11 30 2016

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Volume 14: Issue 2 November 30 - December 13, 2016

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Read more and get involved at www.streetsense.org | The DC Metro Area Street Newspaper | Please buy from badged vendors

Taking Shelter:

t h g i F s ’ n a One M e h t ’ s t c e l f e R y n a f M t o P ligh pgs

Upcoming Homeless Vigil

Investing in D.C. Youth

Your Rights in the Workplace

6-7

First-e v wrap er Street S pi e Illustr ng paper! nse a artist ted by our /vend ors pgs 8 -9

Street Sense is the street media center of our nation’s capital. We aim to serve as a vehicle for elevating voices and public debate on issues relating to poverty while also creating economic opportunities for people who are facing homelessness in our community.

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ICYMI: Street Sense remembers Kanell Washington (a.k.a. Kenneth Ward) www.streetsense.org/article/ memorial-kanell-washington

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COVER ART Residents, including staff members, stand in front of CCNV shelter.

PHOTO COURTESY LATASHA LEE, DOUG JACKSON

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OUR STORY Street Sense began in August 2003 after Laura Thompson Osuri and Ted Henson approached the National Coalition for the Homeless on separate occasions with the idea to start a street paper in Washington, D.C. Through the work of dedicated volunteers, Street Sense published its first issue in November 2003. In 2005, Street Sense achieved 501 ( c ) 3 status as a nonprofit organization, formed a board of directors and hired a full-time executive director.

Today, Street Sense is published every two weeks through the efforts of four salaried employees, more than 100 active vendors, and dozens of volunteers. Nearly 30,000 copies are in circulation each month.

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Margaret Chapman, Max Gaujean, Margaret Jenny, Robyn Kerr, Jennifer Park, Reed Sandridge, Jeremy Scott, John Senn, Kate Sheppard, Annika Toenniessen, Martin Totaro, Anne Willis EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Brian Carome EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Eric Falquero SALES & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Jeffrey Gray VENDOR & SALES MANAGER Josh Maxey COORDINATOR OF EVENTS & AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT Dani Gilmour INTERNS Elli Bloomberg, Jerome Dineen, Robyn Di Giacinto, Cassidy Jensen, Mary Walrath WRITERS GROUP LEADERS Donna Daniels, Susan Orlins, Willie Schatz OPINION EDITORS Rachel Brody, Arthur Delaney, Britt Peterson EDITORIAL & PAPER SALES VOLUNTEERS Jane Cave, Cheryl Chevalier, Nathalia Cibotti, Pat Geiger, Roberta Haber, Mary Henkin, Erum Jilani, Leonie Peterkin, Hannah Northey, Jesselyn Radack, Andrew Siddons, Jackie Thompson, Marian Wiseman, Eugene Versluysen, Alex Zielinski VENDORS Shuhratjon Ahamadjonov, Gerald Anderson, Charles Armstrong, Lawrence Autry, Daniel Ball, Aida Basnight, Phillip Black, Reginald Black, Melanie Black, Phillip Black Jr., Maryann Blackmon, Viktor Blokhine, Debora Brantley, Andre Brinson, Donald Brown, Joan Bryant, Elizabeth Bryant, Brianna Butler, Melody Byrd, Conrad Cheek, Aaron Colbert, Anthony Crawford, Walter Crawley, Kwayera Dakari, James Davis, Clifton Davis, Charles Davis, David Denny, James DeVaughn, Ricardo Dickerson, Dennis Diggs, Alvin Dixon-El, Ronald Dudley, Charles Eatmon, Deana Elder, Julie Ellis, Jemel Fleming, Chon Gotti, Marcus Green, Barron Hall, Tyrone Hall, Richard Hart Lorrie Hayes, Patricia Henry, Jerry Hickerson, Ray Hicks, Sol Hicks, Rachel Higdon, Ibn Hipps, Leonard Hyater, Joseph Jackson, Carlton Johnson, Donald Johnson, Harold Johnson, Allen Jones, Mark Jones, Morgan Jones, Linda Jones, Darlesha Joyner, Juliene Kengnie, Kathlene Kilpatrick, Hope Lassiter, John Littlejohn, James Lott, Scott Lovell, Michael Lyons, Jimmy M. Ken Martin, Joseph Martin, Kina Mathis, Michael Lee Matthew, Authertimer Matthews, Charlie Mayfield, Jermale McKnight, Jeffery McNeil, Ricardo Meriedy, Cynthia Mewborn, Kenneth Middleton, Cecil More, L. Morrow, Evelyn Nnam, Moyo Onibuje, Earl Parkin, Lucifer Potter, Ash-Shaheed Rabil, Henrieese Roberts, Anthony Robinson, Doris Robinson, Raquel Rodriquez, Lawrence Rogers, Joseph Sam, Chris Shaw, Patty Smith, Smith Smith, Gwynette Smith, Ronald Smoot, Franklin Sterling, Warren Stevens James Stewart, Beverly Sutton, Sybil Taylor, Archie Thomas, Shernell Thomas, Craig Thompson, Eric Thompson-Bey, Sarah Turley-Colin, Carl Turner, Jacqueline Turner, Leon Valentine, Grayla Vereen, Ron Verquer, Martin Walker, Michael Warner, Robert Warren, Angelyn Whitehurst, William Whitsett, Wendell Williams, Sasha Williams, Judson Williams III, Ivory Wilson, Denise Wilson, Charles Woods

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STREET SENSE November 30 - December 13, 2016

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Organizers Seek Community Support for Homeless Vigil

By Jerome Dineen jerome.dineen@streetsense.org A fresh draft of winter air filled the basement of Western Presbyterian Church on Nov. 22 as a newcomer entered to attend breakfast at Miriam’s Kitchen.

At one of the tables, the weekly People for Fairness Coalition (PFC) meeting had gathered to decide on particulars of the coalition’s upcoming Homeless Person’s Memorial Day demonstrations.

Since 1990, the National Coalition for the Homeless has called on communities across the United States to hold memorial services on the Winter Solstice “remembering your neighbors who have died homeless in the past year.” For its fourth year running, PFC plans to lead an overnight vigil and other activities surrounding the local memorial service.

As of Oct. 19, The Community Pa r t n e r s h i p f o r t h e Pr e v e n t i o n o f Homelessness had recorded that 31 people from the D.C. homeless community have died since the 2015 memorial was held.

That number would not have included the recent passing of Street Sense

vendor Kanell Washington or that of the yet-unidentified man Washington City Paper reported was found in his wheelchair in Columbia Heights after a frigid night.

John McDermott, PFC co-founder, leaned on his cane and raised his hand to quiet the dozen members sitting around a table conversing about the cold weather and gripping mugs of hot coffee.

“Let’s get to the first item on the agenda,” McDermott said, “outreach.”

PFC, a housing and peer-support advocacy group led by current and formerly unstably housed individuals, is raising money for thermal jumpsuits to give to people in need who attend the vigil. This would be a new addition to the hats, socks and sleeping bags the group has handed out in years past. The Center for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development, the D.C. Fair Budget Coalition and the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless are also co-sponsoring the event.

