12 28 2016

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Volume 14: Issue: 4 December 28, 2016 - January 10, 2017

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sense

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

PHILADELPHIA, PA | PHOTO BY ALEXIS WRIGHT-WHITLEY

“No person should have to live, or die, homeless.”

WASHINGTON, DC | PHOTO BY RODNEY CHOICE

C o m m u n i t i e s a c ro s s t h e country lament more than 2,700 lives lost pgs 4-8

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Our v e new y ndors look e t good ar and say o the bye to 2016

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DENVER, CO | PHOTO BY GILES CLASEN

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.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES www.StreetSense.org • More Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day footage, photos and articles!

StreetSense.org • It’s never too late to donate to Street Sense. Watch Patty Smith’s story and hear what she thinks 2017 will mean for Street Sense!

StreetSense.org/appeal

COVER ART More than 100 communities observed National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day on Dec. 21.

INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS CREDITED ON THE COVER

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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.

How It Works

ADDRESS 1317 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 PHONE 202.347.2006 FAX 202.347.2166 E-MAIL info@streetsense.org WEB StreetSense.org

Each vendor func as an independent contractor for Street Sense. That means he or she every purchase.

Vendors purchase the paper for 50 cents/issue, which will then be sold to you for a suggested dona $2.

Street Sense publishes the newspaper.

75% 75% supports the vendors helping them overcome homelessness and poverty.

Street Sense

Vendors buy the newspaper for 50 cents each.

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25% costs at Street Sense.

1. Street Sense will be distributed for a voluntary donation of $2.00, I agree not to ask for more than $2.00 or solicit donations for Street Sense by any other means.

2. I will only purchase the paper from Street Sense staff and volunteers and will not sell papers to other vendors.

3. I agree to treat all others, including customers, staff, volunteers, and other vendors, respectfully at all times. I will refrain from threatening others, pressuring customers into making a donation, or in engaging in behavior that condones racism, sexism, classism, or other prejudices.

4. I agree not to distribute copies of Street Sense on metro trains and buses or on private property.

5. I agree to abide by the Street Sense vendor territorial policy at all times and will resolve any related disputes I

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The remainder of your supports the vendor.

have with other vendors in a professional manner.

6. I understand that I am not an employee of Street Sense, Inc. but an independent contractor.

7. I agree to sell no additional goods or products when distributing Street Sense.

8. I will not distribute Street Sense under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

9. I understand that my badge and (if applicable) vest are property of Street Sense, Inc. and will not deface them. I will present my badge when purchasing Street Sense. I will always display my badge when distributing Street Sense.

10. I agree to support Street Sense’s mission statement. In doing so I will work to support the Street Sense community and uphold its values of honesty, respect, support, and opportunity.

© STREET SENSE, INC 2015

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 WRITERS GROUP LEADERS Donna Daniels, Susan Orlins, Willie Schatz OPINION EDITORS Rachel Brody, Arthur Delaney, Britt Peterson PRINT LAYOUT PRODUCTION Chris Kaihatsu EDITORIAL & PAPER SALES VOLUNTEERS Ben Burgess, Jane Cave, Cheryl Chevalier, Rodney Choice, Colleen Cosgriff, Jerome Dineen, Michelle Falquero, Pat Geiger, Roberta Haber, Mary Henkin, Erum Jilani, Dottie Kramer, Leonie Peterkin, Hannah Northey, Jesselyn Radack, Andrew Siddons, Brianne Talocka, Jackie Thompson, Mary Walrath, 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 December 28, 2016 - January 10, 2017

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Woodbridge Church Bridges Service Gap

Holiday Drive Provides Comfort for D.C. Foster Children

By Brianne Talocka Volunteer

By Brianne Talocka Volunteer

Streetlight Community Outreach Ministries was created by Rose Powers and the people of the Pathway Vineyard Church in Woodbridge, VA. Powers was inspired by a homeless and schizophrenic man who would sit outside the church every morning. He opened her eyes to the fact that people were living outside directly behind the church.

Now, Streetlight holds a dinner for the homeless community every Wednesday night. This dinner is for food, comfort, and fellowship. It started as a potluck dinner and grew into so much more.

Community members and nearby restaurants bring food to be warmed up and shared. Social workers attend this dinner to build relationships and offer assistance to diners. Streetlight also has a food pantry that is open on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:30am-11:30am.

The organization has grown so large since its inception that it has separated from the Pathway Vineyard Church.

Becoming an independent organization allowed Streetlight Community Outreach Ministries to obtain grants for group homes that homeless people can live in.

Common living spaces are shared, but

individuals get a bedroom of their very own. These residents also get medical care or other services they might need, such as help finding a career.

Streetlight has a lot of patients with medical needs, including those suffering from diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. They also help those suffering with addiction. Anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can attend an AA program or a long-term recovery program. While residents are away, their room is saved for them for when they return. Streetlight has faith in its patients and believes that permanent housing is the best option for them.

This organization is currently working to build huge up-scale apartment complexes for their residents. Anyone who is a member of the Streetlight organization will have access to phone, TV, and internet services. This is a multimillion-dollar project, but it’s definitely a step in a great direction.

Powers thanks God for providing the resources to do good things for people.

Powers said that she is “amazed by what has been accomplished by people coming together to work for the common good.”

Street Sense Contributor Exhibition: District II @ The National Building Museum | Nov. 19 - Feb. 12 A 3-section exhibit of Street Sense contributor Chris Shaw’s work, documenting the changing streets of downtown D.C. from the 1960s through the 80s.

Jan. 8: Walking Tour: Billy Luck’s Mt. Vernon Square | 1 - 2:30 pm Join the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and photographer and architectural history raconteur Chris Earnshaw for a stroll and discover the people, places and scenes of bygone Mt. Vernon Square.

Jan. 10: Panel: Documenting Downtown D.C. | 6:30 - 8 pm Join photographers Chris Earnshaw, Phil Portlock, Bill Lebovich, Joseph Mills and moderator Jeff Krulik (filmmaker: Heavy Metal Parking Lot), for insight on documenting downtown from the 1960s onwards, through their street, architectural, and subterranean photography.

The annual D.C. Holiday Pajama Drive was founded six years ago to benefit foster children. During the process of adopting her own, Kathy Jackson realized that foster children often lack common items that many people take for granted, such as a pair of pajamas. Jackson saw her son’s enthusiasm when he received a new pair of pajamas and she became determined to give them to other foster kids as well. Thus, the D.C. Holiday Pajama Drive was born.

The collection begins in November and lasts throughout January. Jackson collects pajamas for children of all ages. She also collects other forms of winter gear, such as hats, scarfs, gloves, and basic clothing items. Socks and underwear must be new, but she gladly accepts other items that have been worn.

Jackson thinks it’s important for people to remember that children in foster care aren’t just young kids, but also teenagers.

Therefore, she likes to ask for adult-sized pajamas to ensure that teens are not forgotten about.

After doing the project for three years, a girl who was about to age out of foster care approached Jackson and said that she had never been adopted, but that she had received pajamas from the

D.C. Holiday Pajama Drive, which had a positive impact on her. “That completely validated everything that we were doing,” Jackson told Street Sense.

Social media is used to spread the word about the project. This is the third year in a row that pajamas have been donated from every state. Jackson has a map that she colors in when pajamas arrive from different states. “My kids get really excited when the map starts to fill in,” she said, adding that a wonderful bonus to the drive is that “my kids are learning U.S. geography” while they help her sort through the pajamas. In addition to collecting pajamas from other states, the D.C. Holiday Pajama Drive has accepted donations from other countries as well. Jackson has received pajamas from Vietnam, England, Peru, South Korea, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland and Belgium.

The pajamas she collects are given to the District of Columbia Family and Child Services. She has also given them to other agencies that work with foster kids.

According to Jackson, “the little things that can be done make a big difference.”

For more information, visit www.

Facebook.com/DcHolidayPajamaDrive.

