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Volume 14: Issue 1 November 16 - 29, 2016

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Rapid Rehousing, Housing Vouchers, Housing Redevelopment, Housing Rights & More!

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STREET SENSE November 16 - 29, 2016

3

HOUSING

D.C. Lawyer Challenges Rapid Rehousing Cuts

By Jerome Dineen, jerome.dineen@streetsense.org Hundreds of formerly homeless families are on the brink of homelessness again in 2016 due to new enforcement of time limits for rapid rehousing money provided by the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS).

Max Tipping, a 28-year-old lawyer and resident of Columbia Heights, is leading a group of housing attorneys from several D.C. legal services to provide guidance to those families.

Rapid rehousing is supposed to provide a small cash injection for people who’ve fallen on hard times but could potentially afford rent after their subsidy expires, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Yet, for the past decade, DHS has managed rapid rehousing dollars as a substitute for federal housing assistance because the local waitlist is so encumbered, according to Tipping. The current housing authority wait list for federal assistance is down to approximately 40,000 names from more than 70,000 when it was frozen in 2013.

Until recently, DHS extended subsidies to formerly homeless families in the program indefinitely, even though the official time limit is less than one year.

In January of 2016, DHS began enforcing the time limit — which has left many

low-income residents facing homelessness again, according to Tipping. DHS did not initially respond to requests for comment.

“Some people have been in rapid rehousing, or some precursor equivalent, for eight years now,” he said in an interview with Street Sense. “All of a sudden the hammer dropped and they decided to start enforcing time limits and started booting all sorts of people off of the program.”

Tipping questioned the legality of cutting families from rapid rehousing who will probably become homeless again without the extra income. Along with filing lawsuits on behalf of such families, Tipping has filed several briefs to the Office of Administrative Hearings, an independent tribunal of judges that decides court cases appealed against District agencies.

“We’re questioning whether it’s legal to terminate families based on some arbitrary time limit without some sort of analysis of whether or not they’ll be capable of finding housing on their own,” he said.

Rachel Rintelman, a lawyer at the Washington Legal Aid Society who defends evictees in landlord-tenant court, said she and other lawyers often match evictees with Tipping because he has crafted

“innovative legal theories” surrounding rapid rehousing.

“A lot of this stems from him being a newer attorney — he’s willing to take on a case where others think there’s no more work to be done,” Rintelman said, adding that a far-reaching knowledge of the bureaucratic structures behind rapid rehousing and homelessness services also distinguishes Tipping from most of the other housing attorneys in the District.

Tipping studied rapid rehousing for years, even before he enrolled at the George Washington University Law School and interned at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless and the Washington Legal Aid Society.

As an undergraduate at the University of Florida, Tipping worked at the Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry in Gainesville, Florida. The Coalition’s former executive director, Jon DeCarmine, described Tipping’s early work as jumping from being a “real ass buster” as an intern surveying the homeless population in Gainesville to becoming the coordinator for all homeless services in five counties in central Florida.

When DeCarmine left the Coalition in 2010, Tipping took over as executive director and had applied for several local and federal grants to create a

rapid rehousing program for Gainesville residents. Through this process, he developed a deep understanding of the uses and misuses of rapid rehousing.

“The program is a tool for a very discrete subset of people who actually have a shot at maintaining stable housing on their own,” Tipping said. “But for people who don’t have a high school diploma, who don’t have a rent history, who don’t have a work history, who don’t have credit, it can be hard to get into a place and maintain your income to stay there moving forward.”

Underneath his legalese is a person who has cared deeply about homelessness from a young age, according to DeCarmine.

“Anything homelessness isn’t sexy work,” DeCarmine said. “I don’t really know that anybody can be steered to do this kind of work without some kind of internal motivation. Max really just went all out and threw himself into it.”

When asked, Tipping couldn’t provide an exact moment when he started to care about homelessness. It has lingered with him for his entire life. “Homelessness has been something that has made me angry for a very long time. It just never really made sense to me. It didn’t seem like something that needed happen.”

Rising Costs Complicate Options for Voucher Holders

By Robyn Di Giacinto robyn.digiacinto@streetsense.org Things were looking up for Washington native Ronia Evans. She had been clean for two years. She was keeping busy at a regular volunteer gig at Bread for the City.

And when she finally received her housing voucher, she was ready to pack up and leave her troubles behind her.

Fast forward six months: Ronia sits shuffling through a backpack full of paperwork, worried that she won’t manage to find an apartment before her voucher expires in December. She says she could give up and use it at a place in Southeast— but she’s worried that she might fall back into old habits and would like to choose to live elsewhere.

“It feel like my soul is tired,” she said. “I want to move and continue to be productive. I want someone to give me a chance.”

Ronia is one of many Washingtonians who has reached the top of the D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA) wait list — which covers rental assistance programs such as vouchers as well as placement in public housing. However, now that her name had come up, Ronia found that navigating the private rental system was more challenging than expected. Despite ongoing efforts by officials to streamline the process and implement creative new programs, rising housing costs and outdated procedures spark confusion and limit choices for some benefit recipients.

DCHA manages more than 12,000 Housing Choice vouchers funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (HUD) These vouchers can follow recipients to any metro area with a similar program. DCHA also manages a smaller number of vouchers — over 3,000 – under the Local Rent Supplement Program, which is funded by the city budget and can only be used in D.C., according to Housing Authority spokesperson Christine Goodman.

The process for obtaining and using both Housing Choice and Local Rent Supplement vouchers is essentially the same. When a client gets to the top of the DCHA wait list, they undergo an eligibility interview and background check, which takes about 30 to 45 days. Voucher holders can then use DCHA’s new “Benefit’s GPS” website to find private housing that fits their needs. They meet with landlords and once the property they choose passes inspection, they can move in. DCHA gives recipients 180 days to use their voucher before it expires. And in some cases, a client’s DCHA representative may provide an extension, according to Goodman.

In practice, the process can be confusing and difficult to manage for people like Ronia, who try to navigate the system without a dedicated advocate or social worker.

And then there’s the question of how rising housing costs factor in. The number of affordable units in D.C. dropped by about half from 2002 to 2013.

Now, two-thirds of low-income households in D.C. spend over half their income on Fair Market Rent (FMR) for the D.C. Metro Area is calculated based on rental costs for the District, five housing, according to counties in Maryland and 14 counties in Virginia. MAP CREATED BY ROBYN DI GIACINTO a March 2015 report from the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute.

This year, FMR for the D.C. Metro letter from DCHA. A room had finally Generally, a voucher holder pays 30 Area was $1440 for a studio; $1513 for opened up in public housing. percent of their income directly to their a one-bedroom unit; $1746 for two It wasn’t that an apartment in landlords. The voucher, in theory, makes bedrooms; $2300 for three bedrooms; and Northwest that her voucher could afford up the difference. $2855 for four bedrooms. had opened up -- like she had hoped. But How much a landlord actually receives If those numbers sound low, there’s a for now, it was enough. “I thank God and — the “submarket rent” — is based on reason: the FMR for the D.C. metro area the people who took a chance on me,” the average rent on the open market in factors in parts of Virginia and Maryland Ronia said in a phone interview. a given neighborhood. The submarket where rents can be much lower than many She laughed and started talking about rent for expensive neighborhoods like parts of the District. all the things she has to do before she Capitol Hill and Chevy Chase is set at the Housing data obtained from Zillow moves in December. “I got to get me a “Payment Standard,” or the absolute showed that in September, the median bed! Other than that, I’m just taking it a maximum DCHA will pay on behalf of any listing price for a two-bedroom apartment day at a time.” voucher holder, according to Goodman. in D.C.’s 20001 zip code was nearly DCHA has received less federal funding The Payment Standard itself is based on $3,400. Meanwhile, similar space in the from the Department of Housing and the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for the D.C. 21702 zip code of Frederick, Maryland Urban Development due to congressional Metro Area as calculated at the federal came out at just over $1,200. Both zip budget cuts, with the exception of level by HUD. Fair Market Rent is based codes are included in the D.C. metro area annual incremental increases of new on a scale of all the housing prices in FMR calculation.

