05 27 2020

VOL. 17 ISSUE 15

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MAY 27 - JUNE 9, 2020

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The Cover

The Street Sense Media Story, #MoreThanANewspaper

Mayor Bowser introduced her proposed budget for fiscal year 2021 on May 18. Advocates say not nearly enoughf funds have been allocated for housing and homeless services.

Originally founded as a street newspaper in 2003, Street Sense Media has evolved into a multimedia center using a range of creative platforms to spotlight solutions to homelessness and empower people in need. The men and women who work with us do much more than sell this paper: They use film, photography, theatre, illustration, and more to share their stories with our community.

Our media channels elevate voices, our newspaper vendor and digital marketing programs provide economic independence. And our in-house case-management services move people forward along the path toward permanent supportive housing.

At Street Sense Media, we define ourselves through our work, talents, and character, not through our housing situation.

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EVENTS

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NEWS IN BRIEF MPD arrest suspect in arson and murder of homeless man D.C. police have arrested a suspect they believe is guilty for killing Darrel Finney, a 62-year old homeless man, by setting him on fire. MPD arrested D’Aundrey Scott, 25, on May 19, according to a press release from the department. He has been charged with first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill, arson, and property destruction for the May 13 attack.

Finney was found in the early morning of May 13 on the 900 block of H Street NE with severe injuries to his lower extremities and his belongings burned, reported NBC Washington. He was taken to a hospital and died two days later from his injuries.

Police say that about a half hour before finding Finney, they were flagged down by another victim near the 1300 block of H Street NE who said Scott had lit a shirt on fire with a flammable liquid and thrown it at them. The victim was able to escape unharmed. MPD also believes the crime is related to a car that was set on fire close by and a fire started on the porch of a nearby house that same night.

“It’s a huge relief to the homeless folks out there,” Chief of Police Peter Newsham told NBC Washington. “I think this makes them feel at ease that we were able to make an arrest in this case.”

D.C. recorded the deaths of 117 homeless people in 2019, a five-year high. Of those, eight were ruled homicides. The District only recently began breaking down homeless deaths in detail, according to the Washington Post, so those figures are hard to compare against previous years’.

Street Sense Media aims to publish an obituary for everyone who dies while experiencing homelessness in the District. If you knew Mr. Finney or anyone connected to him that may wish to be interviewed for this purpose, please contact editor@streetsensemedia.org.

Study finds US homelessness could increase by 45% this year

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Homelessness in the United States may increase by as much as 45% this year, according to a new study from Columbia University economics professor Brendan O’Flaherty.

Two hundred fifty thousand more people could join the approximately 568,000 currently homeless people in the country by this summer, the study’s author found.

O’Flaherty tracked the past relationship between unemployment and homelessness to reach that estimate.

Using data on homelessness and unemployment from the Great Recession, O’Flaherty’s model found that for every 1% increase in the unemployment rate, the rate of homelessness per 10,000 people increased by 0.65.

The American unemployment rate reached 14.7% in May, and some economists say it may already be at or near 20%.

The last time U.S. unemployment was this high was the Great Depression, when it rose above 25% in 1933. That year, there were over 1 million homeless people in the US. “This is unprecedented,” O’Flaherty said. “No one living has seen an increase of 10% of unemployment in a month.”

The model does not account for changes like new rent relief legislation or possible changes in the housing market, like a decline in rental prices. But O’Flaherty also noted to the Los Angeles Times that homelessness is a “lagging” outcome — people do not become homeless until they’ve exhausted all other resources, leaving them nothing with which to try to re-enter the housing market.

In other words, the increase in homelessness is likely to stay even after the economy begins to improve. Moreover, since unhoused people are more at risk for COVID-19 than housed people, the increase in the size of the homeless population will likely prolong the health crisis.

— Briefs by Jake Maher // jake@streetsensemedia.org

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NEWS

The first half of every edition of Street Sense is reserved for local news affecting D.C. communities and occasional national and international news related to homelessness. Think we should be writing about something? Send tips and suggestions to editor@streetsensemedia.org.

PHOTO: A passenger covers their face and checks a mobile device while riding an Orange Line train on March 14. This photo essay of D.C. during the pandemic, seen on each section’s title page, was taken by Photojournalist Benjamin Burgess. The full series is available here.

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NEWS

Advocates highlight major gaps in proposed budget for affordable housing and reducing homelessness

BY AVI BAJPAI // Editorial Intern

M

ayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed fiscal year 2021 budget falls short of adequately funding critical affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs, advocates said in statements and public testimony the week the budget was released.

The budget, which was presented to the D.C. Council for review on May 18, describes affordable housing as a key priority and includes a $100 million investment in the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) and $1 million for the Housing Preservation Fund (HPF), which will total $4 million.

Other funding includes $40 million over the next two fiscal years for the D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA) to repair its portfolio of public housing and $35.5 million for expanding and renovating permanent and temporary supportive housing.

Bowser has committed $100 million to the HPTF every fiscal year since 2015, but though this year’s investment is in line with that, it is $30 million less than the city’s request for the fund in 2019. It is also $80 million short of the amount suggested by the Fair Budget Coalition. The investment in HPF is also down from the $7.5 million in local funds allocated last year.

The $40 million for revamping public housing over two years also falls short of the Fair Budget Coalition’s $60 million per annum recommendation. In May 2019, DCHA Executive Director Tyrone Garrett told NPR the agency needed $343 million in emergency funding to repair 2,500 units that were virtually uninhabitable.

Meanwhile, Homeward D.C., the city’s strategic plan for ending homelessness, was allocated $12.8 million: $5 million of which is for building 150 new permanent supportive housing (PSH) units and the remaining $7.8 million for operating costs for new short-term family housing shelters. The PSH allocation consists of 96 units for individuals and 54 units for families — a fraction of the 1,800 units advocates have said are necessary.

In a statement released on Thursday, The Way Home campaign said the $5 million investment in new units — which comprises only 7% of the group’s recommended $71 million in spending to mitigate homelessness — “would not go far enough to address D.C.’s urgent housing needs.” Of the $5 million set aside for PSH, $1.5 million covers case management while the rest goes toward rental costs.

Since the campaign’s inception in 2014, the collaboration between more than 90 nonprofits, local businesses, and faith communities has made annual budget recommendations

The number of individuals residing in permanent supportive housing has increased by nearly 50% during the last five years. COURTESY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

The number of families housed through the Family Re-housing and Stabilization Program grew by nearly 44% over the past year. COURTESY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

for ending chronic homelessness, routinely pointing out that to do so would take less than 1% of the city’s budget.

In order to meet the demand for PSH, The Way Home campaign called on the D.C. Council to allocate the remaining $66 million they had requested to fund enough units for 1,500 individuals and 300 families. The money would also prevent 2,150 people from entering long-term homelessness through investments in homeless prevention and diversion programs like the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, and Project Reconnect, which helps newly homeless people avoid shelters by reuniting with family and friends or returning to their previous residences.

In their budget recommendations, advocates from The Way Home and the Fair Budget Coalition called for an additional investment

of $1.75 million in Project Reconnect. Instead, the mayor’s proposal reduces funding for Project Reconnect by $1.2 million, citing fewer individuals than anticipated availing of the program this past year.

Similarly, the budget does not preserve the $2.1 million in one-time funding for homeless street outreach it allocated in last year’s budget. At the time, shifting federal priorities would have caused a reduction in street outreach services that help guide people experiencing homelessness to resources and respond to people in crisis. Instead, the city was able to expand its services, including a new DHS outreach team through Pathways to Housing and 24/7 outreach support through the Department of Behavioral Health. It is unclear if those services will be available this year with the cut in outreach funding.

