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Warren Stevens, Wayne Hall, Wendell Williams, Wendy Brown, William Hargrove, William Mack, William Young, Willie Futrelle, Zero BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ashley McMaster, Blake Androff, Clare Krupin, Chris Curry, Cole Ingraham,
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COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIST HOUSE, COVER DESIGN
ANNEMARIE CUCCIA
Jonquilyn Hill, Matt Perra, Michael Vaughan Cherubin, Michael Phillips, Nana-Sentuo Bonsu, Stanley Keeve
Thank You, Darick Brown
QUEENIE
FEATHERSTONE
Artist/Vendor
Darick, we need you you just cannot be replaced please just keep your faith
Darick, you are swell you do your job so well shout out and thank you
Darick, our case manager comes to work, rolls up his sleeves, turns on his computer, gets to work on each case of his Street Sense vendors, and does outreach services when they are needed
Coming Back
REV. DONALD DAVIS Artist/Vendor
I recently went to Henderson, Texas, to spend time with my family. I spent some quality time, but things didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped because I had to go to the hospital. So it was good to come back to Street Sense, which is a great family for me. Being back is great!
Living here
LEVESTER GREEN Artist/Vendor
I’m really loving and enjoying the new living experience. I finally got my amenities! Haven’t gotten them all in just yet, but am looking forward to finally being able to stretch out fully once again and get back to my creative expressions, pronto! Now, while I am getting vibes of the same issues from which I just thought I was departing, I find they have followed me, and that is the purpose of moving, unfortunately. But again, the amenities and a much nicer apartment building with an on-site staff should perhaps increase the professionalism I can expect, since the lack of that was a major factor in this creating an egregious situation in which it became irreconcilable, it seems. But if it is now beyond just that building and the outside influences are persisting, then I am again not sure how this will resolve for me. I have written ongoing articles on these topics, so this is an ongoing problem plaguing the housing system. You can check out my articles on streetsensemedia. org! Thanks for having me and I’m understanding we are all human and thus have shortcomings when it comes to expectations from time to time, but to deliberately try haunting a person for their skills and talent rather than pursuing or seeking out your own is not acceptable for me, especially with the path I’ve led and walked in life! Life does go on, and oh, by the way, you can read and purchase my book on Amazon.
GODFIDENCE pt2
RON DUDLEY Artist/Vendor
GODFIDENCE and hateraid don’t mix. For every turn, there’s a twist. For every twist, there’s a turn. This Godfidence, when will they learn? Godfidence and hateraid don’t go for every smile. For every smile, there’s a glow; for every glow, there’s a smile. I had Godfidence ever since I was a child. Godfidence and hateraid can’t agree. It’s like expecting an apple to grow from an orange tree. It’s like expecting a watermelon on a grape vine. It’s like expecting the moonlight in the daytime. Godfidence and hateraid can’t be friends. It’s like expecting triplets when you know you’re having twins. It’s like claiming a daughter when you know you had a son. It’s like making me number two when you know I’m number one. Godfidence and hateraid don’t mix. For every turn, there’s a twist; for every twist, there’s a turn. This Godfidence, when will they learn? Godfidence and hateraid can’t align. It’s just too much stress, it’s just too much for the mind. It’s just too much evil and too much hate. God gave me this confidence, now let me demonstrate. Godfidence and hateraid don’t go for every smile. For every smile, there’s a glow; for every glow, there’s a smile. I’ve had this Godfidence in me since I was a child.
BIRTHDAYS
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER
Brian Carome
DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS
Darick Brown
DIRECTOR OF VENDOR EMPLOYMENT
Thomas Ratliff
VENDOR PROGRAM ASSOCIATES
Aida Peery, Chon Gotti, Nikila Smith
VENDOR PROGRAM VOLUNTEERS Ann Herzog, Aiden Eisenschenk, Beverly Brown, Madeleine McCollough, Roberta Haber
Reginald Black
May 23
ARTIST/VENDOR
Zero May 30
ARTIST/VENDOR
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Annemarie Cuccia
DEPUTY EDITOR Donte Kirby
EDITORIAL INTERNS
Cara Halford, Ella Mitchell, Fiona Riley, Franziska Wild, Gabriel Zakaib,
Katherine Wilkison, Madi Koesler
WEB INTERN Zachi Elias
GRAPHIC DESIGN INTERN Josh Hong
ARTISTS-INRESIDENCE
Ron Dudley May 30
ARTIST/VENDOR
Cameé Lee June 2
ARTIST/VENDOR
Alexandra Silverthorne (Photography), Bonnie Naradzay (Poetry), David Serota (Illustration), Leslie Jacobson (Theater), Roy Barber (Theater), Willie Schatz (Writing), Molly Pauker (Watercolor), Debbie Menke (Watercolor)
EVENTS AT SSM
ANNOUNCEMENTS
□ The office will be closed Monday, May 26, for Memorial Day.
