shelter bases in our city are very unsafe.” said Corado. “What they do find is places where they are not wanted. Very often they have found violent conditions where they have been attacked simply for seeking shelter and being who they are.

The current facilities don’t want us.”

After getting off of a bus at age 16, Corado ended up in Maryland. She was fleeing a civil war in El Salvador. By age 22, she had moved to Dupont Circle and began her transition to becoming a woman. That was when she started opening her apartment to LGBTQ youth.

“I just wanted to be around people like me, but little by little I kept seeing that some of them didn’t have a home. For the ones who had a home, sometimes home was a living hell,” Corado said. “Casa Ruby was a dream I had many years ago. One time I actually had a dream that I was running a shelter and putting satin sheets on the bed. Now, I’m living my dream. I can serve my community and I can do it in a way that I understand where they’re coming from because I’m a member of the LGBT community and I’ve been homeless.”

Corado’s transition to a trans-female spiraled her onto a path of homelessness.

Her decision to become a woman cost her her job, leaving her no choice but to enter the District’s shelter system, where she cycled in and out for nearly two years.

She recalls the number of times she would fax her resume and receive a call back almost instantly, only to be told the position had been filled when she walked into the subsequent interview.

There are not federal laws that consistently protect LGBT individuals from employment discrimination. More than half of states are without laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and 32 states lack laws prohibiting dis-

Ruby Corado once drempt that she was running a shelter, applying sheets to one of beds. Now, Casa Ruby provides two facilities in the District.

PHOTO BY MATAILONG DU

crimination based on gender identity. This results in job discrimination for the LGBT community, including not being hired, being denied a promotion, experiencing on the job harassment, and being fired, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

“When I transitioned, I transitioned into poverty because no one would hire me. We walk into shelters not because we want to be homeless, but because we can’t get jobs, we get fired from jobs, our families reject us and throw us away because the rules are not making sure we’re protected,” Corado said. “So what do you do? You risk your life. Many of us have risked our lives in these facilities or simply the street. I hit the streets, I engaged in things I didn’t want to engage in, like survival sex work, and that was hard. But you quickly recognize that’s your livelihood.”

More often than not, job or housing discrimination leads transgender individuals directly to the streets. Without proper employment, many transgender individuals turn to survival sex-- increasing their exposure to violence and sexually transmitted diseases, HCH Clinicians’ Network reports.

Corado tried to avoid the District’s shelters due to the harassment, mockery and violence, but would weather them for self-preservation.

“There were times when I did sleep in shelters because I was too wounded and I felt like sleeping on the streets would be suicide and I wasn’t ready for it. I really felt like if I sleep tonight on the streets, I’m gonna die. And I’m not ready to die, so I made that choice to be disrespected in shelters. I made the choice to risk my life in a shelter because I just couldn’t commit suicide on the streets.”

After working with lawyers, Corado was able to collect a Social Security Disability lump sum that she had earned working in her younger years. Being on Social Security for two years allowed her to retake her life, getting herself off the streets and

into an apartment, where she eventually secured enough funding to start Casa Ruby.

“I feel like I made it, I survived the Holocaust of gender extermination of people who are different. Now, a big part of my work is restoring the dignity of people who have been thrown away by society.

I get to see what the world doesn’t see. I get to see people who are embracing who they are and I celebrate it. Sometimes I wonder, am I the only one who gets to see this?” Corado said. “I get to love people whose only crime has been to want to exist in their own self. As society punishes them, I’m building a system that loves them. I’m not going to wait for society to take responsibility, I’m going to take responsibility and my community is going to take responsibility.”

Earlier this year, Mayor Muriel Bowser introduced a five-year strategic plan to end homelessness in the District. Corado is hopeful that the Mayor will address the growing crisis, though she was disappointed to see that there was not a specific mention of ‘transgender’ in the plan.

Though Corado feels the homeless transgender community is underserved, she takes comfort in the fact that each night, 22 people can survive. And that number is quickly growing. This month, Casa Ruby opened a new three-story house for LGBTQ youth on Columbia Road, NW. “We live in a city that does not respond to homelessness in a way that is kind and a way that is responsible,” Corado said. “Even within the homeless environment, people who are transgender are often left behind.”

Corado is grateful to be serving her community--a community she feels, more often than not, is simply misunderstood.

“Misery doesn’t last 100 years. There have been some miserable times in my life, but I’ve made it. I have to remind others, too, they’re gonna make it,” Corado said. “They’re in the right place.”

Infant Mortality Trends Follow Inequality

By Grace Owen Editorial Intern The Save the Children organization recently released its yearly publication, State of the World’s Mothers, which addresses health problems facing children worldwide. The report ranks the United States 61st in the world for maternal health, and 42nd in the world for children’s health, far behind other countries at the same level of economic development. Furthermore, among 25 capital cities of countries at the same level of economic development as the United States, Washington, D.C., has the highest rate of infant mortality.

Infant mortality in the District and how it can be reduced was the topic of a panel discussion held May 5 at the Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus (THEARC) to mark the release of the Save the Children report. The panel members were Dr. Kurt Newman, CEO of Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Djinge Lindsay, deputy director of programs, D.C. Department of Health; Dr. Marcee White, medical director of the Children’s Health Center and mobile health programs at THEARC facility in ward 8; and Dr. Bina Valsangkar, Save the Children technical advisor on newborn health.

Panel members discussed sobering realities facing low-income families in Washington. In the District’s Ward 8, half of all children live below the poverty line; children in Ward 8 are ten times more likely to die in infancy than children in Ward 3, the richest section of the district.

While many of the experts on the panel addressed specific health problems such as ties between obesity and infant death, during their discussion it became clear that a holistic approach is needed to address the realities facing mothers with few resources.

Mothers with unstable family relationships may find themselves without the support systems they need, and sometimes this creates what Dr. Marcee White of the Children’s National Medical Center described as “toxic stress.” Toxic stress may result when there are problems that cannot be readily solved because of a lack of resources.

Dr. White described an economically stressed mother who continued smoking cigarettes despite having three children with asthma. The mother understood that smoking affected not only her own health, but the health of her children, but she saw smoking as her only respite from the constant stress of parenting without a support system. According to Dr. White, this mother “simply could not bring herself to give up the one moment in her day that she had to herself.” In this case, the mother’s stress was toxic to her children.

To understand what is currently available for mothers in the District of Columbia who lack a support system and are experiencing extreme economic hardship, Street Sense reached out to Lakita Williams, the Patient Services Manager at Community of Hope’s Family Health and Birth Center in northeast D.C. Williams works with mothers in D.C. to provide prenatal care, support systems, and resource coordination. Many of the low-income mothers that she has been working with do not have the kind of secure housing most District residents take for granted.

A big stressor, she says, comes from “not knowing you have support, not knowing where to lay your head.”

Lakita Williams spoke about the Family Health and Birth Center’s approach to

care and support for mothers. Mothers can attend group meetings and may have individual appointments with midwives and facilitators; such meetings cover a wide range of topics including comfort measures, sleep safety, natural birth, breastfeeding, and nutrition.

A very important benefit of the group meetings is the supportive environment they provide. At those meetings, more experienced mothers help new mothers process unfamiliar information. Williams described the meetings as a place where “the moms can actually hear about it, sit down and talk through the process.”

Another resource available to low income mothers is the Strong Start program, which is a comprehensive support program that puts mothers in contact with other resources after a child’s birth. Williams said that specialists sit down with the new mothers to say “Let’s put a plan together for what’s going to happen.”

