09 18 2019

VOL. 16 ISSUE 23

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SEPT. 18 - OCT. 1, 2019

Real Stories

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Real Change

“One of the truths:”

Security concerns at DC women’s shelters

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The Street Sense Media Story, #MoreThanANewspaper

The fence, gate, trees, and folliage on the north side of Nativity Women’s Shelter, where a woman was raped on Aug. 3, according to the police report.

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.

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EVENTS

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NEWS IN BRIEF HOUSING

Co-op housing is an option to overcome substandard housing, experts say

BY MARK ROSE Volunteer

The Lines Between Us: At School and At Home Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019 // 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Church of the Epiphany // 1740 15th Street NW The Poverty and Race Research Action Council invites you to join them for a powerful conversation about what divides Americans and what can bring us together.Lawrence Lanahan, author of “The Lines Between Us: Two Families and a Quest to Cross Baltimore Racial Divide” will be in conversation with Cara McClellan of the NAACP LDF and journalist J. Brian Charles about the interconnections between residential and school segregation, and how they have created and sustain our present-day divided society. Doors open at 5:30pm. Light snacks and refreshments will be available prior to the event. Kramerbooks will be on-site selling copies of Mr. Lanahan’s book. MORE INFO: tinyurl.com/lines-between

SUNDAY, SEPT 22

UPDATES ONLINE AT ICH.DC.GOV

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 2

Miriam’s Kitchen Pop Up Market

D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness Meetings

Together We Rise annual celebration

9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Canal Park, Navy Yard 200 M Street SE

Housing Solutions Committee March 6, 1:30 pm // TBD * Most likely 1800 MLK Jr. Ave. SE

6 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Church of the Epiphany 1317 G Street NW

Join us, in partnership with FRESHFARM, in ending homelessness through supporting local businesses, entrepreneurship, and agriculture. Browse handmade jewelry, paintings and other specialty art made by guests of Miriam’s Kitchen. MORE INFO: tinyurl.com/miriams-pop

Executive Committee March 12, 1:30 pm // TBD * Likely 441 4th Street NW

Celebrate 16 years of Street Sense Media with stories, artwork, and good company as we recognize those who helped us get here and look forward to the path ahead. The night will include live performances, a silent auction and presentations of awards. MORE INFO: streetsensemedia.org/celebration

***List features only committee meetings. For issue-focused working group, contact ich.info@dc.gov.

Submit your event for publication by emailing editor@streetsensemedia.org

On Aug. 13, Empower DC hosted a public forum at the “Action Hub” for D.C. residents to learn more about how co-operative housing could be a viable alternative to the current public housing crisis in D.C. Panelists included Amanda Huron of University of the District of Columbia, Johanna Bockman of George Mason University, and Empower DC co-founder Linda Leaks.

“We are in a very desperate moment right now,” housing expert Huron said, on the effects of gentrification and the housing crisis. “We have to try something new.”

According to Huron, co-ops offer low to moderateincome citizens more control over their housing communities. In a co-op housing arrangement, a housing property is jointly owned and controlled by a group of individuals. In respect to the size of the share, each owner is granted occupancy rights to a unit or portion of the property. Much like a nonprofit, each co-op has a board of members that provide governance for the community. However, the entire community of shareowners would be able to influence all management aspects of the space, including membership requirements, rent prices, and community rules, through a democratic voting process.

Leaks has been a long advocate for housing justice in D.C., especially for the African American community. She began pushing and demonstrating for repairs for her own home and community in the 1970s and has since focused most of her attention on the gentrifying neighborhoods in Columbia Heights, Shaw, and Southern Avenue.

Leaks told the assembly at the Action Hub, “Teach people so they are able to speak up and speak out.” There are many other affordable housing solutions for D.C. but co-ops are gaining momentum, according to the panel.

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NEWS

Housing program for homeless LGBTQ+ youth to open a brand new 14-bed house

BY GABRIELLE WANNEH Editorial Intern

I

n January 2017, the local nonprofit SMYAL (Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders) launched its signature youth house, a 2-year, 12-bed transitional living program for homeless LGBTQ+ youth in the D. C. metropolitan area. SMYAL had already been providing services in education, health, and advocacy work since 1984, but wanted to expand their reach to offer a tangible housing solution.

Since then, seven people have graduated from the housing program and moved on to sustainable independence, and the organization is looking forward to extending that opportunity to more youth once the new house opens its doors.

This July, the organization received a contract to create a second house, which is set to open its doors before the summer ends.

Located in the Fairlawn neighborhood of Southeast D.C. is the four-story, cobalt-blue building where SMYAL is gearing up to welcome a new cohort of case managers, staff, and residents. Volunteers and construction workers have been working on renovations over the last three months and are expected to wrap up within the coming weeks.

The house includes 14 beds spread between 5 apartmentstyle living spaces. Each apartment is furnished and comes with two bedrooms, a shared bathroom, and a kitchen. There is also a basement level that will serve a shared lounge and the office area for the incoming staff.

According to Housing and Jorge Membreno Clinical Services Director Supporting and Mentoring Jorge Membreno, the decision Youth Advocates and Leaders to open a second house aligned well with the mission of SMYAL to provide homeless LGBTQ+ youth with a safe, stable environment to live and engage in as they transition into young adulthood.

At the time, 43 percent of homeless youth in the city identified as LGBTQ+ and, based on those numbers, there is still a shortage of resources available to meet this need.

“We knew we had been running a successful model for two years. We knew we could replicate it and improve upon it,” Membreno said. “We’ve had a lot of clients who’ve come in and they just grow a lot during the time that they’re with our program,” Membreno said.

In the year and a half that he’s been with SMYAL, Membreno has seen the youth house serve not just as a shelter, but a place where residents can embrace themselves and their identity without dismissal or restriction.

For one former resident, Membreno recalled, a lot of things surrounding the identity she wished to present to

“We knew we had been running a successful model for two years. We knew we could replicate it and improve upon it.”

Alley Gant, right, is the case manager at thefirst SMYAL youth house. PHOTO BY GABRIELLE WANNEH

the world, such as the clothes she wanted to wear, were in conflict before she joined the housing program. After moving in, one of the first things she did was go on a shopping spree, come back, and put on a mini-fashion show for herself.

“I see those quiet moments as moments of success,” Membreno said, adding that he’s looking forward to

The kitchen area in one of the apartment-style units at SMYAL’s second youth house. PHOTO BY GABRIELLE WANNEH

witnessing more residents gain confidence and selfacceptance at the second house when it opens.

In addition to the new physical space, SMYAL plans to provide services and support in-house. Their first youth house operates under a clinical case-management model, according to Alley Gant, who has been the sole case manager of the first SMYAL youth house for a little over a year. That means that while residents acquire the resources they need to find jobs or develop life skills, they’re given space to address any trauma or mental health issues. This model will be used at the new house as well.

Homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth continues to be a major issue in District. Thirty-eight percent of D.C. youth experiencing homelessness identified as LGBTQ+ during last year’s Homeless Youth Census. Membreno says that the city is doing good work, but admits that it’s “not as far along as any of the providers want to be.”

“We always talk about trying to work ourselves out of the job, which we know is going to be hard to do,” Membreno said.

Before opening the original youth house, the only other transitional-living programs for LGBTQ+ youth were offered by Casa Ruby and the Wanda Alston Foundation.

Even after the opening of the second house, there will still be only 74 beds available to a population of approximately 500 homeless youth in D.C. who identify as LGBTQ+, according to the 2018 youth census data.

Still, SMYAL is looking forward to helping what additional LGBTQ+ youth it can who are in need of housing and support.

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A woman was raped outside of a city shelter, across the street from a police station Nativity Women’s Shelter, as seen through the trees and shrubbery on the north side of the building. PHOTO BY RODNEY CHOICE // CHOICEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

BY VICTORIA EBNER victoria.ebner@streetsensemedia.org

O

utside the low-barrier Nativity Women’s Shelter, a woman stood on the street, her face white with fear.

She had just been informed that there were no more beds available. She had been turned away from this shelter before, and slept in front of it multiple times when there were no more beds.

A bystander might have seen her as just one of the nearly 1,000 single women experiencing homelessness in D.C this year. But anyone would have been horrified to know that, on a previous night, the traumatized woman had been awoken and violently raped outside of the shelter door.

“Staff counted people out at the door and left one little sheep out there,” said T. Brooks, a frequent resident of the 20-bed shelter. Due to privacy concerns and fear of retaliation from the shelter staff, Brooks only agreed to speak with Street Sense Media without publishing her real name.

According to the Catholic Charities D.C. website, you must show up by 7 p.m. to get a bed. From there, Brooks said, if you are late or the shelter reaches capacity, you are turned away.

The police report on the incident states a man approached the woman outside of the shelter at 6010 Georgia Ave. NW in the early hours of August 3 and proceeded to choke, hit, threaten, and forcibly rape her.

“There were two places [roped off with crime scene tape]: where she slept at the front of the building when she couldn’t get in; and then over on the side, which must be where she was dragged,” Brooks said. “On the side, there’s a gate at the front, but no gate at the other end. So she couldn’t escape.”

Desperate for shelter and fearful in the days following the attack, the woman ended up at Adam’s Place. a city-run day center where temporary beds for women have been added to address capacity issues in recent years. However, the day center is connected to a men’s shelter managed by Catholic Charities and a majority-male facility was the last place she wanted to be after the rape.

“She was petrified,” said Brooks,who has lived in the shelter for several months and claimed to have raised a number of complaints about the lack of security there before the rape occured. In the weeks since it happened, she has spoken with more than 20 individuals in city government, including the Department of Human Services, the Metropolitan Police Department, and the attorney general’s office. “[The rape] was a big deal and [staff] made little of it,”

Brooks said. “I’m homeless but I’m a taxpayer –– they should be doing something [to protect us].”

The shelter is located next to a public charter school and across the street from the Fourth District police station.

Aliana Gertz, a public relations specialist for MPD, said that the case is an ongoing investigation. When asked to provide more details on the case, Gertz wrote in an email that any more information could compromise the privacy of the victim and jeopardize the case.

A spokesperson for DHS said the agency could not comment on an ongoing investigation.

“Although the safety and well-being of the residents we serve is a major priority for DHS, this remains an active criminal investigation so we are unable to provide comment or interview,” Public Information Officer Dora Taylor wrote in an email on Sept. 9.

Brooks said she filed her first security complaints after witnessing the night staff texting, watching television, or sleeping during their evening shifts. As a former law enforcement worker, she said the security officers do not perform consistent bag checks and at least once let someone with a knife enter the facility.

The officers also refuse to do perimeter checks around the back, Brooks said, and frequently let men in to see women engaging in sex work. “They don’t seem to be responsive or care what happens,” Brooks said. “We need to feel protected and feel safe.”

Catholic Charities –– the organization contracted by DHS to run Nativity Women’s Shelter as well as several other shelters in the D.C. area –– provided this statement in a Sept. 16 email: “We have several processes in place (from written grievances to an anonymous whistleblower hotline) that we encourage residents to use to voice their concerns so that we can investigate and resolve any issues that arise in our shelters,” wrote Amanda Chesney, Executive Director of Homeless and Housing Services. “We work to maintain open lines of communication so we can address any situations that make them feel unsafe.”

According to Brooks, there was little to no change in Nativity’s security immediately after the violent rape occured.

The only difference she has seen is that the staff now walk around the upstairs more.

“Nothing has really changed,” she said. “They do it one time and that’s it but that’s not enough to measure or say it’s changed.”

Catholic Charities is far from the only homeless services

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provider struggling with violence, particularly violence against women, in the District.

A 2017 report by the Women’s Task Force of the District of Columbia Interagency Council on Homelessness surveyed 434 women experiencing homelessness in D.C. and found that more than half had experienced violence or threats to their safety during just their then-current episode of homelessness.

After a stabbing in March at the 801 East Men’s Shelter, also managed by Catholic Charities, Street Sense Media reported that the security company contracted for that shelter was replaced immediately, both at 801 East and at all other city shelters where the company had been used.

Another woman who spoke under the condition of anonymity said that at the shelter she stays in, the Patricia Handy Place for Women, a fellow resident was stabbed in the thigh and hand.

She said the resident lost her bed after her late return from the hospital and spent the next two weeks sleeping in Union Station. There was no security overhaul like the reaction to the stabbing at 801 East.

“They remind us that we’re nothing and nobody because we’re homeless,” the Pat Handy resident said. “They don’t give a d*** about us ... we are the commodity.”

Schroeder Stribling, chief executive officer for N Street Village, the organization that runs the Pat Handy women’s shelter, said she believes the stabbing incident the resident described happened in spring 2018, when one female resident stabbed another resident with a pocket knife.

The injured woman returned from the hospital in the early hours of the morning when the shelter was full, but Stribling said she made it in the next night and stayed on and off for several weeks after.

Stribling echoed that security is always an issue at women’s shelters, not only in the ones under N Street Village but in D.C. as a whole. “[Security’s] not a process you finish and it’s done,” Stribling said. “Mistakes will be made...it’s a difficult environment. We will always be working on safety and security.”

According to Stribling, the shelters are always improving, but it remains important to point out the system’s flaws, including the high rate of violence against homeless women. “[The topic of security concerns] is not a happy lens but it’s one of the truths,” Stribling said.

In response to the rape, Catholic Charities said they have consulted with MPD and ”are taking measures to increase security at the Nativity shelter, including adding more exterior lighting and clearing any obstructive shrubbery.”