Last December, participants walked from Luther Place Church near Logan Circle to Freedom Plaza near the White House holding cards bearing the names of the 41 people known to have died

without a home that year. Upon arrival they gathered for dinner and an open mic event, distributed supplies to keep other people in the area warm, slept overnight in a heated tent and walked into the John A. Wilson Building to speak with city councilmembers the following morning.

This year, PFC has formally invited Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Councilmembers Brianne Nadeau and David Grosso to speak during the event.

Although Nadeau and Grosso spoke last year, only Grosso has confirmed his participation this year.

“It’s important to honor the memories of those who have lost their lives due to a lack of stable housing and regular access to care,” Grosso said in an e-mail to Street Sense. “I also want advocates and the community to know that their elected officials are allies in the fight to end chronic homelessness in the District of Columbia.”

Executive Director Robert Warren suggested that participants again walk through the Wilson Building to visit elected officials. “We need to have people that are actually impacted talking to those councilmembers,” he said.

Nationally, the average life expectancy for a homeless person falls between 48 and 52, more than two decades less than somebody who has a home, according to research conducted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

“The sad thing is that there are so many people who are just trying to hold on so they can die in a home,” Warren said.

PFC held an individual memorial service in September for Weldon Moore, a close friend of McDermott and a frequent volunteer at Mariam’s Kitchen, who passed away in late August after doctors told him he had stage four pancreatic cancer. McDermott said he thought Moore would still be alive today if he had his own apartment.

Timothy D’Emilio, a PFC member who attended the last two vigils, said the biggest ailment he sees in his homeless friends is hopelessness.

“We need to recognize the folks that have died in the streets as wake-up calls for the rest of us to fight for housing as a human right,” D’Emilio said. “Nobody should be dying in the streets.”

Learn more at www.pfcdc.org

Maryland Students Want All Birthdays Celebrated Equally

By Sawyer Steinmiller, Volunteer Thousands of people without homes do not have the opportunity to celebrate their birthdays in traditional ways such as with a party, family dinner or a simple birthday cake.

Two siblings, Allison and Robert Wachen, recently founded a Montgomery County chapter of Birthday Cakes 4 Free. The charity gathers volunteers to make and decorate cakes that are then distributed to homeless shelters, senior houses, local Boys and Girls Club of America chapters and homes for socially and economically disadvantaged kids.

T h i s N o v e m b e r, Allison and Robert’s chapter baked and delivered its 500th cake to be distributed by the Family Services Team of Interfaith Works, a poverty alleviation nonprofit in Montgomery County.

Birthday Cakes 4 Free is a national organization founded in 2008 by California-based dental hygienist Elicia Hammond. Today there are 60 chapters operating in 28 states across America, according to www.birthdaycakes4free. com. The network’s mission is to help cake recipients feel valued by creating a joyful memory in their lives.

The idea for a local chapter began when Allison was buying groceries with her family and saw a homeless man with two children sitting on the sidewalk, she said in an interview with Street Sense.

Written on his cup were the words “Donate for my boy’s birthday.”

S o o n a f t e r, A l l i s o n r e a d a b o u t Birthday Cakes 4 Free in a magazine and decided to start a chapter. Now, she heads up volunteer recruitment, organizes frequent baking events and coordinates cake deliveries. She also makes and decorates lots of cakes, a pre-existing hobby of hers. Allison, an 11th grader at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Maryland, asked her tech-savvy brother Robert, two grades her junior, to help with the project.

He designed the website, including the online store, as well as the t-shirts and cards that are sold in there.

The local chapter of Birthday Cakes 4 Free has over 150 volunteers who collectively bake between 50-90 cakes a month that are distributed to 11 charities in Montgomery County and the Washington metropolitan area.

To learn more or get involved with the local chapter, visit www. mococakes.com.

D.C. Government Hires on the Homefront

By Cassidy Jensen cassidy.jensen@streetsense.org The D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) has hired two new housing code inspectors out of high school, as part of an effort to train and hire District residents. Daniel Gibson and Quanya Reese, graduates of the DCRA pre-apprenticeship program at Dunbar High, were honored at an Oct. 31 event that sought to recruit more students to the program.

Reese and Gibson, along with five other students from the Drew Engineering Academy at Dunbar, participated in the first year of pre-apprenticeship in 2016.

Students started training in April and spent six weeks this summer shadowing housing inspectors. DCRA Director of Legislative and Public Affairs Matt Orlins said Dunbar High School was chosen for the initiative because of their strong engineering program. “The agency is exploring whether and when it could expand the program to include additional partners,” he said.

Reese and Gibson spoke positively of the program and their new jobs. “I’m not a people person, but they taught me how to speak in front of a lot of people,” said Gibson. “We learned how to read permits, how to map out your whole city, how to see something wrong in a house.”

Reese described visiting apartments infested with bugs and lacking air conditioning or running water where owners still charged tenants rent. “Some apartments were beautiful on the outside, but on the inside the people were living like they were on the street,” he said. “As a housing inspector, I could ensure that all renters have a good living space.”

The students were paid through the Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program which is funded and run by the Department of Employment Services. According to Orlins, the pre-apprenticeship program does not have its own budget. DCRA inspectors and partners volunteer to teach classes at the National Capital Region Building Code

Dunbar High School students Daniel Gibson and Quanya Reese speak to classmates about being hired by DCRA after completing a pre-apprenticeship program.

PHOTO COURTESY OF D.C. DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS

Academy alongside their regular duties.

At the event, Deputy Mayor of Economic Development Brian Kenner introduced the two students and said that the main goals of his position are increasing affordable housing and tax revenue and getting jobs for residents. “This program is awesome because it gives you that kind of work experience and that kind of opportunity while you’re still in high school,” he said, emphasizing the connection between education and employment. “You will by far make more money throughout your life using education as your base more than anything else.”

While shadowing certified inspectors, participants dealt with elevator maintenance, electrical systems, plumbing systems, mechanical systems, and building inspections, according to DCRA Deputy Director Lori Pariss. “They actually went out in the field and actually saw what we do every single day,” she said. “They learned firsthand what it is to keep D.C. residents safe in their homes and in their communities.”

In January, the ten participants from Dunbar will start classes in housing code enforcement. “The earlier start date will allow our pre-apprentices an even stronger foundation to contribute when

they begin working with the inspectors in the field during the summer,” Pariss said.

The program is designed to prepare students for both college or direct hire

by DCRA. Fifty percent of D.C. public and charter school students go on to college within 6 months of graduation, based on data from the 2011-2012 school year, according to the Office of the State Superintendent for Education Although pre-apprenticeship participants are not currently granted certifications upon graduation from the program, Orlins said that they would like to expand the program in the future to do so.

DCRA and school administrators emphasized t he housing inspect or starting salary of $42,000 per year as a selling point to students, and said that the soft skills of the pre-apprenticeship program are applicable for any career or in college. “We’re also going to teach participants how to speak and relate to people professionally,” Pariss said.

