10 19 2016

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Volume 13: Issue 25 October 19 - November 1, 2016

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ALSO INSIDE: ing Terrance Sterl

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using Affordable Ho FY2018 budgets

Mental Health

age takes center st

Polka-dot Paradox: Strict dress codes and oft-diverted financial assistance creates additional barriers to education for homeless families. pgs 4-5

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COVER ART

CORRECTIONS In our 10.05.2016 edition, the article “Buzzard Point Residents Air Environmental Concerns” misstated the number of affordable units DCHA has rebuilt since the demolition of the Capper/ Carrollsburg development. The error implied that less units have been constructed than is true. The original number stated, 270 (of 707), is the number still to be rebuilt — not the number that has been completed.

In our 10.05.2016 edition, the article “NVFS Provides Toolbox for the Self-Determined” stated that NVFS was “familiarizing itself with the unique challenges of clients…” and that “…programs that engender trauma-informed care are in the works.” While the organization is just beginning to implement traumainformed care in the workforce development program mentioned in the article, the practice of traumainformed care is not new to NVFS. It has long been a central component of the NVFS Program for Survivors of Torture and Trauma. NVFS staff have used the results of that program to advocate on the Hill for broader use of trauma-informed care.

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STREET SENSE October 19 - November 1, 2016

NEWS IN BRIEF

3

Theater Tour Urges Communities to Talk About Mental Illness

By Elli Bloomberg Elli.bloomberg@streetsense.org Six years ago, Kristin Pedemonti stood on a subway platform in New York City, contemplating jumping into the path of an oncoming train. She leaned further and further forward, staring at the headlights advancing through the tunnel. At the last minute, she pulled back, not wanting to traumatize the train’s passengers. As the doors whooshed open, a woman put her hand on Pedemonti’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. It gets better,” the stranger said. “I’ve been there, too.”

Pedemonti had no idea how the woman knew what was going through her mind, but one thing was certain: she was not alone.

Pedemonti told her story onstage on Oct. 11, hoping to give others a metaphorical version of that stranger’s hand on her shoulder. She was one of 16 performers at This Is My Brave, a stage show in which participants spoke out about mental illness. Performers read poems and monologues, sang, and—in one case—did an interpretive dance.

“Our stories are more powerful than we realize,” Pedemonti said. “There’s healing in the stories once they’re shared. Healing for the listener. Healing for the teller as well, but mostly for other people to realize they’re not alone.”

This Is My Brave was jointly organized

by a nonprofit of the same name and Our Door Community Wellness Center, which provides services to people with mental health and substance abuse issues. It took place at the Keegan Theatre, a cozy, brick-walled space in Dupont Circle.

Keeping the sensitive subject matter in mind, organizers placed a box of tissues at the end of each row of seats. Proceeds went to Our Door.

The D.C. show, which ran for two nights, was one of many that will take place throughout the country this year.

Melinda Hasbrouck, executive director of Our Door, produced the D.C. and Baltimore shows with This Is My Brave co-founder Jennifer Marshall. Hasbrouck found out about the show while researching creative outlets for her clients.

Marshall’s own struggle with bipolar disorder, and her decision to publicly blog about it, inspired her to give others a space to speak out. She originally wrote anonymously, fearing the stigma attached to mental illness. But when the editor of a parenting blog asked her to write for them, she decided to use her real name.

“I was being recognized [as] someone overcoming mental illness, and I wanted to make a difference,” Marshall said. “I wanted people to know that your life doesn’t end because of a diagnosis, and with support and help, you can get through it.”

After her story was published on the AOL homepage, Marshall said, she received calls and emails from people eager to share their own experiences.

Realizing the “power of storytelling,” Marshall and her co-founder launched a Kickstarter in 2013, calling for donations to produce a show that would counter stigma. The response was enormous.

“We had a goal of $6500 for our first show, and we wound up raising over $10,000 in 31 days,” Marshall said.

The stigma Marshall mentioned can impact how people deal with their mental health, according to Kana Enomoto, acting administrator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

55 million Americans met the criteria for a mental illness or substance abuse disorder in 2015, according SAMHSA. Only 39 percent received treatment. While cost and access put up significant barriers, SAMHSA found that 35.1 percent of people who did not seek services cited “social concerns” — they were afraid of negative effects on their careers and social lives, or worried about confidentiality.

At a September briefing with the National Press Foundation, Enomoto said that changing the language used to talk about behavioral health, especially in mass media, can help break down these societal barriers to seeking treatment.

This Is My Brave first got people talking

in 2014, when it premiered in Alexandria, VA. In 2015, they put on six shows throughout the country. This year, there will be nine. Marshall expects even more in 2017.

After the D.C. show, artists described feelings of relief and hope.

“I just wanted to share some of my personal journey with…depression with others so they won’t feel alone,” said Tonyia Renee, who performed a monologue. “I wanted to share a piece of my story so I could continue to walk in my own recovery.”

Many of the performers’ stories were hopeful. Waldon Adams, a marathon r u n n e r a n d c a s e m a n a g e r, c r e d i t s running with turning his life around.

Struggling with PTSD, manic depression, and substance abuse, he spent most of his adult life in psychiatric wards and hospitals. During one stay, he realized that jogging around his bed helped him feel better.

“I felt like a real person, almost,” he said.

Still, performers and organizers acknowledged that mental illness doesn’t just go away. “ T h e r e ’s a l w a y s h a p p i n e s s i n everybody’s story, but this isn’t about putting a rosy picture on mental illness,” Hasbrouck said. “This is to get people saying, ‘Let’s talk about this.’”

Crummell School Proposals Address Recreation and Housing

By Mark Rose, Volunteer

On Sept. 22 at a community meeting at Bethesda Baptist Church in Northeast, two land developers and the nonprofit agency Empower DC presented proposals to D.C.’s Deputy Mayor for Economic Development about how to develop the historic and currently vacant Crummell School. The school, named after educator Alexander Crummell, was built in the Ivy City neighborhood of Northeast in 1911 to educate African-American children.

The two commercial developers, Trammell Crowe and Ivy City Partners, proposed developing some of the site for community re-use while using some of it for mixed-income housing and retail services, according to their websites.

Empower DC proposed developing the land and building exclusively for community re-use, which includes low-income housing.

Trammell Crow’s online presentation says it would devote some space to parks and open space. Their plan also includes a 230-unit apartment building, a YMCA facility offering senior and day care services, and a New Mary’s Center that would have medical, dental, mental health and educational facilities for all

income levels including those without any money. Trammell’s proposal includes 88 senior affordable housing units for those in the 40-60 percent Area Median Income (AMI) bracket and 318 units of multifamily housing, 105 or 33 percent of which would be affordable to those in the 40-60 percent AMI bracket.

Trammell officials had community meetings to get input, and report in their proposal that they used 12 of the 15 most-often suggested items in their plan.