Brooks, however, said that these changes alone are nowhere near adequate. “The community has not been notified that there’s a rapist on the loose or anything,” she said.

The only way to protect the women of Nativity, she said, is to go to what she considers the root of the problem –– the staff. “They’re not doing what is necessary for safety and they know that,” Brooks said.

In a separate Sept. 16 email to its partner agencies and organizations, Catholic Charities D.C. announced that the Nativity Women’s Shelter’s name had been changed to the Saint Josephine Bakhita Women’s Shelter “in honor of a saint whose legacy exemplifies resilience and self-determination in the face of immense adversity.”

“The decision to change the shelter’s name was made to better identify the facility with Catholic Charities Housing and Homeless Services and to prevent confusion over a name shared with the nearby Nativity Church, which is unaffiliated with the shelter’s operations,” the email said.

Anyone who has experienced similar situations to those described in this article is encouraged to contact Street Sense Media at editor@ streetsensemedia.org or 202-347-2006 x 13.

The Catholic Charities DC anonymous whistleblower hotline can be reached at 1-877-426-7060 or 202-266-3069.

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NEWS

Seeing Double:

DC drastically reduces the number

BY LILAH BURKE Volunteer

A common area in the W.J. Rolark Building.

PHOTO BY ALEXANDRA KELLEY

Setting new standards for homeless families

BY ALEXANDRA KELLEY // Volunteer

There is a new housing complex situated just on the border between D.C. and Maryland at 4300 12th Street SE. It has 3 floors of singlefamily units, a public computer lab, free tenant WiFi, and a communal lounge, brightly colored and spacious. It is all brand new, with friendly staff and modern furniture. The most distinguishing feature of this new complex? Residents can live here rent-free.

This is the W.J. Rolark building, and it exclusively houses families who are financially and housing insecure, and simply cannot afford to live anywhere else — yet. What could easily be a renovated apartment complex is the future of homeless shelters in D.C. In partnership with the Hillcrest Children and Family Center (Hillcrest Center), a health advocacy and social services agency for underprivileged families, the D.C. government plans to overhaul the current approach to displaced families. “This is part of Mayor Bowser’s effort to transform the shelter system,” said Larry Handerhan, the Chief of Staff at the D.C Department of Human Services.

According to Handerhan, the D.C. government’s efforts to improve living standards and quality are social investments worth the extra attention to detail and funding. Historically, homeless families in the District were housed in D.C. General Hospital, the beleaguered historical hospital and homeless shelter that sat on 19th and Massachusetts, SE. Mayor Bowser permanently closed D.C. General in 2018 as part of a plan she announced in 2016 to replace it with smarter subsidized housing.

These new homes are part of the Bowser administration’s aim to prioritize families who are in an insecure housing and financial state.

The goal of the D.C government is a model that will begins when families come to the center, spend a stabilizing period there and become connected to social services, and then work collaboratively to find a permanent place to live.The model the D.C government is working toward will see families that come to the Hillcrest Center, spend a stabilizing period there, get connected to social services, and work to find a more permanent place to live. Eventually, the W.J. Rolark building will transition into permanent subsidized apartments for families who are exiting homeless service systems. “it is essential to saying when families are in a time of crisis we want them to feel safe and valued and like the city is there for them and the conditions are here to deliver that message, Handerhan said.

The overall color scheme and atmosphere is kid-centric, full of bright colors and natural light that make the environment happy and relaxed.

This uplifting layout was completely intentional. Handerhan explains the architectural goal was to create “really dignified, beautiful rooms for these families.” In addition to the aesthetics, the unit kitchens are stocked with silverware and plates, and bedrooms include thoughtful toys for kids atop crisply made beds.The progressive structure is designed to allow flexibility, and especially encourage kids’ socializing and supportive program options for parents and children.

The W.J. Rolark center has 26 units, making it the smallest constructed so far.Each housing unit is meant to house a maximum of 50 families, with one complex based in different neighborhoods in each of D.C’s eight Wards.

T

he Virginia Williams Family Resource Center, the District’s access point to family shelter, opens at 8:30 every morning. Adults with children in tow are assessed, categorized, and sent off. Some are referred to family shelter, which, since the closing of D.C. General, is now dispersed around the city.

Others are sent to different service providers that can help with rent, mediation, and family concerns.

And still others are turned away.

Today, fewer applicants who come to Virginia Williams end up entering family shelter. Since 2015, the D.C. Department of Human Services, which runs the program, has decreased the number of families in its care by over 40 percent. Five years ago, DHS sheltered over 1,400 families per year.

Last year, that number was just over 850.

That decline was mirrored by a similar, though smaller, decrease in applications for family homeless services. In 2015, Virginia Williams saw more than 7,000 applications for family homeless services, including shelter. Last year, there were 5,500, representing a 22 percent decline.

The percentage of applications that resulted in a shelter stay decreased as well, from 20 percent in 2015 to 15.5 percent in 2018.

Behind the decline is the District’s new Homelessness Prevention Program. DHS has lauded the program as a success, evidenced by the new, lower shelter rate. The program has rerouted people from entering shelter, often by placing families with other households, “doubled-up” with relatives or friends.

The argument for prevention For the department and service providers, doubling up is a laudable goal. Keeping families in their own communities and preventing a stay in shelter can lessen the trauma and stress of homelessness on children and adults alike. But other advocates question whether keeping families couchsurfing is really in their best interests.

These prevention services, which are run by city contractors, help soon-to-be-homeless families stay in place or find new rooms to stay in. Before the prevention program was implemented in 2016, soon-to-be-homeless families could not be helped at Virginia Williams and were asked to come back only after they found themselves on the street.

Often, prevention case managers look for friends or relatives a soon-to-be-homeless family can stay with, according to providers. In situations where the family is already couchsurfing, case managers can mediate tensions or provide money to the host. Doubling up, though, is a goal of the prevention program.

According to the National Center for Homeless Education, the percent of homeless children in D.C.

public schools who are doubled-up (as opposed to in shelter or on the street, for example) increased by over 11 percentage points from 2014 to 2017.

A family’s stay in shelter can sever community bonds, increase stress, and impede children’s development and achievement, says Jamey Burden, vice president of housing programs and policy at the service provider Community of Hope. “The research really shows that families and particularly children do better and thrive when they are in their own communities, and so shelter is not somewhere we would want most families to have to be placed,” he said. Burden says that if families do find themselves with nowhere to go they can enter shelter, though “we’re really trying to make sure that we try everything else.”

“Children that experience homelessness are at risk for all kinds of poor educational outcomes,” said Karen Cunningham, executive director at Everyone Home DC. “If we can avoid people from having to enter shelter, which can be really traumatic, it’s a much better outcome if we can get them stabilized and then work on long-term housing stability.”

Laura Zeilinger, director of the Department of Human Services, has praised the program and said that the agency is achieving its goal of making homelessness “rare, brief, and nonrecurring.”

