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@streetsensedc /streetsensedc OUR STORY Street Sense began in August 2003 after Laura Thompson Osuri and Ted Henson approached the National Coalition for the Homeless on separate occasions with the idea to start a street paper in Washington, D.C. Through the work of dedicated volunteers, Street Sense published its first issue in November 2003. In 2005, Street Sense achieved 501 ( c ) 3 status as a nonprofit organization, formed a board of directors and hired a full-time executive director.

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STREET SENSE June 5 - 18, 2013

DC Man Overcomes Homelessness to Spread the Gift of Laughter DC native Brandon Haynes is the marketing mastermind behind Bamma Phi Bamma, a blog- turned-parody-comedytroupe that has been growing since its debut in 2006.

But his life hasn’t been all fun and games.

Nearly a decade ago, when Brandon was just 15 and his family was homeless, he successfully challenged the Montgomery County Maryland school system for the right to remain at Montgomery Blair High School. A judge found that as homeless students, Brandon and his brothers were entitled by federal law to stay in their schools.

Brandon went on to survive a bout of deadly Hantavirus and to graduate from Morgan State University with a business degree.

In 2006, the brothers created Bamma Phi Bamma as a family project and a way to recognize the struggles they have overcome.

What began as an interactive website of users posting funny pictures soon developed into a blog with a large following.

In 2009, Haynes got the idea to combine the website with live comedy shows.

“We decided to try something new.

Why not mix reality with the internet?” says Haynes.

With eight comedy shows under their belt and a growing fan base, Bamma Phi Bamma continues to offer locally-grown comedians a stage.

Haynes credits the project’s popularity

YES!

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NEWS IN BRIEF to the creativity and originality of the acts.

“How many times has someone been to a comedy show with a cowboy in a midriff shirt, and a grown man in a Captain America costume? No one has ever approached comedy like we have, and that makes us unique.”

Bamma Phi Bamma’s next performance will be the 4th Annual Comedy Take-over, held Saturday, June 8 at the Rio Restaurant & Lounge in Laurel, MD at 9:30 P.M. It will be headlined by rising Baltimore comedienne Stiletto, who made an appearance on the Mo’Nique show. There will also be a chance for upcoming comedians to compete in an open mic competition.

Tickets can be purchased at the door for $20 each.

Rival Honduran Gangs in Truce to End Spiral of Violence In Honduras, masked members of the “Calle 18” and “Mara Salvatrucha” gangs recently made separate announcements from within San Pedro Sula prison in northern Honduras, which houses the country’s most violent criminals. They were following the example set by similar gangs in El Salvador.

“Today we’re agreeing to zero crimes, zero violence on the streets,” the member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang said of the nationwide ceasefire. “Both inside and outside, the boys know what we’re talking about.”

“We want change; from now on comes the positive,” he added. When he spoke he was flanked by Romulo Emiliani, the bishop of San Pedro Sula, and Adam Blackwell, Secretary for Multidimensional Se-

curity at the Organization of American States, who brokered a similar deal in El Salvador between the two most violent gangs there.

Both gang members said they were keen to end the cycle of violence, but also demanded help from the government to find work and to be forgiven once they come out of prison.

Honduras has the highest murder rate in the world, according to the United Nations, with 87 killings per 100,000. San Pedro Sula, the country’s second city and industrial hub, is the world’s most murderous city. In December 2009, the head of the government’s drug control office was shot dead by suspected cartel hitmen in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. The country’s top anti-money laundering official was murdered in April.

Honduran President Porfirio Lobo gave his blessing to Emiliani’s efforts to broker peace between the gangs, but said the government would ensure the law is upheld if peace falters.

“The state will keep strengthening its criminal investigations in order to impose order,” he said.

Bishop Emiliani has a history of trying to negotiate peace between the cartels in San Pedro Sula and its anarchic prison and has arranged social rehabilitation programs for former members.

“This is the beginning of something new, but it’s not the end,” he told Reuters. “This is a covenant between the gangs and Honduran society.”

Last year El Salvador’s two largest street gangs, which go by the same names as their Honduran counterparts but have independent leadership structures, signed

a pioneering truce that cut the country’s murder rate by half in just four months.

Homeless Student Graduates With Honors Despite being homeless, a Georgia teenager has graduated high school as a valedictorian.

Through much of her high school career, Chelesa Fearce, of Clayton County, lacked a home where she could do her homework. Instead she studied in shelters, her mother’s car and the occasional apartment her family of five was able to use for brief periods. But the young woman says her struggles helped make her stronger.

As reported by the U.K.’s Daily Mail, Chelsea’s mother influenced her tremendously, reading to her children and reminding them that everything was “a learning experience.”

Chelesa, who graduated with a 4.466 GPA, said there were times when she used her cell phone as a light to read her school books. She also had to cope with hunger.

“You just have to deal with it,” she said.

The teen, who scored a 1900 on her SAT, will enter college as a junior due to her high number of AP credits.She will be attending Spelman College, in Atlanta, in the fall.

She has high hopes of becoming an oncologist one day.

“Do what you have to do right now so that you can have the future that you want,” she said. *Compiled by Molly Kraybill, Raberta Haber and Kristen Franam from previously published reports

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Fighting to Bring Veterans Home

By Mary Otto Editor-in-Chief On a hot late-May morning in Woodbridge, Virginia, the last few wellgroomed commuters are boarding buses for the hourlong ride into Washington.

Meanwhile, a handful of other men and women, tired and tattered, are drifting up the road toward a small gray building beyond the bus depot.

They are headed for a drop-in center for the homeless, supported by Prince William County and local churches, offering showers, food, water and other bare essentials.

Michael Anthony, 60, wearing a threadbare black t-shirt hangs back.

He has been banned from the drop-in center for fighting. He’s hungry and he’s anxious.

He has been camping in a tent in the nearby woods for over a year, with a few other men.

“We’re all veterans. We don’t allow nobody in there,” he explains. “We’ve done our time.”

There’s camaraderie in the wooded campsite. The guys look out for one another - and for a raccoon they call Napoleon.

Still, Anthony, who says he served in the Marine Corps from 1972 to 1984, is haunted by pain, and memories he doesn’t like to talk about.

“I’ve got a bullet in my hip that hurts every time it rains,” he says. “I drink every day constantly, just to get my nerves together.”

Such suffering is all too common.

A total of 692 veterans were included among the 11,547 people surveyed for this year’s regional point-in-time homeless count conducted by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG). The annual enumeration, conducted on a single day and night in January, gathers ground-level data on the

homeless men, women and children living in Washington and its suburbs in Maryland and Virginia, providing vital information to service providers and federal agencies that fund and oversee homeless and housing programs both locally and nationwide.

Many homeless veterans struggle with chronic substance abuse and severe mental illness, the annual report observed. Yet concerted efforts to reach and help them are paying off.

The 692 veterans counted this year, living in shelters, transitional housing programs, alleys and campsites throughout the region represent a 31 percent decline from the total of 1,004 veterans included in the 2009 count.

Nationally too, progress is being made.

While on a single night in January of 2012, 62,619 vets were found to be homeless across America, that was a 17 percent reduction from 2009, when 75,607 veterans were found.

“I’ve got a bullet in my hip that hurts every time it rains. I drink every day constantly, just to get my nerves together.”