HUD vouchers specifically for veterans. a given metro area. In the D.C. Metro On June 15, HUD proposed a new rule DCHA currently administers a total of Area, FMR is set at the 50th percentile, for 31 metro areas, including the District, 1,035 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing meaning voucher recipients can shop for that would introduce Small Area Fair vouchers. HUD continues to be the housing in the cheaper half of the housing Market Rent, calculated by zip code. primary source of funding for DCHA. market, according to HUD spokesperson This would phase out the existing 50th Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration, Brian Sullivan. percentile FMR. “The whole idea is to for its part, has tried to address the D.C. originally adopted the 50th give families more choice,” said Sullivan. problem with unprecedented investments percentile, 10 percent higher than most The announcement stated that HUD would in affordable housing. This year’s budget metro areas, as part of a pilot program accept public comment through Aug. 15. allocated $234 million to affordable in fiscal year 2001 that was meant to In the meantime, the D.C. Housing housing programs, including $5.6 million increase housing stock. D.C. was removed Authority has already moved to adjust for new vouchers for formerly-homeless from the program in fiscal year 2013 for their Payment Standard to reflect local residents whose rapid rehousing has “failing to adequately deconcentrate its rents. In March, DCHA set its Payment expired and $423,000 for 20 vouchers for voucher holders,” according to Sullivan.

Standard at 130% of the FMR. At the time, seniors referred by the Mayor’s Office on A 2014 study by George Mason DCHA predicted that this would allow Returning Citizen Affairs. However, no University found that voucher recipients voucher recipients to afford rent in 26 new funding was allocated for more local were heavily concentrated in poor of the District’s 54 rental submarkets, up tenant-based vouchers to address the neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River. from 15 out of 54 before the change.

DCHA wait list.

The D.C. Metro Area has since returned to On Nov. 14, while still trying to navigate the pilot program. this sea of arithmetic, Ronia got another

STREET SENSE November 16 - 29, 2016

5

HOUSING

“Housing is a Human Right,” Panel Agrees

By Mary Walrath mary.walrath@streetsense.og This is the question that community members gathered to discuss in a townhall style meeting at the Church of the Epiphany on October 28. The Focus Attitude and Commitment to Excellence (FACE) group of Street Sense vendors, along with the People for Fairness Coalition (PFFC), convened to form a panel and deliberate, with an audience of housed and unhoused individuals, on issues of housing, poverty and homelessness.

Robert Warren, the executive director of the People for Fairness Coalition, Sheila White, member of FACE and PFFC, Dominic Moulden of One DC, William Merrifield of Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, Schyla Pondexter-Moore from Empower DC and Jane Zara, a public interest lawyer, came together on a panel moderated by Patty Mullahy Fugere of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.

Fugere opened the forum with an anecdote about her son when he was a young child. While looking at empty lots, he had asked her why houses for homeless people couldn’t just be zapped there like a miracle. “We are the instruments of that miracle,” Fugere had replied. “A miracle is a profound change, not magic,” she said to the assembly, “and D.C. is capable of living up to its title of a human rights city, if people serve as catalysts to a miracle.”

Washington became the first “human rights city” in the United States after passage of a D.C. Council a ceremonial resolution in December 2008. The resolution, defined this idea as a city where “residents and local authorities, through on-going discussions and creative exchanges of ideas, come to understand

Dominic Moulden, Schya Pondexter-Moore, Will Merrifield, Jane Zara, Sheila White and Patty Patty Mullahy Fugere.

PHOTO BY RODNEY CHOICE/CHOICEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

of Human Rights – one of which is an “adequate standard of living” that includes housing.

The panel of advocates unanimously agreed with this ideal and worked to explore practical roads to achieving it.

They started by defining “good” housing.

Answers varied: safe, comfortable, accessible - housing as a civil, legal, and human right. Overall consensus was best summarized by Moulden of One DC: “Whether you have a good job or don’t have a job, whether you are able-bodied or not, whether you have an income or not, you deserve housing as a human right”

15,000 households on the brink of homelessness daily The question remained how to make this possible legally, institutionally, fiscally, and humanely. Consensus: “affordable housing and public housing.”

Affordable housing is defined by the

Attendee David Schwartzman poses a question to the panel. | PHOTO BY RODNEY CHOICE that human rights, when widely known as a way of life, assist in identifying the issues and informs the actions in our DC communities, for meaningful, positive economic and social change.” Proponents have since argued that being designated as a human rights city means striving to achieve the 30 articles outlined in the United Nation’s 1948 Universal Declaration

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as costing no more than 30 percent of an individual’s income.

However, the majority of people in Washington D.C. pay 50 percent of their income and above, leaving 15,000 households on the brink of homelessness every day, according to Merrifield of the Legal Clinic. He added that D.C has a

surplus in their budget of $13 billion, which he believes could be allocated better.

“Instead of spending, say, $200 million to build luxury apartments, that money could be spent on public housing,” Merrifield insisted, saying that developers seeking profit develop intimate relationships with politicians in the District, which might lead to a bending of public will towards profit as opposed to poverty alleviation.

The government’s inclination toward demolition, rebuilding and privatization contributes to the issues of infrastructure shortage for public housing options, according to Pondexter-Moore of Empower D.C. She argued that these practices -– as opposed to maintenance and repurposing of existing properties – fuel gentrification.

“You have to meet people where they are,” she said. Pondexter-Moore’s recent efforts in collaboration with Empower D.C. reaped a $5 million allocation for the maintenance and repair of existing public housing, and this, she believes, is a start. She also said that existing “wasted” and abandoned property needs to be addressed by the city and converted into useful space as well, a sentiment echoed by Councilmember Anita Bonds in her B21-0837 Historic Preservation of Derelict District Properties Act of 2016 bill, proposed at a Nov. 1 council meeting.

“We have to change the idea that public housing is ‘bad,’” Pondexter-Moore said, insisting instead that it is “necessary” and that the communities created by it prevents displacement. “‘Concentrated poverty’ is a discriminatory term — poverty is not increased because we’re living next to each other [in a community.]”

“We Have to Meet People Where They Are” Zara, the public interest lawyer, and Moulden expounded on this PondexterMoore’s sentiment. Zara said that patterns in poverty and unstable housing can very much be an issue of race. “People of color are being denied housing in white

and often wealthy areas, that’s just a fact,” she said, citing her observations that courts frequently shift the burden to determine demographic information onto individuals affected by poverty to determine. “We need to move away from the legality of it, though,” Moulden retorted, far from the first or last butting of heads between he and Zara that night.

“Imagine just walking outside … and looking around and seeing every vacant condo for sale being liberated [for public housing use] … that’s my idea of [what needs to happen.],” Moulden said.

As the meeting ended, amid insistence by other panelists to get organized, Pondexter-Moore urged attendees to use the inclusive term “we,” to value and protect public spaces, and to continue to fight.

“At the end of the day, every politician says that housing is their number one issue” Merrifield said, laughing, “but until they actually do something, we can’t let them push people out and create their own new definition of the ‘lower class’ … join an organization.” “Speak out, yell out, shout out” This is not just a D.C. issue, but looking at the root of displacement is a start on solving it, according to Merrifield.

PHOTOS BY RODNEY CHOICE/CHOICEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

LIMITED INCOME, LIMITED OPTIONS:

Despite Maintenance Neglect, Tenants Resolve Not to Leave Homes

By Elli Bloomberg elli.bloomberg@streetsense.org 72-year-old Ruth Barnwell has been watching the Congress Heights apartment where she has lived since 1982 crumble around her. She has no heat or air conditioning. When she had bedbugs last year, it took four months — and an interview with local media — for them to be exterminated. Mold grew in her walls when a leaky roof went unfixed. She and her neighbors have complained of rodent infestations, flooded basements, broken front door locks, and weeks’ worth of garbage piled up outside. Repairs, when they happen at all, are “shoddy and patchwork.” Meanwhile, rent continues to climb.

Neighbors complain of broken front door locks and the declining sense of security that goes along with them.

PHOTOS BY RODNEY CHOICE

The trouble didn’t start, Barnwell said in an interview, until her building’s owner, Bethesda-based developer Sanford Capital and development group CityPartners LLC, announced plans to raze her building along with four others located a block away from the Congress Heights Metro station. In their place two high-rises would be constructed: one an office building, the other a 208-unit apartment complex with ground-floor shopping. Since

the developers’ plans were made public, Barnwell said, maintenance calls have tended to go unanswered.

“We’ve been living in horrific conditions, which is their way of trying to evict us and make us move,” said Barnwell, who is the president of the Alabama Avenue/13th Street Tenant Coalition.

Three years ago, most of the buildings’ 61 units were occupied. 13 renters remain. Most are elderly and live on fixed incomes. Those who aren’t, Barnwell said, work for low hourly wages.

