08 04 2021

VOL. 18 ISSUE 28

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The Cover Jessica Crawford embraces her youngest daughter in a room that she has mostly packed up because she doesn’t know if she will be evicted.

PHOTO BY WILL SCHICK

will@streetsensemedia.org

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

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

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

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EVENTS

// 3

NEWS IN BRIEF

Encampment cleanup at bus shelter sparks debate over public space

Truck moves into place for an encampment cleanup.

PHOTO BY SARAH WATSON

PORTRAITS BY TRACIE CHING FOR NIA TERO AND AMPLIFIER

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples Monday, Aug. 9 More information about this international day of observation: www.un.org/en/observances/indigenous-day.

“Thriving Peoples, Thriving Places,” the second collaboration between Indigenous-focused nonprofit Nia Tero and design lab Amplifier, will launch on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The goal of the project is to at once celebrate Indigenous women as stewards of biodiversity across Earth and to prompt action amongst an engaged global audience. The global exhibit includes six original portraits commissioned from Washington DC-based artist and illustrator Tracie Ching and a video to that will debut on social media that day. Visit www.niatero.org or follow @NiaTero and #ThrivingPeoplesThrivingPlaces on this day for more information.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 4

Youth rally to urge Congress to pass the “American Jobs Plan” 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Third Street SW between Madison Dr. and Jefferson Dr. Youth activists of all ages will call on Congress to support 100% clean, renewable energy and the rest of President Joe Biden’s historic American Jobs Plan as a justice issue. MORE INFO: tinyurl.com/youth-jobs-rally-dc

UPDATES ONLINE AT ICH.DC.GOV

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 25 #

D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness Meetings

Sign languages from around the globe

Executive Committee Aug. 10, 1:30 pm - 3 pm // TBD WebEx

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Online

Strategic Planning Committee Aug. 24, 2:30 pm - 4 pm // TBD WebEx

In this exciting virtual event, connect with signers from Brazil, Berlin, and Washington D.C. to learn how to sign songs in different languages.

***For call-in information, as well as meeting info for unlisted working groups, contact: ich.dmhhs@dc.gov

MORE INFO: https://tinyurl.com/ sign-language-learning

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A custom plugin for our site must be re-designed or replaced in order to maintain the current functionality of our database in a way that integrates fully with the Gutenberg dashboard for frontend users. Additionally, we want to eliminate the need for a third-party service we use to implement HTTPS URLs site-wide — instead implementing this standard directly in our database. We also need to investigate a malware/spam issue causing pop-ups on our mobile site. Lastly, we seek assistance to set up a staging site for testing new updates and training for staff on how and when to use it.

When tweets went back and forth about an encampment at the 7th and P St NW Metrobus stop, community members joined the growing debate about who has a right to public spaces.

A cleanup of the area followed, with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services (DMHHS) coordinating a full cleanup of an encampment near the intersection on July 22nd.

A tent was located inside the Shaw bus shelter, with blankets partitioning it into a private sleeping area. In a nearby empty lot, more belongings and office chairs were stored underneath a tarp. The site was around the corner from a local porta-potty.

The cleanup took place at 10 a.m., as scheduled, but the Department of Human Services (DHS) and city workers arrived at the site at 8:30. One resident was present and identified items for trash before leaving the area.

The encampment cleanup followed tweets complaining that the 7th and P St NW bus stop encampment prevented travelers from sitting under the bus shelter. In a June 10 post, one twitter user criticized the encampment for taking over the bus shelter while others defended the use of public space by people experiencing homelessness.

“This is disgusting and dangerous. Demand homes and services, not complaint based policing!,” Remora House D.C., a mutual aid collective that gathers supplies for people experiencing homelessness, wrote in a reply to the original tweet.

According to a DMHHS spokesperson, the bus stop encampment was removed because the resident was completely blocking public use of the stop. “After many engagement attempts to try to get them to condense or relocate so everyone had access to the bus stop, we had to schedule an engagement cleanup,” the spokesperson wrote.

Full encampment cleanups resumed this summer after most were downgraded to “trash-only” during the height of the pandemic, to avoid displacing people in line with CDC recommendations.

Following the removal of the encampment, DMHHS workers found another site in the neighborhood with belongings stored in shopping carts and trash. But the area was outside of the two signs posted by DHS at the bus shelter and nearby lot — which only announced a cleanup within 200 feet of the notice — so city officials left the site untouched. DMHHS told Street Sense Media there are no plans for another cleanup at this location.

The next encampment cleanup is scheduled for Aug. 5 at the 25th and Virginia Ave NW encampment.

—Sarah Watson, Editorial Intern

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NEWS

An empty freeway intersection two days before Earth Day, after Los Angeles’ stay-at-home order caused a drop in pollution, as the global outbreak of COVID-19 continued, April 20, 2020. PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCY NICHOLSON / REUTERS

US cities offer displaced Black families the 'right to return'

BY CAREY L. BIRON Reuters

The way Robbie Jones sees it, the big infrastructure projects that reworked the face of her California hometown a half-century ago included a pointed message for minority communities.

During the 1950s and 1960s, whole neighborhoods in Santa Monica were forced to move to make way for what were called urban renewal projects, including a civic center and freeway.

“That whole community, predominantly African American residents, were uprooted, and their homes later ... burned to the ground,” the 63-year-old activist and historian said by phone.

“To me, that was sending a message,” she said, referencing the history of racism across the United States that made Black families feel unwelcome or endangered in certain neighborhoods.

The Santa Monica projects displaced thousands of households, disproportionately affecting communities of color and often paying them too little to relocate in the city, according to a city report.

Now the city is taking steps to redress the generations of trauma that policy caused, approving a pilot project on July 13 aimed at helping those families or their descendants move back to the city by prioritizing them for affordable housing.

“This sets an example of what a community can do – not just talk about longstanding injustices but actually bring the displaced people back,” said Kevin McKeown, the former Santa Monica city council member who spearheaded the proposal.

“When people say they live in an ‘exclusive’ neighborhood, do they think of who has been excluded?” said McKeown, who retired in June.

Housing preference The Santa Monica report noted that hundreds of thousands of households were affected by urban renewal projects nationally in the 1950s and 1960s.

The city’s new pilot program will initially be open to 100 families, with applications set to open in the fall, officials said.

Approved applicants will be added to a preference list for affordable housing that the city oversees, said Natasha

Guest Kingscote, Santa Monica’s administrator.

“Santa Monica (is) a fairly wealthy city in a very large county, on the coast,” she said. “Our market-rate housing and rents are very high.”

Affordable housing demand constantly outstrips supply, requiring the city to maintain a wait list, Kingscote said.

The new category would be placed second on the list behind Santa Monica residents who have lost homes due to various reasons such as natural disaster or closure of a mobile home park.

Currently, there are about 4,000 people on the wait list, Kingscote said, and annually the city is able to offer about half that number of units to people.

While the city does not yet know how many families will apply to the new preference program, Kingscote and colleagues estimate that at least 2,500 families were affected by the two infrastructure projects.

“This housing displacement pilot doesn’t fix everything, but it’s one more tool in our toolkit of addressing racial justice issues in our community,” she said.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development did not respond to a request for comment.

Limited options The approach Santa Monica is taking, sometimes called a “right to return”, has been garnering increased attention in recent years.

A number of other U.S. cities are looking into similar policies — including Austin, Texas and Berkeley, California — and a few have programs in place.