-Michael Anthony, Veteran A national strategic plan to end veterans homelessness known as “Opening Doors” is helping to make a difference, federal and local officials say. Central to the plan is a permanent supportive housing program known as HUD-VASH which combines rental assistance from HUD and case management and clinical services from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Since 2008, a total of 48,385

Data courtesy of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

vouchers have been awarded through HUD-VASH. Currently, 42,557 formerly homeless veterans are being housed through the program.

And while across-the-board spending cuts due to federal budget sequestration are reducing the number of subsidized rental assistance vouchers to thousands of poor families, the vouchers available to homeless vets are exempt from the cuts, the region’s annual homeless report pointed out.

“With a coordinated, concerted effort, there is an opportunity to house significantly more homeless veterans during 2013,” noted the COG report.

Late in May, federal officials announced that soon, 9,000 more homeless vets will get help and housing thanks to an additional $60 million worth of vouchers.

“It’s a national tragedy that those who served our Nation in uniform can end up living in our shelters or on our streets,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, who joined VA Secretary Eric K. Shineseki in announcing the new funding at a May 29 address to the National Coalition of Homeless Veterans.

A total of 65 of the new vouchers will go to the District of Columbia Housing Authority, according to the VA. Another 15 are headed for the Prince William County Office of Housing and Community Development. That’s the county where Michael Anthony and his fellow vets are squatting in the woods.

This morning, though, Anthony is just focused on finding his next meal.

He casts another longing glance at the drop-in center.

“Look at me.” he says. “I’m starvin’ like Marvin.”

“I’ve gotta calm down.”

STREET SENSE June 5 - 19, 2013

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news

Changes to Homeless Law Get First Hearing

By Angela Harvey Editorial Intern Members of the homeless community, advocates and government representatives packed a June 3 hearing for their first chance to speak on proposed changes to a law that stipulates how the city provides services for its homeless residents.

The proposals, advanced by DC Mayor Vincent Gray, are intended to help families move more quickly from the city’s overburdened shelter system toward self-sufficiency. But the measures represent significant departures from the current law.

“We are talking about a philosophical shift or switch in our attitudes towards homelessness,” said DC City Councilmember Jim Graham, chair of the human services committee. “There are 92 witnesses here today, so obviously there’s a great deal of importance attached to this bill and to these amendments.”

In one of the most controversial of the proposed changes, clients in some city shelters and transitional housing programs would be required to place a portion of their incomes into savings or escrow accounts. Under another of the amendments, families refusing to accept two offer of rapid-rehousing assistance could be terminated from shelter or supportive housing programs.

In a third shelter placements for families would be offered on a “provisional” basis only to those with no other options, such as staying with relatives or friends.

Homeless parents would work with city human services staff to find alternatives to a long-term stay in a hotel or in the city’s family shelter at the former D.C. General Hospital.

The amendments were originally included in the city’s Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Support Act (BSA), which is scheduled for a vote June 18. But Graham and the rest of the human services committee voted to pull the amendments from the budget bill and consider them as separate legislation, the Homeless Services Reform Amendment Act of 2013, to allow for more opportunities for public hearings, comments and modifications.

As Street Sense went to press June 4, a spokesperson at Graham’s office said it was unclear whether the councilmember would place any of the amendments back into the BSA prior to the June 18 vote.

At the hearing on the amendments, a long list of witnesses weighed in with their concerns.

“The amendments conflict with the philosophy and programming of supportive housing, violates federal civil rights laws, and will have a substantial fiscal cost to D.C.,” said Amber Harding with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.

After several witnesses said the bill was

unconstitutional, Graham said he wanted the city’s attorney general to conduct a review of the amendments to determine if civil rights violations exist in the wording.

Other who spoke expressed concerns about an amendment that would allow residents of transitional and permanent supportive housing programs to be discharged from their housing if they are incarcerated or institutionalized for 60 days or more.

“It’s perverse to pick people for a program precisely because of their history with jails, prisons, and health institutions, and then kick them out for relapsing, for needing surgery or for having a breakdown,” Harding said.

The provision requiring homeless families to deposit of money into a savings or escrow account as a condition of shelter also raised questions. The details of this requirement- if it includes earned or unearned income, and what percentage of that income must be saved- still need to be worked out, Graham said.

“We are unable to find any state that has a program similar to that which is being proposed in D.C. where contributing to escrow is a mandatory condition of remaining in a shelter,” Graham said, noting he was uncomfortable with the ambiguity of the amendment.

“We are in the forefront by proposing this, but this is not the kind of forefront I

D.C. Department of Human Services chief David Berns (left) listens to testimony from 4 of the 92 witnesses who signed up to speak at the June 3rd hearing.

Photo by Angela Harvey

want to be in,” added Graham. He asked several supporters of the bill if they would be able to save money if his or her only income was Temporary Cash Assistance for Needy Families.

The provision that would allow shelters to terminate residents who fail to accept two separate offers for appropriate permanent housing or rapid re-housing did win words of praise, however. Under the proposal, homeless families would receive assistance paying a security deposit, first month’s rent or a temporary rental subsidy on an apartment.

In the past, however, human services officials say some families have chosen to turn down offers of rapid-rehousing, choosing instead to remain in the shelter in hopes of receiving long-term rental assistance in the form of a subsidized housing voucher.

“We do not believe that families should be able to continue to pass on good opportunities for immediate, safe, stable housing because they prefer to wait for a voucher,” said Ralph Belk, deputy executive director of The National Center for Children and Families.

Provisions Have Witnesses Deeply Divided

By Reginald Black Vendor, “Da Street Reportin’ Artist” Proposed changes to the city’s Homeless Services Reform Act have advocates for the poor and homeless deeply divided.

That became very clear as dozens of speakers took the microphone at a June 3 hearing.

Some said measures such as requiring homeless families to save money in an escrow account while they are in the shelter will help them get back on their feet. Others dismissed the amendments as a terrible idea.

Ward 1 resident Valerie Williams clearly fell into that second category.

“I wonder how do you sleep at night when families sleep on the street or in shelters packed overtop on each other?” she asked city officials.

“You don’t stick a knife in a man’s back nine inches and pull it out six and say its helping him.”

Others had good things to say about the savings plan for participants in some city homeless programs.

“I support the escrow because I have seen it work in other programs,” said Bessie Swann, executive director of Wheeler Creek Community Development Corporation (WCCDC), a nonprofit organization

serving low-income residents through the development of social, economic and housing opportunities. “I urge you to pass these amendments quickly.”

Glen Rother representing the Coalition for the Homeless said he agreed. His organization already has a voluntary savings plan.

“Once clients see their savings grow, saving becomes habitual,” he said

“You don’t stick a knife in a man’s back nine inches and pull it out six and say its helping him.”

- Valerie Williams, Ward 1 Resident Kevin Thompson, who is the associate pastor of the Shrine of the Sacred Heart and represents the Good Faith Communities Coalition, said he was against the amendments, noting that all persons are children of God and must be protected.

Others expressed concerns about a provision that they said would allow the city to terminate people from housing programs if they are incarcerated or institutionalized.

Cynthia Mewborn, a vendor for

Street Sense, said “Persons who are institutionalized or incarcerated should not be terminated.”

Obediah Black, who is a resident of Adam’s Place Shelter in Ward 5 agreed.