Williams reports that some mothers “have never heard before what their journey’s going to be like. They say, ‘I’ve never had this before, thank you.’”

In “helping to talk through these barriers,” the Family Health and Birth Center provides a comprehensive support system for mothers who need access to education and resources. Working with low-income

mothers to provide for the health of their children may help to lower the outsize infant mortality rate in poor neighborhoods in D.C. This kind of care is epitomized in the work that Williams does, which in group meetings extends beyond medical care to creating a full support system.

One example of this support that many mothers working in the program have enjoyed is belly casting. Williams described the process as making a “cast of the moment of pregnancy and your baby, something to keep, something that the moms come to decorate at the next meeting.”

In providing support for mothers, Williams also wants to ensure happiness and positivity for these mothers who are often worried about what will come next.

By preserving this moment of pregnancy as a positive memory, mothers are able to relax, if only just a little bit. Williams finished up her comments by stating the importance of “helping mothers talk through these barriers.”

The Save the Children report endorsed further funding of prenatal care organizations and ensuring healthcare for all women of childbearing age.

Wisconsin Representative Pushes for Control Over People’s Health Choices Welfare unrest in Wisconsin has come under fire by both Republicans and Democrats. Wisconsin has had a long history of making strict regulations on foods, reported the Huffington Post. Recent legislation approved by the Wisconsin State Assembly has caught the attention of congress and is now remaining a salient issue. One proposed

regulation would restrict grocery purchases to a list of state-approved goods. Another would mandate drug screening for people seeking public assistance. Cosponsors such as Representative Scott Allen, assert that “We as a country are spending a fortune on healthcare costs for largely preventable diseases, and a lot of that relates to our habits as people.” When

passed, the bill would allow for its recipients a health program that restricts twothirds of their diet to “healthy” foods.

Representative Andy Jorgense voted against the bill, claiming that “They don’t want you looking at their dumpster-fire of a budget, they want you paying attention to this.” Governor Scott Walker recently proposed $127 million in cuts from Wis-

consin’s k-12 education funds. As some see this bill to be a major improvement in Wisconsin, several members of the state’s legislature oppose the bill for its costly aspects and complex interference with federal law. The Midwest Food Processors Association has said they are entirely opposed to what the bill calls for.

- Daniel Kawecki

STREET SENSE May 20 - June 2, 2015

7

NEWS

Survival Sex Not a Choice for Many Homeless Youth

By Jennifer Ortiz Editorial Intern Parlez Vous, a volunteer at Street Sense who agreed to speak under a pseudonym, told Street Sense that after becoming homeless in 2010, he decided to “do business” with homeless women who were so desperate to escape homelessness and poverty that they would use their bodies for money, food, and ultimately survival.

From 2011 to 2013, Parlez Vous solicited clients for women who were willing to sell their bodies.

“That’s all they have, their bodies. It was ultimately a means to an end for everybody involved,” said the former pimp.

“It wasn’t a matter of me finding them, it was a matter of them always being around—some of them at CCNV (the Community for Creative Nonviolence) Shelter.”

A 2013 survey of homeless youth in the District found that of the youth surveyed, 88 percent of them admitted to trading sex for money, shelter, or food. Kristy Kumar, of FAIR (Free Aware Inspired Restored) Girls, explained that many homeless and runaway youth who participate in “survival sex” and trafficking feel the choice has been removed.

Parlez Vous stated that he did business only with women who were at least 20-years-old, many of them from the homeless community. He claims that during his time as a pimp he gave the women a “fair deal,” keeping 50 percent of all money earned. He says he required them to put aside 20 percent of their funds “for purposes of their future, specifically GED acquisition.”

“I kind of felt like the only way I could do this righteously was to have some sort of exit strategy for them,” said Parlez Vous. “These are women that clearly had very few alternatives and very few hopes.

They needed guidance.”

FAIR Girls sees the urgency of providing both guidance and an escape from this life for young girls and women ages 11-24. Kumar said that attaining a GED is one of the biggest goals for the young women they come across. FAIR Girls has found that the average age of girls who enter trafficking is 13, and that after entering the life of sex trafficking, many do not continue in school.

Kumar stated that 90 percent of FAIR Girls’ clients refer to their trafficker as “boyfriend.”

“Exploiters are very manipulative and know how to target this desperate population,” she said. “They stand outside shelters or where people are living in tents.

They’ve potentially experienced homelessness, exploitation and abuse, too.

Traffickers come from all walks of life.”

Boyfriend pimps usually start as a homeless couple desperate to make ends

meet, according to aid Parlez Vous, The boyfriend would then suggest to his girlfriend to sell her body for money or food.

“There’s a lot of emotions involved in that,” Parlez Vous said.

Trafficking Online Parlez Vous made exclusive use of the Internet to gather customers. He believes that in addition to being “fair” with the women, he gave them access to a market they didn’t have before. Some of the women he trafficked were formerly “renegades,” prostitutes that worked without a pimp. Parlez Vous said that often these women performed sexual acts for little to no money in alleyways and that he made the business more lucrative for them.

“I think I taught them enough about the utilization of the Internet for them to be able to operate on their own as renegades,” said Parlez Vous.

Online networks and social media have made it easier for buyers to seek out the services of young women who are victims of trafficking, says Kumar. The majority of the young women FAIR Girls serves have been trafficked through a website similar to Craigslist. FAIR Girls has pushed lawsuits against that site.

Kumar believes that many times, it is the buyers who are forgotten in the “dark triangle” of exploiters, victims and consumers. As of April 22, however, customers will receive a penalty similar to that of the crime of trafficking. The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act also helps trafficking victims obtain benefits and services. It authorizes and funds both state and federal initiatives to prosecute trafficking while also trying to combat illegal sexual conduct, e-commerce and cybercrime.

Reporting Trafficking Cases Many minor victims of sex trafficking have been prosecuted as prostitutes, according to a 2015 Congressional Research Service Report on sex trafficking of children. Fear of prosecution may have deterred many victims from reporting their involvement in trafficking.

However, as of July, 2014, Safe Harbor laws in the District specify that minors cannot be prosecuted for engaging in any kind of sex work, including survival sex and sex trafficking. Instead, the law indicates that victims of sex trafficking should be referred to the Child and Family Services Agency in order to receive assistance.

D.C. Alliance of Youth Advocates’ Katie Dunn told Street Sense that because the safe harbor laws are so recent, it is difficult to know if the law has prompted more victims to report their involvement in sex trafficking.

The National Human Trafficking Re-

source Center’s hotline received 62 phone calls from around the District reporting human trafficking cases in 2014. However, it seems likely that many cases go unreported. There is no official estimate of the number of trafficking victims in the nation, according to the Polaris Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to combatting human trafficking.

Kumar said that because of the unknown numbers of trafficking incidents in the nation, it may be difficult to conceptualize that human trafficking happens in the United States and in the District “[Trafficking] is something that’s relegated to faraway lands, but it happens in Northwest D.C., too, “she said. “Chinatown is a constant Hub. At any given point, there’s probably some type of exploitation that’s about to happen or that already happened in that five mile radius.”

Finding a Future After Trafficking “I’m out of that life, and my hope is that the women have moved into other lines of work too,” said Parlez Vous.

Parlez Vous currently has his own studio

and is trying to make it as a visual artist.

He says that his artwork is influenced by his experiences and what he has seen on the streets. He believes that trafficking has a long-lasting effect on women who are sold.