Portland, Oregon was likely the first when it created a program in 2014 to address historical displacement that affected over 10,000 African American households, said Steve Messinetti, chief executive of Habitat for Humanity Portland Region, a nonprofit.

The program, backed by millions of dollars, created a “preference policy” that gave priority to families who experienced historical displacement, helping them get into rental units or buy homes in certain parts of the city, he said.

It was sparked by frustration among locals that new investment and development — focused on plans for a high-end grocery store — would not help Black residents or address the housing crisis they were facing, Messinetti recalled.

While he says the policy has been a “great success,”

he cautioned that the challenge now is figuring out how to expand the program from its current geographically restricted focus.

“The only option with these funds is to move to these (targeted) neighborhoods — you can’t buy a house in your own neighborhood,” he noted.

‘Black land back’ The new national discussion on racial inequity is also leading some local jurisdictions to address land-based historical wrongs on a smaller scale.

Los Angeles County officials, for instance, are preparing to return to descendants of the Bruce family tens of millions of dollars’ worth of beachfront property that had been used as a resort for African Americans.

The city council seized the land in 1924, purportedly to build a park.

Organizers have rallied around the effort as a roadmap for possible reparations in California and a major step toward a nationwide goal of “(attaining) Black Land Back with the hope of closing the generational wealth gap”, according to the Justice for Bruce’s Beach website.

In June, Asheville, North Carolina put an initial $2.1 million into a reparations package that authorities said was an attempt to make up for “an urban renewal program that destroyed multiple, successful black communities.”

While details on how the money will be spent have yet to be worked out, official documents show the city wants to use the new funding to help create intergenerational wealth through boosted access to housing, job creation, and more.

In Santa Monica, activist Jones has watched the discussion on the “right to return” with interest.

“There’s nothing wrong with looking back, to use that knowledge of the past to make positive change,” she said.

But while she welcomes the new program, she said the city’s “astronomical” housing prices are threatening to force Black families out all over again, saying even housing that is officially considered affordable is too expensive for many.

“My own son can’t afford to live here in Santa Monica,” she said. “I love this city, and I’d love for my friends who live here and need housing to have housing — and not have to move out.”."

Courtesy of Reuters / Thomson Reuters Foundation / INSP.ngo

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Unhoused Washingtonians need places to shower and do laundry. Could sanitation buses be the answer?

A

BY JARROD WARDWELL // jarrod.wardwell@streetsensemedia.org

lleyways used as bathrooms, portable toilets with piling waste, and mile-long walks with bags of soiled clothes are just a few of the unlivable and unsanitary conditions that individuals experiencing homelessness face in D.C. But in a recent push, a group of advisory neighborhood commissioners have presented a potential solution: mobile sanitation facilities.

The Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission passed a resolution in June, calling on the D.C. Council,plus the District Department of Human Services, to allocate $400,000 to fund mobile sanitation facilities. Showers, bathrooms and laundry machines would be installed and transported in buses circling the city for unhoused residents and others without access to proper sanitation. The proposal would lower a major hurdle for unhoused locals, many of whom currently walk a mile or more from their encampments to shower or do laundry at spots like churches and community centers just once or twice a week.

Commissioner Yannik Omictin, who introduced the ANC’s resolution to fund the mobile facilities, represents a homeless encampment near the corner of E and 20th streets, where he said the Downtown Day Services Center and the Georgetown Ministry Center serve as the nearest facilities for showers and laundry. He said “not too many” people living at the encampment make the trip to either site, located about one and 1.3 miles away, respectively.

“There is a need that is outstripping their capacity and a need that [the Downtown Day Services Center doesn’t] even see because they are literally a stationary building in Downtown when there are so many encampments throughout the city that are not near that facility at all,” Omictin said.

Trekking out to such a facility for sanitation has numerous drawbacks, advocates, and individuals experiencing homelessness say.

Among them: having to navigate the city, leave behind unprotected belongings, and potentially miss the case workers who stop by encampments. Omictin said adverse weather conditions, such as intense heat or rain, also will often render showers or laundry loads useless.

“If it’s hot as heck out there, and you walk all that way, by the time you come back after your shower’s done, you’re going to need a

new shower,” he said. “If you’re doing your laundry, and then it starts to rain and all of your stuff gets tarnished, you’re going to have to go right back to the laundry machine.”

Most sanitation sites in the city are open only during the day, when lines stream out from the buildings and cause delays, according to multiple commissioners and unhoused residents. Omictin said he was motivated to present the resolution for mobile sanitation facilities after walking through the E Street encampment in June and asking residents what they needed most. The most common answer? People wanted to shower.

With the ANC’s resolution under consideration by the D.C. government, Omictin said the majority of the funding for the mobile facilities would go toward staffing the vehicle and equipping the buses with showers and laundry machines. One person would manage each bus, maintaining its facilities and connecting unhoused residents with homelessness services such as registration for the Homeless Management Information System, which collects data on the unhoused community.

Omictin pointed to Portland, Oregon, as a city that’s already begun circulating buses with showers and laundry machines transported in separate vehicles. Former D.C. Councilmember Vincent Orange proposed legislation in 2016 that would initiate a program installing hot showers and toilets in city-owned buses and shuttle them through the city, but the Council delayed action on the legislation and never passed it.

DHS spokesperson Lauren Kinard said District officials had received the ANC’s resolution, which they submitted to the city’s public restroom facilities working group to review the commission’s proposals and provide recommendations to Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Kinard said DHS will hold “community engagements” this fall, where local residents can share their input on the matter “Community engagement is essential and a community-based participatory approach is a vital component of this work; and, this fall, there will be community engagements where public comment, ideas, and insight are welcome,” she said in an email.

Spokespeople for Councilmembers Brooke Pinto and Brianne Nadeau, who were sent copies of the resolution, did not return multiple requests for comment. Commissioner Alexandra Bailey, who serves on the ANC surrounding Logan Circle, said she’s drafting

Daniel Rosas rests his foot on the petal of a portable sink on E St. NW in Foggy Bottom, but the water supply is empty, leaving nothing for unhoused residents to sanitize their hands. PHOTO BY JARROD WARDWELL

a similar resolution to request District officials to raise funds for the mobile facilities.

Rather than venturing out to the nearest sanitation facility, some unhoused individuals in the District forgo the trip to the nearest sanitation facility, instead relying on portable toilets, alleyways and makeshift resources to use the bathroom near the tent. Conditions quickly turn unsanitary as a result, people within the homeless community said.

Sharon Brown, a resident at the encampment near the Watergate Complex, said she can afford to take the Metrobus to the Downtown Day Services Center, where she does laundry once a week and showers twice a week. She currently uses a cart to carry all of her clothes, previously hauling a backpack, purse and laundry bag to the center.

“Before I had a cart, I was lugging it,” Brown said. “I had my backpack on my back, my purse on my shoulder and my big laundry bag. I’d have a laundry bag stuffed with my dirty clothes.”

Brown said unhoused residents at the downtown facility typically stay in the building for as long as possible before departing, but because of COVID-19 capacity restrictions, many others are left waiting for entry outside in the heat until someone else exits the building. When Brown was using the center last month, “a mass of people” were standing in line under the midday sun.

She said mobile showers and laundry facilities would eliminate some of the common struggles with delays and physical transportation if unhoused residents could shower right outside their tents. Locals would also appreciate mobile bathrooms, Brown suggested, since many community members either use the portable toilet at the encampment or the bathroom at the local library about four blocks away.