Reese agreed that he had learned valuable skills from the program, gaining both concrete expertise in building codes and strengthening broader abilities. “You have to handle things as an adult,” he said of his new job.

What does the Non-Profit of the Year do for Thanksgiving?

By Brianne Talocka, Volunteer

On Thanksgiving Day, the Carpenter Shelter at 930 North Henry Street in Alexandria, Virginia served a traditional feast for residents, consisting of turkey, gravy, potato salad, green beans, and other holiday favorites.

In addition to the feast for in-house clients, meals were also prepared for and delivered to previous residents who had recently obtained housing. Success and

happiness beyond housing is a priority for the staff. Lawrence Smith, a caseworker at Carpenter Shelter, said that he enjoys “seeing those residents gain employment, stability, and housing.”

Residents’ children were also given a Thanksgiving celebration of their very own. Volunteers guided activities such as making a banner and writing down what everyone was thankful for.

Recognized by Alexandria Chamber of Commerce as the 2015 Non-Profit of the Year, Carpenter Shelter serves over 750 homeless and formerly homeless Americans every year.

For more information, call ( 7 0 3 ) 7 4 6 - 5 7 0 0 o r v i s i t w w w. carpentersshelter.org.

STREET SENSE November 30 - December 13, 2016

5

NEWS

Workplace Protections Not Guaranteed for Volunteers Harassed or Assaulted on the Job

By Robyn Di Giacinto robyn.digiacinto@streetsense.org D.C. residents who plan on volunteering at their neighborhood non-profit might want to ask to see their harassment policy first.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires employers to actively address workplace harassment on the grounds of sex, race, religion, color and national origin.

However, unpaid volunteers and interns are not explicitly covered. In the absence of these strong federal protections, holding organizations accountable when they fail to prioritize volunteers’ safety can be a Herculean task.

Exactly half indicated they had heard of an incident of harassment or assault perpetrated by a staff member, volunteer or intern at their organization. “[When Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was being drafted], the U.S. was in this huge economic boom, so everyone was working,” said an EEOC attorney. “In that context, the 1964 Civil Rights Act only talks about employers and their employees.”

The Supreme Court has yet to accept a case that would clarify whether Title VII applies to unpaid volunteers or interns.

DATA COURTESY OF CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL & COMMUNITY SERVICE

The potential impact is far-reaching: more than 1.6 million D.C. metro area residents volunteered last year, according to the Corporation for National & Community Service.

Due to underreporting and confidentiality policies, it’s hard to pinpoint how many volunteers have experienced workplace harassment, which ranges from repeated degrading comments to physical assault. In fiscal year 2015, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) received 27,893 workplace harassment complaints nationally — but they don’t collect data on the number of complaints filed by volunteers or interns.

Street Sense recently distributed an anonymous survey to volunteer coordinators at 45 local non-profit organizations that serve the homeless community. The 18 respondents ranged from small organizations that work with less than 25 volunteers each year, to massive organizations that work with more than 10,000 volunteers per year.

Meanwhile, the federal and circuit courts seem reluctant to extend workplace protections to unpaid volunteers or interns unless these individuals receive some other form of compensation, such as college course credit.

The EEOC attorney is critical of this approach. “[Even if] you’re not paying the person, they’re effectively an employee … you’re functioning because you’re leaning on their back for their labor.”

Indeed, volunteers in the D.C. metro area contributed 193 million hours of service worth an estimated $4.1 billion last year, according to Corporation for National & Community Service press secretary Samantha Jo Warfield.

The D.C. Human Rights Act of 1977 goes beyond federal law to offer employment protections for 15 protected traits, such as sex, gender identity and disability.

Although volunteer status is not one of these traits, volunteers can still file an employment discrimination claim with the D.C. Office of Human Rights (OHR) so long as the harassment occurred in D.C. within

the past 365 days and was motivated by a protected trait. For example, a female volunteer who was sexually harassed can file a sex discrimination claim.

“In D.C., we have probably the more progressive civil rights law of any other jurisdiction here in the United States,” said Stephanie Franklin, director of policy and communications at OHR. The OHR essentially functions as a free alternative to the courts. Clients initiate the claim process by filing a complaint online or in person. After meeting with the client to confirm eligibility, OHR attempts to resolve the complaint through mediation before conducting a thorough investigation and presenting the case to an impartial commission of judges. Damages awarded from mediation or adjudication range from monetary compensation, to changes in the organization’s policies, to anti-harassment training for staff.

An OHR complaint usually takes six months to a year to be resolved, which is much faster than the civil court system, according to Franklin. In fiscal year 2015, OHR accepted 399 employment-related violations of the D.C. Human Rights Act. Both the EEOC and OHR offer their services free of charge. Private organizations such as the C r i m e Vi c t i m ’s Compensation Program and Network for Victim Recovery of D.C. also play a critical role in offering financial and emotional support for victims who ultimately decide to pursue legal action.

Many non-profit leaders are also trying to make positive changes to their own policies. “Even if we’re doing good now, we’re always looking t o d o b e t t e r, ” said Sonya D. Springfield, volunteer and in-kind manager

at Bread for the City. For Springfield, that meant adopting a rigorous code of conduct and harassment reporting procedure.

It also meant ensuring these materials were available online and covered during volunteer orientation.

It is unclear whether or not the new Trump administration will affect what federal workplace protection resources are available for unpaid volunteers.

“We have some sort of insulation because we’re local government,” Franklin said. “There may be more or less claims brought to [OHR] depending on the climate of this area entering into the next administration. But I can’t say whether or not there’ll be any significant changes.”

In an uncertain political landscape, the first line of defense for volunteers remains each individual organization’s leadership and culture.

“The more policies you have in place and the more you verbalize these things… [the more] people will think twice,” said Wanda Spence, director of administration at Central Union Mission. “As a nonprofit organization, it’s very important to make sure every person is protected.”

PICKING UP THE PIECES: Mitch Snyder’s

By Mary Walrath mary.walrath@streetsense.org James Jones is a fighter: sixty-six years old, legally blind and confined to a wheelchair. The first week of October, he found himself back outside with a single pair of clothes and the few possessions he could fit on his lap.

James Jones. | PHOTO COURTESY OF ERIC SHEPTOCK For the first time in a long time, Jones had no bed to return to that night. His last 15 years without permanent housing had been spent within the gray-and-blue checkered walls of Washington D.C.’s Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV), the largest homeless shelter in the D.C. area. Standing as a dilapidated echo of the ‘80s, on the corner of 2nd and D St NW, CCNV shelters more than 800 individuals annually. It is also one of the only shelters in the District to stay open 24 hours a day and allow residents to remain inside. Other relative freedoms include a late curfew and the ability to hold a bed, upon request, while gone for days at a time.

Despite this flexibility, CCNV has also collected its share of darker stories, such as Jones’s recent battle. “My mother raised us ourselves … I know she’s still in me. I’m a fighter, I don’t have any choice but to fight until I lay down and finally die,” he said in an interview.

