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The Cover

The Street Sense Media Story, #MoreThanANewspaper

Participants in the city’s rapid rehousing program describe a feeling of being left behind and unsupported.

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

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

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

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EVENTS

// 3

NEWS IN BRIEF Vigil held for presumbably homeless men struck by an SUV

Henderson Hall Single Marine Program (SMP) Volunteer - Grate Patrol

Community members and advocates gathered for a vigil last Thursday in memory of the two individuals struck and killed by a car earlier this month. The tragedy occurred on July 10 in James Monroe Park when the driver of an SUV barreled into the two men as they were sitting on a park bench. Additional details remain unclear. The park sits near the intersection of 21st Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, an area in which community advocates and members have been demanding the District Department of Transportation to act upon their plans of safe improvements.

The two individuals are presumed to have been homeless, as many often sleep on the park’s benches. A tearful friend, Robert Gregory, who is homeless himself, had been sitting on the bench only about an hour prior to the accident. “You know, they say sometimes people die so that you can live,” he said during the vigil. “So, take it upon yourself to do right by that.”

—gabrielle.wanneh@streetsensemedia.org

Tuesday, July 30, 2019 // 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm The Salvation Army // 2100 New York Ave NE Join our Single Marine Program as we give back to the homeless population in D.C.! Volunteers will be helping deliver meals to homeless residents in various locations throughout Washington D.C. Volunteer spots are limited.

Please register ASAP. Transportation is provided for all volunteers. For any questions, please contact the SMP Coordinator at: 703-979-8420 ex.313 or 703-220-1001 or email marcus.page@usmc-mccs.org.

SUNDAY, JULY 28

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D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness Meetings

iBlack Community Service: Feed the Homeless Community

11 am - 2pm Bar Louie // 701 7th St NW

Shelter Operations / Emergencies July 24, 1 pm // TBD * Likely 441 4th Street NW

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Join us to provide a nutritious meal, words of encouragement, and a smile to the homeless population of D.C. Promptly, at 11 am we will begin assembling the lunches, followed by distributing them to a local homeless shelter as well as a few other locations. We are kindly asking for a $10 donation to go toward the cost of food.

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Health care pros urge D.C.to build “fullservice” hospital East of the River The D.C. Health Justice Coalition hosted a community discussion on July 11 to develop their arguments for equitable health care throughout the District.

United Medical Center, the only hospital in wards 7 and 8, is slated to close in 2023. This plan coincides with the planned opening of a new city-owned medical center at the St. Elizabeths East campus in Ward 8, which would be operated by George Washington University Hospital.

No deal is final, however. Negotiations were complicated by the D.C. Council’s push for job protections for union workers and the ability of Howard University to have its medical students work at the new facility — ideas rebuffed by GWU Hospital officials.

More than 30 health care professionals and community members called for a full-service hospital east of the Anacostia River that is able to offer specialty services such as neurology, kidney care, and HIV screening and treatment.

Concerns about health equity aren’t limited to specialty services, however. Almost 70 percent of retail health clinics and urgent care facilities in the District are located in wards 2 and 3, according to the 2018 D.C.Public Health Case Challenge report. With six of the District’s seven acute care hospitals located in Northwest, The equivalent number of Ward 7 and Ward 8 residents only have access to one nearby.

—leah.potter@streetsensemedia.org Read the full stories and follow more headlines at StreetSenseMedia.org/news

4 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // J U LY 2 4 - A U G . 6, 2019

NEWS

Problems with the D.C.rapid rehousing program remain after years of concerted reform efforts

BY MAIA BROWN maia.brown@streetsensemedia.org

I

n 2014, Reginald Black found himself in stable housing for the first time after nearly a decade of homelessness. Through Friendship Place, a homeless services provider based in Tenleytown, he qualified for assistance from the D.C. government to help pay his rent. But by 2016, he was back in the shelter.

“From the beginning, it wasn’t an appropriate solution,” Black said. “And I kinda knew that, but that was the only thing available to me.”

Rapid rehousing is a national model the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) has used since 2008. Several nonprofits like Friendship Place are contracted by DHS to implement the program, which places homeless families and individuals into houses or apartments in the D.C. area with rental assistance for up to one year. Though a share of the rent is paid for the government, residents are obligated to pay 60 percent of their income to the landlord. The program’s goal is to provide enough stability for residents to address issues other than housing, such as employment and health care, so that they can eventually take full responsibility for the rent.

Black was given a one-month extension to stay in his room inside a shared house longer than the initial year-long subsidy and found part-time employment working for DHS. But it wasn’t enough income for him to pay market rent in the District. He, like many other rapid rehousing customers, feels his issues with the program were rooted in a lack of “wraparound services.”

“There weren’t any viable resources to go along with the program,” he said. “No real channels to employment. It’s more like a 90-day probation than anything else.”

Rapid rehousing has come under fire from program participants several times in the past five years for allegedly not providing the necessary support to program participants to become self-sufficient. The Department of Human Services claims that 85 percent of rapid rehousing clients do not move back into homeless shelters. However, according to

to afford these places,” she said. “As a result, people are being dropped off the cliff back into homelessness.”

Nkechi Feaster is a prime example. Though she was working a temp job when she started the program in 2012, she knew she’d need a permanent position soon to be able to stay in her apartment. “I reached out to my case manager for help, but I never really got anything out of it,” she recalled.

Feaster started overpaying her rent while she still had money coming in.

Though she was never able to find full-time employment, she was dismissed from the program because her part-time job paid her enough to maintain the rent.

“By the time I was put out of the program, I only had 30 days left at my job,” she said.

“There was no possible way I’d be able to pay for everything, and I was mad because no one had helped me.”

Feaster said her case manager knew she’d Amber Harding, a lawyer with the Washington be out of a job soon, but the program still Legal Clinic for the Homeless, the program deemed her a success story for being able to has several issues that make it “the biggest pay for rent during her initial subsidy period, driver for families re-entering shelters.” and for technically being employed once According to a Washington City Paper the subsidy ended. A month later, she was report in June, 42 percent of families who left unemployed and expected to pay market rent D.C.’s homeless services system but returned for her apartment. again for help were those who had used rapid “[After exiting rapid rehousing] I was able rehousing vouchers to stay there for about three months,” she said. “Since then, I’ve just been renting rooms A broken ladder in different places with the goal of just not to self-sufficiency re-entering the shelter system.”

Even when customers are able to get employment help, it’s not always useful advice.

In 2017, the Washington Legal Clinic released a Ashley Rhodes, who started in the report based on interviews with rapid rehousing program in June of 2016, said the jobs her customers in D.C. titled, “Set Up to Fail.” It case managers suggested were unrealistic. identified several recurring themes based on “My rent is around $1,800 a month,” the interviews, including a lack of protections she explained. “They were only finding from landlords refusing repairs and raising rent and suggesting jobs at prices, and the need for better pla c e s like Wa lma r t wraparound services. and McDonald’s, even The biggest issues though I’ve worked at still encountered today, better-paying places than according to Harding, that before. They acted revolve around difficulties like I was being snooty, with rent and employment. like I was above working “There’s still a time limit those jobs, but I literally that is not connected to couldn’t do them. I whether or not they can afford wouldn’t be able to afford the rent,” she said. “Of course, rent or childcare, and I’d people are going to become have no benefits.” homeless again if that’s how In addition, Rhodes it works.” said the jobs that are According to the report, AMBER HARDING often suggested for rapid the average rent for a rapid Washington Legal Clinic rehousing customers put rehousing unit two years ago for the Homeless extra strain on the children, was around $1,200 per month. and by extension, the This was more than twice the parents. “So many of the jobs have nighttime average monthly income for families in the hours only,” she said. “If you can’t afford program, which was $500. This includes daycare, you have to ask friends or family to income from part-time work and from benefit take care of your kid, and they don’t help him programs such as Temporary Assistance for with his homework or watch him closely the Needy Families. On top of this, Harding way you would if you were there.” said, there are not enough resources to help Rhodes said she had a night job at one residents find higher-paying, full-time jobs point, and quit because her son was struggling before their subsidy ends. in school without her around.

“The way things are now, most of the When her subsidy ended in December of families aren’t able to earn the income needed

“The way things are, most of the families aren’t able to earn the income needed to afford these places.”

2017, Rhodes appealed through the Office of Administrative Hearings, saying that she should be able to maintain her funding due to the lack of employment and education help she felt she received. “The judge ruled that Community of Hope can’t transfer me,” she said. “They still fund my place.

DHS and [The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness] have told them to terminate me, but they won’t because the court order specifically says they can’t.”

DHS representative Tamitha Davis-Rama said that while she cannot speak on specific clients’ cases, DHS is committed to working with clients to extend their subsidy if needed. “[Rapid rehousing customers] are eligible to apply for a more long-term permanent housing subsidies like [permanent supportive housing],” Davis-Rama said. “And we work with our providers through that process of submitting applications for their identified customers.”

Despite this, many customers feel like improving employment services is crucial to making rapid rehousing function for them and others.

“There has to be a focus on finding jobs that people can retain and that will allow them to take over the rent after some time,” Black said of his experience. “I feel like the connections to those jobs were lacking … There should be a safety net to catch you and help you up on your feet.”

Lack of support While employment seemed to be the biggest issue, many tenants have had other challenges during their time in rapid rehousing. Many of these are related to landlord discrimination, Harding says.

