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Budget season is in full swing, and, like in past years, the D.C. Council has a vastly different vision for the city’s fiscal future than the mayor. The split centers on how to handle D.C.’s expected financial downturn, with Mayor Muriel Bowser focusing on stimulating D.C.’s economic growth to increase the tax base, and council members working to preserve programs that serve the city’s most vulnerable.
After months of delays, Bowser announced her $21.8 billion proposed budget for the 2026 fiscal year in late May, with hopes of “growing our economy, rightsizing spending, and investing in our shared priorities.” In addition to investments in RFK stadium and tax breaks for businessess, the budget proposes changes in policies and reductions in services at agencies like the Department of Human Services (DHS), the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services (DMHHS), the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH), and the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA), which oversee a variety of programs that make up the District’s homeless services.
If Bowser’s budget is implemented, D.C.’s most vulnerable, who depend on programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Rapid Rehousing program (RRH), and community support workers (CSWs), could see drastic changes. But the budget first has to go through the council, which held budget oversight hearings over the past few weeks. Lawmakers, including At-large Councilmembers Christina Henderson and Robert White, and Ward 1’s Brianne Nadeau have pushed back on the budget’s seemingly oversized impact on the city’s most vulnerable populations.
At a June 5 DHS budget hearing, councilmembers raised concerns with proposed changes to the TANF program within DHS. The program, which provides cash assistance to lowincome families, would enforce stricter job search requirements on recipients and issue sanctions for those who failed to meet the requirements, cutting their benefits by as much as 25%. The proposal would also cut the cash assistance increase meant to account for inflation that is usually baked into the budget, and remove adults who’ve been using TANF for longer than 60 months from the program. There are currently approximately 6,500 households that have received TANF for greater than 60 months, according to a DHS spokesperson in a statement to Street Sense.
In the budget hearing, Nadeau gave a harsh critique of what she sees as a return to draconian welfare policies D.C. did away with by extending TANF benefits in its FY2018 budget, especially without the use of a working group, which the agency usually uses to pilot policy changes.
“We were looking at data [before the 2018 budget] that shows the 60-month cutoff was arbitrary and has no context about what’s going on in a person’s life,” Nadeau said as she reminded the interim head of DHS the city had been down this road before 2018. “The sanctions weren’t working. The sanctions didn’t work. The only thing that worked was the buy-in from folks that said, ‘No, we need incentives.’”
Recently, DHS paused the admission of new families into the Family Rehousing Stabilization Program, also known as RRH, until end of FY25. The budget proposes removing the 90-day lease-up strategy for the programs which means DHS can work longer with families to find housing
that’s still affordable once the 12-month subsidy is gone. From DHS’s perspective, the policy change means families’ experience with shelter may not be brief, but it hopefully won’t reoccur 12 months down the road, thanks to the extra time and assistance from DHS. From the council’s perspective, longer stays in shelters burden an already overtaxed system. With only 144 slots currently available in shorter-term family housing, Nadeau is worried about potential capacity issues if families can’t move into housing through RRH and have to stay longer in shelters. (Single adult shelters have been full for months.)
When the city ran out of capacity in the past, the District put families in hotels, an option the city would struggle to afford with a $1.1 billion budget decrease created by Congress and an expected $1 billion shortfall by 2029 resulting from the loss of 40,000 federal jobs, according to financial projections by the city’s chief financial office. Congregate shelters like the recently opened Aston, and a still under-construction second congregate shelter at 25 E St. in Northwest D.C. were offered by DHS as solutions for capacity issues, but Nadeau and Henderson were skeptical that the two non-congregate shelters alone would be enough to fill the need. Bowser is also proposing as part of the budget process to allow families to stay in congregate shelters, like the old D.C. General, reversing an earlier change.
Many people in the homeless services system also rely on DBH, which Henderson, who chairs the Committee on Health, noted in the June 2 DBH budget hearing had no new programs in its proposed fiscal year 2026 budget. DBH’s operating budget was cut by 8.1 million, 2% from the previous fiscal year. “There’s no new programs, no new enhancements,” Henderson said.
The proposed budget would also cut DBH’s Community Support Worker (CSW) hours for each client the agency serves in half, from 200 units to 100 units, or from 50 hours to 25 hours, to incentivize clients to use more clinical services like therapy or psychiatric treatment. CSWs practice under the supervision of someone with a clinical license and provide direct support to individuals and families dealing with mental health or substance use challenges by helping with medication management, taking clients to appointments, and helping clients navigate the health care system and follow care plans. Last fiscal year, the units were cut from 600 to 200, which was approved because most clients used 200 units or less. But the cut in this budget concerns Henderson, who said only 36% of DBH clients use less than 100 units in 180 days, before hours renew.
“This is a shift,” Henderson said at the DBH budget hearing. “Are you going to come back next year and ask for 50 [units]? Are we phasing out? Let’s just be honest with people. Is the intention to phase out community support services?”
“We’ll look at the data and make that determination based on our experience,” the director of DBH, Barbara Bazaron, responded.
Due to congressionally imposed cuts to the FY25 budget, D.C.’s Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH), which helps coordinate homeless services, couldn’t onboard new team members; however, the proposed budget fully funds the agency’s seven positions, DMMHS told Street Sense in a statement.
At DCHA, which provides public housing to low-income residents, the proposed budget delays money the agency uses for property improvements and the rehabilitation of uninhabitable housing by a fiscal year. Instead of receiving $51 million for capital improvements in fiscal year 2026, the agency will receive $26 million this year and then another $26 million in fiscal year 2027. While this may appear like a reduction, DCHA only utilized 42% of its capital budget in 2024, White said at the May 30 budget oversight hearing. DCHA’s proposed budget did not include another $7 million for maintenance and repair, which the council added last year.
Henderson said the cuts initially caused alarm.
“An initial glance, it’s ‘oh my gosh the mayor’s cutting capital funding for DCHA by half’ but if we haven’t even started spending the money we already had planned for this year, there is, I think, some space for catch up,” Henderson said.
When Keith Pettigrew, the executive director of DCHA, was hired in 2023, he came in intending to fix a public housing system left in disrepair after a damning 2022 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report found unliveable units in its public housing properties, low occupancy rates, and poor management of its voucher programs.
When Pettigrew was hired, the occupancy rate in D.C.’s public housing units was 73%. It’s now above 84%, according to his testimony at the budget oversight hearing. Pettigrew plans to have a comprehensive redevelopment and rehabilitation plan by the end of the year.
With 1,300 offline and 1,083 vacant units, there are 2,383 total housing units unused by DCHA, according to the agency’s testimony. Units can be vacant but not offline or ready to be occupied for a variety of reasons, like being uninhabitable due to building infrastructure issues, or waiting for Section 18 designation from HUD to be redeveloped with a private developer. DCHA expects to bring 800 units a year online, or make them livable, within the next year, with Pettigrew’s more aggressive rehab plan promising to increase that number. Currently, of the 1,083 vacant public housing units, 71 are ready to be occupied.
The average cost for repairs is $53,000 per small unit and $76,000 per large unit, according to testimony from Daniel Dening, deputy director of capital construction and design for DCHA. The agency has $87 million in local funds, $50 million in reserve funds, between $20-25 million from HUD, and $7 million from other federal agencies, for a total of $164-169 million to redevelop and rehab housing units, according to math from White during the budget hearing. In theory, DCHA could have the budget to fix all of its units, but in practice, the agency has to account for inflation, units with worse infrastructure problems than foreseen, and the fact the money also has to be used to maintain units. More units may also come offline and need rehab as tenants move out.