“I don't think one should be penalized for a two month absence”. He called on government to make big development firms, “pay an escrow”.

“What we need is affordable housing and living wage jobs to improve the city,” Black said.

“What we need is affordable housing and living wage jobs to improve the city.”

Rosemary Akinmboni spoke against another amendment that would deny shelter to families who are determined to have other alternatives, such as relatives to turn to.

She described being turned away from a shelter and being labeled a lower “priority two,” because of the presence of family in the area.

“I did everything on my part,. she said.

Near tears, she said she had sought help to no avail.

“I need somewhere stable so I can get schooling. I would reach out to these people to try to get help and they say they can’t and just laugh at you. I’m still one foot in and one foot out of the door.”

As Poverty in Suburbs Grows, Charities Stretch to Meet Needs

By Molly Kraybill Photojournalism Intern In American suburbs, poverty is growing.

Between 2000 and 2011 the number of poor people living in suburban areas rose by 67 percent—twice the growth rate of cities. At this point, more poor people now live in the suburbs than in the nation’s big cities, a new study by the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings found.

Meeting the needs of rapidly growing numbers of poor individuals and families has stretched the resources of suburban jurisdictions. And the suburban poor face hurdles in finding transportation and social services since safety net programs are typically more concentrated in urban areas.

“There is no good place to be poor but being poor in the suburbs means facing a unique set of challenges,” notes the Brookings report “Confronting Suburban Poverty in America.”

The challenge of finding something as basic as food is increasingly common.

Nearly 80 percent of suburban nonprofits surveyed by Brookings reported increased requests for food from families.

In suburban Silver Spring, Md, the nonprofit, Shepherd’s Table knows that need well.

The organization has been running since 1986, and has not missed a dinner yet.

Every day, seven days a week, it opens its doors for free meals to people who need them the most. And according to the Brookings report, Montgomery County is in high need, despite being considered one of the wealthiest counties in the country.

John Eckenrode, Director of Social Services at Shepherd’s Table has been with the organization since 1990. He has observed the nonprofit’s development, as

well as a steadily increasing demand for services in the area.

“Since the mid 80’s, I’ve seen an upsurge in the number of homeless people,” says Eckenrode. Development pressures have led to displacement. And the lingering effect of the recession have added to the difficulties some families and individuals have faced.

In Montgomery County, where Silver Spring is located, homelessness crept up 2.5 percent over the past year, according to the region’s annual homeless count, produced by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. The annual survey, conducted on January 30, found 1007 homeless men, women and children living in the county, up from 982 in 2012.

In their report on the homeless count, county officials attributed the rise to “continued challenges with the economy and employment and bad credit including landlord debt.”

They also noted that the high cost of housing in the county continues to complicate efforts to prevent and end homelessness. A household would need to earn more than $56,000 annually to be able to afford a modest two bedroom apartment in the county. Still, the county continues to press forward with efforts to house the chronically homeless.

A total of 1,695 formerly homeless county residents are now living in permanent supportive housing, accord-

ing to the report.

But there is always more work to do, Eckenrode acknowledged.

“Wherever you are, there are never enough services,” he noted.

Still, Shepherd’s Table goes on offering necessities, serving breakfast and dinner, providing used clothing and supplies, and offering free vision tests and eyeglasses through its clinic.

As poverty continues to challenge this suburb, the motto of Shepherd’s Table speaks for itself: “Basic needs never take a holiday. Neither do we.”

A typical day filling needs at Shepherd’s Table.

Photos by Molly Kraybill

STREET SENSE June 5 - 19, 2013

7

News

Suit Claims Housing Authority Fails to Provide Sign Language Interpreters Mark Rose Volunteer Two hearing-impaired District women have filed suit against the DC Housing Authority alleging the agency repeatedly denied them access to sign language interpreters, in violation of federal law.

Both Jacqueline Young of Southeast and Latheda Wilson of Northwest rent apartments using rental assistance vouchers issued by the housing agency.

They allege in their complaint that the housing authority failed to provide them them interpreters they needed to obtain information about how to use the vouchers, preventing them from getting the accommodations necessary for their living situations.

In the complaint, Young said she was forced to sit through an instructional program without an interpreter or any way of understanding what was being said, while Wilson said she was denied the opportunity to attend that program at all. Both women say they worried they might be denied rental assistance because they didn’t know how to follow the rules.

They were also humiliated because they were forced to communicate with D.C. Housing Authority staff by scribbling notes and gesturing, or trying to have their children or other family members

communicate for them, according to the complaint. Further, they said they were forced to sign forms that affected their housing choices without understanding their contents.

They said the lack of “reasonable accommodation” in providing services is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act. The complaint adds that the Housing Authority has engaged in this kind of practice for years, promising interpreters but not actually providing them, or cancelling appointments because the women could not communicate.

In an interview, Megan Cacace, the attorney representing the women said her clients were “being treated like children, and they’re being humiliated.”

By failing to acommodate the womens’ needs, Cacace concluded, the housing authority is “sending them the message that they don’t matter; they do, and their rights are equally important.”

Michelle Rovins, a director at Family Health International and an expert in deaf policy agreed that a failure to provide interpreters violates the law. But she also noted that people in need of interpreters need to make the request in advance, allowing a reasonable amount of time for the agency to provide them.

Chinh Le, attorney with the Legal Aid Society of DC, which filed as co-counsel

Illustration by David Serota

on the complaint with Cacace, offered a prescription similar to Rovins’ : “If I were them I would examine my policies and make sure the policies are followed, and try to resolve them as quickly as possible.”

DC Housing Authority spokesman Richard White said in an e-mail that the Agency does not comment on pending

litigation, though he emphasized that DCHA “takes its obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act very seriously.” White noted that the Authority has “policies and procedures in place to accommodate the needs of the disabled in all (its) operations”, and will investigate the claims made in the complaint.

Unfortunate Events Should Be Our Greatest Teachers

By Cynthia Mewborne Vendor, “C=MB2” Here’s an interesting fact for you: whether 1 foot or 600 feet, a sinkhole’s width and depth are usually the same.

This fact could teach us something about sinkholes and how to respond to them.

The sinkhole that opened up May 21 on 14th Street NW was 15 feet deep and 15 feet wide.

It not only raised some eyebrows but some pressing concerns as well.

Traffic lanes around the intersection of 14th and F streets NW were closed for days while crews worked to fix the huge hole. Repairs could cost $2 million.

When the hole opened up, it damaged a brick sewer line constructed in the late 1800s, WTOP radio reported.

George Hawkins, general manager for the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority told the radio station that the sinkhole appeared to have been years in the making.

It could have been caused after a concrete manhole apparently crushed a pipe

that was intended to carry rain runoff from a storm drain to the sewer line, utility officials said.

Anytime it rained, free-flowing water leaking from the broken pipe may have eroded the ground beneath the roadway, they said.

Whether manmade or naturally-occurring, sinkholes are depressions in the earth’s surface caused by underground soil erosion. In nature, they are most common in areas of karst terrain.

In these areas, the rocks beneath the surface are highly soluble and very vulnerable to any form of precipitation or flow of water from underground drainage from disappearing streams, springs, fractures.

The unfortunate sinkhole on 14th St NW had the potential of being life threatening, and yet God spared us from any life being lost or any damage taking place except for the large hole itself in the middle of the street in an area normally bustling with life.

