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Sixth Graders Take Wilson Building rally for homeless anti-discrimination bill pg 3

“Too Many for Too Long�

community members innovate aid for returning citizens pg 4

Life Upside Down:

Coping with PTSD, Homelessness pg 5

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STREET SENSE June 17 - 30. 2015

3

NEWS IN BRIEF

Sixth Graders Demand Equal Rights for District Homeless Community

By Alex Zielinski and Dottie Kramer Staff Enthusiastic cheers, colorful, handpainted signs, and bright raincoats cut through a recent cloudy Wednesday outside D.C. City Hall.

“We live, we breathe, we all are the same,” the group of ralliers chanted as the marched around the block, protected from mid-morning traffic by a police barricade.

But the marchers’ shouts weren’t the only reason city staffers and curious tourists stopped to watch. Aside from a few teacher chaperones, the group was consisted of nearly 100 impassioned sixth graders.

On June 3, a quarter of Alice Deal Middle School’s sixth grade class spent the school’s annual day of giving rallying for homeless rights at City Hall. The result of months researching homeless issues, writing letters to council members, and interviewing the homeless population in their own Tenleytown neighborhood, the student’s rally aimed to bring serious city attention to the issues surrounding homeless rights. Based on the turnout of city officials and the event’s well-organized orchestration, it did just that.

“You are an inspiration for all of us,” At-large Councilmember Anita Bonds told the students crowding City Hall’s front steps. “Homelessness should not happen

in D.C. Your fight is my fight.”

The students worked with the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) and considered NCH’s previously collected data to learn about local discrimination issues. The data—indicating that roughly two thirds of homeless individuals have perceived discrimination—cemented the student’s commitment to the cause.

Bonds recently came out in support of the NCH’s effort to amend DC’s Human Rights Act of 1977 by adding “homelessness” as a fully protected class; this was exciting news to advocates of all ages. “[Anti-discrimination legislation] was being composed by [Ward 5 Councilmember] Kenyan McDuffie,” Bonds said, “I was really looking forward to supporting it.”

Bonds noted that the council will soon begin their summer recess. She said she is hopeful that when the council reconvenes in mid-September they will begin talks on adding homelessness as a protected class in anti-discrimination legislation.

There was some “push back” according to Bonds, which made it clear the legislation would not pass before the recess.

There needs to be at least two sessions of debate and voting, Bonds said, and there are only two sessions left before recess; tomorrow (June 16) and July 3.

“My request for you is to keep the pressure on us at City Hall and the community

to make changes,” Bonds said.

Kristy Greenwalt, newly appointed director of the city’s Interagency Council on Homelessness, also addressed the group, sharing her anti-discrimination goals within the new administration.

“You have made me very optimistic about the future of homelessness in DC,” she told the group, and later added that she’s never worked with advocates so young before. “Their compassion for the homeless blows me away.”

She wasn’t alone in this response.

“It’s exciting getting young people to take issue with something so important to our community,” said Robert Warren, executive director of the People for Fairness Coalition who was once homeless himself.

Alice Deal Principal James Albright made City Hall his first stop before visiting the school’s other classes that were out volunteering on Wednesday. The fact that these sixth graders have spent their school year learning about homeless issues made this rally that much more authentic, he said.

“Kids need these kinds of crystallizing moments at this age,” Albright said. “It’s a very powerful thing to learn that your voice can bring real change.”

The youth in attendance at the Alice Deal Middle School rally really gave Bonds hope for the future.

“I sincerely was so encouraged to see

Mass-Overdose Drags Synthetic Marijuanna Into Spotlight On June 5, at least eleven people overdosed on a type of synthetic marijuana known as “bizarro,” outside the Federal City Shelter building, reported NBC News 4. Among other programs, the 2nd and D Streets location houses the Community for Creative Non-Violence — the city’s largest homeless shelter.

While everyone survived, the overdoses reflect the recent synthetic drug influx to the District in recent months. On Monday June 15, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a new comprehensive drug enforcement strategy, including emergency legislation that targets retail establishments.

Known by names such as K-22, Bizarro and Spice, synthetic marijuana is typically sold under the appearance of incense or potpourri. The drugs can often be found in gas stations and convenience stores, although they are not legal. The composition, names, and appearance of the drugs change continuously, but the danger from their use is consistent.

In April a Street Sense contributor labeled the area outside of Federal City Shelter, near the capital building, an “open air drug market where thousands

of dollars worth of synthetic marijuana is sold.” Both NBC News4 and Fox News 5 found remnants of the drug on the pavement outside of the Federal City Shelter.

Synthetic marijuana is created when man-made chemicals are sprayed onto plant material. The high from synthetic marijuana is incomparable to traditional marijuana, more akin to that of PCP, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

“Its potency can be up to one hundred or more times greater than THC [the active ingredient in marijuana]...These things are clearly very different from THC and thus not surprising that their use may result in development of life-threatening adverse effects,” Paul Prather, PhD, professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, said in a 2014 interview with Forbes.

Aggressive behavior, paranoia, anxiety, seizures, and hallucinations are side-effects of consuming synthetic drugs. Users may become violent and incoherent.

“The problem is that the marketers and the makers are constantly evolving the composition of this product,” Dr. LaQuan-

dra Nesbitt, Director of D.C’s Department of Health, told WJLA. In 2011, The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) classified chemicals like K-2 and Spice in the most restrictive category under the Controlled Substances Act because they are an “imminent hazard to the public safety.”

In 2013, the Department of Behavioral Health’s Addiction Prevention & Recovery Administration created “K2 Zombie DC”, a social marketing campaign. The campaign creates images of teens as “zombies,” to portray the negative health effects of using synthetic drugs. The day after the mass-overdose, Mayor Bowser spoke out about the dangers of synthetic drugs in a public health advisory released.

“My Administration is committed to working with all relevant government agencies, residents, community organizations and the Council to crack down on the distribution and consumption of these dangerous synthetic drugs,” Mayor Bowser said.

Bowser expects approval of her emergency legislation by June 30.

-Colleen Cosgriff

the young faces,” Bonds said of the sixth graders.

She believes that the sixth graders really helped further the cause because “young people really make society listen.”

“I just want to say, I feel really strongly that when all is reviewed about the plight of the homeless in society, we can really thank the students of ADMS,” Bonds said, “they really made a difference.”

NFL Pros Tackle Homelessness Two gargantuan 30-year-old men stroll down a rough and worn down street in St. Louis, Missouri. They both wear tattered and grimy clothes from head to toe, one of them wearing a pair of floodwater pants too short to cover his legs all the way. They spend the day begging at food stands outside a stadium while getting nasty looks from bystanders. They spend the night in 30-degree weather absorbing the heat from a fire in a barrel. After getting shooed off by a man claiming they were trespassing on his property, the two search for another place to sleep, eventually coming across an abandoned box truck where they lay in the backseat with their eyes open for the next few hours.

“Basically, I’m trying to sleep, but I’m trying to figure out what’s going to be my next move in the morning,” William Hayes, defensive end for the Saint Louis Rams, told ESPN. Hayes is active in the Saint Louis Rams’ Outreach program, a community service program where players support the homeless. Hayes along with Chris Long, another defensive end for the Rams, spent a day and a night living like the homeless in downtown St. Louis.

With only 8 dollars between the both of them, Hayes and Long struggled with finding food, looking for a place to sleep, and enduring the brutal weather without a roof above their heads. The duo hatched their plan to immerse themselves into the world of the homeless when their team bus passed through a worn-down area of St. Louis. Looking at the homeless on the streets, Hayes asked Long if he could live like that. Hayes, compelled by what he had seen, told Long that he wanted to experience homelessness and then asked him to join him. Long’s past experience supporting homeless issues drove him to say “I wasn’t going to let him do that alone… I’m sure he wouldn’t let me either.” By the end of their time living as the homeless, both Hayes and Long said that the experience changed their lives.

“We don’t understand. We weren’t hoping to understand. We were just hoping to gain a little perspective and put kind of a feeling with the cause that we had been [donating to] from a distance the last couple years,” said Long.