“The whole point of our development vision is to create something with better conditions and better development use for those tenants and the entire community,” said Geoffrey Griffis, principal owner of CityPartners, in a phone interview.

CityPartners is the “master developer” behind the proposed project, according to Griffis. Sanford Capital purchased the four apartment buildings at 1309, 1331 and 1333 Alabama Ave. SE and 3210 13th St. SE for about $2.8 million, according to an October 2015 Washington Post article.

CityPartners and Sanford submitted the redevelopment plan together.

Sanford Capital has offered residents the right to return at their previous rents once the project is completed. Griffis said a plan to temporarily relocate residents, then invite them back, is on public record at the Office of Zoning and legally bound by the District.

But tenants and advocates are skeptical, saying the promise has never been made in a written contract despite multiple requests from their lawyers.

Developers frequently renege on agreements that are not explicitly written down, according to Eugene Puryear of Justice First, a tenants’ rights group.

“Any person who works on housing would tell you that that happens all the time,” Puryear said. “If it’s not written down, they’re not going to do it.”

Sanford has also offered tenants tens of thousands of dollars in buyouts to convince them to move, Barnwell said. However,

according to Barnwell and 67-year-old Robert Green, another Congress Heights resident, the developer did not make it clear to those who agreed to the buyouts that they would not receive the money until every single resident moved out. Many have ended up in shelters, Green said.

Sanford Capital declined to speak with Street Sense.

Will Merrifield, a lawyer with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, has been working with the Congress Heights tenants for three years. According to him, Sanford Capital acquired the four buildings between 2009 and 2010.

“It feels like they just threw us to the wolves.”

Residents are determined to stop S a n f o r d ’s r e d e v e l o p m e n t , a s t h e y believe it will mean displacement from their neighborhood for good. They testified before the Zoning Commission in January 2015, before the developer’s PUD was accepted.

“These buildings used to be a nice, comfortable, safe place to live, but not anymore,” Clarence Taylor, who lives at 1331 Alabama Ave. SE, said at the Zoning

Commission hearing. “Everything just went downhill since Sanford Capital has owned them … It feels like they just threw us to the wolves. I don’t feel safe.”

The D.C. Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against Sanford Capitol in June of 2016, citing “repeated housing code violations that pose a serious threat to the health, safety, or security of the tenants.”

The same office sued Sanford again in October for conditions at Terrace Manor, another apartment complex in Southeast.

Tenants and their lawyers are also often in court with the developer. Green said he and his fellow tenants have taken Sanford to court at least six times in the past three years.

He and his neighbors spent two weeks without heat last year. Two years ago, a heating outage lasted for two months straight. Green said maintenance workers frequently arrive without proper training or tools, and repairs are delayed for extended periods of time while parts are ordered. He also said some of his neighbors have been served with eviction notices not signed by a judge — an illegal order in the District of Columbia.

Griffis said he had no knowledge of these practices, as Sanford Capital—not CityPartners—owns the buildings.

Ruth Barnwell outside of her apartment building. | PHOTOS BY RODNEY CHOICE

STREET SENSE November 16 - 29, 2016

In Conflict, an Opportunity S a n f o r d ’s p l a n i s s t a l l e d w h i l e ownership of one of the buildings involved, 3200 13th St. SE, is disputed.

The building has stood empty for decades under a 40-year covenant with the District to be used for affordable housing.

Businessmen Zed Smith and Kevin Elmore purchased the apartment with a $920,000 loan from the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) in 2008, according to the Washington Post. They said they would use the loan to refurbish the building and house youth aging out of foster care. The building stands undeveloped and empty today, and the loan has not been repaid.

The building was recently transferred from the owners to DHCD “under a deed in lieu of foreclosure,” according to a statement emailed to Street Sense by Gwen Cofield, the agency’s communications director. DHCD will maintain control of the building until a lawsuit between the former owners and a potential purchaser is settled, at which point the agency will begin accepting bids for its ownership. The highest bidder will have to adhere to the building’s original affordable housing covenant, the statement said.

Whoever wins the bid for the vacant 3200 building, tenants have an opportunity to maintain the four occupied buildings with the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. In the District, an owner planning to sell or demolish a property must give

HOUSING

current tenants the opportunity to buy it before involving third parties. Tenant organizations can band together and take out loans themselves, or enlist the help of other developers or nonprofits, according to Eugene Puryear.

Puryear said the District Opportunity to Purchase Act, or DOPA, also gives the mayor’s office the right to purchase buildings in which at least a quarter of the units are affordable housing. By law, the mayor would then be required to further increase the number of affordable units.

If TOPA fails, advocates say, the Congress Heights buildings would be good DOPA candidates. In the eight years since D.C. Council unanimously passed the law, however, it has never been implemented.

The mayor’s office has no funding source for DOPA, according to a City Paper article published in March 2015. “In the two and a half years I’ve been working on this, they’ve been saying they’re going to finalize the rules,” Puryear said.

DHCD hopes to fund and implement the rules in 2018. Director Polly Donaldson said in a Nov. 9 press conference that a draft of the rules will be issued in 2017, according to Cofield.

Whatever happens, residents are determined to keep fighting.

“I don’t have nothing else to do but stand up for myself,” said Gloria Ward, who has lived in Congress Heights for 35 years.

“At this point, I have to, because I’ve seen the way they don’t care….the only thing they want is us out of this building.”

“We’re not the only ones. They’re doing this all over the city,” Ward added.

As other tenants move, most units in this Congress Heights apartment building have been boarded up. Of 61 units across 4 buildings, 13 tenants remain.

PHOTOS BY RODNEY CHOICE/CHOICEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

As he sits and entertains in it, Robert Green contemplates the future of his Congress Heights home.

PHOTOS BY RODNEY CHOICE/CHOICEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

7

Markets Provide Free Nutritious Food to Students, Families

By Cassidy Jensen cassidy.jensen@streetsense.org On a Wednesday afternoon at Neval Thomas Elementary School, parents moved slowly through the school’s gym, chatting with other families while their children sprinted around the room laughing and dancing to pop music that blasted from a nearby speaker. One toddler bobbed happily up and down while munching on an Oreo. This is a Joyful Food Market, one of 29 pop-up markets in Wards 7 and 8 where children and their families receive free healthy produce and pantry staples, while learning about healthy eating practices.

Joyful Food Markets, a joint project of Capital Area Food Bank and Martha’s Ta b l e , a i m s t o i n c r e a s e a c c e s s t o nutritious food for low-income children through lively community events. Ward 7 currently has only one grocery store serving every 35,000 residents and Ward 8 has one grocery store for every 79,000 residents, according to testimony from D.C. Hunger Solutions director Beverly Wheeler at a D.C. Council meeting.

The market at Neval Thomas Elementary School in Ward 7 was one of the first established in 2015, according to Market Leader Jemila Morrison, who coordinates markets, supervises volunteers, and today was acting as a DJ. On Oct. 26, volunteers gave out that month’s four seasonal vegetables: squash, collard greens, sweet potatoes and cabbage. Parents also picked up fruits and nonperishables like tuna, beans and applesauce.

In the middle of the room, Chef JoJo handed out sample of today’s recipe, whole-wheat pasta with collard greens and butternut squash, while kids made their own apple cabbage slaw. A young boy proudly announced to his grandmother, “I’m doing an activity!” as he carefully chopped ingredients.

Shawnata James has attended the Neval Thomas Elementary market for a few months, since her 3-year-old son started attending the nearby EDUCARE early childhood school. She appreciates the recipes. “I didn’t know I could make pasta with these things,” she said. She exchanged her extra sweet potato for a butternut squash after trying the day’s dish.

Nicole R. attended October’s market with two of her four children. “It definitely helps, especially at the end of the month,”

A Joyful Food Market volunteer distributes produce at Neval Thomas Elementary.

PHOTO BY CASSIDY JENSEN

she said of the free healthy food. “I like how it brings the community together and everyone seems to enjoy themselves here and sometimes they have new recipes.”

Morrison said many of the same families tend to return each month after finding out about the market through word of mouth.

At Joyful Food Markets, families receive 23 pounds of food for each enrolled child.

According to data collected by Martha’s Table, the number of families that reported food insecurity, or not having the money to buy needed food within the previous month, has decreased more than two-fold after visiting a Joyful Food Market. Vegetable consumption has also increased, with 60 percent of families reporting eating vegetables five days a week — up from 36.5 percent before families attended the pop-up markets.

