08 01 2007

Obama picks up Fenty endorsement and announces plan against urban poverty, page 6

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Where the Washington area's poor and homeless earn and give their two cents August 1, 2007 - August 14, 2007

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Volume 4, Issue 16

www.streetsense.org

Signature Law for Homeless Marks 20 Years

By Jennifer Jett

Fenty Moves Against Poverty

By Daniel Johnson D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty took several steps in July to help the District’s poor, releasing a plan to increase affordable housing, suspending the closure of the 300-bed Franklin School men’s shelter and declaring himself open to helping the Capital Area Food Bank raise funds to build a new facility.

“That is what I was elected to do,”

Fenty told Street Sense. “It is only natural as the mayor of the District of Columbia that I would want to help organizations like these.”

Fenty announced a plan on July 17 to allocate $117 million a year toward building affordable housing in D.C. Under the mayor’s plan, 30% of new housing built on city-owned lands must be affordable for residents earning $20,000 to $75,000 a year.

Fenty called for 5,000 units of

housing to be built and 5,000 units to be preserved through a partnership between the city and the Washington Interfaith Network, a grassroots organization.

The affordable housing plan is a key component to fighting poverty in the District, Fenty said. He praised Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for his national plan for urban pov-

See Fenty, page 5

jennifer jett/Street Sense

David Benassi/Street Sense

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty packs groceries at the Capital Area Food Bank, which distributes 20 million lbs. of food each year.

Exactly two decades after the passage of the nation’s signature law to combat homelessness, lawmakers and activists called for its reauthorization and urged greater funding for affordable housing and homeless assistance programs in health care, education and social services.

July 22 marked the 20th anniversary of the landmark McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.

“It’s a bittersweet anniversary, particularly for those of us who were involved in enacting the legislation 20 years ago,” said Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.

McKinney-Vento, the first significant federal law addressing homelessness, authorized emergency shelter and transitional housing programs to be administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as well as emergency food, education and health care programs.

It also established the U.S. Inter-

The U.S. has the resources to “annihilate” homelessness, formerly homeless Terry Snead said on Capitol Hill.

agency Council on Homelessness, an executive branch organization composed of Cabinet secretaries and other federal agency heads.

In order to promote emergency relief measures, Rep. Stewart McKinney (R-Conn.) participated in sleep-outs and later died of AIDS-

See Law, page 4

In My Opinion By Eric Sheptock

Rock Bottom: We May Be Homeless But At Least We’re Not Iraqi

I

t was only a year ago I first heard someone say, “The most dangerous man in the world is the man who has nothing left to lose.” I’ve lived by that concept for some time, non-violently, of course. In the spirit of optimism, I also say, “The good

thing about being on rock bottom is that the only way you can possibly go is up.”

Recently, I read that Al-Qaeda has returned to its 2001 capacity despite the sixth anniversary of the war on terror. My guess is one rea-

Inside This Issue

NATIONAL

BOOK REVIEW

The U.S. national street soccer team plans to kick some ball at the Fifth Homeless World Cup in Denmark, page 8

Robert Trautman reviews a book on the Atlantic slave trade through the West coast of Ghana, page 10

INTERNATIONAL

EDITORIAL

Dealers take advantage of the strong euro and find business booming in Europe, page 7

How one man would use the presidency to end poverty and homelessness in his first term of office, page 12

LOCAL

Mission Revised Central Union Mission responds to neighborhood protests and revises plans for its new building in northwest Washington, page 3

son so many people are willing to end their lives as suicide bombers is that they feel their lives are over anyway.

The Japanese glorified their kamikaze pilots in World War II. I’ve often wondered what it takes to get

a man to go on a suicide mission. It stands to reason that one’s life and country being torn apart, plus the promise of a much better life in the hereafter, equals a suicide bomber.

I doubt there is a single person in Iraq whose life hasn’t been wors-

Kick Off

Cocaine Highs

ened in one way or another by this war on terror. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people have died violently since the U.S. sin-vasion.

Estimates range from 100,000 to

See Iraqi, page 12

Door of No Return

One Man’s Pledge

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

ALL ABOUT US

Our Mission

1317 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 Phone: (202) 347-2006 Fax: (202) 347-2166 info@streetsense.org www.streetsense.org BOARD OF DIRECTORS Robert Egger Ted Henson Barbara Kagan David Pike John Snellgrove Michael Stoops Francine Triplett David Walker Kathy Whelpley EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Laura Thompson Osuri VENDOR MANAGER Jesse Smith Jr. EDITOR IN CHIEF Kaukab Jhumra Smith ASSOCIATE EDITOR David S. Hammond (volunteer) INTERN Daniel Johnson

VOLUNTEERS/WRITERS Matt Allee, Mia Boyd, Karen Brooks, Cliff Carle, Diana Cosgrove, Mary Cunningham, Rebecca Curry, Rick Dahnke, Darcy Gallucio, Jake Geissinger, Genevieve Gill, Leo Gnawa, Cassie Good, Joanne Goodwin, Carol Hannaford, Annie Hill, Daniel Horner, Rafaelle Ieva, Jennifer Jett, Mary Lynn Jones, Karin Lee, Jessica LeGarde, August Mallory, Rita Marjandaro, Mandy McAnally, Moria McLaughlin, Kent Mitchell, Sean O’Connor, Mike O’Neill, Swinitha Osuri, Jen Pearl, David Pike, Diane Rusignola, Sarah Schoolcraft, Eric Sheptock, Jennifer Singleton, Katie Smith, Francine Triplett, Linda Wang, Katie Wells, Michelle Williams, Brenda Karyl Lee-Wilson, Dan Winegarten, Marian Wiseman, Corrine Yu VENDORS Willie Alexander, Jake Ashford, George Atwater, Patricia Benjamin, Tommy Bennett, James Berthey, Corey Bridges, Alice Carter, Conrad Cheek Jr., Elena Cirpaci, George Williams, Anthony Crawford, Louise Davenport, Yllama Davenport, James Davis, Bernard Dean, Muriel Dixon, Alvin Dixon El, Michael Douglas, Don Gardner, Barron Hall, David Harris, Dewayne Harrison, John Harrison, Donna Hendricks, Donald Henry, Patricia Henry, Michael Higgs, Philip Howard, Joanne Jackson, Michael Jefferson, Patricia Jefferson, Allen Jones, DeRutter Jones, Mark Jones, Brenda Karyl Lee-Wilson, Greg Lucas, Charlie Mayfield, Lee Mayse, Jennifer McLaughlin, Lawrence Miller, Charles Nelson, Moyo Onibuje, Therese Onyemenom, Kevin Robinson, Dennis Rutledge, Gerald Smith, Patty Smith, Alexander Tutt, Martin Walker, Henry Washington, Lawless Watson, George Williams, Wendell Williams, Ivory Wilson, Jason Wrightson

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Street Sense aims to serve as a vehicle for elevating voices and public debate on issues relating to poverty while also creating economic opportunities for people who are experiencing homelessness in our community.

Our Editorial Policy

Editorials and features in Street Sense reflect the perspectives of the authors. We invite the submission of news, opinion, fiction and poetry, hoping to create a means in which a multitude of perspectives on poverty and homelessness can find expression.

Street Sense reserves the right to edit any material.

North American Street Newspaper Association

The Story of Street Sense Street Sense began in August 2003 after two volunteers, Laura Thompson Osuri and Ted Henson, approached the National Coalition for the Homeless on separate occasions about starting a street newspaper in Washington, D.C. A street paper is defined as a newspaper about poverty, homelessness and other social issues that provides an income to the homeless individuals who sell it. About 25 street papers operate in the United States and Canada in places like Seattle, Chicago, Montreal and Boston, and dozens more exist throughout the world.

After bringing together a core of dedicated volunteers and vendors, Street Sense came out with its first issue in November 2003, printing 5,000 copies. For the next three years the paper published consistently on a monthly basis and greatly expanded its circulation and vendor network.

For the first year, Street Sense operated as a project of the National Coalition for the Homeless, but in October 2004, the organization incorporated and moved into its own office space. In March 2005, Street Sense received 501(c)3 status, becoming an independent nonprofit organization.

In October 2005 Street Sense formed a full board of directors, and in November the organization hired its first employee, a full-time executive director.

A year later in November 2006 , the organization hired its first vendor coordinator.

In February 2007, the paper started publishing twice a month as the network of vendors expanded to more than 50 homeless men and women.

And to support the increased production, Street Sense brought on its first full-time editor in chief in April.

International Network of Street Papers

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July 15 - July 31 Donors Ini Akpan Thomas Block Robin Goracke Sharyn Meister Sharon Orndorff Jennifer and Anthony Park Kim Parker Ranjeev Purohit Peter Rient Sandra Yarrington

And a special thanks to: Gail Ross

Thank You!

10.

CORRECTION Francine Triplett’s recipe for sweet potato pudding in the July 15 issue should have included 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar.

Street Sense will be distributed for a voluntary donation of $1. I agree not to ask for more than a dollar or solicit donations for Street Sense by any other means.

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I understand that Street Sense strives to be a paper that covers homelessness and poverty issues while providing a source of income for the homeless. I will try to help in this effort and spread the word.

WANNA HELP?

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or have a great article or feature idea, please contact Koki Smith at editor@streetsense.org or 202-347-2006.

If you are interested in becoming a vendor, contact Laura Thompson Osuri at the same number or come to a vendor training session on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2 p.m. at our office. (1317 G Street, NW, near Metro Center.)

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

PROFILE

Volunteer Profile

Paralegal Seeks Reality Check Outside Corporate World

By Joe Morris

“Someone has to put on a suit and go out and defend those who can’t defend themselves.”

– Joy Einstein Movement to connect with other nonprofits in the D.C. area.

The discussions bring together many views and perspectives on the subject of poverty and allow Einstein to meet people who care about the same things she does.

She has been to every Friday roundtable discussion held so far.

A discussion about the dehumanizing looks some passers-by give to homeless people particularly touched her.

“I know that look,” Einstein said.

When she was young, she had a leg handicap that attracted stares from people as if she didn’t belong in their reality, she said. “It was an uncomfortable thing to accept,” she said. She doesn’t see any difference between that look and the way some people regard others who are homeless.

Einstein also attended the Fourth World Movement’s annual meeting. “It’s nice to feel connected to a bigger network of people. They are so far away and still working for the same things,” she said.

Einstein plans to continue her path toward becoming a

Einstein likes being part of “global and dynamic” work, she said.

lawyer and working for social justice. “Someone has to put on a suit and go out and defend those who can’t defend themselves,” she said.

Donate to Street Sense My Information

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and 10 GB of storage space

Please call 202-347-2006 or send an e-mail to info@streetsense.org if you have any of these items to donate.

joe morris/street sense

The worlds of extreme poverty and of plush high-rise offices intersect when people like Joy Einstein, a paralegal at a corporate law firm, volunteer their skills at low-budget, under-staffed nonprofit groups.

Einstein volunteers on evenings and weekends at the National Center of the Fourth World Movement, which supports grassroots teams working with low-income groups in New York, New Orleans and Clintwood, Va. She works behind the scenes, managing databases and organizing mailings.

Einstein belonged to several progressive groups when she attended the College of William and Mary. After she graduated and began a full-time job, it became too easy to forget the reality outside her cozy office building, she said.

Although she enjoys her job, she felt like she was losing awareness of the things around her.

After six months, she realized, “I’ve got to do something else.”

“I needed to participate in something global and dynamic and not just itemized and particular,” she said.

Einstein’s work with the Fourth World Movement uses many of her skills as a paralegal. “It is similar but better because I can see the big picture. I can see where my efforts are being channeled,” she said. She also likes “the freedom to contribute in the ways that I want to and the ways that I am best at contributing.”

Jill Cunningham, the national director of the Fourth World Movement, says Einstein’s work helping with the ‘Call to Action’ campaign is crucial. “The grunt work of data entry on this campaign is what allows for follow-up, continuity and long-term relationships,” Cunningham said.

Einstein found the Fourth World Movement through the nonprofit hub www.idealist.org. During her lunch breaks, she attended roundtable discussions at the Fourth World

LOCAL NEWS

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

Law, from page 1 related complications from pneumonia. The resulting legislation was named after him and the late Rep. Bruce Vento (D-Minn.).

“Stewart loved cities, he loved urban areas,” said Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), who serves in McKinney’s former seat. “And he was dedicated to ensuring not only that people had a place to stay, but that they lived in vibrant communities.”

National advocacy and nonprofit organizations called on Congress to reauthorize and further fund McKinney-Vento programs, increase the supply of affordable housing, provide access to health care, education and social services, ensure a living wage, and prevent discrimination against homeless people and the criminalization of homelessness.