BOSTON | PHOTO BY FELICIA GANS

PHILADELPHIA | PHOTO BY ALEXIS WRIGHT-WHITLEY

CHICAGO | PHOTO BY KAITLIN SCHULER

A Nation Mourns Lives Lost

By Lisa Edge, Eric Falquero, Felicia Gans, Sarah Harvey, Cole Merkel, Kaitlin Schuler, Alexis Wright-Whitley International Network of Street Papers

A

n estimated 112 events were recently held in 39 states and the District of Columbia, honoring more than 2,700 people who have died while unhoused in the United States over the past year, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). For twenty-seven years, NCH has led grassroots observance of National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day around the first day of Winter, Dec. 21.

Every participating community recognizes this in their own way, such as through church services or protest demonstrations. Some place emphasis on collecting data on the number of people who have passed away and why. Other groups focus on a spiritual farewell and strengthening community brotherhood.

NCH didn’t invent these services, but united and propagated them. Some cities and towns hold their annual memorial services during other times of year, because that’s what they’ve been doing since before National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day existed. People have been dying homeless in America for a very long time.

Common refrains heard at nearly every service: in one of the richest countries in the world, no one should have to live or die homeless; let this be the last year that such a memorial need be held; and housing is healthcare.

The latter is a growing concern.

According to the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council in Boston, homelessness can both cause and be caused by poor health. And for people that have been homeless for years, the needs that come with aging — such as extra rest or the ability to store or refrigerate special medications — are hard to come by. Homeless Americans’ average life expectancy is in their 40s, depending on location — as opposed to the national population’s 78 years, according to a 2011 report from the Council.

Similar impacts to life expectancy have been documented by research in Canada (St. Michael’s Hospital) and the United Kingdom (University of Sheffield).

Though it disproportionately affects people of color, homelessness can happen to anyone. “We hope that this moment is a time for us to remember the people...

Homelessness is a human issue,” said NCH Director Megan Hustings at the memorial service in the nation’s capital.

Part of NCH’s effort includes collecting data on how many people die without

homes each year and presenting that information as clear and serious evidence that ending homelessness needs more attention and resources: essentially honoring the dead by helping the living.

The numbers are self-reported and assumed under-reported. At services in D.C., a community member spoke up to add several names that had not been recognized. The same happened during Boston’s 2015 memorial. NCH always lists “Jane Doe” and “John Doe” as a reminder of who may not have been remembered that day. “Time and time again, what’s reported is that homelessness is going down,” Hustings said in an interview. “And what we know from our communities is that that is just not the case.”

On Homeless Persons Memorial Day, songs and symbols rule the day. From winter blankets or candles to represent every lost soul, to choirs and interfaith prayers to guide them home. Placards and lists bearing names to remember were raised high in communities across the country so that no one is forgotten.

Philadelphia

of the factors that contribute to such unfortunate casualties, because they are so vast. The average age of those who passed away in the city was 53.

One Step Away vendor Tammy said that conditions on the street have left her with the mentality that could have resulted in her name being on tonight’s list.

“I was waiting out there to die,” Tammy said. “I think many homeless people are too, especially when you have no hope or way forward.” Tammy said selling papers saved her and gave her a voice. That night’s memorial served to do the same.

The 200 names were read, as people held candles, signs with those same names, and each other to provide comfort and warmth. “We have to mention their names because people need to realize that the homeless people who died are people too,” Tammy said. “Don’t stop looking forward and don’t give up the self, because when you give up the self, you’ve really lost everything.”

Denver

Every year on the third Wednesday of December, Denver dims the Christmas People huddled together at Thomas lights decorating the City and County Paine Plaza to honor the 200 homeless Building and a small crowd gathers Philadelphians who have died in 2016. The to remember those who died on the memorial kicked off with a performance streets. Many of the 125 or so people by the Magic Music Group Drill Team, who attended the Homeless Persons’ followed by a call to Memorial Vigil on end homelessness Dec. 21 work for a led by Derrick Ford homeless services of WURD Recovery agency in the Radio. Ford city, though some also highlighted attendees have individuals walking just come to pay throughout the their respects or plaza, encouraging remember a friend. people to sign T h i s y e a r, petitions calling for Denver honored Congress to take a 171 homeless or stronger stance on The Magic Music Group Drill Team formerly homeless access to affordable performs at Philadelphia’s memorial. individuals who h o u s i n g , j o b s , PHOTO BY ALEXIS WRIGHT-WHITLEY p a s s e d a w a y. O f and efforts to end those, 79 died on homelessness. the streets in 2016. The 27th annual Formerly homeless veterans posted candlelight vigil, hosted by the Colorado colors to honor those who have served Coalition for the Homeless (CCH), and passed away. included speeches and a reading of the Personal stories were shared about list of decedents’ names. the deceased. Music and poetry were Denver Mayor Michael Hancock was also performed. noticeably absent from the 2016 memorial Factors contributing to the casualties vigil. Though it is customary for the mayor to of those on the street are varied. It is deliver a speech at the ceremony, Hancock difficult to determine and measure all announced the morning of Dec. 21 that he

would not speak at the event. The Denver mayor received much negative publicity in 2016 for the city’s multiple “sweeps” of homeless encampments.

Every December, to coincide with the memorial service, CCH publishes the Homeless Death Review, a report that details mortality statistics for people experiencing homelessness in Denver. Of the 79 individuals who died on the streets in 2016, more than 80 percent were age 60 or younger. The leading cause of death was drug or alcohol related, and 42 percent of individual deaths were due to accidents.

Names of the decedents are submitted to CCH by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner and more than 25 local homeless service providers. The names of two former Denver VOICE vendors were on the 2016 list of decedents: Tommy Gonzalez and Bruce Wright.

Wright was the very first Denver VOICE vendor, the owner of badge #0001. After Wright stopped vending the Denver VOICE, he served on the nonprofit’s board of directors. By the time he died he had found housing. Wright passed away on Nov. 8. He would have turned 60 on Dec. 25.

Boston Diamond O’Connell spent 15 years without a home, but in the time she spent homeless, she gained a family.

The other people she met living on the Boston streets became her brothers and sisters, a family she would never stop supporting, even as some of their names were read aloud at the 27th Annual Interfaith Homeless Memorial Service.

“They need to be remembered every day. Their stories need to be told every day,” O’Connell said after the service.

“I want everyone to know their dreams, their hopes. I shared it with all of them.”

With nearly 100 people packed into the chapel of the Church on the Hill in Boston, Wednesday’s program included prayers from several faith leaders, music, speakers, and the reading of names, broken into four sections throughout the service.

Cheryl Kane, a nurse for the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program and one of the speakers during the service, said the holiday season can be one of both love and loneliness. She hoped the gathering would remind everyone to be thankful for their friends and family.

“The men and women we remember today struggled so very hard to live life,”

STREET SENSE December 28, 2016 - January 10, 2017

DENVER | PHOTO BY GILES CLASEN

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COVER STORY

During Homelessness SEATTLE | PHOTO BY JON WILLIAMS

she said to the crowd. “These men and women have not only touched our lives but they have changed our lives and today we give thanks for them.”

“They lived with incredible courage,” Kane added. “We are grateful for each one of them. We will never forget them, and we believe that they will now rest in peace.”

Portland Eighty-eight people died on the streets in Oregon’s most populous county in 2015. It is the highest number of deaths in one year since the Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s office began tracking homeless deaths through the Domicile Unknown report in 2011. Alcohol and drugs contributed to 44 deaths, with opiates playing a role in 22.

These numbers don’t include homeless men and women in the Portland-area who died indoors, in hospitals or hotel rooms.

It only captures those who died outdoors — in places such as abandoned buildings and on sidewalks. The total number of people who pass each year while experiencing homelessness is unknown, and likely much greater.