Ultimately, council members and the mayor share a consensus on the need to make cuts in the upcoming budget as the city faces new financial challenges with changes to federal funding and the recent decrease in the government workers’ tax base. However, as the budget hearings go on, it’s clear councilmembers often disagree with the mayor on which programs and services should be cut to balance the budget. Councilmembers will release proposed changes to the mayor’s budget in late June, and the council is expected to take its first vote on the budget on July 14.
MADI KOESLER Editorial Intern
Repeated encampment closures at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library displaced at least a dozen people in the last month and closed one of the last places people regularly sleep outside downtown.
While weather and resident relocations slowed encampment closures in late May and early June, the MLK Library and the surrounding G Street NW encampments were cleared May 29, then again on June 5. People experiencing homelessness have long slept under the awning outside MLK, which protects them from the elements. According to a Deputy Mayor’s Office of Health and Human Services (DMHHS) spokesperson, both closures were scheduled due to “bulk hoarding on public space, the presence of significant biohazards, and the extensive need for rodent abatement treatment.” Five people living at the encampment were connected to items left behind, according to the DMHHS spokesperson, but Street Sense confirmed at least a dozen people were regularly sleeping under the awning.
Though the encampment was cleared by DMHHS, the library also announced last summer it would enforce rules against sleeping outside the building, partially because it did not have the staff necessary to provide services for people experiencing homelessness. Most people who sleep beside MLK do not set up tents and pack their things up each day, often leaving to spend time throughout the city. Community members protested the library’s initial announcement as well as this year’s closures.
While DMHHS tossed tents and items that remained along the sidewalk during the May 29 closure, a handful of residents moved across the street from the library near the “Homeless Jesus” statue in front of Catholic Charities and the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church next door. Jesus has slept outside Catholic Charities since 2015. Reverend Monsignor John Enzler, former CEO/president of the organization, told the Catholic News Agency in 2015 that Catholic Charities hoped the statue would be “a specific reminder that we are about the homeless, the poor, the vulnerable.”
As outreach workers and local volunteers helped residents move their bags and suitcases in front of the statue, Reverend Msgr. Salvatore A. Criscuolo, a retired pastor and chaplain to the Metropolitan Police who is in residence at St. Patrick’s, walked up to them. According to multiple people present, the reverend told a group of outreach workers, volunteers, and residents he lived in the church. He then asked if they lived in the neighborhood. This was followed by him allegedly saying that he didn’t think they would want people experiencing homelessness in front of their house, and he did not want them in front of his. Street Sense reporters then witnessed the reverend walking up to MPD officers on site and repeatedly gesturing to the bags by the statue and church.
Residents who moved from MLK to the sidewalk outside of St. Patrick’s after the closure said no one from the church offered them food, water, or invited them inside. A friend of the residents who frequently hung out outside the church told Street Sense reverends from the church called them “nuisances” on multiple occasions.
Hira, a community volunteer who helped people move their belongings, said her interaction with Criscuolo was “very disappointing for a man of God.”
Other community volunteers on site May 29, advocates from Food Not Bombs, said they frequent the MLK Library but were disappointed by the encampment closure. Instead of the city shuffling residents around and closing encampments, Adam and a volunteer who gave their name as Cheese said they thought their tax dollars would be better used providing access to social services and food. While encampment closures and cleanups are scheduled and performed by the DMHHS Encampment Team, not the library, many people at the closure voiced anger with the library.
“Martin Luther King is rolling in his grave right now because they’re running out the homeless,” one encampment resident, who declined to give their name to protect their privacy while living outside, said.
A week later, DMHHS returned to clear the space again. Over the week between clearings, many residents returned to the space in front of MLK Library or remained across the street in front of Catholic Charities’ “Homeless Jesus” statue and St. Patrick’s. St. Patrick’s staff complained to outreach workers about the presence of people experiencing homelessness outside the church, according to emails shown to Street Sense. St. Patrick’s was not involved in the scheduled engagement, according to a statement from a DMHHS spokesperson.
Criscuolo was on site again on June 5 and stood outside St. Patrick’s, making comments to outreach workers as they helped residents pack up their belongings. Street Sense witnessed the reverend ask outreach workers if this was their job. On both May 29 and June 5, Criscuolo declined to speak with Street Sense reporters. St. Patrick Catholic Church did not respond to multiple email requests for comment by the time of publication.
The encampment closures come at the same time as the library is beginning to enforce its bag policy more strictly, limiting many people experiencing homelessness from bringing their possessions to the library. The rule allows people to carry a maximum of two 36-inch bags and two handheld items when entering the library. This rule is not new to the library, a spokesperson from the MLK library at the May 29 clean-up said, referencing a sign at the entrance. But, he said, while in the past the library has been lenient on bag sizes, they’re moving towards enforcing a four-bag total rule. When asked about the clean-up specifically, the spokesperson directed all questions to DMHHS.
Many people who sleep outside the MLK Library pack up their items each morning and disperse throughout the city to places like D.C.’s Downtown Day Services Center at 1313 New York Ave. NW until nightfall. Sam, one of the residents who falls into this category, voiced frustration at the mayor’s office over the clearing and the library’s bag policy.
The enforcement of the library’s limited bag policy means Sam’s unable to go inside to buy his morning coffee without having a friend watch his things outside. The coffee at Marianne’s inside the library is significantly cheaper than the surrounding coffee shops. “We need more people who make action instead of promises,” Sam said. “Bowser can go on trips illegally, while this is what happens to us,” he continued, referencing ethical complaints filed against Mayor Muriel Bowser concerning trips to Qatar, Mar-a-Lago, and more.
The city also closed encampments across the city at Pennsylvania Avenue SE/Souza Bridge, 555 South Capitol St. SW, Georgia Avenue and Sheridan Street NW, and 2230 Adams Pl. NE. A DMHHS spokesperson cited bulk hoarding and biohazards as reasons for closure at all these locations. Many of the residents relocated to new encampment locations prior to the closures, so DMHHS staff just removed trash and left behind items during the closures. Two sites, 2417 9th St. NW and 3178 Mt. Pleasant St. NW, were set to be closed but were delayed because of rain and residents moving to new locations, according to a DMHHS spokesperson.
Upcoming encampment enclosures include: June 18 at 26th and Pennsylvania Avenues NW, June 24 at 6th and H Streets NE, June 25 at North Capitol Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE, June 26 at 2900 K St. NW, July 1 at 2160 Queens Chapel Rd. NE, and July 1 at 2521 Park Ave. NE.
ANNEMARIE CUCCIA Editor-in-Chief
treet Sense continues to produce award-winning journalism! We were honored to be recognized by the D.C. chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). Founded over 100 years ago, the SPJ is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States. The newsroom won five categories at this year’s Dateline Awards, and two other stories were recognized as finalists. Nearly all of the stories recognized this year were written by Street Sense’s incredible group of interns, who volunteer their time and talent every semester. If you can, please consider making a donation to Street Sense to help us bring you more hard-hitting, inquisitive, compassionate journalism (While we love it when you buy papers from our vendors, that money is for them and does not help support our operations).
You can read the full versions of the winning articles online at streetsensemedia.org.
“The District is ready to start pulling back its migrant services — but migrants are still struggling to find homes in D.C.” by Samantha Monteiro.
Published July 17, 2024
This story represents one of two times Street Sense broke the news the city was planning to close a migrant shelter with little fanfare. Reporters spoke to migrants, officials, and advocates about the system D.C. set up to welcome people bused to the city, and revealed some of the gaps that left them without a permanent place to stay. Here’s an excerpt: Two years after thousands of migrants arrived in the District when governors bused them from Texas and Arizona, their access to vital housing and social services remains limited.