“Once you turn your body into merchandise, it’s impossible for you to enjoy love and sex without thinking about business for the rest of your life,” said Parlez Vous.

“That is a price too high to pay.”

FAIR Girls provides services and case management to young women who find themselves paying this price. Kumar says that through her work at FAIR, she sees that this population of women is “one of the most resilient.” Kumar has come across many daunting stories from these young women, but she sees the strength and courage in each of her clients and hopes FAIR Girls can help other survivors see these qualities in themselves.

“They’ve built up the ability to fight for their dreams,” says Kumar. “It’s about meeting our clients where they’re at and using strength-based approaches to extract and enhance all the qualities they have that make them beautiful survivors.”

Congressional Caucus Tackles LGBTQ Youth Ho

By Dottie Kramer Editoral Intern

The photo series See Me: Picturing New Yorks Homeless Youth by Alex Fradkin.

PHOTOS BY DOTTIE KRAMER

Alcee Hastings (D-FL) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) hosted a briefing of the Congressional Homelessness Caucus on homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth on May 13, 2015. “[…] an estimated 40 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ,” stated a press release issued by Representatives Hastings and Johnson.

In addition to a briefing on hardships of LGBTQ homeless youth, legislation for how to improve their situation was addressed. One of the key pieces of legislation discussed was the Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act (RHYTPA), now with LGBTQ friendly wording.

Marisa Wittebort from Congressman John Yarmuth’s (D-KY) office introduced the new wording of RHYTPA, stating that it was a very exciting time for her and her boss, and encouraging those who are interested to contact their respective members of Congress and urge them to cosponsor.

“Homelessness is an issue that sees no borders and crosses all lines,” said Wittebort.

Hannah Hussey, a research associate for LGBT Progress at American Progress, said that an important aspect of the bill is that it will break the cycle of welfare being the only option for transgender youth because of job discrimination or school rejection based off transgender status, which often results in transgender youth ending up in the criminal justice system.

Kiefer Paterson, of True Colors ‘40 of the Forty,’ experienced episodes of homelessness from the age 13 to 17 as a result of his mother’s alcohol and drug use.

“People who are most vulnerable, are the people who the system is designed

to fail,” Paterson said, “the housing first programming is critical…it is what we need to address homelessness.”

“It is almost impossible to beat a drug problem while on the street,” said Paterson. Many shelters require sobriety before accepting homeless citizens. Paterson the law enforcement as it applies to the homeless should be reformed, offering alternatives such as family and friend intervention.

“I don’t believe the way we approach sex work and drug use is at all helpful […] law enforcement should be a last resort intervention,” Paterson said.

“Homelessness is an issue that sees no borders and crosses all lines.”

-Marisa Wittebort Office of Congressman John Yarmuth (D-KY) Director of youth services and the TransLife Center at Casa Ruby, Mally Hatcher, described the personal struggles she has been through as a transgender homeless woman.

“You do what you know best how to do,” Hatcher said.

Hatcher turned to prostitution in order to sustain herself and spoke about the emotional turmoil sex work caused her.

“People in the transgender community are deeply misunderstood,” she said, “People don’t have the patience to accept or understand what we go through.”

She made a point to mention how hard it is to see people who once cared about her now unable to accept her and institutions that once benefited her, turn their back on her.

No Child Left Behind makes it very hard for a transgender child to succeed, Hatcher said, noting that teachers have little patience to deal with a child who does not go by their given name.

Obtaining work is also hard because “to be an LGBT person, you’re looked at as a liability,” Hatcher said.

She had a positive look on life, despite all of her struggles, saying that when a person gets out of a bad situation, he or she should extend a hand back to those less fortunate.

Co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation, Taz Tagore, and Alex Fradkin, photographer of See me: Picturing New York’s Homeless Youth, presented Fradkin’s work. The Reciprocity Foundation hired Fradkin for the photo series.

Tagore wanted the work to see beyond stereotypes of homeless youth. Tagore believes that in order to fix LGBTQ Homelessness, everyone needs to see three perspectives; LGBTQ youth need more than an apartment, they need a dream.

It is really important for these youth to be working toward something. “It’s always important from our perspective, to have a base of education,” Tagore said, offering education as the next perspective. The final perspective is longer term solutions; so not just getting homeless people into a house, but making sure they have the tools to sustain it.

The top five reasons LGBTQ youth become homeless are running away because of family rejection of sexual orientation or gender identity, forced out by parents because of sexual orientation or gender identity, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse at home, aging out of the foster care system, and financial or emotional neglect from family, according to Gregory Lewis, co-founder of True Colors.

Ways to address youth homelessness were also discussed; such as, early intervention, a full range of services (including but not limited to street outreach programs, drop-in centers and housing programs), inclusive and affirming care and data collection and accountability. Lewis believes that a “pathway to permanent independence” is important because “these youth are not just looking for jobs.

They want a life and a career.”

Locally, roughly 30 percent (not a perfect figure) of DC homeless youth identifies as LGBTQ, Katie Dunn, policy analyst with DC Alliance of Youth advocates (DCAYA) said.

She also said that while housing first is a really good option, for youth wraparound services are needed that prepare young adults for difficult situations, such as paying taxes, talking to a landlord, and budgeting.

“Some of these kids haven’t finished high school, they’ve never had a job, they don’t know how to fix things, or to talk to a landlord to get things fixed,” Dunn said.

DCAYA stood behind the LGBTQ Homeless Youth Reform Act of 2013, which was similar to a RHYTPA bill on a local level.

The Wanda Alston house is D.C’s only LGBTQ pre-independent youth housing program that offers young adults aged 1624 a long-term transitional living area (up to 18 months). In addition, case management, educational guidance and support, job training and guidance, and support service referrals are offered.

Wanda Alston is now a housing only program, but it will connect the youth with the services they need, if the organization cannot provide them.

“Once kids know where they’re sleeping, they’re next order of business is getting an education or a job,” Pettigrew said.

Two of the youth of Wanda Alston are expected to graduate high school in May or June 2015, and both have applied to colleges.

Currently, 8 youths are staying with the Wanda Alston youth foundation, which is its maximum capacity. The foundation takes residents on a first come, first serve basis.

STREET SENSE May 20 - June 2, 2015

9

FEATURES

omelessness

Mally Hatcher speaking at the May 13 briefing.

The Street Sense Interactive Art group setup their “One Step Away” installation outside of the Wilson Building directly after The Way Home Campaign’s Advocacy Day event. The group aimed to demonstrate the invisibility that often comes with homelessness and how close many people are to experiencing it themselves. PHOTOS BY MATAILONG DU

The Way Home Visits Council Members

By Reggie Black, Vendor, “Da Street Reportin’ Artist” On May 7, the Way Home campaign held an advocacy day to highlight its priorities for the budget season. The campaign aims to end chronic homelessness in the District of Columbia through cost-effective housing initiatives.

This year, the group is asking that the city council spend $1.8 million on the Department of Human Services permanent supportive housing program to house 115 individuals, $2.3 million on targeted affordable housing to house 188 individuals, $1 million on rapid re-housing to house 100 individuals, and $100,000 to provide support staff for the director of the interagency council to implement the plan to end homelessness. The campaign points out that it is more cost effective to house someone rather than have that person

wander the streets of the District in a state of destitution.

On the advocacy day, Way Home advocates divided into smaller groups, each tasked with visiting a council office to discuss these priorities.

“I was homeless for one year. There are people that are on the streets that have been there for years,” said advocate Carol Doster.