This data comes from surveys of 512 Joyful Food Market participants, about 40 percent of total enrollment in the program. These changes were observed between a study conducted in March 2015 and a follow-up in June 2016. Researchers also conducted interviews and case studies of select participants. In the 2015-16 school year Joyful Food Markets provided over 24,000 people with 550,000 pounds of nutritious food, according to the Martha’s Table’s website.

MONTHLY POP-UP MARKETS Fort Stanton, 1812 Erie St. SE 11a.m. to 1p.m.

Rita Bright, 2500 14th St. NW 10 a.m. to 1p.m.

Dec. 9 | Jan. 13 | Feb. 10 March 10 | April 14 | May 12

Nov. 17 | Dec. 15 | Jan. 26 Feb. 23 | March 30 | April 27 May 25 | June 29

At some markets, residents from the D.C. Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics offer medical advice and promote healthy habits through interactive activities like brain games and demonstrations about sugar.

There are additional markets, called “Martha’s Markets,” run in elementary schools and in both The Fort Stanton Recreation Center and the Rita Bright Family and Youth Center, which are open to the public once a month. Martha’s Table also offers a free mini-market at their main location, 2214 14th St NW, open every day from 10 p.m. to 5 p.m. Shoppers can obtain food there once every 30 days.

All the pop-up markets are staffed by volunteers. Groups can sign up to “adopt” a market by volunteering at a particular site each month. According to Morrison, maintaining a stable force of volunteers has been a problem at the markets. By 2018, these markets will be available at all 49 elementary schools east of the Anacostia River. However, according to Morrison, new markets will not be added until fall of 2017, while Martha’s Table works on perfecting the program.

Outside of the Joyful Food Markets initiative, Martha’s Table distributes food daily at 4 p.m. outside their main location, including hot meals, fruit and sandwiches. Their mobile food truck program, McKenna’s Wagon, also provides hot meals every day of the year from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 2nd and H St. NW, 5:20 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. at Pennsylvania Ave and 19th Street NW, and 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at 15th and K St NW.

Apply for Discounts on Your Utility Bills Discounts are Subject to Income Eligibility Requirements

- Apply for Discounted Rates on Telephone

Lifeline Program (Economy II)

Annual discount on one land line service per household.

Natural Gas

Residential Essential Service (RES) Program

Potential savings up to $276 during the winter heating season.

Electric

Residential Aid Discount (RAD) Program

Potential savings are between $300-$475 annually.

Water

Customer Assistance Program (CAP)

Potential discount could be over $450 annually.

For more info call 311 or visit doee.dc.gov/udp

To apply for the telephone Lifeline Service (Economy II), call 800-253-0846.

These programs are for DC residents only.

STREET SENSE November 16 - 29, 2016

FEATURES

MEMORIAL: Kanell Washington

By Mary Walrath mary.walrath@streetsense.org

“Love. I’ve dedicated this to all

the people who I ever truly or really loved, plus those knowing my darkest hours are just before my dawn.” —Kanell Washington, "My Moms and Twin"

Kanell Washington, also known as Kenneth Ward and “The Living Legend,” died of kidney failure on Oct. 20, 2016 at the age of 60. Kanell had been experiencing homelessness in the District, living on the streets or in unstable housing, for decades. But this never stopped him from realizing big parts of his dreams; he was an artist, a published writer, a singer, a poet, an advocate and a part of the Street Sense family.

“It

was so amazing to have received your love, and I will follow you to the moon and stars above …” —Kanell Washington, "My Moms and Twin"

Kanell’s Nov. 9 memorial service was filled with those who knew him for what he was: a “fighter,” “a delight,” “a joy,” someone compassionate toward children and, as was mentioned many times, a “hell of a cook.”

Street Sense Vendor/Artist Michael Craig stood behind the podium at the Church of the Epiphany, which was adorned with flowers and candles for the Wednesday afternoon memorial.

It was there that he repeated, for the umpteenth time that day, a memory of how the flavor of his friend’s food would linger in his mouth for hours after eating.

“It wasn’t just the food … it was the flavoring and the seasoning he would put inside your heart.”

Vendor/Artist Ken Martin, long-time friend of Kanell, called him an overcomer.

“He always fought the good fight. He won many of them. Most of them. The last one, he didn’t win.”

“In

the long run, you will be amazed by what you have achieved and you will be able to look back on how you overcame tremendous barriers.”

—Kanell Washington, "A Check Up from the Neck Up" Kanell’s fight began years before the cold night of his late October passing.

Struggling with deteriorating health and chronic homelessness for close to 30 years, Kanell’s plight was anything but easy. Up until roughly five to six weeks immediately preceding his death, when social workers

at Street Sense helped him in transitioning, Kanell worked with the service provider Green Door Behavioral Health. “There were major gaps in his care” social worker Julie Turner told Street Sense in an interview. “Teams missing appointments, errors in paperwork. [Kanell] really ended up advocating for himself most of the time. He did everything right. The system didn’t.”

Turner’s case management intern, who also worked closely with Kanell, concurred. One of the most frustrating things was that they received a call the very day after his death saying that he was finally approved to receive a housing voucher: too little too late.

“It’s not right that he died due to being homeless for decades,” his later provider, Angela Owczarek from Miriam’s Kitchen, said. In spite of these gaps in care, however, Kanell persisted in being his own strongest advocate: scheduling appointments, calling repreatedly to follow-up on his needs and getting himself to the emergency room to demand care whenever other interventions failed him.

Kanell had his own plans to make it out of homelessness and it certainly was not something he was going to let slip through the cracks. “I didn’t think I’d see Kanell’s name on this year’s list [of deceased homeless individuals],” said vendor/artist and friend Reginald Black. “I saw a fighter in him that I would have liked to have on my team any day.”

“I

know now that I could not choose the circumstances that put me where I was. Although I wasn’t free physically, my mind was.” —Kanell Washington, "A Check

the streets and he was excited to finally get into housing and invite everyone over to a home cooked meal. He wanted to be remembered for his poetry, and she wanted him to be remembered for his character. “My favorite memory …” she said, laughing, “was when we were once talking in Dupont Circle. He was eating some Panera Bread when a group of kindergarten children walked by with their teacher ... He dropped everything he was doing and stood and started to clap, sing and dance until all the children were laughing. He told me they were the favorite part of his day.”

his work. Cosgriff, the case management intern, said that Kanell was glad to have a place like Street Sense to help him realize this dream. “There is a lot of frustration now, a lot of sadness,” she said. “But I also think a great way of honoring his memory will be to take that frustration and channel it into making tangible change.”

He wanted to be remembered for his voice, his memory, his art. It was very clear, looking at all of the faces of those he called family, seated in the pews of a place he called home, that he will be remembered for so many more things than one.

“But

“They

trust yourself and all will come to light … Regardless of the circumstances you have been in, you must move on.”

—Kanell Washington, "A Check Up From the Neck Up" Many people talked about Kanell’s pure enthusiasm when asked to reflect on him.

It was easy to forget that he was sick, they said, that way he radiated kindness.

Immediately preceding his death, he told those close to him that he could feel he didn’t have much time left. Yet, it was hard to believe, because he continued to be the “embodiment of joy.”

He wanted to be remembered for his writing and took great pleasure in sharing

can always see me. Just look on any park or corner and you will see me …”

—Kanell Washington, "Survival of SELF"

Kanell Washington’s poetry and profile can be found on the Street Sense website: Streetsense.org /staff_ members/kanell-washington This article is part of an indefinite effort to record the passing of District residents who die during or after experiencing homelessness. Learn more at StreetSense.org/obits

HOMAGE TO A LEGEND

By Wallace Kirby Volunteer

Up from the Neck Up"

Held in the chapel of a place steeped in Kanell's memory, the service was not solely sermon or prayer. It was song, dance and tribute. Friends, colleagues and service providers took their turns telling stories and singing songs. The Street Sense theater group performed a rendition of Lean on Me. Vendor/Artist Angie Whitehurst stood calmly behind the podium, her warm, loving tone wishing for Kanell to “Rest in peace, my brother.”

Vendor/Artist Sasha Williams sang a song, a capella, as her small daughter watched from the pews. Vendor/Artist Robert Williams free-versed a tribute, “I still stand along, side-by-side with my brother, we stand back-to-back, I will never forget him. This is my brother.”

Days later, Owczarek told Street Sense in a phone interview that Kanell had been nothing but an absolute “delight.” “He was proud to be in D.C.,” she said, mentioning that he knew everyone in his neighborhood.