Finally, they would have a retail-focused workforce program with Goodwill.

Ivy City Partners would provide space for recreational and community use, open space, plus some space for industrial use. They would provide mixed-income housing. In addition to open space and land for community use, they would have some industrial use. They would have job training connected with retail stores.

Ivy City Partners’ plan makes it clear that the community would determine the programs offered at the center; it would definitely include day care, a health clinic, a recreational facility, job training and a culinary school.

Empower DC’s Executive Director Parisa Norouzi said in an email that the School building and one acre of the site would become part of a Community Land Trust that would be the first of its kind in the District. They propose one acre of green space, which is the most of any of the proposals.

All housing proposed by Empower DC would be for lower income people, Norouzi’s communication said. They propose to build 120 units of low-cost housing, 10 percent of which would be permanent supportive housing for people coming out of homelessness, including those with no income. Twenty percent would be for those earning only 30 percent or less of Area Median Income (AMI), and the rest for families at or below 60 percent of AMI. There wouldn’t be any housing for high income people.

All housing would be accessible to people who have housing vouchers.

Empower’s proposal offers a Community of Hope health clinic that will serve low-income families, including those without insurance, and children with special needs. A clinic currently in Ward 5 that is

closing because of planned development, the Family Health and Birth Center, would be moved to the Crummell School site.

There would also be a retail outlet offering cheap household items, furniture and building supplies, run by DC Habitat for Humanity and called a ReStore, according to Empower DC materials.

There would be an indoor sports and recreation facility open to the community, the Empower DC materials say.

Norouzi pointed out that most of the available housing in Ivy City is single family homes and small four-unit apartment buildings. Those who cannot afford rents as they rise may not be able to stay in the neighborhood without these new proposed low-cost apartments; Norouzi wants to absorb as many of them as they can.

To make it all happen, Empower DC has secured a philanthropic commitment of as much as $10 million, Norouzi said.

A spokesman for the deputy mayor’s office said in an email that his office wouldn’t comment on proposals that are under active consideration, but that the deputy mayor would be making a choice

by November.

School Uniform Policies Highlight Students’

By Jerome Dineen jerome.dineen@streetsense.org Like many new middle schoolers, she walked to school on the first day of sixth grade with butterflies in her stomach. She hoped to make some new friends. Most of all, she hoped she wouldn’t get in trouble.

Her school required all students to wear black, white or flesh-colored socks. She wore polka-dot socks that day.

Michelai Lowe, the pre-teen and teen program manager of the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project, a D.C. nonprofit dedicated to providing unhoused and low-income children with a safe space for recreation and socialization, said the girl called from her school’s main office and asked Lowe to fetch a pair of white socks. School staff handed the girl a detention slip earlier because she violated the dress code, Lowe said.

Most schools provide a one-week grace period before enforcing the dress code.

Lowe said the girl, whose family declined to comment, walked in with this grace period in mind, only to be punished on her first day.

“She has an older brother who also attends the school, so she understands the dress code,” Lowe said. “I guess they’re like a boot camp, trying to set the tone for the rest of the year.”

The girl’s school gave her a gift card to purchase the proper uniform. Later that week, Lowe drove out to Maryland to buy socks at the school’s partner store. When Lowe got there, the gift card didn’t work.

“To their credit, [the school authorities] didn’t know there were going to be issues,” Lowe said. “They’re trying to help our families, but at the same time they have other roles that they need to fulfill as well.

So our kids kind of get left in the dust.”

Three quarters of public and charter schools in the District now require uniforms, and according to a Street Sense analysis, some uniforms cost as much as $60 dollars each. The average D.C. public school uniform costs $28 for boys and $32 for girls.

For wealthy students, this kind of expense is manageable, but acquiring uniforms can overburden unhoused families according to Jamilia Larson, the founder and executive director of the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project.

“ Yo u ’ r e w e a r i n g y o u r f a m i l y ’s economic situation,” Larson said. “The sibling of the girl with the polka dot socks — he had to wear his uniform, but his mom couldn’t afford to buy a whole new wardrobe this year. So he’s wearing uniforms that are too small.”

Although schools are mandated under federal law to provide supplies for unhoused students, Larson said school uniforms often reach those students after the school year begins.

Nicole Lee-Mwandha, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education’s homeless education director, said delays can occur because local nonprofits and charities such as Neediest Kids and Focus DC typically start their supply distribution after the school year starts. Homeless Children’s Playtime Project also raises donations for students at the beginning of the year.

Lee-Mwandha also said schools that have supplemental funding available to them through federal grants and local subsidies often don’t use those funds for unhoused students. Extra funding typically comes from three sources, two of which are federal: McKinney-Vento grants and

At-Risk Funding Is Not Consistant with Projected At-Risk Enrollment

Title 1 subsidies; in addition, there is some local funding for students who are “at-risk” of not graduating.

According to the U.S. Department of Education website, schools can apply for a federal grant under the 1987 McKinneyVento Homeless Assistance Act as long as they establish a “homeless liaison” caseworker to post public notices and inform unhoused families of their children’s right to education. Lee-Mwandha, who supervises these caseworkers, said they must remove all barriers to education for unhoused children by providing them with uniforms and transportation assistance.

A school can also qualify for Title 1, Part A funding if more than 40 percent of students receive a free or reducedprice lunch. The District’s 115 public and charter schools received almost $15 million in Title 1 funding for the 2016-2017 school year, according to D.C.’s Open Data Project. Congress approves budget for the U.S. Department of Education, which then allocates grants down to each state.

Finally, at-risk subsidies are determined within the city budget that D.C. City Council votes on every May before the

STREET SENSE October 19 - November 1, 2016

COVER STORY

Economic Inequalities fiscal year starts in October. At-risk money targets unhoused students, foster-care students or students who have repeated a grade one or more times. For the 20162017 school year, D.C. Council approved more than $47 million for at-risk programs.

However, a significant share of that at-risk and Title I money may not follow unhoused students to their schools.

Mary Levy, an education fiscal policy consultant and former researcher at the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI), said schools often dip into supplemental funds because their core programs have not received enough funding.

According to a DCFPI analysis conducted

by Levy and co-author Soumya Bhat, 32 percent of at-risk money for the 20152016 school year was used to fund core programs, and not to target at-risk students. For the 2016-2017 school year, that number rose to 47 percent, which means $22 million of at-risk money was allocated to programs already otherwise funded by the District.

“At-risk funding is supposed to supplement funding that schools otherwise have access to,” Levy said. “Something

you often hear in education circles is that at-risk funds must ‘supplement not supplant’ standard funding.”

Levy also said that under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, all students at schools with at-risk percentages greater than 40 percent automatically receive free or reduced price lunch.

U.S. Education Department auditors then record these schools as having a 99 percent free or reduced price lunch population, which means more schools receive Title 1 subsidies.