“We’re preventing homelessness more frequently by intervening early with families,” she said, “with more effective solutions to a housing crisis to prevent an episode of homelessness and help them regain stability.”

Zeilinger says that when homeless families stay with relatives, bonds and support systems are maintained, especially for very young parents.

“When we speak with youth who have experienced homelessness, who are on the other side of that and have regained stability, about what has worked for them,” she said, “the thing that we hear all the time, is sort of that common factor, that it was the ability to maintain a positive relationship with a reliable adult in their lives.”

Assessing long-term outcomes Amber Harding, an attorney with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, does not think this is always a helpful approach. “Homelessness prevention doesn’t prevent [homelessness],” Harding said. “It prevents shelter entries.”

Harding says that through her work she has seen unstable families staying somewhere different each night while being served through prevention services, though she admits that the legal clinic sees the worst cases. “We don’t think it’s in the best interest of families and children to go from couch to couch to couch to couch with no plan for how that’s going to end,” she said. “That’s incredibly destabilizing to families.”

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// 7

AT A GLANCE

of people in shelter as more double up Harding also suggests that some families, who have legitimately no place to stay, are misplaced into the prevention program, while others are kicked out of where they’re staying and not referred to shelter quickly enough.

“Families are asking to be placed in shelter, are saying that’s what they need, are saying they can’t go place to place anymore or they don’t have any place to go tonight and they’re still being denied shelter and still being served through prevention,” she said. “If you have a system that respected the family’s choice in what was best for their family and they chose to go into prevention over shelter, we would be 100 percent on board with that. But that’s not what’s happening.”

Kathy Zeisel, a senior attorney with the Children’s Law Center, works with homeless families who are in unsafe situations and sometimes those families are receiving prevention services. “It’s sort of helping people shuffle around between short term stays that are not really a good solution until they eventually slip into shelter,” she said.

Zeisel also noted that many prevention programs lead to stays in rapid re-housing, one of the District’s most criticized homeless services programs. Families in rapid re-housing are given time-limited help with their leases, but can easily end up evicted when their subsidy runs out. “Very few if any of the families we work with are able to maintain the rent at the end unless they get some other form of voucher at the end of their rapid rehousing,” Zeisel said.

Providers, on the other hand, usually see rapid rehousing as a safe and secure alternative to shelter while someone is building up their income. In 2018, about 250 of the 780 families who received prevention services at Everyone Home DC secured private, permanent apartments, and about half of those were in rapid rehousing.

“We do have some concerns about [shelter] capacity in the fall and whether families are going to be strongly suggested to go into rapid rehousing from shelter,” Zeisel said, “to create shelter spots for the new families coming in, whether or not the families prefer to go into rapid rehousing.”

Do lower numbers mask the need?

DHS has said that homelessness is decreasing, and, by many measures, it is.

Homelessness as measured by the District’s Point in Time Count is indeed falling. The 2019 count, which tracked the number of people sleeping on the street, in shelter, or in temporary housing on a single night in January, decreased 5.5 percent from last year and nearly 22 percent from 2016.

Other metrics are a bit fuzzier. The number of homeless children in D.C. public schools, as counted by the education system, has nearly doubled since 2014.

Similarly, the number of families who sought services from the Virginia Williams center during hypothermia season increased six percent from 2017 to 2019.

“I think the risks that the system is taking for these families are unacceptable,” Harding said. “I think what weighs into their risk analysis is the cost of running shelters. They want to keep those costs down.” “[They want] to look, with the numbers, like they are making a difference even when there is no discernable difference for family homelessness or stability.”

At the core of the conversation about doubling up is a question about what the homeless services system is for, and what it can be expected to achieve.

“The homelessness prevention program can’t compensate for the much, much broader challenge of lack of affordable housing in DC,” said Burden, from Community of Hope.

“Poverty and lack of affordable housing are bigger issues that require a lot more.”

Zeilinger echoed the sentiment. “I think some of our critics believe that if people have not come out of a homeless services program with paying 30 percent of their income toward their rent, that somehow we’ve failed them,” she said. “[Homeless services] cannot be looked to and cannot be effective when its expected to, by itself, without looking at it as part of an ecosystem, end poverty.”

Levester Joe Green II PHOTO COURTESY OF LEVESTER GREEN

After years of homelessness, Street Sense Media Vendor-Artist Levester Green has moved into his very own apartment!

BIRTHDAYS Terry Winslow Sept. 21 ARTIST/VENDOR

L. Morrow Sept. 28 ARTIST/VENDOR

Melody Byrd Sept. 29 ARTIST/VENDOR

Our stories, straight to your inbox Street Sense Media provides a vehicle through which all of us can learn about homelessness from those who have experienced it. Sign up for our newsletter to get our vendors' stories in your inbox.

DCPS data courtesy of the National Center for Homeless Education. Virginia Williams data courtesy of Lilah Burke. Graphic by Cammi Rood.

www.StreetSenseMedia.org/newsletter

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NEWS

With limited access to hospital resources in wards 7 and 8, local clinics are bridging the gap in health care

BY LEAH POTTER EDITORIAL INTERN

PHOTO COURTESY OF WHITMAN-WALKER HEALTH

P

ainted in bold shades of blue, red, green and pink, Whitman-Walker Health’s Max Robinson Center has stood prominently in the historic Anacostia neighborhood, just a few blocks from the Big Chair, since the early 1990s. It was opened to fill a gap in HIV services in Southeast D.C., after having already provided such treatments in Northwest, according to Medical Director Colleen Lane.

“Whitman-Walker honestly sort of jumped at the chance to serve that part of the community,” Lane said.

But nearly three decades later, WhitmanWalker Health and other small-scale health-care operations share a much larger role: providing most of the primary care in wards 7 and 8.

Only one hospital is currently located east of the Anacostia River, while six of D.C.’s seven acute care hospitals are located in Northwest — even though wards 2 and 3 have close to the same number of residents as wards 7 and 8. As a result, primary-care clinics are filling the gap.

The Max Robinson Center is one of more than 10 such clinics located east of the Anacostia River, with others operated under the purview of Unity Health Care and Children’s National Health System.

Today, in its expanded neighborhood role, the Max Robinson clinic offers a wide variety of medical services, including gynecology, chronic disease management, transgender care and services, substance abuse treatment, dental health services, legal services, and insurance navigation services. A pharmacy run by WhitmanWalker Health is just around the corner.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHILDREN’S NATIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM

Lane came to work at the Max Robinson Center about four years ago. Now, she says, “the vibe of the neighborhood is starting to turn toward gentrification.” She mentioned the addition of a high-rise apartment complex across the street from the clinic and a Busboys and Poets restaurant a few blocks away. One thing that hasn’t improved amid that upheaval, Lane said, is access to specialty health care. She said there is no longer a place for a pregnant woman to give birth in Southeast D.C. The obstetrics ward at United Medical Center, the lone hospital east of the Anacostia River, was closed in 2017, after a series of dangerous mistakes were made with multiple pregnant patients.