He got joy from saying hello to people on

9

No. I didn’t know him as his family did But, our lives intersected early on Both children of the “ghetto” It was a hard knock life Fighting for survival Wild flowers sprung from the concrete jungle Where evil lurks behind each hard stare Fighting shadows of poverty Kindred spirits Unwilling to conform The streets called out loud Became street soldiers Masked wounded souls Seeking solace from suffocating struggle Tortured and tormented on penal plantations For speaking up…standing up and being a human being And “Twin” --- wore the crown No fear. Just fortitude. Braveheart extraordinaire!

Perfect. Maybe not. But, caring with a conscience-indeed he was He was/is and forever will be a true Urban Legend Salute my partner, my friend Kenneth “The D.C. Legend”!

Turn the page to read another poem commenting on Kanell’s passing.

OPINION The Red Tape Canal (for Kanell Washington)

By Angie Whitehurst

And yet again, we meet and stand here, seated in the joy of remembrance, and in mournful sorrow of a presence of a treasure gone; Because we know; Because we care.

How much longer do we holler, yell and scream?

Another human being has died; his value and dream immorally defied.

To all of us here, who respect all life, we ask not how he died, but why?

To others, he was a statistic and line item, detailed in the budget with a name and number; Waiting registered and certified, in timeless limbo, to be served.

Tagged, unemployed, homeless, ill and societally displaced.

And now scratched off the list, deleted, and filed away; Just some data saved for researchers baling hay; Never mind, he had no place to stay.

No place to protect the fragile shell called his body, mind and skin; He needed more than emergency room stabilization to live and invisibly blend in; While waiting for the red tape to self-destruct and end.

He resourcefully searched for food to practice his joy as a chef, Yes he was a great cook.

Too bad we will never see his bible of a cookbook.

His patience and waiting paid off in time by the time he passed away, in fact the next day, he was notified.

The voucher was approved and all was good.

There was just one problem with the red tape, it was twenty-four hours too late.

Rest in peace, my brother; and let's pray we put Brian Carome out of a job; End homeless knots, it does not belong in a human place.

Angie Whitehurst is an artist/vendor for Street Sense. Read more about Kanell Washington on page 9.

Human Trafficking on Metrorail?

A Puzzling Incident

By Mustafa Kalieb I was riding the Metrorail one evening when I noticed something that gave my spirit the feeling that something wasn’t right. I am a regular patron of Metro and I’d never had that feeling before.

The car I was in had perhaps 10 passengers sitting in their choice of the 60 available seats, as a young woman seemingly in her early 20s got on with an older man who looked to be in his early or mid-30s. As I was sitting there, I noticed that she didn’t seem happy. She bore the look of someone who was disturbed about something. It then dawned on me that the man was towering over her when he could have sat down beside her. As the train went through three or four stops, he stood there right in front of her for the entire trip. My spirit was telling me something was wrong.

My stop was coming up and as I walked by them, I asked the woman, “Are you alright?”

This provoked an immediate response from the man: “Don’t say anything to her!” or “Why are you talking to her?” I don’t recall his exact words.

I believe my response to him was, “She doesn’t seem like she’s OK. In fact,

it seems like something is wrong!”

An argument ensued between me and him for about a minute as we approached my subway stop. Then out of the window I could see the Metro Transit Police. As I saw them, I said “Well, there they are!”

The door opened. I walked toward the police. The man ran ahead of me to speak to them first.

He must have made some sort of complaint about me, which gave them the impression that I’d done something wrong. Of the three officers that were there, two of them knew me from previous encounters. The officer in charge has known me for 6-8 years with no true problems. I felt confident that he, knowing our history and my integrity, would not fall for whatever story this man was telling him.

He interviewed the man, who claimed to be her father. Then he interviewed me and made the decision not to allow us to catch the same Metrorail train, seeing that we were going in the same direction. I had to wait for them to leave before I could board the next train behind them, causing a delay in arrival to my intended destination.

As I was leaving the area, a woman

MOVING UP: How to Rebuild Credit

By Arthur Johnson In the last issue, I explained how your credit may hurt your chances of finding employment. Most of you have probably had similar encounters with having your credit keep you from getting into housing.

The important thing to focus on is how to fix it so you can get your life going in the right direction.

There are several ways to fix credit but the easiest way is to get a secured credit card, which is a type of card that is available to people with bad credit.

Why should you get a credit card? There are several reasons. First, it will keep you from having to use alternative methods of borrowing (such as payday loans). Second, it will help dramatically when you try to travel. If you have to go out of town, you will need to have a credit card to rent a car (you may be able to get a hotel room without a credit card) Third, it will help if you find yourself short of money at the store, for example you are at the grocery store and find you have not enough money.

You can use your card to buy what you need and pay it back right away.

The other methods of building credit are too expensive. Some people will try to build credit using a lease-to-own option at a place such as Aaron’s (there is one in the District and many more in both Maryland and Virginia). You will be paying a large amount of money for an item that you could purchase for much less at another retailer. Buying a car at a “buy here, pay here” lot is another very expensive way to obtain credit.

Getting a secured credit card is a very simple and affordable way to get back on track and rebuild the credit you need and deserve. The secured credit card industry is much better than when it started. At the beginning, there were only a few banks (usually ones that did not have branches and you had to deal almost exclusively by mail and phone), but many banks today offer secured credit cards including many of the largest banks.

To get a secured card, you just need to fill out an application and you will give the bank a deposit (banks usually asked me what was going on. When I explained, she said, “Don’t’ get involved. It’s none of your business.”

Everything happened so fast in the moment that I didn’t have time to digest what I had seen. Yet, over these past months, the incident has brought many thoughts to my head. As I have considered what happened, several questions come to mind: 1. Why did my spirit give me the gall to say something?

2. Why didn’t he sit down beside her, but instead stand between her and the closest exit door of the car?

3. Why did he take offense when I asked her if she was alright, and become aggressive with me?

4. Why did he run ahead of me to get his story to the police before I could say

require around $300 minimum and you can increase it in the future) and then once you are approved (which almost always it is since you are funding the account) you receive a Visa or MasterCard with a credit limit that is equal to the amount that you have given to the bank. Bank of America, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo all offer secured credit cards. The interest rate will vary (Bank of America is 20.49 percent, U.S. Bank is 19.24 percent and Wells Fargo is the same). U.S. Bank also has three cards that can earn you frequent flier miles with AeroMexico, LAN and Korean Air. There is also another major credit card you can get to build credit and that is a secured card from Discover. They are one of the major credit cards that can help you dramatically repair your credit. They also are unique because their minimum deposit is only $200. The procedure is the same and one important feature that Discover offers you is that it tells you your credit score on your monthly statement and on their app. This will help you improve your credit since you will see what the lender you are applying to will. One important thing to also remember is no matter which of these banks I have mentioned (or Discover) you choose, they will report to all three credit bureaus and that is what will improve your credit. Discover and U.S. Bank have no annual fee for their cards (though U.S. Bank’s offer is only on the first year, then it is $25 annually) Bank of America charges $39 and Wells Fargo charges $25.

If the deposit is a concern, remember this: after 12 months they will review your history (and probably check your other credit too) and if you qualify, then your deposit gets returned to you and your card becomes an unsecured card.

Credit is such an important and necessary tool to function in the world today. Next issue, we are going to look at volunteering and how it can potentially help you gain employment in the future.

Arthur Johnson is a volunteer writer for Street Sense.

anything – putting me in a defensive position as though I had done something wrong?

5 . We r e t h e y s i m p l y u s i n g t h e Metrorail because their car broke down?

6. Was the man really her father, or someone involved in some sort of trafficking?

7. Was there something that the young lady had to fear if she had spoken up?

8. Was the bystander right when she told me that I shouldn’t get involved?

What bothers me to this day is, I don’t know! But I do know that, if confronted with a similar situation again, I would respond in exactly the same manner. We need to look out for each other.

Mustafa is a 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.

Are the Homeless Really Looking for a Hand-out?

STREET SENSE November 16 - 29, 2016

1#1

OPINION

By Cynthia Mewborn

I am sick and tired of individuals stating directly or indirectly that “All the poor and homeless want are free handouts from the government.” This statement is so far from the truth. Individuals who receive social services supplements are really in need of these services in order to assist in their current impoverished conditions that were imposed upon them by the very people who have created social economic imbalance in the first place. A $200 income in entitlement cards and a $200 check is almost impossible to survive on unless you miss a few meals per week and walk several miles per week because you don’t have enough for transportation. Homeless people and the poor aren’t looking for the government to bail them out from the challenges and obstacles they face. These circumstances are the direct cause of disproportionately bad health among America’s poorest population in this country. It is this inequality that ensures that the poor and homeless are the last individuals to receive equal opportunity and fair economic growth to allow selfsufficiency and self-sustainability.