She regularly dealt with landlords who refused to rent to people in rapid rehousing, or refused to make repairs on units occupied by tenants in the program.

“We’ve also heard—and I don’t know if this has become more or less frequent—of landlords trying to raise rents for rapid rehousing tenants, which is very difficult, because once their subsidy ends, they have to pay above market rate to stay in their homes.”

DHS has attempted to

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combat this in the past with a “mitigation fund” established in November of 2017. The fund insures landlords for up to $5,000 for any damages incurred or unpaid rent lost to rapid rehousing tenants.

By the time she’d been in her apartment for a year, Nkechi Feaster said her landlord had stopped coming to repair anything for her.

“At one point, my refrigerator was spoiling food really fast.

And I’m an insulin-dependent diabetic, so I needed it fixed,” she recalled. “I submitted a lot of requests and reminders, but it took them forever. So I was wasting money on food and risking my health.”

Feaster said by the time she left her apartment, the dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer had all stopped working and no one had responded to her requests to repair them.

While Reginald Black had no problems with his property owner, he had several issues with his case managers.

“The turnover rate is a big problem,” he said. “I had three different case managers, and I only saw the second case manager once. She never came to do a single house visit, and then suddenly I was assigned to someone else.”

Black said his case managers were not supportive whenever he went to them for solving a problem. “They would just tell me, ‘keep doing what you’re doing,’ and I would say ‘okay,’ even though what I was doing wasn’t working.”

According to Jamey Burden, an employee for rapid rehousing case management provider Community of Hope, there’s often a gap between when tenants move into their apartments and when they’re assigned a case manager, which makes it difficult for them to receive the help they need in the transition to non-shelter housing.

“One thing I think is really important is making sure once families move out of the shelter and into their apartment, that they’re provided with their rapid rehousing manager as soon as possible,” said Burden, “so that there isn’t a huge gap between when they move in and when they start to actually receive those services.”

In recent times, Burden said Community of Hope has been able to start working with clients very quickly. Despite this, he acknowledges that this hasn’t always been the case and can be a significant problem for people in rapid rehousing.

DHS began an “enhanced case management” initiative in 2016 in part to solve this problem. The development has lowered the client to case-manager ratio to a maximum of 125 to 1, allowing case managers to allot more time to each individual client.

A starting point, not a finish line Supporters of rapid rehousing say most criticism of the program is rooted in misunderstandings of what it is meant to do. While rapid rehousing lacks the structure to be a permanent solution for homelessness, providers maintain that this is because it was always meant to be a temporary fix.

“There is a much greater need for affordable housing that rapid rehousing, transitional housing, or any other type of homelessness program is not going to be able to fill,” Burden said. “Rapid rehousing is a good tool and a lot of communities don’t have these types of resources. I think there’s always room for improvement, but at the same time, we’re unable to take care of all the housing instability issues in D.C.” According to the D.C.Policy Institute, there are at least 40,000 households in the D.C. area that severely struggle with the cost of housing. Burden thinks it’s unrealistic to expect that rapid rehousing could solve such a large problem. He maintains that the focus should be on the program getting families out of shelters and connected to resources that will further their progress, not on whether it can alleviate every obstacle a family faces.

Several families who have received rapid rehousing subsidies marched with advocates on May 9 to voice their concerns about the program. They marched nearly two miles in the heat to deliver a letter to officials with the Department of Human Services.

PHOTO COURTESY OF REGINALD BLACK

“We need to do the best we can as a city, but we also have to acknowledge that the homelessness assistance system is a very small piece of the much larger solution of housing affordability,” said Burden.

According to the Urban Institute, the cost of housing a family through rapid rehousing is about $880 per month. The Legal Clinic’s “Set Up to Fail” report states that over 1,350 families were actively in the program as of 2017, making the annual cost of the program roughly $1,188,000.

Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, who also chairs the Committee on Human Services, views rapid rehousing as a stepping stone on the path to self-sufficiency.

“One of the things that’s important to remember is that rapid rehousing is our Housing First program,” she said. “That doesn’t mean that’s where everyone is gonna end up.”

According to Nadeau, the primary purpose of rapid rehousing is to get families out of shelter and stabilized as quickly as possible. After that’s taken care of, she said, the program may conduct deeper assessments to determine what long-term issues are contributing to a customer’s situation. Addressing these problems may require a different assistance program, or moving into permanent supportive housing.

“I think the Legal Clinic is doing a really good job of highlighting cases where it just isn’t working, and I think it’s important to focus on those scenarios because that makes the program better as a whole,” Nadeau said. “But my sense is that it’s not the majority of people who are in rapid rehousing.”

Change is coming The Washington City Paper reported in June that 42 percent of families who left D.C.’s homeless services system but returned again for help were those who had used rapid rehousing vouchers. However, DHS continues to report that 85 percent of people housed through rapid rehousing did not re-enter shelters.

It is difficult to tell how long former rapid rehousing customers are monitored by DHS in order to receive this data.

While Harding says it only lasts for one or two years, DHS

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representative Tamitha Davis-Rama says there is no cutoff to how long they follow up with residents.

“We don’t continue tracking families unless they present for ongoing need after they exit our program, but this is something that we’re continuously looking at,” Davis-Rama said.

She went on to say DHS has made progress in at least three of the problem areas identified by the Legal Clinic’s 2016 report. Davis-Rama cited three “major achievements” made since 2016: the rental partnership initiative, enhanced case management, and the landlord partnership fund.

The first is meant to “streamline payment structure” by having the D.C. government pay the entirety of the rental payments for rapid rehousing units directly to the landlords. This is the department’s way of both ensuring consistent rent payments, which used to come separately from both the customer and DHS, and protecting customers from neglect or abuse.

“When there are issues where we feel like the landlord is not responding appropriately regarding maintenance repair, that’s where we as an entity can withhold rent so it’s not impacting the customers,” Davis-Rama explained.

The second development aimed to lower the client-to-case manager ratio. Davis-Rama claims that the maximum number of clients assigned to any case manager has dropped to 125.

DHS plans to increase efforts to make sure customers are “fully engaged with TANF employment and education providers,” which they are meant to work with as part of the program.

Lastly, the Landlord Partnership fund, announced by Mayor Bowser in October of 2017, was created to cover any costs incurred by landlords who are housing rapid rehousing customers.

If there are significant damages that a tenant’s security deposit will not cover, DHS will finance the landlord for the repairs.

Councilmember Nadeau remains hopeful DHS will continue to make progress to resolve all of the systemic struggles the Legal Clinic’s report.

“We’ve been talking to DHS about how we can get to a place where the services that people are provided as part of rapid rehousing are happening at each step,” she said. “We really can do better in a lot of areas and I think we’re getting better, but it’s incremental.”

Is there a solution?

DHS may be making efforts to improve the program, but some rapid rehousing customers fear it may not be enough.

“I think the program altogether needs to die,” said Nkechi Feaster. “The government has developed its own complacency.

It will always be unsuccessful because there will never be enough wraparound services.”

Amber Harding said that while DHS has been getting more input from families, she doesn’t think they are using those insights to improve.

Instead, Harding and the Legal Clinic have urged DHS to put more emphasis on permanent affordable housing.

“The cliff still exists. The emphasis on this as a solution to homelessness still exists,” she said. “The city is not funding permanent housing at nearly the rates that they need to. On the outside it looks like they’re taking the idea into account, but it’s not like they’re saying ‘let’s move massive amounts of money around into permanent housing subsidies and decrease rapid rehousing.’”

In the mind of Jamey Burden from Community of Hope, rapid rehousing just needs to improve its working partnership with permanent housing.

“I don’t see them as competing against each other,” he said.

“In a more perfect world, we would be working better to try and integrate them. Rapid rehousing is helping people get out of shelters quickly before we move on to more permanent solutions. Ideally, it’s not a panacea. It’s only the beginning.”

6 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // J U LY 2 4 - A U G . 6, 2019

NEWS

How cool indifference magnifies the summer heat

BY WILL SCHICK will.schick@streetsensemedia.org

W

ashington D.C. is one of the most intense summer “heat islands” of any U.S. city. Temperatures during the summer can soar 21 degrees higher than surrounding rural areas, according to a report

by Climate Central. And the population at greatest risk of suffering from heat-related illnesses in the summer is people experiencing homelessness.

Sheila White, a Street Sense Media artist and a student at the University of the District of Columbia, thinks that people often overlook the dangers summer weather poses to homeless residents.

“Everybody wants to think about wintertime, about how you can freeze, and about frostbite,” White said. “But they don’t think about the summer,” she said.

Being exposed to the heat for many homeless residents means not having a place to take cover or to take medication, White said. For instance, those with diabetes can’t carry their insulin because the bottles are in danger of “exploding,” White explained. And sometimes, due to the heat, her own medication “melts and sticks to the bottle,” she said.

People who are homeless are more than twice as likely to suffer from diabetes. They are also more likely to suffer from hypertension, heart disease, HIV, hepatitis C, depression and a laundry list of other ailments.

Summer heat can kill Hundreds of people die every year in the U.S. from heatrelated illnesses. The National Weather Service runs a public health campaign during the summer months telling people to stay indoors, keep hydrated and avoid or limit participating in strenuous activities outside.

But for residents who have no place to call home, this can be an almost-impossible task. The city does not always make it easy for those who are unsheltered.