In April 2022, Texas Governor Greg Abbott started sending buses of migrants, who had recently arrived at the southern border, to sanctuary cities across the U.S. The decision was largely a political move meant to criticize Democrats’ policies on immigration and the border. Over the last two years, Abbott has bused over 100,000 migrants from Texas to places like D.C., New York, and Chicago.
In September 2022, the District created the Office of Migrant Services (OMS) within the Department of Human Services (DHS) to respond to the new migrants. OMS is tasked with providing respite, relocation, and case management services to migrants. The office was meant to “set up a system, distinct from the homeless services system, that is tailored to the needs of migrants and ensures the District’s response to this humanitarian crisis is consistent and wellcoordinated,” according to a September 2022 press release.
However, that system has sometimes been unclear and unhelpful to migrants and their advocates, who say OMS has not done enough to ensure migrant families who stay in the city can find stable housing.
“Unionization in homeless services,” a series of articles by Nora Scully, Franziska Wild, and Tierra Cunningham published across 2024. Throughout the year, Street Sense reported consistently on labor efforts at homeless shelters and health care clinics, following the bargaining negotiations at Unity Health Care, one of the city’s largest health care providers for low-income Washingtonians. We also provided the only coverage of unionization efforts at 801 East, one of the city’s largest lowbarrier shelters. Here’s an excerpt from that story, published in October: Security staff employed at 801 East Men’s Shelter voted to unionize in an election held on Sept. 9. Officers, including full-time and regular part-time security officers and special police officers, cited being underpaid and undertrained, as well as not receiving benefits or the necessary safety equipment for their roles, as major reasons for unionizing.
Ikeuri Onunaku, who works as a security officer at the shelter, said one of his biggest concerns is the lack of safety equipment and staff training. He told Street Sense USP does not give officers safety vests, which police and security officers commonly wear to protect their torso and vital organs in emergency situations. Onunaku and Danielle Campbell, another officer at the shelter, also told Street Sense they were frustrated by the lack of training they received for the role.
“We bring people back to life,” Onunaku said, referring to the many times he has had to use Narcan (a drug that is administered to reverse opioid overdoses) on residents. But Onunaku hasn’t always known how to administer Narcan — it’s something he learned on the job from other officers.
“Photos from NoMa encampment closed after fire,” taken by Madi Koesler. Published Dec. 4, 2024.
Throughout the fall, Madi, a Street Sense photographer, went with reporters to encampment closures to document the process. The above photo, as well as the one on the next page, taken as winter begin to set in, show encampment residents with some of their most precious belongings.
“The fight to save affordable housing in Chinatown,” a series of articles by Andrea Ho and Franziska Wild published across 2024. Street Sense reporters closely followed development efforts and community resistance in D.C.’s historic Chinatown neighborhood, reporting on changes affecting small businesses and affordable housing complexes. These three articles tell the story of a changing neighborhood focusing on the question one community organizer asked: “What does it actually mean to have a Chinatown without Chinese residents or small businesses? What does it mean to revitalize the area without taking into consideration the people who have been living there for decades and decades?”
Here’s an excerpt from the first story, published on April 10, 2024:
The last Chinese residents of Chinatown have long been mobilizing in an effort to preserve
what remains of their neighborhood. However, a new proposal to build a nine-story lodging, intended to be somewhere between a hotel and an apartment building, threatens to decimate their already dwindling community.
During a public hearing on March 27, eight Chinatown residents urged the Board of Zoning Adjustment to reject the proposal by the developer, Rift Valley Partners. Residents had two main demands: first, that D.C. preserves Full Kee Restaurant and Gao Ya Hair Salon, the two small Chinese businesses that would be displaced by the project; and second, that D.C. supports the establishment of a mid-size Asian grocery store.
Lamenting the steady gentrification of D.C.’s Chinatown, witnesses voiced concerns that the proposed hotel between fifth and sixth streets on H Street Northwest would contribute to rising rent, declining employment, and further displacement. Many of Chinatown’s residents expressed that if this trend of displacement were to continue, “there would be no Chinatown in the future.”
“There used to be thousands of Chinese families, lively businesses, and prosperous communities here,” said See Ming Chan, a long-standing resident of Chinatown and the president of the Wah Luck House Tenants Association. “But the development of Chinatown has greatly reduced the number of residents.”
“Tracking D.C.’s homeless encampments,” a column by Margaret Hartigan, Franziska Wild, and other Street Sense Staff published across 2024.
In early 2024, Street Sense launched its Encampment Updates column, chronicling the city’s efforts to respond to unsheltered homelessness and the movements of residents who often say they have nowhere else to go. Reporters witnessed a pregnant woman being handcuffed by police, residents being involuntarily committed for refusing to move, the spate of closures in Foggy Bottom displacing over 50 people, and the end of an encampment built around one of the city’s homeless shelters.
Here’s an excerpt from a story about the increased closures, published on Sept. 11, 2024: Salim didn’t actually believe they would destroy the home he had built. He told the officials and outreach worker there, he would only move if he saw the bulldozer make its first move. He had lived on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Waterside Drive for over seven years in a structure he built himself. It wasn’t visible from the road — he had taken pains to
camouflage it with tree branches and plants — and it was neat and clean with a stone walkway he built by hauling the stones up from the park himself.
Now, the National Parks Service (NPS) was forcing Salim to move, and he didn’t want to go.
“They can do whatever they want there. I have only this small spot here,” he said, trying to negotiate any way to stay. “If I leave, I lose everything.”
Salim is one of many D.C. residents experiencing homelessness who have been impacted by the rapid increase in encampment closures this year.
As of May 15 this year, NPS — which manages a great deal of available green space in the District — has begun strict reinforcement of its no-camping rule on all of its land, closing at least nine encampments in 2024 so far. But it’s not only NPS that has ramped up closures. The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, the agency responsible for encampments that are on land owned by D.C., has already closed more encampments this year than it did in all of 2023.
Advocates worry that this increase in closures is arbitrary, leads to increased instability and harmful situations, and does little to improve the underlying conditions of homelessness. And they worry that the situation will worsen for unhoused individuals, while doing very little to improve the city overall.
“It would be reasonable to believe that what we’re going to see is people in perpetuity being chased around the city until there’s a fence around everywhere you think you might put up a campsite,” Adam Rocap, the deputy director for Miriam’s Kitchen, said. “And that really is just ineffective and harmful.”
“In the aftermath of shooting, a youth drop-in center navigates grief and hope” by Andrea Ho. Published April 24, 2024, this article goes inside DC Doors following a shooting at the facility that killed a long-time resident and staff member to understand the impact on the community and what the facility could do to increase safety.
“MLK Library bans sleeping outside building, threatening a refuge for people experiencing homelessness” by Franziska Wild. Published Aug. 28, 2024, this article examines the impact of shrinking public spaces on people experiencing homelessness as the city’s largest library began to enforce new rules against sleeping inside and outside the library.
When I think of June, I think of Pride Month and why we celebrate it.
ANDREW ANDERSON Artist/Vendor
As I look back on the history of the LGBTQ+ movement, I remember reading about those who made this movement possible — pioneers like Marsha P. Johnson and her “pay it no mind” response to questions about gender. Back in the day of the Stonewall riots in 1969, you didn’t hear the term transgender used much because of the lack of acceptance. Marsha (Pay-itno-mind) Johnson made it a point to advocate for those in the LGBTQ+ community who yearned for equality.
As a result, she co-founded the S.T.A.R.(Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) along with Sylvia Rivera, another strong advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. Together, they helped provide a safe environment for transgender adolescents who needed a warm place to stay.
I found it interesting that Johnson fought for transgender visibility. She took to the streets proudly with no shame or regret. She claimed those rights with the attitude of “No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.”