Parastou Hatami, Project Manager and Human Rights Counsel for the D.C. Right to Housing Initiative, stressed the belief that housing is a human right. “Housing is one of those things that we need to live a dignified existence,” she said. “[Being homeless] really works on your confidence. No one ever in a thousand years would think that I would ever be displaced

and homeless. We’ve got to take it seriously,” said Juanita Thomas, a Ward 1 resident.

“My job is to help people manage their health,” said Kiefer Paterson, case manager with HIPS, a local health center for sex workers and drug users. “All of my clients are homeless. They have to carry the burden of being HIV positive.”

David Grosso, at-large member of the DC Council, said he supports the group’s efforts.

“I wish you could come every month,” he said. “It’s a little disheartening that the mayor has come up short. I think this is a good story, but a tough story,” he said. “We have a lot of children that are homeless and that is bizarre. I’m glad the mayor did shift money to these priorities, but she didn’t do enough.”

Councilwoman Yvette Alexander standing on the One Step Away.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BARDIA SAEEDI

COMICS & GAMES

Ode to a Big Bust (of Wash and Williams)

By Chris Shaw

Aristotle bows contemplative, over a statue not native To either Montreal or DC; A Bust, NayA Huge Bust, The scowling MattA manager awash in sudden In-famy!

Mayhap in May, He may wipe Away, a sad Spectre Of silent Bats.

What Say? Yon fair haired Bryce, a Hit, you say?

Would, Could Yunel Or fellow team mates, Rendon, Werth or Zim-man With arms Swinging, Not A-kimbo; Foretell An expanded score, O'er Fish, Metropolitans To even, commit the dreaded 'Lantean Braves To a well deserved Baseball limbo-The like in which, Our belov'd Nats(!)

Have dwelt Far too long, and then We shall Yawp, a Joyful Series song.

ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS SHAW

When Do We Stop Crying About the White Man

By Jeffery Mcneil, Vendor

We keep hearing from civil rights leader how white people are holding us back but if we pause a moment one will come to the realization African Americans are running this country.

Our president is black and so is our attorney general as well as heads of the Departments of Homeland Security, Labor and Housing and Urban Development.

Most of our major cities are run either by a liberal Democrat or an African American.

There is a Congressional Black Caucus as well as numerous black judges, civil rights leaders and preachers all claiming to fight for the cause of racial equality. However, despite the overwhelming representation of African Americans, there are those that still grumble that the reason so many blacks are mired in poverty is because of white folks.

There has been a narrative perpetuated so long it’s become an urban legend that racism is the cause of black failure.

However, before Civil Rights and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society blacks were uplifting themselves way before do gooders and great white progressives marched in Selma and Birmingham.

Before 1965 there were great black metropolises such as Greenwood, North Carolina ,Tulsa Oklahoma and Shaw in Washington, D.C., which were thriving economies for blacks. Before Brown vs Board of Education there were many black schools such as Dunbar High School where blacks outperformed whites academically.

When I hear black leaders grumble about the white man I think of Jackie Robinson, who managed to hit 90 mile an hour fastballs despite death threats. Bill Russell won 11 championships despite living in a city that didn’t want to rent to him. Ditto for Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali, at whom the white man threw everything they had but who never once laid down or made excuses. But today we are suppose to believe blacks’ shortcomings are because whites won’t help us.

The common wisdom perpetuated by white liberals and Civil Rights leaders is to feel sorry for blacks and never hold them accountable for their choices. But is there a racist telling blacks to quit school, shoot each other and make a bunch of babies and not take care of them?

When do African Americans get tired of being the butt of everyones jokes. No one fears us; they pity us. We are the only group that has “leaders.” Who leads the Jews, Asians or Latinos? Every one of these groups came here broke, busted and disgusted and every one has came into our communities controlling our economics while we march and protest, demanding they give us jobs.

When do we quit reminiscing about 1965 and plan for the new century. It’s time for us to quit moaning about the white man and free ourselves.

STREET SENSE May 20 - June 2, 2015

11

OPINION

“React Month:” What Does that Mean?

By Ken Martin Vendor May is REACT Month, to recognize volunteer Radio Emergency Associated Communication Teams.

I hope that since it’s also Community Living Month, it will mean reacting to the lifestyles in your community.

I’m reacting to the D.C. community’s failure to face, fight, and finish homelessness. To me, homelessness isn’t “community living,” it’s “community dying.”

I want to know why a state of being is still considered an emergency. Why are so many people being paid so much for doing so little? Where is the accountability?

Why are programs with transitional origins allowed to become semi-permanent? No one should be in a single room occupancy (SRO) for more than three years!

Wikipedia defines “Single Room Occupancy,” sometimes called a “single resident occupancy,” as a form of housing in which one or two people are housed in individual rooms (sometimes two rooms, or two rooms with a bathroom or half-bathroom) within a multiple-tenant building.

When homelessness was only beginning to be an issue in the 1980s—rather than the epidemic it is now—the strategy was to complete interventions in day service programs or inpatient therapy, participate in 90 to 120-day transitional programs (to develop life skills, find employment, and acquire a rental agreement), and work with aftercare to create a strategy to pursue upwardly mobility. As a short-term intervention for future goal attainment, SROs typically were considered to be the step between recovery-based rooming houses,traditional boarding and rooming houses, and your own apartment.

The apartment, while a significant accomplishment for the reinvented consumer, was not the end but a stepping stone toward a home of your own: A deeded property!

SRO tenants should not be owning SUVs. If anything, they should be owning (and renting) SROs. Many, if not for program failures, could do just that!

It’s all about accountability.

What I see is a bottleneck in the earlier stages of the transitional process that perpetuates the problem by enabling administrators, counselors, politicians, case managers, etc. to avoid the “dirty” work of resource development, problem-solving and client follow-up, while keeping them with a paycheck. Some SROs have tenants that stay for 7 to 10 years, sometimes even longer. It was not the original intent of SRO for tenants to settle for program dependency, but for them to transition to the next level of the improved income status and apartments of their own. Apartment dwelling was seen as the

beginning of independent living, not the final resting place. They were to be role models for the ones following their path.

They were to be “Trailblazers,” not “Trail Barriers!”

Who is complacent, the client or the caseworker?

I really don’t know. I do know that both have too much to manage on their plates. I know that balancing overloaded plates usually results in a mess. Finding fault won’t clean it up. Determining the cause and taking preventive steps can avert recurrences.

I find lack of program accountability to be the issue here. Why are people earning six figure salaries, but still permitting the situation to continue? What comes to my mind are two things (mindsets): 1) as long as there’s a problem, there’s a payday; 2) and if I keep a paycheck, I keep MY housing!

My Executive Directors (and mentors) never let subordinates miss appointments, avoid calls, fail to act in timely manner, misrepresent programmatic capabilities, or do ANYTHING that reflects negatively on their own, or the respective reputations of, their agencies. If you did, you were “asked” to resign.

Reality check.

Reality checked: If you fix the problem, and nature abhors a vacuum, another one shall arise!

That said, homelessness will not end before retirement of anyone employed in this field of endeavor today. *o please, for the sake of human dignity, human rights--humanity--let’s get lively in our community and fix this. Or maybe just react before it happens to you!

This month will you accentuate the positive behaviors witnessed in your environment with appropriate reinforcement, while taking action or a stand? Will you speak out, write a letter, or do something to demonstrate your indignation? It’s your Community. React. Live!