“It would be nice to think that the federal government would provide more funding as more students are identified as “economically disadvantaged,” but that has not happened,” Levy said. “DCPS has had roughly the same amount of Title I funding every year since 2011 and Congress has appropriated roughly the same amount for the entire nation since then.”

When schools can provide financial assistance to students, it’s not always enough to meet basic needs. Ralonte Hill, an unhoused student at Eastern High School, sued the District of Columbia because the school did not provide him

5

the special education and transportation assistance to which he was legally entitled.

Hill said during several interviews with school officials that he often skipped school because his uniform was “too dirty” or because he didn’t have “the right color,” and because the D.C. Metro card the school gave him only worked at very specific times. Eastern provided him with one uniform. When he requested more uniforms, school officials said they would allow him to wash and dry his uniform at school, but told him he would have to look elsewhere for more clothing.

His case was decided in August 2016.

D.C.’s District Court awarded Hill an entire year of compensatory education at New Beginnings, a private vocational school in the District. Hill could not be reached for comment.

According to data gathered by the U.S. Department of Education, Hill was one of the 30 percent of unhoused students in the United States who skipped school last year because they lacked the proper attire. One other case regarding DCPS’s treatment of an unhoused student was filed in 2016.

Lee-Mwandha said she has directed

It Usually Costs More for Girls to Meet Dress Code Requirements than Boys

several training sessions for caseworkers where she told them to advocate to their school leadership to use at-risk funding for unhoused children. Nonetheless, she said schools that cannot provide their unhoused students with uniforms must commit them with what they have.

“There’s no getting around it: when a child is experiencing homelessness, he or she should not be singled out and stigmatized for it,” Lee-Mwandha said.

Larson concurred with Lee-Mwandha’s statement: “The students shouldn’t have to pay the price for the system not being ready. If the system’s not ready, why would we expect the children to be ready?”

Levy said one solution to insufficient funding for low-income or unhoused students could lie in budget reductions for DCPS’s central office. For the 2016-2017 school year, D.C. City Council approved a budget that would give 5 percent of overall funding to DCPS’s central office.

“The question is this: do we really need all of these people to look over the shoulders of teacher and principals?” Levy said. “Could some of that money be spent on at-risk children?”

Boys

Girls

Must be Purchased at Rainbow Kids Clothing Store Bruce Monroe Elementary School at Park View

$56.96

$54.96

Must be purchased at Brookland Middle School Store Brookland Middle School

$50.96

$64.66

Must be purchased at Brookland Middle School Store Stuart-Hobson Middle School

$26.95

$25.45

Walmart Aiton Elementary

$22.41

Browne Education Campus

$14.39

Ballou HS

$30.41 $14.39

$30.41

Bunker Hill Elementary

$22.41

Burroughs Elementary School

$30.93

Cardozo Education Campus

$33.94

Garfield Elementary School

$58.40

Kelly Miller Middle School

$26.20

Langdon Es

$14.22

Malcom X Elementary

$19.44

McKinley Technology High School

$19.33

Phelps Architecture, Construction & Engineering

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Raymond

$22.41

Ron Brown College Preparatory High School

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Van Ness Elementary School

$9

Eastern HS

$47.91

$30.91 $39.43 $40.48 $66.90 $34.78 $14.41 $19.44 $19.33 $40.58

$9 $55.91

Data collected by surveying each school for required dress and where those items may be purchased. Then each list was price-checked at the identified retailers. All D.C. public and charter schools were surveyed. Repetition removed from this chart for space. Full analysis available at StreetSense.org/uniforms. | CREATED BY JEROME DINEEN

Ralliers Call for More Affordable Housing Funds and Budget Input

By Robyn Di Giacinto robyn.digiacinto@streetsense.org Roughly 75 District residents rallied outside D.C. General Family Shelter on a rainy Saturday, Oct. 1, to demand that Mayor Muriel Bowser prioritize spending for affordable housing over policing and jails in next year’s budget.

Bread for the City community organizers Nicole Baker and Sam Jewler wanted to get the mayor’s attention after they learned this year’s budget, which went into effect Saturday, allocated three times more funding to policing and jails than affordable housing programs.

In an official press release, they also called for Bowser to attend a town hall budget meeting that Bread for the City will host in December. Jewler acknowledged in an email that Bowser’s efforts to include the community in public budget forums hosted earlier this year were an improvement over previous administrations’ efforts. However, after attending those meetings he found them to be “somewhat superficial.”

“Given that Mayor Bowser starts putting together her priorities in November or December, and hosts the budget forums in February, it’s clear that...all the big decisions have already been made,” said Jewler. “We are beginning our budget organizing in October because we want to set a tone and show that this year will be different.”

“One of Mayor Bowser’s top priorities is to preserve and produce affordable housing in the District, so that everyone who wants to live in the city, can live in the city,” said Polly Donaldson, director of the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development in an email statement on Oct. 7.

“The mayor does understand that the demand for affordable housing is higher than available resources,” Donaldson said. “[Next year’s] budget process is in its early development, however, so it is too early

to speak to specific budgetary numbers.”

The rally, which was organized in partnership with the D.C. Employment Justice Center and the Horn of Africa Community Initiative, started at 1 p.m. in a driveway next to the StadiumArmory Metro stop. The site overlooked the D.C. General Family Shelter and D.C. Jail. Attendees listened to speakers and chanted protest slogans despite grey skies and off-and-on showers.

“My caseworker told me I’d have to

housing. “I think that if someone gives you the opportunity to have that kind of power and money, you should work real hard to get it to people who need it.”

Co-organizer John Neagundoeboi said he’s heard many stories of native Washingtonians having to move to the suburbs due to rising rents or a dearth of landlords willing to accept housing vouchers. He said he wishes he could tell those making budget decisions to talk to the community. “You gotta grow and things

move out of DC,” said Charles Crews, who ran as a write-in candidate for the D.C. Council in 2013, to a fervent chorus of agreement. “I work two jobs, I should be able to afford a place.”

As the chants died down, volunteers played music and distributed free sandwiches, bananas and bottled water as protesters signed petitions and held signs at passing cars. The event was punctuated with moments of joy, as neighbors embraced and formed an impromptu dance circle.

Kevin Winky was born in D.C. General Hospital, which has since become a homeless shelter. He said he believes the city can do more to provide affordable

change, but you gotta involve everyone.”

Bowser has long listed affordable housing as a top budget priority, aiming to eliminate homelessness in the District b y 2 0 2 0 . T h i s y e a r’s $ 1 3 . 4 b i l l i o n budget allocated $234 million to various affordable housing programs, which was about $16 million more than last year.

On Oct. 7, city and community leaders broke ground on the Beacon Center, one of the new projects being built with this money. At the ceremony, Bowser announced that last year $106.3 million was committed through the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF). $100 million of this was new funding that Bowser budgeted and $6.3 million was

unused HPTF funding allotted by previous administrations but never implemented.