The mayor’s proposal also provides only $7.9 million for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, instead of the $12 million advocates requested. The Department of Human Services said in a May 20 briefing about the budget that it would leverage federal resources to supplement ERAP’s local funding, but during a D.C. Council Committee on Human Services budget oversight hearing two days later, advocates expressed skepticism about the reliability of federal funding.

“It would be helpful to hear how many people the administration is anticipating will need ERAP, and then about how much federal funding they think they’re going to get,” said Kate Coventry, a senior policy analyst at the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute. “The federal government is not a perfect system and we know we might not get it fully, but I think we all can agree the $7.9 million is inadequate.”

Advocates stressed that the number of residents seeking ERAP relief will likely rise as the city’s economy remains shut and unemployment and the cost of living continues to climb. In mid-March, as speculation loomed that Mayor Bowser was preparing to issue a formal stay-at-home order, advocates asked city officials to double ERAP’s budget to $15.8 million. According to a Fair Budget Coalition estimate, even $12 million for the program would prevent up to 4,800 evictions.

As of May 7, landlords had filed more than 1,100 eviction complaints in D.C. Landlord & Tenant Court since the D.C. Council suspended evictions on March 17, DCist reported. On May 5, the council suspended the filing of eviction complaints until 60 days after the end of the District’s public health emergency order, currently extended until June 8, expires.

For many people, ERAP is often the “last line of defense towards becoming homeless” and needs to be “greatly expanded,” said Leonard Edwards, a client organizer at Bread for the City. “With the uncertainty that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to our lives, the ERAP program is going to be needed not only by older people like me on a fixed income with health problems, but people who never thought they would need this program.”

Edwards also asked DHS to ease restrictions on how often eligible households can use ERAP benefits. Currently, the program only allows for payments to be used once per year.

An analysis by Columbia University economics professor Brendan O’Flaherty estimates a more than 40% increase in homelessness in the United States due to the pandemic.

Advocates from the Latin American Youth Center and Sasha Bruce Youthwork requested D.C. Council allocate an additional $1.785

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KEEPING UP WITH THE COMMUNITY

million for the Extended Transitional Housing Program, which provides homeless youth with long-term housing and intensive case management.

The budget for DHS also provides $11 million in one-time funding for the Family Re-housing and Stabilization Program and $10 million in one-time funding for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash assistance program.

A separate $2 million is allocated for emergency family shelter and local hotel use in light of the need to continually house homeless residents amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The temporary sheltering and quarantining of residents in hotels, which began in early April, comes as federal public health officials warn that the District continues to have the highest positivity rate of COVID-19 infections in the country.

According to DHS, hotel costs range from $125 to $181 per room per night and 154 people experiencing homelessness were quarantined in hotels on May 25.

The budget also features new capital investments for the District’s overburdened homeless shelters, including $36 million to replace Harriet Tubman Women’s Shelter, which DHS first proposed shuttering in March 2018, and $11.57 million for improvements to the New York Avenue Men’s Shelter, which the department referred to at the time as “a dilapidated facility that has outlived its life cycle.” There

is also $2 million for repurposing an existing facility that has not yet been identified into a hypothermia shelter with a capacity of 100 individuals, and $1.73 million for smaller capital projects at three family shelters.

With the uncertainty that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to our lives, the ERAP program is going to be needed not only by older people like me on a fixed income with health problems, but people who never thought they would need this program.”

Leonard Edwards On May 19, D.C. Council began holding budget oversight hearings to hear feedback on the proposed budgets for each agency. A hearing of the Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization, which oversees DCHA, the Office of the Tenant

Advocate, and the Rental Housing Commission, will be held on June 8 at 9 a.m. and will likely feature questions and concerns about ERAP and other tenant protections and relief measures.

After public hearings conclude in midJune, each committee chairperson will prepare a budget report on funding and personnel levels for each agency under its purview. These reports also include recommendations for any additional funding the committee chairperson deems necessary. Full committee markups on the budget reports are scheduled to take place between June 23 and 25.

Once the committees have passed their respective budget reports, D.C. Council’s Office of the Budget Director will incorporate the recommendations into a single balanced budget, as required by the D.C. Home Rule Act. The full council will then review the final budget — likely in late July — and upon passing it, send it to the mayor for approval.

In addition to the council’s public hearings, The Way Home will be hosting virtual housing meetings for residents in each ward starting June 7. Those interested in participating may RSVP for their respective ward’s meeting on the campaign’s website. The advocacy group will also be hosting a virtual “People’s Roundtable to End Homelessness” on June 22.

Upcoming Budget Oversight Hearings and How to Participate Oversight hearings • Committee on Labor and Workforce Development: June 4, 9:00 a.m. Government witnesses only.

• Committee on Health: June 5, 9:00 a.m.

• Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization: June 8, 9:00 a.m. Public witnesses will speak only until 12:00 p.m.

• Committee on Health: June 10, 12:00 p.m.

• Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization: June 15, 12:00 p.m. Public witnesses will speak only until 3:00 p.m.

• (Date and time subject to change. Consult calendar here for updated information)

How to participate • To sign up to testify live before the Council, contact the committee you want to testify to by phone.

Contact information is listed below: • Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization: 202-724-8198. Written testimony to this committee can also be submitted by email to housing@dccouncil.us or recorded via voicemail by calling 202-350-0894 by 5 p.m. on June 19.

• Committee on Labor and Workforce Development: 202-724-4902 • Committee on Health: 202-727-7774 • All hearings will be available to watch live and in recording on the DC Council website, the OCTFME site and on Channel 13 on TV.

Artist/Vendor Darlesha Joyner holds up the key to her new apartment.

BIRTHDAYS Ron “Pookanu” Dudley May 30 ARTIST/VENDOR

Making the Most of a Digital-Only Edition • Every page is a color page!

• Links and other interactive resources can be accessed right from this publication!

• As long as we remain digital-only, the current edition will be downloadable as a PDF you can read offline on any device.

These extras cannot begin to make up for the community our readers and vendors built together on the street corners of the D.C. area. Please join us in sustaining those relationships and building new avenues for supporting each other.

• Most importantly, if you can, please continue to support our vendors through the Street Sense Media mobile app. While we’ll continue to gather news, art, and opinions throughout the pandemic, 130+ men and women lost a substantial source of income when we suspended print newspaper sales.

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NEWS

With 16 beds up and 32 more on the way, Hope Has a Home looks to transform local medical respite care for the homeless community

BY JULIA PINNEY julia.pinney@streetsensemedia.org

L

ast year, the District had fewer than 50 “medical respite” beds for people experiencing homelessness who are too sick to be living on the street or in a shelter but not sick enough to be in a hospital or nursing-home setting. There were 34 for men at Christ House and 12 at Patricia Handy Place for Women. Then, in October, Hope Has a Home opened two new facilities, each providing 8 beds. Four more homes are planned to open within the next year.

When the program receives a referral call for a homeless man with complex medical needs, the program’s social worker, Arsiema Yeibio, is often his first point of contact. “Usually he’ll have a bunch of questions,” Yeibio said, from what the program could provide — a safe bed in which to heal and assistance in potentially securing permanent housing — to its standards. The program is low barrier, so while there are behavioral requirements, sobriety and medication adherence for a mental-health condition are not among them.

Hope Has a Home committed to opening 48 medical respite beds in the District, doubling the city’s capacity for this service.

The program was launched by AmeriHealth Caritas D.C. and Volunteers of America Chesapeake & Carolinas (VoA-C), the largest Medicaid managed-care organization in the District and a branch of one of the nation’s largest human services organizations. AmeriHealth Caritas D.C. and VoA are working in partnership with Unity Health Care, which has a long history providing healthcare to people experiencing homelessness, and Pathways to Housing, a homeless services organization that coordinates outreach, housing placements, and healthcare under a “Housing First” model.