□ The May Vendors Meeting is Friday, May 30, from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Come for business, community and pizza!
□ Come to the new workshops! Painters Workshop is every Tuesday at 12:00 p.m. And Photography Workshop is every Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
□ Find a list of Vendor announcements and other useful information just for you at streetsensemedia. org/vendor-info.
EDITORIAL VOLUNTEERS
Anne Eigeman, Benjamin Litoff, Candace Montague, Cari Shane, David Fucillo, Dhany Addaki, Jack Walker, Jessica Rich, Kathryn Owens, Mark Rose, Micah Levy, Nora Scully, Sarah Eccleston, Taylor Nichols
VENDOR CODE OF CONDUCT
Read this democratically elected code of conduct, by vendors, for vendors!
1. I will support Street Sense Media’s mission statement and in so doing will work to support the Street Sense Media community and uphold its values of honesty, respect, support, and opportunity.
2. I will treat all others, including customers, staff, volunteers, and fellow vendors, respectfully at all times. I will refrain from threatening others, pressuring customers into making donations, or engaging in behavior that condones racism, sexism, classism, or other prejudices.
3. I understand that I am not an employee of Street Sense Media but an independent contractor.
4. While distributing the Street Sense newspaper, I will not ask for more than $3 per issue or solicit donations by any other means.
5. I will only purchase the newspaper from Street Sense Media staff and volunteers and will not distribute newspapers to other vendors.
6. I will not distribute copies of “Street Sense” on metro trains and buses or on private property.
7. I will abide by the Street Sense Media Vendor Territory Policy at all times and will resolve any related disputes with other vendors in a professional manner.
8. I will not sell additional goods or products while distributing “Street Sense.”
9. I will not distribute “Street Sense” un--der the influence of drugs or alcohol.
10. I understand that my badge and vest are property of Street Sense Media and will not deface them. I will present my badge when purchasing “Street Sense” and will always display my badge when distributing “Street Sense.”
Remembering Vennie Hill: a writer, singer and friend
ELLA MITCHELL Editorial Intern
Vennie Marie Hill, a writer, singer, friend, and Street Sense vendor, died Feb. 26. She was 55.
Hill, a Washington native, was born on July 4, 1970 to Shirley M. Hill and Pete Fuller. Those close to Hill remember her as an honest and funny woman who would do anything to help out the people she loved. In her free time, she enjoyed writing and spending time with her cat, Milwaukee.
“She was just so sweet to people,” Peggy Jackson Whitley, a longtime friend of Hill’s, said. “I want them to remember her as she was. A lot of people don’t even really know her like I did. She’s had a happy spirit.”
Lena Taylor, Hill’s sister, said that Vennie was as selfless as she was sweet.
Taylor remembers telling Hill about her pregnancy, informing her she would soon have a niece or nephew. Hill’s selfless spirit was on full display as she helped her sister by watching the baby while she was at work, Taylor said.
“She would give you the shirt off her back even if she didn’t have anything else to give,” Taylor said.
Sometimes this giving came in the form of connecting people to resources, like Hill introducing Whitley to Street Sense’s vendor program. Whitley said Hill found solace in the community at Street Sense, and she directed those experiencing homelessness to check it out.
“She found a home at Street Sense,” Whitley said. “She found a sincere place where she could say, ‘These are people who care about me.’”
Hill showed her the ropes of selling copies of the newspaper, including offering tips on how to react when someone declined to buy a copy.
But the pair’s friendship began long before Street Sense. In fact, Whitley and Hill’s friendship spanned decades, a bond Whitley said reached BFF status. The pair — who nicknamed each other Whitley as Lulu and Hill as Cootie — would spend evenings together laughing, talking, and oftentimes singing Anita Baker, Tenna Marie, Shirley Caesar, and Mariah Carey songs until the sun rose.
“She had a beautiful voice,” Whitley said.