Days after he was put out, CCNV resident and “homeless, homeless advocate” Eric Sheptock found Jones sleeping on the sidewalk outside of the shelter. He had no resources, almost none of his belongings and a range of motion too limited to bring him much further than where he slept, Jones told Sheptock in a video, later shared with Street Sense.

“[They kicked me out because] they said I couldn’t take care of myself,” he said in the shaky recording.

“You were removed from the first floor?”

Sheptock asked, noting that this particular floor is intended for elderly and disabled individuals, but has often claimed to be unequipped to handle such a demographic.

Yes, he was. Sheptock assured Jones that he would find people to assist him.

After an effort to reconnect with Jones through a series of emails and phone calls, Sheptock found him on bed-rest at a low barrier-shelter. And Street Sense was finally able to catch up with him as well. At such shelters, conditional nightly admittance is based on availability of beds and — during high demand — how early you got in line.

This is where Street Sense was finally able to catch up with him as well.

The interview took place in a cramped, cell-like room with tiles reminiscent of the early 70’s. The lights, like in the rest of the building, were flickering and fluorescent.

Poorly ventilated and almost as cold as outside, the room was cluttered with rotting produce, garbage, and discarded documents. Jones wore threadbare sweatpants and a sweatshirt. His feet, swollen and propped in the footholds of his wheelchair, were wrapped in white bandages. He said his only pair of shoes had been stolen during a trip to the doctor.

“I have a problem being blind. It’s becoming difficult for me. Someone could walk by and steal a $10 bill out of my hand and I couldn’t do anything because I couldn’t see who it was,” he said.

What Jones wore represented the remainder of the items in his possession; the rest he’d been forced to abandon when he was put out in October. Jones said that his locker and his bed were both emptied before he could claim anything, including items that have traveled with him for over 25 years. He was not given time, he said, to gather his things or make a call. And he wasn’t offered so much as a suggestion as to where else to go.

At the time of his eviction, Jones had just returned from a nearly three-month stay in the hospital for several health issues. He was not, however, sent to the infirmary at CCNV, nor was he offered much reprieve prior to the eviction hearing that determined his fate.

“Are you dying?” Jones recalled a staff member asked him upon his return from the hospital, “because if you are, don’t do it here.”

Staff A Big Part of the Problem The procedure for determining the eligibility of a resident to remain at CCNV has been compared by the shelter’s staff to that of an eviction court. If the

staff no longer believes you are fit to adhere to the shelter’s strict rules, you are brought in front of members of staff representatives and a judge to determine your fate. In Jones’s case, his hearing included staff members Kenneth Van Horn, John Cleveland and Zach Hunter. As an example of the staff’s treatment of him, Jones said that Van Horn, while watching him approach the microphone as fast as he was able, asked the judge “Where is Mr. Jones now?” — as if he were not present.

The trial went as it seems most eviction cases brought by the CCNV do: Jones was deemed unable to care for himself.

“Being legally blind, I asked some of my cube mates ‘what color is this shirt and what color are these pants?’

Because I didn’t want to be clashing,” Jones laughed during the interview. “I guess that meant I couldn’t take care of myself.” He described paying people at the shelter to help clean his space, as he was still expected to perform chores in spite of his disabilities.

Jones said he had also been a member of the CCNV staff for a good portion of the time he was there, Jones is only one of many who have complained about the conditions at CCNV. In a shelter where all staff is comprised of other tenants, there have been a number of allegations: donations being siphoned, bodily harm, and general mistreatment and misconduct.

LaTasha Lee, an occasional contributor to Street Sense, and her boyfriend Doug Jackson experienced some of this misconduct firsthand while visiting the shelter to donate clothing. Lee and Jackson detailed the unwelcoming experience in an interview with Street Sense and provided photo documentation of the interaction. On an already bitingly cold October day, the two had brought a large cart of coats, shoes, and assorted clothing — much of it still new — to the corner of 2nd and D. While still outside of the shelter, they began handing out clothing to a group that gathered around them. They were thanked sincerely, Lee said, and told repeatedly by residents that the items would “not have ever gotten to them were they brought inside.”

When shelter staff caught wind of this, revealed in photographs to include John Cleveland and Donald Page, Lee said they became hostile, telling her and Jackson that they could no longer donate clothing to individuals at the shelter and that the remainder of the clothing could not be brought inside because they had “broken protocol.” Lee noted that these members of the staff were all wearing new sports jerseys and clean clothing in good condition.

The other individuals from the shelter,

including those who had accepted some of the initial donations, were wearing tattered, broken and dirty clothing, according to Lee and Jackson.

Concerned by this, they asked insisted on speaking to a supervisor, but were denied and commanded to leave the area, allegedly in the wake of yelling and cursing by the staff.

A bin of donations intended for CCNV. PHOTO COURTESY OF LATASHA LEE AND DOUG JACKSON

Eric Thompson-Bey, a former CCNV resident, contributor to Street Sense and current friend to many still in the shelter, doubted that any such clothing was kept by residents who received it. “You’re not allowed to bring clothing or donations into the shelter,” he said in an interview.

Thompson-Bey told a story that not only parallels that of Jones, Sheptock, and past news reports — but also several accounts that current residents have shared. Street Sense spoke to a few more CCNV occupants between October and November both by phone and in person near the shelter.

Fear of retaliation keeps most residents who are willing to talk unwilling to share their identity. As Thompson-Bey said, “if they don’t like you, they find a way to get you out.” Those with any experience inside CCNV told very similar stories, sometimes corroborating each other’s alleged incidences word-for-word. The staff are “extremely corrupt,” Thompson-Bey and more than six residents said independently.

If you have money to “pay off” the staff, you are granted a sort of immunity, a promise of protection, and can get away with breaking the rules and even performing illegal activity, according to Thompson-Bey, Sheptock, Jones and several more anonymous residents. Many said they had witnessed staff, in the most literal sense, “looking the other way” — including when synthetic drugs are being sold within the walls of the shelter. Those same staff members have consistently claimed ignorance on the subject.

If you do not have money, however, and

STREET SENSE November 30 - December 13, 2016

7

COVER STORY

CCNV Among D.C.’s Broken Housing System the staff know it, many said you could be in trouble. Bed placements are bought and sold, sometimes for $100 or more.

Beatings are not uncommon: perpetrated on residents who staff members know they can “get away with hurting.”

The offices’ of floor directors are often lined with donations of clothing and food that are stacked up and kept until unwanted scraps are occasionally dispersed to the shelter residents. Thompson-Bey lived on the same floor as Jones during his time in the shelter, back when Jones could still see. Both of them observed piles of donations hoarded in the office of their director, Kenneth Van Horn, who has since been replaced. Several current residents reported observing Van Horn remove a hoarded stock pile of donations from the shelter and take them with him upon his move from D.C. to Detroit.

The list goes on. Eyewitness accounts of physical violence, corruption and manipulation by the staff seem to be part and parcel of interacting with CCNV. “I saw staff put their hands on people and beat them up and it feels really inhumane,” Jones told Street Sense.

“You don’t kick your dog. I’ve seen a lot of wrongdoing, I’ve been a correctional officer and we didn’t treat inmates the way people are being treated [at CCNV].”