UMC is scheduled to fully close in 2023, and a new cityowned medical center at the St. Elizabeth’s East campus is set to open that same year. The new hospital, located in Ward 8, will be operated by George Washington University Hospital. In July, Ward 7 got its first urgent-care center, operated by MBI Health Services on the Providence Hospital campus, in place of its shuttered emergency department.

Lane said that because of the current lack of specialty services east of the river, some patients have to take significant time off work to travel to different parts of the city to keep their appointments; others may miss appointments because of transportation costs. Seeing a specialist can be an even bigger “burden,” so such referrals are often pushed off for “as long as we can,” Lane said.

Clinics have adapted in other ways. Lane explained that Whitman-Walker and some other federally qualified health centers recently partnered with public insurers to provide transportation — through services such as Uber or Lyft — for patients traveling to their appointments. For patients in treatment for substance abuse, Whitman-Walker is able to provide SmarTrip cards to defray some of the cost of commuting to appointments.

Whitman-Walker is also able to “prescribe” fresh fruits and vegetables, where patients can receive a voucher to purchase produce at the Giant grocery store on Alabama Ave. Additionally, city officials announced this month that free three-mile taxi rides are available for residents east of the Anacostia River to travel to grocery stores.

“There are some kind of creative-thinking interim interventions that are happening, I think, that’ll help in the short term,” Lane said. “I think that ultimately the final goal is to have our health systems in the city invest and commit to having a quality in Southeast that we’re used to seeing in the rest of the city.”

Health-care professionals and community leaders have argued that there should be more than one hospital east of the river. Recently, community discussions have focused on crafting arguments for a “full-service” hospital that would offer a wide array of specialty services.

In the meantime, health-care workers said there should be a greater focus on medical assets that are already in place.

“We have those clinics. The question is how do we get people to them?” said Vincent Keane, the president and chief executive officer of Unity Health Care. “Most importantly, how

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PHOTO COURTESY OF UNITY HEALTH CARE

do we motivate people to get care early?”

Unity Health Care, which launched in 1985, oversees six of the clinics east of the Anacostia River, including East of the River Health Center and Anacostia Health Center. Keane said Unity Health Care’s presence in southeast D.C. has grown in recent years.

Keane said that while hospitals are critical to any community, hospital-driven health care is not the “way to go” because it isn’t cost effective and does not necessarily focus on preventative health care. Consistent primary care, he noted, prevents expensive hospital visits.

Keane said D.C. residents often rely on emergency rooms as a source of primary care. For example, Keane said a parent may take their child to the emergency room if their child has a cough and they are concerned that their child’s temperature will rise. Rather than jump to seek urgent care — which Keane said should be reserved for critically ill patients as much as possible — residents should first seek care from local clinics.

“It’s less stressful on parents, it’s less stressful on the health care system, and it avoids crowding emergency rooms,” he said.

Keane said that while there are many primary-care clinics in wards 7 and 8, social determinants of health — such as income, housing, and transportation — prevent individuals from accessing the health care they need. He said that almost all of Unity Health Care’s clinics offer walk-in hours that make it easier for residents who work or have children to access clinic resources.

“We need to get people within the community using the clinics that are already there,” he said, “so people are not moving out of their wards to get health care elsewhere when they could get it next door.”

That proximity can help for a few reasons, according to Sahira Long, the medical director for Anacostia-based Children’s Health Center, operated by Children’s National Health System.

“Primary care is always going to be better in the place where the team knows your child the best,” Long said, and in nonemergency situations, children “are better served in a place where their medical history is available and accessible.”

The overutilization of emergency rooms in the District is one of the reasons Children’s National decided to extend its hours of care. Long said Children’s National clinics have seen a steady increase in patients in recent years; the Anacostia clinic alone recorded about 28,000 visits and more than 10,000 patients in 2018. Last year, Long said,79 percent of the patients seen at the Anacostia location were residents in wards 7 and 8, and 90 percent were D.C. residents.

Long said that as Children’s National’s presence east of the river has become more prominent, the health organization has grown in both its patient base and its resources. In addition to pediatricians and nurse practitioners, Children’s National also offers services including on-site social workers, peer counseling, legal counseling, lactation support and food insecurity screenings, with some starting at birth.

Long, echoing Lane, said that while residents east of the river

have struggled with access to food and medical resources, the community is making the best of what is available.

“I’ve seen a resilience in the community,” she said. “It’s been through a lot of changes, either for the worse or the better, and the community has gotten stronger.”

Health Clinics East of the Anacostia River 1. Whitman-Walker Health – Max Robinson Center 2301 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE // (202) 745-7000 2. Children’s National Health System // (202) 476-6900 2101 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE 3. Unity Health Care (multiple locations) Anacostia Health Center // (202) 469-4699 1500 Galen Street SE 4. East of the River Health Center // (202) 469-4699 4414 Benning Road NE 5. Minnesota Avenue Health Center // (202) 469-4699 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE 6. Parkside Health Center // (202) 469-4699 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE 7. Stanton Road Health Center // (202) 469-4699 3240 Stanton Road SE 8. Unity at 801 East Building Shelter // (202) 508-0500 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE 9. United Medical Center // (202) 574-6000 1310 Southern Ave SE 10. Greater DC Physicians Group // (202) 450-5891 2041 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE 11. Good Hope Institute // (202) 610-1886 1320 Good Hope Road SE 12. Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling Medical Clinic Building #1300, 238 Brookley Ave SW // (888) 999-1212 13. Stanton Road Health Center // (202) 469-4699 3240 Stanton Rd SE 14. LIFE CARE INC // (202) 836-4841 1427 Good Hope Rd SE 15. DH Medical & Associates, LLC // (202) 489-9138 1930 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE 16. Pain & Rehab Center // (202) 610-0260 2041 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE Suite 106

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OPINION

Unlikely allies in the battle against the radical left's quest to remake America

BY JEFFERY MCNEIL

Those who believe the Electoral College should be preserved may have found an unlikely ally in Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

In a speech recently at the University of Chicago, Ginsburg pushed back against progressives who want to do away with the Electoral College. In her own words Ginsburg made it clear that abolishing the Electoral College is mostly a theoretical argument “because our Constitution is … hard to amend.”

In order to amend the Constitution, there has to be a twothirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or a constitutional convention called for by twothirds of the state legislatures.

However, this constitutional roadblock isn’t stopping many progressives from trying to replace the Electoral College with a national popular election. There has been a push by fourteen states and the District of Columbia to implement a National Popular Vote interstate compact. This would obligate states' electors to the winner of the national vote, disregarding the will of the voters from each state. While this maneuver is very un-Democratic, these fourteen states carry 189 electoral votes and need only a few more states to bypass the Constitution.