-Daniel Kawecki

Festival Uplifts Incarcerated Youth

By Ashley Strange, Editorial Intern Free Minds Book Club joined with Our City Festival on Sunday June 7 to showcase poems authored by previously and currently incarcerated youth.

“Our voices are unique, we want to be heard and respected,” was sung repeatedly throughout the event, setting the stage for these young poets along with music played by members of the Chuck Brown Band.

“I was fighting for my life and I didn’t want nothing to do with no books or poetry, but after a while I [saw] that in the end they could help me,” Phill Mosley, a member of Free Minds, told the audience.

Mosley was incarcerated at age sixteen.

Free Minds showed him “lots of love and support during a very difficult time.” After Mosley served his sentence, Free Minds helped him find employment while still encouraging his writing.

The now 17-year-old shares his poems as insight for other youth on “how to change and how to go about changing [their lives].”

“It was inspiring, and the music with it makes it more relaxing,” said Terri Ford, an audience member at the festival.

Free Minds founders Tara Libert and Kelli Taylor previously worked as television news producers. They had both reported on incarcerated youth who were charged as adults.

“It was really frustrating to just cover crime and incarceration in prisons and not see much rehabilitation happen,” Libert said.

Libert lamented received a letter she received in 2002 from a 17-year-old on death row. He was executed later that year.

Libert and Taylor began volunteering at the local D.C. Jail after the teen’s execution. They believed that the best way to connect with youth was through writing.

Thirteen years later, the book club has worked with almost 1000 incarcerated young men.

“We used the tools of books, book discussions and creative writing to bring about personal change,” Libert said.

Another youth charged as an adult at the age of sixteen, Aaron, was introduced to Free Minds a few days before his court date. He was given a book and finished reading it that night, joining the book club soon after.

Today, Aaron sees Free Minds staff as family and loves sharing his story “and his pain.” He wants others to know that being caught up in the system doesn’t make you a bad person.

Free Minds’ goal is to share incarcerated youth’s stories with as many people as they can.

“The kids that are locked up are falling through the cracks,” Libert said. “[They] were thrown into the chasm, this deep hole where they are so abused in the adult system and so beat down, and no one can hear their cries.”

“Hactivists” Seek to Streamline Road for Returning Citizens

Rachel Thompson produced graphic recordings of each speaker at the Rebuilding ReEntry Demo Day, sponsored by Mission: Launch.

PHOTO BY DOTTIE KRAMER

By Dottie Kramer Editorial Intern Why doesn’t the American Criminal Justice System work? Community and government leaders joined computer programmers in an attempt to answer that question at Impact Hub DC on June 4.

Last November, a Rebuilding Re-Entry “hackathon” was sponsored by Mission: Launch to reduce the barriers previously incarcerated citizens face when returning to society. Civic hackathons--a growing trend since the early 2000s--gather and mobilize diverse groups of professionals to develop tech solutions for a chosen problem. “Demo Day” presented the technological advances achieved for Rebuilding Re-Entry since November.

“America has 5 percent of the world population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoners” opened Laurin Hodge, executive director of Mission: Launch.

Mission: Launch was started by Hodge when her mother, Teresa Hodge, was released from prison. Teresa was imprisoned for nearly six years after pleading guilty to a white collar, non-violent, first offense crime. Mission: Launch aims to help exoffenders assimilate to society.

Demo Day focused on three main solutions; a website that makes it easy to figure out if the previously incarcerated citizen qualifies for expungement of their record, an information directory of service providers for ex-offenders and a digital job board specific to returning citizens.

In addition to many offenders being imprisoned for “too long,” ex-offenders have a hard time once they are out of prison.

“Re-entry is too often the hardest part,” Hodge said. A series of speakers illustrated this reality and identified prob-

lems in the criminal justice system far beyond the means of a hackathon.

Entry and Re-Entry Employment is the best way to fight the pattern of ex-offenders re-offending and being sent back to prison, offered Dave Oberting, executive director of Economic Growth D.C. William Cobb was hired and fired “a dozen of times” before he learned that you cannot be fired over past criminal history. He went on to found Redeemed PA to show ex-offenders this and other rights they are entitled to.

“Do you know that we have rights?”

Cobb asked another ex-offender at Demo Day, “Do you know that people can’t just discriminate against our population because we have a criminal history?”

Once prisoners are released, many become homeless.

“In fiscal year 2014, 104 ex-offenders in our program were homeless,” said Gail Arnall, executive director of Offender Aid and Restoration in Arlington. “59 of them got housing assistance.”

With tensions over police brutality at a high point in American history, the entire justice system is under strict scrutiny.

“It seems ludicrous that we tell people that ‘we want you to be involved in our society,’ then don’t give you the tools to do it,” said Nicole Austin-Hillery, keynote speaker at Demo Day and employee of the Brennan Center for Justice.

The Brennan Center recently asked 15

presidential hopeful candidates what their plans are to reform the justice system.

Answers ranged from the importance of community policing to ending “one-sizefits-all” sentencing.

“But plainly, our nation has too many people in prison for too long--we have overshot the mark,” former President Bill Clinton said in the study’s foreword.

The foster care system almost pipelines kids from foster care to prison, according to Deborah Bey of Digital Humanitarian.

“80 percent of people in prison have gone through the foster care system,” said Bey, who had gone through foster care herself.

One in four young people have a parent locked up, according to Patrice Lee, Generation Opportunity’s director of outreach.

She believes that current legislation also turns non-violent, low risk offenders into repeat offenders - keeping them locked up.

“It’s ridiculous that African Americans are 15 times more likely to get locked up than their white counterparts,” Lee continued.

Despite the work of each service provider gathered at Demo Day, the conclusion remained that rebuilding a life is near impossible.

Square One William Mack, a vendor for Street Sense, was incarcerated for the last six months. He was jailed for vending without a license, and a probation violation.

Mack describes prison as a lot of chaos and confusion.

He was released into the custody of Hope Village on April 14, a halfway house with a reputation of being less than helpful.

Mack agreed with the reputation, and believes that Hope Village did little more than pass him along to the next program, the Court Service and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia’s re-entry sanction center.

His initial meeting with a case manager at Hope Village consisted of advice to get a job and stay out of trouble, according to Mack.

Mack believes that all of the options and technologies discussed at the Hackathon could work; however, he did not want to put his full support behind any one idea. He eagerly left Hope Village at the beginning of June, and is excited to restart his life.

“I’m ready to live, man, I’m ready to move forward,” he said.

STREET SENSE June 17 - 30, 2015

5

COVER STORY

A Relationship Yet to be Understood: PTSD and Homelessness

The Veterans Affairs office in Washington, D.C. | PHOTO BY MARK THAYER

By Mark Thayer Editorial Intern Drafted and sent into combat training at the age of 19, having just finished high school, Barron Hall fought in Vietnam and returned home to a foreign land.

“Instead of ... getting a college education, I learned how to kill just well enough to survive,” said Hall. “The hardest part was leaving my friends and family, only to come home to something totally different.

Drugs, guns, and violence had crept in. My worst day of combat didn’t compare to my most fearful day back home.”

There are various difficulties one must face when transitioning from combat, back into civilian life, Hall explained. He received his formal discharge in 1969, but did not receive help for his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) until 1993.

“Some of the atrocities we committed just to come home alive were unforgivable. We feared that that violence would follow us back,” said Hall. “It’s only the grace of God that has me here alive, and out of prison.”

Exposure to extremely traumatic events, namely those related to violence, may lead to the development of PTSD. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) found that 7.7 million adult citizens have diagnosed cases of PTSD. “This event turns someone’s life upside down and it’s completely outside of their control,” said Dr. Jessica Hamblen, Deputy Director of Education for the National Center for PTSD. Hamblen discusses PTSD in-depth during her narration of an educational tool on PTSD, presented by the National Center for PTSD and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“It’s adaptive for people to have strong

reactions to traumatic events. It’s protective; it helps us respond under threat.

What we want to see is that these reactions decrease overtime, when the threat is no longer present,” said Hamblen. “Unfortunately, people with PTSD continue to experience these extreme reactions even when the threat is not present.”