A Bowser spokesperson indicated that this money was now getting through the door because of Donaldson’s aggressive efforts to push projects forward.

This funding covers building six new projects and renovating 13 projects— totaling to 1,210 affordable housing units for over 2,600 D.C. residents.

“We want a Brightwood that’s inclusive of people of all incomes and that’s why I push for affordable housing,” Bowser said to the crowd. “And it’s not easy, and it’s not enough either, so we as a city, as prosperous as we are, have to continue to focus on how more Washingtonians can participate in this progress.”

Despite this progress, several key programs were left out of this year’s budget. According to an analysis from the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, the budget “does not add funds for tenant-based vouchers for families on the DC Housing Authority waiting list, or new rental assistance linked to units assisted by the Housing Production Trust Fund.”

Housing Authority spokesperson Christine Goodman said in an email that there are 42,450 people on the waiting list, which stopped accepting applications in April 2013. She was not able to provide an average wait time for receiving a housing voucher, but said the Housing Authority is pulling applications from 2003.

An Urban Institute report from last May estimates that it would take between $3.1 and $5.2 billion for the District to end homelessness through 2020.

Organizers said they plan to actively work with elected officials throughout the budget process to ensure their demands are met.

Likewise, Donaldson said Bowser “will continue to hold budget engagement forums throughout the District so that residents’ funding priorities are identified and included in the process.”

STREET SENSE October 19 - November 1, 2016

7

NEWS

H

undreds of protesters crowded into a small park sandwiched between busy streets. Ignoring the honking of passing cars and screaming of police sirens, they gathered to honor the life of Terrence Sterling and to demand information about the details of his death at the hands of D.C. Metropolitan police.

“We’re here for a young man who can’t speak,” said Steven Douglass, an organizer introduced as Sterling’s friend. “Terrence Sterling laid his life down for all of us.”

“We have questions!” shouted speakers.

“We want answers!” answered the crowd.

The demonstrators took to the streets on the evening of Oct. 3, starting at 3rd and M Streets where Sterling, 31, was shot by officers of Metropolitan Police Department on Sept. 11. They want D.C. Government to hold police accountable.

Speakers called on the MPD and Mayor Bowser to fire Officer Brian Trainer, 27, who fired the shot which killed Sterling.

Asking for justice, they demanded to know the identity of Brian Trainer’s partner, why there was no body-worn camera footage until after the shooting and other details of the event, which was ruled a homicide by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Protesters took to a megaphone, “Muriel Bowser, we demand that you release all of the footage, release the name of the second cop, and hold all of them accountable.” Trainer and the officer who drove the police vehicle are now on administrative leave. When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the office of the city administrator said only that, “At this time, the investigation continues.”

Sterling was killed on Sept. 11, after allegedly riding his motorcycle into a police car at 3rd and M Streets NW. Police say they responded to a call for a motorcycle driving erratically nearby.

Demonstrators, however, pointed out that procedures outlined by the Department of Justice dictate that shooting into a moving vehicle is prohibited, even if the vehicle is being used as weapon. According to MPD General Order 301.03, D.C. police are prohibited from firing at or from a moving vehicle unless deadly force is being used against them or another person.

Demonstrators contested the improper use of body cameras by the officers involved in the incident, pointing out that cameras of the officers had been turned off during the events leading up to the shooting and were only later turned on during attempts to resuscitate. The footage was released on Sept. 27 by Deputy Mayor for Public Safety. “His partner’s body cam has not been accounted for,” said Douglass at the protest. “We still have questions and we need answers.” According to Communications Director of the Office of the City Administrator Olivia Dedner, Trainer was the only officer involved in the shooting equipped with a body-worn camera.

On Sept. 15, Mayor Bowser announced in a press conference that in the future D.C. dispatchers would confirm with officers that cameras were turned on at the beginning of shifts. Many protestors, however, are not satisfied with what they have perceived as silence from the mayor’s office since Sterling’s death.

The large group took to the streets, facing confrontation by a line of police officers who arrived and demanded dispersal from blocking the thoroughfare.

Protesters began to march as a number of police motorcycles and cars approached.

A moving line of police was established, officers holding it until protesters approached and the line moved forward, while groups of police cars followed closely behind. Hundreds of voices chanted unison against a backdrop of

red and blue flashing lights. “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!”

Marian Gray-Hopkins, co-founder of the Coalition of Concerned Mothers, spoke about the lack of criminal prosecution for Black men killed by police. “I know it’s important that they didn’t turn the camera on until after Terrence’s death, but we’ve seen across this country, cameras on and there are no indictments,” said GrayHopkins. “We need convictions.”

Without video footage of the moments leading up to the shooting, many were suspicious of the MPD account. “They’re so complacent with us that they called the union reps before they called the ambulance!” said Douglass. The New York Daily News reported an incident similar to this claim, with sources alleging when that NYPD Officer Peter Liang shot and killed Akai Gurley in 2014 in New York, he texted his union representative before calling an ambulance for Gurley.

Eugene Puryear, an organizer for Stop Police Terror Project D.C. condemned the District’s response, saying that it has been undemocratic. “They want to sweep the murder of Terrence Sterling under the rug,” he said.”Right here in the nation’s capital, not only is democracy dead as it concerns the vote, but Black people are being shot down in the street like dogs and nobody’s doing anything,” said Puryear. Other prominent people in the movement, such as Beverly Smith, mother of Alonzo Smith who was shot and killed

by Special Police in D.C., and activist Ashley Love attended the event, calling for justice for victims of police brutality.

The rally and march was organized

by Black Lives Matter DC, KeepDC4Me, Coalition of Concerned Mothers, Timothy Dawkins-El Project, Pan-African Community Action (PACA), Million Hoodies,

Stop Police Terror Project DC, Asian Pacific Islander (API) Resistance, Muslim Women’s Policy Forum, and SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) DC. Stop Police Terror DC held an action Monday Oct. 10 and Oct. 17 at the same intersection where Sterling was killed.

Demonstrators say they will continue to protest on Monday evenings until their demands are met. More information about upcoming events can also be found on the Black Lives Matter D.C. Facebook page.

As the marchers advanced towards the city, they stopped and gathered at the intersection in which Sterling had been shot. Candles in hand and fists raised high, they sang a chant “Let my people go, let my people free, I want the whole world to know, I love you like you were me.” People joined in a circle and held hands, lights flashing off of their faces, some Black, some White, some Asian, some mixed, many different. A young woman picked up the microphone and began to sing “Terrence Sterling was a freedom fighter and he taught us how to fight. So we gon’ fight all day and night until we get it right. What side are you on my people, what side are you on? We on the freedom side.” People continued to stand. Some held hands, some held candles, some danced, some smiled, some looked somber. They all honored Sterling.