“When people go in there, they’re already broken … when they’re talked to like animals, it doesn’t make for a happy home.”

The bed bugs and other structural deficiencies make conditions dismal, but remain largely unaddressed, residents reported. The elderly and disabled on the first floor are shown little mercy. Jones recalled needing to pay people to help him navigate areas around the shelter which were difficult in a wheelchair. ThompsonBey, who was under 50 during his time at CCNV but was allowed to stay on that floor due to bed shortages elsewhere, recalls how elderly residents were still assigned to bunk beds with no ladders.

Those who were often stuck inside all day due to physical hindrances were robbed of their only pastime, television and movie watching, whenever the staff became annoyed by their constant presence.

“Often there was nothing for them to do but lay in bed and get eaten by the bed bugs,” Thompson-Bey said. “They’d even take the stools people used to get off their beds away in order to trap people.”

Staff members John Cleveland, Donald Page, and Walter Woodard offered a very different side of the collective story during a group interview to address the many allegations. Corroborating all statements and often finishing each other’s sentences,

the three said that donations need to be pamphlet,” he said. handled exclusively by staff first, for safety Later in the interview, however, the and fairness purposes. Some residents have three insisted that they actually had a tendency to hoard items or items might referred Jones to a number of resources not yet be suitable for usage, staff said, and that he had refused them all of meaning that they must sort through the his own accord. He had been referred donation room first. Likewise, complaints to and chosen to leave the residential of mistreatment were met with more medical facility Christ House on “three vehement denial “[residents] just say that separate occasions,” as well as Central because they’re mad at us. We have to go through it every single day,” said Cleveland.

Staff members do get complaints all the time, but these are almost always rogue residents who crucify the staff in order to settle personal vendettas against them, and the courts always see through this, the three men insisted.

H o w e v e r, a c o p y o f a d o c u m e n t outlining Office of Administrative Hearings shelter cases decided just between October and December of 2015 showed that the courts, at least in this sample of time, were not always on the staff’s side. While other providers occasionally prevailed, there were no instances of CCNV doing so in this record.

Twenty-five of the total 78 cases filed against shelters in the given time period were filed against CCNV. While 36 percent of those cases were dismissed offhand for “Want of Prosecution,” clients prevailed Doug Jackson is informed by CCNV staff in 16 percent of the remaining cases. member John Cleveland that he can no And 32 percent of those same remaining longer deliver donations to CCNV. cases against CCNV had been classified as PHOTO COURTESY OF LATASHA LEE AND DOUG JACKSON. “rights violation charges” by the Office of Administrative Hearings.

Union Mission and the New York Avenue When Jones’ name was brought up Emergency Shelter, they said. However, in the staff interview, Cleveland, Page a call to Christ House revealed that the and Woodard all scoffed. Feverish intake director had no record of Jones and adamant, they moved quickly to ever being referred to or physically undermine each of his claims. Mr. Jones entering the clinic. Likewise, Central went through what everyone else does Union Mission had several “James Jones” during the “eviction process,” they on record, but none of their dates of birth said. He was written up — for what was were anywhere close to that of the James never made clear — and brought to trial.

Jones in question. New York Avenue was Residents have 15 days after receiving unable to comment. notice of “eviction” before they must “I talked to Mr. Jones the other day,” leave, Cleveland explained, and an Page said, “He said he was helping others additional seven days to claim their in the community out, using his own items. It is unclear whether Jones was money. Doesn’t sound like a man that’s given this amount of time, because no been robbed to me.” documentation exists. Woodard pointed out that CCNV is a self-sufficient shelter Bad Apples or a Bad Barrel? and said that Jones was removed for “putting himself in the position” to be This all calls into question the removed. When asked to explain that requirements set forth by the city for position, the reasoning changed to Jones facilities such as CCNV. While it is a having been displaced due to the staffs’ private non-profit, the shelter operates “concern for his health.” on city land and is therefore still under “Mr. Jones left with all of his items,” the jurisdiction of D.C. Code for Health Page said. When asked why he had not Care and Community Residency Licensure. been referred to other resources prior Within these regulations there are to his eviction, case manager Cleveland parameters surrounding the discharge of explained that they do not typically individuals from shelters, such as those offer such services to to anyone. that require connection to services, a “[Residents] usually already, or should discharge plan, and planning assistance. already, know the resources. We have a The Americans With Disabilities Act, which

the shelter must also remain in adherence to, outlines its own set of rules for the accommodation of people with disabilities.

Several months of request from Street Sense for further operational documentation have gone unanswered.

The Office of Administrative Hearings, the Department of Human Services, CCNV itself, and the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs have all received email and phone inquiries on the subject, without acknowledgement. This begs the question: is CCNV in violation of policy? Or is the policy so careless and lacking that they are operating within the present parameters?

For people like James Jones, who ended up where he is after “chasing his high school sweetheart,” losing a wife to addiction, and raising children — resources like CCNV are necessary when life goes awry.

Staff and residents alike referred to CCNV as a place where people who feel broken come. However, the staff members seem to consider it a place of putting people together, while residents often considered it a place to be broken down further.

CCNV has been an indispensable asset to the city for decades, since activist Mitch Snyder first-envisioned that the vacant Federal City College building could be a place of refuge. Furthermore, there would not be room in city-contracted shelters to absorb CCNV’s capacity if the doors were to close. Based on residents’ testimonials, however, the shelter has lost sight of Snyder’s vision.

Sheptock explained that, though he publically comments on the shelter, his rhetoric is never aimed at shutting the place down. “[The goal] is to make it better,” he said.

While CCNV has been called deplorable, the downtown shelter needs not closure, but change. Before it can truly build broken people back up, it seems The Community for Creative Nonviolence must first begin the process of building itself back up, from the ground up.

Illustrations by Debbie Brantley, Marcus Green, Dwight Harris, Joe Jackson, Ken Martin, Cynthia Mewborn, Patty Smith, Sasha Williams

OPINION

The Solution to Homelessness Is Housing, Not Handcuffs

By Eric Tars

Communities are at their strongest when members share responsibility for each other and come together to face challenges. Members of strong communities pool resources for the common good, reaching out a hand when someone else faces danger or crisis. For communities today, this means doing something about the fact that there is simply not enough affordable housing to keep all of our community members safe, stable and out of homelessness.

Too many communities, however, are using handcuffs instead of housing, aggressively deploying police to address the crises of homelessness and poverty.

The use of law enforcement to address a social problem erodes community trust, further exacerbates the challenges that poverty and homelessness already pose to people, and does nothing to increase community safety. As people are funneled from police interactions into the criminal justice system, it’s also a far more expensive strategy than providing access to stable housing.

That’s why we at the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, together with hundreds of other organizations and individuals launched our national campaign for Housing Not Handcuffs on Nov. 15. The campaign calls for an immediate end to the criminalization of homelessness, and for communities to instead implement the best policies and practices that are working around the country, so we can all enjoy a community where no one has to sleep on the streets or beg for their daily needs.