On June 1, 2015, the commencement of PTSD Awareness Month, a final rule amending the medical criteria regarding the eligibility for the Health Care for Homeless Veterans program (HCHV) took effect. Prior to June 1, homeless veterans did not qualify for the HCHV program unless they had been diagnosed with a serious mental illness, such as PTSD, or had a substance use disorder. That requirement has been removed, now allowing all homeless veterans who qualify for VA healthcare to participate in the HCHV program.

The initial proposition to amend the eligibility for HCHV was outlined in a document published by the Federal Register on May 15, 2014. The VA was urged to seek funding and resources to account for the inevitable increase in HCHV enrollment that would result from the amended ruling. One commenter worried that this alteration would put homeless veterans with mental illness or substance use disorders at a disadvantage.

The concern was that providers may find it easier to aid the homeless veterans without mental health issues or substance use disorders­and unintentionally neglect those veterans the program was originally stipulated for. Conversely, veterans with undiagnosed cases of PTSD will now also benefit from HCHV. The American Psychiatric Association defines the criteria for a PTSD diagnoses

as having a definable stressor; intentional avoidance of stimuli relating to the trauma; and negative changes in cognitions and mood that begin, or are worsened, after a traumatic event; among other criteria that are taken into consideration.

PTSD is a theme often associated with veteran homelessness. Though little research has been done to quantify the relationship between PTSD and veteran homelessness, it is a growing topic of public discourse.

Dr. Stephen Metraux, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Public Health from University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, conducted a study published in December of 2013 that explored PTSD as a risk factor for homelessness among veterans. Metraux and fellow researchers concluded that PTSD is in fact a risk factor for homelessness, but not to the extent that the public may perceive.

“There is not much research on the relationship of military PTSD and homelessness,” Metraux told Street Sense in an interview. “As far as I know, my study is the first to find PTSD as a risk factor for homelessness, although, as I point out in the study, the increased risk for homelessness associated with PTSD is not particularly high.”

In determining whether PTSD increases the likelihood of homelessness, Metraux believes not enough is known to develop an educated conclusion.

“There is a popular stereotype of the veteran becoming homeless as a result of fighting his/her ‘inner demons’ and not being able to readjust to civilian life, in essence ending up on the street while still immersed in his/her own war,” Matraux said. “This is not untrue, in that there are high levels of PTSD in the homeless veteran population.”

Throughout Metraux’s research, a pattern began to develop, particularly involving veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). When explaining their

homelessness, OIF and OEF veterans usually offered a failed relationship as the main cause of their homelessness. These veterans rarely point towards behavioral health issues as the root cause, according to Metraux.

“It is not so much that they are trying to hide such conditions,” Metraux said.

“My impression is that they see [behavioral health issues] more as things they have to deal with and that they shouldn’t interfere with regaining housing, employment, etc,” Metraux explained.

Although PTSD, as it relates to homelessness, is often discussed in regards to the homeless or at risk veteran population, the trauma that can accompany experiences of homelessness also make it a viable etiology of PTSD. “Homelessness itself may be traumatic, but homeless people are also at greater risk of being assaulted, victimized, and mistreated in various ways. Having safe places for homeless people to recover is important,” said Dr. Jack Tsai, Editor-inChief for the Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless. Tsai, a Yale faculty member, directs the Yale Division of Mental Health Services and Treatment Outcomes Research and also has a research appointment at the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Though minimal research is available to point to PTSD as a cause for homelessness, Tsai believes that it may be a less conspicuous cause. PTSD can lead to various other issues, such as substance abuse, that have been better linked to homelessness, according to Tsai. Regardless of the findings to date, researchers agree that homelessness and PTSD can tread on common ground. Substantial research is still needed to determine how much ground that is.

“I would say that PTSD is as likely to develop after homelessness as it is to precede it.” Tsai said. “I think something not often discussed is safety in the shelters, transitional housing, and other housing arrangements for homeless people.”

street sense

Homeless Artists Transform School Bus to Tell Their Stories

By Mark Thayer Editorial Intern Street Sense’s Interactive Art Group has gone mobile. The collective seeks to show the community—through art— that they are more than just homeless. They have skills, they have talents and they have messages to share.

“It seems that the homeless don’t have any rights.” said Cynthia Mewborn, a Street Sense vendor and artist in the group. “A lot of people believe that housing is not a human right, but it is. Everyone deserves to be in a home—to be treated like a human.”

The Interactive Art Group is currently developing a mobile exhibit in the form of a retrofitted school bus. Mewborn is confident that “I Have a Home Here” will draw people’s attention. She believes it is a terrific way to educate people on the issue of homelessness.

“We will be out on the street, and [the bus] will draw attention. People will ask themselves ‘Wow, what is this?’” Mewborn said. “Sometimes the only way to get a response is to draw attention to the issue. We can stop people in their tracks with this.”

Showing people how the homeless population feels—through interactive art—can elevate the issue, and raise awareness in a positive way, according to Deana Elder, another Street Sense vendor and artist.

Bardia Saeedi is overseeing the development of I Have a Home Here as part of Street Sense’s artist-in-residence program. His group is in the middle of a crowdfunding campaign to get the project off the ground.

Saeedi, an interactive artist, former

IT executive, and “serial entrepreneur,” confessed a lack of prior involvement with the homeless. He was drawn to the issue after working with the Street Sense vendors in his group.

“As I worked with the artists, I learned their stories,” said Saeedi. “Every person has a story—these artists are more than homeless. This became an issue I wanted to address.”

Upon its completion, the bus will have three different spaces. The exterior is

meant to be ever changing—a canvas that the group can design and re-design for any occasion. It will also accompany future “guerilla art performances,” according to Saeedi.

The group plans to transform the roof of the bus into a stage for live performances, while the interior will be reserved for artists to display interactive work and have the opportunity to tell their stories.

You can learn more about I Have a Home Here at www.ihaveahomehere.com

My Quest for Housing

MOVING UP: How Strong Economies Can Hurt Affordable Housing

I am an Oregon attorney recently transplanted to the District. I arrived here in February with $10,000 in the bank and no job. I was told by several commercial residential property managers [that] without a job I would not pass a credit check and should save the application fee until I got a job.

In the D.C. metro area, credit checks establish that you have at least double the income of the proposed rent. No job? Then you need to establish that you have at least a year's income in the bank. Don't have it? Then, as one property manager told me, you need to have a co-signer with at least double that amount in the bank – about $48,000.00.

With average rents for small apartments closer to $1,500 per month, even $48,000 is a conservative figure – is it any wonder that there are so many homeless people in the area?

Fortunately for me, an Oregon friend of mine had a house recently vacated by her tenants. Would I like to house-sit for her? With few options, I gladly accepted the responsibility until I found a job reviewing documents through an alumni connection.

In a series of articles, I will share what I have learned in the last few months. As a three time honoree for my pro bono services in Oregon and Washington with years of representing low and moderate means clients, I will be writing about housing options available for those without the resources to pass such a credit check. As a volunteer at a local legal clinic, I will also be describing the resources available to find housing and otherwise survive in a city with so many challenges.

Tim Farrell is a member of the D.C. Bar Association along with the bars of Ohio, Oregon, Washington, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

When not reviewing documents, his practice focuses on [maritime] litigation. He has several legal publications to his credit.

In the upcoming Presidential election, the state of our economy will be especially important. The majority of people no doubt want a strong economy which will elicit investment, create jobs, and allow states to balance their budgets -- hopefully without raising taxes on their citizens. But with a strong economy comes the ability for wealthy people to drive up the price of housing to the point that those closer to the poverty line are forced to live in substandard housing or become priced out of the rental market altogether.

This is happening in one of the biggest cities of the Nation, San Francisco. Much like the late 90s tech boom, a surging technology economy is flooding the Bay Area with wealthy individuals who are finding fortunes in apps and initial public offerings.

These tycoons have the ability to get into bidding wars and pay enormous prices to buy and rent in Silicon Valley. Because of the stratospheric real estate prices there, many tech companies like Facebook have to run shuttle buses to surrounding San Jose and San Francisco - where their employees drive up the cost of rent. Affordable housing is scarce enough without the aid of rapid increases in prices.