Every week the District leads encampment clean-ups in various public spaces across the city. These clean-ups are organized by representatives from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services (DMHHS), workers from the Department of Public Works, Department of Behavioral Health and officers from the Metropolitan Police Department. District protocol states that these engagements are to help homeless residents “better stabilize their living condition by conducting outreach and offering certain support services including temporary shelter and permanent housing placements when they are available.”

In practice, however, clean-ups can become more like exercises in moving things around. Since unsheltered residents are required to vacate the public spaces they have been illegally occupying, they often end up, against the advice of the National Weather Service, partaking in strenuous outdoor activities. For individuals with many belongings, this process can be laborious, particularly when temperatures climb above 90 degrees.

At encampment clean-ups around the city this summer, unsheltered residents can be observed packing and moving their belongings from one street corner to another.

One encampment resident in NoMa, who goes by the name Mama Joy, said she believes encampment clean-ups are necessary. But, as she said, “it’s never a clean-up. It’s just a move around.” NoMa encampment clean-ups occur every two weeks.

Marchell Thomas, another unsheltered resident who lives in NoMa, said that she believed moving every two weeks can be difficult. “I think they need to keep in mind that some people have health issues,” Thomas said.

City employees and homeless residents on July 2 during a scheduled cleanup at the K Street NE underpass between First and 2nd streets. PHOTO BY WILL SCHICK

Unsheltered residents are often asked to collect all their belongings and move someplace else. Anything left behind is thrown out.

The rate at which the District is forcing unsheltered residents to move their things is increasing. In the summer of 2015, the District conducted a total of seven encampment engagements. In comparison, the District conducted five engagements alone this month.

Doug Buchanan, the communications officer for the District’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services said there were “most definitely increased requests for emergency medical services during the summer.” According to data he provided, there have been close to 200 cases of heat exhaustion reported in the District since May. It remains unclear, however, how many of these cases involve people who are without homes, because. D.C. doesn’t track demographics, according to Buchanan. Instead, the city tracks emergency incidents by address. The number of heat cases has been increasing across all eight of the District’s wards, according to the Fire and EMS data.

The city activates heat alerts whenever temperatures climb to 95 degrees or above. As a result, DMHHS cancelled three encampment clean-ups scheduled for July 18, due to a citywide warning indicating that the heat index may reach 110 to 115 degrees in the afternoon.

Recreation centers, public pools, and libraries are among some locations that serve as cooling centers. However, according to the District’s 2019 Heat Emergency Plan, “ some facilities, including D.C.Public Libraries (DCPL), may have bag limits,” which may impact some unsheltered residents.

White said she saw a woman pass out several years ago from carrying all of her belongings around in the heat. She had been trying to reach a cooling center.

How to help relieve the heat Since the weather is just one of many obstacles homeless residents face, heat exhaustion is often the last thing on their mind.

Thrive D.C. is a non-profit located in the Columbia Heights

neighborhood that has served the local homeless community since 1979.

During the summer, Mariah Cowser, the communications coordinator for Thrive D.C., said that she tries to carry extra sunblock or bottles of water, and recommended others do the same.

“I usually do a check on the people in my neighborhood,” she said.

But the best thing that people can really do to help, according to Alicia Horton, the executive director for Thrive D.C., is to “connect people with services.”

As she explained, the experience of homelessness can often mirror the experience of having a full-time job. If you are homeless, she said, you might be “out there all day long trying to figure out where you are going to eat, where you are going to shower, where you are going to sleep, where you’re going to do laundry, where you’re going to find work…” The list goes on and on.

Thrive D.C. tries to mitigate these concerns by providing their clients with shower facilities, laundry facilities, prescription assistance, eyeglass assistance, a food pantry, a workforce development program, a workforce readiness program, a substance abuse and recovery program, and with hot meals.

“The thing with heat issues is… you don’t know it until it’s too late,” Horton said.

Street Sense Media artist Vince Watts agreed the best way to help people experiencing homelessness is to connect them with services. Like many homeless residents in the District, Watts chooses not to deal with the rules imposed by lowbarrier shelters across the city and chooses to sleep outside.

While this situation hasn’t proved to be overly strenuous for him as temperatures have increased, he said it can be especially difficult for anyone navigating homelessness for the first time.

Getting by in the summer can be manageable for someone that knows how to get around the city and utilize its resources, according to Watts. However, “some homeless people don’t have cell phones. Some people just don’t know where some resources are,” he said. “It helps when you share knowledge about the different resources that are out there.”

During a recent encampment clean-up near Foggy Bottom, an unsheltered resident named Leon echoed Watts’s concern.

“Some people just do not know about where they can go for help,” he said, when asked what he thought was the best way to help the homeless in the summertime.

Thanks to Miriam’s Kitchen, Leon and other unsheltered residents living in an encampment near Foggy Bottom have access to breakfast and dinner, as well as a host of other services. Like Thrive D.C., Miriam’s Kitchen seeks to help homeless residents by connecting them to a range of services, beyond access to meals. While programs like these can be life saving for many, they are not open every day.

Thrive D.C. and Miriam’s Kitchen are not open for meal service on the weekends. According to many unsheltered residents, weekends can be especially difficult. Places that are open during the week, such as public libraries, are often closed or have reduced hours. Free meals are also harder to find.

During the summer, residents can use the District’s interactive map of cooling centers across the city to help spread information on where people can go to escape the heat. Street Sense Media’s website also has a section where readers can search for service providers. This list is not all-encompassing, but it can be a helpful start for those interested in learning about where homeless residents can find the help they need. www.tinyurl.com/cool-pool-D.C.// www.streetsensemedia.org/guide

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CELEBRATING SUCCESS

Activists call for a strong focus on racial equity in DC’s comprehensive plan

BY MARK ROSE Volunteer

E

mpower D.C., a non-profit agency dedicated to advocating on behalf of low- to moderateincome D.C. residents, held a meeting at Union Temple Baptist Church in Southeast to review the Framework Element of the D.C. Comprehensive Plan, which was initially passed by D.C. Council on July 9.

The July 13 meeting was attended by roughly 60 advisory neighborhood commissioners, D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson, members of special interest groups, and individual members of the public — most from low-income communities.

Development projects and displacement fears dominated the discussion. The Comprehensive Plan governs and guides land use in the District of Columbia and the second and final vote on the amendments to the Framework Element will be held in September.

“It’s not too late to change the Framework Element,” Mendelson said. He stressed his opinion that a policy mechanism called “land use recapture” should be included in the final amendments. Land value recapture policies charge landlords a fee to be used for public benefits, such as funding affordable housing, when the landlord’s property is “upzoned” to allow denser development.

The last time the Council adopted amendments to the plan, in 2011, the Office of Planning only received 20 public comments for review. This year the number of citizen comments was more than 3,000. “There’s been a lot more interest in the Plan and how it’s used as a policy document,” Empower D.C. Executive Director Parisa Norouzi told the meeting attendees.

Mendelson pointed out that the D.C. Council has re-written the plan in “plain language” to make it more accessible, given the high level of public scrutiny and input.

Most meeting attendees attributed the public’s attention to the document to deepening inequality and the rate of gentrification in the city, which a study released in March said was the highest in the country. Materials distributed at the meeting by Norouzi and activist Chris Otten — known for holding up large development projects in appeals court during attempts to influence community benefits in the development plans — indicated that nearly 17 percent of D.C. residents live in poverty. Half of the city’s residents are renters, one third of whom have average annual incomes of approximately $30,000 or less.

Meanwhile, the District’s Area Median Income, a number used to determine income limits to qualify for affordable housing programs, is more than $120,000. The materials also indicated that 111,000 people in D.C. earn minimum wage, which increased to $14/ hour on July 1. An individual working full time at minimum wage would have an annual pre-tax income of $29,120/year.

Last year 1,595 families applied for shelter during the winter months, Nov. 1 to March 31 - and approximately 6,183 single people used the shelter system, according to the flyers supplied

by Empower D.C. Finally, just over 40,000 households are on the D.C. Housing Authority’s waiting list for a Housing Choice voucher and

another 26,000 names remain on the waiting list for public housing. In December of last year, DCHA was following up with people who applied for vouchers in 2004 to see if they still needed help.

Caitlin Cocilova, a staff attorney for The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, said the material in the Framework Element as written suggests that the Comprehensive Plan will “push out” lower-income people who currently are in the city’s public housing.

A report the D.C.Fiscal Policy Institute released in April titled Budgeting for Equity: How to Advance Opportunity for People of Color in D.C. states that “inequalities we see today are the direct result of decades of compounding housing policies that have been as advantageous for white households as they have been detrimental to Black households,” At the July 13 meeting, Ward 1 resident William Jordan said the version of the Framework Element the Council initially passed “is no better than the amateurish garbage the Office of Planning gave us last year.” Jordan said he, like others at the meeting, wants to see stronger language on racial equity so that the city can objectively analyze the impact large developments have on vulnerable communities. He, too, supported land value recapture as one way to mitigate these effects.

Mendelson said the Council should move quickly to add more language about equity, including more detail about land use and public housing, to the Framework Element before the second reading of the amendments in September. What they have now is “good as a start,” he said.

Norouzi wants D.C. Council to hold hearings focused on how to better integrate affordable housing into the massive Comprehensive Plan.

Under the auspices of Empower D.C., some meeting participants formulated a range of demands they want Mendelson to carry out. Among them were: strengthening and clarifying language so the plan is enforceable in court, expanding public engagement efforts to utilize the outpouring of citizens’ interest in more productive ways than the 14-hour marathon public hearing held in March to collect input on the Framework Element, and an emphasis on small-area planning to promote inclusion of residents in decision-making at the neighborhood level.