Despite these attempts to circumvent the Electoral College, progressives may have suffered a severe setback courtesy a member of their own party. Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak just vetoed legislation that would have enrolled Nevada in the compact.

And a recent federal court ruling has been damaging as well.

The 10th District Court of appeals argued that the Colorado secretary of state violated the Constitution during the 2016 election when he removed an elector who refused to cast his ballot for Democrat Hillary Clinton, who received a majority of the popular vote both nationally and in Colorado.

The elector's aim was to convince enough members of the Electoral College to unite behind an alternative candidate and deny Donald Trump the presidency.

The Denver appeals court ruled that the electors have an absolute right to vote for the candidates of their choice instead of obeying the will of voters in their states.

In the end, I hope when Trump wins in 2020, and by a landslide, so we can be rid of progressives trying to end-run the Constitution because they can’t win elections on their ideas and platforms.

They want to blame Russia, Trump and their voters instead of looking in the mirror and recognizing Trump is president because Democrats failed to connect with the electorate.

There is no popular movement for banning straws, taking away your guns, or taxing middle-class people so illegal immigrants can get healthcare -- not to mention banning meat or regulating where you travel.

The left wants to be rulers. They don’t like representative democracy.

While I'm not a fan of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I respect that she believes in the Constitution and rule of law and squash this silliness of abolishing the electoral college.

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

The evil triumvirate: How we got into this mess and how Republicans are covering for Trump

BY JEFF TAYLOR

Years before the United States 2016 presidential election, Russian President Vladimir Putin began putting things in place to install faux businessman Donald Trump into the White House. When the Republican Party became aware of Putin's plan they welcomed it. It would be a small price to pay for a.) getting tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy jammed through Congress, and b.) packing the courts with ultra-conservative judges who could be relied upon to give them favorable rulings for generations to come.

This is not me nor anyone else's personal opinion, it is a simple statement of facts. Actually, as hard as it may be to believe, when Congressional leadership was informed by U.S. intelligence officials of Russia's actions, Moscow Mitch McConnell not only refused to sign on to a bipartisan statement warning American voters about what was going on, he threatened President Obama that if he were to make any statement to the public then McConnell would accuse Obama, not the Russians, of interfering with the election.

Furthermore, Russian interests poured money into the coffers of the National Rifle Association which in turn passed that money (in violation of the law) on to Donald Trump's campaign and numerous downballot races. Again, this is not conjecture, it is a fact about which the mainstream media has done precious little reporting, although it is likely that this subject is among those which special counsel Robert Mueller handed off to others for further investigation. So it's little surprise that GOP Congress folks are covering their asses. Their lying and covering for Trump's lying isn't as much about saving Trump as it is about saving themselves. And if Democrats refuse to deal more effectively with attorney general Willian Barr

then it's possible if not likely the whole lot of them will get off scot-free with their treasonous actions.

Much more on A.G. Barr in a moment.

While the whole Russia-gate story has many legs to it and at times can seem so overwhelmingly absurd as to be a work of fiction, when one breaks it down it's really pretty simple. Putin wanted sanctions lifted that were put in place during the Obama administration through the Magnitsky Act. Trump wanted to build Trump Tower Moscow, the tallest building in Europe.

Moscow Mitch McConnell has his own direct ties to Russians and their money. And Republicans in Congress just wanted to hold onto power at all cost.

But since all these shenanigans were pretty much carried out in plain sight, the GOP needed a real fixer to make sure no one was held accountable; enter attorney general William Barr. Barr, as a former A.G., helped to cover up crimes during the IranContra scandal and had expressed during his second confirmation hearings the notion that a sitting president is, in so many words, above the law (so long as he's a Republican). And that leaves us in a very precarious position as a nation. Our top law enforcement official is committed to covering up the crimes and misdeeds of a lawless administration.

So here we are and that's how we got here and things currently look pretty damn bleak for team truth and democracy. What can be done about it?

More than I have space to get into for now. Check me out next month for if and how we get out of this mess with our nation intact. Hint: As ugly as it's gotten already, it's going to get much, much uglier.

Jeff Taylor is a vendor and artist with Street Sense Media.

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Hope Village. PHOTO BY BENJAMIN BURGESS // KSTREETPHOTOGRAPHYDC.COM

Is it over for Hope Village, the last men's halfway house in DC?

BY ERIC THOMPSON-BEY

A D.C. Circulator bus. PHOTO COURTESY OF MJW15 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The circulation of democracy is free bus transit in the nation’s capital

BY ANGIE WHITEHURST

The Circulator busses are free and should stay free!

We are the nation’s capital, the home of the free and the brave, as they say. Citizens who spend lots of money on airfare, buses, gas and hotels are already stretched and pinching dimes in this potential repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. Whether or not that dreaded event happens, the Circulator should remain free.

It is a grievous shame for people who want to visit the seat of their government not to get there because they have no money for transportation. The circulator must stay free as a major component to help ensure people have access to their elected representatives.

We talk about beltway bandits, heavy-handed pressure mongering PACs, and lobbyists pushing their agendas rather than the people’s.. One little but grand gift we can give the people is free transportation access to the government of the people (supposedly), by the people and for the people. And, yes, the feds should pay for it. In the meantime, we implore Mayor Bowser to take the lead and ensure that every route will have a bus stop at the White House and the Hill. Money is not everything! Keep the Circulator free!

Angie Whitehurst is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

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

- Want to share firsthand experience?

- Interested in responding to what someone else has written?

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

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

Please send submissions to opinion@streetsensemedia.org.

In August, Street Sense Media reported that Hope Village will lose its contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons when the new fiscal year begins on October 1, 2019. I support the bureau’s decision. When I was last at Hope Village, the staff was poorly trained and unprofessional. They are no help for returning citizens.

When I was released from BOP for the last time in 2011, I chose to do 90 extra days in prison rather than to go to Hope Village.

I thought that if I went there, I would be setting myself up for failure. “I have never successfully completed that place," I said to myself. While I was there, it seemed like whenever I did the right thing, one of the staff would try to make it wrong. And other times I just wouldn't do right.

I have been to Hope Village halfway house multiple times. The last time was in 2010 when I was ordered to the halfway house through Pretrial Services. Back then, the D.C. Department of Corrections had a work program for offenders who were in the halfway house by Pretrial Services while awaiting sentencing. There was a Green Team that did landscaping around the city and a Blue Team that did clean-up. I was able to work on the Green Team. We made minimum wage. On Fridays, the guards would take us to the jail to get our wages in cash.

Before my 2010 stay at Hope Village, I had been released from the Federal Bureau of Prisons to Hope Village as part of BOP’s 500-hour drug program, which I failed to complete.