(Street Sense has endorsed this campaign.)

The center has documented the growth of criminalization in a new report which reviews 10 years of data on laws criminalizing homelessness in 187 cities across the country. It reveals dramatic increases in the criminalization of homelessness, including a 69 percent growth in the number of citywide laws prohibiting camping, 88 percent growth in loitering or vagrancy laws and a whopping 149 percent growth in laws prohibiting sleeping or living in vehicles.

But the report also shows the strong evidence that criminalization is not only inhumane but also counterproductive and expensive. Charlotte, North Carolina, for example, saved close to $2 million in the first year of operation of a new Housing First program, much of it coming from hundreds of fewer nights spent in jail and hundreds fewer ambulance rides by its formerly homeless residents. The report lauds cities like Indianapolis, Indiana for its new ordinance that prohibits evictions of homeless encampments unless adequate alternative housing is provided

Put Love Before Hate

By Jackie Turner

Why do people hate?

I have been thinking about it, yet I can’t figure it out. I don’t understand hate. It fosters such negative energy, with little logic. Hate does not change anything. It causes frustration and possibly physical and mental illness.

What have blacks done to whites to make them hate so much? This is not a time for America – or any place for that matter – to make hate the priority.

God warns us about these kinds of hateful thoughts, that they can only lead to death. I don’t want the future to be the end.

Please think: Try to put love before hate, not only for self but for the world.

Jackie Turner is a vendor for Street Sense.

first, and Syracuse, New York, which has ended veterans homelessness and is well on its way to ending other forms of homelessness through compassionate outreach rather than harsh enforcement.

The report also highlights several recent federal steps taken to combat criminalization. In August 2015, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness published guidance that called forced dispersal of encampments “not an appropriate solution,” and the U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of interest brief, stating, “Criminally prosecuting those individuals for something as innocent as sleeping, when they have no safe, legal place to go, violates their constitutional rights.” In both 2015 and 2016, the Department of Housing & Urban Development inserted a new question into its application for a $2 billion grant program giving local governments and providers’ higher scores, and potentially increased funding, if they demonstrate they are preventing the criminalization of homelessness. And this past June, the White House created the Data-Driven Justice Initiative to work with counties to stop the cycle of jails, hospitals and streets for homeless persons.

The Housing Not Handcuffs Campaign has model polices for the local, state and federal levels. We call on local and state governments to prohibit law enforcement from profiling individuals on the basis of perceived housing status and invest in more comprehensive long-term housing options, improve police training on interacting with homeless communities and ensure that homelessness is not treated as a crime. The federal government similarly needs to increase its direct investment in affordable housing and create further incentives for communities to stop counterproductive criminalization practices and open their

eyes to the need for alternatives.

If you want to see an end to homelessness in your community, endorse our campaign for Housing Not Handcuffs, learn more about the best practices that are working around the country and call for an end to criminalization and more support for housing so we can all enjoy a community where no one has to sleep on the streets or beg for their daily needs.

The campaign has already collected some high profile support, including statements from former Attorney General Eric Holder, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner and New York City Councilor Stephen Levin. To add your voice, please visit housingnothandcuffs.org, follow us on Twitter at @HNHCampaign, and tag your own stories of criminalization, or success when you have housing, with #HNHNow. Eric Tars is a senior attorney at the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

A f te r t h e E l e c t i o n Craze

By Dwayne Butler A lot of crazy stuff happened after the election of 2016. In some places, people fought in the streets and protested by burning cars.

I feel bad and sad. We should not act crazy over an election because we think Hillary Clinton should have won or for a victory for Donald Trump.

I was on cloud nine, feeling good and I slept well, too. But, it was bewildering to watch the rioting and hearing some people say that the world had had been turned on its ear, whatever that means!

We should refrain from such uncivil behavior and hope for the best.

Dwayne is an author and vendor with Street Sense.

Looking Ahead

By Robert Warren I have been a lifelong resident of DC. I was born during the Civil Rights Movement. My mother tells me when I was 2 or 3 years old, she marched with me.

Being an advocate for the poor and homeless, I sell my paper by the White House. I never really developed a sales pitch besides trying to be nice and respectful of all people and tell them about the paper I am selling.

Looking ahead to 2017, I am hopeful but worried about some of my fellow vendors who are still living outside, on the streets.

Being without housing is something that takes a long time get over, even after you are housed. So I am hopeful that people will still try to get housing before they die, and I wish the government would

start talking about building infrastructures that include universal housing that requires people who get that housing to pay one-third of their income for rent.

I plan to keep trying to organize the community around our right to housing.

Along with my Street Sense family, I am always fearful that those on the right will take us back to those dark days of the past. But I would only say to Street Sense readers and the world, pray and know that God’s plan is the best of plans.

May God bless the poor and the homeless to have a home.

Robert Warren is a vendor and artist 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.

A Post-Election Prayer Well, I guess Donald Trump will be our next President. I voted for Hillary Clinton.

Either way, I did not expect this nightmare to happen. It is what it is, people. Let’s learn to humble ourselves as we must prepare to get him out in four years. I know I’m going to vote again in the next election.

If he does something that is against the United States Constitution, we must hold him accountable for his actions.

But at this point, humility must play an important part.

There is a Bible scripture I read in 1 Peter 2:13-15: “Be subject for the Lord’s

sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.”

As for the protesters, I know that some didn’t the like the outcome of this election. The best thing I can say right now is pray to God that He will send the next right person that is suitable to be the next president of the United States.

Leonard C. Hyater Jr. is a volunteer writer for Street Sense.

Home for the Holidays

By Cynthia Mewborn There aren’t any holidays really for people who live on the streets, nor has there been a holiday for me in years, though people seem a lot kinder towards street dwellers during the holidays.

Street dwellers are still left to fend for themselves during the holidays and the rest of the year and it’s an extremely lonely and sad experience. I am not sure when I’ll have a normal holiday season on this planet but I know I’ll definitely have an eternal holiday in heaven.

I am very hopeful that in the near future I’ll be able to enjoy my friends, family,

coworkers and supporters in the future. I have no regrets for all the disappointments that Satan has put me through for I know that this is his pain and hatred. It has always been yours, Satan, and it will always be yours, for eternity and infinity and beyond until you are annihilation, eradication and obliteration, Satan.

God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven and God’s glory will be fulfilled for the both of us. I just look forward in seeing a lot of my supporters, family and friends and coworkers in heaven including some of the dogs who have greeted me

1#1

OPINION

Improving Metro

What Will Happen

While riding Metro during the morning rush, I heard the train operator say, “Excuse me passengers – this train will be moving momentarily.”

Somewhere around 10 minutes later, the operator said once again “this train will be moving momentarily.”

Another five minutes and he said the same thing. Another passenger in my car went to the intercom and asked how many times the operator was going to say that. So many people were upset.

The train finally began moving. But, two stops later, it stopped again.

“Attention customers, we have a red signal,” said the operator.

Twenty minutes later, we finally reached Metro Center.