Brown said the encampment’s portable toilet once filled up with waste so high that it became difficult to sit down and use the

bathroom. She said she called the toilet company four days in a row until someone came to service the facility.

“The last call I made, I said, ‘Listen I’m really sorry, I don’t mean to complain,’ but I said ‘We cannot get anymore poop in this porta potty. You can’t sit on it, that’s how high the poop is.’ And I said ‘It’s not very sanitary.’”

Daniel Rosas, a 71-year old from Cleveland Park who lived in the E Street encampment earlier this year, said unhoused residents there would work with their surroundings to shower or use the bathroom instead of walking to Downtown or Georgetown. Rosas said he would wear a swimsuit, bring a bucket of water and step out into the rain to take his showers; another man, he said, would use a hose located near the encampment.

Rosas said he would also choose to urinate in a cup and defecate in a newspaper to avoid using the single portable toilet that would be shared between the more than 20 residents at the encampment. Others often use alleyways as bathrooms instead of the toilets, he said.

“Two or three times that I went just to pee or to check on the bathroom it was always busy,” Rosas said. “I’m not going to make them go out, but some of the people are waiting.”

Recounting one moment that exhibited the lack of privacy that unhoused individuals receive, Rosas said he was once filmed by two men cleaning himself while partially exposed behind a pair of benches in the city.

Rosas said he wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing a mobile shower and laundry space because of health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. City officials, he said, should drop off more portable toilets to split between residents at the encampment.

“They need more bathrooms, and now they have more people here,” Rosas said. “I mean, you have to do what you have to do to survive.”

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NEWS

PEP-V is set to conclude next month, but advocates are fighting to make the program permanent

BY SARAH WATSON AND CLAUDIA LEVENS Editorial Interns

D.

C.’s program to offer hotel rooms to unhoused people who are exceptionally vulnerable to COVID-19, in place of congregate shelters, is scheduled to end Sept. 30 when its federal funding runs out. Several councilmembers, however, have joined advocates in calls for the Pandemic Emergency Protection for Medically Vulnerable Individuals Program (PEP-V) to become permanent.

Introduced on March 17, 2020, PEP-V offers housing for immuno-compromised individuals who are at a higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Those accepted to the program are eligible for permanent supportive housing and were originally allowed to shelter in PEP-V hotels indefinitely until transferred into that housing.

According to the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS), 564 residents remained dispersed across the four hotels as of July 27. Now that the program has an end date, individuals experiencing homelessness without housing plans will have to return to congregate shelters or live outdoors.

Homeless advocates, however, are challenging the program’s end, arguing that the city should use available funding to continue housing for medically vulnerable individuals both while COVID-19 remains a danger and as a permanent resource within the city’s homeless services system.

PEP-V kept people alive during COVID-19 Amber Harding, a staff attorney for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, is one advocate calling for the PEP-V program to remain a resource for immuno-compromised individuals past September. She told Street Sense Media that PEP-V has been essential for keeping people alive who are experiencing homelessness while COVID-19 spread through congregate living shelters.

“We are advocating a lot harder to extend the program past September to at least allow people to try and stay longer and not go to congregate shelters,” Harding said. “It’s been critical for keeping people alive.”

DHS agrees with PEP-V’s effectiveness. The program, however, was always intentioned as emergency relief rather than a permanent program. “Our main objective is to ensure that residents in PEP-V sites and those referred to this program are connected to the vaccine and the services they are eligible for in the homeless services continuum,” a DHS spokesperson wrote.

In February, PEP-V was able to house 652 residents with another 555 eligible people on the waiting list that week, according to D.C. the Department of Human Services (DHS).

Two months later, the program expanded to four hotels due to demand for housing, increasing the number of residents served to over 800. When the expansion was announced, the city also said the waitlist, which had grown to 650 people seeking medical housing, would be capped. The capped waitlist

The number of people staying in PEP-V non-congregate shelter rooms from April 2020 through July 2021.

CHART AND DATA COURTESY OF THE D.C. DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES ARCGIS STORYMAP.

was supposed to help the program end gradually, but hundreds of residents still need to be moved by the fall.

While advocates had pressed for more PEP-V hotels since the fall of 2020, DHS initially resisted, citing cost and logistical hurdles. “It is not off the table, but at the same time, I do not want to set the expectation that this is something we are poised and able to do right now,” DHS Director Laura Zeilinger said in February. Through a public records request, Street Sense Media determined that all but 3.75% of expenses for the program — qualified for federal reimbursement through FEMA. At that time, DHS was moving an average of 15 people per month out of PEP-V and into permanent supportive housing, a rate that would not lead to housing for all current PEP-V residents, much less those added to the program when it was expanded in April.

“DHS stopped accepting new referrals to the PEP-V waitlist and asked all referring partners to instead collaborate with DHS and Unity Health Care to support people experiencing homelessness, especially those with underlying health conditions, to access a COVID-19 vaccine,” a DHS spokesperson said.

As of June 2021, every person on the capped waitlist has been contacted and offered a place in PEP-V housing, according to DHS. Every person on the waitlist that wanted housing was moved into a PEP-V site.

Risks of congregate living At the start of the pandemic, COVID-19 cases rapidly spread through congregate shelters. D.C. residents experiencing homelessness were three times more likely to die from COVID-

19 and shelter residents were three times more likely to contract the virus compared to the District’s housed population.

Marcus McCall, a Street Sense Media artist and vendor, applied for PEP-V housing in August of 2020 after returning from prison and was granted housing. McCall’s has uncertain relocation plans for housing after PEP-V ends. While he’s currently searching for permanent housing accomodations, if he’s unable to get any before the Sept. 30 deadline, he said he’d probably end up back on the street or in a tent.

D.C. Will End Hotel Shelter For Medically Vulnerable Residents In September (dcist.com) “If I had the opportunity to stay there, yeah I would,” he said. “It would be a great resource.”

Delta variant looms The need for PEP-V isn’t going to evaporate. With recent CDC reports of the highly contagious delta variant becoming the dominant coronavirus strain in the U.S., safe housing accommodations —especially for medically vulnerable people, especially during the winter season — will continue to be a concern.

“We don’t think that the pandemic is going to be gone automatically on Oct. 1,” Harding said.

But while the pandemic prompted the implementation of PEP-V, Harding said private housing resources for those experiencing homelessness should have existed even before COVID-19. “For decades really, we have been talking about how congregate housing is unsafe and unhealthy for residents,” she said.

Harding pointed to a trend where people experiencing

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// 7

AT A GLANCE homelessness have been opting to live on the streets instead of in a shelter over health concerns. “If you have a compromised immune system and one person gets a cold in a room with hundreds of beds, you’re going to get that cold. You have no way of protecting yourself,” she said.

By continuing the program, Harding argues PEP-V could fill an essential need for general medical housing. “My hope is we go out of this better than we went into it. We can do better and the way to do better is through private housing,” Harding said.

At the same time, McCall said the relatively new PEP-V program has had its own batch of operational issues. “It’s been great, but there needs to be better communication between the residents and staff,” he said, referring to the time he traveled to the 7th Street Convention Center for his vaccine when, apparently, DHS had gotten George Washington University students to come to his PEP-V site to administer vaccinations.