Today, liberation is on the move. Transgender people are changing the hateful narratives and transphobia, which show up in a range of behaviors, putting in jeopardy the independence and freedom of transgender people to live openly and comfortably in society.
This is why advocacy for our LGBTQ+ community is essential. Vincent Slatt, director of archiving, put together a photo gallery showing the history of the LGBTQ+ community in Washington, D.C., called the Rainbow History Project. I met Slatt this year and was so happy to see this historic project. It reminds me of how far we have come in the LGBTQ+ community. With so many great photos, I didn’t know where to start. One photo that stood out to me was of former mayor of Washington, D.C., Marion Barry. Slatt showed me the photo facing the statue that carries Barry’s image.
Another photo of this former mayor, taken in 1982, shows his support for pride and LGBTQ+ rights. I was delighted by this photo of Barry and realized his importance to our LGBTQ+ community. If there was ever a friend and supporter of our fight for equality, he was there. Thank you, Vincent, for the great LGBTQ+ history lessons. I will never forget it.
NIKILA SMITH
Artist/Vendor
History is being wiped away, along with the real feelings we should have. Juneteenth is helping people who don’t understand, because history is being exposed on Google. Google will always let the unaware know the damage. Even AI can’t hide that this is a moneymaking day. My opinion is free means free, so why do many people feel unfree? When I was growing up, if you sold weed, you were scum. Now the government says it’s okay as long as you cop off them, if you know what I mean.
People celebrate Juneteenth. Why? I usually would participate in Juneteenth, but not this year. If Juneteenth is a federal holiday, how come people are still being hurt? Is it that people are smart enough to know that every time Black people are hurt, give them a holiday to shush them up? Which lets people of color know that every time colored people thrive, the government will always rob, kill, and steal. Did Black Wall Street hurt us? Or when you hear D.C. used to be a chocolate city, what happened? Did all the chocolate melt?
WILLIE FUTRELLE
Artist/Vendor
How did it take so long for Juneteenth to become a recognized holiday? As an aspiring politician, my take is that it’s a reflection of how flawed politics still are. Understanding the mentality of our representatives plays a key role in deciphering this enigma of having something people want to celebrate but not recognizing it federally. The United States Congress has the ability to designate holidays for federal employees and my home of the District of Columbia. Other states do not have to recognize federal holidays, and private sector employers are not required to give employees federal holidays off! Even when “Land of the Free” is our motto, Freedom Day did not get recognized by the majority of those who held sway over the federal government at the time.
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed Martin Luther King Jr. Day into law, yet it still took three years before it was observed. It took until the year 2000 before it was celebrated fully nationally by all 50 states. Yet, somehow, it still took 21 more years to even sign Black Independence Day into a holiday. Honestly, the only reason I can comprehend for this level of oversight is that those with the authority are running the country with outdated mindsets. Even to this day, a few hundred greedy old white men decide the fates of a multicultural and multiethnic population of over 330 million people from all around the world.
The United States of America is a land of immigrants and refugees, including those who dominate control over our laws. We should all be free, equally treated, and fairly represented by the same laws, regardless of how we look, were born, or where our ancestors lived.
I believe there may be a Jubilee Day for the entire world when we finally get leadership into place that truly recognizes all humans as the same species to be treated exactly the same within all countries.
CYNTHIA HERRION Artist/Vendor
In shadows deep where pain did lie, our ancestors’ tears, a mournful cry. Through years of bondage, harsh and cold, their spirits strong, their stories bold. From chains that bound, they longed to be, to taste the air of liberty. In whispered prayers and silent pleas, they dreamed of freedom’s gentle breeze. Now Juneteenth dawns, a beacon bright.
JACQUELINE GALE
Artist/Vendor
Juneteenth, let freedom ring!!!
I am a “68” child being born in the time of Martin Luther King and Malcom X. My family history began in Louisiana, then we were separated to Sumter, South Carolina, the birthplace of my grandmother. When my grandmother was set free, she said she had to walk to Maryland with five children.
But before that, she told me she would never forget the mistreatment she endured cooking and cleaning other people’s houses. She said she would not ride the bus because she witnessed my greataunts getting beaten for trying to ride. She told me that my grandfather was lynched. But she walked towards Baltimore. She could not find a home or space, so she journeyed to New York, to Brooklyn, and started a babysitting business.
I really don’t feel free. I feel like I am walking with a bullseye on my back for just being a Black woman. And Donald Trump does not make me feel any better. There will not be one race higher than the other. We live and we die. Let’s really be free-range people.
ERIC GLOVER Artist/Vendor
The power of knowing we all are one is a secret knowledge that’s been closed off from people’s minds. I just feel that instead of looking at the color of the skin, which we were taught, let us learn to look beyond the color of the skin.
I once told a friend of mine I would not judge him by the color of his skin because I don’t see that. I see the soul that is in every living creature. We all have a purpose on this planet, so we must stop judging a person or something because to us it doesn’t look right.
Let us destroy judgment and create love, appreciation, acceptance, joy, peace, and most of all, understanding, because like I said, we are all one. That’s why we must get rid of division, hate, racism, judgment, and instead we must understand what it’s like to be in the other person’s shoes. Judgment must die, and love must live again, so all we must remember is that we are all one.
Content warning: This article discusses sexual assault, rape culture, and violence.
his is an introduction to rape trauma syndrome and the persistent rape culture of “Boys will be boys,” “As a woman, don’t put yourself in any situation,” “What was she wearing?” “Did you ask for it?” “Why were you there?” “Did you say yes?” “Let them do it,” “It’ll pass, be quiet, don’t talk about it, kill yourself, you’re being negative.” The justice system is for rape culture and the perpetrators who deem it so. Rape culture is a mental illness because the perpetrators do not believe they have done anything wrong, which is taught behavior imbedded from hate of women.
TLured into the woods, Little Bo-Peep struggled to find her sheep. Innocence demolished, where does Little Bo-Peep seek restitution? Here, sheep.
Chelsea Perkins killed her rapist. Instead of someone investigating it properly, he was free, and she couldn’t heal. No matter what the complaint is, cops can be lazy to investigate, but will victim blame quickly. Chelsea’s headlines call her a variety of demeaning phrases and offer no supportive efforts for her case.
Little Bo-Peep Vanessa Guillen never received her flight to demonstrate the importance of women in the military. Instead, she stared her killers in the eyes as she faded away. In 1985, Suzanne Marie Collins, a United States lance corporal, was raped, tortured, murdered and kidnapped from a base. The individual accused insisted he was innocent, but we don’t know whether it was true or not because the request for DNA testing was denied. There is so much to the stories of the individuals involved and the victims or survivors; however, Little Bo-Peep is persecuted for her actions.
The U.S. Department of Justice has articles on rape history and laws but that only applies to civilians. There haven’t been harsh punishments for government officials, especially for stalking and harassment. In other foreign countries, there are harsh laws, though maybe just for civilians.
According to a Business Standard article, the punishment can be a death sentence in many countries, like India, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Iran. India, Japan, Israel, France, and the U.S. may sentence rapists to life in prison, or to 10-15 years depending on the crime. Russia and Norway generally give out 3-20 years.
There’s also a debate in Italy regarding chemical castration, as many in the parliament suggest it’s corporal punishment. It’s inhumane, but so are the rapes of women, children and men who rarely report their sexual assaults. So, what is the right and wrong of this matter? Many nonprofits also condone rape culture, especially when they’ve supposedly advocated for the homeless communities or others who are survivors of political demise.