I don’t know one person on the face of this beautiful green earth who wants the government to take care of them. Instead they simply want to be able to take care of their families by providing all the necessary things their families need through living wages and affordable housing.

There is an alarming problem with poverty and hunger in Washington, D.C., and it shows its ugly head through many avenues that aren’t apparent to the naked eye. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 17 percent, or about 110,500 D.C. residents, are impoverished. From 2011 to 2013, 13.2 percent of D.C. households experienced food insecurity. It’s even more deeply disturbing when certain individuals make unnecessary comments that are derogatory and demeaning to justify or intentionally ignore concerns that affect the poor and homeless who face these critical challenges on a daily basis.

What the poor and homeless need aren’t demeaning statements to elevate the speaker’s position and importance, but physical solutions that both end poverty and homelessness as well as elevate each individual

Words for Mr. Trump

By Frederic John

Sticking Together

By Joseph Jackson

Muted congratulations, Mr. Trump. Having endured your ripostes against the disabled, entitlement recipients, Democrat voters, and supporters of Hillary, let me say I am all of the above, plus a fixed-income senior, an American of mixed race, a liberal, and a former professional photographer now left without cameras or film. How, may I ask, will you reach out as a unifier to people like me?

Being homeless, it is frustrating to have Donald Trump as our president. He doesn't have interest for the people or for our safety.

It frustrates me that people with jobs are ungrateful for what they have. If you see anyone out here trying to make it, help them instead of going against them.

It’s hard coming from the federal system to nothing.

When I came home from prison, people looked at me as a waste of life. I don’t want to feel like that, because I feel I am a better person.

Most service agencies I’ve met, like Green Door, want to put you on medication – like that’s the answer. That

Frederick John is a vendor and artist with Street Sense.

who has been subjected to these unfortunate events in the first place. One thing is quite certain however: that homeless individuals who neither have nor are presently living out on the streets deserve critical and life-sustaining services — like Housing First Programs — as much as those who have survived horrific situation and circumstance by living on the streets. Further, homelessness and poverty shouldn’t be an opportunity to shame or belittle those who are less fortunate and mistreated. It should be an opportunity to educate, heal, grow, restore and recover them to their full potential.

This kind of inappropriate behavior and or language only gives a false sense of empowerment to the antagonist by trying to hurt one of the most abused and vulnerable individuals on the planet. May we all learn to be more compassionate, sensitive and humble to the homeless, who are in need of kindness and genuine support, as opposed to name-calling and insults.

Cynthia Mewborn is an artist/vendor at Street Sense.

is not the answer when a person is off track. And they want a lot of your personal information up front too. You tell some people about yourself and they don’t have your interests in mind. They play with what you told them.

I hope to see things get better for the poor and for housing to become affordable.

Regardless of what happens after this election, I want to thank Obama for the phone and the healthcare.

Joseph Jackson is an artist/vendor for Street Sense.

The Smithsonian African American Museum: A Good Start, Part 2

By Eric Falquero

(This is part two of a two-part series. Part one ran in the last edition. You can read the full series on StreetSense.org.)

Upon exiting the elevator, the violence and utter cruelty of slavery hits you like a ton of bricks — or more accurately like a ton of sugar, which drove much of the early forced migration and death inflicted upon what added up to 12.5 million enslaved African people by the 1800s. There is no whitewashing of history here.

More often there is purposeful juxtaposition, such as the larger than life preamble to the declaration of independence, just outside of the hallways focused on slavery. As you ascend each concourse, the exhibits switch eras, moods, look and feel. You move seamlessly through it all, from the Black Regiment in the Revolutionary War, to lunch counters and segregated train cars, to Black soldiers in Vietnam… the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, the lynching of Emmett Till, the Poor People’s Campaign…. To Black is Beautiful and Black Power.

Walking through was like reading endless appendices for James Loewen’s “Lies My Teacher Told Me.” People and events that might get a paragraph, single page or nothing at all in a common grade school textbook are brought to life through physical objects, dynamically displayed quotes, audio, video, photos, interactive screens and more – all intuitively guided by dramatic lighting.

A moment that defined the museum’s meaning for me was when David and I observed a mother privately directing one of her children through an exhibit about Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln and abolition. The exhibit showed portraits of both men, with quotes from each of them on the glass and a narration in the middle

about their relationship. “Read that,” she said, pointing to some of Lincoln’s achievements. “Now read that,” she’d say, pointing to Douglass. “Now go back and read that again,” she said, pointing to Lincoln. She told David that her kids always get excited when they see something about Jefferson or Lincoln and freedom. But they had no idea of the crucial role Douglass played in pushing Lincoln to stand firm on abolition, as opposed to gradually trying to phase out slavery.

And despite the struggle and hatred that can be found throughout the historical galleries — just as constant is the celebration of culture, family, joy, resilience and commonly overlooked contributions to American technology. From strengthening in faith despite attempted use of Christianity as a form of White control, to world-renowned artisans, to the civil rights movement, to the Harlem Renaissance, to the commentary of Public Enemy and the empire of Oprah.

In so many ways, this unmistakable monument and ever-present archive needed to be placed on the nation’s front lawn. Proof of our split reality: too often two very different Americas. It is a masterful delivery of educational content and beautiful to boot — all at once inspiring and hard on the human spirit.

At the end of each history concourse level, there are rooms where museum visitors can sit down and record video clips of their impressions of the content, possibly adding their own history, experience and commentary to the future collection. With the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement and the increasingly honest conversations being had about equality – across race, class, gender, sexuality and creed – there is much to be added.

It is still a long road to equality for the health and wealth of many Black Americans, as economic segregation

and structural violence are perpetuated.

In February, Street Sense reported that United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent noted the United States has never acknowledged that the transatlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity.

Similarly, issues enshrined in the new museum, such as “The Urban Housing Crisis,” have continued for decades.

Now they make headlines regularly in our pages and in those of the other 32 street papers in America. U.S. income inequality has skyrocketed in recent years, according to U.S. Census Data. If discriminatory practices kept anyone out of top wage brackets through the 1970s, then they stayed locked out for the past 4 decades, when the top 5 percent of workers’ income increased twice as much as the bottom fifth of workers.

For me, one of the most inspiring historical moments depicted within those three floors we visited was a section of a graffitied wall constructed by the Poor People’s Campaign during their long-term tent occupation (“Resurrection City”) of the National Mall after marching on Washington for economic justice. To quote the Smithsonian’s plaques: “Residents participated in protest marches or met with government officials every day…. Painted on a plywood tent wall, this mural illustrates the interracial nature and diverse concerns of the demonstrators. Civil rights activists, cultural revolutionaries, hippies, gang members and common poor folks lobbied for radical change in America’s economic system.” (“The meager results — increased federal funding for food stamps and school lunches — came later.”)

We have to do better. We have to create equitable solutions and show up for change.

Eric Falquero is editor-in-chief of Street Sense.

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.

Bobbi’s Anniversary

By Marcus Green, Artist/Vendor

Roberta Bear was born November 9, 1958. As I write this the day after my baby’s birthday, my heart is so heavy: she left me suddenly on November 24, 2015. My emotions are like a rollercoaster without brakes.

Being lonely and without a best friend, woman or a confidant — I now rely on God, Street Sense readers and staff, family and friends. Even this opportunity to express myself is truly a blessing. Hopefully I sell enough papers to visit Roberta’s grave site in Chicago.

Over this past year I learned what crying is all about — it relieves the pain of the soul. In the end, it allows you to grow.

In moving forward, I know that Roberta would only want the best for me. I’m working, apartment hunting and looking for a part or full-time job so that I can be self-sufficient.

Now, it’s up to me to reach out to churches and organizations to carry on Roberta’s two causes: mental health and fighting homelessness. Lately I’ve been doing what I can do to help the community. Mental health and homelessness is top priority, as well as veterans and elderly people.

This article has been so hard, because I feel so empty. God has a big plan for me, all I have to do is pray, keep the faith and let my good deeds outweigh my bad. All will be well.

Please keep me in your prayers and thanks in advance for your support. May my God keep you and yours.