McCall also expressed frustration with how the government informed them about COVID-19 testing availability and times.

Fred Jewell, who is also a Street Sense Media vendor, is another current PEP-V resident. Jewell described residents being offered a lack of autonomy, such as limited doctor’s appointment times and restrictions for the length of time residents can leave. Jewell said that regular wellbeing checkins, while important for medically vulnerable residents, often lead to violations of personal space.

“They [the residents] are homeless. They are not prisoners and they’re not in an institution,” he said.

Additionally, McCall said his PEP-V living situation was unsafe. His roommate frequently overdosed or was in need of medical attention. McCall would leave the room for at least 48 hours, PEP-V requires residents to return within 72 hours, to avoid his roommate, feeling threatened.

While PEP-V is not perfect, McCall said that if the program had been available prior to the pandemic, he would have sought housing there instead of a congregate living shelter. Before living outdoors, McCall previously resided in a shelter. “It was very unhealthy there. It was bed bug ridden and completely moldy,” he said.

Challenges to finding permanent housing In April, PEP-V residents were informed that PSH vouchers had run out. Two current residents of PEP-V, who requested to not be named in case it interferes with their applications for housing vouchers, said that they came to PEP-V under the impression it would be transitional accommodation while they wait for permanent housing.

Now, the two roommates are waiting for permanent supportive housing vouchers despite being told no vouchers are currently available.

“They keep saying that they don’t have vouchers, but I keep hearing that they’re giving them out. I know someone who just got a voucher,” one resident said. The same resident has applied for a voucher with their case manager, but does not know if they will be granted housing by the Sept. 30 end date.

When asked if current residents know about the approaching end date, Jewell replied, “Supposedly. It’s kind of up in the air.” McCall said that community meetings were supposed to inform people about the program’s closure, but that many are uncertain about when exactly they need to exit the hotels.

Jewell also pointed out that while all residents are working with case managers, that does not mean securing housing will be a quick process. “Most case managers are not case managers, they give information and referrals,” he said. “I would call them resource coordinators.”

PEP-V clients are being offered emergency housing vouchers as part of Biden’s March $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.

The plan directs $5 billion dollars to all states and Washington, D.C. to obtain stable housing for people experiencing homelessness — including by providing emergency housing vouchers (EHV) and purchasing new buildings, such as hotels, to convert into permanent housing.

When the American Rescue Plan funding has first announced, Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, called for the purchase of the PEP-V hotels to be converted into permanent supportive housing units.

According to a spokesperson for Nadeau, who chairs the D.C. Council Committee on Human Services, $50 million was added to the fiscal year 2022 capital budget for the purchase of hotels and other properties into general permanent housing. “The Committee strongly encourages DHS and DHCD to identify locations that are accessible to public transportation, amenities, and overall, are responsive to the needs of the residents,” Nadeau’s spokesperson said in an email to Street Sense Media.

DHS does not have plans to purchase any hotels with city or American Rescue Plan funding at this time. “Instead, DHS will fully leverage the influx of new resources available from the federal government and local budget allocations to help people exit PEP-V to housing,” a DHS spokesperson wrote.

The emergency housing voucher program alone, however, would not cover even half of all the remaining PEP-V resident’s transfer to permanent housing resources. Approximately 232 individuals, both from the 564 remaining PEP-V residents as well as those in the broader community who would qualify them for PEP-V, will be offered emergency housing vouchers through DHS’s Coordinated Assessment and Housing Placement program.

The proposal to buy the PEP-V hotels and continue the program is supported by current PEP-V residents, like McCall and Jewell.

“We need to get them to buy the hotels,” Jewell said. “The people that actually live in the hotels have no place to go.”

Anthony Crawford ARCHIVE PHOTO

It is with terrrible sadness that we announce the passing of long-time vendor, artist, and friend Anthony Crawford.

He died on Friday, July 30.

He turned 64 the previous day.

Memorial service information will follow.

If you knew Anthony, please share memories, photos, or your willingness to be interviewed about his life with editor@streetsensemedia.org.

BIRTHDAYS Dele Akerejah Aug. 4 ARTIST/VENDOR

Donald Brown Aug. 5 ARTIST/VENDOR

Marcellus Phillips Aug. 6 ARTIST/VENDOR

Jacqueline Portee Aug. 9 ARTIST/VENDOR

VENDOR PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENTS • Vendors can bring in a complete CDC vaccination card for 15 free papers.

• New poetry workshop every Monday, from 10:30 - 11:30am.

A daily census for the last published two-week reporting period of individuals in PEP-V and Isolation and Quarantine (ISAQ) rooms: July 1 - 7.

COURTESY OF THE D.C. DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES.

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NEWS

500 rapid rehousing recipients may face termination despite the inclusion of more money for housing vouchers in DC’s FY2022 budget

Crawford recalls the time when her ceiling collapsed in her bathroom causing damage to her bathtub. PHOTO BY WILL SCHICK

BY WILL SCHICK will@streetsensemedia.org

T

hroughout the pandemic, Antonia Hickerson — like many other participants in the District’s rapid rehousing (RRH) program — has lived largely without the fear that she and her 3-yearold daughter would be forced out of their home.

RRH, a subsidy program that requires its tenants to contribute a portion of their income to the rent they owe every month while the city pays the remainder, normally functions as a short-term housing solution for families and individuals experiencing homelessness. People participating in RRH generally have between six and 12 months before they have to leave the program, with the possibility of a six-month extension.

During the pandemic, however, families in RRH have not been required to leave the program nor have they been subject to “quarterly reviews,” the process by which participants are evaluated for their progress in the program. As a result, the number of families in RRH staying beyond the 18 months has ballooned. In its last count, the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) reported 3,200 families in the program as of June, of whom roughly 1,000 have been in the program longer than 18 months. There were only 1,500 families staying in rapid rehousing units in early 2020, slightly more than the city’s strategic plan expected would be funded.

With the mayor’s public health emergency over as of July 25, landlords will be able to file new nonpayment of rent eviction cases starting Oct. 12 for any tenant in arrears who has not applied for STAY D.C., the city’s emergency financial assistance program for renters. While the D.C. Council’s proposed budget includes funding for more permanent options for homeless families, there is no guarantee that families already in rapid rehousing will have access to these expanded vouchers or subsidies. Neither Mayor Muriel Bowser nor the council has increased funding for rapid rehousing vouchers for families in the fiscal year 2022 budget.

The end of the public health emergency has called into question what will happen to the approximately 1,000 families who have stayed in the program longer than what is typically allowed. When will the city ask them to find a new place to live?

Even as the Department of Human Services has decided not to enforce time limits for families staying in RRH, how long this practice will continue remains unclear. Changing public

health guidance will likely affect the way the city adapts its policies and how it approaches the families living in rapid rehousing. According to a source familiar with DHS plans, agency officials will decide sometime after the city’s budget is finalized and approved.

While she has relied on RRH for more than 20 months, Hickerson would not be immediately affected by the program’s time limits until December. She said her timeline for the program was reset when she had to move due to terrible conditions in her first unit. However, long-term, she still cannot afford rent without the subsidy despite having found employment.

After living for nearly a year in a family shelter placement received through DHS’s Virginia Williams Family Resource Center, Hickerson moved into RRH on Aug. 13, 2019, and settled down with her daughter in a one-bedroom apartment in Southeast D.C. It was the first unit she ever rented.

For Hickerson, the home proved a nightmare.