Let’s not forget our second lifesaver is prevention. We are being given a second

chance to get it right. The United States Geological Survey has requested the creation of a detailed and accurate mapping system to better determine the distribution of areas of soluble rock in the United States.

By starting today in properly identifying and mapping areas in the United States that are currently susceptible in developing into sinkholes, we have The 14th and Pennsylvania Ave. sinkhole. an opportunity in Photo by Cynthia Mewoborn determining and us how to respond in the future. It’s not preventing these developments. This will complicated it just takes dedication. We also teach neighboring nations how to reAmerican’s are very familiar with fortispond. I believe the unforeseen has more tude. So let’s get started! impact than the foreseen, in preparing

Photos by Jeff Gray

“It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.” - Fight Club I am Dele Akerejah’s suffocating sense of routine.

By Jeff Gray Volunteer

The artist sits at a small table, clipping and pasting together his latest work, surrounded on four sides by off-white walls that certainly wouldn’t be offended by a fresh paint job, “Fight Club” quotes and snippets of abstract philosophical theories rattling around in his mind.

Recently his head seems a bit foggy, his senses dulled. It could be from the medication he’s been taking for the past eight weeks: Aripiprazole and Lorazepam. Then again, he doesn’t know if he’s actually even taking the drugs -- he thinks he may be part of the placebo group. More likely, he figures, his languid condition stems from the mind-numbing routine one is subject to while living in a mental institution.

A particular line from the movie “Fight Club” runs repeatedly through his head: “This is your life and it’s ending one minute at a time.”

He sees a lot of similarities between the film and his current situation. In the movie, an unnamed narrator is jolted from his mundane, insignificant existence by the abrupt arrival of a free-minded existentialist alter-ego named Tyler Durden.

Tyler is able to force the narrator into acknowledging his meaningless reality and, in so doing, knock him free of his homogenized way of life.

The artist sets down his paste and extends his work to arms-length, studying it thoughtfully. This is the only time when his mind is clear, when he doesn’t feel like a prisoner to repetition. When he’s working on his collages he feels liberated. For him, artwork is his Tyler Durden.

I am Dele Akerejah’s essential desire for fulfillment.

It’s been nearly two months since Dele Akerejah was released from the Psychiatric Institute of Washington, where he spent 75 days as a participant in a schizophrenia medication trial. Now he leans against the wall of a dimly-lit room, random 90’s songs blaring from the amplifiers on the small stage behind him, points of flashing neon lights periodically dancing across his face.

Every few minutes, the DJ, a friend Akerejah met in the homeless community who is also serving as the event’s bartender, interrupts the music with an energetic reminder of his dual roles. On the walls of the small venue are displays of

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a variety of artwork: collages, paintings, graphic designs, etc.

Most of the pieces are Akerejah’s -- this is his art show, after all. He calls it the Dope Show, and it’s the first solo event sponsored by his arts and leisure company, The Dopamine Clinic. ‘Company’ may not be the right word for it, as the term traditionally suggests some form of consistent revenue generation. That’s something Akerejah is still working on. For now, it’s more of a loosely assembled artist troupe, ever-evolving in its mission and goals.

There are five other artists displaying their work alongside Akerejah’s, but his stands out distinctly. He creates collages using various newspaper clippings, magazine cutouts, construction paper snippets, even apple juice lids. Some are flat, many are three-dimensional books. Collage artistry, as it’s known, is his favorite medium.

“You can feel it,” he explains as he picks up the nearest piece and moves his hand carefully across its surface. “Something about it gives the art more texture than just being able to appreciate it with your visual sense.”

It’s a relatively small crowd so far, but it’s nevertheless a major stepping stone for The Dopamine Clinic. Akerejah is hoping that the show will bring him a new level of exposure and help establish his

organization as a major player in the D.C. indie art scene.

The whole event has a vaguely subversive undertone, and Akerejah’s statement that he is “guerrilla curating an underground art show” seems rather fitting.

I am Dele Akerejah’s lack of tangible possessions.

On a fold-out table close to the stage, just to the left of the makeshift bar lined with mid-shelf vodka and a host of somewhat sporadically selected mixers, are displayed some of Akerejah’s favorite works. Among them is one titled “Madness is a Privilege”. It’s a collage booklet compiled entirely of quotes from “Fight Club”.

“The entire personality of the Dopamine Clinic is inspired by the movie ‘Fight Club’,” he explains, his eyes widening slightly as he launches into a wellarticulated critique of his favorite film.

“It’s the idea of this guy, who’s a marginal, using these existentialist techniques to become himself.”

The concept of escaping the confines of environment and circumstance in order to truly discover one’s true identity intrigues Akerejah. In particular, he associates with the film’s rejection of material wealth in

preference for a freer, basic lifestyle liberated from the restraints of superficial pursuits. Fight Club lays out in no uncertain terms its conviction that in a generation void of major conflict or political upheaval, today’s man has come to define himself by what he owns, not who he is.

For a formerly homeless man, by living off of an infrequent-to-nonexistent income, that’s an alluring axiom, and one that he claims has shaped his current circumstances.

He says he has, in a way, become poor by choice “in an attempt to find [himself], to discover [his] true identity.”

Whether his poverty is a product of his philosophy or his philosophy a product of his poverty is dubious -- in reality, it’s maybe somewhere in-between -- but Akerejah is honest about his lack of material belongings, a fact that is especially evident while standing in his one-room Northwest D.C. apartment, which he rents with help from his mental health service.

The walls are covered floor-to-floor with galleries of his artwork, but it’s rather stark as far as furniture goes. There’s a refrigerator and a stove; a wooden dresser and a rocking chair. There’s a small nightstand, but no bed beside it; he makes up a pallet of blankets each night to sleep on (“The concrete I used to sleep on was

a lot harder”). A Macbook Pro rests on a small table in one corner, a reminder that even the most spartan among us can’t get along without at least one Apple product.

Among the items stacked in one of the small cabinets is an assortment of lye bottles and packages of hardened oil, components in his soap-making project.

In a brilliantly devised parallel between his work and “Fight Club”, Akerejah has incorporated soap-making into the various endeavors of The Dopamine Clinic. And it truly is a rather brilliant parallel: in the movie, Tyler uses soap as an ingredient in producing dynamite, representing the utility of household items as weapons of violent awakening; Dele’s collages of newspaper clippings and leftover candy wrappers represents the utility of household items as tools of artistic awakening.

“Everything is connected,” he muses, the words gliding out of his mouth with a deliberate certainty. “Everything.”

Read more about Dele’s routine, including his time in the mental facility as a clinical research subject, and how his interactions with the institution and the people within it affected his artwork, his philosophy and his life in the next issue of Street Sense.

CHILDREN’S ART: TYSHAUN, AGE 6

There are 1,880 children experiencing homelessness in the District. The Homeless Children’s Playtime Project visits 6 different transitional housing and emergency shelter programs to provide weekly activities, healthy snacks, and opportunities to play and learn to as many children as possible.