The second vote on the amendments to the Framework Element, including any further changes since the initial vote, will take place on September 17. Once those amendments are agreed upon, review of suggested updates for the next section of the plan will begin.

Artists Sheila White, Ken Martin, and Angie Whitehurst.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KEN MARTIN

Artist/Vendor Angie Whitehurst (right) participated in the 19th Anniversary American Classic Woman of the Year Pageant at the Lincoln Theater on July 21.

BIRTHDAYS Anthony Crawford July 29 ARTIST/VENDOR

Dele Akerejah Aug. 4 ARTIST/VENDOR

Donald Brown Aug. 5 VENDOR

ACCOMPLISHMENTS Wendell Williams

Interviewed on WOWD 94.3 FM’s “Talk of Takoma” with Eric Bond to discuss addiction, the opioid crisis, and his work as a certified peer specialist. Listen to the archive: tinyurl.com/Wendell-July14 ARTIST/VENDOR

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“The [comprehensive plan] we have currently was adopted in 2006 as a 20-year blueprint for the city. It was amended by the comprehensive amendment act of 2010. It is required to be amended, I believe, every five years,” Mendelson said at the July 9 legislative meeting. SCREENSHOT COURTESY OF DCCOUNCIL.US

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8 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // J U LY 2 4 - A U G . 6 , 2 0 1 9

NEWS

How feasible is the mayor’s ambitious plan to equitably distribute 12,000 new affordable housing units throughout D.C.by 2025?

Nearly all subsidizied affordable housing is east of Rock Creek Park

BY JAMES MARSHALL @jamesmarshall_a

W

hen the District government began planning the construction of a six-story homeless shelter in the upper northwest part of Washington, D.C., some neighbors said the density such a building would bring wouldn’t be consistent with the neighborhood, which is mostly filled with single-family homes.

The small family shelter currently under construction in Ward 3 is one of several facilities planned years ago to help replace the D.C. General family shelter that closed in 2018.

The plan utilizes Mayor Muriel Bowser’s “all eight wards” strategy, in which each section of the city plays a role in sheltering people experiencing homelessness. While Ward 3’s median household income soars above $100,000, less than 1 percent of subsidized affordable housing that has been built, preserved, or planned in the city since 2015 is located there.

Meanwhile, some Ward 5 residents in Northeast Washington also fought the construction of the D.C. General replacement shelter in their ward. Tom Kirlin, a vocal opponent of the shelter’s location at 1700 Rhode Island Ave., wrote in The Washington Post that he felt the city was concentrating poverty in that part of the Brookland neighborhood, where there is a slew of low-income apartment buildings and social service facilities.

Much like these shelter disputes, some residents west of Rock Creek Park want to keep affordable housing developments out of their neighborhoods. But, many residents in the eastern part of the city don’t want affordable units to be built exclusively in theirs.

Bowser will have to navigate this dichotomy as her administration’s plans to build 36,000 new housing units by 2025 — including 12,000 set aside to be affordable — to accommodate the District’s growing population. In May, Bowser called for an “equitable distribution” of these new affordable units, noting the lack of affordable options west of Rock Creek Park.

“The mayor took this approach — and I actually give her a lot of credit for it — with the family homeless shelters that were put in all eight wards of the city,” said Patrick Kennedy, a Foggy Bottom neighborhood commissioner and candidate to contest Jack Evans for representation of Ward 2 on the D.C. Council. “It’s a very similar approach that she’s taking now with housing, and I think it’s the right one.”

Housing and segregation There’s little indication that most residents of Wards 2 and 3 in Northwest Washington need subsidized affordable housing.

Their respective median household incomes are $104,504 and $122,680 — the two highest in the District. Both wards are majority white.

Much of the city’s subsidized housing stock is located in Wards 7 and 8 in Southeast Washington, where the median household incomes are $31,954 and $40,021 — the District’s two lowest, according to the D.C. Office of Planning. Both wards are more than 90 percent Black.

Less than 1% of affordable units built, preserved or planned since 2015 is in Ward 3

4 3

1

5

2

6

8

7

111 units 771 units 1,618 units 2,294 units 2,605 units 3,544 units 3,984 units 4,355 units

Nearly all subsidized Source: opendata.dc.gov

affordable housing built, preserved, or planned James Marshall/Street Sense since 2015 is east of Rock Creek. DATA COURTESY OF OPENDATA.DC.GOV. GRAPHIC BY JAMES MARSHALL.

“If affordable housing is not put into all wards, it just further exacerbates segregation of the city,” said Brittany Ruffin, an affordable housing advocacy attorney at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. “All people should have access to areas that are considered higher opportunity areas.”

For instance, Ruffin said, healthy food is more readily available in Ward 3, where there are seven full-service grocery stores. There is only one in Ward 8, making most of the area a food desert.

The Office of Planning is the agency tasked with planning the long-term growth of the city. Its director, Andrew Trueblood, said it is important for low-income residents to have access to the District’s most affluent neighborhoods.

“High opportunity neighborhoods need affordable housing so that people with various incomes have those opportunities, whether it’s educational, jobs, transit, amenities,” Trueblood said. “There’s a philosophical view about being able to create opportunities for residents of all incomes in all of our neighborhoods.”

Empower D.C., a nonprofit community organizing group, helped organize former residents of Barry Farm, a neighborhood in Ward 8. Barry Farm was originally settled by former slaves in the 19th century and became a public housing complex in 1942. Residents of the historic community helped desegregate D.C. public schools and produced the influential go-go group, the Junkyard Band.

The D.C. Housing Authority plans to redevelop Barry Farm into a mixed-use community with retail space, market-rate housing and public housing units, though fewer than existed there previously. Tenants and Empower D.C. have sought

historic landmark status for Barry Farm in order to retain part of the neighborhood’s history amid the proposed redevelopment.

Daniel Del Pielago, organizing director at Empower D.C., said he agrees District residents should be able to live in any ward, but he said building affordable housing west of Rock Creek Park should not come at the cost of changing the face of historic Black neighborhoods.

“It negates that people have built community, that there is history that needs to be preserved and uplifted. So just this idea that if there is housing created in another ward that that’s good enough,” Del Pielago said. “We need to fix and invest in the neighborhoods that exist and preserve them.”

Trueblood, whose office is leading the push to create more low-cost housing west of Rock Creek Park, acknowledged the need to strike a balance between housing production and preservation.

“Maybe you produce new housing in high opportunity areas, and you focus on preservation or low-income home ownership opportunities in some of the areas where you have more lowincome residents today,” Trueblood said.

Building up in Ward 3 Producing affordable housing in Ward 3 will be no easy feat.

Much of the land is already developed with low-density singlefamily homes, land values are through the roof, and many residents oppose development that may change the perceived character of Ward 3 neighborhoods.

One resident group, Ward3Vision, was founded to advocate for what steering committee chair Susan Kimmel calls, “smart growth.”

To Kimmel, smart growth means more density along transit corridors such as Wisconsin Avenue and the Red Line. She said one way to do this would be building apartments above existing infrastructure. Kimmel support adjusting the zoning code and the Comprehensive Plan — District government’s strategy for growth — to increase the building height limits and allow for more duplexes and taller apartment buildings within walking distance to commercial districts.

Under the current zoning regulations, 72 percent of land west of Rock Creek Park is zoned single-family, whereas just 36 percent of D.C. as a whole is zoned single-family, according to a report by The New York Times. Exclusionary zoning practices like this often result in segregating residents along class lines.

“There would be areas for what we call ‘the missing middle,’” Kimmel said, referring to smaller multifamily buildings that are not as large as mid- or high-rise complexes and would better maintain the character of existing neighborhoods made up of single-family homes.

The Comprehensive Plan was last amended in 2011, but D.C. Council will vote in September on a new round of suggested changes. In 2018, nearly 300 urban planning wonks and residents debated the merits of allowing more affordable housing units in their neighborhoods at a 13-hour D.C. Council

The largest portion of subsidized units are affordable to families making 51-60% of the area median income

The maps combine to show 100% of the subsidized affordable units built, preserved or planned since 2015. They show where they have been built and how affordable they are. Ward 3 in the 0-30 AMI range has exactly 0% of all subsidized units.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

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as the city with the highest intensity of hearing about updating the plan. gentrification in the country. The report by the Ward3Vision submitted numerous National Community Reinvestment Coalition suggestions to the Council, most of which said that more than 20,000 Black residents involve upzoning, or legalizing taller, denser were displaced between 2000 and 2013. The buildings near metro stops and bus corridors. result is that Chocolate City is no longer On the week of July 7, eight land-use majority Black. experts with the Urban Land Institute, a Residents in the 0-30 percent of AMI range nonprofit research organization, spent a — especially residents of color — are the ones week in Washington studying ways to expand 0% 2.5 5.0 7.5 10 leaving the city, Ruffin of Washington Legal affordable housing in Ward 3. The Bowser Clinic for the Homeless said. administration asked ULI to make policySource: James Marshall/Street opendata.dc.gov Fewer than half of subsidized units are affordable for families making less than $60,650, or 50 percent ofSense “The most equitable result would be to target recommendations and identify sites in the area the area median income. Combined, these maps show 100 percent of subsidized affordable units built, preserved, and planned since 2015. DATA COURTESY OF OPENDATA.DC.GOV. GRAPHIC BY JAMES MARSHALL. the group of 0-30 AMI [for assistance],” she said. to build homes affordable to families making Trueblood said subsidizing housing for the 30-80 percent of the area median income, most vulnerable residents — those in the 0-30 income, or AMI, of metropolitan regions of which is $121,300 for a family of four. forced out of their neighborhoods despite the percent of AMI range — is a matter of funding. the country. Local governments use the AMI ULI panelist Brad Leibin, a San Franciscoavailability of so-called affordable options.