At Street Roots, we lost two vendors in 2016. Both were in affordable housing and thus won’t be counted in the 2016 Domicile Unknown report. Shayne came to Street Roots in 2015 looking for a way to earn a little extra money in lieu of panhandling and quickly found a community of friends both with the other vendors and customers.

Even while his health deteriorated, he made it to his sales location, World Foods Market in Portland’s Pearl District, most days last summer wearing his trademark tank top, bandana, American flag shorts and a smile.

Mike Holt passed away earlier this month from a heart attack. He came to Street Roots in January on the recommendation of his good friend. He came in weekly for the Friday vendor meeting, always excited to bring his customers the week’s news.

“Mike enjoyed selling the Street Roots paper. He always had a smile on his face while he was at work. He was a really nice person overall,” said his longtime friend and Street Roots vendor, Arnold Casey. “Mike is already missed by all the neighbors here. Michael, my friend, my brother — Rest in peace. You are remembered.”

Operation Nightwatch was holding annual memorials for those who’ve died on Portland’s streets long before there ever was a Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. In staying with our local tradition, we will memorialize Mike and Shayne on April 17, though we feel their absence every day in the Street Roots vendor community.

Chicago

The Windy City’s memorial, hosted on Dec. 19 by Old St. Patrick’s Church, sought both to remember those who died while struggling with homelessness and those who are still struggling. Reverends Robyn and Marcus Tabb of the Neighborhood United Methodist Church presided over the service as co-pastors. They were joined by the choir from Harmony, Hope & Healing, a local organization providing creative, therapeutic and educational music programs to offer emotional and spiritual support to homeless and underserved individuals.

“As the nights grow longer and colder, we honor them,” Tabb said. “It’s nights like tonight that bring to light just how many of us that care about those we know and those we don’t know…but hope must come from us more than just this one night.”

Brooklyn P., a young man who had become homeless in Dallas, stood in front of the church and shared his own experience and what the memorial meant to him. He spoke of becoming homeless and being advised by others in the homeless community to go to Chicago if he wanted help from services. He said he arrived in the city, knowing no one and not knowing where to go, and soon Portland’s memorial service, held this past experiencing the police awakening him on April, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. a train, informing him that he needed to PHOTO COURTESY OF PROJECT NIGHTWATCH find other shelter or receive a ticket. He

PHOTO BY ALEXIS WRIGHT-WHITLEY

sought help from the Crib and shared that he was no longer homeless.

The list of names of those who died while homeless was read while the choir sang softly in the background. Candles were lit, first by the pastors and other leaders in the community, and then spread from person to person throughout the church. The reverends asked for a moment of silence at the end of the candle lighting, for those whose names were not mentioned and for those who were still struggling.

The memorial ended on an upbeat note, with the choir singing “Soon and Very Soon,” a reminder that although there have been difficult times for the city — and particularly the homeless population — in 2017, there is something to look forward to.

According to the King County Medical Examiner’s office, 76 homeless people died this year. In addition to those living on the street, the Medical Examiner also considers people who are couch surfing, living in shelters and motels as homeless. In comparison, Women in Black memorializes mainly people who have died while living outside and homeless people who died violently. So far, Women in Black has remembered and memorialized 54 people who have died in 2016.

“The plight of the homeless isn’t well advertised, and I think that we need to shed more light on the fact that you have human beings who are living outside in the winter time and it gets so cold and they have no shelter,” Associate Medical Examiner Micheline Lubin said.

“Everybody deserves to come home to a warm home.”

Seattle The group stood in the cold for more Amongst the hustle and bustle of than an hour, but that time of being downtown holiday shopping in Seattle, uncomfortable pales in comparison Women in Black, Women’s Housing for those who have nowhere to go.

Equality and Enhancement League Hypothermia, septic shock and numerous (WHEEL) and others silently walked gunshot wounds are just a few of the several blocks from the Tree of Life causes of death for the homeless people homeless remembrance statue at remembered that night. The majority of Victor Steinbrueck Park to Westlake the victims were White men. The average Pa r k . E a c h h e l d c a n d l e s , w h i c h age is 49 years old. illuminated their faces shortly after “Now’s a good time to meditate the sun set at 4:21 p.m, ending the upon the gaiety of the season while shortest day and beginning the remembering those who are less longest night of the year. fortunate who have died during “ We d o i t b e c a u s e this time of year without the every person on the comfort of what we all planet deserves dignity,” cherish: friends, family, WHEEL member Allene w a r m t h , f o o d , ” Ki n g Steinberg said. “People County Medical Examiner are found in all kinds of Dr. Richard Harruff said. decomposing situations. So “We had three deaths in two you never know exactly how days, during the cold snap, of many [people hae died]. people living on the street It’s frightening.”

Seattle Tree of Life homeless in tents and so forth.”

O n c e i t r e a c h e d rememberance statue.

Steinberg, an older Westlake Park, the group Photo by Aaron Burkhalter woman living in transitional of about 50 people stood housing, was particularly in a line sandwiched between a dazzling concerned with the number of women who rotating carousel and major retail have passed away. “One woman died of chains. As people walked by, volunteers malnutrition and dehydration,” Steinberg passed out flyers with the headline said. “Can you imagine, in this city, to die “WITHOUT SHELTER, PEOPLE DIE!” The by not being able to get food and water?” flyer listed the names of the dead and She was referring to Maja Franziska showed how to support organizations Brändi, 29, who died in July in Renton. that help the unsheltered.

As the group took time to pause and “It’s a way to jar people awake as they remember those who had died, it was a do their holiday shopping,” participant solemn reminder that shelter can be a life Laura Cooley said. or death situation. ■

4 8 * D e a d : H o m e l e s s Ad vo c a te s Question City Budget Priorities, Morals

By Colleen Cosgriff Volunteer

LOCAL:

Activists Gather to Honor Lives Lost While Homeless Street Sense Vendor Damon Smith bears a placard memorializing the name of D.C. resident Clarence Green at the overnight vigil in Freedom Plaza. | PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN

Washington, D.C. 1. John Boone, Age 66 2. Leopoldo Sotelo, Age 52 3. Bernadette Byrd, Age 53 4. Clifton Francis, Age 46 5. David Watkins, Age 46 6. Ivy Smith, Age 40 7. Juann Tubbs, Age 51 8. Albert Witherspoon, Age 56 9. Clifford Lawson, Age 56 10. Michael Smith, Age 54 11. Charles Carroll, Age 37 12. Valerie Stith, Age 50 13. Clarence Green, Age 40 14. Robert Dolan, Age 59 15. Weldon Moore, Age 56 16. Douglas Dirks, Age 48 17. Norman Lyles, Age 57 18. Shawn Simmons, Age 44 19. Randolph Johnson, Age 66 20. Robert Seligson, Age 68 21. Andrew "JR' Burton, Age 58 22. Quincy Robinson , Age 64 23. Hollis McDade, Age 67 24. Tanya Joy, Age 57 25. Edward Hodges, Age 58 26. Catherine Clark, Age 71 27. Michael Woolfork, Age 48 28. Stacey McCormick, Age 52 29. Freddie Harris, Age 59 30. Freddy “Showtime” Cougar, Age Unkown* 31. Larry Michaels, Age Unknown*

Matched to a Housing Voucher in D.C., Died Before Move-in 32. Michael Jackson, Age 57 33. Shaun Turner, Age 41 34. Christopher Gross, age 52 35. Carl Ward-Bey, Age 50 36. Harold Steward, Age 58 37. David Stone, Age 57 38. Ricky Hall, Age 63 39. Larry Avents, age 70 40. Enzel Sudler, Age 56 41. Kyler Howe, Age 32 42. John Taylor, Age 59 43. Kanell Washington, a.k.a. Kenneth Ward, Age 60 44. Majid Rashaad, Age 64 45. Timothy Ray, Age 52 46. Shon Martin, Age 44 47. Carlos Mora, Age 56 48. Alonzo Johnson, Age 62

Metro Area: Virginia/Maryland 49. Arnold Turner 50. Phillip Ward 51. John Craig Anderson 52. Edward “ddie” Bryant 53. Danny Earvey 54. Billie Pruitt 55. Nate *name added during Dec. 21 service

Homeless Advocates/Volunteers/Staffers Sister Mary Ellen Ford, So Others Might Eat Roger Newell, Empower DC/DC Jobs With Justice Robert H. Swart, So Others Might Eat/Coalition of Housing and Homeless Organizations

Activists began the eve of Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day gathered in Luther Place Memorial Church to remember the forty six people known to have died while homeless in Washington D.C throughout 2016.