Respite care can exist on a spectrum, said Dr. Catherine Crosland, the medical director for Hope Has a Home. Sometimes someone experiencing homelessness may be referred to respite care for just a short-term stay to prep for a colonoscopy or get their HIV medication regimen under control, while others may have been recommended long-term bed rest after a heart attack. Hope Has a Home and other programs place a large emphasis on trying to secure housing for their residents. “It’s

Interior of one of Hope Has a Home’s houses.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JANA BERHOW / HOPE HAS A HOME

a perfect example of housing as healthcare, that housing will provide stability and support that they will never find in the shelter setting,” Crosland said.

Karen Dale, CEO of AmeriHealth Caritas D.C., said the organization likely covers 10 - 15% of D.C.’s homeless population, and she has long observed the price, both financial and human, of that community’s interactions with the healthcare system. “[I think about] how difficult it becomes to get them to stability. The more admissions and readmissions that they have, the more they’re utilizing the emergency room as their primary care provider,” Dale said. “None of that is a recipe for health, much less good healthcare and positive outcomes.”

According to the 2019 Point-in-Time count, an annual survey that functions as a sort of census on the District’s population experiencing homelessness, 17.9% of the 4,915 adults counted reported living with a chronic health condition and 2.6% reported living with HIV/AIDS. Crosland said the coronavirus pandemic has only illuminated how vital the need is for respite care and permanent housing for the District’s homeless community.

In addition to setting aside hotel rooms for people experiencing homelessness who display symptoms of COVID19, the Department of Human Services has designated one hotel, and is on track to add another, for proactively housing highly medically vulnerable individuals and individuals over the age of 80.

As of May 25, 326 people experiencing homelessness were in remote quarantine.

“I’ve been astounded,” Crosland said, “by just how much need there is.”

A program, and residents, in transition Upon its completion, Hope Has a Home will more than double the number of respite beds in the District, though only AmeriHealth Caritas D.C. beneficiaries are eligible for them.

Plans to open the 32 remaining beds promised by the project are being negotiated, taking into account complications caused by the pandemic. The original commitment was for all six homes to be operational by April 2021.

Coronavirus has posed a large challenge for Hope Has a Home, according to Jana Berhow, the vice president for D.C. programs for VoA-C. Hope Has a Home has remained open for intake for patients who have a COVID-19 negative test, making the lack of widespread testing a barrier. Berhow acknowledged, though, that testing is a point-in-time measure and that a resident who later tested positive would be provided with care. Dale said the drop in people admitted to hospitals and visiting the emergency room for non-COVID-19-related care has also notably slowed referrals to the home as less people have been seeking out non-emergent care. “We really thought we would be at full capacity for beds in both houses, and we aren’t because of COVID,” Berhow said.

According to Berhow, the healthcare system appears

to be slowly resuming normal operations, as Hope Has a Home has received a handful of referrals in the past few weeks. Ability to secure PPE, widespread testing, and continued referrals will determine when a new set of homes will be able to be opened, something Berhow hopes can be accomplished by the end of the year. The two homes that have been opened only serve single men experiencing homelessness, but AmeriHealth Caritas D.C. and VoA-C have been discussing the next homes potentially serving single women or women with children.

The two existing homes operate in tandem. The first, located at Edson Place NE, is designated as a “Phase 1” home, in which an individual receives around-the-clock medical care from a nurse practitioner employed by Unity and licensed practical nurses employed by VoA-C. An individual will stay in Phase 1 until his cause of hospital admission, like a surgery or frequent hospitalization for a chronic condition, is resolved and he no longer needs assistance with tasks of daily living.

Jack Kline, who oversees the operations of both homes and acts as a liaison for VoA-C, says one of the most satisfying parts of his job is watching the men regain strength. “Some of that is recovery from a medical condition, but some of that is just getting three good meals a day and sleeping in a safe, warm bed every night,” he said.

Once they’ve healed, individuals move to the “Phase 2” home, located at Congress Street NE, and their medical needs continue to be monitored through out-patient visits at a Unity clinic. Altogether, the average length of stay at Hope Has a Home is four months.

In both phases, community support workers employed

by VoA-C and Yeibio, the social worker, help the men feel comfortable in their new surroundings. Yeibio explained that she and the rest of the staff make sure each of the men has their necessities, like toiletries and clothing, to help them acclimate.

They also help the men become comfortable with one another, as they share a kitchen, bathrooms and community spaces.

But Yeibio’s primary goal in Phase 2 is connecting residents to permanent housing.

Interior of one of Hope Has a Home’s houses.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JANA BERHOW / HOPE HAS A HOME

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Diagrom of Hope Has a Home’s services, displayed on a poster.

Michael Hawkins, a Hope Has a Home client.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JANA BERHOW, HOPE HAS A HOME

PHOTO COURTESY OF TKTK

As soon as a client enters Phase 1, Yeibo will ensure that he has an up-to-date profile in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and assesses him using the VI-SPDAT, a survey that assigns individuals experiencing homeless a vulnerability score based on history of homelessness, medical conditions, mental illness, substance use, and other factors. The VI-SPDAT and information in HMIS helps create a priority list for those most in need of permanent housing. Finally, Yeibio attends the twice-monthly Coordinated Assessment and Housing Placement Meeting (CAHP), run by The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness, where prioritized individuals are matched to various housing programs.

Residents of Hope Has a Home tend to have a high vulnerability score, according to Kline, which often means they are matched to housing vouchers quickly.

But sometimes they don’t score highly on the VI-SPDAT or their history of homelessness is not well-documented in the HMIS database, explained Carla Lester, the senior director of programs at Pathways to Housing. In this situation, Yeibio can utilize an alternative process known as case conferencing, which allows her to advocate, based on her professional judgment, for residents’ need for housing because of their medical vulnerabilities.

As Street Sense Media previously reported, DHS temporarily suspended the CAHP program in late March because of the pandemic, citing concerns for client and staff safety. According to Kristy Greenwalt, director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, the CAHP program re-started on May 4 and plans to resume normal operations in a phased process.

First, District residents who are being proactively housed in the hotel set aside for older and medically vulnerable members of the homeless population are being prioritized for housing programs. Staff on site at the hotel are helping residents navigate the now virtual processes, for instance applying remotely for ID’s through the DMV. At this point, only community partners involved in this first stage of the

re-starting process have received training on the new virtual processes. “As with anything that’s re-opening, it’s not like just turning a light switch on,” Greenwalt said.

Six men from Hope Has a Home have been matched with housing vouchers, out of the 14 who have been served by the home thus far. For those successes, Lester credits Yeibio’s process of building a relationship with a client from their first meeting in a hospital or nursing setting, ensuring he feels comfortable in the home, and then advocating on his behalf. “She’ll be there at the beginning, she’ll be there at the end,” Lester said.

Of the eight men not matched, some are still residing at Hope Has a Home, waiting for normal CAHP operations to resume.

Others decided voluntarily to leave the program because they found sharing spaces difficult or didn’t like the structure. “When I speak to our clients, a lot of them don’t utilize the shelters, so they’re not used to being in close quarters with people,” Yeibio said. Kline added they have had to discharge a few men for violence or active substance use in the home, both of which broke the behavior guidelines the men agreed to and created an unsafe environment for staff and other residents.

In line with the low-barrier approach, men have the agency to engage in substance use outside of the home as long as it does not adversely affect their behavior in the home. But if someone is interested in mental-health or substance-use treatment, staff are ready to connect them to the appropriate resources. “They are adults; they have a right to choose. They have a right to be successful, and they also have a right to fail. It’s our intent to help them be better individuals, whatever that means for them,” Lester said.