Taylor remembers Vennie’s love for music — a passion that first manifested when Hill was a young girl dreaming of being on Broadway.
Hill loved singing and dancing, and she carried dreams of the stage with her as she ascended from D.C. schools Marie Reed Elementary School to Eastern High School, Taylor said.
In 1994, Hill attended Job Corps in Woodstock, Virginia, to study cosmetology and data entry, according to a family obituary. But while Hill enjoyed doing hair, it paled in comparison to her passion for singing and dancing, Taylor said. Hill would play Baker’s music on repeat for her nieces and nephews — sometimes to the point where they would repeatedly plead with her: “Aunt Vennie, turn it off. Aunt Vennie turn it off!”
Hill connected with Whitley’s granddaughter through music, too.
Through her tears, Whitley laughed as she pulled up a short video clip on her phone. The video showed Whitley’s granddaughter dancing with a crochet red wig perched on her head. A woman’s laughter can be heard along with the music in the video.
“That’s my grandbaby,” Whitley said, pointing to the young girl in the video on her phone. “She put it on Vennie, and I came around the room like, “What the hell are y’all going on about?”
The musical antics enveloped them in their own little bubble, as the pair danced and laughed together, absolutely beside themselves with glee, Whitley said.
But it wasn’t just her singing voice that stood out to those who loved her; many said Vennie’s writing captured her voice the most poignantly, allowing people to get to know who she was to her very core.
Hill’s love for writing dated back to her time in high school. Taylor remembers Hill jotting down notes to herself — always writing about something.
That’s exactly how Thomas Ratliff, the director of vendor employment at Street Sense, first came to know Hill.
Shortly after Hill joined Street Sense as a vendor in April 2011, Ratliff met her through Street Sense’s Writers’ group — a place, like the rest of Street Sense, that Hill found a home in.
“She had such a compassion for Street Sense,” Taylor said. “She loved to write the articles and show her pictures. She definitely loved to inform you guys things that went on in her life. She didn’t have any secrets.”
Ratliff was leading the Street Sense writers’ group at the time, which is a weekly meeting, led by writing professionals, where people can create poetry, essays, fiction and other pieces of writing.
He remembers Hill struck a deal with him: she wouldn’t join the collective group downstairs,
but she’d go upstairs by herself to focus on her writing. Ratliff said Hill took her writing very seriously — sharing candid reflections about her grief after losing her husband and her struggles with addiction — and she often ran the sole drafts of her pieces by Ratliff first.
Ratliff said this level of trust was foundational to their friendship. Hill would often call Ratliff to update him about her life and let him know when she was struggling with alcoholism.
“She always had this spirit of trying to move forward and trying to get into a better place,” Ratliff said.
Aida Peery, a fellow Street Sense vendor who sold newspapers on the opposite corner from Hill near Eastern Market, said the best way to get to know her was through her writing. Peery remembers Hill as a funny woman who was bubbly and hardworking.
“She didn’t talk to you directly,” Perry said. “She talks to you through her articles.”
“This path is mine and mine only,” Hill wrote in a piece entitled “More tips for recovery.”
“I practice to become great, then I keep practicing to stay great. I’m trying today to get to know myself all over again. Love yourself today. I’m not used to making good decisions on my own. If I was to put the energy that I put into drinking how I was into living right, I would have already beat my addiction.”
Ratliff remembers her writing talent and her ability to capture raw emotion about her life experiences in a sincere way.
“At some point early on, she struck me,” Ratliff said. “I noticed her because of her honesty around the fact that she was struggling with alcoholism and that she was trying to stay clean.”
Hill wrote dozens upon dozens of articles for Street Sense. Each story chronicled tidbits of her life, including daily happenings, her struggles with addiction, to meeting and falling in love with her late husband, Harmon Bracey.
Hill and Bracey met in 2009. They both worked at the Wendy’s on Piscataway Road, while Hill worked the day shift and Bracey worked the night shift.
In her writing, “My husband,” Hill recalls her manager at the time declaring, “I got the perfect man for you, his name is Harmon.” But Hill wrote that she wasn’t interested at all.
It took a couple more encounters for Hill to shell out her phone number, she recounts in her writing. When they called for the first time — the very evening Hill shared her contact information — the pair chatted until about 2 a.m.
“Come and find out he was the perfect man for me …” Hill wrote. “I fell asleep on the phone and I fell in love with his voice. He was the sweetest thing.”