MOVING UP: The Battle Over Fast Food Wages

By Arthur Johnson, Volunteer

The battle in recent years over income inequality has been reaching a boiling point as employees of major fast food chains have been staging one-day strikes in major cities nationwide. The employees are aiming to get their wages raised to $15 per hour and raise awareness of the struggles they face.

While the plight that many fast food employees find themselves in is understandable, the reality is that the wages are not going to increase to that amount.

Part of the problem is that while the work in fast food is stressful, it is also unskilled work. That means the workers have no leverage in asking for an increase in pay that is more than double the current federal minimum wage. The job can be performed by mostly anyone and there is high turnover in almost every restaurant.

Another big problem is that in protesting for a $15 hour wage, the workers are not improving their situation. Let’s assume you currently receive $9 per hour and work 30 hours a week. If the pay goes up to $15 per hour, do you think the restaurant is going to give you 30 hours a week? Of course not. You would most likely receive 18 hours a week, putting you right back where you started. The people that run the fast food companies know how to maintain their profit margins.

“What we’re asking for is realistic.

We took in $1,200 the other day at lunch hour at my Burger King. The six workers there cost them $60 or so for that hour. So I can see they can pay us $15,” a worker from Kansas City told the New York Times last year.

What is left out of the equation is that

METRO, PART 7: Destination Eastern Market

By Phillip Black, Vendor, “The Cat in the Hat” On Saturdays and Sundays, people come from all over the metro area to visit Eastern Market. It’s more than just a farmer’s market. It’s famous for the variety of vendors selling food, clothing and all kinds of items. You can shop and stay all day on weekends at Eastern market. But you have to be careful.

Some people come to Eastern Market for the wrong reasons. A man was assaulted getting off the Metro at East-

ern Market station. Another woman’s purse was taken off the chair she was sitting in while eating. It’s the place to go on weekends, but always be aware of your surroundings. And when you depart, make sure you have all your belongings. It’s so easy to leave things behind. To vendors selling Street Sense at Eastern Market, always look out for one another.

out of the $1,200 in sales, you have to pay for not just labor but also the cost of the food, utilities, sales taxes, employer’s share of employees’ taxes, salaries, medical premiums of restaurant management and franchise royalties, which include funding for the franchise’s national ads.

Plus, the franchise owners must rent the building from the parent company, and they also have to pay fees for credit and debit card transactions. Many leaders of these fast food worker groups cite the salaries of the CEO, which does not matter, since the majority of fast food restaurants are owned by franchise operators.

President Obama has pushed for a federal minimum wage increase to $10.10 an hour, which is still almost $5/hour less than what the fast food workers want.

The president will not be able to get this hike through the presently Republican-controlled Congress. Many states and large cities have successfully passed higher minimum wage laws. That should be the focus of the groups pushing for a higher minimum wage: getting the wages raised a few dollars an hour locally, usually over two or three years.

It may not seem like much when compared to $15/hour, but the chances of getting several dollars an hour more, and maintaining the hours that would otherwise be lost if such a large increase was put forth, are much higher. If a $15/hour minimum wage was enacted, restaurants would use more technology to replace workers. An iPad would replace the cashier, self-serve fountain drink machines would become standard, and there would be even fewer opportunities for employment than right now.

There is no question that it is tough to survive on the earnings in the fast food industry. Raises are difficult to get, hours fluctuate weekly, benefits are non-existent, and it is a fact that there are many workers in the fast food chains that are receiving government benefits like food stamps and Medicaid. There should be a stronger push by the leaders of the one-day strikes for benefits that are more attainable and that will make an impact for the employees.

Better hours, more stable scheduling, and/ or flexibility for those pursuing education or a second job would all provide a better chance to people who are struggling financially to try and make some progress.

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

The Decision of our Lives

Crazy for the Roof of Housing First

By Gwynette Smith, Vendor

Brown v. Board of Education, the 61st anniversary of which was May 17, was a landmark decision that really laid the foundation for all the civil rights laws that followed. Segregation laws became vulnerable because the condition of being separate meant that those who were apart from the mainstream were in an unequal relationship with the other people in the country. “Separate” really meant “unequal.”

Brown meant schools would have to begin integrating so that all children had an equal chance to learn and advance in this country. The Supreme Court made an important distinction by ruling that, although no law had revoked the Three-Fifths Compromise of 1787 making a black “person” that percentage of a white person, somehow black people were entitled to at least equal status in the country, albeit “with

By Angie Whitehurst Vendor Now is the time across the board to work together and toil toward assuring Housing First as part of Safety, Health, Food and Stability For All.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BROWNVBOARDOFEDUCATION1023.WEEBLY.COM

all deliberate speed.” Somehow, the Court solved that issue even though it skirted the Constitution. In the ensuing decades, several civil rights laws were passed that expanded black people’s rights.

Schools had problems before and after this decision. Nevertheless, education

has improved significantly because of students’ exposure to students and teachers of different races and ethnicities. The question then becomes, where will we go from here? I think education is important only if jobs and economic opportunity accompany it.

Hello, My Good Customers

The Silent Killers Part 2

L e t ’s a l l t h a n k God for the warm weather! In my last article, I wrote about growing up in North Carolina. Those were the best years of my life because I had no adult stresses and I had a lot of friends and family.

My first recollection of a white person was my playmate, Kathy. My step-grandmother was a maid for Kathy’s parents.

During the summer, Kathy and I would play in the fields and pick fruit from the trees.

She also taught me how to ride her horse.

There are killers that go undetected. One is Hepatitis C. You can have Hep C for twenty years or more and have no symptoms except feeling tired. Up until the late 90s, there was no cure. Now there is a therapy for Hep C that is given over the course of a year, which cures it or puts it in remission.

There are many illnesses that take lives every day, so the best thing to do is to get a check up and take a care of yourself.

By Betty Everette, Vendor

I know someone took a picture, but I don’t have it. Or maybe I just can’t find it.

Kathy’s family was well-to-do in my town. Her grandfather, Mr. Manning, owned a store. Now I’m going to tell a secret about it. Kathy and I would go to the store and “steal” cookies from a big jar on the counter. Okay, we weren’t really stealing because Mr. Manning knew we were taking the cookies and he never stopped us. But Kathy and I sure had fun!

Living in this town gave me very fond memories of Kathy and her relatives.

Just to remind ya’ll, there are some good white people in the South. (to be continued)

Trying to Make it

By Charles Davis, Vendor

Tr y i n g t o m a k e it begins with your faith in God, which starts with prayer.

Praying gives you strength. Since I started with Street Sense, my faith has grown stronger because before, I had been unemployed for almost five and a half years. But now this is like a real job.

And, thanks to my case manager getting me accepted to the District of Columbia Employment Services assessment program, my tools of life are coming together. That helps a lot for someone who is homeless and somewhat disabled.

I want to continue my education and end my homelessness that I have been going through for so many years. I think my body is starting to get tired. But my faith and my mind are very strong. You need that, because making it in life requires trying very hard to be successful on the journey God has planned for you. You have to stay on the path he has set.

God will always give us a choice in life as a sign of how much he loves us. So, Street Sense family, please try to make the right choices. And remember that making it in life depends on following the right path with Jesus. Keep your faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen and God bless!

By Jackie Turner, Vendor

Fight of the Century

By Gary Minter, Vendor

Talking with Gene Simmons of Kiss (or someone who looks a lot like him), and Danielle the bartender at Margaritaville, about the so-called "Fight of the Century," we all agreed: Why not donate some of that money to charity?

We're not asking Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao to "go sell all that you have, and give to the poor," as a wise teacher once told a rich young ruler.