Rough Education

By James Stewart, Artist/Vendor

My father raised 12 kids without a father.

We grew up in the projects in a ghetto in the 60’s. Sometimes I didn’t have food to eat and no shoes on my feet. It was rough.

I wish I could go back, but you can’t. I grew up in a rough neighborhood; you’ve got to survive. My mom would always tell me, “don’t fight,” but what can you do when somebody always comes up to your front door and punches you. I had just gotten to the point where I got tired of it; people thought I was crazy. I couldn’t concentrate in class. Too much chaos. Somebody wants you to do something, you can’t do it, and then they get upset with you. Kids would take my lunch money, take my food.

My father got hit by a car in 1967. A white dude hit him, broke his arms and legs. I was 10 years old then; I never saw my father after that. Not having a father is rough, especially with 8 brothers and 4 sisters. The farthest I got in school was eighth grade. I played a lot of basketball,

football, stuff like that. My favorite teacher was my math teacher, but I can’t remember her name. She’s probably dead and gone by now since that was in ’67. I used to do a lot of artwork in my art class; that was my favorite. I still do artwork.

I’ll do sketches of people, trees, buildings, and stuff like that. I like doing abstracts, too. It wasn’t my favorite, but I would do the Bulletin Bulls — a sports team in the area. I would do a lot of acrylics, mostly abstracts. I did a picture of Jesus, and did a good job of it, too. They were jealous of that. I couldn’t fight that good, but I learned. I’d like for people to be able to get a good job, even in this day and time.

Life is short, man. Where you come from don’t matter because despite the color of our skin, we all bleed the same.

Larynx (Voice Box)

New Home for the Holidays

By Toni Calloway Artist/Vendor

On September 1, 2016 I finally made a move into a brand new home in West Virginia. I’m feeling really happy with my new found home, my wife and loving kids.

I just ordered DirecTV for my family to enjoy. Right now I am really excited about being represented not just as a former homeless man, but a man of integrity and respect. I truly believe that, in order for you to be home for the holidays, you first must get rid of the word “homelessness” in you talk — while creating a beautiful home through your walk. In addition to that, I can’t wait to relax and eat up some turkey with my new family and home.

Gobble, gobble and Happy Thanksgiving to all my wonderful customers! Thank you for reading my articles.

At least allow me to record I'll plead, cry and beg on all fours!

To hear a sound and fly around, to a new beat.

I'll stand in the soup kitchen line again, I'll register to vote!

I wear a noose around my neck, so tight, just to hold the mic. I might choke Must I stand on the corner and sell papers, Just so you can hear my voice?

I'll do that too! When its cold and blue, since you say I have no choice.

Do I have to cry to stay alive?

Well shit, I'll do that too.

Bit if you won't hear my song, you'll have to tell me who.

Who will listen?

Can you hear me??

Am I talking to myself???

I need someone to hear my song, before there's nothing left.

By Chon Gotti, Artist/Vendor

Encouragement

Biology of Blessings

Reading Proverbs 2:1-5 lifted my spirits.

I’m sure it will lift yours too: “Good friend, take to heart what I’m telling you; collect my counsels and guard them with your life. Tune your ears to the world of wisdom; set your heart on a life of understanding. That’s right — If you make Insight your priority, and won’t take no for an answer, searching for it like a prospector or panning for gold like an adventurer on a treasure hunt. Believe me, before you know it fear-of-God will be yours; you’ll have come upon the knowledge of God.”

It’s not about what you have or what has happened to you. Some people in the worst situations have the best attitudes. And some, who are in very envious situations, have the most negative outlook.

I have the curse of being bipolar but there are two sides to this. I also have the blessing of sometimes being up.

Right now for some reason, my biochemistry decided that I am going to have a very positive set of chemicals flowing. So I am going to take advantage of this and do positive things, like making more money and improving my relationship with my children. Maybe even getting involved in a little romance.

By Shana Holmes, Artist/Vendor

By Richard Embden, Artist/Vendor

STREET SENSE November 16 - 29, 2016

Thanksgiving

Coming Together

By Evelyn Nnam Artist/Vendor

By Sheila White Artist/Vendor

Oh Thanksgiving, you are coming in strong and fierce with the warmth of nice fall colors. Already there are crispy brown, vivid red and radiant orange leaves fallen all around. And the air is filled with cool breezes blowing.

This is the time of year for loved ones to come together as one big happy family — —to engage in great laughter and conversations; to pull out that photo album and reminisce over the past; to enjoy each other’s company.

—to eat turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, apple pies, etc. The sweet smelling aromas will come from the kitchen and then making their way into the nice dressed up dining room.

But Thanksgiving is not all about eating and laughing.

It is mainly about giving thanks to God and for learning about the year and reviewing just how 2016 has been for us.

So, from me to all who are reading this, I say, Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s that time of the year when families come together for Thanksgiving. When my mom passed away, we started taking turns on which house we would spend Thanksgiving at. My children are grown up, so I would get to go to their houses for the holidays.

Storytelling time was always a favorite

Let's Get Ready

By Debbie Brantley Artist/Vendor

By Jaqueline Turner Artist/Vendor

Thanksgiving is something that most Americans celebrate. The gathering of family and friends. A good meal and joyful experience with company that you might only see on holidays. This is a reason to be thankful.

The early American was thankful just to have stayed alive! People today should feel the same way. BE thankful. Thank God for the life you have and live.

for me. We would sit at the table and tell how our day went. I also enjoyed the smell of the turkey cooking, apple pie in the oven, fresh greens, corn bread and all the trimmings and fixtures that go with this holiday. We could smell the neighbor’s cooking along with our own.

The neighborhood was alive with the season’s celebrations. Holidays used to mean so much to me. What happened to those days? Now I don’t go to my family’s houses. I just stay to myself.

I think it is because the economy has changed and changed a great many of things. We have more homeless people than houses for them. The holidays, for homeless’ families and friends, are lonely times. Churches help out, but it’s not like spending time with relatives at their home or sharing your home with them.

abilities and talents. Thanks for growth while at Street Sense. I have grown in my abilities and talents.

Thanks for Mom, Dad and their guidance to overcoming strife. Thanks for my brother — I thank God for the day he was born. I thank God for my children.

There is no excuse to not have a home, so I thank God for mine.

Thank God for friends, I have made many friends.

I thank God for the USA, though now I don’t think it’s so bad in other countries.

I thank God I can drive, I can always have a job if I can drive. I traveled all up and down I-95. Thank God for the Armed Forces and for restaurants.

Thank God for all of his precious pearls of wisdom and good advice. I am hard to give advice to because I think I’ve heard it all. Thank God for rules and how to break them properly. (I’ve always wanted to know whether this was possible.) Thank God for the Bible, the Good Book, for this is the best book in the world, ever written, hands down.

What I Should Be Thankful For

By Ricardo Meriedy, Artist/Vendor We all know Thanksgiving comes around every year. For many years, in the past, I didn’t much care about that holiday.

While I was sitting at the table eating, I was always sad because my mother wasn’t present at the table. God bless her soul.

I didn’t understand this because I was

THANKSGIVING

Thoughtful

By Sybil Taylor Artist/Vendor

Thanks For it All

During Thanksgiving I’d like to say that I am thankful to my grandmother for it all. She was so strong and beautiful.

My grandmother was a housewife, homemaker and sometimes a domestic.

She was always making time for her children, which you can tell by how they are today: nice, calm, stable, friendly, hardworking and fun.

Thanks for the good times I had while working. Thanks for all of my God-given

13

young and didn’t know how to deal with that matter. I know my mother wouldn’t want me to dwell on her every time Thanksgiving comes around. She would want me to be happy and thankful that I have my family and that we could afford a Thanksgiving dinner.

This Thanksgiving will be sad, but thoughtful. I still miss my father terribly, but I have much to thank the Lord for.

I will thank Him for His love, His honor, His comfort, His caring and for waking to another day. I will thank him for His open arms that welcome our deceased loved ones into the golden gates of heaven.

There they will meet the Lord and angels.

It is also a day to honor our veterans, who fought for this country with high honors and on the battlefields of the worst wars.

This is a day of love to remember our brothers, sisters, mother, father, grandparent and great grandparents. These thoughts will be in our hearts forever. Even if our table seems empty without them — they are angles sitting before us in spirit and eating along with us.

The table might be set with turkey and stuffing or honey ham and pineapples.

Don’t forget string beans, greens, corn, sweet potatoes, mash potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn bread, rolls, pumpkin pie with whip cream and your favorite drinks!