In January 2024, Bracey was struck by a car. Hill’s friends said a bit of her light diminished as a wave of grief overtook her. Yet she channeled her emotion into her writing.
“I still dream of him at night,” Hill wrote in her piece called “After the morning after.” “I miss his touch. I remember him lying in our bed, reading his Bible or listening to it on his phone. I miss his smile most of all. I miss waking up, seeing his face, and hearing his voice.”
Hill was preceded in death by her husband. Bracey, her sister Bernice Board, and her brother William Taylor Jr.
“She had a broken heart,” Peery said of Hill after Bracey died.
Despite whatever challenges Hill was facing, those close to her remember her resilience and spirit throughout adversity.
“At the same time, she always smiled,” Ratliff said.
That’s how Taylor will remember her sister: as a forthright, happy person who never failed to make her laugh.
“Vennie was a joyful person,” Taylor said.
Hill had no children, but treated her cat Milwaukee like one of her own. Whitley said she named the cat after the beer. Taylor’s son will now oversee Milwaukee’s care.
Hill is survived by her mother Shirley Hill; sister Lena Taylor; nieces Dawn, India, Roseanne, Egypt, and Faith; nephews Tymark and Carrell; her favorite aunt Barbara Owens; among a host of other family, friends and acquaintances, the family obituary reads.
Vennie Marie Hill. Photo courtesy of the Hill family
Homelessness advocate’s new book, “And Housing for All,” centers housing as a human right
CARA HALFORD Editorial Intern
Longtime homelessness advocate and lawyer Maria Foscarinis’ new book, “And Housing for All: The Fight to End Homelessness in America,” reframes the way readers think about homelessness. Foscarinis, who was a chief architect of the nation’s main legislation addressing homelessness, calls for systemic change, sharing stories she has heard from the homeless community for the past 35 years.
Set to be published in June, “And Housing for All” is Foscarinis’ first book and comes after a lengthy legal career defending low-income and homeless populations as well as founding the National Coalition for the Homelessness, based in Washington, D.C., in 1985 and serving as the head of the National Homelessness Law Center for over three decades. She was also the chief architect of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, which provides federal funding for homeless shelter programs and specifically founded the federal Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) Program.
Foscarinis uses her legal and legislative expertise to call on lawmakers to address the scarcity of affordable housing head-on.
“Right now in this country, housing is not only not viewed as a human right, it is viewed as a commodity,” Foscarinis said in an interview with Street Sense Media.
In Washington D.C., the cost of housing is 144% higher than the national average, according to WTOP.news, and homelessness rates show the burden of this cost. According to reporting by Street Sense Media, D.C. had the “highest prevalence of homelessness” in 2023, with 73 out of 10,000 residents experiencing homelessness.
Foscarinis says widespread homelessness in D.C. and across the nation can be partially explained by the attitude people have towards those who are experiencing homelessness.
“Here in the U.S., often people who are homeless or poor are demonized,” she said. This stereotype has been around nearly as long as modern homelessness itself. “[President Ronald] Reagan also promoted a harmful narrative that people are homeless by choice, that they choose to be homeless, that is the language of Reagan, and you can still hear that language.”
During Reagan’s presidency in the 1980s, he cut swaths of funding to the U.S. Department of Housing and Development and nearly eliminated all federal spending on subsidized housing. By the end of Reagan’s term, the homeless population in the U.S. had increased to over 600,000, and the availability of low-cost rental units decreased by one million.
Foscarinis’ career and new book are dedicated to attempting to reverse such cuts and fight against the dehumanizing language often used for people in poverty by telling personal stories of those who are homeless. In her book, she features families who have lost parents to addiction, victims of last-minute eviction policies, and mothers trying to pay their children’s medical bills. Each of these experiences serves as a reminder to the reader that homelessness can happen to anybody.
But Foscarinis doesn’t only tell these stories; she also offers solutions. Foscarinis pointed to the effectiveness of social housing programs and increased social safety nets in countries like Finland and in cities like Vienna. Social housing usually comes in the form of government-subsidized, rentrestricted homes that reflect the needs of the communities they serve, rather than market pricing rates. Local to the U.S., Foscarinis said Seattle, Washington, is an example of how city governments can educate the public about homelessness and affordable housing through organizations like House Our Neighbors. This change should start with decriminalizing homelessness, according to Foscarinis.