“It is our duty to fight for our freedom, it is our duty to win. We must love and protect one another, we have nothing to lose but our chains. We have nothing to lose but our chains,” they sang. “We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

Julian Goldstein raises his fist in solidarity. | PHOTOS BY MARY WALRATH

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OPINION

Build Communities, Not Ghettos

By Reginald Black Homelessness is not complicated to solve. It is a matter of deciding what kind of communities the public, or those in power, want in a region.

Throughout history and still to this day, those who are unwanted have faced displacement and gentrification. Two different words for the same thing: the movement of one kind of humanoid to make room to accommodate another. I say “accommodate” to be color-neutral.

In Washington, the race riot of 1919 displaced persons of African descent from areas downtown. It seems that all through the 1920s, Black people or African-Americans, as we call them today, were denied resources to sustain their own communities. This was certainly the case with the destruction of Greenwood, Oklahoma, a Tulsa suburb, in 1921. More than 300 Black Americans died during the riot and thousands were left homeless.

Both conflicts began after Black men were accused of sexual advances on white women and attention was drawn to them quickly through local newspapers.

Greenwood, Oklahoma — often referred to as Black Wall Street — after the 1921 race riot.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Such massive movements of people, often stripped of their resources in the process, created economic segregation for generations to come. While this may not have been the program’s original intent, public housing has become the answer for housing many extremely poor families – especially those experiencing generational poverty. Simultaneously, the United States has been experiencing an overall housing shortage. It begs the question: Why is public housing being demonized and privatized by efforts like the federal Hope IV Department of Housing and Urban

Development program and the local New Communities Initiative?

These efforts are painted as attempts to improve conditions in certain neighborhoods that have been in disrepair for decades. The saddening part is that people who will vote for the initiatives this year blame the residents and not the lack accountability from the government for its role in the chaos in communities of color – namely communities of African descent.

For instance, the D.C. court of appeals just heard arguments from residents of the Barry Farm community, a public housing development in Southeast D.C. The residents were appealing a 2014 D.C. Zoning Commission decision that rezoned the Barry Farm land to allow use of medium and high-density commercial buildings in what is now an open, low-density zone. The brief they filed says that these zoning laws will eventually price people out of the community, which has been all-Black since the Civil War. Many millennials like myself don’t even know that our local governments at times have acted like we of African descent are the enemy. In Philadelphia in 1985, the city’s mayor, a person of African descent, approved the use of explosives in a residential neighborhood against a group of activists. He turned his back on his own community when he authorized a bomb to be dropped on the house where the activists were holed up.

This was after a gun battle, the group was armed and unwavering. But the ensuing fire spread to another 50 or 60 homes. Most of the activists were slain except for one woman and child.

Homelessness is not complex if there are those who are willing to contribute their skills and time into building a community.

These are just some of the reasons that many of the poor are not engaged in any social efforts. They fear for their lives and are weary of a threat they do not know, or even fully identif,y for that matter. Even some of the tragedies of the Civil Rights era included money, and the use of allies or people with the same basic genetic makeup as the targeted leader. It is a shame that most of what was started in civil rights has now been labeled as “thuggish” or “gangster” or so-called “ghetto.”

The term ghetto is defined as “part of a city, especially a slum area, occupied by a minority group or groups.” Also as a verb: “put in or restrict to an isolated or segregated area or group.” You see, even a gated community could be a ghetto with a minority group, or an isolated group.

We are building ghettos all around us that isolate people into their individual homes, rather than build communities that interact with and rely on each other.

Barry Farm residents and public housing advocates gather in the D.C. Court of Appeals after challenging a zoning hearing pertaining to the planned development of Barry Farm. | PHOTO COURTESY OF GRAHAM BOYLE It is heartbreaking to see communities used as scapegoats for crime-fighting initiatives — then, once the crime is down a little and the area becomes more popular, long-time residents who survived extreme acts of desperation feel economic pressure to leave. How can we as a city continue to push people around without investing in them and

allowing them to determine their future?

Homelessness is an issue that this country could take on. Hopefully, we will all see that we are needed and not continue to throw good people away.

Reginald Black, “Da Street Reportin’ Artist,” is an author and vendor for Street Sense.

Have an opinion about how homelessness is being handled in our community? Street Sense maintains an open submission policy and prides itself as a newspaper that elevates community voices and fosters healthy debate. Send your thoughts to opinion@streetsense.org.

Donald Trump Is Gonna Win!

STREET SENSE October 19 - Nov. 1, 2016

OPINION

1#1

By Jeffery McNeil People in Washington can keep deluding themselves, but If Donald Trump continues prosecuting the case against Hillary as he did in the second debate, Trump may carry every state in the union on Election Day. The establishment’s recent attempt to take him out has backfired and made his supporters more determined to get him elected.

On Nov. 8th it will be our turn to toss everyone out. I haven’t seen this much fury since 1980, when Ronald Reagan won in a landslide. People in Washington can’t grasp the Trump phenomenon. Nothing Trump says or does will get his supporters to abandon him and support Hillary Clinton.

As with Bill Clinton and Marion Barry, people know that Donald Trump is a lout.

We’re not electing a pope. We’re tired of these morally pious politicians that sound good then pick our pockets with higher taxes and incessant regulations.

Donald Trump is right: the people in Washington are too stupid to run this country. They don’t understand what the status quo has done to Americans. Politics as usual is not an option, so maybe a dose of Trump will correct a dirty rotten system.

While I’ve lost friends for supporting Trump, I haven’t lost my dignity shilling for crooks such as the Clintons. Libs can call me deplorable, irredeemable and racist — what I won’t do is support Democrats.

I have exhibited model behavior despite the onslaught of contempt towards me.

Sometimes I fear for my life because liberal hate knows no bounds. When you don’t fall in lock-step, they’ll harass, threaten and become violent because you have a different point of view.

I think the polls having Hillary ahead are garbage. Hillary supporters couldn’t fill a phone booth — even her volunteers despise her.

There’s a Silent Majority that’s not being polled or focus-grouped. I haven’t been polled or focus-grouped and I’m voting enthusiastically for Trump. Americans want not only their soul but their country back. Americans want to have a country.

We don’t want any more open borders or open trade — Americans are tired of being pitted against cheap foreign competition.

Trump says he will build the wall and the first people that will be down at the border with shovels are African-Americans.

Don’t believe the hype: I predict Trump may get 20 percent of the Black vote. No people have been betrayed more by the Democratic Party then African-Americans.

Trump is right that Hillary and the Democratic Party come down to the Black community every four years pandering for our vote then, once elected, they ignore and abandon us. I see firsthand how illegal immigration has impacted Black men in particular. I resent what liberalism has done

to Black people! I walk down the street wondering why everyone doing construction is foreign while African-Americans are begging for change. We often hear illegal immigrants do the jobs Americans don’t want to do. They tell African-Americans they have to obey minimum wage laws and specific licensing and certification requirements while illegal immigrants are making buckets full of money and go back to their country living like kings. It has nothing to do with hatred. It’s about fairness.