Safety was another issue at Hope Village every time I was there. Nothing happened to me personally, but I was always fearful because many residents were robbed, assaulted, and even murdered inside Hope Village and in the surrounding neighborhood. One of the best ways to improve services would be through better security. Make the residents feel safe and not like they are still in prison.

This is especially important for people who are being released into homelessness.

The point of a halfway house is to help you

transition back to society successfully. The way things work at Hope Village is you can receive passes to leave the halfway house: daily work passes or passes to look for work, and social passes that you earn by working that can be used on weekends to visit family.

These passes are what everybody works for.

But a lot of people don’t have a permanent address when they are preparing to come home. And if you don’t have a permanent address when you go to Hope Village, such as that of a family member, you don’t qualify for social passes. When you leave, the halfway house wants to know exactly where you are. The way the feds see it, if your family is in public housing or any other federallysubsidized housing situation where their name is not on the lease, you can’t use their address.

So, if you were homeless before you went to prison, or if your family is low-income and on a federal voucher, you can’t leave the halfway house except for work, or something like a haircut. You’ll be in there all weekend.

Just imagine being somewhere where you could walk right out that door, but if you do, there’s a penalty. Halfway houses aren’t quite halfway for people facing homelessness.

I don’t think that’s fair. Your family can come to you for a couple of hours, once a week. But you can’t leave.

There had been talks about creating a new halfway house in D.C. And since Hope Village can’t get their mess together, BOP absolutely needs to get another contractor here. Hope Village has been here too long, stealing too much money from their federal contract without providing the service they are supposed to. When you’re preparing to be released from prison, it’s important to reconnect with family and build what safety net you can before you get out. That’s why it’s crucial for people to be able to come home, to a halfway house in D.C., before they are released. We need a Halfway House. But we don’t need Hope Village.

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

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ART

Chino’s Mark Emotionally Connected to Chino

BY MARCUS GREEN // Artist/Vendor

As I sit here reflecting on our relationship, and the relentless tears in my eyes, my prayers go out to Bernard Jamaal Dean, Jr. and his family; all love for my brother Chino. He was talented in cartoons and writing.

You see, having a personal relationship with him, he will live on forever in my heart. It’s times like this that makes you wish you were dreaming.

The saddest part about it is not talking, hugging, and joking etc. Never again! All you got is memories. So, while we grieve as a family, we lean on each other for support so we can get through the pain of losing a loved one.

God bless you.

One of Chino’s comics from 2011. STREET SENSE MEDIA ARCHIVES Marcus G.

An Enduring Memory

BY FREDERIC JOHN // Artist/Vendor

Chino had lost all his bets in “Race to Riches,” in the old Metro News building.

I walk in and hit the electronic “12” horse for $38.

I immediately gave a ten-spot to my good friend.

Then I gave Chino a big, fat hug.

THEN we both wept for joy!!!

R.I.P. Tent City

BY LATICIA BROCK A.K.A. “PWEZZY” // Artist/Vendor

Do you like my poetry?

What if I told you it's my will and Street Sense Media was the source to express how I tell my life story where giving back is all that matters.

But why do it seem that politicians and government workers are getting fatter?

If anything should happen to me today or tomorrow my friend let the streets of D.C. and housing become equal rights beginning, But while I'm still living at least try to help the Tent City conditions.

Because obviously helping my tent wasn't Mayor Bowser's intention.

You promised to clean my D.C. streets; Oh, save me!

Well why in your first term did you adopt a baby?

Now you didn't use that fiscal budget right how can you rest fancy knowing rats bite us at night?

Now you said you'd make my city pretty Let's start by burying Tent City.

Foster Care

Chino in November 2011

BY DARLESHA JOYNER // Artist/Vendor

My Business Partner

BY PATTY SMITH // Artist/Vendor

Chino worked in the office at one point, helping to distribute papers to the vendors. It must have been 8 years ago. As a vendor himself, he and I were

Chino’s memorial took place where he slept.

partners on Sundays, selling papers to the Church of Epiphany morning worshipers. He was always nice to me.

My foster care experience was amazing, allowing me to go to any college I wanted as well as providing me with a laptop for graduation. I stayed in touch with one family named the Cliftons and I considered them my parents as well as a sibling of their adopted grandchildren. I was with several other homes and group homes before the Cliftons. If you don’t find your fit with a family like I did, you will get brushed off at 21 with nowhere to go.

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Congratulations to a fixture of my community!

BY HUBERT “PEATE” PEGUES Artist/Vendor

The Welcome Table is the largest community ministry at Church of the Epiphany, located in downtown Washington D.C. We feed 200 guests a hot breakfast every Sunday morning. I am writing this article to salute a great man, Mr. Bob Wallen, who is retiring as the Welcome Table morning musician. Bob volunteered with our program for more than 25 years.

Bob grew up Baptist in Port Neches, Texas the only child of Alexander and Mamie Wallen. After his graduation from Baylor University he left Texas for the Virginia Theological Seminary. He felt a calling to the priesthood but after his second year at VTS he decided the priesthood was not for him. He sometimes jokes about his calling, saying they had the wrong number. He finished with a master’s degree in theological studies, doing his field work here at Church of the Epiphany under the leadership of the Reverend Edgar Romig.

Bob became an employee of the United States federal government in 1970. He retired in 2011 with a grand celebration at Epiphany with guest speakers, a jazz band and a special performance by the Welcome table choir.

Bob has been a member of Church of the Epiphany for fifty years and has served on every committee. He served on the vestry (church council) and as the warden, which is like being the head of the House of Representatives.

Nothing goes on in the church without going through the vestry.

In 1994 the church welcomed Reverend Randolph Charles, who soon noticed that the 8 a.m. Sunday service had a diverse congregation. The majority of attendees were African American; many were poor, some were homeless, some had mental health issues and some had other challenges. The Sunday morning service is now called the Welcome Table, so named as a way to make everyone feel welcome in God’s place.

On Sundays, tables are set up and after morning worship a hot breakfast is served on real china. Reverend Charles would sit at a different table each week and talk to our guests. One day he talked with Bob about changing the music for that service.

Bob accepted the reverend’s challenge and started playing

more familiar hymns and Gospel music for that service. As I mentioned, Bob was raised Baptist. This was in 1995, the beginning of his 24-year commitment.

My name is Hubert Pegues, also known as Peate. One Sunday morning I came to the Welcome Table to eat breakfast.

The choir was directed by Bob and Ms. Carolyn Bledsoe. I enjoyed the music so I decided to join the choir, not knowing if I still had a strong voice. You see, years ago in college I studied voice but I used drugs and alcohol for more than ten years and had become homeless. Surprisingly, the voice was still there! I gave my life to Christ and this was the beginning of my new life.

I checked into a rehab place for a year and have been going strong ever since. In rehab they put you through a 30-day blackout, with no phone calls or visitors and confinement to the building.