“The place was really nasty. It was worse than a shelter.

It was really worse than a shelter,” she recalled during a recent interview.

Soon after moving in, Hickerson found it was infested with mice and rats that regularly scurried across the floors. And the walls were blotted with mold that fed on the regular flooding from her bathroom. Worse yet, her landlord was unresponsive.

“When you’re in a situation where there’s mold in your apartment and you have a child, you’re going to do everything you can to get out of that place,” Hickerson said. So, she sought to move.

But finding a new place was not easy. According to Hickerson, she had little idea as to where she could turn for help, having received little assistance from her case manager at the time.

Families and individuals living in rapid rehousing are expected to contribute up to 40% of their income toward the market rent for their home. Over time, tenants are expected to contribute a greater proportion of their income to apply to the rent. The maximum rent the subsidy will cover is established by guidelines from the D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA) and varies depending on the size and neighborhood. DCHA can change the approved rents for any submarket at any time, according to its portal. Participants in RRH are supposed to be paired with a case manager to help them navigate the journey to becoming independent.

Landlords are legally required to accept the subsidy as payment, allowing recipients to rent anywhere the DCHA value guidelines

will cover. But tenants with no rental history or an eviction on their record may struggle to pass a credit check despite the D.C. government’s responsibility for the payments. Some recipients also face illegal discrimination in the form of additional fees or no callbacks once the landlord learns they are relying on a subsidy.

In a settlement earlier this year between the property management company Bozzuto and a prospective tenant who was charged a higher price once a company employee learned he was relying on a housing voucher, Bozzuto pledged not to consider the credit score of a prospective tenant who would be using an income-based subsidy to pay rent and agreed it would not impose minimum income requirements on applicants using an income-based subsidy.

While those terms only apply to Bozzuto, the settlement illustrates what subsidy recipients are up against and what the District might require of other rental companies. The settlement also reaffirmed that Bozzuto must follow the law and will not charge higher rates to exclude tenants based on their source of income, which is a protected trait under the D.C. Human Rights Act. In Hickerson’s case, exasperation over the poor conditions in her first apartment led her to Facebook. There, she connected with a housing activist who helped her lobby her case manager to find a new place to live. But even with the activist’s assistance, Hickerson found the months-long process difficult. And given her inexperience with renting, she did not quite know how to go about securing a new lease. To make matters worse, most of her belongings were destroyed because of the conditions in her previous apartment.

By Dec. 22, 2020, Hickerson moved into a comfortable twobedroom apartment in Northwest D.C. where she pays $185 a month toward $2,800 in rent.

“That was my greatest blessing for Christmas, honestly,” she said.

Even though Hickerson and her daughter had no furniture and no belongings to speak of — meaning they had to sleep on the floor — she said she was thankful that the nightmare had come to an end.

D.C.’s service providers often measure the success of RRH by examining whether families exiting the program end up returning to a shelter system within two years, something Hickerson says has been a constant worry despite her new job working at a local check-cashing business.

“For a single mom with one child, that’s a lot of money. I don’t even make that working,” Hickerson said of the market rent she would have to pay in order to remain in her apartment absent the RRH subsidy. According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, the “two-bedroom housing wage” in D.C. is $33.94, more than double the minimum wage.

Finding reliable child care during the pandemic has also

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

Fair market rent for a two-bedroom unit per information provided by the D.C. Housing Authority information portal. INFOGRAPHIC BY WILL SCHICK

complicated the family’s situation, she added. Hickerson mostly relies on her boyfriend and relatives to help watch her daughter while she’s working.

She dreads the day she will have to leave the RRH program.

“In a few months, I don’t know where I’m going to end up at.

I might end up on the street. I will [not] know until they make a decision and give me an extension or something like that,” Hickerson said.

Of all families who returned to D.C.’s homeless services system between November 2019 and March 2020 after leaving it, 58% of them had last used rapid rehousing vouchers — up from 42% during the same period the year before. but said that DHS reset her time limit when she moved into her current apartment, where she has been living for the past seven months.

Even with the city’s moratorium on requiring families to move out of RRH, some families have found luck and charted their own paths out of the program.

According to Simone Boyd, the program director for rapid rehousing at D.C.-based nonprofit Community of Hope, the majority of families who exit RRH do not end up returning to shelter within two years. She shared data with Street Sense Media and The DC Line showing overall success rates of 89% to 94% for families at Community of Hope exiting the program during different time periods from 2018 to present.

The more recent numbers skew a bit higher but include the additional people who stayed in the program beyond the time limit for the subsidy.

Boyd added that even without quarterly reviews, case managers have been regularly meeting with their clients throughout the pandemic, connecting them to resources such as emotional or mental health support and advice on how to create a more balanced personal budget.

DHS partners with local nonprofits such as Community of Hope and Everyone Home D.C. to administer the RRH program and provide program participants the support they need.

Hickerson does not know which agency or service provider her case manager works for but she said she has not been connected to other services nor has she received help finding employment.

“They’ll help you and then they’ll just leave you stuck,” Hickerson said of her experience.

Boyd, who has helped run rapid rehousing programs for more than six years, said that while the District’s program is not perfect, it has become more effective over time.

“When I first started, it was a very hard cutoff [at] a year. … There was no such thing as extensions in the program,” Boyd said.

In her view, the flexibility to provide families with an extra six months in the program has been a boon to those who need the additional time. But Boyd cautioned that her clients still encounter problems — often caused not by the program but instead by the general cost of housing in the District.

“I think one of the things that I would kind of highlight about rapid rehousing … is [the] lack of affordable housing, which really impacts our clients’ [ability] to afford their units,” she said.

Still, even with some families successfully moved into permanent housing, advocates remain concerned about the program participants who have not been fortunate enough yet to find secure, permanent housing outside of the program.

Jessica Crawford, a single mother with two young daughters under 3, has been in RRH since January 2019 and is terrified of what will happen to her and her children as the eviction moratorium ends.

Crawford, who has been in RRH for over 30 months, lives in a two-bedroom apartment where her portion of the monthly $2,895 rent (excluding utilities) is $185. Originally from southern Virginia, Crawford describes herself as “secondgeneration homeless” since her mother had also struggled with long-term homelessness. After moving to D.C. in 2009, Crawford said, her lack of stable housing made her a target of abuse while working in the sex entertainment industry to make ends meet.

In 2018, while she was eight months pregnant, Crawford turned to the Virginia Williams Family Resource Center for help, where she said she was asked why she couldn’t just go back home. The question rattled Crawford because, as she

// 9

explained, she did not have a place she could call home.

“When she said that to me, it really hurt my feelings because I had a lot of trauma in my childhood. Obviously, if I could just go home and have some place to be … I would do that,” Crawford said. Pregnant women with no children often struggle to receive adequate shelter from the city because family shelters are not accessible until a woman reaches her third trimester.

Eventually, the center connected Crawford with a case manager who placed her into RRH. On one of her first days in the program, Crawford recalls sitting in a classroom while a lecturer droned on about the rules for the program.

“I remember sitting in a room for over an hour listening to this woman about how ‘You better not have any alcohol. You better not do any drugs,’ like all these rules,” she said.

While Crawford said she considered parts of the lecture condescending, she found at least one aspect appealing.

The speaker said participants would need to be ready to meet regularly with a case manager, who would show up unannounced for spot checks from time to time.