When Donald Trump made comments about Mexico dumping its worst people, although I thought the comments were crude and bigoted, I believed finally someone was talking about stopping illegal immigration. You can’t deny the fact that three groups benefit from a broken immigration system. That’s multinationals that benefit off cheap labor, drug cartels that poison our neighborhoods and immigrants that come here because we have a generous welfare state.

Trump is right that Hillary wants to continue the disastrous legacy of Barack Obama. She wants to continue the path of globalization, open borders and open trade. She wants to be president of the world. Trump wants to be president of the United States.

I want America to remain American, not transform into a global state. I don’t hate foreigners but can’t comprehend how immigrants from other countries can get free healthcare, food stamps and college education while many African-Americans are called lazy for asking for relief in a stagnant economy.

Trump is right: Black people, what do you have to lose by supporting him?

Every American city is a ghetto. Some cities, such as Charlotte and Milwaukee, have been under Democratic rule for almost a century. Cities such as Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. are urban hellholes. Democratic policies lead to mass unemployment, crime, rampant drug use and thousands of people that could be useful but are trapped in the cycles of welfare and public assistance. These professional liberals that fight for your rights are your school teachers, lawyers and elected officials. They seem to be doing good while the people they claim to be fighting for seem to stay in misery.

The system is rotten and we need the barn cleaned out. Donald Trump may be just what Washington needs — someone to come here and just fire the whole stable.

I tell the elites to pack their stuff because your butts are out of here November 8th.

On Election Day the Silent Majority will be silent no more.

Jeffery McNeil is a vendor for and regular contributor to Street Sense.

Affordable Housing This Election

By Robert Warren

For the last twelve years we have been in a fight to have the right to affordable, sustainable, accessible housing for myself and other lifelong and long term residents of Washington D.C. Every four years we hold presidential, state and local elections. I have a sense of hope that in this election, unlike past elections, the focus will be on what D.C. residents have said is their number one issue: affordable housing for low and very low-income residents. I am joined by others going around advocating on behalf of low-income residents to have that all-important housing we all need as human beings to survive and raise healthy children, to begin to come out of the impoverishment and homelessness that many of us find ourselves in at the middle of our lives. Just to think of the young people just starting out in life on their own. I always get hopeful this time of year that, this time, the national candidates will not just blame each others’ parties for the poverty and homelessness that many Americans find themselves in. Instead, they may come up with real solutions that start with the universal right to affordable, sustainable and accessible housing for low and very low-income residents of Washington D.C. In their campaign promises the candidates blame each other for the fact that the middle class and the working poor don’t have the jobs and support they need to stay out of poverty. The shovel-ready job of building infrastructure should be channeled into housing for low and very low-income residents, as well as startup businesses for low-income entrepreneurs.

That way you are giving the middle-class guy a job and you can teach the unskilled poor person a trade and give them both housing that they can afford, instead of living paycheck to paycheck to paycheck to maintain a roof over their heads.

I know it all sounds good, and that’s what those of us in the advocacy community have been saying for years.

HUD and the local housing authority let public housing fall apart and blame it on the residents that old buildings are

decaying. They are sold to the highest bidder. New people are brought in and old people can be displaced and told that too many of you in one area is not good.

I could go on and on with the injustice around housing in America and how it has been used to keep Black Americans living in impoverished communities — that is a story that has to be told.

I would just say to the people in D.C.: If you want people to be able to stay in D.C. and not live in poverty, then please come join one of the national and local groups fighting for the right to universal affordable housing for the low and very low income people.

Groups involved in the fight for housing and preventing the criminalization of homelessness: Wa s h i n g t o n L e g a l C l i n i c f o r t h e Homeless — fighting to protect individuals and families against discrimination.

National Coalition for the Homeless — educating the community about people experiencing housing instability.

National Law Center for Poverty and Homelessness — changing policies and practices of government concerning housing rights.

Empower DC — fighting for local residents to be able to maintain their public housing units and not be displaced.

Miriam’s Kitchen — fighting to end chronic homelessness in the District of Columbia Street Sense — raising the voices of those who experience homelessness while they learn and earn People for Fairness Coalition and FACE at Street Sense — fighting for the universal right to affordable sustainable accessible housing.

We are holding a public forum at Church of the Epiphany on 1317 G Street NW, around the universal right to affordable housing. It will be 6 - 8 p.m on October 28 in hopes of having that right to housing as a part of the conversation of this year’s election cycle.

Robert Warren is a Street Sense vendor and advocate.

The Street Sense Writers’ Group is led by writing professionals and meets every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. The group’s goal is to develop ideas and collaborate on the next great issue of Street Sense.

The Month of October! Join Street Sense!

My Daughter Called Me Her Treasure Map

By Sasha Williams, Artist/Vendor

I know how it feels to have support. I also know that when nobody can support you and you really are doing the right things, you must stay encouraged — even when it is hard to stay motivated.

I give because everyone deserves. I am thankful now, more than ever, because the truth sets you free. Now that we are ten months into 2016, there is so much to look forward to. Last month, my daughter called me her “Treasure Map.” It was a true blessing to my life. It is amazing how you can love a gift in your life and how others can take your love for granted. I am just glad that I have the ability to love.

I have come to realize the belief that one can have in oneself is more exuberant than taking people’s words rather than their actions. You cannot take anybody for granted. I know that I am loved.

I see good in a lot of people. And I pledge to strengthen myself so that nobody can hurt me anymore. Living the life I deserve and having things that I want is okay.

I love change, when the change improves the present so that I am more prepared for the future. I am whole. It is okay to be

By Latishia Granby, Artist/Vendor

By Toni Calloway, Artist/Vendor

One thing I love about October is the cool weather: how it’s cold in the morning and then gets a little warmer in the afternoon. It is the tenth month of the calendar, which includes my father’s and my daughter’s birthdays!

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. It is also the month of breast cancer awareness and many people wear pink to draw attention to that disease.

Somewhere to scream and shout somewhere to let it out Share poems and smiles, knowing that you’re not alone (things happen)

And it is Halloween!

A fulfilling place to be, come as you are Find resources and make friends, that can help you go far (don’t be defeated) Why not come out and sing?

Why stay out in the street?

So, come in from the street for a treat, Street Sense is where you should be.

Pimped

By Robert Williams, USMC Artist/Vendor Used and abused they think you Have no clues, trampled upon from beginning to end as though some sort of trend. From the hard you embraced it From the start even though not acknowledged for playing a part. Everyone lifted up While you get a swift kick to the butt Enraged upstaged treated like an exhibit in a cage. What do I do what do I say This unfair game I no longer want to play Used and abused mentally and emotionally to whose amuse Come a long way what is today. Why must I be The one to pay when I am not allowed to play I know I am old school but who changed the rules is this how they do it new school No passion no care it’s unfair how do you dare

A Greeting

By Debbie Brantley Artist/Vendor To me…something special My older brother, Lee-Simpson.