Courtesy of the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project

Comics & Games

Terron’s Game: Street CoRporate Scandals

By Terron Solomon Vendor

ll in It’s A Family the

Street Corporate Scandals

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STREET SENSE June 5 - 18, 2013

D.C. Needs More Schools

OPINION My Thoughts of the Heart

By Dwayne Butler Vendor 409 D.C.needs more schools. The city needs to stop repairs on old schools and instead save money to build new schools. When the city starts building new schools, government officials should have a plan for new technology in these new institutions. I feel that new schools will help the commu-

Mind nities and the youth they serve. Schools should have more trade classes available for students. I think they should add one more year for kids to learn trade skills, such as barbering, plumbing, stocks and bonds, and computer repair. D.C. schools should be fun learning environments and students should enjoy coming to school.

There should be a pre-college step.

Baseball: America’s Great Social Experiment Part 1

By Jeffery Mcneil Vendor There’s no wonder why baseball is called the national pastime. It is undisputedly the greatest game ever invented.

And if that isn’t enough, baseball also offers some great lessons about the workings of American society.

When you think about it, baseball is rooted in conservatism.

Look at the rules. They have changed little since organized baseball began in 1879. Three strikes make an out, six outs make an inning and nine innings make a ball game. The object is simple: score more runs than the other team.

One of the most radical changes ever made in the game came in 1973 when the American League adopted the designated hitter rule which spared fans from seeing pitchers go to bat.

But baseball has a populist side as well.

Winning teams are often multicultural, have chemistry and make sacrifices for the good of the team.

Unlike basketball and football, which demand qualities such as abnormal size and strength, these attributes are not required in baseball. The baseball Hall of Fame is a testament to the underachiever underdogs, and misfits by including players such as Babe Ruth, Mordecai Three Fingers Brown and Kirby Puckett.

And don’t forget: baseball was the first sport to promote the “American Dream” of climbing from poverty to success. Baseball’s lore includes stories like the one about the potbellied kid from the mean streets of Baltimore. His parents sent him to a Catholic school where a baseballloving clergyman taught “The Great Bambino” George Herman Ruth the game.

And don’t forget the tale of two immigrants from sunny California, one Italian and one Mexican, whose drive and deter-

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Soul

By Samuel Bernard Fullwood Vendor Life isn’t always what we want, making the best of it is the only way to stay happy.

For yourself and others around you to be happy you must have compassion.

To be happy! You have to want to be.

Surround yourself with good, and you’ll always be happy.

To be happy depends solely on what you think.

It is within the heart that one can see what is invisible to the eye.

Expand the positiveness of yourself and your surroundings and throw out the negativeness.

Be real. Be truthful. Be honest. Be happy with simple pleasures and courage to stand up whether it be good or bad.

To change your fate or direction you must change your attitude.

Look straight and if you don’t see it, don’t wait for it, keep going.

To define life as a problem to be solved is wrong but to see it has a reality to be experienced is right.

You must allow yourself always to grow from within.

When there is peace of mind there is no doubt, no stress, no anxiety, no pain, no depression, just gain.

Flow with life. Feel its moments. Just let it happen.

Be rejoiced, content, and happy with the things that you have.

The mind can reflect the true you when it is relaxed.

What we are is what we think! Don’t be afraid to sit awhile and think.

-------------------In Rememberance

mination got America through the Great Depression and inspired us through World War II. Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio gave many poor kids hope in the age of Hitler and Stalin.

And, although Major League Baseball was once an exclusive club of white males, the sport has mirrored America’s evolving attitude about race.

Black ballplayers were unofficially banned from organized baseball in the early years. It wasn’t until the late 1940s after the death of the first major league baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis that Jackie Robinson got a tryout.

Without boycotts, sit-ins or marches. for social change, baseball became a laboratory for integration. Since Robinson was the first, he had to endure Jim Crow racism, eating and sleeping in separate facilities while his teammates slept in more comfortable accomodations. But his performance was something Americans could not ignore.

Before winning the rookie of the year and a MVP the Brooklyn Dodgers were perennial bottom dwellers. After Jackie Robinson arrived they appeared in six World Series in his 10 year career. Meanwhile, teams that were the last to integrate such as the Red Sox and Phillies faltered.

But there is more to the story. In my next column I’ll explore labor history and baseball.

It is in your mind to choose to live in heaven or hell for you are the master of your fate given the power to control your thoughts but God is the judge of your soul use your thoughts as energy and you can make your world.

The Greatest Race

By Eric Thompson-Bey Vendor Despite the terrorist attacks at this year’s Boston Marathon, it is still considered one of the greatest marathons in the world.

The first marathon was run on April 19th, 1897. It is the world’s oldest marathon, that started with only 18 participants. The first place prize was a wreath made from olive branches. Today runners from all over the world participate in this great race.

The race is traditionally held the third Monday of April. Managed by the Boston Athletic Association, it is one of six major marathons. It starts in Hopkins, Massachusetts and finishes in Boston at Copley Square. The race is run on a road surface with the distance being 26 miles and 385 yards. It is also New England’s most widely viewed sporting event.

Although two evil terrorists disrupted the finish of this year’s marathon, the race

is scheduled to continue next year. The attacks just made the history and tradition even stronger for next year. So be prepared for next year’s great race.

The Street Sense Writers’ Group is led by two 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.

What Am I

By Rashawn Bowser Vendor What am I, do you know; am I alive or am I a ghost am I here or am I there; am I the sky or am I the grass what am I, do you know yet; am I the house that you live in or am I the bed that you lay in what am I, still don’t know; am I a dog or am I a cat; am I an ear or am I a nose; what am I, do you have a clue yet am I a person or am I a place; am I a thing or am I a fling what am I, don’t have a clue am I a flower or am I a bug; am I a song or am I a note; What am I? I will tell you I am alive and I am here, I am the sky and I am the grass What am I, still you ask I am not a house and I am not the bed I am not the dog and I am not the cat You look at me everyday, so you know I am the ear that hears your cries I am the nose that’s on your face Got a clue now I am not the sea and I am not the ocean I am not a ship and I am not a boat I am a person, but I am not a place Still clueless, haven’t got a clue I am not a thing and I am not a fling I am a flower but I am not a bug You look at me everyday so you should know I am the song that’s in your heart I am the note that you have wrote But still you ask, what am I; when you see me everyday You should already know what am I like, but you don’t already know that I am you and you are me and that you should know what I am

Heart of the Modern Day

By Kenneth Middleton Vendor My mind is like water that flows gentle and serene My heart is like fire fierce and unchallenged My body is like the earth strong and stable My spirit is like the wind bold and untouchable With these things I am a sword to conquer the darkness in myself and become one with all things.

The Pretty Sky

By Brianna Butler Vendor The beauty up above I wish I could touch, The blue, purple and pink I’m in awe of, It lightens my heart in every way And starts me on my way to greatness That my soul knows very well

An Open Letter to Mayor Vincent Gray Dear Mayor Gray, First, thank you for appointing me to the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness. It has been an honor to serve for the past year.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Washington, D.C., has consistently ranked number one in the nation as the city with the highest rate of HIV/AIDS infections for the past few years. As a former HIV/ STI-prevention worker for the North Carolina Department of Health, may I offer a suggestion?

Most states interview all people who test positive for HIV or syphilis, compile a list of their sex partners and needle-sharing partners, and warn those partners that they may have been exposed. The partners are then offered free counseling and testing, as well as free treatment for syphilis to cure the infection before it can spread to others. While this testing is encouraged, it is voluntary for partners of HIV-positive individuals. All names are kept strictly confidential to comply with privacy laws.