Sixty percent of the Housing Production Trust to determine which families are eligible for based architect, said Friendship Heights in “In my opinion, affordable housing begins Fund goes to families making more than certain housing programs. particular has opportunity for growth. He with those who are working with incomes of $36,390, and 40 percent goes to those making The Washington region’s AMI is $121,300. recommended that the Fox 5 headquarters $40,000 or more,” Hawkins said in an interview less than that figure. Low-income housing tax Of the 19,506 subsidized affordable units — which is slated to be relocated — be at the D.C. Department of Housing and credits and tax-exempt bonds also support that have been built, preserved or planned redeveloped into a 90 feet-high, mixed-used Community Development’s 2019 housing expo families making above the 0-30 percent of by various District housing programs since building that would have retail on the ground at the Walter Washington Convention Center.

AMI level, he said.

2015, 46 percent of them are affordable to floor and affordable housing units above. He “My question is, are you giving public families making less than $60,650, or half of also recommended upzoning and redeveloping relations statements ... or are you really the AMI, according to the District’s affordable the four-acre site of the WMATA bus garage addressing affordable housing?” Hawkins said ‘The discomfort of people housing database. Just 21 percent of these and the parking lots of the Mazza Gallerie after Bowser gave a speech during which she can’t dictate how positive units are affordable to families making less shopping center and Lord & Taylor. boasted of her administration’s investments change should come’ than $36,400, or 30 percent of the AMI. The panel suggested making better use of in the Housing Production Trust Fund, one of Yasmina Mrabet, a housing organizer for publicly owned properties, such as public the District’s principal tools for combating the local activism group LinkUp, said true equity libraries in Tenleytown and Chevy Chase, to affordable housing crisis.

If low-cost housing were to be built west of in affordable housing would mean dedicating save the District from shelling out the money This year, the Bowser administration Rock Creek Park and lower-income families proportionally more money to those lower on for pricey parcels of land. Trueblood has also allocated more than $130 million to the fund, from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds the income spectrum. recommended this approach. He tweeted in June which is $30 million more than she has done were to move into the area, by all accounts, “The mayor is saying that she is going to that theTenley-Friendship Library on Wisconsin in previous years. While many affordable there would be growing pains. equitably distribute affordable housing, but Avenue was built with reinforcements, making housing advocates applauded this commitment, When formerly homeless people redeemed the mayor also doesn’t define what affordable it easier to build housing above it. they bemoaned Bowser’s reluctance to invest their housing choice vouchers at Ward 3’s housing is because in D.C. that’s generally The cheapest and most effective way to in public housing. Her administration didn’t Sedgwick Gardens, an upscale apartment considered to be 0-80 percent of the area median increase Ward 3’s affordable housing stock initially allocate any funds to fix the District’s building in Cleveland Park, The Washington income,” Mrabet said. “Now show me a retail would be for homeowners to add accessory crumbling public housing stock this year, and Post reported that calls for police rose from 34 worker or a food worker that makes $80,000 a dwelling units to their homes, according to ULI at the housing expo, protesters interrupted her in 2016 to 121 in 2018. Only five crimes had year to be able to afford ‘low-income housing.’ panelist Philip Payne of Ginkgo Residential in speech to display a sign asking her to “fix taken place that year, according to the report.

That’s why the demographics have changed so Charlotte, North Carolina. If just 14 percent public housing now.”

“Affordable housing will not be accepted much, because people are getting pushed out.” of the 17,700 single-family homes in Ward The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban in Ward 3 as long as the city does not get its A recent study designated Washington 3 added an accessory dwelling unit, it would Development calculates the area median act together in the way it is trying to increase create 2,500 new affordable units, which is the affordable housing,” Sedgwick Gardens Tenant D.C.’s subsidized housing isn’t affordable to ballpark figure ULI panelists said Ward 3 could Association President Carren Kaston said at the generate. Since 2016, the District zoning code Urban Land Institute panel discussion. the lowest-income residents in most wards has allowed many single-family homeowners In spite of some opposition to affordable About half of households in Wards 7 and 8 make less than $35,000 a year, but less than a fifth of to add accessory dwelling units, such as housing, Ruffin said it is important that the the affordable housing built, preserved or planned there since 2015 is affordable to those familes. backyard tiny homes or basement apartments, District pursue these policies. without seeking approval.

“The discomfort of people can’t dictate 60% Percent of households making Percent of subsidized units affordable to less than $35,000 a year families making 30% of the AMI, or “Why do all these [recommendations] how positive change should come,” Ruffin $36,390 for a family of four 53 on auxiliary dwelling units?” Payne asked said about the prospect of affordable housing rhetorically. “Because it is the easiest and west of Rock Creek Park bringing people fastest way to begin to address this problem.” from diverse racial and socio-economic 46 The panel did not recommend abolishing backgrounds to the area. “While there can be single-family zoning or declaring a state of discomfort, there also is great value in making 40 emergency to address the affordable housing sure people have access to not only spaces, but crisis. It will present the final report of its have access to other cultures.”

34 32 findings at ULI’s conference in Washington Hawkins said it is important to build in September.

28 affordable housing in wealthy areas of the city so that people can live inclusively. But 23 lower-income families moving into majority Across the income spectrum 21 21 21 20 white neighborhoods west of Rock Creek 19 20 16 Park would face the type of struggle she In interviews, Washington residents and 15 13 experienced in her childhood, she said. housing activists took issue with the Bowser 12 “It would be as integration was when administration’s interpretation of the meaning I was coming up,” Hawkins said. “For a of the words “affordable” and “equitable.”

Black person to go a white school, this is the Charmaine Hawkins, a D.C. native in her 70s resistance we will have because this keeps and resident of the Woodridge neighborhood 0 0 Ward 1 them as elitists in the District.” in Ward 5, said many of her friends have been Ward 2 Ward 3 Ward 4 Ward 5 Ward 6 Ward 7 Ward 8

31-50 AMI

51-60 AMI

61+ AMI

DATA COURTESY OF OPENDATA.DC.GOV. GRAPHIC BY JAMES MARSHALL.

0-30 AMI

Source: D.C.’s affordable housing database; American Community Survey

Graphic by James Marshall

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OPINION

Father McKenna knew how to end homelessness. Why didn't we listen?

BY KEN MARTIN

The other day, while looking for something entirely different, I stumbled across a copy of an old program for a July 1979 mass that was given to me by a newly discovered cousin, Elizabeth. She had shared it upon learning we had yet another connection outside of our blood relation: Father Horace B. McKenna, who in my opinion was the best friend the homeless ever had! This service, held 40 years ago, was then the 50th anniversary of Father McKenna’s service as a Jesuit priest and crusader for the poor.

He was an undersung hero in his day. I had the honor of meeting him once during my Volunteers in Service to America “University Year in ACTION” days. It was a brief encounter in the basement of Gonzaga College High School on North Capitol Street.

It was in a book-lined room, as I recall. I remember thinking, “All these books and I bet none are in Braille!”

You see, this brilliant visionary and gentle man of God was quite blind. But, they say that nature compensates.

And he was clearly more sighted than most. Because when it comes to preventing and ending homelessness — a term not yet invented — Father McKenna’s vision was rivaled only by that of Nostradamus or Clark Kent!

His was the best solution I have witnessed in the three decades since our meeting. His vision was clear to me: teach a man to fish today and he’ll find a way to eat tomorrow; give him a fish and he’ll be back in your face tomorrow wondering why you didn’t give him more in the first place. (I paraphrase quite a bit and have been known to mix a metaphor, too!)

Unfortunately, his principles have mostly been forgotten by the so-called leaders in the fight to end homelessness.

Several service programs carry his name — McKenna’s

Wagon (run by Martha’s Table), The Father McKenna Center,the McKenna House (run by Catholic Charities), and probably many more. And some do not, as he was the founder of So Others Might Eat. But I know one carried his philosophy. I know because I was privileged to work at the McKenna House, the first transitional program for homeless individuals. I was unpaid and underpaid in several capacities between 1986 and ‘92!

I laugh because there was a running joke about my making less than the residents when I was the program administrator. (My wife very rarely found this funny, but this is not about me).

The McKenna House’s objectives were to demonstrate that, given the tools to do so, residents would work together to inspire themselves to self sufficiency and to encourage self-actualizing lifestyle participation through a series of life skills-development workshops. They included: • processing homelessness • holistic personal assessment (asking “Who am I?” and practicing strategies for goal attainment) • financial management • learning to listen / agreeing to disagree • building your support networks • values clarification • career building • resume writing • interviewing skills and mock interviews • how to stay employed • self-promotion • substance abuse prevention • housing search • once you reach the goal of housing, now what?

It was a different era! Aftercare, inter-community support, and homes of your own. Indeed, the tenants could evolve to landlords, creating a future of not only being housed, but also building wealth and providing lower-barrier housing situations with a housing portfolio of one’s own.