After a client has been matched with a community partner, the process of applying for housing and then eventually finding a placement takes a while. Yeibio and the community support workers strive to improve their clients’ overall quality of life during their entire stay at Hope Has a Home, but especially during this waiting period. That may mean helping a client apply for food stamps or Social Security income, sending out job applications, or reconnecting them with a “core service

Last year, the District had fewer than 50 “medical respite” beds for people experiencing homelessness who are too sick to be living on the street or in a shelter but not sick enough to be in a hospital or nursing-home setting.

agency” for behavioral health or a case manager with whom they had lost touch.

“Housing is housing, but we also want to work on those things that add life to someone’s years,” Lester said.

Defining success Though she is pleased with the impact Hope Has a Home has had thus far, Dale said a year’s worth of data is needed to conclusively measure its success. The critical metrics: hospital readmissions within 31 days of discharge from the hospital, preventable complications, and uses of the emergency department for a non-emergency issue, such as a urinary tract infection, that could be treated by a primary care doctor.

The results of meeting such performance goals will be threefold, Dale said. On the patient level, meeting these measures is an indication of an individual’s long-term stability. And from a financial standpoint, fewer emergency room visits and preventable hospital stays will lower costs for her organization.

Additionally, the D.C. Department of Health Care Finance offers AmeriHealth Caritas D.C. and other Medicaid-managed care organizations a monetary incentive for meeting such goals.

Lester at Pathways to Housing said another standard of success might be examining individuals’ use of the healthcare system after being placed in housing through Hope Has a Home. “Are they more connected to their primary care provider? Are they refilling all of their medications on time?

Are they getting their preventative screenings?”

Berhow added it was equally important to assess their residents’ personal wellbeing, something the Hope Has a Home team is already measuring using the Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment (ANSA), which includes questions about connections to meaningful daytime activities and nonprofessional support. “We do the ANSA as they come to us.

We do it as they leave. We would hope to do it over some sort of longitudinal way eventually just to answer that question: ‘Did anyone get better because of the time they spent here?’”

Berhow said.

At the program’s inception, Dale saw medical respite care as a way to build upon the District’s Continuum of Care, a coordination of resources aiming to prevent homelessness in the city. She said she dreams of Hope Has a Home eventually growing beyond its roots in AmeriHealth Caritas D.C. “I want to see it grow to being a solution for the city,” she said.

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NEWS

Lawsuit claims voting changes due to the pandemic are inaccessible to many Black residents

BY NATALIE DELGADILLO DCist.com

Two Ward 8 residents are suing the D.C. Board of Elections, arguing that a series of new voting procedures in the wake of the pandemic have violated the Voting Rights Act. As with elsewhere in the country, D.C. officials have encouraged residents to use absentee ballots to vote by mail in the June 2 primary. In-person voting centers will still be available for early voting and on election day, but they’ll be drastically reduced — just 20 centers spread out across the city in contrast to the usual 144.

The problem? Ward 8 residents say they haven’t been receiving consistent mail deliveries, meaning that many of them didn’t receive a voter guide with the forms to request an absentee ballot, or did not receive the absentee ballot itself even after requesting it, according to the lawsuit.

The suit names two Ward 8 residents, Carnecia Robinson and Florence R. Barber, who both claim they’ve had spotty mail service to their Ward 8 homes for years and that it has only gotten worse during the pandemic. Neither woman received their voter guide, according to the suit, which alleges that Barber also hasn’t received an absentee ballot yet.

“Many Ward 8 residents were receiving their mail intermittently and sporadically when the Voter Guides were being sent by the BOE. Therefore, Ward 8 residents never

received instruction on how to request a mail-in ballot; never received instruction on when the mail-in ballots were due; and never received instruction on the new polling locations,” the suit reads. “Election Day will be confusing for many Ward 8 voters who have not received their ballots or instructions on where to vote from BOE.” The lawyer who brought the suit, Aristotle Theresa, said the Board of Elections failed to take into account many of the historical inequities that continue to plague Ward 8 when it created new voting procedures during the pandemic.

“COVID-19 has led to a bunch of hastily implemented voting policies, and the District of Columbia didn’t adequately take into account the historical conditions of Ward 8, or the current reality of Ward 8,” Theresa says. “As a result, it’s had a negative impact on a protected class, in this case mostly African Americans.”

As an example, the lawsuit takes issue with the three polling places that the Board of Elections chose for Ward 8: the Barry Farm Recreation Center, Anacostia High School, and Malcolm X Opportunity Center. The suit argues that the first two are too far from many of the most populous (and most heavily African American) parts of the ward and that gang rivalries could discourage residents from showing up to the Malcolm X Opportunity Center.

“When you look at the map, all of them are on one side of the ward. They put the polling locations everywhere where it’s being

gentrified,” Theresa says. “A lot of people in Ward 8 don’t drive. There are no bike lanes, and the buses have been shut down. How are people supposed to get from one side the ward to the other side of the ward?”

Meanwhile, the suit also argues that the fear of infection could depress voter turnout.

Ward 8 has been particularly hard hit by the outbreak — accounting for 22 percent of all deaths from the virus in D.C., the highest share of any other ward by far. More broadly, African Americans have made up 77 percent of the city’s total deaths, far outweighing their share of the population (46 percent). Ward 8 is majority Black.

Taken together, the suit contends that these circumstances constitute a violation of the Voting Rights Act, because the political process is “not equally open to participation by members of a protected class.” The 1965 law is meant to prevent discriminatory voting practices.

The D.C. Board of Elections declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White is running for reelection against several challengers, including a former staffer of his former rival, LaRuby May. White narrowly lost to May in a special election for the seat, before overtaking her in the next election. In a letter to White’s campaign manager Absalom Jordan, the Board of Elections declined to move one of the voting centers, and said they had been chosen based on geographic positioning, voting population, accessibility, and space to accommodate social

distancing, among other factors.

Similar lawsuits have been filed around the country. In Wisconsin, a suit argued that thousands of voters were precluded from April elections because of fewer in-person polling locations and problems accessing absentee ballots. The plaintiffs in that case also alleged a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Ward 8 has submitted the lowest number of absentee ballot requests of any ward in the city, at 3,314. In contrast, Ward 3 — one of the city’s wealthiest wards—has submitted 8,400 requests, according to data from the city. In the last two election years, Ward 3 has seen roughly double the turnout of Ward 8. Both wards have a population of approximately 85,000, according to census data.

The suit has signed affidavits by more than a dozen Ward 8 residents attesting to spotty, inconsistent mail service and to the fact that they never received a voter guide. After a letter from Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton demanding answers about the bad service, the United States Postal Service said personnel shortages stemming from the pandemic are creating backlogs and slower service in Congress Heights. Some residents maintain the issues predate the current health crisis.

The lawsuit asks for the Board of Elections to provide additional polling locations in the more populous parts of Ward 8 and to pay attorneys’ fees for the suit.

This article was first published by DCist on May 19.

Coalition considers the pandemic’s impact on homeless people in DC

BY MARK ROSE // Volunteer

Part of a May 9 virtual roundtable sponsored by the nonprofit Empower D.C. centered on the challenges of housing homeless people in D.C. with the added complications of the coronavirus. Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, who is a member of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, said she has been advocating for putting people in hotels. As Street Sense Media previously reported, three hotels have been used to quarantine people with symptoms and those who have tested positive. Two others have been used to help medically vulnerable people self-isolate. According to city data, 292 shelter residents had tested positive for COVID-19 and 154 members of the homeless community were in remote quarantine as of May 25.

It’s also important, she said, to get people, especially people who are exposed, out of congregate housing sites, where multiple people receive support services in the same housing location.

For families who aren’t homeless but are at risk of not being able to afford their housing, Nadeau argued for pursuing federal funding for rental assistance. “We need a way to keep people in their homes,” she said. “We need to be thinking more creatively in this COVID-19 time.”