Accountability would suggest that rape is and should be considered a mental illness and labeled in the mental health industry. I know it’s far-sighted that the acceptance of sexual violence committed by supposedly powerful people would be debated or convicted. Stalking, cyber, or other forms, harassment, and gang stalking lead to the opposition of orchestrated sexual violence and murder.
Switzerland’s National Council recognized in law that ‘sex against the will of another person’ is rape. Cyrielle Huguenot, Amnesty International’s Head of Women’s Rights in Switzerland, said in a statement on the organization’s website the law “marks the end to the outdated definition of rape that required the use of physical force, threat or coercion, and considered only women as victims. The law now recognizes that all sex without consent is rape.”
“Although the new law will help to shift attitudes, more is needed to effect institutional and social change. Parliament must now act to ensure that training and awareness-raising for police and prosecution authorities, and assistance to survivors strengthened. Consent must also be placed at the centre of sex education, detailed public statistics on sexual violence must be made available, and effective information and prevention campaigns must be launched.”
Even though there are laws in the military against sexual violence, there’s an inability to address the matter, enabled by turning a blind eye and saying terms like “suck it up.” Taking control by force is a dominant position of mentally unstable behavior that no political party can or will admit to. When will men hold each other accountable for the male inability to control the population of women? The hate against women is undeniably disturbing, and no discussions of mentally unstable perpetrators will suffice for their consequential actions.
What does ‘commodity’ mean in simple terms?
According to the Cambridge English dictionary, it’s “a substance or product that can be traded, bought, or sold.” By definition, housing is a commodity.
But the RIGHT to housing, specifically shelter, is a human right. A kick in the pants, food, water, and air are also human rights, all of which are commodities traded, bought, or sold.
Absolutely no human right comes with a guaranteed quantity or quality. They each come with that which is freely available. Beyond that, quantity and quality rely almost entirely on the individual’s ability to buy, sell, or trade to get better than they presently have. Price fluctuations are common with commodities. The greater the demand, the higher the price.
People incorrectly assume that because the government, specific to these united States of America, is commissioned with the SECURITY OF our rights, it is also somehow responsible for supplying any human right we claim. Government is merely there to make sure there are no unjust activities that stop a person from attaining the quality and quantity of the chosen right that they can afford. This is also to make certain you are not unjustly violating the rights of others to fulfill your rights.
Simply because homeless people want to live in D.C., they are not entitled to hire the government to take from those who have and give it to those who don’t.
On the other hand, those who have private permanent housing are not entitled to prohibit homeless people from using public lands for their temporary housing. In this case, society may require the government to manage or maintain public areas, which can become an inconvenience to those using public spaces, but this maintenance cannot prohibit the homeless from using it.
Quick note on temporary v. permanent:
Temporary; something lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent.
Permanent: lasting or intended to last or remain unchanged indefinitely.
People living in, what society considers permanent housing, may of right buy, sell, rent, or trade that location.
As for me. on the other hand, I am without a fixed permanent housing address. Though I tend to stay months at a time or years at a time in the same location; it remains temporary, as I have to right to buy, sell, rent, or trade it. Longer stays at the same place, at present, at least for me, are closely connected to unjust government activity. The government officers threaten to arrest me if I do not move. This delays the work on my human-powered vehicle project.
In my opinion, if these people, referring to government, private, and charitable organizations claiming to help the homeless, focused on the protectable rights of the homeless, and stopping the government’s unjust activity, as opposed to trying to get the government to do what it is not supposed to do, homelessness would not be as big an issue politically as it has become.
Maybe, you can help me get and keep clean honest government. That is; if you really want it.
Daniel Kingery owns and runs cleanhonestgov.com.
- Have an opinion about how homelessness is being addressed in our community?
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Interested in
(The guitar solo that grabbed me more than any and to this day roils my emotional pool!)
FREDERIC JOHN
Artist/Vendor
Imagine, if you will, guitarist Billy Butler dropping a tortoise-shell pick to his Gibson ES. “Do dat dat, dwee-oo wee-oo, doo wee-oo dat, dwee data dum dum (repeat whole stanza). Tivva de dee duh duh, tiova duh dill-de-dum dweet! Do duh de doo-wah dwee-ah (repeat entice stanza, but flat a note going around) Twee-deet-deet, Do-dooah, twee-deet-deedoo-ooh-wah, Dee-dah dee dah, dee-dum dee-dum di-wah, whoa-hmm-hmm (At which point the F chorus switches to the creamy perfection of tenor saxophonist Clifford Scott)… Doot, doot-doots-dot-eee (Bwu-da-bum, ta binny bom) Doot daah-daadee, dee-dos do, de dah dee da bumm-bum ping piddy daahooah,” and so on.
So here I am, in the dim half-light of my listening mattress, the fast-crumbling “Coby” (imitation Sony) ear buds capturing every essence of the Bill Doggett immortal instrumental “Honky Tonk Parts 1&2.” The hallmark “slow walk shuffle” tempo informed every dance party of the late 1950s in every linoleum-floored basement around America. Doggett’s easy organ-sax-guitar combo was just too darn hip to let go.
And in all the Black juke clubs in every town, city, and hamlet, this beat infected (happily) the spirits of young men and women who sought the freeing essence of Juneteenth and beyond.
I never heard personally Doggett, a keyboard contemporary of band leaders Count Basie and Jay MacShann, but my rad buddy Bobby had already travelled to Chicago by ‘72 and he headed to the Honky Tonk to intro his sets from the stage of Cousin Nick’s joint on upper 14th in D.C. (across from the old trolley barn).
With perpetual orange-and-violet Christmas (or Halloween) light strings blinking off over the bar and books in the shoebox-shaped room, even wet-eared, would-be blues navigators felt at home grooving to the shambling beat of “Honky Tonk,” “Soft,” “Rambunk-Shush,” “Hideaway,” and so many more mighty instrumentals of a time before our time.
Watching and absorbing my pal “Little Bobby” pick out Billy Butler note-for-note, along with our now late lamented Stevie Rahl blowing the Clifford Scott horn part, was a most transformative moment of my young life. Ultimately, riffs like that sent me scurrying avidly to Chicago, Lower Manhattan, and New Orleans. Never forget the impact of these soulful sounds!
ANGIE WHITEHURST Artist/Vendor
I love my Street Sense Media colleagues! We are all at the mountain top, highly individualistic, unique, and seriously full of kind thoughts and wishes for each other and the world beyond our office. This is who we are:
idiosyncratic weirdly authentic brilliant smart happy serious fun-loving kind doers
actors
poets writers filmmakers photographers advocates activists employed self-employed
JAMES DAVIS Artist/Vendor
I was so worried and overwhelmed with sorrow
But last week, I heard someone talking with L. Morrow
The clock was still ticking, but time stood still
When I learned about the passing of Vennie Hill
If I could sail the seven seas on seven ships
Maybe I could set my compass to find Ibn Hipps
And while aboard, I could cast my fishing hook
But maybe not too far to reel in Michael Pennycook
Like the keys on a piano and an old rivalry
Has anyone seen the likes of Mr. Ivory?
Thinking of Street Sense friends, and in plain sight
As I look up, in the door comes walking
Sheila White!
On such a rainy day, one doesn’t need a bonnet
To read the sad and cheerful refrain of this sonnet!
But one thing to know is we all are human and believe in the right to be housed, to be educated, to be free from thirst, hunger, and illness! We are just like everyone else. We are not different. We are one and the same.
LEVESTER GREEN
Artist/Vendor
Didn’t get it, and it said delivered! My bathroom faucet looks a little loose. I’d like it checked, as I suspect it’s damage done by my unknown intruder. You know what?