My love for my older brother, who is aged 51, stretches back to the time when I was six years young, not old. By chance, I saw him driving with my grandmother who was with my father, or at least with the man I called my father, but who actually was my grandfather.

Being Grateful

By Joe Jackson, Artist/Vendor I want to apologize to my Tenleytown customer for the racial comment. The election has everyone startled about who is going to be president, and if there will be an improvement or a bill passed in regards to affordable housing. It makes me unhappy that some people are ungrateful about some of the things that have been done. Thank god for water and trying to stay clean. It is hard for a person to stay clean when he or she is living on the street. Thank god for the good people that I have met. The people at the Giant are respectful. Love everyone. Thank you.

STREET SENSE October 19 - November 1, 2016

VENDOR WRITING

13

Rest in Peace, Jim Missing Bernice

By Charles Davis, Artist/Vendor

By Elizabeth Bryant, Artist/Vendor

When I first heard about my brother’s cancer, I was devastated. I used to see him going to work in the morning while handing out Street Sense papers at the Friendship Heights subway station. He always gave me that strong good morning smile and said “I am okay, how are you?” The thing about him is that he hardly got sick, and never got in trouble with the law—not even a jaywalking ticket. Now that was something special, having lived a beautiful 59 years of life.

Jim was the second child out of ten.

There are four men and two women still living. My parents are deceased as well and we are trying hard to get past this sorrow.

His wife’s name is Bonnie.

I will miss him, may he rest in peace.

Jim had a beautiful life; he served his church for many years as an altar boy. Now, as of this day, I must move on with my life and stay strong with my health, and enjoy the new apartment I recently got.

Street Sense vendors, as I end this article, please keep your prayers going to my brother Jim, may he rest in peace. May God be the glory forever and ever, Amen?

I really miss Bernice and all my grandkids, but I understand that she and the others have to feel safe in her house.

I need to give them space and not put my two cents worth into the situation. If I trust God, as I have said I do, whatever is His will shall be done. If she’s meant to be in my life, she will be.

I look at the part I played, and really, it was me acting out. I was mentally abusive.

I realize I can’t change the past but I can look forward to the future being better.

My therapist tells me to understand that they cannot be in my life if I drink or do drugs. I accept I cannot drink or do drugs if I want my grandkids to be in my life.

I graduate from school in April. Bernice and my grandchildren will be there to see me. It would be very uncomfortable for me without them. If I had one wish, it would be to be completely free of the influence of drugs and alcohol, but I will continue to work on acceptance even if they don’t come.

By Angie Whitehurst Artist/Vendor Let Let Let Let

it be not! not history not resistance not oppression,

Breathe an ounce, for the respiration of hate.

Just promise, to let it expire;

Thanks for the Inspiration!

By Marcus Green, Artist/Vendor

What I would like to do is give back to where it came from. My name is Marcus Green and St. Stephen’s church is a big pillar of the community at 16th and Newton St NW. I was inspired to try to shed some light on the miracle work they do from feeding the homeless, coat drives, case management, church services

Let it be not!

etc. Last but not least a friendly smile to go with your meal.

Now they are asking for our help; and they deserve every dime. They have a Jazz and Poetry benefit show coming up on October 22 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

Tickets are $25 and the proceeds benefit St. Stephen’s Loaves and Fished Soup Kitchen – because food is not free. They provide meals every weekend and on federal holidays too.

From the ministry, to the case case management, to the cooks, volunteers, security, and clean-up crew — their blessed work is always there. The benefit will be at the Thurgood Marshall Center, and if you cannot afford the $25 donation, whatever is in your heart will go a long way. Please get involved and make a difference. Thank you and I look forward to seeing you there!

Naturally, through the ecology of common sense, community and respect for peace.

Let us not let the voices of life tread into the unfiltered waters, unfit for peaceful survival’s consumption.

Respect yourself and everyone else.

Control your emotions.

Control the seeds of those impulsive irate thoughts with disciplined devotion.

Do not let the power of “because I can,” Overpower goodwill and wisdom and one’s way.

Ugliness can be contagious and “out of control.”

Amokness , will destroy everything attained and subjugate you to the horrors born from faulty convenient, self-ordained thinking of the day.

Keep the fire contained.

Let the peace breathe.

Hesitate, stop and ponder the “because I can,” For it might not be right!

Unless, of course, you are like all of us; a self-contained, intelligent know-it-all.

No one knows everything!

LET’S NOT GROW, BREED OR LIVE WITH HATE!

COMICS & GAMES

The Phantom Bulldozer

By Frederic John Vendor/Artist

Happy Birthday Ken?

By Ken Martin, Artist/Vendor

No. October 5th 2016 had a few bright moments. One of which was a meeting with Councilmember Brianne Nadeau and her staff to discuss a special prospective project near and dear to me on entrepreneurship.

I spoke with, but did not see, my children. I have this card from an earlier time that was very special and dear to me. I'm proud to share it with you.

I also had a brief visit with a few customers while vending in the morning. Some even saw me wearing a tie and jacket, topped with a birthday cake hat!

One gave me my only birthday greeting card.

Sh e wil l n e ve r kn ow what that meant to me!

That and the kind words that folks say on your birthday are all good and meaningful.

But... did it make me happy?

At the end of the day (a term I feel is excruciatingly overused), I find that when you have no hand to hold; no candles to blow; no comfort zone in which to dance, sing, eat, drink and be merry; no shoulder to lean on after contemplation; It's not a happy birthday!

It's another challenging day to stay sober. But it is a great excuse for selfrenewal — so The Hatman This note, given to him by his daughter, makes Ken proud Rides Again!!! both of his work at Street Sense and of his daughter.