Last month, the New York Times reported how the issue is affecting the rents in the Bay Area. One engineer from Google claimed to not be able to afford rents in the Mission District, despite an annual income of $100,000. The rents listed in the article for the Mission were $2,700 for a studio and $3,800 for a one bedroom. This is a hot button issue in San Francisco because of the damage it does to the ability of low and middle income residents to afford to rent in the Bay Area. Another factor mentioned in the article is the rising use of Airbnb, which is a service that rents out homes on a short term basis. San Francisco Law stipulates an annual limit of 90 days for such rentals, but an independent report found this could still mean over 1000 units in the area are unavailable to local renters because of this service.

This is on the other side of the country and could not happen in the District, right? After the election next year, there

By Timothy Farrell, Volunteer

By Arthur Johnson, Volunteer

will be thousands of new people moving into the District. There will be new Representatives, Senators, Congressional Staff members, and new government agency employees all battling for rentals with solid government salaries in a very heated market. Landlords in the District are not going to pass up on the opportunity to increase rents because they know the new residents have no problem paying them.

A strong economy can be a huge advantage and can be enjoyed by many people, but a sizzling economy like that of the Bay Area can have serious unintended consequences. People want affordable housing, but the potential to realize huge profits by converting rental property to market rate is very tough for landlords to pass up. Many Mayors, including Muriel Bowser, have made the construction of more affordable housing units a high priority. It will be a fierce battle that will receive a lot of attention in a lot of races at the local, state, and federal level.

Arthur Johnson is a volunteer columnist focusing on Finance and Economic issues. He has Bachelor’s Degrees in Sports Management and Economics, and substantial experience working with people experiencing homelessness. If you have questions about this article or suggestions for topics you would like to know more about, please email AJohnson@streetsense.org.

STREET SENSE June 17 - 30, 2015

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NEWS

Ivy City Community Center Dreams Put on Hold, Again

By Colleen Cosgriff Editorial Intern When you type “Ivy City DC” into Apple Maps, you’re sent to a parking lot adjacent to Alexander Crummell School. Three years ago, Street Sense reported that the same school and parking lot were at risk of becoming a bus depot. Had the plan that was developed during the Grey administration been accepted, the current GPS location for “Ivy City DC” would be rows of buses.

The landscape of Ivy City is very different from the highways and grey stone office buildings that are just minutes away.

Ivy City occupies less than 2 square miles of the District’s Ward 5, with the bulk of that land serving as parking lots for the government’s snow response vehicles, parking enforcement vehicles, and school buses. The streets of Ivy City are worn and somewhat sandy, perhaps from salt trucks or maybe from overuse. Children race down the road on scooters and point out Crummell School, almost immediately saying “Thats our school!”

Crummell School was named for Alexander Crummell, a clergyman, teacher, and orator who died in 1898. The school was built in 1911 for African American children and was the center of Ivy City until it was shut down in the early 1970s.

It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Not only would the proposed bus parking lot have destroyed the school, the bus-

es would have released significant levels of vehicle exhaust fumes into the neighborhood. Given the level of pollution from existing parking lots in Ivy City, Empower DC and the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) fought back. Empower DC Executive Director Parisa Norouzi told Street Sense the District “did not follow its own rules,” when selecting Ivy City for the parking lot.

“Superior Court Judge Judith Macaluso found that city officials broke the law by not seeking input from the area’s advisory neighborhood commission and by circumventing a mandated environmental assessment” in 2012.

The city failed to properly take into account the pre-existing respiratory issues in the Ivy City community and how harmful additional bus fumes would be to residents. After legal action was taken by Empower DC and the local ANC, the plan for a parking lot was rejected.

“The city was trying to dump this [parking lot] on Ivy City, but the community fought back,” Norouzi said.

The victory of preventing the parking lot is just one step for Ivy City. For years, the community has expressed its need for a recreation center, according to Norouzi. Four years ago Empower DC made a short film about Crummell School featuring the residents of Ivy City. The issues outlined in the film are similar to the issues the city faces today. Residents of Ivy City have been vocally asking policymakers for a recreation center, but has

“seen promises made and promises broken,” according to Norouzi.

Councilmember Mary Cheh (Ward 3) recommended that the District’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget include $1 million for the Ivy City streetscapes and $8.925 to build an Ivy City Recreation Center. Councilmember Cheh told Street Sense that ultimately, the money was allocated for other purposes. If the land is to be developed, according to Cheh, it will most likely be a private developer that is required to use part of the land to benefit the community.

Norouzi fears that future development of Ivy City will result in displacement of the people who fought the hardest to improve the community. Her concern is that by the time the District builds a recreation center, the cost of living in Ivy City will have risen.

“Who will be able to afford ‘affordable housing?’ Who will be able to afford to live in Ivy City? [In 2000-2002] people displaced by gentrification migrated to Ivy City and Trinidad. So if that becomes less affordable, where will they go?” Norouzi said.

Norouzi believes a private/public development in Ivy City would not be beneficial to the community, and that developments of that nature often result in the community’s needs being placed behind the interests of developers.

On Saturday, June 13th, The Deputy Mayor’s Office for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) hosted an “Our RFP” workshop. The workshop was to gain

community input as the District decides how to develop city-owned land in the Shaw Neighborhood. The workshop was held prior to developer solicitation.

“Early engagement with the community will ensure that the public’s perspective and priorities are understood in conjunction with the District’s goals when crafting and issuing the RFP [Request for Proposal] for this District-owned parcel,” DMPED’s website states.

In addition, DMPED opened an online engagement forum to gain feedback from community members who were not able to attend the workshop. The third step of the Our RFP process is a follow-up meeting in July.

“We want to make sure we do this right, and make sure all eight Wards have a seat at the table and a hand in developing their neighborhoods,” Joaquin McPeek, Director of Communications at DMPED, told Street Sense.

The workshop was well attended, including members of all eight Wards and ANC commissioners. Although the land being discussed is in only one Ward, McPeek said people came wanting to understand how the new process works, and to have their voices heard. McPeek said the workshops reflect the new administration’s approach to community input, and that he was glad so many people attended to give their opinions.

Any future plans to develop Crummell School will have community input, according to McPeek.

Versatile Youth Service Provider Re-Thinks How to Deliver Help Faster

By Ashley Strange Editorial Intern Sasha Bruce Youthwork, located at 741 8th Street, SE, Washington, D.C., is a place where young people can go for many services such as emergency shelter, STD testing and workforce development and education.

Established in 1974, the organization used to maintain a waitlist for each of these service they provide. Recently those lists have been combined into one list for Sasha Bruce services — an approach the organization calls First Stop. Additionally, Sasha Bruce is part of the city’s coordinated entry system, through which the waitlist for Sasha Bruce services is merged with a larger waitlist that can be seen by other youth-housing agencies around the city.

The different organizations can see the youth’s information and contact them directly when space for a specific program

is available. Cotton likens this intake program to a “one stop shop.” Through Sasha Bruce, about 60 or 70 youth so far have applied to the new waitlist.

This intake program targets single youth between age 12 and 24 who are experiencing homelessness. According to Cotton, “they can have children [while on the waitlist], but they would need another place for their children to live if they were to get a call about housing.”

Jenise, who prefers to not list her last name, went through the Sasha Bruce program when she was homeless and had nowhere else to go. Since joining Sasha Bruce, she has graduated from high school and plans on attending cosmetology school. This may not have been possible without the help of Sasha Bruce, specifically the First Stop program.

“It’s a good program, they help you get what you need. They really look out for you,” says Jenise. Being on the First Stop

list exposed her to other programs around the city and she was able to get referrals to other services that she would not have had access to without the combined list.

“It cuts down on energy and time that [homeless youth] might have spent trying to get to all of the different youth housing organizations,” Cotton said.

Many youth may not fully understand the services that are being offered and may hesitate to participate.

To overcome this obstacle, Sasha Bruce plans to recruit by having other youth do outreach.

“The best way of getting the word out there to youth is through their peers,” Cotton said.