“The McKinney programs are not going to end homelessness by themselves,” said Laurel Weir, policy director at the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. “They were never intended to. They were originally created as an emergency response. You can’t address homelessness until you address the underlying causes, and the single biggest cause is the lack of affordable housing.”

While federal funding for programs that assist homeless people has increased in the last 20 years, Weir said there is less affordable housing available today.

A 2006 report by the Western Regional Advocacy Project found that while HUD built more than 755,000 new public housing units from 1976 to 1982, it has added only 256,000 since 1983. HUD’s budget authority today, in constant dollars, is less than half what it was in 1978.

“The federal investment in housing for homeless people has increased, but the overall investment in affordable housing has decreased,” Weir said. “There’s much less money going for affordable housing now than there was at the beginning of the 1980s.”

Passage of McKinney-Vento boosted morale among homeless people and their supporters, said Philip Mangano, executive director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness, who in 1987 was the director of homeless services in Cambridge, Mass. But the results they had hoped for did not materialize, he said.

“I think we all hoped that with our rolledup sleeves and with increased resources, we would bring an end to this national disgrace that manifested itself on city streets,” he said.

“But as the years went by … then the decades went by, what we commonly saw was the numbers continuing to increase.”

As many as 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness each year.

Congress is currently considering two separate pieces of legislation that would reauthorize McKinney-Vento. House legislation increases funding for fiscal year 2008 from $1.44 billion to $2.5 billion, compared to only $1.8 billion in Senate legislation. Advocacy groups are pushing to double funding to $3 billion.

“It sounds like a Democratic solution that we need more money, but the answer is that we do,” said Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.

“We’re trying to fight a war on homelessness with $1.5 billion, so it’s clear that we need additional resources. We really don’t care whether they come from the Gates Foundation, the private sector or the federal government, but we think all levels of society—including local

Bills Pending for Homeless Assistance Programs n H.R. 840 – The Homeless Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. Reauthorizes McKinneyVento programs, broadens HUD’s definition of “homeless” to include those living “doubled-up” or in motels, and authorizes $2.5 billion for federal homeless assistance funding in fiscal year 2008. n S. 1518 – Community Partnership to End Homelessness Act. Reauthorizes McKinney-Vento programs but sets aside $1.8 billion for federal homeless assistance funding in fiscal year 2008, compared to $2.5 billion for the HEARTH Act. n H.R. 2895 – National Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Preserves and creates 1.5 million units of affordable housing over the next 10 years. n S. 1060 and H.R. 1593 – The Second Chance Act. Helps ex-offenders find housing, jobs and health care.

and state government, the private sector and the federal government—should be involved in this, all working together.”

Members of Congress have also introduced the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act, which would fund the construction and renovation of 1.5 million affordable homes in 10 years, primarily for extremely low-income households.

“Reauthorizing the McKinney-Vento Act, no matter how perfectly, is only a small piece of a federal agenda to end homelessness,” said Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), a co-sponsor of the bill. “It’s time to get the federal government back to the business of producing affordable housing.”

The Bush administration is committed to reducing and ending homelessness, Mangano said, pointing to an increase in federal resources to support state and local initiatives.

“Resources in the federal budget targeted to homeless people have increased to record levels every year for six consecutive years,” he said.

“The president’s budget for 2008 has another record level of resources, over $4.4 billion.”

Speaking at a Capitol Hill event for the anniversary, Jaleesa Hopkins, who has been a resident at D.C.’s Sasha Bruce Youthwork since she was 16, described the difference it made in her life and stressed the need to continue funding such programs.

“You have young people that really want to better themselves,” said Hopkins, now 18.

“They want to make a change, they want success in life, but they don’t have the resources or support. If we have more programs like Sasha Bruce, I’m sure we can make homelessness history.”

Terry Snead, 59, had been homeless for more than a decade before he moved into his current apartment in April. “One person on the street such as Terry Snead is too many,” he said. “Everyone needs a comfortable place, a safe place to lay their head, no matter what their situation is. We’ve got the resources in this country to annihilate that problem.”

Empty Calories on Capitol Hill

By Kaukab Jhumra Smith Gimmicks don’t get sweeter than this.

A group of more than 14 advocacy organizations distributed Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate to all 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives to commemorate two decades of a landmark bill, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, and to call for its reauthorization.

The chocolate bars were tucked into customized wrappers proclaiming, “A Bittersweet Chocolate for a Bittersweet Anniversary.” Printed inside each wrapper was a “recipe” to reduce and end homelessness.

“It is a bittersweet anniversary because 20 years after the Act was passed, homelessness persists,” said Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, which helped organize the event. “The Act was never intended to be the federal government’s sole response to homelessness.”

Teams of volunteers fanned out across congressional offices to deliver the slabs of chocolate. Two interns with the National Coalition for the Homeless, Lucas Hunt and Neal Kern, tackled the first floor of the Cannon building on Capitol Hill. But they weren’t really looking for Congressmen and women.

“It’s easier to get these to the staffers,” Hunt explained.

Joined by David Pirtle, a formerly homeless Street Sense contributor, the three solemnly walked into office after office to hand a chocolate bar to bemused receptionists and asked for it to be delivered to the staff member who handled housing legislation.

Door by door they went, from the office of Rep. Patrick Tiberi (R-Ohio) to the office of Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.), to Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) and on.

“If you eat the candy bar, please save

the wrapper for the housing staffer!” Pirtle cheerfully told the receptionist for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) On July 23, the House passed a nonbinding resolution, H.R. 561, recognizing the anniversary of the McKinney-Vento Act and expressing support for federal and state efforts to develop more affordable housing and homeless assistance programs.

Inside the Bar: ‘Recipe’ to End Homelessness Source: http://www.mckinney20th.org

1. Assist currently homeless people by reauthorizing and doubling funds for HUD McKinney-Vento programs.

persons’ access to health care by reauthorizing and expanding the Consolidated Health Centers program.

2. Create housing for low-income households by enacting a National Housing Trust Fund.

7. Increase homeless persons’ access to mainstream disability income, temporary assistance, and workforce investment services.

3. Protect, preserve, and expand existing federal housing programs that serve the lowest-income people.

4. Appropriate funds for at least 5,000 Section 8 housing vouchers for homeless veterans through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program.

5. Expand access to addiction and mental health services for people experiencing homelessness through reauthorization of the Substance Abuse andMental Health Services Administration.

6. Increase homeless and low-income

8. Provide homeless children and youth with increased services and support by reauthorizing the Education for Homeless Children and Youth program in the No Child Left Behind Act and the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act. 9. Require the Administration to develop and publish a coordinated federal plan to end homelessness.

10. Require jurisdictions receiving federal housing funds to protect the civil rights of homeless persons.

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

LOCAL NEWS

Plans for New Shelter Revised in Response to Protests

By Moira McLaughlin and Kaukab Jhumra Smith

Fenty, from page 1

An illustration of the planned four-story building.

“They’re coming with questions and we’re providing them with answers,” said Barfonce Baldwin, the mission’s senior director of administration.

Moore, who no longer speaks with the mission, believes that most of Ward 1A residents are opposed to the new mission. The neighborhood, Moore said, needs a drugstore, clothing store, a library and restaurants.

“All these things we need and what do we settle with? A homeless shelter,” Moore said.

“We feel that’s a slap in our face.”

The people who currently use the mission are excited about the move, Baldwin said.

“They believe in our services and they believe in our progress.”

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erty, and endorsed his campaign for president.

Obama’s plan includes 112,000 units of affordable housing to be built per year nation wide.

He released his plan July 18 in Anocostia. See story on Obama’s plan on page 6.

In a separate move that pre-empted planned protests and caught shelter residents by surprise, the city government installed air conditioning at Franklin School Shelter at 13th and K streets, NW, the largest men’s emergency shelter in the city. The shelter was scheduled to close by the end of the year.

Fenty told Street Sense that the Franklin shelter would not close until a designated area in downtown D.C. was chosen to replace the former school that has served as a shelter since 2003.

“We know this is an issue that’s important to him, so it’s good to see some things are rolling,” said Chapman Todd, division director for Catholic Charities, which oversees Franklin.

The air cooling system was installed the weekend before Until We’re Home, an advocacy organization of current and formerly homeless men and women, planned a protest in front of the mayor’s office at the John A. Wilson building on Pennsylvania Avenue to demand air conditioning.

The following Monday, Fenty personally addressed the crowd of protesters and promised to not close Franklin until another downtown site was found to replace it, confirmed David Pirtle, the group’s secretary and a Street Sense contributor.

“I’m not holding my breath on this pledge but he continues to reiterate it,” Pirtle said.

“Let’s hope he keeps it.”

The same day, during a tour of the Capital Area Food Bank, the largest and only food bank in Washington, Fenty pledged to do what

for a day room for the homeless to make the room accessible 24 hours of the day instead of from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day. “The community was concerned about where the men go during the day. We said they can stay right here,” Treadwell said.

To quell concerns and dispel misinformation about the move, mission staff have held community meetings and forums with neighborhood groups and individuals and provided area residents with a nine-page document at a recent meeting of the ward’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission.

The document explains the necessity for emergency shelters in the face of a city shortage of affordable housing, outlines the mission’s policies for its overnight shelter and day programs, answers common questions about security and police access and points out that property values at the mission’s current location have increased in the 20 years the mission has headquartered there.

“If this is any indication, Petworth/Parkview will not be negatively impacted,” the document reads. “In addition, the scale and attractiveness of the Mission’s new facility will contribute positively to the redevelopment that is occurring in the area.”

Treadwell said there has been “modest progress” in the neighborhood’s reaction to the mission’s move.

Fenty has promised to keep the 300-bed Franklin Shelter open until the city finds a replacement.

he could to help the facility complete its campaign to raise $35 million to build a new facility and warehouse.

The food bank currently distributes more than 20 million pounds of food to 700 nonprofits and advocacy groups. The new warehouse would help the food bank double that capacity and increase its ability to store fresh produce.

The city has already approved a $7 million block grant for the food bank campaign. The food bank is asking for $10 million more from the city to help close the gap, said Jennifer Vanmeter, the food bank’s gift director.

If the funds are raised in time, the new facility will begin construction next spring and open in fall 2009.

“I think the mayor has always been concerned with these issues when he was a city councilmember and now that he’s the mayor he’s putting into practice what he was campaigning (for),” said Kasandra Gunter Robinson, the food bank’s director of marketing.

courtesy of central union mission

The Washington area’s oldest faith-based provider of shelter and services to the homeless has revised plans for its new headquarters on Georgia Avenue in northwest Washington, D.C., in response to concerns by Ward 1 residents. Construction on the new building will begin on schedule next spring, mission leadership said.

Established in 1884, Central Union Mission has outgrown its current facility on 1350 R Street, NW, and has sold its current building as part of a deal to build a larger facility on cheaper real estate on Georgia Avenue. The mission said the new location would better serve its clients, more than 40% of whom live in Ward 1.

While the construction schedule for the new facility is “still right on target,” mission officials said they have reduced the planned number of emergency overnight beds for homeless men at the new facility and increased planned operational hours for their day programs to satisfy concerns about neighborhood security.

“We have worked diligently in our planning to accommodate neighborhood concerns,” said David Treadwell, the mission’s executive director. “We have to listen to the community.

We would be restricted in our ministry if we

did not.”

Some Ward 1 residents have protested loudly that the planned four-story, 58,000 squarefoot building, which will include the ministry’s administrative offices, a chapel, public café, men’s shelter and a free community medical and dental clinic, will hurt the area’s nascent revitalization efforts.

“It’s not that we don’t sympathize with the mission. We feel it’s not the right time,” said Buddy Moore, a resident who worries that businesses will be less likely to move to an area with a new homeless shelter. Moore is a member of the Georgia Avenue Redevelopment Defense Squad, a group working to encourage businesses to move into Ward 1.

A ward resident since 1983, Moore currently lives across the street from a small transitional housing unit. “I’m okay with that, but something of (the building’s) magnitude in my area, is unfair,” Moore said. “It will stymie development.”

The mission is hoping to persuade neighborhood opponents otherwise. Treadwell, who prefers to call the shelter program an “overnight facility” to avoid negative connotations, said the mission has “drastically” reduced its number of planned emergency beds from 170 to approximately 100. That’s “a pretty good compromise,” he said.

The mission has also redesigned its plans

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Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

6 POLITICS

Street Politics By Ted Henson

david benassi/street sense

Watch Out for That Veto After Democrats won majorities in the House and the Senate last November, many voters hoped for an abrupt reorientation of national policies, from Iraq to taxes to health care and other human needs. So do advocates of human needs think the political shift has helped their causes?

“The majority is not large enough to give any one party free range,” said Ruth Flower, legislative director of the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker lobbying group, and a longtime observer of the effort to advance human-needs legislation. “I think we need to work really hard to get a veto-proof margin.”