On this day, many give a meal to the needy or homeless — those without.

Family churches feed all over the world.

The lord has made it so that everyone will have a joyful Thanksgiving. This thanksgiving will still be sad for me, but I want to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone across the world!

COMICS & GAMES

My Vision, My Project

By Juan Callejon Artist/Vendor

I’m starting a business, an art gallery that will enable artists to earn royalties from their work in re-sale. This is known as “droit de suite” — French for “right to follow” — because artists should have a granted right to receive a fee on the re-sale of their works of art.

Bow how I plan to advertise this gallery is what makes this project so special.

It’s going to be through the creation of a bilingual educational publication that will also have a website with a store and catalogue of our artists’ work. The publication will contain articles about the artists and their work: creative processes, biographic profiles, literature, poetry, etc.

So it’s useful – even necessary. Let’s make it happen!

I’m going to need help. I know I need the assistance of a lawyer, a web designer, an editor, a printer and more.

Are you out there? Please contact me through Street Sense.

A Tribute to Mrs. Obama

By Gwynette Smith Artist/Vendor

Some women from the National Organization of Women, including Gloria Steinman, hailed Michelle Obama as a woman that they respect, and who is a good and effective role model.

I think she is too. She showed America how the extended family could be supportive of family life by welcoming her mother to live with them and participate in many activities with them. The First Lady is raising her girls with a respect for education and the desire to go on the college.

She also grows food to help feed the poor and the homeless. I hope the farm will be continued by the next administration, although it is a shame that such a project is necessary for a country as rich as this one.

She travels and gives speeches to help her husband in his work. She went to Africa and had a program there to encourage the young women there to believe in themselves.

It seems that all of her life, Michelle Obama has been a strong, Black woman worthy of the respect of others.

She followed her brother to Princeton University and while there, worked at a daycare center for the children of the professor there. I once babysat a faculty member’s child while I was in college.

That was a real responsibility.

The child’s regular sitter had something to do that day. Imagine! Mrs. Obama did it a lot.

Then, after college, she went to Howard University Law School. After law school, she worked at a law firm in her hometown of Chicago.

She was Barack Obama’s supervisor one summer when he came there to work as an intern.

Their girls have probably been happy here. They wanted a dog and they got one. Mrs. Obama and her husband plan to stay in Washington until the younger daughter finishes high school.

The first Lady and her family will be missed. I hope her mother will give a TV interview before they leave the White House. They, all of them, were a credit to the country and to Black people.

The Steps of Life

By Charles Davis, Artist/Vendor The one special step of my life is trusting God, because HE will always be there for me no matter what happens. HE knows our hurts, sorrows and happiness. As my life goes on, there are still some steps that I must go through, especially after the passing of my brother Jim. As of today, I still miss him so much and may he rest in peace. So far, my apartment that I got a few months ago is moving in the right direction. But there are a few more steps I must take to keep myself in focus and adjust to keeping my place nice and neat.

That is hard for me because I never had my own place before. This is my first experience. I also hope that my education takes some beautiful steps too. Being an accountant is something I want to accomplish.

There are also special friends that I miss, the ones that are really close to me, including my loving family. Most recently, I met a very special friend that I am not seeing anymore. I really miss her because she stayed beside me no matter the circumstances. I hope that she has the best of success while she is moving on with her life.

Some of the obstacles I am going through are my health, which I focus on very much because I am not getting any younger. So whatever you do in life, continue to keep your trust in God. As I speak, may the power and the glory of God be with us forever and ever. May God bless us all. Amen

STREET SENSE November 16 - 29, 2016

15

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

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

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

What Is There to Say?

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

My Song

By Elizabeth Bryant, Artist/Vendor

I wish I had something positive to say, but there’s not much. My friend has cancer and she is really hanging on and I’m proud of her. But sometimes she doesn’t feel like talking. And my other friend feels like giving up and I talked to her yesterday and told her, no matter what, she can’t give up.

We have to fight ‘til the end. I am an alcoholic and selling papers is good but also can be depressing. People walk by like they don’t see me, and that hurts. When I say hello, they could respond.

My mother was a blessing and I didn’t know that when I was young. I lived on U St NW and neighbors cared about us.

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

I thought they were nosy. Now I live on Seventh Street and Chesapeake SE and there is a lot of shooting. I am scared.

I want to move. It’s not just some times. It’s all the time.

Also, my child Bernice and my grandkids are not in my life. I trust God and the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ to guide me to make amends. I never did before but I totally trust them now.

These things make me cry, but the world doesn’t revolve around me. Everybody’s feelings are important. I miss my other grandkids. I haven’t seen my grandchild since my daughter’s funeral and I don’t want to hurt them, so I will see them only if Bernice lets me into her life. I will let God and the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ lead me. I am very sad and loved Lucretia and Bernice and still do. I am trying to change.

By Melody Byrd Artist/Vendor My song Is a story A moral forum And ideal subject A general decision For a brief important reason Singing is a way of illustration A name is a word of a purpose cause, Or a difference of opinion To a marvelous time.

The Carl Cornwell Quartet.

PHOTO BY ANGIE WHITEHURST

þe Venation Our autumnal sky leavs plega.

Thez limu wind rendde bid oo hyh, toe dau grece. Gusts scattre tired vestments.

By Franklin Sterling, Artist/Vendor

This is What Helping People Should Feel Like

By Angie Whitehurst Artist/Vendor

R ES EA RCH O N A LCO H O L US E ESEA 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. ● 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:

You may not 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

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

• 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®

Bass and Carl Cornwell on sax. The late Tony Duncanson was remembered in spirit, with a red hat over the microphone (in memory of the percussionist).

Spellbound, we all listened to "Here's Rain Day, Stable Mates by Benny Goldson, and Blue and Green by Bill Evans.

Members of the quartet have performed with Pharaoh Saunders Band and Gil Scott Heron. Carl Cornwell has a personal commitment to homelessness and hunger.

He has served with and volunteered with Laurel Advocacy and Referral Services in Maryland as well as So Others Might Eat (SOME) in the District. When a coworker told him about helping St. Stephen’s, with a fundraiser, it was a no brainer.

We m u s t t h a n k D e n i z e S t a n t o n Williams, program manager/coordinator for St. Stephen's Loaves and Fishes program — along with her outstanding team of talented professionals and volunteers: Khadija Jordan, Brother Johnson, Dee and Tony.

The power and the ability of those who give, care, share and do something is amazing!

"Jazz and poetry to move the heart and soul" best describes the fundraiser sponsored by St. Stephen’s Church last month to benefit the Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen.

From 1960 to present, Loaves and Fishes has filled the gap of feeding people on the weekends and on federal holidays. After all — hungry people, poor people and lonely people must survive.

And most programs are Monday to Friday.

All are welcome at 1525 Newton St. NW, regardless of race, color or creed. And all who want to do something can drop in as guest volunteers or make donations.

Musical notes and words composed into poetry melded as one wonderful event on October 22nd at the Thurgood Marshall Center. Opening with inspiring remarks was Linda Kaufman, Assistant Priest at St. Stephen's Church. She was followed by jazz sets from the Carl Cornwell Quartet and dynamic young poets: Salihah "Sasa" Aakil (age thirteen) and Eric Powell; poets from Words, Life & Beats accompanied by Lauren Bullock; and one poet, me, from Street Sense.

The poetry was a flowing experience in what it’s like to be homeless and how it feels. There were many moving pleas to be aware of what you think, feel and do.

The music rekindled the feeling of ole time D.C., in the days when jazz was everywhere. The Carl Cornwell Quartet was extraordinary: Bob Butta on piano; Inspiring community poets.

Tony Green on drums, Pepe Gonzalez on PHOTOS BY ANGIE WHITEHURST

November 16 - 29, 2016 • Volume 14 • Issue 1

Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW

Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Washington, DC

Washington, DC 20005

Mail To:

Permit #568

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

Interested in a subscription? Visit StreetSense.org/subscribe

O

n Thursday, November 10 Promoting Practical Health, Inc, MedStar Washington, Trusted Health Plan, AmeriHealth, The Community Wellness Collective, Community Education Group, Our Door and D.C. Central Kitchen all joined forces to provide Street Sense vendors and other members of the downtown community with blood pressure screening, diabetes screening, cholesterol screening, mental health evaluation, HIV rapid testing, hepatitis C testing and healthy cooking demonstrations. Thank you all! | PHOTOS BY KEN MARTIN