It is my understanding that the District of Columbia is one of few jurisdictions that does not warn people who have been exposed to HIV and syphilis. May I suggest that we begin warning them now?

Until Washington can recruit, hire, and train health workers to perform partner notifications, your team should declare a public health emergency and request the CDC send teams of surveillance workers to the District as they have done in many other areas with outbreaks of STIs. This would cost nothing to District taxpayers and could save many lives, while potentially saving hundreds of millions of dollars in future healthcare costs.

Sincerely, Gary J. Minter Street Sense Vendor 389 garyjminter@alumni.duke.edu

Mayor’s Plan Could Help Homeless Families

By Aida Basnight-Peery Vendor I think there are some good ideas in Mayor Vincent Gray’s proposed changes to the city’s homeless law. The changes are designed to help move families out of the shelter system and into more stable homes.

A shelter is there to help those who have lost their jobs, have fallen behind on their rent, or who have lost their homes due to the death of a loved one or a natural disaster like a fire, or who have made bad decisions in paying their debts.

I have nothing against shelters, but whoever holds the city contract for homeless shelters needs to be accountable to hire better employees, whether they are unpaid or paid. Employees should know how to treat people with different issues and backgrounds and be well-trained on a daily basis. Adults should not treat other adults like they are children, just because they have mental issues, become homeless overnight, are alcoholics or drug users.

And an employee in a shelter that has a vendetta with one of the clients in the past from one shelter to another shelter should not be allowed.

The city Department of Human Services (DHS) has been promoting a model called “Housing First,” which is working very well. Under the model, the DHS works with landlords and homeless services

providers to get individuals and families out of shelters and into housing. The housing comes with support services as well: residents meet with social workers who provide them with help. They are linked with mental health care and counseling in order to improve their chances of keeping and finding better paid employment. This is beneficial for everyone involved, because the formerly homeless person now has a roof over his head, a door key in his hand, and he can close the door behind him. No one is sharing his apartment with anyone else. All residents are freed from the stress of crowding others, there is more privacy, there is no fear of theft, and people can provide their own meals without getting sick from others or having to say this shelter food is “crap”. Living in these buildings, each resident becomes a more independent person.

I hope homeless families do not get hyped up on misinformation and what others are saying.

I am very certain, Mayor Vincent Gray is aware of the “Housing First” model DHS has created in Washington DC, and I’m sure Mayor Vincent Gray knows that it is a successful program. His new proposal could save the city money and it could mean expanding Housing First to help more homeless families.

Summer Anne Marie Kirby Vendor I came from California, where summer is a year-round thing. Not like the cold states’ snow, rain, overcoat kind

of weather. Now California’s heat made me move to a nicer climate. I love Washington, DC when it’s summer and overcast, not bad. You get to wear “cool” clothes, have barbeques, go to parks. The sprinklers are running and you get to run through them. Being the age that I am, 49 years old, I still find excitement in the summer. Going for walks I especially like. I think it’s cool in the summer in Washington, D.C. What do you like?

The Mysterious Masonic Ring

By John “Mick” Matthews Vendor

I’lI kinda felt silly holding a cup, panhandling with a gold ring on my finger. Truth is, I did not make a single penny for the first hour-and-a-half. It was then, that a wellmanicured man in his late forties, wearing a suit that looked like it came out of a Burberry catalog walked over, pulled out his wallet, and dropped three bills into my cup. As his hand pulled back, I noticed an almost identical ring on his finger.

“All you need is in the box,” the well dressed Mason said to me, “It’s all in the box.”

Before I could even respond, he turned and walked away, leaving me speechless.

A moment later, I looked into the cup.

Three images of Benjamin Franklin stared back at me.

Chapter 4: The Secrets of the Ring

I quickly stuffed the bills into my pocket. I got up and started walking wherever my feet would take me.

I stopped at a CVS and picked up a couple single-serve bottles of Mountain Dew and a couple packs of Newports.

It was time to start heading back to Miriam’s to pick up Kittie. We wouldn’t be eating there that night.

Instead, I got a cab to take Kittie and me to Ruby Tuesday in Chinatown. Over steaks and baked potatoes the size of NFL regulation footballs, we talked about the day’s events.

“So you’re telling me that panhandling with that ring got you three hundred bucks?” Kittie asked me incredulously.

“I think it’s a little less magical than you’re making it out to be Kittie,” I answered. “ The guy that gave me all that money was wearing a Masonic ring too.

Now I know that Masons should support each other in times of financial need.”

“But you’re not a Mason,” she interrupted.

“No, I’m not, but neither was Frank,” I countered, “Now if this was some way to reward Frank for saving that old man’s life back in ‘99, why does it extend to me now?”

“I don’t know Bill. I just don’t think we should be looking a gift horse in the mouth

Oh, so real. This woman I’ve seen in a dream, Loomis cried out. Now he heard her alto rippling laughter, velvety in its consistency. But you’re no dream woman, you are real, lady. What is going on. She drew him close, into the mink folds of her stole. Loomis almost lost sight of the temptress’ origins, for in his mind, when he lost Lorena, the hostess at Upperline, way way way before Lyndsey was even a glint upon his event horizon. And was that gal’s name even Lorena? Shoot, he couldn’t get a fix on it -- especially not right now, as this majestic lady spoke in a crisp whisper to Reader. In a most compromised position! Caught-in the horns of a most wondrous conundrum!

“Yes, dear fellow, you DO recognize me, I can see. I’m Ovetta Rheems. We are headed for what used to be the I-10 overpass.” Ooomph, Ovetta silenced him with a mouthful of her wrap. A tough lady, no doubt.

“Whoa,” thought Loomis. “The EyeTen Hiway is like, vamoosed. Just like in a flash” “As I was saying, we’re switchin’ over to my peach Cessn, shortly. See it over there a ways, dear boy? Okay, good.

Well we’re off on a little jaunt, to.. New YORK. CITY!” Loomis whimpered, “Why not Louie Armstrong Airport? What about these folks--” “Now, now, love,” Ovetta brushed a well manicured tapered hand with just a hint of leopard spots, but trimmed out in enameled emerald green nail polish, across loomis’ bruised cheek. “Nothing we can do about it now, just to get away. Let’s simply SHUT UP now, and fol-

low Mister Chang to the hatch.”

From this departure point things got utterly blurry for Loomis Jon Akula Reader. Onboard this woman’s aircraft, he vaguely recalled the swooshing of the mink wrap, then an unzipping sound, followed by someone’s gasps of joy. In any case, save for a jounce or two aloft, the flight went seamlessly.

“So, Reader, are you happy, you dog you,” Ovetta purred confidently.

“Uhh, I, ahh, believe so, ma’am,” responded Loomis, his best etiquette suddenly recalled.

“B-but look at them huge cloud formations, uh-uh M-Miss Ovetta, Cumulonimbus?”

Ovetta cackled with glee. “God, Loomis, I didn’t know you did Weather, too.”

“Well, they do rock!” Now the spires of Gotham City began to spiral into view.

Cross-fade to Lyndsey Pattison, freshly debarked to Houston off the ship channel, courtesy of a robust Army jeep convoy who had received her good as lifeless from an amphibious landing out a dense and massive swamp hard by the leading edge of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.