Panelists also discussed how to handle the displacement of public housing residents due to redevelopment of various properties during the coronavirus pandemic. At the Park Morton public housing apartment building, which has been

slated for demolition, the D.C. Housing Authority originally proposed housing the development’s residents nearby while redevelopment was underway.

That temporary housing, however, has been held up by a legal challenge from residents of the neighborhood, and the District has begun encouraging residents of Park Morton to move off the property without any substitute housing nearby.

Low- and moderate-income residents want to remain in the neighborhoods they’ve called home for a long time, said Shonta High, the resident council president at Park Morton. She said they also want more equitable treatment from the District if they’re going to be forced to move.

Nadeau, who sat on the panel, co-introduced a bill in January called the Tenant Protection Amendment Act, which would protect public housing tenants from displacement in the event of renovation of a Housing Authority property.

“What we need is a safe place to be so Park Morton residents can stay home and take care of themselves,” said roundtable participant Reginald Black, who is also a Street Sense Media artist and vendor. Black suggested that vacant housing units be used to depopulate the homeless shelters.

The panel also touched on the role of rent control, rent freezes and other ways of stabilizing the cost of living during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Roger Williams, of the D.C. Tenants Union, commented

that renters now have an unprecedented opportunity to demand cost-stabilizing measures, but said he’s afraid that window will slam shut “hard and fast.” Renee Bowser, a community activist and former candidate for the Ward 4 D.C. Council seat, asked everybody if such funding tools as rental freezes and mortgage deferments go far enough. Since March, the D.C. Tenants Union has been calling for missed rent and mortgage payments during the public health crisis to be forgiven. The group claims to be organizing individual “cancel rent” campaigns in more than 20 aparmtnet buildings.

“We have to make sure we’re thinking through the long-term solutions now,” said Caitlin Cocilova, a staff attorney for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.

Conversation finally turned to the underlying issue of the District’s lack of all kinds of housing. Black said there’s still a need for more affordable units built and more rental subsidies. Nadeau agreed that more housing needs to be built for people who need it.

Empower D.C., sponsor of the roundtable, proposes that $60 million be dedicated by the District to public housing.

Nadeau reminded everybody that in the city now, it’s illegal to build more than one house on a lot, adding that the District needs to be more family housing- and more affordable housingoriented to accommodate a growing population.

“People shouldn’t be pushed out when progress hits their neighborhood,” she said.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

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Data show a decrease in the number of individuals who used city shelters this winter

BY BEN COOPER

Editorial Intern

W

ith winter now over, The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness released its annual hypothermia debrief, detailing the demographics of those served at low-barrier and severe-weather shelters during the 2019–20 hypothermia season.

This year’s data pointed to a moderate decline in usage of D.C.’s hypothermia resources by single adults in winter 2020 compared to a spike in usage in 2019, but still in line with an overall increase over the last four years.

Between Nov. 1 and March 31, the District’s low-barrier or severe-weather shelters were used by 6,014 unaccompanied adults, compared to 6,568 during the same time frame the previous year. Both figures, however, are an increase from the 5,789 unaccompanied adults who used the shelters in the winter of 2017.

The 2020 decrease can partly be explained by fewer cold weather and hypothermia alerts from the previous season.

D.C.’s Department of Human Services called 81 hypothermia alerts and five cold weather alerts this past season compared to 96 and 15, respectively, in 2019. Low-barrier or severe weather shelters average more occupants on those nights.

DHS calls hypothermia alerts either when forecasts predict temperatures will be 32 degrees Fahrenheit or below or if forecasts predict temperatures at 40 degrees or below with at least a 50% chance of precipitation.

The average length of a stay in the shelters was 37 nights for men and 49 nights for women — both slight increases from the previous year. In the winter of 2017, those figures were just 11 nights for men and 10 for women.

This year’s data also reflected increasing the occupancy at the Harriet Tubman Women’s Shelter, from 100 beds last winter to 175 beds this winter. The Harriet Tubman shelter averaged an occupancy of 100 — the maximum — on nights when a hypothermia alert was issued during the 2019 season, according to the debrief.

Demand rose to almost completely meet the increased supply in beds at the shelter. The average shelter occupancy rose to 165 people per night for the 2020 season.

Other data points remained mostly steady across recent years. For at least the past four years, 75% or more of

the individuals served in each hypothermia season have been men. The 2019 Point in Time Count, the annual “snapshot” used to determine the scope of homelessness in D.C., reported similar numbers — 73% of respondents were male.

The hypothermia shelters as a whole accommodated an average of 1,094 men on alert nights during the 2020 season with a maximum of 1,208. Meanwhile, the average and maximum for women’s shelters were 435 and 473, respectively — in line with previous years.

DATA COURTESY OF THE D.C. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS. INFOGRAPHIC BY BEN COOPER For the last four years, the age range for both men and women has hovered around 50. The most common range two each year. According to DHS, no hypothermia-related in 2020 was 51 to 60 years old, making up more than onedeaths occurred this past hypothermia season. The department fourth of both the men and women who stayed at the shelters. attributed this to an expansion of services and outreach such as However, younger age ranges made up slightly more of the the Comprehensive Street Outreach Network, which provides total male population in 2020 than in 2019. For women, the support and case management for individuals without shelter age ranges of 25-30 and 31-40 also saw minor increases from or in uninhabitable locations, and Project Reconnect, a shelter the previous year. diversion and rapid exit program for unaccompanied adults “We know that a housing crisis can occur at any time experiencing homelessness. Both launched in 2019. and to anyone – regardless of age,” DHS told Street Sense Nonprofit organizations contracted to run the city’s shelters, Media. “Anyone experiencing a housing crisis in the District such as Catholic Charities D.C. and N Street Village, collect is encouraged to access our homeless services to help them the intake information year-round in compliance with the stabilize and establish a plan to exit homelessness and transition Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to into permanent housing.”

Housing Act of 2009. The District, like any jurisdiction, is Outside of the data, DHS said the biggest challenges of this required to input data through the Homeless Management past hypothermia season were gaps in services for those with Information System database if they are to receive certain physical or mental health problems, the medically vulnerable, HUD funding. The Community Partnership for the Prevention and couples and adult family members. of Homelessness, which the database, then queries the data Eight people experiencing homelessness died from from the system and compiles the report for D.C.’s Interagency hypothermia from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2019 — Council on Homelessness.

DATA COURTESY OF THE D.C. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS. INFOGRAPHIC BY BEN COOPER

DATA COURTESY OF THE D.C. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS. INFOGRAPHIC BY BEN COOPER

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OPINION

The section aims to foster healthy debate about critical issues affecting vulnerable communities in the District. We have an open submission policy and welcome diverse voices from across our region, regardless of your housing status. Whether you’re responding to something we’ve published or putting forth a new argument, send your thoughts to opinion@streetsensemedia.org.

PHOTO: A man with his face covered walks a dog in Dupont Circle on April 9. This photo essay of D.C. during the pandemic, seen on each section’s title page, was taken by Photojournalist Benjamin Burgess. The full series is available here.

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OPINION

Things will never be the same

Dollar-Sick

BY MARCELLUS PHILLIPS

BY ANGIE WHITEHURST

Know what I dislike? The bilious campaign for businesses to open up.

What is disturbing is that politicians, gun-toting thugs, bullies, and big-mouthed business owners would rather suck up the last humanhanded-over-dollar today, not caring if everybody is sick and/or dead from COVID-19 tomorrow.

Let them get sick. Only then are they hollering, screaming, demanding the best of care for themselves from the frontline doctors, nurses, housekeepers, EMTs, and cafeterias.

Evidently, they think they are immune.