There was actually a third entry incident also, as I returned one day only to find my door actually held ajar by the bolt, holding it open or blocking it from attaching or adhering. That lock is applied from the inner sanctum of my apartment. It is how I became aware of my ajar door in a quick run to the trash bin chute. You live and you learn; however, it should not be at my expense, nor at the hands of an intruder. I saw someone, perhaps a cleaner in addition to a couple, possibly intruders, at the end of the hall on the staircase exit with a slight grin and laughing as if the chase or pursuit upon discovery was on...
MARC GRIER
Artist/Vendor
COVID-19 was a global pandemic. It started out as “make sure you stay away from people,” and “make sure you keep your hands clean,” and I wondered what it was when it first came out. Is it something that’s just a phase, or is it something that’s just here to scare me? But it was real. This disease came to steal people’s lives. It changed everything, and people had to go to work from their homes and stay home, except when they had to go to the grocery store. They had to stay away from your families. It really was a bad time.
Now, it’s five years later. Even though COVID is not as much of a danger, they have RSV, which is, I think, another word for COVID19. The only way to make it is to stay prayed up. Thank you.
WILLIAM
SHUFORD Artist/Vendor
I am keeping a positive attitude while waiting for my keys to my apartment this month and getting ready to celebrate my birthday on the 27th. It’s a blessing.
DOMINIQUE ANTHONY Artist/Vendor
When I was 27, I became HIV positive. I was a single mom with a 7-year-old son (who is now a 23-yearold college graduate with a degree in business management). When I first became HIV positive, I started going to the Women’s Collective meetings with Ms. Patricia, who was like a second mom to me and my three boys. I have learned so much from TWC, including several life lessons.
How to take care of yourself with newly diagnosed HIV:
The first thing is to go to a doctor. Take your medication.
Get a case manager.
I would like to say thank you to all the staff and care services, and prevention services. Also, love the cofounder of TWC, Ms. Patricia Nails.
BRIAN HOLSTEN
Artist/Vendor
Summertime showers thunder roars clouds quickly disappear sun reappears
Sunlight bounds downward onto the harbor’s waterfront ships sail seaward the trofts no longer fronted
A rainbow in presence lighting in the distance the summer air heats Icarus’s wings melt
An inspiring sea breeze our hearts no longer freeze by sudden hail we become real
WENDY BROWN Artist/Vendor
The way President Donald Trump treated tent camps was bad for D.C. There could be a better way to deal with the neighbors.
I am looking forward to RFK Stadium being built and the revival of the arena in Ward 7. Now they’re promising jobs, conveniences, and more, but it’s a few years away. I hope the changes are positive for any homeless people. Getting back to work during or after homelessness is obviously one of the hardest things to do. That being said, it is not impossible. Many agencies do work with you, but some are painfully slow and unproductive.
WAYNE HALL Artist/Vendor
My mother was my first-grade and second-grade lunch lady, which made me really enjoy school. I remember carrying the extra lunches home, and the whole block being at my house for dinner. The good ol’ days! The swollen fingers from the weight of the plastic bags were well worth the camaraderie the work created in the neighborhood.
With all that said, one reason I’m homeless is never getting to talk with my mother on a mobile phone. I spent two weeks recently without a mobile phone. But, compared to my childhood, this has been the most peace I have had in my life. I’m sure people born before the digital age can relate. It’s just awkward using a mobile phone when you can’t even talk to the person who created you.
MARCUS MCCALL
Artist/Vendor
I finally realize this recovery is bigger than I am. So is my disease. I have a lot to work on with my disposition toward life. Some things don’t need a reaction, but every action causes one. So, Lord, grant me grace and keep me focused on why I came here, please. Sometimes — okay, most times — I’m stubborn. But I thank you, God, for the grace and mercy you’ve bestowed on me.
I also must realize that once I do something or say something, I cannot take it back. I regret doing many things, but my biggest regret is arriving at this unmanageable place in my life. I particularly apologize for letting you down countless times, dear Lord. I LOVE YOU, because you first loved me before I was even conceived. You thought better of me and created me in your name and likeness. You gave me free will, which I took for granted. But never again. NO LONGER WILL I BE A VICTIM!
FREDERICK WALKER Artist/Vendor
Dear Mayor Muriel Bowser and Councilmember Robert White, I know our city is facing budget pressures, and you are considering what priorities to fund. As a citizen of the District, I urge you to fund these three items:
1. Give grocery companies incentives to build stores in areas that don’t have enough sources of healthy, nutritious food. No more “food deserts” in our city!
2. Sufficiently fund affordable housing in areas without much of it to help get people off our streets and hasten the end of homelessness. Housing is a human right!
3. Make sure we have enough police on our streets so we can feel safer and more secure than we do now.
RON DUDLEY Artist/Vendor
Ten thousand illegal scooters in the bike lane
Dirty diapers, even manure, in the bike lane
I saw a Circulator bus in the bike lane
A slave chain full of rust in the bike lane
I saw a wet floor sign in the bike lane
I saw a dead porcupine in the bike lane
I saw some roller skates rolling in the bike lane
I saw the feds patrolling in the bike lane
Now, it’s thumbs up and peace signs in the bike lane
Always a moment of crime in the bike lane
I even wrote a rhyme in the bike lane
I remember the times in the bike lane
I saw a Harley-Davidson speeding in the bike lane
A kid on the back reading in the bike lane
I saw the cops write a couple tickets in the bike lane
Gave it to the turtle and the cricket in the bike lane
I saw Jayden Daniels’ jersey in the bike lane
Horses from the Kentucky Derby in the bike lane
I saw Alex Ovechkin’s teeth in the bike lane
I saw a bean pie full of beef in the bike lane
I saw a sink and a toilet in the bike lane
I saw two drunken alcoholics in the bike lane
I saw somebody growing weed in the bike lane
They say it came from a seed in the bike lane
I saw a double-wide trailer in the bike lane
I saw a ship with a sailor in the bike lane
I saw a crazy looking man in the bike lane
JENKINS DALTON
Artist/Vendor
We vote for a president, and as you know, human rights are a story. Here at Street Sense, we had no interviews with President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, or with Ivanka Trump. They also serve God and try to promote America first.
GERALD ANDERSON Artist/Vendor
After the fall I took, I thought life was over for me. It happened during COVID. One of the customers gave me a call to go to the Giant supermarket up there by the Convention Center. I took one of those rent-a-bikes and went up there. It’s about 7:30 p.m. or something like that at night, you know? I saw some young boys riding in a car, you know, and me being a “hood” guy, I knew they were up to something.
All of a sudden, all four of them jumped out of the car. And when I seen that, I dropped the bike and I ran in fear. I thought I was gonna get shot. I ran so hard that I ran too fast, and ran into a brick wall, full speed, and I broke my spinal cord, broke my back. When that happened, I thought it was all over. Believe me, three years from the day, and where y’all see me now, I wasn’t able to do any of the things I’m doing. And I tell you, it was a hard fall, but I didn’t give up.
And I thank all my friends, Melissa, Mr. Robert, Tom, and everyone else who supported me and kept me strong. You know, I’ll make y’all laugh at this here: It was funny when I went into the nursing home, and I was in so much pain, and I still wanted out. I knew it was my right, and I could get out. So I went to one of the people in the hospital and told ‘em, “I want to sign the paper, I want to be released!” But at the same time, I could walk, stand up with nothing, you know?
But I just wanted out.
To be continued...
JET FLEGETTE Artist/Vendor
Illumination lighting up the cards, for the querent, the questions may be hard. The cards are bringing emotions to the light deciding my future, what’s wrong, what’s right. My destiny takes me for a flight. Are the cards wrong, or are the cards right? The pendulum on a silver chain telling my hidden secrets over and over again, the tea cup in blue letting me know my future is true.