President Bush’s vow to veto any bill that increases his proposed spending levels means that Democrats and Republicans have to find new ways to work together, Flower said. And one of the most effective strategies for making progress even with a thin majority, she said, is to push to increase funding incrementally across the board.

A good example of this approach is seen in the appropriations bill the House just approved for health, human services, and education programs. H.R. 3043 does increase funding for low-income programs, albeit modestly.

Fifty-three Republicans joined 223 Democrats in support of the $151.6 billion appropriations bill, which costs $10.6 billion more than the president’s proposal.

The bill increases funding for runaway and homeless youth services by 9% above inflation, community health centers by 8%, for rural health by 10%, Title I K-12 education by 9%, after-school programs by 10%, and Pell grants for higher education by 12%, according to the Coalition on Human Needs. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to help Americans pay home heating and cooling bills received a 20% bump in the House measure.

Increases like these aren’t the dramatic, one-stop solutions advocates often call for – but for the recipients of the help set out in the House measure, they can make a real difference.

Congressional Democrats and the president may force a showdown in other areas, like the State Children Health Insurance Program, which extends coverage for poor children. The Senate Finance Committee has approved legislation to reauthorize the program while expanding coverage to 3.2 million children. President Bush, though, has threatened to veto the bipartisan bill, in favor of his own proposed spending level.

Bread and Butter Issues, a Crumb at a Time While Democrats and Republicans pursue legislative trench warfare on Capitol Hill, Street Sense’s homeless vendors want what most Americans want: a decent job that pays a living wage and provides health care and recognition of their talents.

Our vendors are out there busting their humps selling the newspaper while making 75 cents on the dollar, just to get to the next rung on the socioeconomic ladder.

For them, “just getting by” is more than the bare minimum – it’s their chief goal in life (for now).

And while our vendors have a long way to go, an important development on the low-income worker front is the highly publicized minimum wage increase.

A celebration rally was recently held near the Capitol Building to commemorate the first increase in the federal minimum wage in over 10 years. The previous rate of $5.15 an hour has gone up to $5.85 an hour and will reach $7.25 an hour by 2009.

Still, the federal minimum wage is not indexed to inflation as it is under some state laws, and that fact, along with the rising cost of living, guarantees further debate on the topic.

In the recent CNN/YouTube Democratic presidental debate, Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY) said the newly bumped wage is already out of date. So stay tuned. And remember that the toughest causes sometimes advance just one small step at a time – on Capitol Hill, and on the streets of Washington, D.C. What’s on your mind? E-mail StreetPoliticsDC@aol.com.

Obama chose to reveal his anti-poverty plan in Anacostia at the advice of D.C. Mayor Fenty.

Obama wants federal funds in battle against poverty

By Daniel Johnson In one of the poorest areas of D.C. and in front of a throng of local politicians, presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) declared his plan to battle poverty in the urban areas of America on July 18.

“We can’t allow this kind of suffering and hopelessness to exist in our country,” Obama said. “We can’t afford to lose a generation of tomorrow’s doctors and scientists and teachers to poverty.”

One day after receiving D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s endorsement for the presidency, Obama declared that direct government involvement could help change the opportunities or “odds,” of inner-city youth and families.

“I think he’s got his finger right on it,” Fenty said. “I’ve read a lot of national plans on how to fix the problems in the cities and I don’t know if I’ve heard of one any better than Obama’s.”

Obama promised to raise the minimum wage, strengthen unions and provide affordable universal health care to make it easier for families to get out of poverty. But the most substantial plan Obama laid out was to replicate the grassroots social services program Harlem’s Children’s Zone in 20 U.S. cities if he becomes president.

Obama said he was confident that the program, which provides training for expectant parents, free health care and quality education for participants in the small urban community in New York, will work across the nation.

“We’ll train staff, we’ll have them draw up detailed plans with attainable goals, and the federal government will provide half of the funding for each city,” Obama said.

In addition to replicating the success of Harlem’s Children’s Zone, Obama outlined a plan that would increase the accountability of fathers, create transitional job programs, give aid to minority-owned businesses and increase the amount of affordable housing by up to 112,000 new units.

Obama noted that his federally funded

plan would come at a price, but he defended his plan by attacking what he saw as wasteful spending by the current administration.

“The Harlem Children’s Zone is saving a generation of children for $46 million a year,” Obama said. “That’s about what the war in Iraq costs American taxpayers every four hours. So let’s invest this money. Let’s change the odds in urban America by focusing on what works.”

Philip Pannell, president of the Ward 8 Democrats, said Obama’s plan to strengthen urban families through federally funded programs was feasible because of Obama’s experience as a community organizer in the south side of Chicago.

Obama’s devotion to cities struggling with poverty like D.C., gives well-needed attention to the poor in metropolitan D.C., Pannell said.

“For far too long, people in the federal government have not been giving people in cities the attention they deserve,” he said.

Although Obama’s plan makes no mention of homelessness in metropolitan areas, Fenty said the affordable housing portion would directly affect homelessness in most metropolitan areas.

“Affordable housing is the key,” Fenty said.

“It is the lack of affordable housing that is creating homelessness in most cities.”

Locally, Fenty outlined a plan to allocate $117 million in new revenue to increase and maintain affordable housing in the District.

See story on page 1.

The Town Hall Education Arts and Recreation Campus (THEARC), a combined social, cultural and health services campus east of the Anacostia River, was the perfect venue for Obama’s announcement, Fenty said. The neighborhood sees the realities of urban poverty first-hand, he said.

“When the senator asked me to pick somewhere to give this speech, I knew there was no place better than THEARC right here in Anacostia,” Fenty said.

Obama said he plans to announce his plan to battle rural poverty later on in his campaign.

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

in other news By Mandy McAnally

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Cocaine Traders Sniff Opportunity in Europe

By Henrique Almeida

Arizona: Health Officials to Test Homeless for TB Arizona health officials will soon use a portable digital imaging machine in homeless shelters to help detect tuberculosis among clients. Officials say the homeless are most at risk for contracting TB because they lack regular access to health care and stay in communal living settings.

The agency plans to use a $300,000 grant from the state’s Health Crisis Fund to buy the machine (Fischer, East Valley Tribune, 7/15).

California: North County Proposes Regional Shelters Cities in North County will contribute thousands of dollars to help nonprofit groups create a network of emergency winter shelters under a proposal before the Escondido City Council. The plan calls for five shelters in the county to serve the homeless on cold nights and help them to get better housing. The shelters would be open from December through March at a cost of about $555,000 (Gaona, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7/18).

Connecticut: Advocates Respond to Survey of Homeless Organizers are calling for more housing options after a survey found more than 2,800 single adults and 430 families with nearly 800 children living in shelters, temporary housing or on the streets throughout the state. Connecticut has 3,000 units of “supportive” housing, defined as permanent, affordable and independent rental housing with support services, that have been created or are in development. The services include job assistance, life skills, budgeting and transportation to medical appointments.

Organizers of the survey say the information will be also used by municipalities and advocacy groups to vie for federal grants (AP/New York Newsday, 7/19).

Georgia: Homeless Shelter Gets $10M Renovation Atlanta’s largest homeless shelter has plans for a $10 million renovation to turn its old facility into a thriving “live, work, play and learn” community. City officials and local business owners are pressuring the shelter to move to a new location. However, the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, which operates the 95,000-square-foot shelter, said it is going to proceed with the plan (Rubner, Atlanta Business Chronicle, 7/20).

Indiana: Homeless Shelter to Pay $400,000 to IRS A Southern Indiana homeless shelter is scrambling to pay $400,000 in payroll taxes to the Internal Revenue Service to keep its doors open this year. Haven House shelter official say they might be forced to sell some property to keep the facility open. The shelter houses about 60 homeless people a day from the counties of Clark, Floyd, Harrison and other counties, as well as some from Louisville, Ky. (WLKY32, 7/22).

Washington, D.C.: Unions Hiring Homeless to Picket Some unions are hiring homeless to add to their picket lines when protesting outside of office buildings where construction is being done without union labor. The union calls them temporary workers and pays them $8 an hour to hold signs and chant about low wages. Unions are divided over the practice. Supporters say it’s informational and legitimate while others have said it gives a negative impression of union organizing (AP/Fox News, 7/24). Street Sense first reported this story in August 2005.

Washington State: Demolition Protesters Arrested Nine homeless advocates in King County recently were arrested for protesting the planned demolition of a local affordable housing complex. King County officials had offered to purchase the complex and preserve the 162 apartments for affordable housing. But the Port of Seattle rejected the offer to make way for the third runway at SeaTac. Homeless advocates argue the building is outside of the runway’s safety zone (AP/KNDO News, 7/19).

AMSTERDAM - Saturday night and thrill-seekers from around the world crowd the streets of Amsterdam’s redlight district, ready to binge on sex, drugs and alcohol.

“Hey, mister, do you want some cocaine?” a man mutters from a dark corner while a blonde prostitute removes her bra in a shop window to lure customers into her room.

It’s no accident the dealer was offering cocaine before he moved on to other drugs. Cocaine use has almost tripled in Europe over the past decade, while U.S. consumption has stabilized, according to U.N. figures released in June.

Portuguese police say a stronger euro is also attracting cocaine smugglers into European cities like Amsterdam, London and Madrid, where party-goers can easily pay up to 60 euros ($82.78) to get high on a few lines of the white powder.

Wholesale, the drug in Europe fetches up to $77,000 per kg, almost twice the amount it sells for in the U.S., according to the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration.

“Dealers focus their trade in cities with money,” said Jose Braz, the director of the Department of Narcotics in Portugal, which has become a significant entry-point for cocaine into Europe. “There is more and more dirty money in euros.”

Europe’s demand for cocaine may be growing but the real test for the Latin American cartels is breaking into Europe’s sophisticated external borders and airports.

The solution normally comes in the form of bribes.

According to the United Nations, cartels increasingly rely on corrupt officials in poor West African nations like Guinea Bissau, a tiny former Portuguese colony, to store the cocaine before it is smuggled into Europe’s booming market.

“These criminals are entrepreneurs. They see a window of opportunity and immediately jump in,” said Braz, who worked with Bissau police recently to help fight cocaine smuggling.

In April, Guinea Bissau’s police was commended by the United Nations for seizing over 600 kg of cocaine – worth more than 30 million euros – but it was later discovered the traffickers had still managed to escape with about 2.5 tons of the drug.

“It is regrettable that the rest of the consignment was not intercepted, but hardly surprising as the police were woefully ill-equipped and often do not have enough gasoline to operate their vehicles,” said Antonio Costa, the Executive Director of the UN’s Office of Drugs and Crime.

The cocaine that eludes authorities is normally split among hundreds of smugglers willing to risk hefty jail sen-

Foundry

United Methodist Church

A Reconciling Congregation

Invites you to join us in worship on Sundays at 9:30 and 11:00 AM Sign Interpretation at 11:00 Homeless Outreach Hospitality Fridays 9 AM

Foundry United Methodist Church

1500 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 (202) 332-4010 www.foundryumc.org

tences to enter Europe through countries like Portugal and Spain.

Last year, police in both countries, which have strong geographical and cultural ties with Africa and historic links with Latin America, seized a combined 70 tons of cocaine, about the same amount that was seized in all of Europe in 2004.

“We are now a key entry point of drugs into Europe,” said Braz.

But record drug busts in 2006 and 2007 in Europe have prompted cartels to turn to people who are willing to fly to Europe with cocaine hidden in bags or inside their bodies for up to 5,000 euros – a small sum considering the risks involved.

Last week, two British teenage girls were arrested at Accra airport in Ghana, allegedly carrying $609,500 worth of cocaine in laptop bags.

But unlike the movie “Maria Full of Grace”, which portrays a teenage woman as a drug mule, most of the mules are still young men like Jackson, a 27-year-old architect from Venezuela, who was caught in Lisbon trying to bring the drug into Europe.

Trapped in a downward spiral of debt and with a family to provide for, Jackson boarded a flight from Caracas to Amsterdam via Lisbon in June last year with one kg of cocaine inside his stomach and two kg strapped around his body.

“The deal was to deliver 3 kilos of cocaine in Amsterdam but I couldn’t swallow all the capsules and was afraid to die,” Jackson told a Lisbon-based judge at his first hearing after being arrested.

He now faces at least five years in prison and fears reprisals against his family back home from the drug cartel which hired him to do the job, but he is lucky to be alive.

For Europeans, like the group of men waiting outside the bathroom of a popular club in Amsterdam to snort another line, the party goes on. Or so they hope.

“There was a lot of euphoria with love-drugs like ecstasy 10 years ago but that is going away now,” said an employee of the Magic Mushroom Smartshop near Amsterdam’s night club scene in Rembrandtplein Square. He identified himself simply as AR. “Coke is cold and ego-boosting and allows people to forget about their insecurities. I suppose the world is becoming a colder place these days,” AR said. “They may forget about their problems when they’re high but reality will eventually sink in. I just hope most of them are able to cope with it.”