What part of ignorance allows those people to mislead other human beings into breaking quarantine? The bigger question is, are you the public gullible enough to be suckered into breaking it because the flimflam businessman wants a dollar? Is getting COVID-19 worth it?

One would not think so. The choice is science, cure, vaccine—when we have one. Until then, let us all use our common sense. Politicians and business people are not doctors, scientists, or EMTs.

ILLUSTRATION BY ANGIE WHITEHURST, ARTIST/VENDOR

Angie Whitehurst is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

The world we live in has produced what we now call the new normal.

Things are now being accepted that weren't accepted in society years ago. This can be viewed from several different angles, but yet all angles point to the same outcome: Things will never stay the same and have to change at some point.

As a Street Sense Media vendor and a black male in the D.C. community, things in life have always fluctuated like the stock market, so I have learned to readjust well in life no matter what the circumstances may be. As a child, I never thought there would come a day where we had to wear a mask to walk in a store or be told when we can live and where we are allowed to go in the world.

Some say others now know how the homeless feel because their right to live as they please has been taken away. When I think about how things have truly affected me, I see no difference in my everyday routine. I’m still at home, taking care of myself and making the best decisions I can make to progress in life.

Now that COVID-19 is here, our society’s mindset will never be the same. There is always going to be someone that feels everyone on earth should have

on a mask and that COVID-19 will take out the entire world at anytime. I’m not saying that COVID-19 isn't a serious threat, but I am saying that it is not being dealt with properly in my opinion.

While a lot of people are actually enjoying not having to work and being paid a $1,200 stimulus check for doing nothing at all, this crisis has also shown people that they can work for themselves without having to have the middleman or corporations involved.

There are several options and opportunities to make money from home, which is what I want to build from to help prevent homelessness and to help others in such a time of need. I heard of one story that really gave me hope: Someone bought an old hotel and turned into mini apartments for the homeless that had nowhere to go because of COVID-19. I just feel like it shouldn’t have taken something so serious to happen for someone to really help the homeless community. My goals are to provide jobs and housing opportunities to the homeless community that wants to work and wants to change.

Conform, or be shamed!

BY JEFFERY MCNEIL

In 2008, I never thought an African American would win a presidential election in my lifetime.

If you told me 12 years from that historic day that postBarack Obama America would be a nation paralyzed by fear and hysteria over a virus that kills less than 1% of the population, instead of developing new vaccines and cures while Americans go about our daily lives, I would have been even more shocked.

We have been told by the brightest minds and experts that draconian lockdowns, face masks and social distancing keeps people safe. To want to resume your life means you only care about money, while the lockdown crowd only cares about saving humanity.

But if this virus is so deadly why are you still able to still get a Big Mac or shop at Walmart or Amazon? In many Blue States you can buy liquor, but wanting to eat at your favorite restaurant is considered risky.

Recent data suggests you're more likely to contract Covid-19 sheltering in place as the World Health Organization has praised Sweden for not doing harsh

lockdown restrictions. Yet many of our largest cities are still refusing to lift these harsh measures while some, such as New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, say they may not fully reopen until they have a vaccine -- which may not be available until next year.

This shutdown has exposed two Americas.

Conservative states have committed to freedom and free markets while Democratic strongholds force you to ask permission to go outside.

These authoritarian regimes remind me of the Flat Earth Society. In their opinion everything is certain and settled. Questioning doctors like Anthony Fauci or Deborah Birx makes you a heretic worthy of shame, scorn, and isolation.

"How dare you question us," they shout. "We are scientists, we know more than God." They show us a bunch of charts and numbers but their only priority is the coronavirus, and damn the economy and the ill effects of a depression. "We care about lives," they say. But

This shutdown has exposed two Americas.

they won't let us live our lives our protect ourselves from a deadly virus.

This virus has exposed the flaws of liberalism. Why do we need more government stimulus instead of trusting local governments and citizens to take personal responsibility in their lives? The left says we can never go back to normal -- we must surrender individual liberty and defer to doctors for the rest of our lives.

Never in our period of American history were so many are willing to swap liberty for safety.

Jeffery McNeil is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

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A check-in station for The George Washington University Hospital drive-through coronavirus testing on April 9. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN BURGESS.

Housing is health care

BY DAVID ACOSTA AND SCOTT SCHENKELBERG

Requiring or encouraging people to “stay home to flatten the curve” overlooks a key fact: Not everyone has a home to shelter in, during a pandemic or otherwise. While some communities have rushed to create short-term shelters — such as trailers or vacant hotel rooms — we must not overlook the urgent need for long-term housing solutions to protect the health and safety of our entire community.

D.C.’s thousands of people who are homeless face a number of challenges in this pandemic. A recent study showed that “homeless individuals infected by COVID-19 would be twice as likely to be hospitalized, two to four times as likely to require critical care, and two to three times as likely to die than the general population.”

And COVID-19 has only heightened what we already knew: People experiencing homelessness face greater health risks in general, with a mortality rate four to nine times higher than those in stable housing, thanks to chronic illness as well as violence.

Our nation’s teaching hospitals, and their dedicated teams of physicians, nurses and other health professionals, are on the frontlines caring for patients in this crisis. As safety-net institutions who care for the poor

and most vulnerable, they see firsthand how patients without a home struggle with the need to “shelter in place” after being treated and released from the hospital.

The coronavirus underlines the simple truth that housing is health care. At D.C.b a s e d M i r i a m ’s Kitchen, we recently helped a medically vulnerable and elderly client move into his first home in years. He is grateful to have a safe place to store his medicine and meet virtually with his doctor. In light of the pandemic, he shared, “I cannot imagine living at a shelter right now. I have no problem staying inside my nice apartment.”

To improve the health of all, we must have housing for all.

To do that, we cannot ignore that the majority of people experiencing homelessness nationwide, and in D.C., are African American.

According to D.C.’s most recent Point in Time homeless census, Black adults comprise 87% of D.C.’s adults experiencing homelessness and 77% of COVID-19 fatalities, but just 47.1% of D.C.’s overall population. Centuries of structural racism must be addressed.

While local governments, the private sector, and nonprofits such as the National Health Care for the Homeless Council have come together in powerful ways to address the needs of our unsheltered neighbors, we must d i g d e e p e r. We need to explore and disrupt the root causes of homelessness, including stagnant wages, lack of health care and mental and behavioral health services, and unaffordable housing (among others).

The prescription for more equitable housing and health outcomes must also entail prioritizing resources and investments to the

A recent study showed that “homeless individuals infected by COVID-19 would be twice as likely to be hospitalized, two to four times as likely to require critical care, and two to three times as likely to die than the general population.

most vulnerable — and now is a good time to learn from the lessons of this pandemic.

With a tight local budget season ahead, we urge Mayor Bowser and the D.C. Council to protect and scale up proven solutions like the Permanent Supportive Housing Program that has connected thousands of individuals — the majority of whom are people of color — to housing. The Way Home Campaign, an advocacy movement led by Miriam’s Kitchen and supported by over 100 organizational partners, is calling on Mayor Bowser to invest $51.6 million in life-saving housing interventions to protect some of our most vulnerable neighbors.

Finally, we must always include the voices of individuals who know what it’s like firsthand. At Miriam’s Kitchen, our guests who currently experience or have experienced homelessness have told us many times: “Housing saves lives. Housing saved mine.”

To advance housing and health care, we must think long-term and look beyond temporary shelters. The health of our neighbors — and neighborhoods — depends on it.

David A. Acosta, MD, is chief diversity officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges, which serves and leads America’s medical schools and teaching hospitals on the frontlines of this pandemic. Scott Schenkelberg is president and CEO of Miriam’s Kitchen, which has helped house more than 1,000 individuals in its 37-year history.