Albert Townsend of the People for Fairness Coalition (PFFC) and Miriam’s Kitchen opened the event and introduced the first speaker, Monsignor John Enzler, president and CEO of Catholic Charities.

Enzler said the most concerning aspect of his job are people who live on the streets. He reflected on a trip he took to Calcutta, India twenty years ago. He was struck by the number of people living on the streets and felt called to change that reality where he could. “Mother Teresa said it’s not right for people to die alone… to be abandoned,” Enzler said, going on to highlight concern for people surviving outside in the cold winter temperatures.

Enzler called the 46 people being mourned a “moral problem” of the city. The next speaker, PFFC Director Robert Warren, said that four of his organization’s members passed away this year while unhoused.

“A lot of these folks are middle-aged and are dying of preventable things,” Warren said, “If they were shown just a little more love, they would still be with us.” He said that many of the people he knew who passed away received vouchers shortly after their death, including Kanell Washington, whose housing voucher was approved 24 hours after his death.

As the director of homeless outreach services for Unity Healthcare, Dr. Catherine Crosland also witnesses the medical challenges unhoused people face.

“Housing is healthcare,” she said to the crowd. “Housing provides a safe place to go and be protected against the outside elements… housing provides a safe place to store medications.” One of Crosland’s patients received housing this year after thirty years on the streets. He reported that his breathing complications, caused by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease [COPD], have subsided now that he is indoors.

Crosland also spoke of the safety housing provides against the increased vulnerability to violence those on the streets face, including one of her former patients who was shot while unhoused.

“I’d like to honor today, not just those who have been unfortunate to lose their lives, but the walking wounded in our city,” Crosland said.

She told the crowd about a man she saw during her rounds of D.C.’s streets.

He had been run over by a bus and had taken shelter in a Georgetown park, his crutches tucked under the picnic table he

rested on top of. He did not want to leave the community of friends he had built in the park, and remained there even in freezing conditions.

“On a given night in D.C., over 1,500 individuals experience homelessness,” said Jesse Rabinowitz, an advocacy specialist at Miriam’s Kitchen. “Through historic racism and oppression, the overwhelming majority of these individuals are people of color.”

Rabinowitz said the best solution to chronic homelessness is permanent supportive housing, and ensuring all people have a home is a step towards racial equity. As he and other organizers learned this year, that also means ensuring that housing assistance works quickly.

Local advocates broke down the 46 names to be remembered to identify anyone who had been awarded housing assistance, but died before move-in:16 men. “I didn’t realize that so many people were dying after they were being matched to a voucher,” Rabinowitz said in an interview the day before the event. He expected many more had died prematurely in housing, saying that homelessness knocks 15 to 20 years off your life.

A lot of these folks are middle-aged and are dying of preventable things. If they were shown jus t a little more love, they would still be with us.

—Robert Warren “With a budget of thirteen billion dollars…it is a moral failure that people are living and dying on the streets of D.C.,” Rabinowitz said.

PFFC recommended specific budget priorities for the next fiscal year: 535 additional units of permanent supportive housing; 425 units of targeted affordable housing; and 343 units of rapid rehousing.

These additional units are estimated to make up $17 million in the budget. Robert Warren said Mayor Bowser was invited to speak at the memorial, but could not attend. The group would visit city councilmembers the next morning.

“What I love about this vigil is it doesn’t let people forget,” said Steve Glaude, president and CEO of the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development. ■ *Two additional names of men who died in D.C. were added to the 46-name list during the memorial service that occurred the day after this event.

STREET SENSE December 28, 2016 - January 10, 2017

War Stories: Community Open Mic on Surviving Homelessness COVER STORY

By Dottie Kramer

7

Volunteer

As a march down 14th Street ended at Freedom Plaza, the 2016 D.C. Homeless Vigil transitioned to a community meal.

Thirty to 40 people huddled in the chilly white tent and listened to various speakers share their story as open mic testimonials began around 7 p.m. Some professional advocates spoke of years fighting the injustices their homeless neighbors faced. And some homeless and formerly-homeless men and women shared the injustices they had lived.

Housing is healthcare, said Scott Schenkelberg, CEO and president of Miriam’s Kitchen, repeating a common refrain also referenced in speeches given earlier at Luther Place.

“We are doing something wrong,” said Councilmember-At-Large Robert White, referencing the local increase in homeless people in 2016. White, along with Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau stopped by the vigil after the last legislative hearing of the year, where D.C. Council voted to “ban the box” for criminal history checks when applying for housing.

Even though the vigil was held for the homeless men and women who had passed away on the street, a message of hope and optimism remained. Patty Mullahy

With a symbolic casket and the names of people who have died homeless in D.C. behind them, At-Large Councilmember Robert White and Street Sense Artist Denise Hall speak to those assembled in a tent at Freedom Plaza on the evening of Dec. 20. | PHOTOS BY KEN MARTIN Fugere, executive director of Washington Legal Clinic for the homeless, invited everyone to choose hope.

Amidst this talk of hope, homeless advocate Eric Sheptock shared an older vision the city once held: the previous 10-year plan to end homelessness in D.C. by 2014.

While labeling himself a pessimist, Sheptock said that as bad as the local homeless crisis is, things could always be worse. For instance, the death toll counted for D.C. was 46 — in Philadelphia it was over 200.

Speaking to the housed members of the crowd, Street Sense Artist/Vendor Denise Hall said that people come to sleep-out demonstrations like this with sleeping bags and tents — but they don’t know what it’s like to be out

there and have to search for a piece of cardboard or a place to use the bathroom.

It’s one thing to take the overnight challenge, it’s another thing to take the plunge.

While activists with stable and unstable housing alike took the microphone, a heater in the corner of the tent that looked more like a jet turbine kicked in and cloaked the tent in warmth. People sat, chatted and ate the complimentary food while community members continued to regale listeners with the truth and horrors of homelessness. After several hours passed, the crowd in the tent grew quiet and dwindled down to only those who would sleep out all night. By 1 a.m., only 15 people remained outside. ■

Reginald Black offers a box of Popeye’s chicken to a man on the street. The outreach team carries plastic bags full of warm clothing with them.

PHOTO BY RODNEY CHOICE

Community Unity Three teams of demonstrators took food and warm clothing to distribute to other people sleeping outside downtown on the night of the Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day vigil. Read a full account online. Four of our seven articles covering Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day are included in this edition. Read and see more on StreetSense.org.

Jerome Dineen contributed reporting.

The Longview: “Homeless Homeless Advocate” Calls for More Collaboration

By Jerome Dineen Volunteer Eric Sheptock has lost many friends over the years, including but not limited to Rita Green, Henry Shoats, former Street Sense Vendor Manager Jesse Smith, Street Sense Vendors Cliff Carle and Tommy Bennett.

Yet he often didn’t learn many of these friends were gone until Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day came around each year, a remembrance for people who have passed away while homeless.

“As homeless people, many of us don’t have any next of kin, so we kind of get the mass-burial version of a regular funeral,” Sheptock, a local advocate for the homeless, said in an interview. “We’re all here wishing there was a better a way to find out when a person dies, but this is what we’ve got.”

People for Fairness Coalition [PFFC], a local nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness in the District, has hosted a candlelight vigil the night before Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day for the last four years. Sheptock said the vigil serves as one of the best ways to increase awareness about homelessness in the District.