Courtesy of Reuters © Street News Service: www.street-papers.org

NEWS LOCAL NATIONAL NEWS

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

Street Soccer World Cup Kicks Off in Denmark

By Laura Thompson Osuri

For more information on the Homeless World Cup and to get periodic updates on the tournament, visit www.homelessworldcup.org.

Nearly three-quarters of the players said their lives improved after last year’s Homeless World Cup.

courtesy of homeless world cup

Five hundred homeless and formerly homeless individuals from 48 countries will descend on Copenhagen, Denmark, in early August for the Fifth Annual Homeless World Cup. Players will compete to become the world’s champion team in street soccer. For many of them, the tournament will also represent a huge step toward improving their lives.

“The Homeless World Cup is an event that can change the life of anyone, not simply to help them become a professional footballer,” said Didier Drogba, a supporter of the tournament who plays professional soccer with England’s Chelsea Football Club.

After last year’s Homeless World Cup, a survey showed that nearly three-quarters of the 368 players said their lives changed for the better. More than a third secured regular employment and nearly half the players improved their housing situation.

Many of the national teams this year already have inspiring stories to tell. The Liberian team helped give war-torn orphans a reason to live. The Indian team used football to move young people away from drugs and the slums. England’s team trained with the legendary Manchester United soccer club.

Street soccer has also started changing the lives of U.S. players. Most notably, seven out of the eight players have found housing over the last year.

One example is Pop Miller, 24, who was homeless for 18

months before joining the street soccer program. Miller just moved into a place of his own. He credits soccer as the positive outlet that has kept him away from selling drugs and other activities that got him in trouble in the past.

The U.S. national street soccer team has been practicing all year in Charlotte, N.C., under the guidance of the Urban Ministries Center. The players and coaches are confident they can beat their 46th out of 48 ranking from last year’s Homeless World Cup. “Our results in Copenhagen are not as important as the positive changes that have occurred in the players’ lives,” said Lawrence Cann, who coaches the U.S. national street soccer team. “But I am excited about the leadership on the team and I definitely expect us to do better than previous years.”

The Homeless World Cup concept evolved out of a 2001 bet between Harald Schmied, editor of the Austrian street paper, Megaphon, and Mel Young, co-founder of The Big Issue Scotland. The first Homeless World Cup was held in Graz, Austria, in 2003, with annual tournaments ever since.

Participation has grown every year.

The tournament consists of a series of 4-on-4 soccer matches played on a walled field the size of a tennis court.

This year, the Crown Prince of Denmark will attend the final match.

in brief Street Papers of the World, Unite!

Fewer Low-Income Homeowners

Fewer and fewer people with low incomes own homes in Washington, D.C., according to a recent study by the Urban Institute. Low-income home buyers accounted for 17% of all home-purchase mortgages in 1997. In 2005, they accounted for

laura thompson osuri

Executive Director Laura Thompson Osuri and Editor Koki Smith lugged dozens of copies of Street Sense to Portland, Ore., the last weekend in July for a conference of street papers across North America.

Sponsored by Street Roots, Portland’s street paper, and the Society of Professional Journalists, the conference helped more than 40 writers, editors and volunteers from 19 papers across the U.S. and Canada share ideas and best practices for improving fundraising, editorial content and organizational planning.

The papers spanned a wide spectrum: from Real Change, the Seattle-based weekly paper which sells nearly 50,000 copies every month, to Street Corner, a 1,000-circulation monthly paper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, to the Denver Voice, a new paper to launch in Colorado in August.

All share the goal of promoting public awareness of poverty and homelessness while providing opportunities for homeless vendors to earn an income. But most employ widely differing formats, printing quality and editorial philosophies, as Koki learned much to her fascination.

Our very own Laura, who serves as the association’s president, was re-elected to the board for another two years at the conference.

The 28 papers of the North American Street Newspaper Association (www.nasna.org) reach nearly 300,000 people each month. The association recently partnered with the International Network of Street Papers (www.street-papers.org), based in Glasgow, Scotland, to share resources and content. The resulting Street News Service, a compilation of stories from street papers across the world, reaches nearly 32 million people each month.

Street Sense is a frequent contributor to the service.

The next North American street paper conference is scheduled for 2009 so that members can attend the international conference, to be held in either Australia or Scotland, next year.

– Kaukab Jhumra Smith

Street Sense was among the 19 street papers from across the U.S. and Canada represented at the conference in Portland, Ore.

only 4%.

The District’s strong economy attracts a lot of people close to the city, creating high demand and pushing housing prices up, explained Peter Tatian, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute’s Center on Metropolitan Housing and Communities. “The prices increase faster than wages so people are pushed out,” he said. “Some are going further out in the region of Maryland and Virginia. Some have to rent instead of owning.”

The number of commuters into the city continues to increase, he said.

While housing prices have fallen in some parts of the city in the last year, other District neighborhoods continue to see

price increases. Harriet Tregoning, director of the D.C. Office of Planning, said the high demand can be a double-edged sword.

“While the percentage increase in middle- to high-income buyers bodes well for the District fiscally, it suggests that the District faces a continuing affordability challenge for lower-income households,” she said.

Tatian said the city needs to accept that housing costs are moving beyond the reach of many people. “We need good rental options. Otherwise, if we allow the market to dictate everything, then we lose some diversity,” Tatian said. “The mayor’s comprehensive housing task force is a good model. We just need to follow the plan.” – Mia Boyd

Project3_August:newsletter

7/24/07

6:58 AM

Page 1

Prison Art Gallery 1600 K Street NW, Suite 501 Washington, DC Open every day until 5:30 PM 202-393-1511

Outdoor Prison Art Exhibit Corner of K Street and Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 202-393-1511 Mon-Fri 3pm to 8pm

Free Gift $15 value Prison Tracks Music CD

Over an hour of music made in prison by outstanding inmate guitarists Dennis Sobin and Steve Andrew. Receive this free gift with your purchase of $10 or more at our two locations that feature original prison art, prison art prints, sterling silver justice jewelry, handcuff key chains, famous mug shot playing cards, prison art clothing, and much more. Call 202-393-1511

Art for Justice is published monthly in conjunction with Street Sense.

Sponsored by Prison Art Gallery with support from Art Appreciation Foundation August 2007 PLANE OVER PRISON by Tenola Gamble, State Prison,California, Pastels, 19" by 25" (Suggested donation: $150)

All art can be viewed and purchased at the Prison Art Gallery, 1600 K Street NW Suite 501 Was DC or purchase by phone 202-393-1511 or email (PayPal payment address Dennis@PrisonFoundation.org). Please add $!0 shipping and handling for each order.All major credit cards accepted. Thank you for viewing and purchasing this beautiful art in support of our program of prisoner rehabilitation, re-entry and victim assistance. Yout tax deductible donation is greatly appreciated.

FREE BIRDS by David Lopez, State Prison, Texas, Ink and colored pencils on artboard, 10" by 15" (Suggested donation: $60)

IT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF by Christopher Burnett,Coxsackie State Prison, New York, Pencil and ink, 11" by 14" (Suggested donation: $175)

FRIDA KAHLO SELF-PORTRAIT by Tenola Gamble, State Prison, California, Pastels, 12" by 16" (Suggested donation: $100)

PATTI IN A FOX by Larry Walker, Trenton State Prison, New Jersey, Acrylic on canvas, 13" by 16 1/2" (Suggested donation: $80)

MY COUNTRY TIS OF THEE by Dwayne Crawford, Dooly State Prison, Georgia, Collage with scraps of paper and floor wax, 7" by 8 1/2" (Suggested donation: $125)

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Page 2

INDIAN ON HORSEBACK by John Miller, Reno State Prison, Nevada, Oil on sheet, 16" by 20" framed (Suggested donation: $175)

WATERFALL by Bill Williams, Polunsky State Prison, Texas Watercolor and colored pencil, 15 x20 inches (Suggested donation: $300)

REFLECTIONS John Standley, Great Meadow State Prison, New York Pen and ink, 8 1/2X10 inches (Suggested donation $100) -

Peace and Love by Ahmad Kemet, State Prison, Michigan Pen, pencil, color pencil, 18 by 24 inches (Suggested donation: $140)

BABY BIRDY by Sacramento Morales, State Prison, Texas, Ink and colored pencils on artboard, 9" by 14" (Suggested donation: $60)

Halle Berry by Sudan Paul Miller, Ionia State Prison, MichiganPastels, mixed media, 9 by 12 inches (Suggested donation: $100)

BIRD IN BLUE by Tenola Gamble, State Prison, California, Pastels, 8 3/4" by 11 3/4" (Suggested donation: $80)

Namibian Woman by Robert Igneri, Tucson Federal Prison, Arizona Oil on canvas, 9 by 12 inches (Suggested donation: $90) -

SOLDIERS BY DECOURSEY Ron Smith, Haggerstown State Prison, Maryland Pen and ink, 8x10 inches (Suggested donation: $100)

Goin' Fishin' by William Griffin, Bennettsville State Prison, South Carolina Oil on stretched canvas, 14 1/2 by 18 1/2 inches(Suggested donation: $100)

Road by Ringo Harris, Suffield State Prison, Connecticut Pen and ink, 14 by 17 inches (Suggested donation: $650)

Bird by Albert Miller, Roxbury State Prison, Maryland Acrylic on paper, 11 by 14 inches (Suggested donation: $75)

IRISH MIST by Geoff Newman, Lancaster State Prison, California Acrylic on canvas, 16x19 inches (Suggested donation: $230)

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Page 3

IN THE WOODS by Larry Walker, Trenton State Prison, New Jersey, Acrylic on canvas, 18" by 32" (Suggested donation: $250)

WHISPERING BAILARINA by Earl Thompson, Coleman Federal Prison, Florida Charcoal, 15x22 inches (Suggested donation: $200)

ABSTRACT by Sudan Paul Miller, Ionia State Prison, Michigan, Pastels, 9" by 12" (Suggested donation: $80)

Monroe by Donny Rice, Scott State Pris on, Georgia Pen and ink on canvas, 11 by 15 inches (Suggested donation: $80)

The Prince by Brian Cole, Rivers Federal Prison,North Carolina Watercolor, pastel, magic marker and ink, 15 by 22 inches (Suggested donation: $150)

RAY by Brian Cole, Rivers Correctional Institution, North Carolina, Acrylics on artboard, 15" by 19" in 23" by 28" glassless custom frame (Suggested donation: $400)

Three Dancers by Timothy Burelson, Coffield State Prison, Texas Watercolor on illustration board, 9 by 14 inches (Suggested donation: $100)

ABSTRACT by Michael Jewell, State Pri son, Texas, Acrylic on watercolor paper, 10" by 15" (Suggested donation: $100)

Rainbow Mountain Lake Winter by George Bozeman, La Grange State Prison, Kentucky Acrylic on canvas, 7 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches (Suggested donation: $100)

God's Grace by David Green, Pack State Prison, Texas Watercolor on art board, 10 by 15 inches (Suggested donation: $75)

Facade #1 by Oran Hutson, Susanville State Prison, California Watercolor, 11 by 14 inches (Suggested donation: $50) -

PANO FOR MOTHER'S DAY by Jose C ardenas, Big Spring Federal Prison, Texas, Inks and colored pencils on handkerchief, 15" by 15" (Suggested do nation: $100 -

Crown of Thorns by Eric Stalford, State Prison, Oregon Graphite and color pencil, 9 by 12 inches (Suggested donation: $50)

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FRUIT by George Bozeman, State Prison, Kentucky, Acrylic on stretched canvas, 11" by 14" (Suggested donation: $100)

For Mama by Patty Martinez, Greenville Federal Prison, Illinois Acrylic on canvas board, 8 x 10 inches (Suggested donation: $50)

Prison Art Gallery proudly presents Convicts at the

Kennedy Center Ex-prisoner musicians and singers perform songs written behind bars Free Admission Kennedy Center for the Perfoming Arts Washington, DC Saturday, September 1, 2007, 7pm Cosponsored by Prison Art Gallery, FAMM, NORML, Drug Policy Alliance, ACLU, The Sentencing Project, DC Prisoners Legal Services Project, and other outstanding organizations

NO WORRIES by Pablo Zapata, Jefferson State Prison, Florida, Pen, markers, and color pencils on handkerchief, 9" by 12" (Suggested donation: $150)

FINCH ON BRANCH by Timothy Burleson, Coffield State Prison, Texas, Watercolor, 7" by 10" (Suggested donation: $100)

Cat by Charles Milbry, State Prison, Florida, Mixed media greeting card, 8" by 10 1/2" unfolding to 8" by 21" (Suggested donation: $50)

NORML

Third and Eats Restaurant (corner of Third and E Streets NW, Washington, DC) displays and sells beautiful framed prison art prints. So can your establishment. For details, call Dennis 202393-1511

(National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) congratulates the Prison Art Gallery for its success, and pledges its continued support in this important undertaking.