My supervision and training from Father Jack Pfannenstiel, another undersung hero, brought me into the proper perspective, including a full month of orientation. His staff — be they cleric or layperson, even seasoned alcoholics like me — were not permitted to risk insensitive interactions that might jeopardize a person’s chances for success. Success or failure must be their doing. not that of the McKenna House. Otherwise, they would end up back on our doorstep.

The philosophy was clear. We were to provide tools, support, opportunity, and respect. It was not our program, it belonged to God and the residents. (Of course, the latter did not need to know). We staff were merely stewards. It was not for profit. It was transitional! From the moment clients moved in, the objective was to get them out, never to return because they can now stand on their own two feet, stabilized with a Life Plan support system.

And It worked!!!

The plan was not to be dependent upon society, but to allow society to rely on those once deemed unreliable.

Many clones were born but, as is often the unfortunate case, clones are not always reasonable facsimiles.

Often the flaws are glaring. Most frequently, the philosophy of true self-actualization is sacrificed for longer-term occupancy, or R-E-N-T. Services for the homeless, in the absence of visionaries like Horace McKenna, are less the empowering effective self-resolving initiative and more of a disabling, problem-prolonging, and often insensitive financial enterprise.

Ken Martin is a former Street Sense Media artist and vendor. He continues =to use various forms of multimedia to advocate for disadvantaged communities. Follow his work or hire him at Artist and activist using various forms of multimedia (photography, public-speaking, etc) to advocate for disadvantaged communities.

Learn more at facebook.com/martinendeavours

We may not like Trump's tweets, but we love him being president

BY JEFFERY MCNEIL

I feel like I’m watching one of the most bizarre weeks in human history.

Because of a mean tweet by Donald Trump, liberals are setting themselves on fire and destroying any chance of defeating him in 2020.

As a former Democrat, I feel sad watching the party collapse. It’s embarrassing to watch Democrats rip themselves apart over his tweets about four congresswomen who are very unpopular in states the party needs to carry in the 2020 presidential election.

Among other slights, Trump said the four women of color - three of whom were born in the United States and all of whom are U.S. citizens -should “go back” to the places they came from if they don’t like his administration’s agenda.

America feels a lot like it did in 1972,

when many Americans opposed the Vietnam War, but also despised the protestors. That year, Richard Nixon, won a landslide victory because so many people hated the protestors more than they hated Nixon.

Similarly, people today see the Democrats as out of control. It seems like the wise voices have lost control of the party. Maybe it will take a landslide loss to force the Democrats away from identity politics and allow them to again be taken seriously as a political party.

Democrats are trying to make this election a referendum on Trump.

Unfortunately, they can’t see that while Americans may not approve of Trump’s behavior, they approve of the growing economy, prosperity and success thus far.

According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, Trump’s approval rating number among Republicans has risen by 5 percent since his tweets last week.

Many of his supporters don’t subscribe to the narrative that Trump is a racist. This is a country that’s twice elected a Black president and came within a whisker of electing a woman. The Democratic primaries include numerous women and African American, Hispanic and LGBT people. We have a woman as speaker of the house, and four congresswomen of color becoming increasingly prominent voices among the Democrats, for better or for worse.

Tr u m p s a w t h a t t h e s e f o u r congresswomen’s controversial positions were fracturing the Democratic Party.

He decided to add gasoline to the fire by posting tweets that would provoke the ire of the Washington establishment. He is effectively making this election about Democrats, and Democrats have taken the bait. They are tripping over themselves defending the freshmen congresswomen

who claimed Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement (ICE) detention centers are concentration camps and consistently make incendiary remarks about Israel.

Democrats have chosen these tweets as a hill to die on. As a result, the Left looks like they are defending people whom Republicans believe despite everything Americans value and stand for. Trump now looks like he is defending America.

Liberals will lose and continue to lose because they can’t persuade the people they have contempt for. Every day, they show their contempt for Trump supporters through late night shows and the media.

Although Trump may say vile things, we know where his heart is and it’s with the American people.

Jeffery McNeil is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media. He also regularly contributes to The Washington Examiner.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

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For rich and for poor, end discrimination now

BY JAMES GARTRELL

In my past few articles I have written about the things I’ve learned since being put in the position of being homeless, such as the perseverance to not give up,the willingness to do whatever it takes to feed myself, clothe myself, and put myself on a path out of homelessness. When hard times come your way, it can feel like every time you take one step forward, someone else pushes you two or three feet back. I continue to ask our readers to remember this and try to put yourself in another person’s shoes.

It has been really encouraging to hear people tell me the experiences I’ve shared are eye-opening. I’ve seen some people take more time to get to know me and others, and to help people. Thank you! Please keep it up.

We’re still out here.

Homelessness can happen to anybody.

Some may keep it hidden because they are holding onto their pride or shame. But, who has time for that? We shouldn’t be worrying about who knows what we’re struggling with.

That time would be better spent letting others know how they can help us.

The other side of that is that I don’t have

time for other people’s judgments. Don’t criticize people experiencing homelessness.

Don’t judge us. We’re not criminals – though too many officers I’ve come across on the street seem to think otherwise.

We’ve all got to look out for each other.

That includes correcting false stereotypes you, your friends, or your family might have about someone in my shoes.

We all have our reasons as to why we ended up homeless! This is especially true of minorities in this country. Too many of us are in these situations. Most of us are doing whatever we can to survive and to support our loved ones -whether that means shining shoes, creating arts and crafts, or selling these newspapers.

Most politicians in the United States look at minorities as a threat to humans. They pretend to work towards equality while they perpetuate racism and oppression. Too many people in power want to lock people who look like me up and throw away the key. You’ve got cameras all over this city, but they’re mostly used to “keep an eye on” minorities who venture out of their ghetto areas to try and make a living.

As I’ve mentioned in my past articles, we are stuck on taking care of other countries, which means we forget about our own front and backyards! It’s so bad out here because homelessness still exists. You have men and women fighting over blocks and corners just to be able to panhandle for money to eat, get clothing, and use transportation. It’s like crabs in a barrel.

There is so much bias and discriminatory behavior out there to both men and women, to the point that when a minority goes to apply for a job in this city, you are defeated and dismissed before you walk in the door. Why must we keep asking for society to change? It’s almost as if the majority of people do not want to acknowledge that poverty and its effects exist.

I mentioned in a recent article how a Nando’s restaurant manager asked me to wash dishes for an afternoon as part of an “on-the-job interview.” I didn’t get the job, and I didn’t get paid. They treated me cruelly, with no remorse shown after the fact. I shine shoes near that location, and still to this day that manager has never apologized for leading me to think I had gotten the job. He just walks past me like ain’t

nothing happened. Like I don’t exist.

I know most of you are tired of seeing people on the sidewalks, begging for money.

You probably say to yourselves, “Wait, these people can work! Why aren’t they?” However, as long as we as a society continue to look past the systemic realities of homelessness and white supremacy, poor people, especially minorities, will remain locked in a cycle of oppression. Homelessness has not gone away over the past decades and will never go away until it is properly addressed.

Maybe you are thinking, “Things will get better if we just leave it alone, or for other people to solve.” But, it is that exact attitude that perpetuates the cycle. It is up to all of us to create change. This is what is going on in America. It’s brother against brother, sister against sister. Animosity, adversity, poverty, and neglect all reinforces this huge problem.

God help us all. And in the meantime, help each other! Each one teach one, and be blessed.

James Gartrell is an Artist/Vendor with Street Sense Media.

Where was Metro’s heart this winter?

BY ERIC THOMPSON-BEY

There’s been a lot of talk about our transit system lately—from the shutdown of multiple metro stations to the tasing and arrest of a Metro rider in June.However, there are more untold stories that we don’t hear about, and this is one that I would like to share.

During the winter, I was riding my neighborhood bus line, 70, south to Archives, when the bus driver made an announcement: “If you are a known fare evader, I will not stop for you”.

He was a little guy with a big mouth. I thought out loud, “What was the purpose of that announcement?” The guy that was sitting across from me said that the driver was talking about homeless people. I thought the same.

The 70 bus line is one of the city’s longest, and it is among the lines most frequently used by the homeless. It was the bus I rode when I wanted to get some rest when I was homeless.

Then, the man told me how Metro Transit Police would be waiting at the Silver Spring

Metro station, the end of the bus route, at 2:00 a.m. to make sure that the bus’s remaining passengers paid the $2.00 fare back to D.C. If they don’t pay, they don’t ride.

At that time of day, most of the bus’s passengers are homeless. I know that Metro transit police have a job to do, but some things can be overlooked.

Everyone may not have $2.00 at the time.

Have a heart, Metro Transit Police.

When contacted about this claim, a WMATA representative denied that this is a standard policy or practice, saying “While we are unable to speak to this specific comment regarding something a bus operator allegedly said months ago, we can tell you that Metrobus operators are instructed to service all bus stops and serve all customers. If a customer has an experience that does not meet these standards, we want to hear from them so that we can take immediate corrective action.”

Eric Thompson-Bey is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

Join the conversation, share your views - Have an opinion about how homelessness is being addressed in our community?

- Want to share firsthand experience?

- Interested in responding to what someone else has written?

Street Sense Media has maintained an open submission policy since our founding.

We aim to elevate voices from across the housing spectrum and foster healthy debate.

Please send submissions to opinion@streetsensemedia.org.

Come enjoy a FREE meal and conversation with our volunteers!

The first 40 guests will be served.