“Thank you for riding Metro. Sorry for the delay, while we improve and upgrade the Metrorail system.”

Yeah right.

First of all, why would we want a President like Donald Trump who doesn’t have any experience in politics? Tell me, why anyone would vote for a guy like him.

E xplain t o me, how did he get nominated? Is it because of his money?

Now that Donald Trump has won the election, I worry there’s going to be a war.

I hoped and prayed that everyone eligible would vote. But only 55 percent did.

Hillary Clinton has more experience than Trump. She could have done the job better.

By Phillip Black

Leonard C. Hyater Jr.

STREET SENSE November 30 - December 13, 2016

By Ricardo Meriedy

Ricardo Meriedy is an author and vendor for Street Sense.

Good Tiding and Bad Things

By Sheila White

while asking for donation for Street Sense from their owners. More importantly I am extremely excited that Satan will be dead for eternity, for infinity and beyond. Now that’s something I really look forward to.

So I hope that all my supporters of Street Sense have a very happy holiday and wonderful New Year, for the Kingdom of Israel is at hand and God’s will be done. Amen.

The holidays are approaching us again.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are the times when most people give and share good tidings. With the election over and a new president taking office, what does it mean to the people all over the world?

To me it means changes in the way this country is run. Some things will stay the same. But will taxes be raised or lowered? Will housing improve? After the big holidays are over, Trump has a great many things to address. One of these is to tell Congress what the people need and want. But will Congress wake up to the demands of the people?

By Jeffery McNeil

Cynthia Mewborn is a Street Sense vendor.

Sheila White is a vendor and artist for Street Sense.

Before Ann Coulter and Alex Jones, I warned Washingtonians: the Trump train was gaining full steam and headed straight to Washington. Unlike the pollsters and prognosticators, everything I said would happen, happened. I nailed it!

The Hillary zombies are shocked, horrified and upset. If I were a Democrat, I would be angry too. The establishment played you and you fell for it. Hillary zombies had the drapes measured and the champagne popping. It was hilarious watching Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid and Lawrence O’Donnell’s smugness turn to horror when they had to announce that Donald Trump will be their next president. But no one is enjoying this more than me.

While The Regressive Left points fingers at why Hillary got a Trumping, they haven’t learned anything! The same Democratic National Committee that rigged the election for Hillary still is floating retreads from yesteryear, such as Howard Dean, to lead them out of the wilderness. When President Barack Obama was elected, he had two veto-proof majorities. But he went on to lose 14 Senate seats, 69 House seats, 12 governorships and 910 state legislature seats. Hillary ran on continuing President Obama’s legacy and was resoundingly repudiated. If the Democrats want to blame someone for their defeat, they shouldn’t blame working people, they should blame their stale ideology of playing the race card, high taxes and excessive regulations. This election sent a message that the populous is capable of making better decisions than a handful of elites that think they’re your betters.

This isn’t about Trump. People are under no illusion that he can’t betray us.

However, everyday people were willing to go to any length to be free from an arrogant pompous class of elites that looks at working people as deplorable. A vote for Trump was a vote not to allow our fate to be ruled by banksters, politicians and globalists.

This wasn’t about right or left, Republican or Democrat -- this fight is as old as our Republic itself and it’s about a right to independence and self-determination.

Trump’s rise wasn’t fueled by xenophobia, racism or misogyny. The signs were there

in 2010 with the rise of the Tea Party, the ousting of Eric Cantor and then Brexit this summer. These populist uprisings should have been a clue to progressives that globalization was creating turmoil around the globe. But instead these self-proclaimed wise guys doubled down on two disastrous wars, Obamacare and excessive regulations.

Globalization doesn’t help the poor -- it leaves a wake of haves and have nots. Seventytwo percent of Americans believe we are headed in the wrong direction.

Americans didn’t necessarily like or agree with Trump, but wanted to vote for someone who would stick up for working people.

There’s liberalism and then there’s leftism. I’m a liberal. I tolerate viewpoints different from my own while leftists demonize those that reject their beliefs. They can’t see someone may not share their beliefs on saving the planet or abortion-on-demand but may find common ground on providing healthcare and better living conditions. Some libs are so looney they attack you even when you sympathize with them on certain causes.

It’s frightening to see the indoctrination of our children. They behave as if they’re under some kind of spell. Being “triggered,” weeping and crying because someone denied them something. It isn’t liberal or progressive, it’s narcissism -- wanting society to conform to your own delusional reality. You have to treat leftists like children. Like adolescents, they can’t comprehend nuance, seeing everything as black and white. If you don’t like President Obama you’re a racist and disliking Hillary makes you a misogynist. As with children, liberals truly believe that the role of government is to feed, clothe, provide housing, childcare and paid vacations. It’s anathema to them that some don’t want charity.

On January 21, We the People are going to take the rattles away from the babies.

So you can buy a ticket and board the Trump train or do what you liberals promised if Trump got elected. Get your tickets and move to Canada. If you want to behave like children, we’re going to treat you like children.

Jeffery is a vendor for Street Sense.

Taking The Rattle Away From The Babies

Phillip Black is a vendor for 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.

In Memorium For Will

By Charles Davis, Artist/Vendor Just this past T h u r s d a y, m y brother-in-law got the news that Will passed away at Georgetown Hospital. I was devastated. I knew that he was very ill and I really miss him very much. May he rest in peace.

Will was a very outgoing person that would give you a lot of inspiration and love to move on, no matter what your situation was. He always stayed on me about family situations, about getting off the streets and betting my own place, which I succeeded at. He also was very close to his brothers, Dannie and Eric. He

had a beautiful wife and children.

Despite the Thanksgiving holiday season, I think that this is the saddest that I have ever been since the passing of my mother when I was a teenager. Before my father passed away, he always said “times are going to get rough son, and it’s going to be a cold world out there. So always keep your faith in God.” As of today, I live on that wisdom, because recently a few of my friends and family members have gone to rest and sometimes I feel so lonely out there when I am by myself. But I know deep down in my heart that I am not going through this alone. While I am dealing with all of this, I still must move on with my life too.

First I have to keep my health strong,

my apartment clean and my education on-going. I also still help my family out a lot when they need me. I hope and pray that my friend is doing well with her new job and her studies. I really miss her, even though we went through a lot of differences. She had to leave so that she could be closest to her family, since the passing of her brother. May he also rest in peace. As I end this article, I say to my Street Sense vendors: always keep your trust in God, the almighty. May the power and the kingdom be yours always and forever. Amen Rest in Peace Will Bennett, we all miss you!

A Son's Love for His Mother

By Robert Williams, USMC Artist/Vendor It’s been five years, but when I speak of her too long, still I come to tears I guess I’m still not that strong The day after Thanksgiving, did I bury her In my heart, now do I still carry her.