Since its founding in 1970, NORML has provided a voice for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition and favor an end to the practice of arresting marijuana smokers

NORML 202-483-5500 www.NORML.org

CANE by Brian Cole, Rivers Correctional Institution, North Carolina, Mixed Media, 18" by 24" (Suggested donation: $400)

JESUS IN STORM by John Grubb, State Prison, South Carolina, Watercolor, 18" by 24" (Suggested donation: $200)

TRUMPET GREAT by Brian Cole, Rivers Correctional Institution, North Carolina, Mixed Media, 14 1/2" by 17 1/2" (Suggested donation: $80)

Become a Friend of the Prison Art Gallery

Yes, I want to become a friend of the Prison Art Gallery and support its program of prisoner rehabilitation and victim assistance. My tax deductible donation in the amount of _________ is enclosed (or you may charge my credit card in this amount.

Card type_________ #_________________________________ Exp_______________________).

I understand that as a friend of the Prison Art Gallery I will be invited to free VIP events and receive other benefits.

Name___________________________________________ Address_________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Email____________________________________________

Prison Art Gallery 1600 K Street NW, Suite 501 Washington, DC 20006 202-393-1511

THE ALEPH INSTITUTE

Commends the Prison Art Gallery for being a beacon of light to our incarcerated brothers and sisters.

For over fifteen years, The Aleph Institute has provided a host of services to incarcerated Jews of all backgrounds. Aleph's newsletter for inmates, The National Liberator, gives spiritual and practical guidance to prisoners.

The Aleph Institute

9540 Collins Avenue Surfside, FL 3315 305-864-5553 www.aleph-institute.org

Design: Alexandra Colina Webmaster: J.B. Pruitt Jr. Development: Terry Snead SpecialEvents:Bryan Parker Art Preparation: Emelinda Crabbe Art Consultant: Lloyd S. Rubin Outreach: Emma James Music Ambassador: Dennis Sobin Logo Created by TAKK takkdesign@gmail.com

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

The Salesman at 7th and E Streets, NW I’m the salesman I’ve sold things to people from Singapore to Spain.

Now I’m selling homeless newspapers as my claim to fame.

A lot of things for me have changed.

POETRY But I could not see myself on this corner, With a cup begging for a buck.

More nice ladies from AARP are stopping and buying papers from me.

One lady goes running Every day she passes by saying, “I’ll be back, don’t go away.”

I started working in February At the corner of 7th and E Down in Chinatown, In Washington, D.C. Selling Street Sense newspapers Newspapers for the homeless

More and more people Are stopping, buying papers They call me “Friend.”

In the high rise apartments many stop now.

Buying more and more papers

A lot of people pass me every day.

And I say, “Good morning, sir, good morning, ma’am,” Knowing full well that most don’t give a damn.

One guy I call him “Big Bank Hank.”

He’s built just as big as a tank.

He fell on the sidewalk one day, Bounced back up like a running back.

Because I’m homeless, you see, I’m not asking for nothin’ for free.

I’m just asking— Would you stop and buy a paper from me?

April came in, now people are buying And calling me friend.

May is here and I’m feeling better again.

Some people stop, Buy a paper, Give a dollar or two.

Some people ask, “Is this dollar for you?”

Many pass by On their way to work.

Some people ask is there anything they can do to help me.

I want to thank all the wonderful people at AARP.

Some people pass and give fives and tens, Saying, “It’s cold out here, you need to go in, my friend.”

But most pass with barely a stare They pass every day but really don’t care.

It’s cold out here, Working the street.

At the end of the day I feel sad and weak.

My feet be hurting from walking on concrete.

Late at night I try to sleep.

But all I can hear in my sleep, Is,“Honey, I’m not buying a paper from that creep.”

March is in and I’m back on the corner To try it again. Saying, “Good morning, sir, good morning, ma’am.”

Selling Street Sense newspapers, Newspapers for the homeless.

March came in bringing freezing rain And bone-chilling wind.

I had to keep moving To keep from turning into a block of ice.

Some people seen me shaking and Took a liking to me.

One is a business called AARP. She stopped and talked to me.

She asked me my name and badge number.

I said my name is Ivory Wilson, Badge number 102.

She walked away.

Some never ask.

They pass by quickly.

That I know one big mistake in their lives And they will be just like me And that is something They would not want to see But that shouldn’t stop them From buying a paper from me Some days in March I thought of giving up,

I also want to thank all the wonderful people Not at AARP for stopping and buying papers from me.

Because I am the salesman At 7th and E. – Ivory Wilson

Sarah FBI CIA IRS send stealthy tendrils through her monitor; they watch her every move, they scan each communique, each cry for help; “They’re getting the ovens ready for us,” Sarah says; headlines in the New York Post speak to her in code.

A holocaust looms as close as today’s forecast for rain.

Sarah drives a shopping cart laden with her whole life.

It’s parked outside the library secured with thick chains.

She greets me with a smile which illuminates her face, and mine, and the wintry wasteland of Twenty-fourth Street.

From the Boardroom to the Dorm Room

My sister Sarah wears a lavender sweater and the voice of Flatbush; her words have brittle edges, yet drip softly from her lips, which, today, are daubed in claret red.

He was once a corporate officer.

He was once successful.

He was once a very important man.

He was once well-known amongst his peers.

He was once the showcase in the boardroom.

He was once the life of the party.

He was once the office-go-to guy.

My neighbor Sarah lives in our city’s nighttime shadows – a shuttered hospital has been recycled into a homestead among bare trees.

The Twenty-fifth Street loading dock serves as her front porch.

As he saw his life on a downward slide, He asked himself, what happened to my life?

He was once very popular.

One day his popularity ended and he asked why.

I don’t know what drove Sarah to the invisible city of soup lines and gray blankets where we live.

Why did I go from the boardroom to the dorm room?

The dorm room is not the college dorm he remembers from school.

This dorm room is a haven for the lost souls of the streets.

This dorm room is a sometimes vile and evil place.

This dorm room is a crowded and unhealthy place.

This dorm room exists where vagrants and beggars and drifters dwell.

This dorm room is connected to an area known as a ‘shelter to the homeless.’

FBI, CIA, IRS, with their colossal web of tentacles seek answers through her screen as she briskly taps away.

As he asks why, he knows not why.

How did he go from the boardroom to the dorm room?

How did he fall from top of the class to bottom of the barrel?

How did he go from the boardroom to the dorm room?

– August Mallory

My friend Sarah will never know: as I sit across from her, I tap her life into your eyes.

– David Harris

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

10 FEATURES

My Turn At the Table By Francine Triplett

Discovering New Flavors at a Familiar Spot

Daniel Johnson

What good food I ate at 701 Pennsylvania Avenue! The Street Sense editor, Koki, and I were supposed to go to lunch there, but when I got to the office she couldn’t go. She told me to take Daniel, Street Sense’s intern, who only had two weeks left here, so that was okay with me.

When I was working at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, I won a free lunch at 701 Pennsylvania and couldn’t make it. But my coworkers went to the restaurant, then came back and talked about it, so I’ve always wanted to go.

I sit outside the restaurant many Saturdays selling my newspapers. The atmosphere there is beautiful. I watch the water at the Navy Memorial fountains and the water sprays out dyed blue. It’s so pretty that sometimes I just sit there to get away.

Daniel and I walked into the restaurant and were met by the hostess. I had a reservation! We were seated at a very nice table.

The service was excellent. They started us out with the bread.

I loved the bread they first brought, but then they brought out cornbread that I enjoyed even more. I usually drink diet soda, but this time they offered iced tea first and the tea was excellent. I had three glasses without sugar.

Daniel and I had very good conversation. I enjoy Daniel’s company.

The food was delicious. I tried something I had never had – calamari, fried squid, as an appetizer. It was served with lettuce, cashews, and tomatoes. Never say you don’t like something until you’ve tried it!

Francine sells papers outside 701 Restaurant and likes the food there, too.

For the main course, I had dry-aged prime New York steak with an Asian glaze, spring vegetables and crushed truffled potatoes. Daniel had slow-baked salmon with citrus couscous and snap peas, which he said was very good. The salmon was served on green wasabi-flavored mashed potatoes.

I had always wanted to go to this restaurant, and I finally got my chance. I recommend it to anyone for lunch or dinner. Well done, 701 Pennsylvania!

Protecting Yourself From Foreclosure

By Nakeya Mitchell It’s tempting: a mortgage that allows you to buy a nicer house with a lower monthly payment than you expected at a reasonable interest rate. The rate may go up or down based on the economy, but that’s years away. You don’t have to worry about that now, right? Wrong.

What I just described is called an adjustable rate mortgage and it’s causing a lot of people grief these days.

Nationwide, more and more homeowners are foreclosing on their homes, unable to keep up with rising interest rates and escalating monthly payments.

The low interest rate and low monthly payments for adjustable rate mortgages are only temporary. The lender reserves the right to change the interest rate and monthly payments down the road based on how the market’s doing.

If interest rates in general go up, so could yours – anywhere from another 0.25% all the way to 4% more. This translates to higher monthly payments, which you may not have budgeted for and may not be able to meet.

Mortgage payments aren’t like credit cards, where you can make a minimum payment one month, agree to take finance charges, and just have a bigger bill the next month.

Even a first missed or late payment can be reported to the credit bureaus, often with devastating effect on your credit score. Each late payment reported after that will further decrease your score, and the lender may tack on late payment fees.

What’s worse, after three or more missed payments, the lender can file a “notice of default” – a legal document warning that unless you get caught up with your payments, they’ll go forward with the foreclosure process and put your house up for sale.

You really don’t want to go there.

After the notice is filed, the mortgage company is less willing to work out another payment plan, and even if you find a way to pay it all back, it may demand that you refinance with another lender. Now that your credit score has taken a beating from the missed payments and notice of default, you certainly won’t be getting a better rate.

If you’ve started down the road to foreclosure, what can you do to get back on track?

• Take stock. Figure out what changed in your personal or family finances that kept you from making your mortgage payments on time. Was it a temporary, one-time setback, or will it be a permanent change in your finances?

• Adjust priorities. Decide where homeownership fits in your priorities now. It hurts, but the best option may be to sell your house to avoid going through foreclosure and focus on finding a home that’s more realistic for your current situation.

• Negotiate. Know that you have the power to negotiate with your mortgage lender, to adjust the terms of the mortgage or create a payment plan to make it more manageable for you. It’s in their best interest to work with you. They will make more money if everything works out than if they have to go through the legal process of foreclosure.

The lender can temporarily reduce your monthly payments or set up short-term repayment plans to help you make up the deficit.

You have to be proactive about this. Mortgage companies are much more likely to negotiate with borrowers who keep in touch and address their situation instead of ignoring the missed payment letters. Plus, the sooner you can work out a solution with your lender, the less potential damage to your credit score.

The good news is that you don’t have to go through all this alone. Homeowner’s HOPE™, a counseling service provided by the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, can help you make a plan and contact the mortgage company. It’s a toll-free call where you talk to a real person who will help you figure out a plan of action to avoid foreclosure.

Trained counselors will listen to your situation nonjudgmentally and coach you in successful negotiation.

They know the ins and outs of the mortgage world and can share solutions you may not have considered. They’ll work with you no matter what type of mortgage you have and whether you are facing long-term or temporary hurdles in meeting your mortgage payments.

Find out more about the Homeowner’s HOPE at www.995hope.org or call 1-888-995-4673. The phone line is open 24/7. Spanish-speaking counselors are also available and the counseling service is absolutely free.

Book Review By Robert Trautman

A Fortress in Ghana Marked Fate For Slaves During more than 150 years of s l a v e t ra f f i c b e tween Africa and t h e N e w Wo r l d , the west coast of Ghana was lined with Europeanbuilt fortifications. They were collection points and then holding stations for slaves brought from the interior, and in the end, exits for their embarkation to the Americas and lives of slavery.

No n e o f t h e s e fortifications was more infamous than Cape Coast Castle, Britain’s slaving headquarters from the mid16th century to the early 19th, when London abolished the slave trade.

The history and construction of the castle, the lives of its staff and slaves in what were called “holes,” and the loading of the slave ships for the Middle Passage, are told in riveting detail and with sweeping perspective by William St. Clair in “The Door of No Return: The History of Cape Coast Castle and the Atlantic Slave Trade” (BlueBridge, 2007).

A former Cambridge University fellow and British Defense Ministry official, St. Clair does not limit his story to the British slave trade. He covers the slaving activities of other big traders like the Portuguese, the Spaniards and the Dutch, who carried approximately 3 million slaves from Africa to the New World from some 60 coastal forts in Ghana.