“People are making efforts to make homeless people invisible,” Sheptock said. “But the homeless are fighting back, saying ‘we’re not gonna disappear, you’re not gonna make us invisible.’”

Boosted by a bullhorn, Sheptock and several dozen protesters chanted a familiar refrain as they stomped down 14th Street from Luther Place Church to Freedom Plaza: “What do we want?

Housing! When do we want it? Now!” Rob Wohl, an organizer with the Latino Economic Development Center, said the event helps to connect homeless individuals with advocates to fight for change.

“This event brings out allies and is a rallying point for the homeless themselves, that’s because People for Fairness goes out and talks to people, you see a community being built over the years,” Wohl said in an interview.

Wohl first met members of People for Fairness Coalition (PFFC) at Occupy D.C. in 2011. He helped to raise money for the first Homeless Vigil four years ago on GoFundMe.org.

Eric Sheptock bends his head down as he and others fill the pews at Luther Place church for the beginning of Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. | BY KEN MARTIN

“I really respect PFFC as an organization,” Wohl said.“It’s been impressive to me that people who are in or have been in such a desperate situation can have such a positive vision and help others survive with outreach.”

Wohl has attended all four Homeless Persons’ Memorial days. Since the first Vigil, both he and Miriam’s Kitchen Case Manager Albert Townsend said they have seen an increase in participation during the event.

“I don’t know any community effort that’s built the momentum [PFFC] have,” Wohl said.

Several vigil attendees stressed the need for expanded communication among the District’s homeless population and city government.

“You’ve got to get up and fight,” said John McDermott, a co-founder of PFFC. “You can’t expect two or three people to

do all of the talking.”

D.C. Councilwoman Brianne Nadeau echoed McDermott’s sentiments.

“We’re going to be working for you and fighting for you,” Nadeau said. “But you still have to keep pushing us.”

Ot h e r vigil a t t e n de e s, h owe ve r, criticized what they saw as the city government’s disregard for the homeless and poor. Venus Little, an advocate at the Coalition for the Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development (CNHED), which supports the vigil along with PFFC each year, said the D.C. government “needs to be building things we can use.”

“You got to know your wants and your needs,” Little said. “We got low-income people, veterans, homeless people, and here [members of the city government] are trying to build a soccer stadium. We don’t need a soccer stadium.”

Sheptock said homelessness and affordable housing advocates need to unite under one umbrella, citing more than 8,000 homeless people in D.C., more people cycling into homelessness each year and more than 40,000 District residents on the waitlist for housing vouchers.

“Problems that impact homeless people also impact people looking for affordable housing,” Sheptock said. “These are people that can work together.” ■ Colleen Cosgriff contributed reporting.

COVER STORY

The Ask: Grieving Advocates Demand Investments in Housing

By Colleen Cosgriff & Dottie Kramer Volunteers After a night sleeping on Freedom Plaza’s cold pavement, homeless advocates marched to the Wilson Building to present their concerns and recommendations for the next budget to city councilmembers.

Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans arrived to his parking space in front of the building as the group crossed the street.

He was quickly approached as he opened his car door. The advocates launched into their speech to convince Evans to support several financial priorities they outlined, which included fully-funding the city’s 5-year plan to end homelessness.

“Your ward has the most homeless people unsheltered in it,” said Jesse Rabinowitz, an advocacy specialist at Miriam’s Kitchen.

“There’s a reason for that, it’s the downtown ward,” Evans replied.

Evans agreed with the advocates that it is important to help everyone get off the street, and noted that he supported the mayor’s Pledge to End Homelessness.

He suggested the group speak to Chairman Phil Mendelson.

After Evans was given a single rose and informational flyers, the group moved on to meet Mendelson. They arrived at the Wilson Building when it opened at 9 a.m. and were joined inside by Michael Stoops, a longtime advocate and former director of community organizing at National Coalition for the Homeless. Stoops was assisted in a wheelchair by social worker Julie Turner to attend every meeting with councilmembers that day.

Robert Williams, Robert Warren, Michael Coleman, Reginald Black, Jennifer McLaughlin and other advocates deliver material about thier budget and legislation suggestions to Ward 5 Councilmember McDuffie (second from left). | PHOTO BY RODNEY CHOICE I n s i d e t h e b u i l d i n g , Wa r d 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie and Chairman Mendelson stood together in Mendelson’s office and listened to the group’s suggestions, which included investing $8.5 million for 535 permanent supportive housing (PSH) units, investing $5.2 million for 425 units of targeted affordable housing (TAH); investing $3.7 million in 343 rapid re-housing (RRH) units for individuals; and support for adding homelessness as a protected class to the D.C. Human Rights Act of 1977.

Robert Warren of the People for Fairness Coalition told Mendelson and McDuffie about a 70-something-year-old man who had passed away living on the street. Warren lamented the horror of an older man dying in those conditions, to which McDuffie said “It doesn’t matter how old you are, no one should die living on the street.”

Both men were sympathetic to the cause, but neither pledged to support the group’s suggestions. “It’s more than just funding,” Mendelson said, “it’s about improvement and how we spend the money.”

The group then visited Councilmember Anita Bonds’ office. The councilmember was not in, but her staff met with the advo-

cates, who spoke both about their budget suggestions as well as the importance of adding homelessness as a protected class.

One staff member for Bonds asked why homelessness should be considered a human rights issue if the advocates wished to see homelessness as a temporary, fleeting situation. “Until we can talk about homelessness, we have to protect people who don’t have a voice,” Townsend said, “let’s protect people while they’re walking through this walk. This Act helps people while we’re trying to find money in the budget [for housing].” Bonds’s staff thanked the group for visiting and took a rose and flyers to pass on to Councilmember Bonds. The last stop for the group ended up being Councilmember David Grosso’s office, which overlooks Freedom Plaza. “Let’s get you somewhere to sit down,” Grosso said as he invited the entire group to come inside. He had a copy of Street Sense on his lounge coffee table, which excited the group. The councilmember listened to their requests and read over the list of 46 people who passed away while unhoused. He shook his head at the number.

The group informed Grosso of the importance of adding homelessness as a protected class under the Human Rights Act. “You shouldn’t have to be arrested for

trying to use a restroom,” Reggie Black of the People for Fairness Coalition said, “that’s not humane.”

“Why is it we haven’t amended the Human Rights Amendment? Let’s work on this,” Grosso said to his staff, who nodded in agreement. He said the group could count on him to support the $8.5 million request for permanent supporting housing funds as well, which prompted advocates to break into applause.

Grosso was the only councilmember the group spoke to that pledged support to their budget and legislative recommendations. The group did not speak to any other councilmembers during the morning visit. “We’re on a time crunch,” Albert Townsend said as he boarded an elevator to the building’s lobby, “We have to get organized for the march.”

After leaving the Wilson Building, the group processed to New York Avenue Presbyterian Church for the daytime memorial service, carrying signs displaying the names of the 46 people from D.C.’s homeless community who passed away in 2016. ■ Four of seven articles covering Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day are included in this edition. Read and see more on StreetSense.org.

Staffers for At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds, chair of Committee on Housing and Community Development, question why advocates see housing as a human right. | PHOTO BY RODNEY CHOICE

At-Large Councilmember David Grosso greets Michael Stoops, who accomapnied the band of advocates as they canvassed the the Wilson Building. Grosso was the only councilmember to pledge support for some of the requests. | PHOTO BY RODNEY CHOICE

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson accepts a rose to honor the 48 homeless people known to have died in the District this year. | PHOTO BY RODNEY CHOICE

Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans approached curbside as he arrives for work. Hearing the group’s requests, he recommended Chairman Mendelson for budget concerns. | PHOTO BY RODNEY CHOICE

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.

OPINION

More than 50 marchers move south on 14th Street NW the evening of Dec. 20.

PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN

A handful of marchers carry a symbolic coffin to New York Avenue Presbyterian Church the morning of Dec. 21. | PHOTO BY BENJAMIN BURGESS

Vigil 2016: Where Did They Go?