The goal is to help them understand that “it’s better to be on the list than not on the list.” As incentives to complete the intake process, outreach workers will offer gift cards for Chipotle and 4 bus tokens to the youth they speak with.

A Tribute To My

ILLUSTRATION BY ANGIE WHITEHURST

I Never Sang for My Father

By Ken Martin, Vendor

He heard me rehearse but never heard me in performance. He never really believed in me or in my voice; neither singing or when speaking as an advocate for the community.

I sang for many others in different places, but never for my Dad. Now after 30 years since his passing, I’m coming to terms with this. “It took a minute.” Thirty years of Father’s Days without my Dad. After 20 years of his not listening.

Now that sounds sad, but it’s not. It’s a gift! Revelation and Healing!

Sad is six years of Father’s Days estranged from my children. I want to hear

them sing! I long to hear their voices.

Nothing would please me more than knowing they want to be heard, that they echo my love of community, of mankind, of God. I know they didn’t get my singing voice.

But they do have my passion for people, for fair play and for equality. They have my love of life and it’s another gift! My children are, and share, a part of me. (even if they are apart from me) What’s sad is that like me, they will against their wishes be without their Dad this Father’s Day.

CYNTHIA MEWBORN

Father’s Day

By Ricardo Meriedy, Vendor

A day for a father to be recognized By mother and kids who make you feel good inside.

You may not be around all the time, But on Father’s Day when the phone rings, What a surprise.

It doesn’t matter how old you are You hear kind words that ease your mind And soothe your soul

A dramatic feeling touches you inside That makes you want to cry.

No matter what kind of father you Have been through the years, On June 21rst, when the phone rings, You will hear “I Love You” anyway.

Happy Father’s Day!

To all customers who supported me during my sadness and mourning due to the lost of my father on February 20th around 10:41 A.M. I am sorry for the delay of doing a tribute in honor of my father. I had been very stressed out and depressed along with my mom, sisters, brother-sister in law, my little nieces and the rest of my family and relatives. we all have dad in our hearts and spirits. I have grieved for two months, day by day about him. A lot of sadness. I dream about him a lot now and he looks good hour by hour, minute by minute. I really do miss my father, and i have a lot of tears and sadness. I found it hard to write for the paper. I really am dealing with heartache, pain, sadness, and despair. Is my sister and mother still mourning? They still continue to go on day

by day by keeping the house up, and paying the utility bills.With having a great lawyer to help them out, everything was transfered into my mother’s name. The bank account was kept open and my father left my mom and Bridgette well off to continue to live life to the fullest and remember all of the wonderful things that dad did for them.

This Easter without dad was very sad and hard for us. He was with us last Easter and it was a joy. Now, he’s gone onto glory, a new home. I’ve been hurting and crying along with my mother and sister.

The joy of love and happiness had faded away. Dad wasn’t there Easter morning, and Easter dinner wasn’t the same. Sharing and carrying my easter baskets, coloring eggs, and being the Easter bunny

STREET SENSE June 17 - 30, 2015

y Father

My BFF

By Sybil Taylor Vendor

FATHER’S DAY

By Rondald “Pookanu” Dudley Vendor At a time when I was ready to give up on music and life, my daughter Brooke was there to pick me up at only 6-years-old.

She is just a child, but she knew the lyrics to songs I hadn’t even recorded yet.

That made me understand and realize that God put us here for a purpose. Just her smile will brighten up anyone’s day. She is truly my BFF. One day, she told me she loved me, and “daddies make the world go

all through childhood until my sisters and brother got older. Then, he became the Easter bunny for my niece. Our last enjoyment of Easter was last year. He also watched all of his favorite games on T.V. I give out the best of him. He cannot be replaced. He was a brave army solider, a peaceful man, a savior, a treasure of life.

He served his time while he was here, and very highly honored for his good deeds. He was rewarded for every good thing he had done in life. He stood the best of time.

At Lincoln Cemetery in Suitland Maryland, there was a final goodbye flag salute to him with the song of the horn of the last goodbye. By one of the soldiers and many others, the flag was taken off of his casket and folded up army style and given to my mother as she cried, “this is good-

9

bye!.” She rubbed and kissed his casket.

No more dad. She said, “A handsome man gone.” We all comforted her as we all sat at the casket. This was the final burial at the cemetery. He had his plot where he was buried at. The preacher spoke, “ Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. You will return home to the lord. This day was very cold. It had snowed earlier and stopped.

It was a cold winter day with sunshine and sadness. The day of the funeral, the limo picked us up at 9:45 A.m. The limo could hold up to 10 people. They arrived at my mother’s house. My mother, sister, myself, my brother, and his wife rode over to Popes Funeral Home where his service was at. He had many guest to view him. (to be continued)

HEAR THE SONG!

round.” That in- http://bit.ly/1G1VGmp spired a song we wrote together.

Listen to “Daddies Make t h e Wo r l d G o Round” on StreetSense.org

Don’t Forget Moms

By Marcus Green Vendor Nothing can replace moms. Grandmothers, godmothers, and mothers-in-law, oh Lord.

My mother died in 1962. I was one; my whole life was filled with a big void. So I searched for a mother through aunts, and a godmother, etc. So, in closing, love your motherly figures. When they are gone, it is too late to say ‘I love you’. God bless, I wish you the best.

COLLAGES BY SYBIL TAYLOR

ILLUSTRATION BY ANGIE WHITEHURST

KLEVER’S

COMICS & GAMES

oc

s im c

DONT GAMBLE, WIN FOR THE GLORY

By Chris Shaw “The Cowboy Poet” American Pharoah is my hero!

Pharoah, pronounced "Faro," but not the cheesy card game; A great Horse, of course, I hereby Affirm, that my Secretary(at) shall be a Gallant 'Fox,' and sail the "Man of War" to accept the gleaming "Citation"-Hereby accepting on behalf of a Most Grateful Nation; The full Resuscitation Of the Sport of Kings!

STREET SENSE June 17 - 30, 2015

Isn’t This Special, Part 1

By Levester Green Vendor

“Now I may not have the riches I feel I deserve, but I am very rich in talent.

That makes a difference to me.”

But I’m becoming aware again of the antagonist of all good things. God had the devil! Trees & plants have bugs, insects, man, and so on. Riches have thieves!

Now let us remember that America was established by outlaws & such sent off from England. It’s no wonder we have love for American Gangsterism! Just check the history books. That’s the way it’s always been!

So where does the Righteousness of God come in to play. I thought we were headed for progress having our first black President. But now it seems more like a relapse into the times where our black leaders were slain callously in the streets of America. Is Barack an exception?! His Father was born and died in Africa...Kenya! Is he the only one of us black men that is actually eligible to become President here in reality? All the rest of the young black men are being railroaded & taken to their early graves, here in the land where OUR Fathers died.

(to be continued)

OPINION

The Struggle With Me, Part 2

Improving Metro

A French philosopher once said “There are no more corrupting lies than problems poorly stated.”

One can attribute the current polarization that has divided this nation to the political extremism of the far right and far left. Both have used the natural disruptions that come from modernity as irrefutable proof that our society is morally bankrupt. Neither group has any interest in resolving the disruptions that come from modernity. Their intentions are to illuminate its complications as a warning signal that apocalypse is near. By tapping into emotions and rage that stem from modernizing, these demagogues try to portray themselves as rational actors in a world gone mad.

These warring factions aren’t interested in the well being of others, but use politics of division and backlash as a war between the Haves and Have Nots. Conservatives blame the have nots for starving the people of their vital resources, while the left uses social justice as a front for their dream of remaking America and creating a socialist utopia.

The uprisings that are occurring in America today were not spontaneous but designed plots by social justice warriors.

Law and Order has always been a sore spot with the Far Left. Since the days of the Beatniks and Hipsters, liberals have romanticized outlaws and thug culture.

They see criminals as victims to unleash into society. Leftists have always believed law enforcement has been a first line of defense to capitalist oppression and if they can disarm law enforcement they can use the anarchy and chaos as an inroad to socialism.