But how about 10 percent?

With all the homeless people now flooding Las Vegas, how about donating to the Rescue Mission, St. Vincent's Men's Shelter, the Salvation Army, Shade Tree, or AIDS charities?

I am just a visitor here in Las Vegas, a stranger in a strange land....a land of beautiful gardens worthy of an emperor, but a land with no public toilets to contain the urine-drenched stench on Foremaster.

So, Floyd, Manny and everyone else who got rich off the "Fight of the Century": how about helping the needy? Elvis, the Ratpack, Lee Liberace — even the oldtime mob bosses who treated their customers right would smile at the thought!

There should be no set fee, as some need more, but never less.

For the whole to be equal to the sum of its parts and to grow with balance and success, we need to have the ABC basics of existence: Air, fire, water, the seeds of life and the root of our cohesive societies.

Without those, there is nothing.

Do the numbers equate the math?

Add the human sector and figure it out.

If it is right and makes good sense, The Plan will sell and buy itself and will need no political debate or defense.

So, Get on Board Across the Board!

Make Housing First!

From young, to disabled, to old.

Loving is Respecting

By “The Amazing” Chon Gotti, Vendor “Love” is a word most people take for granted. But if you truly love someone, you show it through your actions, not your words. Action is the real power.

Knowledge, believe it or not, is just the beginning of real power. And you also show you love someone by giving that person the respect she or he deserves.

I know you guys are probably saying, “knowledge is power.” But always remember that you know it all--or think you know it all--and do nothing with it. But, if you follow Nike’s mantra and “just do it,” you will learn from your mistakes and make positive adjustments to achieving your goals.

STREET SENSE May 20 - June 2, 2015

13

VENDOR WRITING

Jesus is Watching

By Leonard Hyater, Vendor

The burglar broke into the house and heard this voice and it said, “Jesus is watching, Jesus is watching!” So the burglar looked up at the ceiling for about a minute so that he could get back into the regular routine looking for something to steal. Then he heard that voice again. “Jesus is watching, Jesus is watching!”

He turned on the flashlight and guess what it was? A talking parrot. He asked, “Who the hell are you?”

The patriot said, “My name is Moses.”

So the burglar scratched his head and asked, “What nimrod names a talking parrot Moses?”

The parrot said, “That Rottweiler named Jesus is about to take a chunk out of your butt.”

ILLUSTRATION BY CARLTON JOHNSON

Ten Years After Katrina: Second Judgment Day

By Chris Shaw, “Cowboy Poet” Episode 33

By an Inch, Marsh is Pinched!

Billy didn’t want it this way, but Ferret Apache and Jed Harris wound up being laid side by side in identical body bags in a beat-up, bronze-colored Plymouth Estate wagon bound for D.C. Potter’s Field, home of the unloved, unwanted and un-housed.

This would be their final resting place, if you wanna call it that.

The stand-in jake leg parson, Mr. Williams, presided over their simultaneous internments. Billy lay exhausted on the sloping slate parapet beside the elevator shed of the National Unions. Presently, a friendly shadow blocked his view of the whitish downtown sun orb. Skipper, wearing Billy’s battered and now floppy Bandolero hat, stood smiling coquettishly. Her paisley wrap was slightly bespattered with the commingled blood of Harris and Ferret. Standing at her left, we found the wizened, trembling, five-foot-two, 86-year-old Samuel Tuck, alias “Tucky Buzzard.” This old wraith was, believe it or not, joint custodian of the Atlantic and National Union Buildings, and what an earful he was about to lay on Billy Luck and Skipper!

“That little rat [Ferret, we assume] boo-hooed about how he’d been, ‘abused,’ you know? Well, lemme set the record straight, ma’am. He WAS the abuser. I, er--I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to make whoopee with a RABBIT--.”

Skipper consoled the old watchman.

“Now see here, Mister Tuck.” She hugged his sweaty rack of ribs as if he were her own poor little Gran-Daddy, back in Memphis. “We need to bring the rotten CUR-- that is, my soon-to-be EX, off his narrow perch and on to Justice!!”

They all rode the rasping, oily elevator cage down to the cool mosaic sweep of

the National Unions’ main concourse, a space little changed since 1890. In 1977, however, few such lofty interiors had much of an aura of class; merely clouds of dust and patina of grime. A rare exception to this sorry yardstick of neglect was the soaring atrium of the Pension Hall, standing due east of the crime scene, directly predicated by Senator Hastings Marsh of Tennessee.

Carlille, Billy and the fuming Skipper Marsh slipped into a tiara-topped, balloon and confetti-strewn crowd that was busily milling around the faux marble columned Great Hall of one of the most massive interior spaces in all of the capital city. Peering above the heads of the giddy, laughing partygoers, Skipper and her consort in a cowboy hat spotted the craven Senator Marsh and his new ally, Mayor Berton Futch.

Surrounding a sloshing champagne fountain shouldered by golden cherubs, Marsh was clapping the stocky city executive on the shoulder, and gesticulating towards a Plexiglass model of several crystal cubes of office space planned to ring the funky Franklin Square Park.

Suddenly, Sergeant Carlille and two Capitol Police stepped up to the rostrum and handcuffed the startled senator.

Futch, wiping his face wildly, jumped off the stand. His slippered foot caught a corner of the skyscraper model, and sent it crashing to the carpeted floor, part of the building cubes toppling into the continuous flow of Moet and Chandon. Skipper and Billy nearly collided with Ben, the wimpish aide to her former husband. All the latter could spit out was, “I-I’m s-so damn sorry, Ms. Skipper, it’s--” “Never you mind, Ben, this bastard has ruined enough lives. I think we’ll all breathe much easier real soon, don’t you think?”

All Billy Luck could do was nod his silent assent. For a moment, all voices were stilled, and all one heard was lots of splashing and crashing all around the Great Hall of the Pension Office. (to be continued)

By Gerald Anderson Vendor PREVIOUSLY: Almost nine years after Katrina, I was subpoena to go in front of the judge for dirty urine. After the lawyer handed the judge 22 pages of recommends from my customers, the judge took a 15-minute break. She come back and stated that she read the recommends. I think the judge felt I do something for society and that we all deserve a second chance. She give a ruling for me to stay in society until they got a bed at the drug treatment program. I believed that all the people who accept me for who I be would keep me focus and give me strength. I never had this many people I can open up with.

Eleven months later... April 13, 2015 This morning I got in the courtroom for a status hearing on my last urinalysis.

Nearly a year ago, on May 14, 2014 I entered Phoenix House for drug treatment. I didn’t wanna be there. But I didn’t wanna go back to jail neither.

In the program, I go to group meetings eight hours a day. You speak out about your problems, you write about your triggers.

Some guys who spoke out, their stories were like mine. The counselors tell you to build your network with positive people and open up if something bothers you.

It was all nerve-wracking to me. I wanted to run away, but if I run, I would be sent back to jail. It was like Monopoly: if I leave the place, I pass go and get sent directly to jail. I would not collect two hundred dollars; instead, I would collect sixty months.

Some of the talks in the meetings inspired me. But one morning, after saying my prayer, full reality set in. I say to myself, I risked so many years with chemicals in my body and now all these people want to help. I decided to stay focused, to pull myself together.

I began talking out at meeting. And I reached out to help others. I could feel things was changing for me. I thought about things I had going on before the program and how I could be more focus now, like with my writing, and I felt like

if I use the tools I learned in the program, I should not fall.