By Ken Martin I know I heard them. They spoke quite eloquently.

I am certain I saw them. In fact, I took pictures. They were there!

But where are they now? They advocated so well on behalf of the displaced that it seemed they were themselves without domicile.

Marching down from Luther Place to Freedom Plaza, they made their presence known to the rush hour commuter as well as the visiting passersby. Fifty or more of them in the streets, the voluminous cries of “Housing is a Human Right! Fight Fight, Fight!” and “What do we want?”

“Housing!” “When do we want it?” “Now!” So resonant that it captured the attention of travelers afoot and drivers that blew their horns in rhythmic accompaniment. This was no figment of my imagination!

Even more were waiting for us at the tent. There were names of agencies

bandied about and solutions tossed around. Numbers of surviving populations tallied and even represented.

There was a crowd when I got there!

There was a crowd when dinner was served! There was a crowd when our Councilmembers Nadeau and White showed up and spoke out against this travesty we call homelessness.

I turned my back for a minute (okay, it was a little longer), but when next I looked they had vanished. The number of concerned citizens, advocates and even the well-represented press had dropped, like I only wish the number of non-domiciled D.C. residents would. For a bit, even I was gone.

But I returned! Plenty of room near the heater during the sparsely populated sleep-out.

By 11 p.m., the count in that oversized tent, hired to accommodate over a hundred, contained less than twenty. At midnight, the

count was 15. And there it stayed until I left for a comfort break at 6 a.m.

So where did they go? These folks charged up and mournful of D.C.’s dead and walking wounded, these overnightchallenged warriors that were to stay out in the “cold” one night, like the homeless do nightly without option. They were to serve as inspirations for the apathetic neighbors that disregard or minimize the plight of the ignorable.

Where did they go?

Where were you?

tee. He also participates regularly in our Writers’ Group, Interactive Art Group, Photograph Group and vendor advocacy group: FACE. Ken recently opened his own hat business, Brims, with a pop-up shop in Adams Morgan.

Ken Martin is a vendor for Street Sense and a volunteer Several people sleep close to the heater inside the PFFC tent on our forum commit- during the Dec. 20 overnight sleep-out. | PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN

MOVING UP: How Jobs, Wages and Healthcare May Change in 2017

By Arthur Johnson

As we say goodbye to 2016, we head into unknown territory in the upcoming year. The election of President-Elect Donald Trump and Republican control over both houses of Congress promise to make it a challenging time for those who are struggling to move forward. There are many uncertainties, but there are also many things that we know will change.

First, the chance for a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour nationally is gone, as is the chance that it goes up at all.

Trump’s selection of Anthony Puzder — the CEO of the parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s — to be labor secretary indicates that there will be resistance towards consideration any increase in worker’s wages. While the District will increase its minimum wage to $15 over the next several years, the fact that the federal minimum wage will not increase

means that businesses that want to avoid higher wages will have to consider going over the Potomac to relocate in Virginia, where the minimum wage matches the federal number: $7.25 an hour.

Second, keep an eye on what the president-elect and Congress will do with the Consumer Financial Pr o t e c t i o n B u r e a u .

It was started during Pr e s i d e n t B a r a c k Obama’s first term and established as part of the Dodd-Frank bill that the Republicans will try to repeal. If it goes, many industries are going to likely take advantage of the opportunity to use the

freedom they have to operate with few, if any, regulations.

The job market may get better for many people, although that will come at a price. One of the first things that the president-elect promises to do is get rid of the Affordable Care Act. That will hurt many people who were able to get coverage through expansion of Medicaid and subsidies to afford coverage on the state-run exchanges.

The job market will likely improve for people that are underemployed because businesses

will no longer have a mandate to provide insurance to workers who get 30 or more hours a week. The business and individual mandates will probably both be gone, which will help with money but unfortunately hurt those people when they need medical care.

This is my outlook for 2017. In my next column, I will focus on food affordability, SNAP, food banks in the District and other options that may be available for you to be able to eat healthy on a budget.

If you have something you would like me to write about, or you would like to comment on this article, please email me at ajohnson@streetsense.org. Have a happy and prosperous new year!

Arthur Johnson is a volunteer writer focusing on finance and economic issues in his column Moving Up.

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 thoughts to opinion@streetsense.org.

I’m a Domestic Terrorist

STREET SENSE December 28, 2016 - January 10, 2017

1#1

OPINION

By Charles McCain

I’m a domestic terrorist. If you’re White like me, you could be as well. So skilled are we at terrorizing a segment of the population that our work is hidden in plain sight. Although it has been going on for centuries, few of us are cognizant of it.

A few weeks ago I happened upon a black woman I knew from my volunteer work for Street Sense. She was standing on a public sidewalk close to a Metro entrance, selling the paper.

We talked for 10 minutes about an article she had been writing until she said, “Those cops drove off a minute ago.”

“What cops?” I said.

“You didn’t see them? The two White cops parked down the block? Been there half an hour,” she replied.

No, I hadn’t. I’m a successful, middleaged White guy. The police are supposed to keep a lookout for me, not the other way around.

“Some of the White cops in D.C. are very racist,” she said. “They hassle me a lot when I’m selling the paper at this Metro. They didn’t hassle me now because you’re standing here.”

In that moment I saw, with an unwanted clarity, what it is to be an AfricanAmerican in our country. I’ve brooded over this encounter. An understanding I would prefer not to have keeps presenting itself. Every day, most White people in America, including me, practice a covert form of domestic terrorism against African-Americans.

According to the FBI, if we seek to

Demonstrators at an Oct. 3 protest that started at 3rd and M Streets NW, over the circumstances surrounding the death of Terrance Sterling. | PHOTO BY MARY WALRATH further a political or social objective by intimidating others through the use of violence or threats of violence against a person or persons, we are committing domestic terrorism. Given this definition, White people in the United States have been perpetrating acts of domestic terrorism against African-Americans for centuries. And we still do.

How? Everyday, White America reminds African-Americans they aren’t in our country on a first-class ticket.

Black Lives Matter isn’t just a hashtag.

It’s also a question.

Black Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by the police as White Americans. Household net worth for Black families is one-twentieth of that of White families. Black people die about 3.4 years earlier than White people. Infant mortality among Black children is more

than twice that of White children. The percentage gap between White college degree holders versus Black college degree holders is wider than it was 50 years ago. Schools, jobs, incomes, health — Black people don’t even come close to equality with White people.

On Sept. 19, 2016, a United Nations convoy taking food to starving Syrians in Aleppo was bombed and partially destroyed. But truth be told, it seems we know more about people who are so-called food insecure in Syria than in the United States. Few Americans are aware that more than 25 percent of AfricanAmerican children live in households classified as food insecure by the U.S. government. This means that millions of children go through periods of time when they are unsure where their next meal is coming from or times when they simply

do not receive the amount of food their bodies need. To be plain, they go hungry.

Could we make feeding these Black American children a priority over feeding hungry people in foreign countries like Syria? Yes. Do we? Of course not. Why? You know how it is, one argument goes: Having the government feed these children just makes their parents lazy and even more irresponsible. And to avoid this, to remind them who is boss and to ensure that not one struggling African-American receives a free sandwich from the federal government, we long ago gave up using the carrot. Nowadays we use the stick.

The public policy of the United States is to keep millions of Black Americans on the edge of starvation.

The media and the government keep us in a low-level state of fear, that we will be killed by Islamic terrorists already here in America. Domestic terrorism, they call it.

But who are the real domestic terrorists?

Maybe it’s us, White people in America who refuse to believe that Black children in America go hungry. And no doubt, if we were convinced, we would refuse to support a federally funded program ensuring that millions of African-American children received enough food at every single meal on every single day of every single year.

Do Black lives matter? No. Who ever said they did?

Charles McCain is a Washington, D.C.based financial writer and historical novelist.