“I wanted that support and I felt like it was going to keep me on my toes and help keep me clean and focused on accomplishing the goals that I had set,” explained Crawford, who said she is in recovery after past struggles with drug addiction.

But soon after moving into her apartment, Crawford said, she stopped hearing from her case manager. And the program stopped paying rent on the apartment in March 2020, accusing Crawford of having moved away to both her and her property manager’s complete befuddlement.

Documents Crawford shared with Street Sense Media and The DC Line reveal an ongoing dispute between the city and Crawford’s property manager. According to the documents, Crawford is no longer an RRH participant — she has been recorded as having moved to another state. Crawford and her property manager, however, argue that she has never moved out of the unit.

Meanwhile, she has been served notices of a cumulative $60,000 in past-due rent, according to Crawford.

Although Crawford applied for STAY D.C., she said she has not received assistance and remains unclear as to whether her application ever went completely through the system.

Widely celebrated by housing advocates, a recently proposed tax increase on high-income earners — which initially passed 8-5 — is expected to bring a huge boost in funding to a variety of programs meant to end homelessness if it remains in the city’s budget for FY 2022. The D.C. Council will take a final vote on the tax change Tuesday, August 10.

The tax increase is projected to raise $100 million in FY 2022, growing to an annual revenue of $175 million by FY 2025. The council used the funds to establish a universal basic income program for low-income families, expand support for early child care, and provide enough PSH vouchers to end homelessness for thousands of families within the next few years.

With the council’s revenue increase, families staying in RRH may qualify for some of the 2,530 units newly funded through multiple subsidy and voucher programs: permanent supportive housing (PSH), the city’s targeted affordable housing program (TAH), and the local rent subsidy program (LRSP).

Amber Harding, an attorney with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, said that prior to the council’s most recent budget vote, 580 of the families who have lived in RRH beyond 18 months were not going to be prioritized to receive PSH or TAH vouchers. Instead, they were going to receive termination notices in August and September that would force them to leave the program.

To qualify for a PSH voucher, a household has to have experienced continuous homelessness for at least a year or have had four or more episodes of homelessness in the past three years. In addition, the household must include someone who has a disability. It’s also unclear as to their availability right now; according to residents of the city’s Pandemic Emergency Program for Medically Vulnerable People program, PSH vouchers for fiscal year 2021 ran out in April.

The council took a final reading and vote on the Local Budget Act on Tuesday, Aug. 3; the tax increase and associated spending are also part of the Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Support Act, which will get its second vote on Aug. 10. The budget requires approval from the mayor and Congress before it becomes law.

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OPINION

Anti-Olympics group members carry banners during a protest march, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Tokyo, Japan May 17, 2021.

Don’t give up waiting for housing

BY RONALD SMOOT

PHOTO COURTESY OF NAOKI OGURA / REUTERS

Tokyo street paper vendors share thoughts on the Olympics This year’s Olympics arrived in Tokyo despite an ongoing pandemic and outrage from some of the city’s residents. Often those at the fringes of society are forgotten about when mammoth sporting events like this begin. The Big Issue Japan asked some of its vendors to share their thoughts on the approaching games and also their own personal sporting memories and achievements.

Courtesy of The Big Issue Japan / INSP.ngo

ITO HARUO (54 YEARS OLD) SALES LOCATION: HIKARIGAOKA (NERIMA), TOKYO EXPERIENCE AS A VENDOR: 11 YEARS

I like to watch professional wrestling and baseball, as well as international wrestling such as WWE. Pro wrestling is cool and exciting when the moves are done. I also play baseball, so I understand the fun of that.

When I was a child living in Akita, my hometown, I used to compete in sumo. I once came in second place in a Wanpaku Sumo tournament [a children’s competition]. I can still do it wherever there is a ring.

I want the Olympics to be held. Otherwise, I’ve heard that foreign broadcasters will take trillions of yen in penalties, and I think that's a waste of money. For me, the Olympics won't affect my sales and livelihoods because there are no places related to the event around my pitch and no visitors will come here.

M.S. (53 YEARS OLD) SALES LOCATION: WESTERN AREA, TOKYO EXPERIENCE AS A VENDOR: 1.5 YEARS

Although recently I don’t play any sports, I used to play soccer. So now I’m into watching the games by the national team. I remember I was a “ghost” member of the soccer club in my junior high school days. I hardly attended practice, but the team had me play as a forward to make up the numbers.

I didn’t get any goals, but I think I was a good passer.

From the perspective of preventing infection, I don’t think it’s a good idea to hold the Olympics. I can see the Olympic cauldron right above my sleeping place and, in the daytime, I see foreign media people with passes slogging their way to the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition centre. I think the ‘bubble method’ of preventing infections is a stretch.

NAKAJIMA YOSHIYUKI (43 YEARS OLD) SALES LOCATION: OCHANOMIZU, TOKYO EXPERIENCE AS A VENDOR: 9 YEARS

Ito Haruo at his vending location at Hikarigaoka (Nerima), Tokyo.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BIG ISSUE JAPAN

I have been a member of ‘Nobushi Japan’ [the team put together by The Big Issue Foundation in Japan which has participated in the Homeless World Cup) for five years. Originally, we practiced twice a week, and we did so sometimes last year, but this year since March we are having a break in practice while having meetings.

At first, I was scouted and joined the team, and now I go to practice as if I am learning something. It’s more like a routine...rather than playing better. I like traveling abroad [Nakajima loves to buy cheap flight tickets and travel], so I hope to go abroad for tournaments someday, like France or England.

I think it’s better to allow the Olympics to go ahead, since athletes all over the world will have been working hard for these events. It’s a shame that no spectators will be able to come from overseas. I wish they could have enjoyed Japanese culture like authentic sushi.

I’ve been homeless and living on the street for 33 years, 20 of those in downtown D.C. and up on Wisconsin Avenue. I met Charles Davis, another Street Sense vendor, and he told me to go down to the office and become a vendor myself.

When I came home from jail in 2006, I applied for my housing. I got my housing voucher in 2013, and then I went back to jail for a violation. Then I came back home and got it a second time. I went to Friendship Place to wait for a match. Now I am living in my new apartment. I’ve been in there for about 15 months with my wife. My wife and I are having a little problem because it’s a mental issue. But that’s OK, because we will work it out, and I will pray to God to help us out.

Now I’ve been there more than 12 months, I can move anywhere I want, and I would like to move uptown because I like the people who live there. The area where I live has drugs and I don’t like to be around drugs, so I would ask God to help me out.

Applying for housing may be a good thing for anyone.

When you apply, it may take years before you hear anything. You have to wait for your name to be called.

Some people have been on the housing list for more than 10 years. And that is so sad. So I will pray for them to get their housing.

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

• Want to share firsthand experience?

• Interested in responding to what someone else has written?

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

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

Please send submissions to opinion@streetsensemedia.org.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

// 11

ART

Finding a new path and starting over Hope I’m feeling a lot better now that people are back to work. A lot of people were stuck because of the virus. They didn’t have money, and many of them have families and kids.

BY MARCUS GREEN Artist/Vendor

After being hired and fired to help in the Street Sense Media office, I dusted myself off, set new goals. Like Michael Jackson, looked in the mirror and my value went up. Thank God for a new perspective: I’m learning to love myself through my supporters, family, spirit, and heart.