But his book focuses on Cape Coast Castle, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“The ancestors of innumerable people living today in the United States, Canada, the English-speaking Caribbean, Britain and many other countries passed through the ‘door of no return’ in Cape Coast Castle or one of its subsidiary forts,’” St. Clair writes.

His research led him to voluminous documents beginning from the 1660s, which show in fascinating detail the construction and maintenance of the buildings, including the amount of paint used and the colors, the recruitment of staff, the amount of food and drink imported from England, and the negotiations and agreements with the local African leaders.

The castle was positioned fortress-like, shoreward of formidable rocks with its cannon pointed seaward.

Its narrow gate opened directly onto a stony beach for the easy moving of slaves by canoe, from the castle to the waiting ships.

Inside, the castle was to befit royalty, St. Clair writes: carved mahogany furniture, Spode china, Georgian silverware, Turkish and Indian carpets, silk wall hangings, decanters for fine wines, as well as a library with books ranging from Shakespeare to advice on manners for the proper gentleman.

The 2,000 slaves at the castle, however, lived in a dungeon complex, a series of connecting rooms di-

See

Slavery, page 13

FEATURES & GAMES 11

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

Marvin Hammerman

August’s Crossword

A mystery novel in parts BOOK 4, PART 7

By August Mallory

ACROSS

1 Red pigment 6 Anger 9 Leave now!

13 Strength 14 Volume (abbr.)

15 Medical ointment 16 Eagle’s nest 17 Roberto’s yes 18 Two 19 Morning 20 Award 22 Pacific Time 23 Boxer Muhammad 24 Scriptural your 25 _ _ _ _ _ s we e t _____ 27 Sugar-free brand 29 Shelters 33 Stinging fish 34 Picnic pest 35 At sea 36 Willia __ (Elizabeth I’s advisor) 39 Artist’s creation 40 Very big 41 Let go 42 Pronoun 43 TV lawyer Matlock 44 Soldier 46 Make corrections to 49 Take off your hat

50 Advertisements 51 Devour 53 High naval rank (abbr.)

56 Heavy rainfalls 58 DNA component 59 Small enclosed field 61 Grain 62 Lowest point 63 President Rutherford B. 64 May 65 Takes off 66 Black 67 Terminate 68 Scoop

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1 Endorsed for president by D.C. Mayor 2 US Gulf States dwellers 3 Celebrated Street Sense poet 4 Ravage 5 Compass point 6 The salesman at 7th and E 7 Rolled chocolate candy brand 8 Unforgetful animal 9 Jigsaw 10 Thunder ____ 11 Car rental agency

12 Teepee 15 Hinder 20 Those people 21 Entertainer 24 Bluish green 26 Jerry Seinfeld’s friend 28 Camera stand 30 United States of America 31 Males 32 Stood opposite 34 This kind of mortgage can get you in trouble 36 Central daylight time 37 Make a mistake 38 Cry softly 39 Military branch with wings (2 wds.)

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July’s Answer Key

It is now late evening, and Hammerman and Hoffman are en route to meet Russell Jamison. As they board the bus to Sea-Tac airport, they hear a lot of conversations going on. As they go farther toward the airport, they can see all sorts of vagrancy in view.

It is a long ride to Sea-Tac airport, but they arrive eventually to meet Russell Jamison.

Hammerman and Hoffman meet Jamison at the American Airlines entrance.

“Marvin! How’s it going?”

“Good, Russ. What’s new with you?”

“Not a whole lot.”

“Hey, look, Russ, I would like you to meet my newest associate. Edward Hoffman, meet Russell Jamison. Russell Jamison, this is Edward Hoffman.”

“My pleasure. Marvin has told me a lot about you. It will be an honor to work with you.”

“OK, are we all set to go?” Jamison says.

“I guess we are, as ready as ever. Let’s head back to the Westin Hotel and we can all work on what we are going to do on this case.”

“Sounds good. This will give me time to notify the Seattle police about this case that we are working on.”

“So, who is the missing person this time?”

“Well, this person goes by the name of Mark Richards. We have already spoken with his sister when she contacted us several days ago.”

Meanwhile, as Hammerman, Hoffman and Jamison are en route back to the Westin Hotel, the killer of Mark Richards continues to lurk about. Passing by sleeping vagrants in doorways and in alleyways, the killer goes for another opportunity to steal more food from another store.

But this time, the killer is not aware that his image is caught on video camera. The killer lurks about in a local store and grabs some food items and attempts to walk out without paying. A Chinese store clerk confronts the killer and demands he pay for the food. The killer tries to make a break for it, but the store clerk is too fast for him and the two men fight. The killer gets in a few good punches before the store clerk gets a few good licks in himself. The killer pulls out a knife and delivers a deep cut to the store clerk’s arm and takes off running.

During the struggle, the killer drops an ID card belonging to Mark Richards. The police are notified and an EMS team arrives to administer first aid to the store clerk. As the police get information on the assailant, a sketch artist draws his likeness.

At the Westin Hotel, Russell Jamison is on the phone with the Seattle Police department and Hammerman and Hoffman have all the information they need to begin their investigation. Hammerman and Hoffman make an appointment to speak with the executive director of the Bread of Life mission. Story has it that Mark Richards frequented Bread of Life.

As for the killer of Mark Richards, he is desperately in need of a quick high. He managed to make off with a couple of items during the struggle.

Back at the store, the police retrieve the I.D. that the killer dropped but the store clerk and the police notice that the picture of the assailant and Mark Richard’s photograph do not match. So if the person that fought with the store clerk is not Mark Richards, then just who is this person?

Fingerprints are taken from the items that were dropped during the struggle. The police will have a match shortly if a match can be made. The police now have the videotape that was taken of the assailant. This will help during their investigation.

At the Bread of Life, the senior chaplain meets with Hammerman and Hoffman. It turns out that Mark Richards did frequent Bread of Life on several occasions. It also turns out that Mark Richards was a participant in the recovery program at the mission and would get work at the temporary employment services from time to time.

“Hello, gentlemen, you’re here to learn more about a Mark Richards, I understand.”

“That is correct, Chaplain.”

“Mr. Richards and I would have talks from time to time. He would tell me about issues that he was having with one individual at the temporary service. I told him to try to avoid this person if possible and just do your work. Such a misfit is not worth him losing his job.

Mark Richards seemed to be a very kind and generous individual. He would help out at times when we were short of help around here. I hope nothing terrible has happened to him.”

“At this point, he is only missing. We have a private investigator working with us. If anyone can get the information we need, this person can. Chaplain, is there anything that rings in your mind about Mark Richards’ demeanor? For example, did he appear nervous or moody at times? Maybe frustrated about something?”

“Well, there was this one time when he came in and he was angry about this co-worker from the temp service hassling him for money all of the time.”

“Did he ever mention this person’s name?”

“No, he never did. We try not to pressure people too much on their personal matters.

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We are here to help in any way but we can’t force people to tell us all of their private matters.”

“Well, thank you, Chaplain. I guess that’s about all we have.”

“My pleasure, gentlemen. I am sorry I could not give you more information but I am here to help if I can.”

“Thank you again, Chaplain.”

Hammerman calls Jamison and informs Jamison that he and Hoffman are working the streets in the downtown Seattle area. Jamison acknowledges him and proceeds to meet with the Seattle Police Department.

Coming up: Things are heating up and the search is underway for Mark Richards and the person behind his disappearance.

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

12 EDITORIALS

How the President Ended Poverty: A True Story of the Future

By Michael Stoops

O

The First 24 Hours of My Presidency After finishing my rather long Inaugural speech, I will return to the White House lawn where I will pitch a tent and live outside until we achieve the goal of ending poverty in America.

I’ll take along my cell phone and a laptop, so I can conduct the country’s business. The First Spouse will join me as well.

The First 100 Days of My Presidency I will forego my $400,000 annual salary and instead will work as your president at minimum wage.

In other words, I will be making $7 an hour, as per the established federal minimum wage regulations. If I work at least 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, I will earn about $379,616 less than my predecessor.

I will not move back inside until every American is permanently housed. I will then start to pay rent like any other American, 30% of my minimum-wage salary.

I will invite my closest neighbors, the homeless people living across the street in Lafayette Park, to stay in the various unused bedrooms in the White House in what can only be called the “best public housing in the country.”

Emergency Measures I will order every government building to stay open at night so it can function as an emergency night shelter. I will ask churches, synagogues, temples, and mosques to do the same.

Homeless emergency shelters will function like the emergency rooms of hospitals where you can stay as long as you need.

Children, who make up 25% of the total homeless population, will be the first ones to get help so they do not become the homeless adults of the future.

All local, state and federal elected officials will be required to spend a week living on the streets in the largest city of their respective home states until every American is housed.

They will receive food stamps and the same health care benefits as the poorest among us.

We will ask Congress to reduce the salary of every federal elected official and every executive branch official to the same monthly amount received by those on Social Security disability. This will keep the officeholders in touch with the almost 40 million Americans who live below the poverty line.

I will ask Congress to pass legislation mak-

courtesy of istockphoto

n Inauguration Day, I, President (fill in the blank), hereby proclaim that I will no longer accept homelessness and poverty in this rich country.

I, like Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson before me, declare poverty to be one of the biggest issues facing America. One in eight Americans lives in poverty and the numbers are rising. Let’s call it an adjustment of American priorities that will take place not in 10 years, but in my first term in office.

We will end our legacy of imperialism and use the money to address our new priority of eliminating poverty at home.

ing it illegal for cities to adopt laws targeting homeless people for acts such as sleeping, camping, sitting or panhandling.

All homeless persons who so desire will receive a donated laptop computer so they can connect with the rest of the world and use the Internet to help them get out of their homelessness and low-income status.

Long-Term Solutions I will restore the federal low-income housing budget to what it was back in 1979 – $83 billion compared to $33.6 billion today.

I will work with the mayors of American cities to create a federal housing policy.

The countless abandoned buildings that plague our inner cities will be turned over to nonprofits or municipalities, which will provide resources and training for homeless or low-income people to repair these homes.

This will be a 21st-century version of the

Not Iraqi, from page 1 700,000. However, let’s not squabble over numbers. Even one unjustified death brought about by a war predicated on lies is one too many.

I understand there is 50% unemployment in Iraq. People may have electrical power for only four hours a day. They are scared to venture out for fear of dying. Many of their loved ones have already been killed. Their lives and loved ones have literally been ripped to pieces by this war.

While things aren’t as bad here as they are in Iraq, I’m sure many homeless people in this nation can relate to the Iraqi people in at least one way. We have nothing left to lose except our lives.

We can also relate to the U.S. soldiers in that both groups want to go home – one from the battlefield and the other from the streets and shelters.

While people can become homeless for myriad reasons, some rightly blame their misfortunes on the same government responsible for demolishing Iraq.

While the homeless population of this nation shares in the sorrows of the Iraqis and

Homestead Act of 1860.

People released from prison or mental health and alcohol treatment centers will be guaranteed admission to halfway houses with employment, case management and counseling services. This will end the established practice of releasing them to the streets without support, setting them up for failure.

I will come up with a 21st-century version of President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps programs. My inspiration for this approach comes from the late President Ronald Reagan, who said, “I think the best possible social program is a job.”

The minimum wage will henceforth be replaced by a universal living wage. At that time, I will make my salary the living wage.

Health insurance will be free or low-cost if you are homeless or low-income and expensive if you happen to be rich.

empathizes with them, we do have certain advantages over them. We have an easier time getting to the U.S. Capitol to make our voices heard.

Also, while we tend to live rather ascetic lifestyles, we are not lacking in the most basic necessities such as food, clothing Eric Sheptock or shelter – however tasteless, out-of-style, or dilapidated they may be. We can actually protest against our government while it finances our meager existence.

Such was the thinking that brought me to Washington, D.C. I hitchhiked up the coast from Gainesville, Fla., over the course of 25 days. I came here because it bothered me to see where the president was misleading the nation.

I hated the fact that he’d begun this war based on lies. I’d heard about the Downing Street Memo, a document which proved

For homeless and low-income people with disabilities, I declare these citizens are entitled to treatment on demand for mental health and substance abuse issues.

State and federal voting laws will be liberalized, making it easier for homeless and low-income people to vote. No photo ID or mailing address may be required.

As commander in chief, I make a commitment that no persons who serve their country in our armed forces shall be allowed to become homeless.

Victims of domestic violence, a leading cause of homelessness among women, will no longer be forced to flee their homes and wind up on the streets or in shelters. Rather, the victims will stay put and the batterers will be sent to jail or to shelters designed for them.

Eliminating Root Causes I will ask Congress to adopt the right to housing and health care for all our citizens, even if they cannot afford it, like in many other countries around the world.