Self-Respect Not Equality

By Jeffery McNeil

I have never seen those that disagree with me as enemy combatants. I am sometimes shocked when someone accuses me of being hateful. I don't hate anyone, I just disagree with them.

I guess I have a different mentality than most Washingtonians.

I grew up in Atlantic City. I worked at Donald Trump's casino there for six years. I played poker with the highest of high rollers. To me, poker imitates life — it’s sad seeing someone go broke, but they knew the risks involved before they sat down and played. In poker as in life, it's not fair — some alcoholic gets a hot wife while you go to church and stay single. As in poker, I don't lose my cool when a donkey wins every pot while your aces keep getting whacked. Life is feast and famine. And some famines seem to last longer than others. The best hand doesn't always win, but if you play good cards, you greatly improve your chances of winning.

I see politics similar to poker. I

don't see things in left or right, liberal or conservative. I only see upside or downside to the decisions I make. There is no morality in economics. Someone's misery is someone's treasure. A famine in a third world country can be profitable to the person that delivers goods and services to that impoverished nation. It's not that I don't care about issues regarding poor people and minorities, but sometimes you have to cut some people loose.

I guess I'm out of step with today's generation. I believe the Civil Rights movement ultimately weakened Black people's resolve to uplift themselves and lured them into believing that White people would care about them and treat them better. Having someone such as George Wallace standing in the doorway and throwing us out of restaurants made us better human beings.

Bleeding hearts and guilty White people have been the destruction of our people because we keep looking for others to help us.

A man likes challenges and doesn't run and hide because someone calls them out on their nonsense. Liberalism destroys manhood and weakens a man's resolve to get off his musty dusty and do something constructive.

L i k e i n p o k e r, i f y o u get sucked out of a big pot, It doesn't do you any good to continue whining about injustice.

Congratulate your opponent, even if he’s an idiot, and wait for another opportunity to get all your chips back.

Marching and whining about racism and slavery is stupid. African-Americans collectively have hundreds of billions of dollars that we could reinvest in our own economy without the support

of White people. Meanwhile these social justice warriors keep screaming oppression, but I never heard any racists tell African -Americans to support people in the community that fleece you then retreat to the suburbs after they sold you their products. White folks would never let another group come into their communities, buy up their neighborhoods, then not hire or rent to them.

Hoping that those in Washington heed my advice, no matter what political persuasion, is wishful thinking. There's serious rot in our political discourse.

I yearn for the pragmatism of Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. I hate identity politics and hope we can go back to discussing policies that favor everyone, such as Social Security and Medicare, instead of picking winners and losers based on grievances.

Jeffery is a vendor and regular columnist for Street Sense.

Embarking on a New Year

By Anyonymous First and foremost, I would like to congratulate the presidentelect Donald J. Trump for his success in winning the election of 2017. He is now our leader for the next four years. I would also like to thank my beautiful wife and kids on our wonderful journey together. This year has truly been an awesome ride for me and my beautiful colleagues here at Street Sense, as have all my wonderful and loyal customers that I have come to know.

We all have a lot of work to do, so remember to stay focused and create positive habits for yourself and your family in 2017. Be sure to share your love for everyone around the world, in the hope for a new world, united as one.

Thank you for reading Street Sense and my articles. I love you all and wish you the very best.

Consistency

By Gwynette Smith, Artist/Vendor

A Year of New Beginnings

By Evelyn Namn, Artist/Vendor

Another new year and I should not change My old decisions.

But now try to think Of a new resolution.

Nothing is probably going to change.

There’ll be snow in winter, And April will bring rain.

But I should lose pounds, East more healthful foods, Drink less and Spend less, too.

By June, though, The truth is clear. There’ll be nothing new About this year.

So, now I have another solution, I won’t even have A New Year’s resolution.

Well what can I say, 2016, has been a great year. A year full of many surprises, tears, joy, and laughter. This year, 2017, will be a great year too.

Expect greatness and not what the past has held.

We have a new year to make things right with ourselves, our lives, our family, friends, and the world. No one can tell you otherwise. There is a time where we all have to think to ourselves and understand that the future is here. Every day there is an elevation. A movement of pushing, aiming for a better life. Building a foundation, so that we all can finally accomplish what we long for.

This is the year for that.

Yes, I thank God for 2016, but this year is the year that we step into breakthrough and fulfillment. Lifting our heads high and standing tall. No matter who’s president, no matter what goes on in life, no matter what happens to this nation, always remember that Jesus is king.

He knows what he’s doing for this world. We need to know that whatever happens, either positive or negative, it will just be temporary. So, please enjoy this year. Strive, accelerate, and excel, there’s no going back.

Enjoy and have a blessed and wonderful new year!

STREET SENSE December 28, 2016 - January 10, 2017

Happy New Year’s Resolutions 2017

By Latishia Graham Artist/Vendor

Things to improve in 2017: I want to improve my reading skills.

I plan to lose weight.

ILLUSTRATION BY DWIGHT HARRIS

Things I want to do: In 2017 I want to spend a lot of time with family and best friends.

Things I will not stand for in 2017: Negative talk.

ILLUSTRATION BY KEN MARTIN

ILLUSTRATION BY DWIGHT HARRIS

13

VENDOR WRITING

A n o t h e r Ye a r , S u n s h i n e a n d Come and Gone Blue Sky

By Ricardo Meriedy, Artist/Vendor

By Charles Davis, Artist/Vendor

2016 is one of the fastest years I have seen in my lifetime. I know, you know, everybody knows that there are 52 weeks in a year, — 365 days in a year.

But 2016 is gone and where did it go so fast?

First of all, I just want to thank my Heavenly Father for the new places and people He provided in my life during 2016. I can’t leave Street Sense out — it’s all because of Street Sense’s guidance and direction to help me onto a path going in the right direction to living a successful life.

When I wake in the morning the first thing I want to do is pray to another beautiful day that God created me in. I thank the beautiful sunshine and the blue sky because because they brighten my own existence. When I sleep at night I know the good Lord is resting me to give me the strength for the nest day. I also know he can take me home any given day upon my rest. But until that blessed day, I will honor my God and my lord Jesus Christ.

In my life, I know I will be accounted for my acts before I see God. So when I see the sunshine, the beautiful blue skies and the birds flying around, I see the kingdom of heaven. I hope and pray we all see that kingdom. For those on that path, my prayers will always be with you because Jesus Christ will love you forever. May God be the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Things to do more in my life: Starting with my job and Street Sense, I want to meet new people, enjoy different things in the Street Sense workshops.

Encouragement Pt. 2

By Shana Holmes, Artist/Vendor When you drop down to Proverbs 2:6-8, it goes on to tell you that God gives out His Wisdom to us for free. It speaks plainly to us in knowledge and understanding. God has a rich mind of common sense for those of us that are living well on this earth. God is also our personal bodyguard to those who are sincere. Those of us that are living honestly, God will keep His eyes on us, especially those of us that are loyal to our commitments.

The Happy Hippies

By Michael Craig Artist/Vendor

ILLUSTRATION BY JEFFERY MURRAY

The hippie monkeys were communal and ecstatically happy. They had made it through the stresses and the successes of the past year and were happy about the opportunity of a new year.

There was plenty of food and legal amounts of marijuana at their celebration.

They were dancing barefooted, wearing dashikis and jeans with holes in them — makin’ their own music and singing at the top of their lungs. One of them fell out, but the others kept dancing. It was tremendously beautiful.

They had let go of the concept that

they had to be corporatized. And they really enjoyed their lives! They decided for a New Year’s resolution, they were not down wit all that. Why would you have a New Year’s resolution, when you have the solution already? Why wait for a special day or time? Resolve your stuff while it’s already upon you.

And who said it’s a new year in the first place? It’s a new day every day that you wake up. They rejoiced for each moment they were alive. And you should to, because after all, there’s a little hippie in all of us. Happy Every Day to all of you!