This is my first article since all that happened. The organization didn’t value me as part of the staff. I’m looking for work now, so pray for me. God is good and I’m on my

way. My wife is my biggest supporter. When you are down and out, God, your family, and friends are the only ones who’ll never give up. I will never give up on myself.

Sometimes in life, we feel like throwing the towel in, quitting, and crying. God has the power of pulling you on and stealing the heart of your opponent. I want to thank everybody as I keep moving forward: my supporters, kids, staff, and family.

God bless.

BY MARY SELLMAN Artist/Vendor

When your Momma no longer loves you

BY REGGIE JONES Artist/Vendor

Well, a parent’s job is to raise you till you’re grown. Then they’re done. No more money, no more love. No more anything but disappointment. And it’s not even your fault.

They start to hate you for the world setting you up for failure. And you can’t tell them anything different because they’re stuck in their ways with health problems and other issues they face as an old person.

All you can do is pray, for yourself, and not for them or anyone else — ‘cause most people don’t even believe in a God anymore. So let them deal with that in hell.

COURTROOM COMICS:

The Player

BY PIERRE JOHNSON Artist/Vendor

Sleep By Night

BY CARLTON JOHNSON, a.k.a. “INKFLOW” Artist/Vendor

Darkness walks with the moon.

Within the times days turn into darkness.

Looking for sleep by night.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LUKE STACKPOOLE ON UNSPLASH.COM

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ART

Reflections of my past

BY SASHA WILLIAMS // Artist/Vendor

I was a teenager What care did I have….

Well it was not the same #TrueStory

♦ I was searching for my soul I was investigating what was out there Yes, I am 4 years away from 40 But as I think back (calmly)

♦

I am like, d***, here we go again: I am held hostage and can’t escape #TrueStory

ButI kept it in my buried memories As it resurfaces, it just flashbacks that I survived

♦

♦

I was chilling It was OK to meet people and socialize Then all of a sudden it was time for me to go At least that’s what I was telling myself

I am who I am and it’s one person….

Came from a lot It took a lot to get to where I am today

♦

WTF (frantically) happened to me?

I wanted to work and help others I wanted a social life But being raped at gunpoint, d***…

I remember crying and saying I want to go It was me against one female and one male….

I just remember just wanting to get out and find strength And get thru this….

I don’t want to be weak…. I want to be free

♦

♦

I didn’t see it coming I had an accomplishment earlier that year My high school diploma That was more important than surviving a tainted memory I was leaving my teens into young adulthood Then I just got away from it all

They just looking at me…. not knowing what is next I think I was running around the house….

It felt a while but I am happy that I was able to leave…. it was the worst experience that I won’t forget But I deal with the trauma

♦

♦

I was starting a new beginning a year or so later….

I still wanted a social life And helping people was my way of giving

I am just mentioning it, ‘cause the healing from Experiences that I come out…

Situations that anybody else can deal with their own way

Inner Peace

BY AYUB ABDUL Artist/Vendor

One flake, two flake, descending from the sky.

Many flake seem to come, around you all at one time.

So many things with all types of pragmatic confusion coming your way.

How do you get away?

Is there an excuse, what use is it to go on like this?

It's like a bliss.

There is nowhere to go.

What do we do? Is it true?

That meditation can help you.

This is a time to seek for inner peace.

It's always been inside of you.

♦ It’s wild how much stuff one can’t handle But some others handle the best way It’s like in those moments…

It’s like, did I let it go?

In a sense…. did I really make it up, And just created my own island?

No, it happened Did it really matter…

♦ It definitely affects me today Having a family and just wanting the best But….is it a stuck moment in time?

While searching for my soul...

Will my souls come and go?

Did I even find my soul?

♦ Wow…. #TrueStory.

In Moments Like These

BY FAITH PEACE // Artist/Vendor

Home alone at night, during the long work day, and in moments like these, I stop to remember who I am and be grateful to God. We are children of the Heavenly Father. We are created by Him from His love and mercy for good works to live by faith. He has a life purpose for each and every unique human on Earth.

I often look around me at others. Then, I look around me at the natural world. Why do we exist, us living mortals, along with creatures and plants, cities, and technological things, civilization with money, popularity, and desires running society as a whole? The answer to our being here and our doings and our running after our desires is pretty complex, but it is what defines who we are and how we relate to each other. To keep up with the flow in life, I often return to the basics of my beliefs, and this is what keeps me going.

When the weight of all your dreams rests heavy on your mind, unresolved thoughts and worried emotions deprive you of peace, or your future seems unclear… When you hurt in your heart and wonder if you will turn out to be who you want to be in life… When those around you are impatient, unkind, or ignore you out of indifference…

I will be a mirror for you to look into to see the good in yourself.

I will look back at you so that you see your reflection through my eyes and to know that you are valued by me. After seeing your true colors reflected back at you, there will be nothing to worry about. Every little thing will be alright, because I am here for you, as a friend. Someone who loves you.

With this said, you can do something right now for me: Let go of your worries. In moments like these, no need for those, because I care for you! And much more than that, God cares so, so, so much for you!

Photo courtesy of Roger Bradshaw on Unsplash.com

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

Where is that black box?

BY RITA SAULS // Artist/Vendor

Where is that black box?

I hunted for it like a fox Looking for a cow or an ox For supper or dinner, Summer orr winter, It’s always a winner.

And the rat? Like white on rice, Your gonna pay the price, twice For not having that black box

That black box that regulate the rats That black box that acts like a cat.

Removing the rodents that can enter Where you lay your head and hat Like a ball and bat, that black box

‘Cause somebody’s going on a hospital cart Do Walmart sell black boxes for rat control? ‘Cause I see 30 tents, 60+ people and no black boxes But there are black boxes behind every Food eatery which says the food is more Valuable than human life

3 is a Charm

BY REGINALD SCOTT Artist/Vendor

If I live to see 75 their life really just begun.

They’ll live to see a 100 and 1 all after that is grand benison from their youth c landestine weapon kick threw so in all to say: All that apply by the number 3 is a charm Albeit no 1 need to “ring the alarm” To know that 3 is a charm.

PHOT O BY ERIC FALQU ERO

Pink

BY KYM PARKER Artist/Vendor

Pink is the color of love Pink makes you stronger Pink is the gentle of the soul Pink is a rose of the heart of life Pink is always true to herself Pink

POEM AND VISUAL PRESENTATION BY LEVESTER GREEN // Artist/Vendor

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1. Melville novel set in Tahiti Sudoku #4 1. Melville novel set in Tahiti 5. Sea rock 8 2 3 7 5. 4 Sea 8rock1 9 5 6 11. Actor Mineo Mineo 9Novice Sudoku by KrazyDad, Volume62, Book 5 1 1 11.9Actor 7 Huckleberry 8 Mickey 3 4 2 or 14.

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Give online at http://krazydad.com Or by mail: Krazydad, P.O. Box 303 Sun Valley, CA 91353 USA Thank you!

7 2 6 4 8 Sudoku4#5

// A U G. 4 - 10,

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© 2013 KrazyDad.com

EDITION’S PUZZLE SOLUTION

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Tuscany city 48. Company that discovered Teflon 6. Big galoot 51. Wit 30. Convenience stores 12.

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Ready for 7. Harp constellation 52. See 3-Down 34. Cry 13.

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Letter-shaped construction piece 51. Beatles Wit 9. Marinara ingredient 59. Leaky tire sound 36.

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43. Takes measures construction piece grad 30. Convenience stores 63. Sheriff’s asst.