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ART

The art section is reserved exclusively to elevate the art of street paper vendors who contribute poetry, essays, illustration, fiction, and more.

PHOTO: An artist painting store fronts on 14th Street NW on April 15. This photo essay of D.C. during the pandemic, seen on each section’s title page, was taken by Photojournalist Benjamin Burgess. The full series is available here.

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ART

ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF INTI GONZALEZ / STREET SPIRIT

The majority of the USA is getting an idea of day-to-day life for the homeless community

BY TIMOTHY BUSBY // Street Spirit Vendor

O

ver the past weeks, I have watched people scurry about to find groceries, avoid each other on the sidewalk, and be instructed to stay where they live and not socialise.

Seeing this I can’t help but think to myself, “now the general population is getting a taste of what we, the homeless, face every day.”

During this coronavirus pandemic, housed people are waiting in long lines at grocery stores for whatever food that may be available with no guarantees that there will be anything left once they get to the front of the line. In some cases, they are allotted a specific amount of food, one gallon of milk, two loaves of bread, three gallons of water, etc.

In this short period of time the general public has gone from having a large variety of food to choose from to taking anything available in order to survive. People are minimising the amounts of food they consume, no scraps to be thrown away. People are unable to eat at restaurants, delis, or coffee shops as well.

For the first time, many have also experienced restrictions on travelling about the city. In some places there are even citywide curfews, and if you’re found to be out past a certain time you are given a warning or a citation and forced to leave the area immediately. The phrases “go anywhere but here,” and “where do I go?” will start having a new meaning for the general population.

And I suspect people everywhere are learning what it feels like to be avoided when walking down the sidewalk. People step as far out of the way as possible, and are scared to engage in a conversation with you out of fear for their own well-being.

I would hope by now you are starting to have a real sense of how quickly life can change regardless of your position in society.

However, this is just a portion of the challenges faced by individuals living on the streets, especially during this coronavirus pandemic. And although the threat of contracting the virus is of great concern for the housed, how much more so for those of us living outside?

We have no home to stay in, no TV to watch. We can’t use the computer, go to the fridge, or check the pantry for comfort food. We have no money for health insurance. Nor are there air filtration masks or latex gloves available for us. No, instead we have a piece of cardboard, a sleeping bag, an alleyway, a storefront, or a safe hiding spot to stay in. For a lucky few there is a tent, an encampment, or a shelter bed.

The homeless individuals that formally earned money on the streets by selling handmade jewellery, patches, Street Spirit newspapers or picking up trash with Downtown Streets Team are now without any source of income.

Before this worldwide coronavirus pandemic erupted, there were a number of organisations feeding the homeless. There were food pantries, and individuals who gave out donations of canned goods or leftovers from catered parties. Now, very few are donating and or throwing away food, and rightly so.

Families must take care of their own first and foremost.

Now we sit on empty streets or congregate with other homeless people in hopes of getting a little food, maybe a can of tuna or a pack of ramen noodles, all the while increasing our chances of becoming infected with the coronavirus. Now that many of the organisations that feed the homeless have become scarce to non-existent, even dumpster diving is pointless during this pandemic. What are we to do?

This all adds to the overwhelming pressure on a life that is already sought with trials and tribulations most will never know.

Yes, the coronavirus is giving the general population some understanding of what the homeless individuals face every day. Where is the concern for the ever-present and continuing epidemic called homelessness? Unfortunately, I have found that if an issue doesn’t affect an individual personally, there is very little real concern.

Timothy Busby is a writer for Street Spirit, the Oakland, California street newspaper, and is currently homeless. Street Spirit is a member of the International Network of Street Papers.

T

p p ed a r !

Trapped!

BY JAMES DAVIS Artist/Vendor

No mask, no gloves No places that I loved No restaurants are open Just gotta keep hoping All I do is sleep and dream If I look out this window again, I swear I’ll scream!

Ate my third dinner today Wondering how much I weigh Some may wonder if I snapped I guess I’m alright — just trapped.

Stay safe customers and Street Sense Media friends! Photo

by James Davis.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

// 1 9

First Day

BY QUEENIE FEATHERSTONE Artist/Vendor

The Tucker family was in the hospital delivery room waiting for a new arrival.

“Push, push!” the doctor exclaimed.

The husband could not go into the delivery room to help — he had to stay six feet away because of the coronavirus.

Baby number one came out.

There was a rookie registration clerk demanding that the husband give the baby a name. The wife was yelling for the husband, and the husband was getting nervous, and mad. The registration clerk was demanding a name.

Out of frustration, the husband said, “Hell, ‘Coronavirus!’”

The doctor looked again and here comes baby number two. The wife was screaming for her husband and the registration clerk was yelling at the husband for a second name. Still he couldn’t go into the delivery room.

When the clerk demanded another name, the husband yelled out, “Stupid coronavirus!”

Out of amazement the doctor exclaimed, “Push, push, push!”

Here comes baby number three. The wife was still screaming, and the husband was a nervous wreck. The registration clerk was really demanding a third name from the husband. But all he said was, “Dumb COVID-19! I need to be with my wife.”

So the gist of this story is the Tucker family will take home three new additions to their family: 1. Hell Coronavirus 2. Stupid Coronavirus 3. Dumb COVID-19 For the rest of their lives.

Dear reader, life must go on. We must face each day with what we are given. My faith and your faith will keep us strong. Yes, be very concerned. However, we must still have laughter in our lives.

We all can beat this COVID-19 together

BY AIDA PEERY Artist/Vendor

I’m praying for all of my loyal Street Sense Media customers. I hope they are doing well during this pandemic.

Me, on the other hand, well emotions are flying high within my family and a few friends, even though we all live in our own respective homes. Sure, it’s trying times, even among our loved ones.

Humans are social people, but we all need some alone time from each other too. That’s why we have schools, so our children can learn to be sociable among their peers, and parents can keep their sanity in check.

Now, with this pandemic going on, God is definitely trying all of our patience with the stay-at-home order.

I’m praying for a lot of children and other domestic violence victims that are trying to stay safe from their abusers. If anyone, like a neighbor, hears something that isn’t right, they should go ahead and say something to the proper authorities.

The stay-at-home order doesn’t mean everything is shut-down.

I Am Worried About the Virus

BY JACQUELYN PORTEE Arist/Vendor

To all Street Sense clients, staff and vendors: I hope this note finds you well and safe. I want to give a special thanks to all our Street Sense clients for all their support before and during this difficult and trying time. I miss seeing the streets crowded here in the Washington D.C. area due to all the social distancing and stay at home orders.

I feel that the virus has had a domino effect on all our lives in various ways. There have been a great deal of people who have tragically lost their lives and health. Jobs and businesses have been greatly devastated due to this COVID-19 pandemic.

What is really disturbing to me is that people are being systematically and unfairly stigmatized, which is leading to discrimination.

Due to the pandemic, the unemployment rate has increased and businesses have lost revenue, which will continue to fall

until we work together to find more solutions in fighting and coping with this pandemic. I would urge people to protect themselves and stay well as much as possible. Also, stay well informed. The New York Times reported that the first coronavirus vaccine tested in humans seems safe so far. It was tested in eight people and will now be tested in hundreds more. If things continue to go well, they expect a vaccine to be widely available by early 2021. Others companies are also working to create vaccines.

I also suggest if you’re wearing a cloth face mask, you can put on gloves and wash it in hot soapy water with a little touch of chlorine. My intent is not to give medical advice, but just a suggestion. Thank you all again for your continued support and may God continue to heal, bless and keep you safe.

Coronavirus has got me pulling out old projects I kicked aside years ago. Social media has got me all depressed, talking about some of Trump’s inappropriate sarcastic comments about hydroxychloroquine, which is used to treat malaria, saying it could treat COVID-19. Trump’s supporters believe every word he says because he is the president of the United States!