I will make two- or four-year college education free to young people in exchange for national service. An education is the best way to break out of poverty.

I will build a “Museum on Poverty” on the Mall in the nation’s capital to remind Americans how poverty remained unchecked in the last century and for the first 10 years of this new one.

Poverty will be something of our past, not of the present, or our future.

The inspiration for this pledge to end poverty in 21st-century America comes from Upton Sinclair’s “I, Governor of California and How I Ended Poverty, A True Story of the Future, 1934.” Part I of this story was published in June 2007.

Michael Stoops is the acting executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition for the Homeless.

Bush had made the cause for war long before U.N. inspectors ever entered Iraq.

I didn’t know what I’d do when I got here, but I knew D.C. had food and shelter for me and that I wanted to make myself useful. So I arrived here on July 31, 2005, and I’ve been speaking out against Bush ever since.

I’ve even written a song entitled “Bush Has Gotta Go” that I sing almost every Saturday in front of the White House and sang on WPFW 89.3 in March. In addition to protesting against the Bush regime, I’ve rallied for the cause of the homeless. However, Bushbashing is my first love.

It behooves any unemployed homeless person to become an activist. Some may rally for the cause of the homeless. Some may protest against the government. Some may find a cause that helps some larger sector of society than the homeless population.

Every able-bodied, able-minded homeless person should either be getting his or her life together or getting involved in the workings of society to help create one that they want.

The “rock bottom” metaphor is relative to where you live. Truth be told, even the homeless of this nation are wealthy when compared to the poor of some other nations.

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

EDITORIALS 13

Ten-YEAR SHAMS By Paul Boden

Government Fixation Ignores Big Picture on Housing

T

he federal government’s fixation on local 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness – funded by HUD through McKinney-Vento “urgent relief ” dollars – has many homeless people, service providers and housing developers shaking their heads in dismay.

The trick is to go from talking, meeting and writing plans to end “chronic” homelessness to actually funding the housing, health care, education and employment programs all poor people need to avoid or escape homelessness.

This is where the headshaking comes in: the Bush administration has invested millions of tax dollars over the last six years rallying business and government leaders across the country to spend local funds on writing community plans to end “chronic” homelessness in 10 years.

Meanwhile, the very federal programs communities desperately need to end homelessness receive less and less funding, a trend that started 25 years ago.

Before Rep. Stewart B. McKinney (R-Conn.) passed away – and a reluctant President Reagan signed his bill – the McKinney-Vento Act of 1987 was originally called the “Urgent Relief for the Homeless Act.” Twenty years later, McKinney homeless assistance funding is a miniscule allocation of approximately $1.4 billion. I say “miniscule” because, since 1979, funding for affordable housing programs has been reduced by $52 billion (in 2004 dollars).

Before massive homelessness re-emerged in the U.S. in the early 1980s, poor people faced many of the same obstacles homeless people face today. But they had one thing we don’t have today: housing.

Not always the best housing, certainly – often not very nice housing – but they had housing, nonetheless. When the Reagan administration changed the federal government’s role in supporting housing opportunities, large numbers of people living in the not-very-nice housing found them-

“Homelessness is not an intractable social phenomenon.

It is not created by dysfunctional individuals. Homelessness is the result of dysfunctional social policy and funding priorities. ” – Paul Boden selves with no housing at all. They became “the homeless.”

Twenty-five years later, the Bush administration has chosen to focus on a subsection of “the homeless” that it calls “chronic.” From poor to homeless to chronically homeless, who will they want us to write 10-year plans on next? The left-handed, blue-eyed homeless?

With more than 480 five-year local Continuum of Care plans initiated by the Clinton administration and more than 300 (and growing) 10-year plans initiated by the Bush administration, it’s long past time for HUD to stop studying us and take a good long hard look in the mirror.

We’ll even save them the money of doing another study.

Here are the facts: In 1978, before the homelessness epidemic, HUD’s budget was $83 billion. In 2006, HUD’s budget had dropped to $29 billion.

Since 1996, HUD funding for new public housing has been ZERO, while over 100,000 public housing units have been lost to demolition, sale or other removal in that same period.

Hello,

It Could Happen to Me Hello Street Sense staff and vendors,

I am a regular reader of Street Sense, and I’d just like to send a shout out to one of your vendors, David Harris. His poem “Wild and Precious Life” in the last issue of Street Sense was amazing. It was truly beautiful and moving, and it will stand out in my mind for many days to come. I hope to read more of his poetry in future issues.

From a girl in a cubicle, Taylor M. McLean

Misconceptions About the Homeless Dear Editor, I recently bought Street Sense for the first time. I try to be in tune with poverty issues so I find this newspaper very interesting. It also feels good to help poor people. I am learning that there are many misconceptions about homeless people and I wish they had more voice to express their own perspectives. That is why I am grateful to Street Sense staff for helping to empower the homeless.

I was wondering, how easy is it for a homeless person to get access to the Internet and e-mail regularly? The Internet can be very empowering. It can help many homeless to transform their creativity into cash by blogging, among other things.

Regards Alex

Courtesy of Street Roots, Portland, Ore. © Street News Service: www.street-papers.org

Slavery, from page 10

What our REaders are Saying...

From a Girl in a Cubicle

Between 1993 and 2003, 1.2 million unsubsidized affordable housing units disappeared.

In 2005, HUD affordable housing outlays were only $31 billion while federal homeowner subsidies totaled more than $122 billion – a difference of more than $91 billion.

The Bush administration is proposing eliminating USDA Section 515 funding for rural communities altogether. Up until 1985, this vital housing development program produced a yearly average of 31,000 new units of affordable housing a year.

Homelessness is not an intractable social phenomenon.

It is not created by dysfunctional individuals. Homelessness is the result of dysfunctional social policy and funding priorities.

Before the Great Depression, we were told the market would take care of itself but the rest of us have to take care of ourselves. After the market crash, we as a nation put in place safety nets for the poorest among us so that they wouldn’t fall when the market failed.

Under the Reagan administration, the government’s role was to subsidize the market rather than subsidizing places for poor people to live. The McKinney-Vento Act provided urgent relief from policy decisions that assumed the market would “take care of itself.”

If the federal government invested in housing through community development programs, HUD and the USDA, we wouldn’t need “urgent relief.”

We’d have housing.

Paul Boden is executive director of the Western Regional Advocacy Network, a network of grassroots homeless organizations on the West Coast, including the newspapers Street Roots, Real Change, Street Sheet and Street Spirit.

I purchased a Street Sense newspaper last week from Ivory Wilson. Mr. Wilson mentioned that he was a contributing writer. I was interested and quickly purchased the paper. I still have the paper and I’ve been very satisfied reading all the refreshing articles, poems, news and stories about the lives of the vendors and staff.

I have never been homeless, although I live paycheck to paycheck and understand it could happen to me. Please continue the great work you are doing and bringing the awareness of various issues to the public.

I work in Southwest D.C. and would like to commend your staff and vendor Ivory Wilson.

From, Cornelius “Gino” Wilson Waldorf, MD P.S. I’m also a DJ and would be willing to donate my services to Street Sense for a future event at no charge.

Send letters to editor@streetsense.org or to Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20005

vided by internal doors and with air vents above that allowed little light so that “prisoners should be housed in near darkness as if they were underground or in the hold of a ship.”

“The carefully laid brick floor included gutters, such as might be found in animal pens, for flushing them clean,” St. Clair adds.

He quotes an official telling a British Parliamentary panel that “they (the slaves) were chained day and night and drove down to sea twice a day to be washed.”

Slaves who were castle workers were spared the horrific sea voyage across the Atlantic to the New World in tightlypacked ships rife with disease. Some slaves worked inside the castle as cleaners and servants, while others did outside work. They were paid not in cash but in rations of tobacco, brandy, clothes and occasional gratuities.

“The white bricklayers could only endure five hours in the heat; the black slave bricklayers worked seven,” the author writes.

In many cases, the castle’s British staff had casual sexual relations with local women who were not slaves. Sometimes they grew close and there were marriages, in accordance with local African convention. In these cases, the wife was often paid a periodic stipend; in some cases, the husband would name their children in his will.

Long after the castle was abandoned, archaeologists found the bones of animals and birds, the remains of the food the slaves were fed, in “holes” where the slaves lived.

They also found decorative beads for waists, necks and wrists, St. Clair writes.

“That is all that remained in Africa of the lives of those who had worn them but had lost them, along with their family, friends, language, beliefs, customs, ancestors and name, on their way to the Americas.”

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

14 STREET SENSE NEWS

VendorNotes

By Laura Thompson Osuri And look for the Homeless USA Cup to come to D.C. in May 2008, sponsored by Street Sense and the National Coalition for the Homeless!

PHILLIP RUZYCKI

Goodbye, Daniel, the Superstar Intern Daniel Johnson, an intern with Street Sense since midMay, will leave us on August 3. Everyone at Street Sense is sad to see him go. Daniel has been a vital asset to Street Sense and is one of the main reasons I was able to keep my sanity during the transition between our old editor suddenly leaving and the new editor Koki Smith joining a month later. Since that transition time, he has continued to shine, writing a halfdozen quality stories, attending several last-minute press conferences and helping lay out half the issue for the past five issues. And during his last week, he plans to create several new videos for a Street Sense YouTube site he created.

Daniel will be sorely missed here at Street Sense, but with two new interns starting in the fall, hopefully we can fill at least part of his shoes. We wish him all the best when he goes back to Abilene Christian University and want him to know he will not be forgotten.

Get Twice as Much Street Sense Each Month Delivered Right to Your Door!

Do you want to continue to support Street Sense throughout the year?

Order a subscription today.

Not only will you receive 24 issues packed with all our latest news, poetry and photography, you will also help raise awareness about poverty in the D.C. area. ___ YES! I want to subscribe to Street Sense for just $40 a year for 24 issues. ___ YES! I want to give half of the cost of a subscription to my favorite vendor: ____________ Name: __________________________________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________________________________ City: _____________________________________ State:_______________ Zip: ______________ Phone: ___________________________________ E-mail: _______________________________ Please make checks payable to Street Sense.

Mail to: Street Sense, 1317 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20005.

Thanks for your support!

DAVID BENASSI/STREET SENSE

D.C. Street Soccer Hits the Turf Back in mid-April, Street Sense helped organize and sponsor a homeless street soccer team for Washington. Street Soccer is played on a walled field the size of a tennis court with small goals and four players to a side.

After three months of solid practice, four of the five regular members of the team put their skills to the test during a mini-tournament in Charlotte, N.C., at the end of July. Though the competition was stiff, goalie Maurice King (of the Maurice Speaks column) and field players Michael Knight, Eric Olander and Larry Hudson put on a great show. They also really improved their skills over the course of three days.

The D.C. team even got to kick the ball around with the U.S. National Street Soccer Team in Charlotte and on the National Mall in D.C. a week earlier. They also scrimmaged with the coaches and organizers from D.C., including myself, Phillip Ruzycki, Megan Hustings, Aaron Hannah and Brad Terry.

The U.S. national street soccer team is now headed to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the Homeless World Cup, where they hope to do much better than their 46th out of 48 ranking last year. For more information on the Homeless World Cup, see the article on page 8.

The D.C. team plans to continue practice throughout the winter and is looking for an indoor league to join and/or an indoor space to practice. If you have space or a league to recommend, or if you are interested in joining the team and are homeless or formerly homeless, please contact Laura at 202347-2006 or laura@streetsense.org.

Conrad in the News Conrad Cheek Jr., one of the top Street Sense vendors and a fixture at Eastern Market, was featured in The Hill newspaper on Wednesday, July 25. The article highlighted his unique sales pitch and said he “hawks Street Sense newspapers on Pennsylvania Avenue sidewalks with unrivaled fervor.” And while the article speaks quite favorably of Conrad, it does point out one little-known flaw: he barely ever reads Street Sense.

To read the article, go to www.thehill.com and search for “Conrad Cheek.”

Readers Reporting Illegal Vendors I just wanted to thank readers for e-mailing and calling to report people who are selling Street Sense without badges or who are selling old issues of the paper. We have gotten three reports in the past few weeks, and, unfortunately, most of these reports are of people who are not vendors but who somehow got hold of old issues and tried to sell them for a quick buck.

So this is just a reminder to NEVER buy a paper from a vendor without a Street Sense badge. Please also make sure to check the date of the paper you buy.

If a badged vendor does sell you an old issue, or you see a person selling Street Sense without a badge, please report them to us immediately at info@streetsense.org or (202) 347-2006.

INTERN INSIGHT By Daniel Johnson

More Than a Summer Job

F

or two months, my workdays began with the stoic Street Sense vendor Charles Nelson as I rose from the D.C. Metro Center Station escalator.

With half-opened eyes and a folded Street Sense newspaper in his right hand, Charles stood silently at the 13th Street exit while daily hordes of downtown workers walked past him.