34. Cry

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

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

COMMUNITY SERVICES

SHELTER HOTLINE Línea directa de alojamiento

(202) 399-7093

YOUTH HOTLINE Línea de juventud

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE Línea directa de violencia doméstica

(202) 547-7777

1-800-799-7233

Housing/Shelter Vivienda/alojamiento

Education Educación

Health Care Seguro

Clothing Ropa

Legal Assistance Assistencia Legal

Case Management Coordinación de Servicios

Food Comida

Employment Assistance Assitencia con Empleo

Transportation Transportación

Showers Duchas

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

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

Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Good Hope Rd., SE calvaryservices.org

Catholic Charities // 202-772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

Central Union Mission // 202-745-7118 65 Massachusetts Ave., NW missiondc.org

Charlie’s Place // 202-232-3066 1830 Connecticut Ave., NW charliesplacedc.org

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

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

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

Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

Covenant House Washington 202-610-9600 // 2001 Mississippi Ave., SE covenanthousedc.org

D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 202-347-8870 // 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW dccfh.org

Father McKenna Center // 202-842-1112 19 Eye St., NW fathermckennacenter.org Food and Friends // 202-269-2277 (home delivery for those suffering from HIV,

cancer, etc) 219 Riggs Rd., NE foodandfriends.org

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

Friendship Place // 202-364-1419 4713 Wisconsin Ave., NW friendshipplace.org

Georgetown Ministry Center // 202-338-8301 1041 Wisconsin Ave., NW georgetownministrycenter.org

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

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

Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org 2375 Elvans Road SE 2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE

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

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

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

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

Samaritan Ministry 202-722-2280 // 1516 Hamilton St., NW 202-889-7702 // 1345 U St., SE

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOTLINE Línea de salud del comportamiento

1-888-793-4357

Laundry Lavandería

samaritanministry.org

JOB BOARD Customer Service Associate Walgreens // 801 7th St, NW

Sasha Bruce Youthwork // 202-675-9340 741 8th St., SE sashabruce.org

So Others Might Eat (SOME) // 202-797-8806 71 O St., NW some.org

St. Luke’s Mission Center // 202-333-4949 3655 Calvert St., NW stlukesmissioncenter.org

Part-time Customer service associates communicate directly with customers to recommend items and register customer purchases. Also, take inventory and maintain records of shelves, assist with the separation of food items, and assist with exterior and interior maintenance.

REQUIRED: Fluent in reading, writing, and speaking English; complete job training.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/customer-service-walgreens

Ghost Tour Guide Thrive DC // 202-737-9311 1525 Newton St., NW thrivedc.org

Unity Health Care 3020 14th St., NW // unityhealthcare.org - Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500 - Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699 1500 Galen Street SE, 1500 Galen Street SE, 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE, 1660 Columbia Road NW, 4414 Benning Road NE, 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 555 L Street SE, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, 1717 Columbia Road NW, 1313 New York Avenue, NW BSMT Suite, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 828 Evarts Place, NE, 810 5th Street NW

Ghost City Tours // Washington, DC Full-time and Part-time // Average $100/tour As a ghost tour guide, you will conduct tours for tourists about the “haunted” places in Washington, DC with storytelling. No prior tour experience accepted with paid training.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/ghost-tour-guide

Farmers Market Worker Black Rock Orchard Inc. // F and 9th streets NW Part-time // Thursday: 1:30 pm - 8 pm // $140 Unload truck, put up tarps and set pu fruit display, and reload truck.

REQUIRED: Heavy lifting (from 25 - 60 lbs) APPLY: tinyurl.com/farmers-market-help

Cashier Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless 1200 U St., NW // 202-328-5500 legalclinic.org

The Welcome Table // 202-347-2635 1317 G St., NW. epiphanydc.org/thewelcometable

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

Home Depot // 901 Rhode Island Ave NE, Full-time and Part-time Process checkout and return transactions, monitor and maintain the self-checkout area, and provide customers with information about products.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/cashier-home-depot

Guest Advocate (cashier) Target // 828 Georgia Ave NW Full-time and Part-time Great and service guests, ensure sales floors are stocked, push and stock product, maintain backroom organization.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/guest-advocate-target

Patricia Handy Place for Women 202-733-5378 // 810 5th St., NW

Samaritan Inns // 202-667-8831 2523 14th St., NW samaritaninns.org

// 1 5

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

Hiring? Send your job postings to editor@StreetSenseMedia.org

PHOTO COURTESY OF BEN MATER ON UNSPLASH.COM

“I Can Make It”

BY DON GARDNER Artist/Vendor

I can make it if the sun don’t shine I can make it if the river don’t flow my way I can make it if the birds don’t sing I can make it if the bees don’t sting I can make it if the babies don’t cry And if the children die… and the young don’t get old I can make it!

I can make it if I can’t see what’s before me I can make it if I can’t utter a mere word I can make it if my taste abandon me I can make it!

I can make it if I was placed in a hole without two or more…

Even if they closed the door I can make it I can make it if I was treated cruel and inhumane If I was afflicted and convicted If I was hated by all but one I can make it I can make it because God said If you just believe and trust in me…

Yes, my son… you can make it!

Put Down the Guns, Part 2

BY RON DUDLEY, a.k.a. “POOKANU” // Artist/Vendor

Put down the guns, pick up a book He picked up a gun and became a crook.

Put down the guns put down your fist Open your ears and listen to this.

He had a knife, he had a gun They had a fight, who you think won?

Put down the guns, pick up a book He picked up a gun and became a crook.

Put down the guns, I’m on my knees I'm praying to god, I’m begging you please.

Put down the guns, they really kill Bullets they burn, when will they learn?

Put down the guns, we losing hope Put down the guns, I can't even cope Put down the guns, pick up a book He picked up a gun and became a crook.

Put down the guns, her baby dead How can a baby get shot in the head?

Put down the guns, no more excuses I feel so helpless, I feel so useless.

Put down the guns, we need a prayer They done pissed off the police, they done pissed off the mayor.

Re-fund the police, they need a raise So many bullets, so many strays.

Put down the guns, pick up a book He picked up a gun and became a crook.

Put down the guns, he tried to rob me He couldn't aim, he did it sloppy He shot a kid walking to school Put down the guns, that's when I lose my cool Put down the guns, I’m not a judge You not a thug, you need a hug Put down the guns, open a book He picked up a gun and became a crook.

Put down the guns.

Pookanu published what is now part one of “Put Down the Guns” in April 2018 after a series of mass shootings and demonstrations against gun violence, including the March for Our Lives and a national school walkout.

Gun violence

BY AMIA WALKER Artist/Vendor

How should our community process these tragic events?

With our children.

I don't have children but I’ve watched children ages 6 years and under off and on in my life.

What I notice that's hurting our kids is some of the young mothers allowing the kids to hang out late outside on school nights. I am seeing a lot of kids hanging around grown adults, mimicking really bad habits.

When I was growing up, me and my sibling was not to be out past 8 p.m. on school nights. Also, when adults were gathering, I was to go to another area of the home — out of sight.

The children today have no discipline compared to when I grew up.

Thank you for reading Street Sense!

From your vendor, AUG. 4 - 10, 2021 | VOLUME 18 ISSUE 28 NO CASH? NO PROBLEM. WE HAVE AN APP! SEARCH “STREET SENSE” IN THE APP STORE

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