DON DAVIS Artist/Vendor
Since I have been in D.C., so many doors have been opened to me to help me move forward and start a new life. Street Sense Media has helped so much. I love working for Street Sense Media and meeting so many people here in D.C. I can’t wait to meet more people. The one thing I have seen since I have been here is that family doesn’t mean blood, but people who are there when life is going day by day.
CARLOS CAROLINA Artist/Vendor
ROBERT WARREN
Artist/Vendor
I dreamed I was traveling in time and space
Looking for that safe place to land
But my dream had another plan
I heard my auntie saying “fasten
Your seat belt,” as we plowed away
In her new brown Mercedes-Benz
Then I looked down and saw
That old white Mercedes-Benz
My auntie has had forevermore.
My auntie smiled at me and said
“Too bad you don’t drive anymore”
I looked over and saw those birds
Flying on high, and my auntie
Waved as they passed by
Jails: A place where people are kept when they have been arrested and are being punished for a crime
Rehabilitation: To bring someone or something back to a normal state or health condition after an illness, injury, drug problem, etc.
While incarcerated, I spend my time working out, reading, writing, praying, and talking with guys who are passionate about reintegrating into the community and becoming productive citizens of society. I was very astonished and totally amazed by how much hope can come out of a place of hopelessness. Nevertheless, I am flabbergasted by the lack of rehabilitation the D.C. jail/ D.C. Central Detention Center has to offer. Also, I am very taken aback by the dehumanizing conditions men and women alike are being subjected to. It seems as though due to the lack of programs, jail job opportunities, reentry preparation courses, and life skills courses, there can not possibly or honestly be any form of rehabilitation realistically.
There is hardly anything to inspire or uplift the hopes of the people who have been confined to a system that was systematically made to crush, discourage, and destroy the confidence, ambitions, and hopes of the very people who are, for the most part, unconsciously, being used as the cattle that upholds such a system.
So I have a few questions.
1. How do you rehabilitate and restore people who have been confined and affected by a system that was created to crush them mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually?
2. Can you successfully rehabilitate a community of people who have been targeted by a system created to destroy them in every form and fashion?
3. Last but not least… How do you rehabilitate someone who has been institutionalized?
To be continued in part 2.
GLORIA PRINZ Artist/Vendor
Where did all the stars go?
How I wonder where you are.
Not high above the sky, so high, anymore. Did they evaporate into nothing?
Or did they land and become angels?
A twinkle of light like an orb, An angel walking by me day or night. Twinkle twinkle, how I miss your light. In the sky, being able to always look up at night.
In the blink of an eye, we were
Transformed in time back
To the old white Mercedes
Sitting there as cars drove by I felt strange
I’d never been in auntie’s
Old white Mercedes, not one Day in this life, so I wondered “Is everything all right?”
I turned around and saw the sun rising
My auntie smiled and said everything Is going to be all right
QUEENIE FEATHERSTONE
Artist/Vendor
In the South, people eat
Lots of pork sauce. In the DMV, it’s all grabs for the Delicious Maryland blue crab.
Traveling Midwest, what’s
So dandy is that yummy
Praline sweet candy. If you end
Up on the west coast, your intake
Of foods may not be so great
Because you can’t sit down and eat. You’re just too busy glaring while you are Movie-star staring!
Across
1. Verbal shrug
4. Waker-uppers
10. Longfellow’s bell town
14. “Give ___ rest!” (2 wds,) (2,1)
15. One of many seen on screen in the “Despicable Me” franchise films
16. Close, as your eyes or a door
17. “Anderson Cooper 360°” channel
18. Popeye, e.g.
19. 18-wheeler
20. Multigenerational story
22. Only group that can qualify to serve as eunuchs, ironically
23. Forms of attire, in oldspeak
24. Archibald of the N.B.A.
27. Big citrus fruit
28. Cream pie bull’s-eyes
31. Gateway Arch architect Saarinen
33. Boggy lowland
34. Greek poet who wrote “The Distaff” (INANER anagram)
35. Locks
37. Fashionable dainties giant whose offerings seek to enable their wearers to effect the transition shown in the shaded descending word ladder (2 wds.) (9.6)
40. Boardroom event
41. Channel Islands abalone species with a nickname stemming from it’s similarity in appearance to a human body part (3-3) (A SAREE anagram)
42. Descriptor for an enthusiast that’s often preceded by “avid” or “rabid”
43. “Bus Stop” playwright
44. Marsh birds
45. Nissan sedan
47. Halftime lead, e.g.
48. Hotel offering
49. Mostly obsolete office machine
51. “Dang!”
55. Some court-imposed roadblocks, briefly (abbr./initialism)
56. National ancestry of one with a surname that ends in ...ski, often
59. Poets’ word that rhymes with the miners’ word found just below 60. The rain in Spain? (Sp.)
61. End of a threat (2 wds.) (2,4) (RESOLE anagram)
62. Miners’ word that rhymes with the poets’ word that’s found just above 63. Exam
64. Clay targets, informally
65. Attractive sexpot
Down
1. Rappers’ handfuls
2. 11,000-foot Italian peak
3. Put up, as a picture
4. Early hrs. (abbr./initialism of Lat. phrase)
5. ___ Fail (Irish coronation stone)
6. Japanese cartoon art
7. Anger, with “up”
8. Butt out?
9. AARP member (abbr.)
10. Indian state
11. A flag-throwing zebra (2 wds.) (3,7)
12. Roadster feature that sounds like a furniture item you might take to watch a
gang fight (2 wds.) (6,4)
13. Words that might signal the start of a gang fight (3 wds.) (3 wds.) (2,2,2)
21. What it may take to get a hand (2 wds.) (2,4) (ANN ATE anagram)
23. Zero, in sports slang (2 wds.) (5,3)
25. “Not now, not then, not ever...” (3 wds.) (2,2,4) (I MEANT TO anagram)
26. Catherine the Great, e.g.
27. De-creased?
28. Unspecified number that’s more than a couple, briefly (abbr.)
29. Instinctual impulse, such as a wild animal may have (2 wds.) (6,4) (REGULAR IMP anagram)
30. Sexually unrestrained (LION CUTIES anagram)
31. Story of la maison (Fr.)
32. TV drama settings for trauma docs (abbr./ initialism)
36. One way to run
38. Gerund maker
39. ___-80 (old RadioShack computer)
42. Able to accomplish something at unusually high speed (2 wds.) (4,2)
46. Where ____ (a happenin’ place... or a song by Beck) (2 wds.) (3,2)
47. Deposed leader, perhaps
49. Pay, with “over”
50. Safe, on board
52. One might have the shakes and be stuck outside all night in the rain
53. Prefix with -dynamics and space
54. “Jurassic Park” menace, briefly (abbr.) (1-3)
56. + (abbr.)
57. Retired flier (abbr./initialism)
58. “For ___ a jolly ...”
This crossword puzzle is the original work of Patrick “Mac”McIntyre. It is provided to us courtesy of Real Change News, a street paper based in Seattle, Washington. Learn more about Real Change News and the International Network of Street Papers at realchangenews.org and insp.ngo.