She was now dolled up in a spiffy Muumuu adorned with starburst motif over stylish clingy jeans and clutching a Cricket phone, containing a host of numbers she in no way on God’s earth could recognize.

A most sultry sirocco breeze washed over her at this moment. She had just ejected from the stultifying Astrodome, having exchanged salty barbs with none other than Mrs. Barbara Bush, mom to the President. The latter having famously declared, “Oh those poor refugees from that wretched New Orleans are doing just fine here!”

Yes, Lyndsey had her say, all right.

“Mrs. Bush, now you know doggone well that is just a crock -- why, the very notion

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Fiction is all,” she said, munching happily on a mouthful of baked potato, smothered in melted cheese.

Once we finished eating, I used the debit card to settle our check and left a generous tip for our server. After smoking an after-dinner cigarette, I hailed us a cab and rented a room at the Motel 6 on New York Avenue in Northeast. A thought occurred to me as we lay in bed watching a mediocre comedy on the hotel’s cable.

“It’s all in the box, he said,” I mumbled absentmindedly.

“What box Bill?” Kittie asked sleepily.

“I wonder….”

(To be continued)

Gayle arrives in LA

BEfore the rain pt 23: Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental

By Chris Shaw “The Cowboy Poet”

STREET SENSE June 5 - 18, 2013

of what you call ‘doing well,’ it makes me want to PUKE!” Right after that, Lyndsey did lose gastric control, momentarily; fortunately a sympathetic and rather dapper Secret Service agent on the Bush detail spirited her into his Suburban, and offered her a modicum of comfort therein.

Once Lyndsey felt right with herself once again, she prevailed upon the stalwart young operative if he knew the way to Minute Maid Park. “My inner voice tells me I need to seek out a gentleman therein, in the locker rooms, a guy named Houston Street!”

Ned, her rescuing agent, reluctantly left her in the passageway beneath team locker rooms of the vast Minute Maid park in the fine city of Houston.

Right above them the Astros pep band was riffing on a salute to New Orleans, their sister city in distress.

A darkly handsome, somewhat lanky man in a billed cap and buff-and-brown baseball uniform, appeared before Lyndsey. She panted. “I’m on a mission to find Houston Street,” she said, as restrained as she knew how under these baffling circumstances.

“Wa’al, miss, I am that man, but you are plum lucky.”

“Why,” she peeped, choking visibly.

“Because I’m on an inter-League mission. I’m not an Astro, I’m a San Diego Padre, sometimes the closin’ pitcher for the game.”

“Are-are you from Houston, Mister Street?”

“No, miss, actually I’m not. I’m from Austin, the capital of our fair state.”

“D-d’you know a Loomis Reader?”

“No, ma’am, but you’re free t’ stay and watch th’ game!” (to be continued)

By Gwynette Smith, Vendor

Part 1

When Gayle Tyler arrived in LA, she was so happy. She was a lawyer from back East and would soon take the California Bar Exam. She had been hired by the Office of Legal Aid and would initially handle family court cases involving juveniles.

She needed somewhere to stay and went to a residence on Wilshire Boulevard. The people were pleasant but the room was small, and though she would get two meals each day, it would be expensive there.

The woman who interviewed her said she could try some shelters that only take people with jobs or the newly-rebuilt Loma YMCA. Since she did not have the substantial security deposit to stay on Wilshire Boulevard, Gayle thanked her and left.

Her parents had helped with law school tuition and she simply could not ask them for more money. She got the address of the Loma Y from the telephone directory. When Gayle arrived she was greeted by a friendly black woman. The woman made her feel comfortable, since she was black also.

The place was new. It was rebuilt because of an earthquake and the new building was on rollers and should be able to withstand future earthquakes.

“Do you have any rooms I could see and are there other amenities?”

“Sure,” Mrs. Davis said.

The room was sunny and came with a private bathroom. On the premises was a fitness center with a pool, a cafeteria, a lounge with a television, washers and dryers and twenty-four hour security guards.

There was a parking lot. Gayle had no car, but it was near public transportation.

Gayle filled out the residence application and wrote a deposit check from funds from her checking account, funded by her parttime job in law school and her parents.

She went back to her hotel. The phone rang: Mrs. Davis. She had the room. (to be continued)

p

Reader Challenge

The David Pike Awards The fourth annual David Pike Excellence in Journalism awards ceremony occurred on May 23. Honoring the journalist, David Pike, who volunteered and eventually became a board member for Street Sense, the awards are given to those journalists whose reporting has emulated David’s passion to solve homelessness. The award for Best Breaking News Story went to T. Rees Shapiro of The Washington Post. The award for Best Column went to Lydia DePillis of The Washington City Paper. The award for Best Feature Story went to Gabriel Thompson for his work in Mother Jones. And the final award, Best Photography, went to Sarah L. Voisin of The Washington Post.

Thrifty Dish The average family of 4 on food stamps has roughly $5.70 to spend per meal.

Send your best $5.70 main dish ( 4+ servings) and itemized/ priced ingredients list to editor@streetsense.org by Thursday, June 13. *Bonus points for photos of your family meal!!!

The Pain of Homelessness

Faces

By Seneca Cooper Vendor

By Robert Warren Vendor

Everywhere I go, I see homeless men and women in pain.

So many faces I see, None really take in me.

No I, no eye contact Not a glance in my way.

Homeless people are sleeping outside in the cold, snow and rain.

Living homeless is something that nobody should ever have to go through.

The politicians should be ashamed of themselves for making the homeless feel blue.

They choose to be homeless because lack of affordable low-income housing, Employment, among other things. It can make a homeless person, feel the stings of life.

The politicians think they can get over on the homeless, well they’re going to have the biggest fight of their life.

I feel as though I stare, With noses turned up in the air They smile and laugh Never with me, They get act as though they can’t see me.

Is not my face pleasing to the eyes Are not my words my truth with no lies.

Cannot my ears hear them talk But not with me, The look of a lonely face is a sad thing to see.

So many faces which one fits me Look me in the face and see what you see.

So many faces, so many people you meet close your eyes see your face and see me.

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STREET SENSE June 5 - 18, 2013

Service Spotlight: EFFORTS

COMMUNITY SERVICES

Jacqueline Turner, Vendor

No one ever thinks about how it feels to be an ex-offender, just released.

They are not only homeless, but jobless. They have to learn to live a different life within the community. Some go to halfway houses or transitional housing, but most just do their time and are released.

There was a time when prisons gave out a bus fare and said, go for it. Now I’m told they simply suggest showing the armband from the jail and ask to ride for free.

Finding employment is a must. People are not open about second chances, but if you have no job, you have no money, and no place to live. First of all, when looking for a job you have to tell the potential employer if you’ve been in jail. If you don’t and you get hired, and it comes out later that you did time and didn’t tell them, you can get fired. So it’s like a double-edged sword. People have a right to know if they’re working with an ex-offender.

People talk about credit scores stopping people from getting jobs. You could have excellent credit and be an ex-offender and go nowhere. Also, sometimes people get sent to a shelter if they have no place to live. They could also have medical problems and need special

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

help. Then there are the children. When they get out, women and men get their children back and they all need a place to stay. It is very hard to manage with all this on your mind. Still, people make it with the help of organizations like Street Sense, Catholic Charities, churches and forgiving people like yourself. They can get money in their pockets by selling enough papers to help along the way. The government sometimes helps with things like food stamps or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), but you have to have children to get that. You don’t get help if you’re alone and physically and mentally able to work.