STREET SENSE October 19 - November 1, 2016

COMMUNITY SERVICES Housing/Shelter

Food

Clothing

Showers

Outreach

Medical/Healthcare

Transportation

Laundry

Education

Employment Assistance

Legal Assistance

Academy of Hope Public Charter School: 269-6623 | 601 Edgewood St, NE aohdc.org

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

Calvary Women’s Services: 678-2341 1217 Good Hope Road, SE calvaryservices.org

Catholic Charities: 772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

Central Union Mission: 745-7118 65 Massachusetts Avenue, NW missiondc.org

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

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

Church of the Pilgrims: 387-6612 2201 P St, NW churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach food (1 - 1:30 on Sundays only) Community Family Life Services: 347-0511 | 305 E St, NW cflsdc.org

Community of Hope: 232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

Covenant House Washington: 610-9600 2001 Mississippi Avenue, SE covenanthousedc.org

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

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

Food and Friends: 269-2277 219 Riggs Rd, NE foodandfriends.org (home delivery for those suffering from HIV, cancer, etc) Foundry Methodist Church: 332-4010 1500 16th St, NW foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities ID (FRIDAY 9-12 ONLY) Friendship Place: 364-1419 4713 Wisconsin Ave, NW friendshipplace.org

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

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Jobs Have Priority: 544-9128 425 Snd St, NW jobshavepriority.org

Samaritan Ministry: 1516 Hamilton Street NW | 722-2280 1345 U Street SE | 889-7702 samaritanministry.org

Loaves & Fishes: 232-0900 1525 Newton St. NW loavesandfishesdc.org

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

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

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

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

St. Luke’s Mission Center: 333-4949 3655 Calvert St. NW stlukesmissioncenter.org

My Sister’s Place: 529-5991 (24-hour hotline) mysistersplacedc.org

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

N Street Village: 939-2060 1333 N Street, NW nstreetvillage.org

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

New York Ave Shelter: 832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave, NE

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

Patricia Handy Place for Women: 810 5th Street, NW, NW | 733-5378

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

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

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

IByCaught on Quick that She Was a Nice Person Beverly Sutton, Artist/Vendor We met at Van Ness UDC. She saw me first and said, “I’ve never seen you here before. What’s your name?”

I caught on quick that she was a nice person.

I was panhandling at the time and told her “My name is Beverly.”

Then she took me into the Giant and

bought me a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches. After that she went back into the store and came out with a couple of bottles of water and a Coke, all for me.

I told her I was homeless and she asked me how long. I told her I been sleeping on the streets for 35 years and that in recent years I was sleeping in the park on Pennsylvania Avenue, near GW University.

I asked her what she did for work and she told me she was an attorney.

She said she would help me get on my feet till I found a job.

She gave me suggestions of what to do to find a job. She had someone in

her family who worked in a hotel and suggested I look for a job like that.

So I went to the Hilton Hotel on Silver Spring Road and I got a job. My job was to fold sheets. Another woman and I worked together folding, one sheet at a time.

During that time, I didn’t see my attorney friend, because I got off work in the evening.

I worked at the hotel for six months. My luck was improving because I also found an apartment through social services.

Then I fell real hard on the floor in the hotel basement and hurt my arm real bad. The doctor put me on bed rest.

After I recuperated, I met a Street Sense vendor named Mark who told me I could get a job selling Street Sense, and he brought me to the office. That was five or six years ago.

I sold Street Sense at Van Ness, where I had been panhandling, and where I met the nice lady.

I was so glad to see her again. Ever since then I see her every day, she pays my cell phone bill, and she buys the paper from me.

I feel happy to know her. Even though she didn’t know me, she treated me with such kindness, like I was a good friend.

By Sheila White Artist/Vendor Halloween is a fun time. I remember going trick or treating with my kids. All the places we went to were safe places like churches, where they gave out special treats to the neighborhood kids.

Dressing my kids up for Halloween gave me so much joy, watching them act out their costumes’ characters.

Children are so creative about what they want to wear on Halloween. But most children don’t like to dress in clown suits. I could never get them to pick out clown suits, though one year they dressed up as doctors. One child had my brother’s cap and gown on. It was so funny because they will always imitate people that were helping people.

Something about Halloween: It lets us pretend to be anybody we might want to be. Making believe is fun as long as you do it in a positive way.

By Richard Embden Artist/Vendor Personally, I can’t get into Halloween because I associate it with evil and witchcraft. I don’t see either of these as fun. Therefore I don’t feel like celebrating Halloween. I did enjoy the candy for a few years as a child.

By Michael Craig Artist/Vendor

By Ricardo Meriedy Artist/Vendor When I was a kid, I was terrified of all spooky things. I was afraid to go to a funeral and couldn’t sleep the night of the funeral.

As I became a teenager, Halloween was one of my best times of the year. I can remember knocking on doors, yelling “trick or treat,” it was lots of fun.

People would come to their door, dressed as vampires, skeletons, werewolves and mummies. And they were very spooky, but it was funny back then. During Halloween there is something good and something bad that usually goes on. The good is the kids get to dress in their favorite costumes and see all types of monsters. When they finished trick-or-treating, they go home with a big bag of candy.

The sad and the bad controversy is when someone poisons the candy and one of the kids get sick and dies. This scenario has been going on for years. I pray it will not happen this year.

It loved colors; in the rainbow, in the sky.

Its heart had the same impression, embedded.

It recognized how beautiful life is And how psychic we are And that when the rainbow disappears, They couldn’t wait for the sunshine To return, to make another rainbow.

All the monkeys were excited At the barbecue.

Both for the next rainbow and For the camaraderie Among these monkeys of all colors, Persuasions, personalities, nationalities Ethnicities, backgrounds, Sexual preferences, and religious beliefs.

Because after all, we are each As beautiful As the rainbow.

R ES EA RCH O N A LCO HO H O L US E VO L U N T E E R S N E E D E D Doctors at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) seek volunteers for a research study that will evaluate if inflammation of the brain occurs in individuals who are alcohol drinkers. Researchers want to see if 3-4 weeks without alcohol shows less inflammation in the brain.

About the study:

● Participation may require 2-3 days of inpatient overnight stay. ● Participants will have magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans of the brain. ● Participants in this study will have tests at two time points: one shortly after a bout of alcohol drinking (less than one week after you last drank alcohol). If the brain images show evidence of inflammation the tests will be repeated at least 3 weeks after abstaining from alcohol. Repeating these same tests at least 3 weeks later, will let us know if the inflammation improves with abstinence.

October 19- November 1, 2016 • Volume 13 • Issue 25

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● Participants whose results show inflammation in the brain will be invited to participate in the alcohol detox phase for 3-4 weeks followed by a repeat of the imaging scans.

You may qualify if you:

• Are 30 to 75 years old

• Have a minimum 5 year history of heavy alcohol drinking • Drink at least 20 alcohol drinks/week if male or 15 drinks/week if female

Remember, buy only from badged vendors and do not give to those panhandling with one paper.

Interested in a subscription? Visit Street Sense.org/subscribe

• Are seeking or not seeking treatment for your alcohol- dependen condition

You may not qualify if you:

• Have a medical condition that can impact brain function • Have had head trauma with loss of consciousness for more than 30 minutes • Have a history of drug abuse other than alcohol • Are pregnant or breast feeding • Are allergic to lidocaine • Have a history of a bleeding or clotting disorder • Have a positive urine test result for illicit drugs

Location: The NIH Clinical Center, America’s research hospital, is located on the Metro red line (Medical Center stop) in Bethesda, Maryland.

There is no charge for study-related tests or procedures. Compensation and travel assistance may be provided.

For more information call: 1-800-411-1222 TTY-:1-866-411-1010 Se habla Español Online, clinicaltrials.gov Refer to study # 14-AA-0192

NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health®