Because of my progress, I was permitted to move ahead of schedule to a recovery house, where I live with nine other men, all who had the same problems I had. Knowing I had a rent to pay, that make me manage the money I earn from selling my papers. As required for staying in the recovery house, I went to meetings every day for thirty days. I continue to go to meetings.

So here I was, back in court on April 13, 2015. I faced the same judge I went in front of last May—the one who sentenced me to the drug program.

The judge called on the parole officer and asked what the report was since the last time I been in, and the PO said everything is good and my urine is clean.

The judge feel so good about it, she smiled. I smiled. And then she ask the lawyer do he have anything to say.

He say, “No your honor, I’m proud of Mr. Anderson.”

And then the judge ask me did I have anything to say, and I say, “Yes ma’am, your honor.

She say go on and say what you’ve got to say.

And I say, “Thank you, Judge, for giving me a second chance,” and she say you’re welcome. She also say let me know when your book come out.

Hearing the judge say that make me smile. She say every Street Sense paper that comes out she buys it. She want to buy my book! And she proud of me. She say she showed my stories from Street Sense to her family.

I had to put my head down and smile.

It make me feel proud compared to what judges used to say to me.

Also everything got dismissed on me, meaning I don’t have to go in front of the court no more, lessen I get in trouble. I felt so good. I know that six months from now, when I go back in front of the judge with the same good behavior, I really feel to believe she’ll take me off supervision.

Next I’ll be telling you my story about all that happened after Katrina, after I was evacuated to D.C. Coming soon on Amazon: My Katrina story for Kindle.

Selling Street Sense

Really!

To s e l l S t r e e t Sense, you must have the heart of a lion, the skin of a hippopotamus, the agility of a greyhound, the wisdom of an elephant, the industry of an ant, and as many lives as a cat.

To stand in the street and shout, “Street Sense, Street Sense!” requires an enormous combination of talents. None of us have all these, and sometimes when it is raining or snowing we wonder if we have any at all. There is one element without which we might as well stay home, and that is the belief in the quality reporting and writing in Street Sense. Unless we believe this and continually, consciously reawaken that belief, our skills at selling will be revealed as fool’s gold rather than authentic treasures.

There is nothing that will replace the hours of study and preparation that go into selling Street Sense. The paper itself is a helpful, practical, and a worthy resource. Reading it will help to focus more quickly and directly on some of its unique selling points. Both news briefs and backpage resources are a useful starting point when preparing to sell new issues.

Through selling Street Sense, you’ll have the opportunity to look over the shoulders at some of the other Street Sense vendors who have sometimes struggled with sales.

These vendors’ insights serve as seeds that can bloom in your own imagination.

May we all have great selling days in the months ahead.

Really there are only two things that are yours: your time and your vision. You can spend your time or you can waste your time. My advice is that you invest your time in something that feeds your heart.

Usually, better advice comes from those older than you. I recommend “The Five Secrets,” by John Izzo, Ph.D., that you must discover before you die. In my notso-humble opinion, it is one of the better books on this broad subject. The elders may inform your heart in ways that your peers, and perhaps some of the teachers and experts, only inform your mind.

There are many frustrated moneymakers, beautiful people, and accomplished, socalled “successful people” who die unfulfilled because in time they have found that their heart wasn’t “in it”. To have it disappear under “five finger discount.”

Let’s just say that I fall under many labels including church, home, family, transportation, entertainment, etc.. I have worst friends, and wonderful enemies. I can’t pay my worst friends to consume things that my best enemies steal.

During this time of social media, I can’t get ahead of the social current, trying to get upstream. Fortunately, there are some people, quite unknown, that act only when necessary. Either they indicate what I need by pointing at it, or putting it in my hand.

By Moyo Onibujo, Vendor

Hero of the Day

By Sasha Williams, Vendor

I was connected to the WiFi at the McDonald’s by Howard University and enjoying my McChicken sandwich with my 2-year-old, Eboni. She was eating just the bread from her McChicken sandwich. All of a sudden I saw a lady who had been browsing on her cellphone realize that her daughter was not with her. It got really serious and she began calling, Aaliyah!!! Aaliyah!!!. I was so nervous. I love happy endings, but in reality there is a lot of people who don’t have them. I heard the woman tell the security guard that Aaliyah had autism. The store manager, Ashley, became a hero for finding Aaliyah outside in the parking lot crying. I spoke with the store manager, she said she understood because she has kids herself. All I could say was THANK YOU.

My Friend Nathaniel

Panic Attack

I met him in the 90s in a pink rooming house. I had just lost Ruth, my mother’s middle sister. When I met him, it was a fluke. He called randomly on my telephone one day when I had just moved into this rooming house. Actually, he invited himself over for a visit. We sat talking. He wanted to know something about me. I burst out crying when I mentioned Ruth. She died of cancer as I was healing from my cancer surgery. He tried to explain to me that people are not going to live forever.

Well, he came to visit every day after that first visit. I got attached to him and I was calling him all the time for every little thing. He was writing articles at Howard University. He would bring me some money for the week. He also brought groceries and we fell in love. I was a temp typist, a struggling one. He suggested we open a business. We sat and talked and came up with typing for college students.

I put up posters all over the colleges. I got some responses. Later that year, due to finances, I had to leave the city and go home. But years later, and it has been twenty years now, I still and will always remember him.

When I feel I am having a panic attack, I have to know I am safe right now.

I have to remember that the feelings and symptoms are very frightening, but they are not dangerous or harmful.

I know that I am not in any danger. I know that it is a natural response. I have to remember: do not fight your feelings or wish them away. The more I am willing to face them, the less intense they become.

I have to stay in the present, keep my feet on the ground, and know I am getting enough air.

Right now I am starting to relax. I know that I am calmer. I know that I am OK.

By Patty Smith, Vendor

By Roberta Bear, Vendor

Respect for a Woman

By Lawrence Rodgers, Vendor

A gentleman will open doors, pull out chairs, and carry things. Not because she’s helpless or unable, but because he wants to show her that she is valuable and worthy of respect.

By Judson Williams, Vendor

CEASE $UPPORTING PULPIT PIMPS

By James Daniel Johnson, Vendor

DEMONIC SPIRITS HAVE INFILTRATED MOST CHURCHES,TRYING TO IMITATE GOD’S VOICE THE CONGREGATIONS ARE BEING MISLED, SOME IGNORANTLY, SOME BY CHOICE THE SCENARIO OF CHOICE IS FOR REAL, FOR GOD MANY HAVE NO FEAR THEY CHOOSE TO ATTEND CHURCHES THAT CONDONE THEIR SINFUL LIFESTYLES, AND FEAST ON THE LIES THEY PREFER TO HEAR PHONY PREACHERS ARE ON THE RISE, ACCUMULATING FORTUNE FORTUNE AND FAME DEVILS WELL DISGUISED, SELFISH AGENDAS FUEL THEIR GAME THEIR SERMONS DISTORT THE MEANING OF THE LORD’S GRACE, BIBLICAL TRUTH THEY PROLIFICALLY DILUTE BOLDLY DEFENDING THEIR ERRONEOUS DOCTRINES, IN THEM GOD’S WORD HAS NO ROOT THESE RELIGIOUS ENTERTAINERS ARE MASTERS OF FLATTERY, BOTH MALE AND FEMALE THEIR WORDS ARE SO PERSUASIVE,THEY CAN DIVE IN THE OCEAN AND SELL MORE WATER TO A WHALE BE A WISE SOLDIER FOR JESUS CHRIST, STAND LOYAL IN THE FAITH, DON’T BE A WIMP HAVE NO ASSOCIATION WITH FALSE PROPHETS, CEASE $UPPORTING THESE PULPIT PIMPS

15

STREET SENSE May 20 - June 2, 2015

COMMUNITY SERVICES Housing/Shelter

Food

Clothing

Showers

Outreach

Medical/Healthcare

Transportation

Laundry

Education

Employment Assistance

Legal Assistance

Academy of Hope: 269-6623 601 Edgewood St, NE aohdc.org

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

Community of Hope: 232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

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

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

John Young Center: 639-8569 119 D Street, NW

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

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

Catholic Charities: 772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

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

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

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

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

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

Community Family Life Services: 347-0511 | 305 E St, NW cflsdc.org

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

Foundry Methodist Church: 332-4010 1500 16th St, NW foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities ID (FRIDAY 9-12 ONLY)

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

Gospel Rescue Ministries: 842-1731 810 5th St, NW grm.org

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CELEBRATING SUCCESS!