TESTIMONY, PT. 1: Whispers From an Angel

By Joshua El, Artist/Vendor

To all of the atheists in the world, to all those that do not believe that God is loving and will answer your prayers, this is my testimony.

From the earliest that I can remember, my Mother has always told me that I have an angel watching over me. By the time I was around 10 years old and getting into more mischief, she would tell me that I had a few angels watching over me. By the time I was 18, the mischief turned into big trouble and she would say I have a band of angels watching over me.

After being honorably discharged from the military, my addiction was out of control, I lived to get high – period.

Nothing else mattered, not even my son.

Even though I loved him very much, the drugs were overwhelmingly powerful, I

could not stop. With countless trips to D.C. Jail and Rivers Correctional Facility, this rollercoaster ride to Hell lasted 30+ years.

Late in 2012, I was locked up on a violation for getting high. My parole officer did all she could before sending me back to prison to the extent of 38 disciplinary hearings in 60 days. Nothing worked. I was picked up by D.C. police and taken back to D.C. Jail.

I had spent so much time there that the streets were my temporary home and D.C. Jail had become my permanent residence.

I was there so much, that when I got to intake you would hear “Flood is back; send him back to his unit; let the detail officer know and put him to work.” Medical would say “his records are on the top shelf, right side, he’s fine; send him to his unit.” While

waiting to see the parole commission for my violations, I had received some mail.

What a pleasant surprise, or so I thought.

The first letter was from my lady friend at the time, to say enough was enough and that she was leaving me for someone else. The second was from my mother, who informed me that Gordon Cosby had passed. The third was from Michel, to tell me that Clayton Scott -- my Grand sponsor -- had passed. With the destruction in my life from the drugs and the passing of someone that had spent 20+ years helping me, I had had enough.

I wanted to die, I broke down and cried uncontrollably. I was screaming at the top of my voice and didn’t wake up no one, not even my cellmate. In disbelief, I reread the letters: the same result. I

Trusting Justice (Can I?)

Homeless Man Challenges Metrorail to Improve Safety

By Donald Brown, Artist/Vendor

Sept. 3 I escaped the halfway house. I made a bad decision.

I turned myself in four days later. Now I have two charges: escape; and the original aggravated assault charge, which is a felony.

My lawyer said that he wanted me to plead guilty for three years, but I’m taking it to a jury trial. Here’s why: I was outside of McDonalds on 19th and M St NW, asking if someone could buy me something to eat. Two security guards on their way inside saw me and told me I had to get up and away from the entrance. I refused and told them that if McDonald’s managers came out and told me to move, I would do so. They called the police.

I told them that they don’t work for McDonald’s and I don’t have to obey them.

The guy got mad and threatened to get me barred off the whole block. I told him to try it — they don’t have that kind of power.

The two went inside for about firve minutes and came back out with no food.

I was still outside on the ground. The guy kept asking me to fight. I told him I don’t want to fight, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. I eventually got up to fight. We walked down M St towards 20th Street.

He wanted to fight me away from cameras.

We went down an alley and he hit me over my left eye and busted my forehead, knocking me to the ground. His name was Jimmy. He and his girl Jeneva, tried to attack me, but I got up in time and threw a total of four punches. One missed, but I managed to knock him out and hit her.. I fled the scene, ran up Dupont Circle and washed the blood off my face. I walked back toward the crime scene and was arrested.

I was wrong for hitting the lady, wrong for going into the alley to fight. But they started the fight, they hit me first. We all should have been placed under arrest, not just me.

So I am going for a jury trial.

Turns out there was a camera, and it will show the truth in the video.

could not stop crying, Just for a moment I heard Larry Watson say “it’s OK to hit your knees and pray. Ask God to help you.”

The crying resumed and the room went black. I wanted to die more than ever. The pain was unbearable and I wanted it to be over, In desperation, I hit my knees and screamed “God, why won’t you help me?!”

Then I heard a loud whisper, just as if someone was in my ear, “Without vengeance in your heart, or anger, ask God to help you.

I said, “God does not care about me.

Look at me, does this look like He cares or will listen to me?”

I heard the whisper again. The voice said, “Ask with sincerity and he will answer, I’ll wait with you.” (to be concluded)

By Mustafa Kalieb Artist/Vendor

I drew this in the first 28 days of my recovery. I’ve since gone on to earn my three-month chip. I can’t wait to get the next one. This will be a proud birthday for me. | ILLUSTRATION BY LARRY KELLY

PERCEPTION OR REALITY: Relegated

By Robert Williams, USMC, Artist/Vendor My heart remains saddened, as I turn this way and that.

It seems every direction I look to, I see the elderly and our seniors struggling to get out of the grips of housing instability.

I see handicapped people left homeless and helpless on the streets and mentally ill folks wandering about trying to find their way off the

merry-go-round-like system that they have been relegated to.

Families and youth desperately attempt to navigate through the maze designed to keep a certain population “down.”

What are we thinking of as a people? We are still all one race — the human race — in a battle for the human right to universal housing.

Where is that housing?

For more than two decades, I’ve gotten together with a good friend on a weekly basis.

This man has helped me with all types of home improvement and maintenance projects and saved me a good bit of money. He is also an inventor, and I’ve been privy to some of his inventions and helped to improve them.

For the purposes of this article, I will refer to him as Muttaqa (the enlightened one). Ever since the death of Carol Glover, who died of smoke inhalation on the Metrorail, Muttaqa had been racking his brain to find a way to minimize the possibility of this happening in the future.

He came up with a device that he called the Tunnel Emergency Rescue Sled (TERS). This device can dramatically reduce the response time of emergency medical technicians to the person or people in need on Metrorail.

By design, it is stored folded and can be easily transported down an escalator or elevator. Once it reaches the nearest station to the patrons in need, the sled can be unfolded onto the rail so that the first responders can embark immediately, without waiting for the third, electrified, rail to be deactivated — saving precious response time and possibly lives. I believe it would have worked for Carol Glover if this advanced technology not only existed, but had been deployed.

Currently the technology exists, but Muttaqa has been challenged by bureaucratic responses from the patent office and apathetic responses from Metro. Financing is also a barrier. This article will give him a glimmer of hope that his idea will eventually reach the right people who will make this new advanced technology a reality to save future lives on the Metrorail.

We shall overcome!

STREET SENSE December 28, 2016 - January 10, 2017

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

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)

CELEBRATING SUCCESS! Ricardo Meriedy -— 01/02 Jermale McKnight -— 01/05 Larry Kelly -— 01/12 Frederic John — 01/17

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Applying Myself

By Elizabeth Bryant, Artist/Vendor School is going really good.

I took the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS) test for reading and they said I was ready for the reading on the GED. But I took the CASAS test for math and it said I need five more points before I’m really ready to try for the GED. So I’m going to start being tutored once a week. I’m hopefully going to take the GED test in March of this year, I really want that GED, and to walk across the graduation stage. I’m glad I’m so close!

To a Precis Grey allwayis sky comed to mime shwres don witht airs untword. Ime Naias withth eall theyr godes in bime!

Owls lihtan evre-wher. How sublime to look a-geynst such evrelesting lan’!

Straw!!! Reyn-drops forcuman, many time!

By Franklin Sterling Artist/Vendor

PHILADELPHIA, PA | PHOTO BY ALEXIS WRIGHT-WHITLEY SEATTLE, WA | PHOTO BY JON WILLIAMS

WASHINGTON, DC | PHOTO BY BENJAMIN BURGESS

SEATTLE, WA | PHOTO BY JON WILLIAMS

WASHINGTON, DC | PHOTO BY RODNEY CHOICE

December 28, 2016 - January 10, 2017 • Volume 14 • Issue 4

Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW

Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Washington, DC

Washington, DC 20005

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Interested in a subscription? Visit StreetSense.org/subscribe DENVER, CO | PHOTO BY GILES CLASEN

WASHINGTON, DC | PHOTO BY KEN MAR