Criminalizing homelessness is common across the country, and includes bans on sleeping in public places, car camping, and arresting those who are on the streets. Enforcing these laws costs three times more than providing affordable housing for those who don’t have it, according to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Instead, agencies like USICH contend it is better to provide homeless individuals with mental health, food, and shelter services rather than jail time. Currently, USICH collaborates with private corporations to provide federal aid and services to those in need, giving those who are homeless more options and access to different services.
“And Housing For All” also urges the importance of holding landlords accountable for fair eviction and rent notices, as well as the need to fully fund existing programs like housing choice vouchers. These programs are threatened from President Donald Trump’s administration.
“This is an unprecedented attack [on homelessness], but there have been attacks before,” she said.
Trump signed an executive order in late March that banned outdoor camping on federal lands in D.C.,increased encampment sweeps, and made substantial funding cuts to HUD. He also has said he plans to increase undefined treatment programs, but not housing programs. Foscarinis said her book is more relevant now than ever as she encourages advocates and those who are experiencing homelessness not to give up. Throughout the book, she stresses how important it is for everyday people and lawmakers to fight for homeless people, instead of abandoning them, particularly as the federal government takes a more hostile stance towards homelessness.
“It is not hopeless, it is possible to organize. It is very difficult to organize when you’re fighting for your survival,” Fosacrinis said in reference to those who are homeless “...but there are groups and people who care and can join your voice.”
Book cover courtesy of Promethus books.
Homeless advocate and lawyer Maria Foscarinis. Photo by Nathan Stoltzfuz
For income-qualified residents of Washington, D.C., there is still time to go solar at no cost
ANN DUAN
Sustainability can come with a daunting price tag, but a local program says it can help Washingtonians reduce their electricity bills and carbon footprints through solar energy.
The District Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) announced in March it will complete 150 no-cost solar installations as part of the Solar for All program. The projects will benefit low-to-moderate income households, as determined by median income in the area and the number of residents on the property. They will join the over 11,000 solar installations the D.C. Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU) has already overseen.
Prospective participants are eligible for a no-cost solar installation if household income is below 80% of the area median income or if the tenant receives assistance from a federal program like SNAP. Half of the 150 planned solar installations were available as of last month.
Because solar panels convert heat from the sun into electricity without emitting greenhouse gasses, they minimize air pollution while capitalizing on renewable energy. In Washington, homeowners who install rooftop solar can expect to see their electricity bills cut in half over 15 years. However, going green can be costly. Without tax credits or programs like Solar for All, it can cost over $20,000 to install and maintain solar panels in the District.
While uncertainty on the federal level disrupts renewable energy adoption, Solar for All anticipates it will be able to maintain its commitment to the D.C. community and continue installations. This year, the organization plans to offer no-cost solar installations to even more families, thanks to a mix of local and federal funding.
“We are primarily locally funded,” said Josh Wink, program manager of the Community Solar program. “We’ve been running this program off local funds since 2019, and we still have those local funds.”
DCSEU receives funding from Pepco, the city’s main electric utility, and the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund, further ensuring solar projects prevail even when politics aren’t favorable.
“On everyone’s D.C.’s Pepco bill, there is a little sustainable energy fund, if you look at your Pepco bill really closely,” said Antoine Grant, program manager of the single-family pathway at DCSEU.
Because Pepco subscribers contribute indefinitely to the sustainable energy fund, Solar for All has the power to make good on its promises, redistributing money spent on electricity toward solar initiatives. Solar for All
has also made it a mission to address barriers to solar adoption. For all income-qualified participants, Solar for All now assumes the costs of roofing repairs to prepare each property for a safe rooftop solar installation.
On top of the cost of labor to assemble and mount solar panels, rare metals like silicone required to manufacture them make solar energy particularly expensive. While solar panels usually cost over $10,000 to install, Solar for All will take care of service costs and the cost of home repairs necessary to proceed with rooftop solar installation.
“As you run into these low-income homes, they can’t afford things such as roofing or electrical upgrades… So anytime we find something that is causing like a bottleneck or anything, we find another way to get ahead of it before it becomes too much of a hassle on our end,” said Grant.
While the program has historically faced challenges completing rooftop solar installations on houses needing additional repairs, it has collaborated with contractors to remove the burden of reroofing for families hoping to go solar.
The program is on track to transition 100,000 homes by 2032, which is projected to save participating homeowners 50% on their energy bills within 15 years.