My – What an Interesting Outfit Puzzle by Patrick “Mac” McIntyre
Housing/Shelter Vivienda/alojamiento Case Management Coordinación de Servicios
Academy of Hope Public Charter School
202-269-6623 // 2315 18th Pl. NE
202-373-0246 // 421 Alabama Ave. SE aohdc.org
Bread for the City 1525 7th St., NW // 202-265-2400 1700 Marion Barry Ave., SE // 202-561-8587 breadforthecity.org
Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Marion Barry Ave., SE calvaryservices.org
Catholic Charities // 202-772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp
Central Union Mission // 202-745-7118 65 Massachusetts Ave., NW missiondc.org
Charlie’s Place // 202-929-0100 1830 Connecticut Ave., NW charliesplacedc.org
Christ House // 202-328-1100 1717 Columbia Rd., NW christhouse.org
Church of the Pilgrims // 202-387-6612 2201 P St., NW (1-1:30 on Sundays only) churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach
Community Family Life Services 202-347-0511 // 305 E St., NW cflsdc.org
Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 4 Atlantic St., NW communityofhopedc.org
Covenant House Washington 202-610-9600 // 2001 Mississippi Ave., SE covenanthousedc.org
D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 202-347-8870 // 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW dccfh.org
Father McKenna Center // 202-842-1112 19 North Capitol St., NW fathermckennacenter.org
Food and Friends // 202-269-2277
(home delivery for those suffering from HIV, cancer, etc) 219 Riggs Rd., NE foodandfriends.org
Foundry Methodist Church // 202-332-4010 1500 16th St., NW foundryumc.org/idministry
Identification services
Friendship Place // 202-364-1419 4713 Wisconsin Ave., NW friendshipplace.org
Georgetown Ministry Center // 202-338-8301 1041 Wisconsin Ave., NW georgetownministrycenter.org
Jobs Have Priority // 202-544-9096 1526 Pennslyvania Ave., SE jobshavepriority.org
Loaves & Fishes // 202-232-0900 1525 Newton St., NW loavesandfishesdc.org
Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org 2375 Elvans Rd, SE
2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE
Miriam’s Kitchen // 202-452-8926 2401 Virginia Ave., NW miriamskitchen.org
My Sister’s Place // 202-529-5991 (24-hr hotline) mysistersplacedc.org
N Street Village // 202-939-2076 1333 N St., NW nstreetvillage.org
New York Avenue Shelter // 202-832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave., NE
Patricia Handy Place for Women 202-733-5378 // 810 5th St., NW
Samaritan Inns // 202-667-8831 2523 14th St., NW samaritaninns.org
Samaritan Ministry 202-722-2280 // 1516 Hamilton St., NW 202-889-7702 // 1345 U St., SE samaritanministry.org
Sasha Bruce Youthwork // 202-675-9340 741 8th St., SE sashabruce.org
So Others Might Eat (SOME) // 202-797-8806 71 O St., NW some.org
St. Luke’s Mission Center // 202-363-4900 3655 Calvert St., NW stlukesmissioncenter.org
Thrive DC // 202-737-9311 1525 Newton St., NW thrivedc.org
Unity Health Care unityhealthcare.org - Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500 - Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699
1500 Galen Street SE, 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE, 1660 Columbia Road NW, 4414 Benning Road NE, 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 850 Delaware Ave., SW, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 1151 Bladensburg Rd., NE, 4515 Edson Pl., NE
Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless 1200 U St., NW // 202-328-5500 legalclinic.org
The Welcome Table // 202-347-2635 1317 G St., NW. epiphanydc.org/thewelcometable
Whitman-Walker Health 1525 14th St., NW // 202-745-7000 1201 Sycamore Dr., SE whitman-walker.org
Woodley House // 202-830-3508 2711 Connecticut Ave., NW
For further information and listings, visit our online service guide at StreetSenseMedia.org/service-guide
Warehouse Worker
Aramark // Washington D.C.
Full-time
The warehouse worker’s main responsibilities include receiving and processing incoming products, preparing orders for transport, and performing inventory and quality control duties. This person ensures the warehouse is clean and organized, maintained in accordance with the facility protocols and safety standards.
REQUIRED: Able to lift up to 50 lb. frequent lifting and/or carrying objects weighing up to 35 lb.
Apply: tinyurl.com/WarehouseAramark
Busser
The Capital Grille // 1005 7th St. NW
Full-time
A busser will deliver an exceptionally distinctive dining experience by ensuring the dining room, lobby and service area are clean, stocked, and visually appealing. A busser will be a team player by assisting servers in serving food and beverages while also clearing, cleaning, and resetting tables for the next guests.
REQUIRED: N/A
Apply: tinyurl.com/CapitalGrilleBusser
Drink Runner
F1 Arcade // 420 Penn St. NE
Part-time
As a drink runner at F1 Arcade, you will play a crucial role in ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of the restaurant. Your primary responsibilities include delivering drink orders to guests in a timely manner and assisting in maintaining a clean and organized bar environment.
REQUIRED: Able to stand and walk for long periods of time.
Apply: tinyurl.com/DrinkRunner
WARREN STEVENS
Artist/Vendor
In late summer when I was a kid, my dad used to take me on a piggyback ride on his shoulders where we lived in Ikaho, Japan. My dad was a captain in the army overseas. He taught me how to ride a bike when I was a kid. When I got bigger, I could ride a bike and pedal for a long time. When I grew older, my dad and I would go bowling with friends at the bowling alley in Bangkok, Thailand, where we lived in Southeast Asia. When we went back to Washington, D.C. I continued playing at the Sacred Heart Bowling League, where I attended church. I have 24 trophies everywhere in my apartment.
I also took driving lessons and passed the road test. I drove my father’s car to practice. I drove it to the bowling alley. My mom came with me and my friend to the car dealer and bought my car. I got it financed from the credit union, and I have been driving it for a long time. I thank god for the Navy Credit Union. And for the hard work they accomplished to help the veterans and their families live in peace.
Schools are closing soon for the summer. The pools opened on May 26, Memorial Day. Parents and children will be playing ball and swimming in the pool, having so much fun. People traveled out of town for the Memorial Day holiday.
Memorial Day weekend, my son and his family grilled hot dogs, chicken, hamburgers, and marshmallows out in their backyard in Maryland. I remember, I used to spend time with he and his friends and cousins, taking them skating, going swimming, and also bowling. We had so much fun. When he got older, he got himself a good job as a security guard. Now he has three kids. He grew up to be an adult, and now I am a granddad, and proud of it.
Happy Father’s Day!
JAMES LYLES III Artist/Vendor
My dad was a man who was very strict in his ways of doing things; he would tell you what to do, but would not show you how to solve a problem or an issue. For example, my dad was good at mathematics; if you couldn’t do or understand what three times four equaled (12), he would call you derogatory names, or slap or spank you with a leather belt or electrical cord.
My dad was a difficult man to get along with. Some days he would smile and laugh with other people, but when it came to me and my mother, he would be angry and upset, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
My father never told me he was proud of me. I remember I had given him a plaque for Father’s Day, and he never appreciated it. I remember graduating and receiving my diplomas in elementary, junior high, and high school, and he was never proud of me.
My dad took me to Puerto Rico when I was five years old. My first flight was on Continental Airlines, and then he flew with me and my mother to Sacramento to see my uncle, my mother’s brother. My dad took me to see the Washington Commanders games. He even gave me his ticket to go to the FedEx Stadium to the game to see them play the New Orleans Saintswith his friend, Franchises Thomas.
My dad took me to the Barnum & Bailey circus and the Universal Soul circus. I had some good times with my dad, but my dad was a difficult man to get along with. He would criticize everything you did and said.
TASHA SAVOY Artist/Vendor
What does the celebration of fathers on Father’s Day mean? It means having a role model, a loving person, a protector, a guardian, and most of all... a best friend. I am thankful for having that blessed atmosphere. So, Happy Father’s Day!
F is for the forgiveness you have
A is for your positive attitude
T is for the tough love you gave to me
H is for the heart you will always have
E is for your expectations for me
R is for the road we choose to travel
S is for sharing our love for each other
D is for the damage that was made
A is for the anatomy we share
Y is for goodbye to yesterday