Liberals are not concerned with Freddie Gray, or police brutality. If they were concerned about “Black lives” they would protest the abortion clinics that are destroying our black children, show the same outrage when “Lil Wee Wee shoots Jalil because he showed him no respect or protest the black ministers and pastors that build million dollar churches and drive fancy cars while passing collection plates to fund their extravagant lifestyles.

As a concerned citizen that happens to be African American, I find it disheartening that so many of my brethren are brainwashed by the dogma of leftism.

Many of my people are incapable of connecting the dots and critically thinking for themselves.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that liberalism has been destructive to many minorities, many African Americans

I wrote my first article on shortcomings of the Washington Metro in the May 6 edition of Street Sense. Today I will consider shortcomings concerning trains pulling forward and the onboard announcements.

By Jeffery Mcneil Vendor

Wow, hard to believe something like this could happen. Especially after we just premiered my movie, “I AM LEVESTER JOE GREEN II.” There I told a tale of police brutality. It seems to be the norm now a days here in America! It’s a shame since the U.S. was once viewed as the land of opportunity, where immigrants could right their wrongs no matter where they were from.

I was still under the impression that I was free and had rights. But America is a treacherous place of haves & have nots!

Now I may not have the riches I feel I deserve, but I am very rich in talent. That makes a difference to me. My talent isn’t just going to dry up or stop working someday. No, that’s not how God designed it.

There are man-made riches, such as money and coin. But they are derived from the natural resources that God provided, such as silver, gold and trees! Man-made riches are only representatives of the real thing. The actual riches are gifts! I count my blessings and enjoy what they bring.

11

still cling to the tribal mentality and the cult like obedience liberals demand.

When you show them the proof and point out the inconsistencies of their arguments, they respond by calling you a racist or Uncle Tom. Baltimore exposed the left for the frauds they are.

The city has been run by liberals since 1962 and is a virtual chocolate city with the population 62% African American; the mayor is black as well as the head of the police department and the school board.

Behind all the blighted buildings and deprivation are million dollar churches where the pastors drive up in fancy cars and wear expensive suits, meanwhile preaching to their congregation how the white man has done them wrong.

“They see criminals as victims to unleash into society.”

Even Judas got a few pieces of silver for delivering Jesus, but these black pastors serve up the black masses for an Obama phone and eyeglass check ups, then reduce them to helpless dependents relying on government for jobs, housing and medical care.

When do you break free and say no more!!!! I urge my brethren to break from this foolishness and think for yourselves.

Blacks can’t afford to be liberal. The “feel good, just do it“ mindset has been destructive to African Americans. We cannot afford the self-indulgence and sexual experiments that liberals advocate, which made so many of our beautiful black women single mothers. We must quit being tempted with the seduction of get rich quick schemes, such as buying lottery tickets or gambling at the Horseshoe Casino. Liberals can afford to indulge; the black man can’t. We need to need quit trying to emulate whites and be proud that are black.

If you want to emulate whites, emulate whites that want self determination not handouts. If you want a revolution, start a revolution for freedom instead of revolting for dependency.

Our founding fathers were not perfect but they fought the right fight. The fought for self determination, not dependency Benjamin Franklin said it best “Those who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

By Shuhratjon Ahmadjonov Vendor

PULLING FORWARD The driver often tries to move the train forward 2-3 feet after stopping in a Metro station. This turns out to be part of Metro’s requirement that the train pull forward to stop at a certain line. Sometimes the driver abruptly (sharply) brakes the train to stop exactly on this line.

Among Metro passengers are elderly and sick people, women with children, and passengers with bags and belongings. This practice of pulling forward is unpleasant to all passengers. All the pulling forward each day affects hundreds of thousands of people. In a year - millions of people.

I have ridden metro trains in more than 20 cities in different countries. Nowhere else are the trains (and passengers) pulled forward, as in the Washington Metro.

I’ve observed that the last door of the eighth train car sits 5 feet from the wall when the train comes to a stop. Therefore passengers would be unaffected if the train stopped 2-3 feet back. The driver of the train should smoothly stop at the platform only once.

ANNOUNCEMENTS Train operators announces each station in the Washington Metrorail system. All people, including the driver, have different moods on different days. Therefore, announcements vary.

If the driver is joyful, his or her voice is distributed vigorously, prolonged and pleasant. If the driver’s mood is not good, his or her voice is weakened and becomes hard to hear, especially towards the end.

In the Metro train, announcements about the opening and closing of the doors is declared by means of a standard recording which is accurate and clear.

The Metro trains would have good and evenly delivered announcements regarding station names if it used similar recording for the task. Metrobus already does this, and all bust stops are automatically declared, clearly and unmistakably.

Easily-understood announcements would improve the mood of passengers who depend on them. Secondly, such innovation in the Metro would unburden drivers from the responsibility of making standard announcements. Thereby, the driver could concentrate on attentive and safe operation of the train - only delivery announcemnts for non-standards situations. (to be continued)

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

L'Hermoine

By Ron Verquer Vendor On Friday June 12 I visited the L'Hermoine replica in Old Town Alexandria. The original was built by King Louis XVI for his Royal Navy. This ship brought Lafayette To America to tell the American Revolutionary Army and Navy that France was going to help us fight for freedom The replica was started in 1997. It has over 17 miles of rope, cannons, and a certain smell to it. I met two of the crew members in Foggy Bottom. For me, this visit was like honoring family. I would like to see France some day and maybe even find out see if any of my relatives worked on ships. I would like to thank the French Navy & Admiral De Grasse & his Family for helping the American Cause for freedom

. Many thanks to Bardia for helping me get there!

Being on the replica L'Hermoine made me happy.

It was sort of relieving to honor the French for helping America with our freedom, and to know that later in history we helped France with theirs. I am glad that the British are now our friends too.

In the Spirit of Ben Franklin, I would like to thank our State Department for keeping the peace.

I hope you, reader, get to go and see L'Hermoine too. Many thanks to Bardia for helping me get there!

God bless.

Closure

Let’s Keep Marching

By Roberta Bear Vendor

By Angie Whitehurst, Vendor

To me, the failed relationship in my life still haunts me. Losing someone and letting them go--someone who did not appreciate or respect me--is actually a gain and not a loss. Your value does not decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth.

Closure The only apology I need is the one I owe myself for staying as long as I did in this relationship. The only conversation I need to have is with the person in the mirror,

myself. If a door closes, I have to stop banging on it. Whatever was behind it, it was not meant for me. I now consider the fact that maybe the door was closed because I was worth so much more. God did not bring me this far to abandon me. He is always there.

Letter to God

be washed away. Giving me strength and showing me forgiveness is the healthiest option for me to be set free.

I pray you give me peace today and everyday, and allow me to totally leave my past behind me. Inner peace can only be reached when I practice forgiveness.

Forgiveness is letting go of the past and is, therefore, the means for correcting my misconceptions.

Please take the stain off my heart. If I feel even an ounce of pain that someone caused me in the past, I ask that it

Perception or Reality: As I Open My Eyes

Metro, Part 9

By Robert Williams, USMC Vendor

By Phillip Black Vendor, “The Cat in the Hat”

As I open my eyes I thank God for each and every day.

Though trials and tribulations inevitably come my way, Still I thank God for the ability to see the world at work and play.

Often my wants seem to be, in actuality, my needs, But truly my needs aren’t that many.

Constant blessings continually come my way.

To my God and Savior – Hallelujah – I say.

Take the time to look up and down even look all around.

There is much to observe in this town.

Do you think or have you ever thought What you can do just to keep another from feeling so blue?

Smiles and yawns are contagious; However, sharing your joy is more advantageous.

If for you I really care, My time and talent I will share with you.

Though we have a different mother, We are really no different from each other, Me from you or you from me.

Why does that appear so hard to see?

I’ve noticed more lately there are transit police dogs on metro rail platforms. I guess they are sniffing for drugs and contraband. To me, the dogs are always barking and seem to be hungry and thirsty. The transit officers were pulling, and yanking at the dogs.

They need to take care of them more, so they can do the job that they are supposed to do. One of the dogs was shedding his hair. Other people were noticing as well. When you take care of your dog, the dog will take care of you. Even dog treats may help. Police dogs should be rewarded for what they do.

Your words do not surprise. I do hope you will change.