After the blackout I got in touch with Bob and he used to pick me up for church and then take me back to the facility. When we talked on the telephone he gave me encouragement. In 2013, Ms. Bledsoe left her position at the church and we were without a director for a couple of months. Then one Sunday after the service Reverend Charles called me into his office and asked me to become director of the Welcome Table choir. I agreed and it was the beginning of an even closer relationship with Bob. I was raised A.M.E, Zion and Bob taught me the way things are done in an Episcopal church.

The Welcome Table continues to be a strong ministry in the church. This is where I received my help and now I am here to give something back. I have watched Bob over the years constantly giving. He is a tither; he pledges and donates a great deal of his time. He purchased new choir robes and

Help from Heaven What is “help’? Well one definition is to “aid” or to “assist” someone, or one who “assists” another. We need to “help” or “aid” and “assist” the homeless “men” and “women” regardless of their conditions. This includes if they are mentally ill or physically handicapped or awaiting benefits from the local government.

These individuals may be “clothed” or “unclothed” or they may be “black” or “white.” They may be “fed” or “unfed.” They may be living on the “street” or in “shelters.” They may be “educated” or “uneducated.” They may be “short” or “tall” or “employed” or “unemployed.” The list goes on and on.

What is “Heaven?” Heaven is love, peace kindness and happiness. It rules and it regulates. It’s a paradise of your wildest dreams where “Jesus” is on the right-hand side of “God”, the “Father” in “Heaven.” He is right here, right now, “descending” and “ascending” from “Heaven” to “Earth”, freeing those in “captivity” or “captured” in homeless “sin.” Amen.

“SOS”, a Morse code signal, was created in “1905” because

“sailors” needed a way to indicate distress and danger. The signal gained notoriety in “1910” when used by the sinking steamship Kentucky, which saved all 46 people aboard. While “SOS” may be a more recent invention, the urgency for “help”, “aid” and “assistance is as old as “humanity.”

We hear it often in the Book of Joshua, who faced opposition from fellow Israelites and challenging terrain for more than 14 years. As the Israelites slowly conquered and settled in the land, “the Lord was with Joshua.” In Joshua 10, the Israelites went to the “aid” of the Gibeonites who were allies of Israel and were being attacked by five Canaanite kings. Joshua knew that he needed the Lord’s help to defeat so many powerful enemies. The Bible says in Joshua 10 :14 “Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!”

We are up against so many powerful enemies currently and will face even more in the future. However, it is truly a blessing when we give cheerfully to those in need and receive cheerfully

150 copies of the new African American Heritage Hymnal for the congregation.

Bob told me that he’s ready to retire from his volunteer job and take some time to for himself. He married his life partner of more than thirty years, Alan Price, owns their home and has a 17-year-old dog named Barney. If you or someone you know is in the Welcome Table choir or has formerly sung with us and would like to sing with Bob one last time, please join us Sunday September 22, 2019 at 10:30 am at Church of the Epiphany.

Bob, it has been great working with you and may God continue to bless you! It is good to know that you will still be attending church here.

Love, Hubert (Peate) Pegues

Bob Wallen (top row, far left), Hubert Pegues (bottom row, second from right) and the The Welcome Table Choir.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HUBERT PEGUES

from those who may have more than they need. Corinthians 9:7 says that God loveth a cheerful giver. So, when we give, we must give with joy, meekness and longsuffering. Not hastily with hatred.

If you are amid a challenging situation, you can send out an “SOS” to God. Although the help, aid, or assistance will look different than the assistance that Joshua received, perhaps it may be in the form of a new job. It could also be from the work of an outstanding doctor or peace during grief. Be encouraged that these are ways He is responding to your call for “help” or “aid” and is willing to fight for you.

Did you know in the New Testament and in so many Bible stories, God sent “John” and Jesus from “Heaven” to help, aid, and assist His people? Those two prayed, protected, provided and sheltered God’s people. Even in the Old Testament, there are so many stories about how God sent Aaron and Moses to help, aid, assist God’s people in times of trouble.

“If God be with us, who can be against us?” “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor power, nor things present, nor things to come, nor, height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen!

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LAST EDITION’S PUZZLE SOLUTION >>

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You are clever, alert, and intellectual.

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// ST REET SEN S E

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Stink

BY QUEENIE FEATHERSTONE Artist/Vendor

How to beat the heat

BY ANTHONY CARNEY Artist/Vendor

Working in the heat can be very dangerous. I wear a hat and drink plenty of water. My mission is to find a shady spot to stand in, which makes it easier for my customers to buy a paper because they don't have to stand in the sun. I take breaks to prevent becoming overheated. I also go inside restaurants to get some air conditioning.

If you don't take care of yourself, you could get heat stroke or faint. You may even do both. So be careful out there!

And, as always, Spread the Love.

Why do they stink?

It’s the worst smell like my soaking wet mink.

No home to wash their a**.

I’m sick of them stinking.

Everyone can smell, So why can’t they tell?

Of their stinking smell.

Ask me and I’ll tell, Of a man, Who can clean you up from inside, Then on the outside, in a hurry So you can bury, That stinking smell.

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

Education Educación

Health Care Seguro

Clothing Ropa

Legal Assistance Assistencia Legal

Case Management Coordinación de Servicios

Food Comida

Employment Assistance Assitencia con Empleo

Transportation Transportación

Showers Duchas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOTLINE Línea de salud del comportamiento

1-800-799-7233

Housing/Shelter Vivienda/alojamiento

1-888-793-4357 Laundry Lavandería

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

// 15

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

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

HELP! WE’RE LOOKING FOR

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

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

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

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

TOGETHER WE

RISE SENSE STREET MEDIA Real Stories Real People Real Change Cut out and mail with admission fee to Brian Corome at 1317 G Street NW, Washington D.C. 20005.

Or visit our website to purchase tickets or make a contribution! streetsensemedia.org/celebration

Join us as we celebrate!

Wednesday, October 2, 2019 Church of the Epiphany 1317 G Street NW VIP Reception // 5 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Admission // 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. streetsensemedia.org/celebration

Join us as we raise a glass to 16 years of Street Sense Media! Our annual celebration, Together We Rise, will include live performances, a silent auction, and a presentation of awards to founder and Executive Director of Sasha Bruce Youthwork, Deborah Shore, and our pro bono legal partner Arent Fox LLP. Your ticket price includes access to an open bar. Food will be available for purchase in our food truck garden and artwork will be for sale throughout the venue.

For a more intimate experience, our VIP reception will feature “Still Standing” author Gerald Anderson and award winning photographer Chris Earnshaw. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet our talented artists and mingle with the Street Sense Media team.

Hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be served.

Thank you for reading Street Sense!

From your vendor

____ Young Professional $30* ____ “I Want To Do More” $60*

____General Admission $45* ____ VIP $100* (VIP reception starts at 5:00 pm)

SEPT. 18 - OCT. 1 | VOLUME 16 ISSUE 23

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