Growing with Street Sense

By Levester Green Vendor I'm currently working at, with and through Street Sense media center.

The paper started out as my means to an end in trying to survive. But before long it turned into an outlet for

my poems. It then grew into a way for me to tell my story and express myself more clearly -- to make a difference, a change, in this rotten society!

I can amplify my voice on the topics that matter to and affect me. The workshops provide self-betterment for all involved. The filmmaking project gave depth to my work of poetry. Now you have a visual to go along with my voice and writing. It also gave me a new career path!

I've always been fond of photography, which is yet another workshop here at Street Sense. It'll serve as a sharpener for the skills I acquired at the University of the District of Columbia. Another workshop, Digital Hope, will help me fine-tune my blogging skills and add dimension to my posts. It's already helping me expand and elaborate my writing!

Then there's the FACE advocacy group which is starting to focus in on business concepts, and I am loving it. We brought

in David Serota from the illustration workshop as an advisor. Now we're getting a bit more polished & professional with it. Speaking of David Serota and the illustration workshop: through his assistance I've been able to tap back into the buried drawing skills skills which I used to enjoy so many years ago. I haven't drawn since high school, so it felt good to see that those skills were much like riding a bike - you never forget!

REMEMBERING BOB GOGLIA, CONNECTICUT AVENUE BOULEVARDIER

By R.L. Hamady, Volunteer

Recognize this man? From 1990 to 2010 he was probably the most familiar figure on the Strip (Connecticut Avenue between Dupont Circle and Florida Avenue.) Whether homeless, depressed, or manic until he was carted off to St. Elizabeths Hospital, there he’d be sitting out at Cosi, the only cafe on the Strip that still admitted him.

Inappropriate behavior got him barred for life from Kramer Books, La Tomate, Marias, Zorbas, and even Triangle AA Club. Combing his hair at a mirror where people were dining, and the subsequent scuffle with the waiters, got him thrown out of Odeon Cafe and thrown into St. E’s. A woman he argued loudly with in the Childe Harold threatened to sue them for all the money they were worth if she ever saw Bob Goglia in there again.

“I’m lucky that Cosi hasn’t barred me,” he told me, “because during one of my manic episodes, I was sitting outside and shouting that I was Al Capone’s son.

I don’t know why I said that because I’ve

never been in organized crime.” The night manager sent him off and told him not to come back, but the general manager was a friend and Bob was reinstated.

Before he died, Bob talked of wanting to live the life he was leading -- a life of poverty, but in the service of God, the life of Saint John of the Cross. “I haven’t gotten there,” he confessed. “A monastery [life] is not that easy. I think you can’t smoke in a monastery. Plus, I can’t walk in a monastery because they won’t accept me. I’ve tried. It was after a manic episode. I went to the Franciscan monastery in San Francisco and told them I’d like to be a monk. They talked to me for a while and I told them my history, that I drank and had a lot of sex and had a few nervous breakdowns. It wasn’t the profile of a future monk.”

So long, Bob. You’re up there drinking coffee now without the lithium, Depakote, Zoloft, Clozapine and Risperidone.

You are missed here on the Strip, with some exceptions.

May 20 - June 2, 2015 • Volume 12 • Issue 14

Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW

Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Washington, DC

Washington, DC 20005

Mail To:

VENDOR PROFILE: ELIZABETH BRYANT

By Julie Gallagher, Editoral Intern

Elizabeth Bryant has a confident, hopeful attitude that shines through her warm smile, despite the many challenges she has had.

Bryant, 55, has been a Street Sense vendor for almost two years and sells her papers at Dupont Circle. Bryant said that she likes working for Street Sense and tells anyone who sees her selling papers that, “Street Sense will give back your independence. If you want a fair job, try Street Sense.”

Bryant is originally from Gooseland, VA, and was adopted when she was fivemonths-old. She has been residing in Washington, D.C. ever since. Bryant currently lives in a one-bedroom apartment in southeast Washington, D.C. Bryant described one of her favorite memories as being comforted by her mother when she was sick.

“It made me feel safe and loved,” Bryant remembered.

That feeling of love transferred into Bryant’s own desire to become a mother and a grandmother.

Bryant’s older daughter, Lucretia, died of cancer a few years ago, and her younger daughter, Bernice, lives in Washington, D.C. Bryant has seven grandchildren ranging in ages from two-years-old to the late teens. Bryant said that she does not speak to her daughter or grandchildren.

“I’m praying that they’ll come back. I love being a mother and grandmother,” Bryant said. “I still love them. I miss them all the time, I think about them all the time.”

Bryant battled alcohol and drug addiction for a long time. She is now eight years sober and will be celebrating nine years soon. Bryant participated in a recovery program and attends AA meetings regularly.

“I have a lot of support,” Bryant said proudly. Bryant receives a lot of her support through her church, Paramount Baptist Church, and believes that God has been good to her.

Not only has Bryant displayed incredible determination in her effort to get and stay sober, but also she is very eager to work and constantly better herself.

“I like working at Street Sense. The reason I like it is because there are no bosses hanging on top of us, out in the street,” Bryant said. “You can work as many hours as you want or as few hours as you want. It’s up to you.”

Bryant said that there is a mutual feeling of respect between vendors and Street Sense staff, the environment is “familyoriented,” and she always looks forward to working.

Bryant was attending Academy of Hope the last time that Street Sense sat down to speak with her. However, she had to stop going to school for health reasons.

“I want to go back. I’m doing very well in school, but the reason I’m not going now is because I have arthritis in my right leg. I’ve been in a lot of pain,” Bryant said. “That stopped me from going to school because I don’t want to miss a lot of days and get thrown out of school because I have pain.”

Recently, Bryant has only been able to sell papers two days a week because of the pain in her legs, but she said that it is much better lately.

“It’s a whole lot better now, but it stopped me for a while. I couldn’t come to work, I couldn’t go to school, I couldn’t go to meetings,” Bryant said. “It’s getting better. I can do things now. It comes and it goes.”

Now that Bryant’s health is improving, she wants to try to exercise more.

“I’m trying to do water aerobics three times a week,” Bryant said, hoping to start soon.

Bryant is most proud of the fact that she has never given up on improving herself and her life. She said that she does not believe in sitting around, doing nothing.

“I don’t use the words ‘can’t do it,’” Bryant said.

Permit #568

Remember, buy only from badged vendors and do not give to those panhandling with one paper.

Interested in a subscription? Go to page 15 for more information.

Jeff McNeil Carlton Johnson Conrad Cheek, Jr. Reggie Black