Wishful thinking?

Maybe so. But I will give you the benefit of the doubt just the same.

I understand we learn our traditions and beliefs from our parents, communities, and national cultures. Even more importantly, I comprehend that when laws and regulations are made, the thoughts and hearts of humans have to change, adapt, and re-blend. The “land of cotton,” fear, and slavery of way back when, is gone and we hope, will not come back. “So look away, look away.” We as a nation will not go that way again. Let us all be more keenly aware of the “n” word and let’s get rid of the term “Redskins”. Perhaps, we should be the Washington Warriors.

Let us check ourselves and watch what we say.

We have come a long way. Let’s keep marching.

STREET SENSE June 17- 30 2015

13

VENDOR WRITING

After Katrina: A Ten-Year Roller Coaster, Part 2

By Gerald Anderson Vendor PREVIOUSLY: After helping to rescue Hurricane Katrina victims, I got flown on a Delta airplane from New Orleans to Washington, D.C. And then crammed busses took us to the DC Armory. It was set up like a big, ol’ dormitory with cots and nice clean bathrooms and a trailer with showers. With so much to eat, it smell like a soul food place. They had a van to take us out on medical trips to clinics. I had to go, because I’m diabetic. Outside the armory, celebrities drop by in limousine. Shaq came, and I sit next to him and compare my shoes to his. A FEMA worker told me it might be hard to get a place of my own ‘cause of my history of being in jail a lot...

I wasn’t scared of bein’ in a strange

city, and I wanted to check out what was happenin’. My new 20-year-old friend— a little short guy named Marcus—and I started walking. At a nearby Metro station, a lady asked me for a cigarette, so I released one of my Camels for her.

I notice she smokin’ weed, so I asked where we could get some. She thought we be police. I told her “No. We just thugs.”

She said, “You from Baltimore?”

I said “No, we from the dirty South.”

I said, “We have some money and we want to get high.”

I said, “We ain’t got high for two or three weeks.”

She say, “I don’t know if you all be killers or rapists or what, but you all seem like good brothers.”

She said I can take you, but I can’t let you see the person I deal with. Everyone knows that.

I started doing street talk with her, like, “What make you think I’m a cop? I don’t really smoke weed, but I’ll hit your weed a few times to show you I’m not no cop.”

So she took us to the hood, which was only a few blocks away. And then she say, “What’s in it for me?”

I asked her do she get high off of crack too. She say, “Yeah.”

In my mind, after she say yeah, I think she looked real good and I asked her do she fool around.

She say, “Yeah I’m bouty bouty,” which mean she a hundred percent down with whatever activity take place.

She told us she got a girlfriend house we can go by and nobody gonna bother us.

I say, “So the house cool? Not gonna get us in trouble with no old man?”

She made a joke to me. She say “Y’know my fave station? I’m a fan of

HBO.” I didn’t catch the joke until she say, “I Help a Brother Out.” She told my homeboy he look like Master P, the rapper, because he had about 18 golds in his mouth.

We walked with her into an alley in the hood, where her dough boy—her dealer— sat in an abandoned car. She told us we gotta stand on the side. So I told her, “Then we gonna stand on the side with our money, because just like you don’t know us, we don’t know you.”

So she said, “Here’s the deal, the one with the money come with me.”

That was me. I told my homeboy “Stand down, I got this.” (to be continued) ***Coming soon on Amazon: My Katrina story.

I Could Write About the Kidney Girl

By Chris Shaw, “Cowboy Poet” Episode 35

WE NEED YOU SO Chili Parlor on New York Avenue, just six blocks from the Mission. Some storm-blown limbs of ailanthus tree were laid casually around the big sedan and its peripheral area- just in case any loose associates of the late un -lamented Ferret Apache might be nosing about anywhere near.

Inside the Formica ambience of the chili corner, Ivory Joe Hunter was softly crooning his polished patois, “I...Need You...Sooooo!” Hunched over a shared wide-brim bowl of Hazel’s best Brazos broth and beans were the deeply committed Billy Luck and Skipper Mizelle, formerly Skipper Marsh.

“Indictments are going down. I don’t think Marsh can ever put Humpty Dumpty back together again...”

“You are so right Skipper.” Billy locked glances, and they kissed over the deliriously fragrant chili, spiked with just the slightest hint of jalapeno-- then relatively unknown east of the Missouri River!

Billy looked a wondrous sight-- dark slim suit, white shirt (no tie), and the beginnings of an Italian-model stubble just beginning to make the rounds up in New York. “But,” he continued, “keeping the Mission of Last resort on its little bitty feet is A-number One priority for me now, Skipper. I fear you are going to haf’ta deal with your husband’s cave-in on your own terms-- whatever that means.”

“So how does that shake out, Biily?

When can we rejoin forces- as an unbeat-

able team that can see this sick old town back to-- dare I say, Moral rectitude?”

“Well, Sugar, I don’t know about all that ‘moral frippery and frumpery,’ and such, but there are hungry mouths to feed, and maybe a few SOULS left to save at that beat-up chapel of tar paper and lath, and I know Rev and Macedonia wanted me to take the helm...”

Skipper stood, adjusted her veiled chapeau, level with Billy’s dusted-off black sombrero,and they kissed- meaningfully.

He stood, touching the tip of her bunnyish pink nose.

“We have a rendezvous planned. Laurel Race Course. (When? she winked.) Billy went on, “Call the pay phone at the chapel in three days-- Two PM sharp. Okay?”

She laughed as she raced out to free up her big sexy ride and gone. Billy put more nickels in the chili-parlor juke box, fora reprise of Roy Milton, Lloyd Glenn and Ivory Joe. Those 78s were already hard to come by, as far as public listenin’ went!

Exactly a day later at High Noon, the crowds spilled out bthe East Porch steps of the U.S. Capitol Building. Loudspeakers set up in the Plaza caught Skipper Mizelle, formerly Marsh (and soon to be Luck?”) accepting the office of “United States Senator, now Democratic, from the sovereign State of Tennessee!” Even Wanda Sholes, disgraced local reporter, was scribbling away in excitement. (to be continued)

By Deborah Brantley Vendor I saw a kidney once. It was large and fat. It was being prepared in a pot by a low life woman who did not know herself, if it was human or animal. The authorities had said that it was human. She was shocked and alarmed but amused. She was laughing about it, at me. Like I was the person being joked on and I was. The jokester who “gave” her the kidney had said that it was mine and that it would bring her fabulous wealth if she would eat it all up. Was it because she thought that I was ugly, which she did, or that I was a nuisance?

Her check increased from $600 to #1100 as if by magic, because of the kidney and she bought herself a car, used and blue from a salesperson at the junkyard. The

woman at the junkyard had said that she, the kidney woman, was crazy, unimportant and easily misplaced. She was a soft, very sweet and kind woman with a very kind personality, I say again.

She could be everybody’s mother. I told her not to accept the kidney. Why was it given to her? What was it supposed to do for her? Did the man who gave it to her have a problem? Yes he did. He was insane, but he had a purpose in giving her the kidney, which was to cheer her up. She was a bit space and mild. Seemingly having been given some medicine to milden her mind.

She was a fighter though.

She had a career she had been trained for. She wanted nothing else to do with me after the incident of cooking and eating the kidney. So it was a sad story. These minds of people are all she knows. What a sad life.

What is the Difference Between a Lady and a Woman?

By Leonard C. Hyater, Jr. Vendor A lady knows what she wants, knows how to get it, and when she sets her mind on it, she gets it. A lady can be witty, charming, and sophisticated with class and style. And when a lady’s mind is made up, she will tell you that it is made up. And when she tells you that it is over, she means that it is over. As far as her being a woman, guess what ladies? That is just your gender. That’s the difference between a lady and a woman.

Hope on a Dream:

Congratulations Pastor Charles

By Patty Smith Vendor On May 29th I went to Pastor Randolph C. Charles’ retirement party at Church of the Epiphany, 1326 G Street NW. I was sitting in the church's courtyard. Some Street Sense customers brought me food as I waited for the event to start. The congregants looked SO nice as I watched them file into the sanctuary - the party was Mardi Gras themed.