This number will continue rising as DOEE initiates the second phase of the Solar for All program, made possible by a recent $62.45 million grant award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction fund, which was unveiled on April 29 in honor of Earth Month.
House Republicans recently introduced a budget bill that aims to freeze funding for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. This move spells worries for Solar for All’s future, but if plans for the program’s second phase proceed, the money will allow Solar for All to assume the cost of another 12,000 solar installations. These solar panels will deploy a projected 33-43 MW of solar energy over the next five years– enough energy to supply roughly 8,000 to 10,000 homes.
In addition to ensuring solar can reach as many households as possible, Solar for All’s second phase will emphasize community outreach, roofing, and electrical upgrades to boost solar’s appeal and accessibility. It plans to incorporate a unique revolving loan fund overseen by DC Green Bank and City First Enterprises that will allow borrowers to take out loans, repay portions of the loan, and borrow again. This system can help developers and community organizations finance future solar projects, forging new pathways to renewable energy.
For homeowners interested in Solar for All’s ongoing no-cost solar program, the online application alongside eligibility information can be found on the DOEE website under Solar for All.
The Solar Expansion Project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Photo by Alex Snyder
D.C. NEEDS MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING. WHY DOES NO ONE WANT TO BUILD IT
GABRIEL ZAKAIB Editorial Intern
As an affordable housing crisis looms over the District, where its stagnant housing voucher waitlist tops 37,000 people and homelessness rates are increasing, researchers, developers, and legislators contend the city needs more affordable housing.
“We’re still kind of falling short in terms of producing the housing we need that would allow us to adequately house everyone in the city,” said Peter Tatian, a senior fellow and research director focused on housing at the Urban Institute, a non-profit that researches social policy issues.
But developers and landlords in the District say city laws are inadvertently driving them away from entering the affordable housing market at a time when it most needs new housing stock the most.
Affordable housing caters to city residents who make 30 percent or less of their area’s median income (AMI), which is the District’s lowest income bracket. City and federal housing agencies manage a large portfolio of public housing and run voucher-based rental assistance programs like the Local Rent Supplement Program (LRSP).
Jubilee Housing has experienced unreliable payments from the D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA), Holcolm continued in his statement.
For those who make 30 percent or less of AMI, however, only one housing voucher exists for every four people who need one, Tatian said. The need for rental assistance is growing at higher income levels, too, he continued. The District is a particularly expensive place to live. As demand for affordable units far outpaces supply, some in the housing industry are warning policies meant to protect and preserve housing are actually deterring new developments.
“D.C. has made it so difficult to build and manage housing here,” said Saman Zomorodi, who runs Zed Development, a small, mission-driven affordable housing company. “It honestly doesn’t make sense anymore.”
To re-vitalize the market, Mayor Muriel Bowser is fighting for legislation that would revise the policies the industry says make affordable housing an unsustainable business practice.
The Rebalancing Expectations for Neighbors, Tenants, and Landlords (RENTAL) Act aims to address components of city law that for years have dissuaded affordable housing providers from entering the scene. It proposes shortening eviction timelines to pre-pandemic levels, exempting the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) from market-rate buildings, and increasing LRSP voucher eligibility from 30% AMI to 50% AMI, among a myriad of reforms.
Providers Zed Development and Jubilee Housing said the proposed changes are a good starting point to raise developer confidence in affordable housing. The legislation is intended to help prevent the downfall of mission-driven providers, like the case of Neighborhood Development Company (NDC). In 2024, the enterprise closed due to inoperable local market conditions, its website stated. The company had operated since 1999, when it was hailed as a beacon of affordable housing. Zomorodi asserts NDC couldn’t stay afloat amid delayed payments, delayed eviction timelines, and increased interest rates. NDC could not be reached for comment.
Tatian worries, however, the legislation won’t be fully effective. Expanding voucher eligibility without increasing supply could make the coveted vouchers even more competitive to access, he said. Reforming eviction timelines, too, could require deeper legislative digging. A number of judicial vacancies have reduced the capacity of the courts, he said, slowing eviction proceedings. Without addressing court capacity, he continued, eviction delays will likely stay the same.
“Like many housing providers, we’ve experienced challenges navigating the current eviction landscape,” said Jubilee Housing’s Vice President for External Affairs, Tyrell Holcolm, in a statement to Street Sense. “The long timelines for legal resolution, paired with limited enforcement mechanisms, place strain on our properties and staff.”