The bottom line is I am bored out of my mind. But I prefer to have a stay-at-home order in the hopes of not being a contributor to spreading COVID-19 to others whose immune system is compromised or who might not know that they have a compromised immune system, even though they feel healthy.

We all have to work together to beat this COVID-19! I want some sense of normalcy back into my life too! I miss holding my grandchildren, Mom, daughter and talking with my Street Sense Media clients.

We all have to show some sense of empathy towards all of mankind during these trying and scary times.

2 0 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // M AY 2 7 - J U N E 9 , 2 0 2 0

FUN & GAMES

Intermediate Sudoku by KrazyDad, Volume 20, Book 2

8 5

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Warm comfort, that warms Reassuring hope, desire, feed Intermediate Sudoku by KrazyDad, Volume 20, Book 2 © 2019 KrazyDad.com Home, warm, comfort, home.

6

3 8 1 9 each column and Need a little help?

The hints page shows a logical order to solve the 3 7 1 8 5 9 6 2 puzzle.

4 3 each 3-by-3 block Use it to identify the next square you should solve. Or use the answers page contain all of the if 9 you really get stuck.

5 8 9 7 2 4 1 6 3 digits 1-9.

1 4 2 3 6 8 9 7 5 6 7 7 3 6 9 1 5 8 4 2 LAST 2 5 8 4 7 6 3 9 1 8 EDITION’S PUZZLE 5 6 1 3 5 9 2 4 8 7 SOLUTION >> 4 4 9 7 1 8 3 2 5 6 that row,solve the puzzle without guesswork.

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

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

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2

To hear a stream Reason to find bliss, too Relax, lounge.

Sudoku #2

7

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

8

BY REGINALD BLACK // Artist/Vendor

The red wind-sun wrothe well a run

Wowers Who was to king?

Wa uas noght king?

Fill inso that each row, each column and each Fill inSUDOKU: the blank squares block contain all of the digits9 1 thru blank squares 8 3-by-3 1 the 6 9.5 2 4 1 7

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

6

Golden Haikus

4

5 8 6 4 7 3 9

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

1

8

3

2

7

6

A stream of home Relax, lounge, reason That bliss find hope.

These poems were entered into the annual “Golden Haiku” competition last year.

COURTESY OF VIKTOR HAHN / WIKIPEDIA

1

Rin Ronne

IMAGE COURTESY OF PICKPIK.COM

3

The stature of a science is commonly measured by the degree to which it makes use of mathematics.

-- S. S. Stevens

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

Artistic representation of a giant star.

Sudoku #3

POEMS BY FRANKLIN STERLING Artist/Vendor

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

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1-888-793-4357

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

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

Unity Health Care 3020 14th St., NW // unityhealthcare.org - Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500 - Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699 1500 Galen Street SE, 1500 Galen Street SE, 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE, 1660 Columbia Road NW, 4414 Benning Road NE, 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 555 L Street SE, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, 1717 Columbia Road NW, 1313 New York Avenue, NW BSMT Suite, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 828 Evarts Place, NE, 810 5th Street NW

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

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

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

For up-to-date information on service provider operations during the pandemic, visit: TinyURL.com/HOS-covid

// 2 1

HELP! WE’RE LOOKING FOR

volunteers

Become a Street Sense Media volunteer and help further our mission to empower people experiencing homelessness. Get to know the vendors and make a difference in their lives and yours!

More details: streetsensemedia. org/volunteer You can support our vendors by helping provide essential resources in our office for one four-hour shift each week.

If interested, please contact: Nikki D’Angelo nikki@streetsensemedia.org 202-347-2006 (x10) Or you can support our artists and interns by helping with editorial duties such as writing, editing, page design, and web publishing.

If interested, please contact: Eric Falquero ericf@streetsensemedia.org 202-670-5591

Lonely Space

Lost in time, frozen in space.

Am I an Invisible Object?

Can you not see me?

Maybe I'm transparent, Or maybe I'm not worthy of your gaze.

BY COREY SANDERS, A.KA. “MR. 13TH AND F” Artist/Vendor

Yet I wish you could see me, that just for one moment you could know me.

Maybe we might be friends.

I'd really like that.

This space is so empty when no one knows your name, or sees and hears you.

Just silence.

Have you ever tried talking to silence?

Just give it some thought next time you walk by.

You might not see me, but I'm here...

“There’s no clarity in similarlity.”

IMAGE COURTESY OF JÓNATAS PEREIRA / WALLPAPERFLARE.COM

The only question that matters

BY CHON GOTTI // Artist/Vendor

epidemic, without having to worry about making money or paying debts off?

I think we value paper money too much which is becoming a major problem within the United States. Because the real truth is that paper money has no value at all. We can hold on to it, save it, and it really doesn’t

Things that are holy

I’d also like to ask my wonderful customers for their prayers. My wife has been a special part of my life. She has been the inspiration and dedication to the man I am today. I love her with all my heart. She will be heading into open heart surgery on May 28 and I’m stressed about it, especially during this time. But I’m confident she will make a full recovery, and continue to be a special part of my life.

Thank you for reading Street Sense!

BY REV. JOHN LITTLEJOHN Artist/Vendor

First of all, what is “holy?” Well, one definition is “worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.”

The shadow of things to come in the Old Testament focuses on physical places and items that were considered especially holy and dedicated, such as holy oil, holy water, a holy altar, holy garments, and holy sacrifices. In the Book of Leviticus, 11:45, the Bible says “For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

In the New Testament, however, the holy thing we’re focused on is the eternal and spiritual holiness that was merely shadowed by the earlier ceremonies. That calling is granted through our holy faith, Amen!

1 Peter 2:9 goes on to describe this calling and says, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.”

While we serve the Lord on this Earth, we are “sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” (Ephesians 1:13) The Holy Bible talks about “holy” once again in the Book

I would like to thank all of my beautiful customers for listening. Stay humble and safe.

of Romans, 7:12. It says, “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.”

God loveth a cheerful giver. So, when we give, best give from the heart and with love. It is truly a blessing when we can give to those in need and receive from those who may have more than they need. We are called to do it.

The Bible says, “The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.” (1 Thessalonians 3:12) Give and it should be given back to you. People caring, and sharing, and the list goes on and on. Amen!

The Bible talks about “holy” again in 2 Timothy 1:9 it says, “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” Jerusalem on Earth, destroyed and rebuilt throughout history, is the prototype. New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, wherein the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and He their God.

MAY 27 - JUNE 9, 2020 | VOL. 17 ISSUE 15

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There are many questions I have for city officials. But right now there is only one that matters: Why aren’t we allowing all Americans to live peacefully without having to pay rent, utilities, insurance and mortgages during this crisis? Why can’t we allow people to be safe during this

matter. Paper money is useless until you make a purchase or invest it into yourself or your community, or into stocks, bonds, etc… Most banks and wealthy bankers own everything from property to money, all over the United States of America.

So, the question is: Why can’t we as Americans going through this crisis live in Peace, Love and Harmony, and not be forced into extreme situations and stressed out about making a living contribution to this amazing land that they call free?

THANK YOU for continuing to read Street Sense during these trying times. 31 people’s work went into what you just read.

If you can, please take a moment to pay one of our 130+ vendors as you would if you purchased a physical copy of the paper by using our mobile payments app.

In case you do not know your vendor’s name, a visual guide to all vendors listed on the app follows this page.

This is still new territory for us, and we appreciate any feedback on how to improve. editor@streetsensemedia.org.

Lastly, please help us spread the word about how to support our vendors and read these digital editions.

Vendor James Hughes

PHOTO BY ROLANDO APARICIO VELASCO

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