UPCOMING DINNERS: Wednesday, September 4th, 2019 Friday, September 13th, 2019

Doors open at 6:00pm. Dinner is served at 6:30pm.

1317 G Street - Church of the Epiphany Questions about our dinner dinners or interested in group volunteer opportunities? Call 202-347347 2525, or, check us out at ysop.org.

347-

1 2 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // J U LY 2 4 - A U G . 6, 2019

ART

Vending

BY JENNIFER MCLAUGHLIN Artist/Vendor

Hand to Hand

BY AYUB ABDUL // Artist/Vendor

I write the poems that make the young girls cry I write the stories that are not lies.

When you buy the papers you will find out why.

Homeless people die some may wonder why I know the homeless stride I been homeless and I don't want to die in the streets without pride.

Can you spare your donations to enable me to get on my feet so I can help another who needs a hand?

Let's all be friends for the other women and children and men.

Sometimes people do not realize all the hard work that goes into selling this paper.

Sometimes you have to stand outside in the hot and cold weather.

You have to work on your people skills to get to know people and build relationships with your customers. And you have to manage your stock, not buy more papers than you can sell, and work regularly enough for people to expect you.

This is why I think more organizations should get to know what we do and help us vendors with their independence and stability.

I love my customers

One thing in life everyone has in common is the want and need for wealth. As a child, my mother made sure we had what we needed and taught us to prioritize what's needed before what is only desired.

I remember and live by these lessons personally. But it seems like our government does not prioritize our needs versus our wants.

In our society, the bigger you are, the less you have to worry about. The executives of our biggest corporations make more for doing less while the workers at the bottom struggle and stress just trying to pay their bills and survive.

Most people will tell you to go to college. They’ll tell that it will be easier for you to get a job and gain stability. They’ll tell you that is the way to be successful. But now days getting a degree means creating

BY DWAYNE BUTLER // Artist/Vendor

The unofficial start of summer is great for people who like fishing. During the season — April 20 through May 15 — the rockfish were really biting in the Chester River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. I caught a lot of them, but only one was over the size limit. I caught that one off of Kent Island.

After fighting me hard for 10 minutes, it surrendered. I was happy my work paid off!

BY RONALD SMOOT Artist/Vendor

My customers and I talk about the day's activities: events, weather, sports, politics. And my personality seems to make people smile!

"Are you OK?" they ask.

"Yes, I am." (Though I need people to buy my papers so I can get the things I require to live.)

When someone buys a copy, I always thank that person for supporting me. That financial support is crucial until I get a job that pays more than this one.

That’s why I love Street Sense Media: it gives me a chance to financially support myself. Without it, I would definitely be in jail for petty theft or robbery because I need money in my pocket. Far beyond the immediate income, I love the clients that talk with me enough to say they will help me achieve my goals.

The end of the American dollar

BY MARCELLUS PHILLIPS Artist/Vendor

The Unofficial Summer

substantial debt for yourself.

And I think taking on personal debt is a risky choice to make when, earlier this year, the United States' national debt climbed higher than it has ever been, now more than $22 trillion dollars. And economists only see this getting worse.

Meanwhile, as prices go up for housing, food, and all our essentials, it makes it difficult to save and purchase a home or secure your future and living situation.

The American dollar is silently putting its citizens at risk. What's going to happen if other countries choose not to accept the U.S. dollar as payment? As our debt gets larger and larger, and no one seems to know how to stop it, I worry many people will be left jobless and homeless.

But I also see options that can help you make money and save money of true value. One is to invest in physical assets, such as silver and gold. The other is to invest in cryptocurrency.

And doing both would be the wisest

choice in my opinion.

The average person doesn't even use the physical dollar anymore. We rely on credit and the banks’ digital transactions.

But how much faith can you really put in a centralized system like that if the dollar fails and the banks go under?

And how fair is it that we have to worry about that? The government requires us to pay our taxes on time and in full. Yet they’re not prioritizing this deficit enough to move it in the right direction, or event working together enough to avoid a government shutdown when developing the budget.

I’m not saying everyone in power abuses it. But at the same time, if the country is really in this much financial trouble, how are most officials taking private cars — or at least an Uber — while I’m stuck bus-hopping.

When this bubble does burst, the Donald Trumps of the world won’t be affected by it the same way the people like you or I will.

Division and Oppression

BY BARRON HALL Artist/Vendor

This country took the strength of American Black people to a place of total evil just to try and save its mastery and control.

God-fearing men were setting themselves free from godless slave masters after suffering countless crimes against humanity.

And so, white supremacy was disguised to surreptitiously change the way we think, divide us, and demonize people of color. No, it’s not over yet. And it won’t be over until that same God comes to deliver us from these wolves in sheep’s clothing.

When I went to try and get help for my family, I was denied because I don’t remember enough specifics about the traumas in my life to “prove” that I “deserve” help. And I thank God that I don’t remember. It has taken a long time not to remember. I am blessed to no longer have any shame or guilt.

I have a woman in my life who is a strong Black sister, that showed me how to love and trust our God. It’s all about not using my color.

My God tells me He has my back. The first will be last and the last will be first. You will reap what you sow.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

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Rain

BY QUEENIE FEATHERSTONE Artist/Vendor

W

ILLUSTRATION BY LEVESTER GREEN ARTIST/VENDOR

y

Wise Warriors

n the rain. ep out i o slebe out in the rain. t t an to y wt have e ’s good to have Th on’ ever, it a Id Howa handle shaped like a n umb cand rel h t i w y c la ane . r b e l m l a u l n i ving a in the rain. ke this, a h rip e o ut r g ust liv e t et u m I’m thankful to my G a b if yo t a ve to live outside whod a h h n’t en i o d I t ra i ns . a n h d le shap with a a e l l d e r l i b k o w n k m y be s ly m t gri e a ca I, real nu p. nd e a I, on ly v yc a ut h an B ,I e, s e

An d

BY CHON GOTTI // Artist/Vendor

I was young once. And I still feel like it. But to all my friends who are 40 years and up, most of us are going through the next phase of our lives. We're seeing wrinkles, gray hair, and extra pounds. Menopause may have appeared or is just waiting around the corner. Just thinking about it can make you panic. We’ve all heard about mid-life crises.

We see 20-somethings having fun and we reminisce about days gone by. But we must remember, too, that what they bring to the table with their youth and zest, we bring our wisdom and experience. We have raised families, run households, paid bills, dealt with diseases and sadness, and everything else life has assigned us!

We are survivors, we are quiet warriors in the quiet. Women and men our age are like a classic car or a bottle of fine wine. Even if our bodies may not be what they once were, they carry our souls, our courage, and our strength.

We shall all enter this chapter of our lives with humility, grace, and pride over everything we have been through. And we should never feel bad about getting older.

It's a privilege that is denied to too many.

I’d also like to thank my dear customers and everyone who buys and reads this paper. It really means a whole lot to each and every one of us here representing Street Sense Media and trying to make a difference in our lives and our communities.

How friendship is crucial to survive and to

ILLUSTRATION BY CHARLES ARMSTRONG ARTIST/VENDOR

end homelessness

BY REV. JOHN LITTLEJOHN Artist/Vendor

What is “friendship?”

Well, the biblical definition is a close trusting relationship between two people.

By those standards, couldn’t more of us be friends with one another? There is a lot of opportunity to grow here, especially when looking out for our homeless brothers and sisters. When you think about “giving” and “receiving” donations, large and small, it’s not all about money. It’s time, trust, companionship, good will, and humor.

Indeed, in the Holy Bible it says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10) It goes on to say, “Do your best to present yourself to God

as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) Keeping this in our hearts, we can use hospitality to destroy hostility and bring homelessness to an end! John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Once again: friends — we can all stand to have more of them in our community. What a friendship we have when we give cheerfully to those in need. And when we receive cheerfully from those who may have more than they need.

The Lord Jesus Christ called his followers friends and he gave them the opportunity to share His mission. As our companion for life, Jesus walks with us. He listens to our heartaches and our desires. When we’re lonely and down-hearted, our friend

Jesus Christ keeps company with us. And that companionship is tighter when we love each other as friends, too.

Walking through the crowded alleys and dangerous roadways of our troubled world, we can count on the Lord’s friendship.

For we all walk by faith and not by sight. And all the evil around us all is no match for the God that is within us. What a friendship that is or can be.

Heavenly Father, our friends will fail us, and we will fail them. But you never fail, and you promised to be with us to the very end of time. We must be brave, to forge new friendships and mend the broken friendships in our lives. Help us show our gratitude by serving You, faithfully today and every day. Amen.

Love, always.

1 4 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // J U LY 2 4 - A U G . 6, 2019

FUN & GAMES Sudoku #5 1 5 6

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

3 7 2

1 3 9

Tough Sudoku by KrazyDad, Volume 1, Book 1I’m an Animal Channel guy.

I love all sorts of animals.

Sudoku #2 My favorite are dogs. Tied 8 2 9 1 3 6 5 7 4 for second are any predators 1 7 5 8 9 4 2 6 3 that basically live by survival of the fittest, whether it’s an 6 3 4 5 2 7 8 1 9 eagle swooping down to catch 5 9 1 3 7 8 6 4 2 a rabbit, a pack of wolves on 2 6 3 4 5 1 7 9 8 a farm that kill a sheep, or a lioness hunting to feed her cubs.

4 8 7 2 6 9 1 3 5 And of course, The Lion King!