He doesn’t say much and is easy to miss, but every morning Charles is there with a handful of papers, a Street Sense badge and a tired face.

Had it not been for my internship at Street Sense this summer, I probably would not have noticed Charles.

I would have walked by with the crowd, never knowing what Street Sense was or who was behind the small newspaper. And I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to witness the power this small newspaper has to turn a broken man or woman on the streets into someone with hope.

While other students in my internship program, Georgetown University’s Institute on Political Journalism, may be able to brag about covering Capitol Hill, interviewing politicians and landing front page bylines, I can tell my friends back home about the homeless men and women like Charles I met and will never forget.

At Street Sense, I interviewed panhandlers, hounded the mayor’s office with questions about the 10-year plan to end homelessness and covered presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) speech on how he planned to battle urban poverty.

But the biggest achievement I have made this summer is learning that homelessness is a real problem in this country. Thanks to the readers, writers and producers of Street Sense, it is a problem that is no longer overlooked by the media.

Every stereotype I ever had about homeless people, homelessness and poverty was thrown out the window after my work at Street Sense. And although the past two months sped by, a part of me feels like I’ll always belong at Street Sense.

I cannot thank Executive Director Laura Thompson Osuri and Editor Koki Smith enough for having faith in me and giving me the opportunity to use my skills to help Street Sense.

I will miss our small office. When I come back to visit, I hope I’ll be greeted by an old friend at the top of the Metro Center exit, selling the latest edition of Street Sense.

FEATURES 15 SERVICE PROVIDERS & VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

Community Service Index WASHINGTON, D.C. SHELTER Calvary Women’s Services 928 5th Street, NW (202) 783-6651 www.calvaryservices.org Central Union Mission (Men) 1350 R Street, NW (202) 745-7118 www.missiondc.org CCNV (Men and Women) 425 2nd Street, NW (202) 393-1909 users.erols.com/ccnv/ Community of Hope (Family) 1413 Girard Street, NW (202) 232-7356 www.communityofhopedc.org DC Village (Family) 2-A DC Village Lane, SW (202) 561-8090 www.dccfh.org/DCVillage.html Franklin School (Men) 13th and K streets, NW (202) 638-7424 Gospel Rescue Ministries (Men) 810 5th Street, NW (202) 842-1731 www.grm.org John Young Center (Women) 117 D Street, NW (202) 639-8469 http://www.ccs-dc.org/find/services/ La Casa Bilingual Shelter (Men) 1436 Irving Street, NW (202) 673-3592 N Street Village (Women) 1333 N Street, NW (202) 939-2060 www.nstreetvillage.org 801 East, St. Elizabeth Hospital (Men) 2700 MLK Avenue, SE (202) 561-4014 New York Ave Shelter (Men) 1355-57 New York Avenue, NE (202) 832-2359 Open Door Shelter (Women) 425 Mitch Snyder Place, NW (202) 639-8093

FOOD Charlie’s Place 1830 Connecticut Avenue, NW (202) 232-3066 www.stmargaretsdc.org/charliesplace Church of the Pilgrims 2201 P Street, NW (202) 387-6612 www.churchofthepilgrims.org Dinner Program for Homeless Women AND the “9:30 Club” Breakfast 309 E Street, NW (202) 737-9311 www.dphw.org Father McKenna Center 19 Eye Street, NW (202) 842-1112

Food and Friends 219 Riggs Road, NE (202) 269-2277 www.foodandfriends.org Miriam’s Kitchen 2401 Virginia Avenue, NW (202) 452-8926 www.miriamskitchen.org The Welcome Table Church of the Epiphany 1317 G Street, NW (202) 347-2635 http://www.epiphanydc.org/ministry/ welcometbl.htm

MEDICAL RESOURCES Christ House 1717 Columbia Road, NW (202) 328-1100 www.christhouse.org Unity Health Care, Inc. 3020 14th Street, NW (202) 745-4300 www.unityhealthcare.org Whitman-Walker Clinic 1701 14th Street, NW (202) 797-3500 www.wwc.org

OUTREACH CENTERS Bread for the City 1525 Seventh Street, NW (202) 265-2400 AND 1640 Good Hope Road, SE (202) 561-8587 www.breadforthecity.org food pantry, clothing, legal and social services, medical clinic Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW (202) 364-1419 www.cchfp.org housing, medical and psych care, substance abuse and job counseling Bethany Women’s Center 1333 N Street, NW (202) 939-2060 http://www.nstreetvillage.org meals, hygiene, laundry, social activities, substance abuse treatment Green Door (202) 464-9200 1221 Taylor Street NW www.greendoor.org housing, job training, supportive mental health services Friendship House 619 D Street, SE (202) 675-9050 www.friendshiphouse.net counseling and mentoring, education, youth services, clothing Georgetown Ministry Center 1041 Wisconsin Avenue, NW (202) 338-8301 www.georgetownministrycenter.org laundry, counseling, psych care Martha’s Table 2114 14th Street, NW (202) 328-6608

Shelter Hotline: 1-800-535-7252

www.marthastable.org dinner, education, recreation, clothing, child and family services Rachel’s Women’s Center 1222 11th Street, NW (202) 682-1005 http://www.ccdsd.org/howorwc.php hygiene, laundry, lunch, phone and mail, clothing, social activities Sasha Bruce Youthwork 741 8th Street, SE (202) 675-9340 www.sashabruce.org counseling, housing, family services So Others Might Eat (SOME) 71 “O” Street, NW (202) 797-8806 www.some.org lunch, medical and dental, job and housing counseling

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Bright Beginnings Inc. 128 M Street NW, Suite 150 (202) 842-9090 www.brightbeginningsinc.org Child care, family services Catholic Community Services of D.C. 924 G Street, NW (202) 772-4300 www.ccs-dc.org umbrella for a variety of services D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 1234 Massachusetts Avenue, NW (202) 347-8870 www.dccfh.org housing, substance abuse treatment, employment assistance Community Family Life Services 305 E Street, NW (202) 347-0511 www.cflsdc.org housing, job and substance abuse counseling, clothes closet Foundry Methodist Church 1500 16th Street, NW (202) 332-4010 www.foundryumc.org ESL, lunch, clothing, IDs Hermano Pedro Day Center 3211 Sacred Heart Way, NW (202) 332-2874 http://www.ccs-dc.org/find/services/ meals, hygiene, laundry, clothing Jobs Have Priority, Inc. 1526 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE (202) 544-9026 www.jobshavepriority.org training and employment Jubilee Jobs 1640 Columbia Road, NW (202) 667-8970 www.jubileejobs.org job preparation and placement National Coalition for the Homeless 2201 P Street, NW (202) 462-4822 www.nationalhomeless.org activists, speakers bureau available Samaritan Ministry 1345 U Street, SE , AND

1516 Hamilton Street, NW (202) 889-7702 www.samaritanministry.org HIV support, employment, drug/alcohol addiction, healthcare St. Luke’s Episcopal Church 1514 15th Street, NW (202) 667-4394 http://stlukesdc.edow.org food, counseling St. Matthew’s Cathedral 1725 Rhode Island Avenue, NW (202) 347-3215 ext. 552 breakfast, clothing, hygiene Travelers Aid, Union Station 50 Massachusetts Avenue, NE (202) 371-1937 www.travelersaid.org/ta/dc.html national emergency travel assistance Wash. Legal Clinic for the Homeless 1200 U Street, NW (202) 328-5500 www.legalclinic.org legal services

MARYLAND SHELTER Comm. Ministry of Montgomery Co. 114 W. Montgomery Avenue, Rockville (301) 762-8682 www.communityministrymc.org

Mission of Love 6180 Old Central Avenue Capitol Heights (301)333-4440 www.molinc.org life skills classes, clothing, housewares Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless 600-B East Gude Drive, Rockville (301) 217-0314 www.mcch.net emergency shelter, transitional housing, and supportiveservices

VIRGINIA SHELTER Alexandria Community Shelter 2355 B Mill Road, Alexandria (703) 838-4239 Carpenter’s Shelter 930 N. Henry Street, Alexandria (703) 548-7500 www.carpentersshelter.org Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless 3103 Ninth Road North, Arlington (703) 525-7177 www.aachhomeless.org

FOOD

The Samaritan Group P.O. Box 934, Chestertown (443) 480-3564

Alive, Inc. 2723 King Street, Alexandria (703) 836-2723 www.alive-inc.org

Warm Night Shelter 311 68th Place, Seat Pleasant (301) 499-2319 www.cmpgc.org

Our Daily Bread 10777 Main Street, Ste. 320, Fairfax (703) 273-8829 www.our-daily-bread.org

FOOD

MEDICAL RESOURCES

Bethesda Cares 7728 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda (301) 907-9244 www.bethesdacares.com

Arlington Free Clinic 3833 N Fairfax Drive, #400, Arlington (703) 979-1400 www.arlingtonfreeclinic.org

Community Place Café 311 68th Place, Seat Pleasant (301) 499-2319 www.cmpgc.org

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Manna Food Center 614-618 Lofstrand Lane, Rockville (301) 424-1130 www.mannafood.org

MEDICAL RESOURCES Community Clinic, Inc. 8210 Colonial Lane, Silver Spring (301) 585-1250 www.cciweb.org Mobile Medical Care, Inc. 9309 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda (301) 493-2400 www.mobilemedicalcare.org

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Catholic Community Services 12247 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring (301) 942-1790 www.css-dc.org shelter, substance abuse treatment, variety of other services

Abundant Life Christian Outreach, 5154 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria (703) 823-4100 www.anchor-of-hope.net food, clothing, youth development, and medicines David’s Place Day Shelter 930 North Henry Street, Alexandria (703) 548-7500 www.carpentersshelter.org laundry, shower, workshops, hypothermia shelter Legal Services of Northern Virginia 6066 Leesburg Pike, Ste. 500 (703) 778-6800 www.lsnv.org civil legal services Samaritan Ministry 2924 Columbia Pike, Arlington (703) 271-0938 www.samaritanministry.com social services, employment services, HIV/AIDS services

Street Sense . August 1 - 14, 2007

VENDOR PROFILE

PHOTO FINISH

Something Soccer in the State of Denmark

By Daniel Johnson

StreetFact Rep. Stewart McKinney (R-Conn.), sponsor of the first federal homeless assistance law, died of AIDSrelated pneumonia after sleeping outside to publicize the plight of the homeless. (See page 1) Source: H.R. 561, passed by the U.s. house of representatives on july 23, 2007

Moyo Onibuje was born in London, England, on Nov. 11, 1964. Moyo’s family moved to Nigeria when he was 5 years old. Moyo returned to London after graduating from high school in Nigeria and attended a number of universities, eventually getting a bachelor’s degree in decision support systems and computer science.

Moyo came to America and taught computer classes and computer science at Holton-Arms, a prestigious all-girls school in Bethesda, Md. Moyo said he also spent time teaching at Landon School, the brother school of Holton-Arms in Bethesda.

While teaching, Moyo said he moved in with a friend who was using drugs and after a while became addicted to cocaine and alcohol. Moyo was robbed while staying with his friend and lost all his possessions, including his passport and other forms of identification. Without a place to stay, money or identification, Moyo said he stayed in a shelter and eventually lived on the streets for five years.

“I was what you would call a man with no name,” Moyo said. “I had nothing to prove who I was.”

Depressed, Moyo said he drank and used drugs regularly, and got a chance to change his life after being arrested for possession of crack cocaine. The District government agreed to drop the charges if he entered a drug rehabilitation course. Moyo has been clean for six months and said he will graduate from the course in December.

Although he is currently in transitional housing, Moyo sells Street Sense to make extra money while trying to get his life back together.

“That’s just my life right now but things are looking better for me,” Moyo said. “I want to go back into teaching and anything that involves computers and I need help.”

Daniel Johnson/street Sense

Phillip Ruzycki

The U.S. national street soccer team, shown here after winning a tournament in North Carolina, competes for the Homeless World Cup title in Copenhagen, Denmark, in early August. Story on page 8.

Moyo Onibuje

How did you become homeless?

A combination of drugs and alcohol addiction and a robbery that took all of my possessions and forms of identification.

Why do you sell Street Sense?

First of all, because I believe in the issues Street Sense stands for, bringing information to the people about the causes and effects of homelessness. Second, to get donations and make some money.

Favorite music?

I like Fela Kuti, which is Afrobeat and African high life music, and jazz.

Favorite movie?

August 1 - 14, 2007 • Volume 4 • Issue 16

“The Last King of Scotland.”

Favorite food?

Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 Mail To:

Interested in a subscription? Go to page 14 for more information.

Chinese food

Favorite Book?

An Introduction to Database Systems by C.J. Date, and the Koran.

Moyo reminds customers to only buy from badged vendors and not to give to those panhandling with one paper.