I entered the church at 6 p.m. and sat in the back. Then someone told me to come a little closer to the front, so I came all the way to a front seat. We listened to the band. Then Pastor Randolph entered

and spoke. Every seat was taken! When he finished, he asked everyone to get up and dance. So, I did that with Rachel and Rebecca.

Then it was time for dinner to be served. The room was decorated beautifully. Everything was bright and pretty and shiny. I ate and ate and ate until I was so full I could barely get up from my chair.

Just like the pastor, all of us one day are going to enjoy a good late life. So, hope on a dream that something better in life is ours for the asking.

Clad in a purple, green and gold sequened vest, Reverand Randolph Charles welcomes everyone to his Mardi Gras retirement celebration, complete with live New Orleans music. | PHOTOS BY ERIC FALQUERO

Street Sense

By Barron Hall Vendor By and About t h e Poor a n d Homeless. In the name of God Gracious and merciful.

If it were up to me I would walk the streets looking for whom I could find sleeping on the sidewalks or in doorways or allies or the street, period. The best weapon of the enemy of the free world is the poor and the homeless. Those that need the attention of those who can help us with our needs. People who will love and understand the trouble we are. As far as drug addictions, disease, hunger, housing, lack of money. Simple understanding. We have been cut off from the fruits of happiness in the free world. There are those of us that are tired of waiting on God. Some of us sooner or later will accept help from those who don’t have America's best in mind and can be used for destruction.

God’s word talks about the great new

babylon falling from within. And being cut off from the world. People should not be hungry, homeless and strung out. From the exploits of the rich. Some of those that have are using the ills of those that don’t have to get and stay rich.

God is calling me and those that are like me to repent and believe his word.

I can’t afford to believe that a drink or a drug is going to take away or make my state of being better. Now is the time for me to wake up and believe like Noah woke up. It’s now time for me to start building my ark of protection for the thing to come. When releases his raft against the corruption of man on this earth. Thank you Street Sense.

In Memory: Cowboy’s Aunt!

Taken 2004, standing next to a portrait of her younger self.

1911 - 2015 Died 103 years young, and an active poet till three years ago!

PHOTO BY CHRIS SHAW

15

STREET SENSE June 17 - 30, 2015

COMMUNITY SERVICES Housing/Shelter

Food

Clothing

Showers

Outreach

Medical/Healthcare

Transportation

Laundry

Education

Employment Assistance

Legal Assistance

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

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

Community of Hope: 232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

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

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

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

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

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

Catholic Charities: 772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CELEBRATING SUCCESS!

Attention 14th Street, Please Help

The Street Sense Lounge

We have received reports of one of our vendors being sprayed in the face with mace while sleeping in the early hours of the morning near the corner of 14th and U Streets NW. This would have occurred on May 23rd. The vendor awoke with blurred vision, burning eyes and trouble hearing. A neighbor in the area told him days later that she had seen him attacked with mace and captured the incident on film, but we do not have contact information for this concerned citizen. If you witnessed this incident or have any information that might be helpful, please call our office: 202-347-2006 x 14.

The Street Sense Lounge will be a place where our vendors (you must have a badge to use the facility) can escape the heat (or cold!) and have a safe/rejuvenating place to be during the day.

This center will be open Monday-Friday 1:45 p.m.-4:30 p.m. and will have books, art, games, etc.

Ask one of our volunteers about the Lounge today!

Thank you in advance, Street Sense Staff

LAST WORD: THE ANGEL MICHAEL

By Robert Warren, vendor

When I think about all your might for those people for which you fight I see the Lord gave you a touch of his Light and so we follow you The quiet man content to let others speak always in your eyes, the justice that you seek

VENDOR PROFILE: SASHA WILLIAMS

Over all these years the Lord has known your tears

By Charles McCain, Volunteer

You have died a thousand times for you can be found in many hearts and minds Oh just to think I had a chance to know you to speak to people you told about those of us who know a house doesn’t make a home When you find yourself all alone think of the angels who will one day take you home The Lord will be pleased, I believe and you to will be pleased with your Lord Amen Your light still shines in our eyes as we fight on my brother until His human right is done

In addition to Laura Thompson Osuri and Ted Henson, no one else is more responsible for bringing Street Sense into being than Michael Stoops, longtime Director of Community Organizing at the National Coalition for the Homeless. Michael’s commitment to ending homelessness, and his zeal for protecting the rights of persons who are homeless, spans his entire adult life. Without violating Michael’s privacy, I ask that you join all of us here at Street Sense in wishing for Michael’s recovery. He is currently hospitalized.

Street Sense Selfies

By Collins Mukasa Vendor

These are two of my favorite customers. They were both nice enough to take a photo with me and send it into the paper. I look forward to getting to know more of you soon!

June 17 - 30, 2015 • Volume 12 • Issue 16

Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW

Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Washington, DC

Washington, DC 20005

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.

She knew the rapist. He was from the neighborhood, one of the bad crowd she had begun to hang with a few years prior.

Resist? Impossible. While raping her he kept a pistol aimed at her head. If she reported this to the police he would kill her and her family.

This was in November of 2003. Sasha was in shock and in fear of being in her neighborhood where she would see this man. “I just had to run way.” Thus began her long slide into homelessness. After contacting the Department of Human Services, they took her to an emergency shelter. She stayed for a year.

While hanging with a bad crowd as a younger teenager she had started drinking. Taking drugs. Not going home some nights. Sasha wanted to be part of the crowd and she needed something to numb the emotional pain she felt over being called, “Cyclops,” in high school.

Why the mean-spirited nickname? At age fifteen she was in an auto accident. The air bag deployed - then exploded in her face.

Acid in the airbag propellant blinded her in both eyes. “It was terrifying not being able to see,” she said. A month later the vision in her left eye came back. But she is blind in her right eye.

In late 2004 she qualified for the Job Corps and moved to their dorm in Southeast. The program became her refuge.

“All I had to cling to was the Job Corps,” Sasha said. She stayed on the campus for almost two years.

They liked her and were impressed by her abilities. And Sasha didn’t need to get her GED because in spite of all her emotional pain, she had still managed to get her high school diploma from Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School. Yet by this time in her life depression had her in its nefarious grip. She went out to clubs. Still drank too much alcohol. Still took street drugs.

Self-medicating for depression.

The Job Corps “helped her learn a trade,” she said. Marketable skills. She studied accounting, office administration, data entry, general business and computer skills.

A large bank was partnering with the Job Corps at the time. They needed someone like Sasha who had graduated with a Certificate in Business Technology. They hired her in 2007. She worked in banking for three years.

But her depression grew deeper, and with that, her need for drugs and alcohol

grew as well. Committing suicide would often dominate her thoughts. In 2010 she left the bank.

By this time she had a child. Few shelters allow children so she bounced around from her mother to her father to her sisters. This did provide emotional warmth, which Sasha craved. But she could not shake her depression. Nor her dependence on drugs and alcohol. Her mind was filled with negative self-talk.

One day in the bathtub she almost gave in. She even started to slide down into the water. She was going to drown herself.

But she didn’t. Something inside stopped her. Sasha is strong. Scared that she almost killed herself, she began watching YouTube videos about positive self-affirmation and slowly started feeling better.

Something else caused a major change in her thinking. Her brother-in-law’s DVDs about Ancient Egypt, whose Kings and Queens were men and women of color. “In history class they kept showing us movies about slavery. Black people lied and told me about the inferiority of black people!” Her teachers left out the successes achieved by people of color not only in America but throughout history.

This gave Sasha a determination for selfstudy. She loves history, science, technology. “I’m amazed about the universe.” She hungers for knowledge. For learning.

Being in banking gave her an interest in business and she has started her own: MyItWorks. She provides herbal wraps to people to help their bodies detoxify and energize. And she has finally received a Section 8 Federal housing voucher. Sasha is no longer homeless. After more than ten years, She has a permanent place to live which cannot be taken away. Her little girl has her own room.

“I chose to be a survivor and not a victim,” Sasha told me. But Sasha you are far more than a survivor. You embody the triumph of the human spirit over adversity.