One program that I found that is aimed at helping ex-offenders is called EFFORTS -- or Employment For Former Offenders Receiving Treatment Services. But it is not just for ex-offenders--anyone can use their services.

They have programs for reentry, employment services, computer literacy, job readiness, life skills, HIV/AIDS, outreach, family strengthening through counseling, domestic violence prevention and a fatherhood initiative.

It also offers individual client assessments as well as Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous recovery workshops and individual and group counseling. It is located at 1416 North Capitol Street in Washington, DC. Everyone can use a helping hand. There are people

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

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

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

Catholic Charities: 772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

Central Union Mission 745-7118 1350 R Street, NW missiondc.org

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

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

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

Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place: 364-1419 4713 Wisconsin Ave, NW cchfp.org

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

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

who are homeless from all walks of life, and for a variety of reasons. Maybe someone will read this and find help. That’s what it’s all about.

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

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

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

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

Rachel’s Women’s Center: 682-1005

1222 11th St, NW rachaels.org

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

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

Happy Father’s Day To All!

Gratitude

By Sybil Taylor Vendor

By Glenn Artis Vendor

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and dads of the world. All fathers to sons, grandfathers to grandsons, uncles to nephews, great grandparents to great grandchildren.

This is a special day of thanks and love and honor, to all fathers. Our fathers who served in the military; Army, Marines, Air Force, World War I, World War II. For those who put their lives at risk for us.

The very strong heroes.

Our fathers deserve the best of high honors and appreciation and excellence.

Dads who helped raise their sons to be young men and teach them how to make it in life; the rights and wrongs, do’s and dont’s, of a young child to adulthood.

I give special thanks on this day to my dad, my grandfather, my great grandfather and my uncles. They will never be forgotten. They will be remembered with special honors as those who helped to serve this country. Even though my grandfathers are gone, they serve forever in their new resting place in heaven.

My father is the best dad in the world.

He is a great, loving father. Honorable, cheerful, smart, intelligent and great at

all things. He loves all sports, especially football. He is dedicated to his Redskins and boxing matches. He loves his iced tea, crab, coffee, sub sandwiches and snacks.

He is has many honors, with full fledged flags and stars of honor. He was featured in the newspaper. He helped to serve his country with great honor in 1961. He enjoyed school, even making the honor roll, and participated in many activities.

He married my beautiful mother. He cared and showed his love for our family, my two sisters, brother and me. He’s been there for us when we were sick, or well, during happy times, and sad. He was there for my sisters, brother, and me when we went on dates, stayed out late, went to shows, carnivals, movies, dinner or just went out with friends. He is very understanding and stood the test of times when we were in school. We all went to Ketcham Elementary, Kramer Junior High, and Anacostia Senior High. We graduated with honors and all went to college. He helped us with homework and nobody can replace him. He would cook dinner when my mother was sick. He played the role of mom when she went to the hospital, cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I love you dad, forever. The greatest gift goes to you dad, with beautiful balloons and ribbons in your honor.

As a Street Sense vendor, I am on the street, thinking, wondering and watching people passing by. Most people passing by have an expression of sadness or anger with attitude. No smile at all, no expression of happiness. Why? A wise old man told me one day, “Son, it’s a blessing to be on this side of the dirt.” At first, I did not quite understand what he was saying. Then it dawned on me. If I were in a graveyard, dead as a doorknob, I would be six feet under.

Then I thought, with a smile on my face, “Damn, he’s right. It is a blessing to be on this earthly side of the dirt.” That is why I smile the way I do. I am giving thanks for the blessing that almighty, supreme-being God has given to me.

It is told that when you smile the universe sees you as beautiful. When you do not smile, the universe sees you as ugly, displeasing to the eye.

One of my customers, who smiles all the time with her beautiful smile, stated her perspective to me one day. This is her story: A Different Perspective, by Heather Hanson.

A phrase I have heard over and over is, “gratitude in an attitude.” I love this idea; it is so simple, but it quickly expands to

have a community and a world-wide impact.

Sometimes I get tied up in my own worries and thoughts. I get angry and I react in unhelpful ways. It usually takes a change in attitude to remedy this condition. Gratitude is the fastest way for me to go from feeling bad to feeling happy and so blessed.

Street Sense is frequently my wake up call. I have not met a vendor who has not given me some words of wisdom and gratitude. And the vendors have the most interesting stories. Usually, not happy ones, but the individuals telling them are so filled with hope and promise, that I can not help but feel the same way they do. My story feels too normal to tell. I am one of the thousands of “suits” walking the streets of the District. I am one of the people on the subway, absorbed in a book or on the phone. I complain sometimes about having a job – which I am grateful that I have!

When I spot the green vest, I don’t feel like a face in the crowd. I am an individual with the power to change myself and spread this “attitude of gratitude.”

It is difficult to walk in the shoes of a stranger, but I am grateful that Street Sense is out there to help. It honors the voices of our city that are frequently not heard, it tells the stories that do not get reported and it bridges the communication divide between those who work, closed up in windowless offices, and those who have offices with no windows or doors.

Thanks for all you do.

Live and Let Live

By Phillip Black Vendor

Illustration by Tyler Harchelroad

June 5 - 18, 2013 • Volume 10 • Issue 15

Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW

Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Washington, DC

Washington, DC 20005

Mail To:

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.

When we live and let live, we learn so much from each other. I've learned that when it comes to hard times and tough situations, most people seem to handle the pressure. And sometimes it makes our lives stronger. Live and let live.

What I mean most about live and let live is that people live their lives, and most people don’t understand why other people do the things we do. You have to consider other people, because what you do or what I do doesn’t make it right.

When we live, we must be the best we can be, so others will follow.

Two months ago, a good friend of mine's mom passed away. I couldn't attend the funeral, but went to the repass.

What I saw was very surprising. They were partying, dancing and laughing. So I asked him, "What are you doing? Didn't your mom pass away?" He said, "Yes, but this is what she wanted." She didn't want us to mourn her death. She wanted us to celebrate it. And that's just what they did. Wow, live and let live.

I also know two people who were neighbors for years, and they would never say hello or speak to each other.

One day, when she saw that someone was breaking into the other's house, she

called the police. The person was arrested, and everything was OK. Now they're the best of friends. It took something bad to happen for them to become friends.

Live and let live.

Living and watching other people live helps us. The same person we don't speak to is the person that drives the school bus that takes our children to and from school. Live and let live.

The same job my uncle wouldn't take, someone else did. And now he's mad at that person for taking the job that he didn't want. It took awhile for my uncle to come around. So I said to him, some people learn faster than others. You have to live and learn at your own pace. That way you won’t be upset when someone moves ahead of you. Live and let live.

My sister gets upset with me because she said I don't come around anymore. And so I told her, you're still selling drugs. That's why I don’t come around anymore. My sister had a pretty rough time in her life. She always surrounded herself with people who made bad choices. But now, things are changing for her. It’s not going to happen overnight.

But it’s a start. Live and let live.

Understanding living is living. And we have to live and let live. And when we do this, our everyday lives will be so much better. To all my friends on 11th and F streets, and my friends at Eastern Market, live and let live.