3 5 6 9 1 2 4 8 7 Being that I have PTSD both 9 1 8 7 4 5 3 2 6 from growing up in an abusive

4

3 2 8 9 7 5 1 6 7 4 6 88 3 4 5 1 2

9

© 2013 KrazyDad.com

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

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

9 5

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

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

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

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

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

8

4

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scratch area

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

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

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

7 8 4

6 5 1 9 3

2

3

4 2 1 6 8 7

Healing

SUDOKU: Fill in the blank squares so that each row, each column and each 3-by-3 block contain all of the digits 1-9.

LAST EDITION’S PUZZLE SOLUTION >>

LD

DEN

NY

BY MARCUS GREEN // Artist/Vendor

6

7

ILLU A R T S T R AT I IST /V E O N B Y NDO REG R INA

He who reforms himself, has done more towards reforming the public, than a crowd of noisy, impotent patriots.

-- Lavater

4 6

Tough Sudoku by KrazyDad, Volume 1, Book 1

5

2

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

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

1

environment and from being in the Army, my goal is still to use a therapy dog as a tool to heal and manage my feelings.

I’m thankful to Street Sense for this platform to express myself and to my customers for their loving support. What I’m clear about is that no one is an island and there would be no me without you.

So, be blessed and keep up the good works!

My Mary, short and sweet

BY LATICIA BROCK // Artist/Vendor

How dare you tell me marijuana is legalized when all my life I did jail time and got penalized.

How can you smoke something that makes you so slow it’s such a small thing, burn slow and out of the ground it grows

Heat and Water

BY ROBERT REED Artist/Vendor

Summer fun Everyone needs water To survive And to have a good time The games people play Running around and chilling by the pool Beating the heat What a way to have fun But you’ve gotta drink plenty of water And stay in the shade This heat is no joke So, stay cool, every day

I used to call you Mary, now I call you scary I think you burned my brain cells and a made me hairy!

I’m just talking about the effects of marijuana.

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

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

COMMUNITY SERVICES

SHELTER HOTLINE Línea directa de alojamiento

(202) 399-7093

YOUTH HOTLINE Línea de juventud

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE Línea directa de violencia doméstica

(202) 547-7777

1-800-799-7233

Housing/Shelter Vivienda/alojamiento

Education Educación

Health Care Seguro

Clothing Ropa

Legal Assistance Assistencia Legal

Case Management Coordinación de Servicios

Food Comida

Employment Assistance Assitencia con Empleo

Transportation Transportación

Showers Duchas

All services listed are referral-free Academy of Hope Public Charter School 202-269-6623 // 2315 18th Place NE aohdc.org

Bread for the City 202-265-2400 (NW) // 561-8587 (SE) 1525 7th St., NW // 1640 Good Hope Rd., SE breadforthecity.org

Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Good Hope Rd., 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 // 202-232-3066 1830 Connecticut Ave., NW charliesplacedc.org

Christ House // 202-328-1100 1717 Columbia Rd., NW christhouse.org

Father McKenna Center // 202-842-1112 19 Eye St., NW fathermckennacenter.org

Food and Friends // 202-269-2277 219 Riggs Rd., NE foodandfriends.org (home delivery for those suffering from HIV, cancer, etc)

Foundry Methodist Church // 202-332-4010 1500 16th St., NW ID (Friday 9am–12pm only) foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities

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 // 202-544-9128 425 2nd St., NW jobshavepriority.org

Loaves & Fishes // 202-232-0900 1525 Newton St., NW loavesandfishesdc.org

Church of the Pilgrims // 202-387-6612 2201 P St., NW food (1-1:30 on Sundays only) churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach

Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 2114 14th St., NW marthastable.org

Community Family Life Services 202-347-0511 // 305 E St., NW cflsdc.org

Miriam’s Kitchen // 202-452-8926 2401 Virginia Ave., NW miriamskitchen.org

Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 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

New York Avenue Shelter // 202-832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave., NE

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOTLINE Línea de salud del comportamiento

1-888-793-4357

Laundry Lavandería

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 // 202-333-4949 3655 Calvert St., NW stlukesmissioncenter.org

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

Unity Health Care // 202-745-4300 3020 14th St., NW unityhealthcare.org

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

My Sister’s Place // 202-529-5991 (24-hr hotline) mysistersplacedc.org

N Street Village // 202-939-2060 1333 N St., NW nstreetvillage.org

// 1 5

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

For further information and listings, visit our online service guide at StreetSenseMedia.org/service-guide service-guide

HELP! WE’RE LOOKING FOR

volunteers Become a Street Sense Media volunteer and help further our mission to empower people experiencing homelessness.

Get to know the vendors and make a difference in their lives and yours!

You’ll support hard-working newspaper vendors by volunteering your time, four hours a week, distributing newspapers at the Street Sense Media office.

If interested, please contact Gladys Robert gladys@streetsensemedia.org 202-347-2006 (x10)

These tributes were fi rst distributed on July 21 as private emails to D.C. Department of Human Services and D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness staff. It has been published with permission of both the authors and Mr. Brooks’s family. Additional rememberances may be sent to editor@streetsensemedia.org

Ode to Dapper Don

BY FSA STAFF

Donald Brooks.

PHOTO POSTED PUBLICLY BY DONALD, SHARED COURTESY OF THE D.C. DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

Mr. Donald Brooks was an employee of the D.C. Family Services Administration (FSA) Office of Work Opportunity (OWO) who was well received by his colleagues, supervisors, management, community partners, and executive leadership across many government agencies and community organizations. He was always willing to share what we called his “old school” philosophies, ideas, and opinions – solicited or not. He too expressed that he was old school and often said that it was “[his] duty to help groom the next generation.” We used to joke that without the old school there is no new school.

Donald told many funny and serious stories about his personal and professional experiences in public service and as a United States Army Veteran.

Having last served as a Vocational Development Specialist/Case Manager for FSA-OWO on the Family Rehousing and Stabilization Program team, Donald was a true advocate for his customers and the underprivileged at large.

He was very vocal about his stance on policies that he felt impeded customers’ success and was not shy about speaking his views at every level and venue. He shared with many of us his contribution to the writing of the Homeless Services Reform Act of 2005, as an initial constituent on the Interagency Council of Homelessness. He was very proud of this accomplishment and we were proud of him. There was much respect for Mr. Brooks’s honesty and openness about his personal struggles at an earlier time in his life that, as he explained, led him to assist others to reach their goals and potential.

If you knew Mr. Brooks, you know that he took dressing professionally to a whole other level, as he wore matching shirts, ties, shoes, hats, jackets, pins, jewelry of every color, fabric, and shade. He was affectionately known as OWO’s true “Dapper Don” – though also referred to as “Dapper Dan.” He had a style all of his own and it personified his unique character.

There are so many other things that can be said about Donald. Following are just a few quotes from staff: S. Spencer – “Devoted family man … His youthful exuberance was infectious to the entire staff and he will be sorely missed.”

E. Saunders – “His sense of humor always made me smile even when I was not in the best of moods.”

A. Burks – “Everyday was ‘Easter Sunday’ in his bestdressed suits. Mr. Brooks will be missed. His smile and laugh warmed the office and our hearts.”

An original poem by Donald Brooks (above) and an interview with him, as published in the April 15, 2005 edition of Street Sense Media. “Donald was one of the most important people in the early days of Street Sense ... He had an incredible personality and sold/promoted the paper up there with the greats. I toasted him at his 60th bday party last September,” wrote Street Sense Media co-founder Ted Henson in a July 22 email. STREET SENSE MEDIA ARCHIVES

Heartbreaking News

BY LAURA ZEILINGER Director, D.C. Department of Human Services

I write with deeply sad news that Donald Brooks, a Vocational Development Specialist/Case Manager with FSA/OWO’s FRSP team lost his life over the weekend.

Donald was a passionate, energetic, enthusiastic individual who tirelessly advocated for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. He was an unabashed truth-teller who tolerated no excuses and challenged people in authority to do more.

As an Army Veteran who overcame numerous challenges, including homelessness, his advocacy was grounded in hardfought lessons of personal experience.

I first got to know Donald about a decade ago as a member of the District’s Interagency Council on Homelessness. At every

meeting, without exception, he would speak up and speak out.

ICH meetings include many advocates and many opinions, but Donald stood out. He stood out because he was usually spot-on with his commentary, and even when it was harsh and longwinded, it also came with a smile and a comforting hug before or after the meeting. His combination of harsh truth and affection conveyed love and connection. It felt like an acknowledgement that we are together in a movement to end homelessness and part of how we get there is by challenging and supporting each other.

A few years ago, when Donald joined DHS, he let me know how proud and enthusiastic he felt to be part of our team. He was also clear that when he speaks up at meetings, it will be in his personal capacity, but we would still be hearing from him. I replied, “Great! I hope so!” I will miss him and I know I will be asking myself, “what am I not thinking of, what would Donald say? “ Donald was a treasured member of our community and his loss will be felt by all who knew him.

We want Mr. Brooks’s family and friends to know that we know the loss of him to be great and our thoughts and prayers are with them in this time of need. We also welcome his family and friends to visit the OWO team to allow us to listen and to share in memories and laughter.

What better way to conclude our Ode to Dapper Don than to use his own words, “There is no more honored work than helping someone reach a better space in their lives.”

With much respect and honor for Mr. Brooks.

JULY 24 - AUG. 6, 2019 | VOLUME 16 ISSUE 19

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