Special, very special, is a mother’s love Similar to that of our father, God, above Lessons of life, did she teach me All of her love did she give free, to me Even when I would misbehave Still – she did not take, but she freely gave I love her dearly, just because A model of a true woman she was I thank God for her existance To his will, she had no resistance So in actuality – she's still in existance In my heart, she'll always be a part of me Yes that, she will always be I love you Mushie, your Bobby In the next edition, I’ll be back at my articles, prayerfully engaging our minds with knowledge and awareness of what’s really going on. Please, however, now allow me the opportunity to share words of a son’s love for his mother, as well as another poetic treat from my friend, Carla Baumgardner:

Joy and Happiness

By Carla M. Baumgardner, Volunteer I DON'T RECALL PUTTING MY JOY AND HAPPINESS ON THE MARKET. YOU CAN'T BORROW IT, YOU CAN'T SUBLIMINALLY REMOVE IT, YOU CAN'T STEAL IT. I CREATED THIS HAPPINESS AND I DON'T RECALL PUTTING IT ON THE MARKET. GO FIND YOUR OWN.

STREET SENSE November 30 - December 13, 2016

VENDOR WRITING

I Finally Finished!

The Street Sense Art Bus officially debuted at the Blind Whino on Saturday, Nov. 19. “Street Soul” a mobile art exhibit,” is something you don’t want to miss! Keep reading Street Sense and checking streetsense.org/ calendar to see where the bus will be next.

Photos by Ken Martin, Artist/Vendor

13

By Aida Basnight Artist/Vendor I finally finished my training program with Together We Bake, a micro-baking business that gives women second chances. The 8-week training program is a wonderful program where I learned about baking cookies and granola and about other things like properly sanitizing my hands and using thermometers while cooking food. Now I do those things in my own home.

I urge other women, Aida Basnight at her graduation ceremonyregardless of skills you have with her job counselor Erica Anaya. or don’t have, to try this PHOTO COURTESY OF TOGETHER WE BAKE program, Together We Bake.

Their empowerment class was a mind blower and I’m glad that I went through this program. The whole thing includes life skills, job readiness and ServSafe, a nationally recognized food safety certification. I came out a better person than I was before taking these classes.

Thank you, Together We Bake, for the awesome experience. I’m still using the tools that I learned in your empowerment classes on a daily basis and shedding off the daily stresses that are unavoidable for anyone.

Together We Bake’s winter session begins o n Tu e s d a y, January 17.

They will stop accepting applications the week of January 9. For more informat i o n , w w w. togetherwebake.org

The graduating team of nine outstanding women, including aida Basnight, along with Together We Bake staff and the Mayor of Alexandria, Allison Silberberg.

PHOTO COURTESY OF TOGETHER WE BAKE

The Rabbit and the Dinosaur

By Michael Craig, Artist/Vendor

D

a rabbit and the dino woke up out of a dream. Or was it a nightmare?

The rabbit had asked how the dinosaur became extinct. “What happened to you? Why ain’t you here no more?”

“Well, we had a freeze-over and all our trees were gone and we died.

Everything went crazy,” said the dinosaur. “We were all hoppin’ around, much like you, without a care in the world. Tyrannosaurus, Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus… we were all absorbed in our individual lives.”

“Yo, does that mean this could happen to me?” asked the rabbit.

“You can see that I’m extinct, right?” sassed the dino. “Ain’t nobody makin’ it out of here alive. But you’re all going to go a lot sooner if you don’t wake up to what’s goin’ on.”

“Well.. our ecological and economic

disasters are ongoing,” admitted the rabbit.

“I’m short on leaves and cabbage baby!”

“And why is that?” asked the dino.

“Because we polluted and disrespected our natural world,” said the rabbit.

“Well, at least you still have a little time to fix it,” said the dino. “I never thought I was going to be extinct. But we messed up. I don’t want you to end up like me. You need to stop just hoppin’ around and check this situation now, baby-love.”

“If we knew how to love each other, perhaps this would never have happened,” mused the rabbit. “We’re on limited time, but we have the capacity, potential and opportunity for love – despite all of our artificial differences.

“You’re right -- don’t wait till you’re extinct to show love,” said the dino, holding out a cabbage for the rabbit.

“Instead, let love be your legacy.”

COMICS & GAMES

Rat Patrol 101

By Ronald “Pookanu” Dudley Artist/Vendor Have you ever seen a rat the size of a cat?

Have you ever seen a rat in your bed with your cat?

Have you ever seen a rat in the crib with your baby?

Have you seen a rat eating your chicken and gravy?

Have you ever seen a rat on your kitchen stove?

Have you ever seen a rat in your toilet bowl?

Have you ever seen a rat in your kitchen sink?

Dead rats in your closet -- they really stink!

PHOTO BY RONALD DUDLEY

From the Ground Up to the Top

By Chon Gotti Artist/Vendor Living my life with passion each and every day, Taking one step at a time chasing old fears away Coming out of a groundhog’s hole Climbing toward the top With angles of love promoting me at every stop Fly high my brother making a positive stand I wrote this poem just for you so remember that I’m the man

PHOTO BY CHON GOTTI

Rats, they’re everywhere.

In the park, in the air.

In your food, in your treats.

At the light, in the streets.

Have you ever seen a rat under your Christmas tree?

Have you ever seen a rat eating your Thanksgiving turkey?

Have you ever seen a rat on the White House lawn?

He had rats in his bed, He got bit on his arm.

We got rats everywhere. It’s scaring my mama.

Please don’t let the rats take my city, Obama.

The Red Piranha

By Larry D. Kelly, Artist/Vendor When I was at the zoo, I saw this fish that likes people. It comes right up to you, almost like you’re going to give it food. Depending on where the fish lives, the color and size are not the same. The color patterns of the juvenile fish can also change. This fish is called pygocentrus nattereri.

STREET SENSE November 30 - December 13, 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

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)

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

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

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

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

Doctors, Doctors, Doctors!

By Elizabeth Bryant Artist/Vendor

Eric Thompson-Bey — 11/22 Shernell Thomas — 12/1

Frustration is going to the doctor only for them to say nothing seems to be wrong.

I finally received help when I went back to the doctor literally crying for help. The doctor gave me some medicine because I was so upset.

I had left work in order to stay close to a bathroom because I was so sick.

But I don’t have to do that now, because the medicine they gave me really worked!

I had an x-ray done to my stomach.

They said there’s a lot of heartburn and I’m going to have to take medicine for the rest of my life. I hope I can get back on my feet, I’m tired of being sick.

Some good news was that I also got my mammogram for breast cancer and am glad to know I’m in the clear! I plan to keep focusing on school so I can graduate next year.

Consider Contributing to Street Sense!

# 28233

United Way NCA Designation Code

United Way of the National Capital Area

# 8871

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

- Apply for Discounted Rates on R ESEA RCH O N A LCO 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.

Natural Gas

Residential Essential Service (RES) Program

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

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

Electric

Residential Aid Discount (RAD) Program

Potential savings are between $300-$475 annually.

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®

Water

Customer Assistance Program (CAP)

Potential discount could be over $450 annually.

Telephone

November 30 - December 13, 2016 • Volume 14 • Issue 2

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.

Lifeline Program (Economy II)

Annual discount on one land line service per household.

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.

Interested in a subscription? Visit StreetSense.org/subscribe