Affordable housing providers are also facing a financial threat from the government. Although providers rely on city and federal funds to make rental payments for tenants enrolled in government programs, some organizations are reporting receiving those payments inconsistently or months late.
“The LRSP is a critical tool in our ability to offer deeply affordable homes in high-opportunity neighborhoods,” Holcolm wrote. “That said, our experience has been inconsistent. There have been periods where payments have been delayed for months, which impacts our operating budget, creates strain on property maintenance, and limits our ability to be proactive in planning. When the system works well, it works very well, but we need that consistency across the board.” DCHA did not respond to request for comment.
The RENTAL Act also proposes to significantly limit instances where tenants can use the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), another significant driver of investment hesitancy. Introduced in 1980, TOPA requires building owners to offer residents the first right of refusal to buy their own building in the event it is being sold. Some tenants use the law in partnership with a lawyer to obstruct the sale of their building to another owner for long periods of time, only then to demand a payout to stop their obstruction, according to Zomorodi, who said he’s seen payouts reach $80,000. These are high costs for developers but common occurrences, he said.
Despite longer transaction times and rare tenant purchases, a report released in 2023 by the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development found TOPA successfully offered tenants a seat at the negotiating table, reduced displacement, and substantially preserved and developed District affordable housing stock over the law’s 40-year history. The report was co-authored by Tatian, commissioned by the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development, and funded by the D.C. Council.
In a long-desired win for affordable housing providers, the D.C. Council this month reformed the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), which eliminated the pandemic-era policy of barring evictions for any resident with an open ERAP application. ERAP applications now require deeper documentation of an unforeseen and time-limited emergency to be approved.
The revisions attempt to protect the District’s affordable housing stock by preventing foreclosures of affordable housing providers who lose money for months when rent payments are not received, the D.C. Council said on a website post.
The Small Multifamily Owners Association, an advocacy group representing small landlords in support of naturally occurring affordable housing, also said in a statement the legislation was a promising first step in stabilizing the District’s troubled rental housing market.
One landlord, who identified himself as a senior citizen named R. Ware living in the building he rents out, has incurred tens of thousands of dollars in losses due to tenant criminal activity and felony-level property destruction, he reported in written testimony submitted to the D.C. Council for its March 6 DCHA oversight hearing. His three tenants refuse to pay rent due to knowledge of city regulations and long court processes that severely delay eviction processes, the landlord said.
“My financial circumstance would have been better if I had never rent the units at all,” he wrote.
“The people who own property at some point have to be able to remove people if there’s not good faith about paying the rent,” said Van Ness Tenants Association President Harry Gural. “But again, I’m not seeing that directly. I see opposite situations where people who are tenants fear being evicted wrongly.”
“You have times when somebody’s stuff all of a sudden gets put out in the street, and it puts fear in people’s hearts,” he continued.
As the RENTAL Act hopes to re-work the narrative fabric around the District’s affordable housing market, those on the ground, including Gural and local resident Taniya Rogers, are concerned it instead offers tenant disenfranchisement and ineffective solutions.
In written testimony submitted to a March 6 DCHA oversight hearing, Rogers stated, “Mayor Bowser and her allies sold this bill as tenant protection—but let’s be clear: this is landlord protection. It guts tenant rights, making Emergency Rental Assistance (ERAP) harder to access, keeping families trapped in debt, and letting landlords evict tenants in just 10 days. 10 days.”
Affodable Housing in D.C. is a complex web of policy and special interest. Graphic by Gabriel Zakaib
Encampment Updates: Cat and mouse game continues as the same residents experience repeated closures
FRANZISKA WILD AND MADI KOESLER Editorial Interns
.C. has continued to close encampments at a rapid rate. In late April and early May, they scheduled nearly three encampment clearings every week. Many of these encampments had been previously closed, and residents expressed anger and frustration at what is starting to feel like a game of whack-a-mole.
In Foggy Bottom, at one of the largest encampments in the city, residents were cleared on May 8, after having already been cleared on May 1. The clearing on May 1 was an immediate disposition due to a potentially imminent pipe collapse that D.C. Water caught through routine imaging of the underground pipe system.
But as outreach workers and residents pointed out, the closure on May 8 wasn’t due to any kind of immediate danger.
According to the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services (DMHHS) the location, “has been previously closed to all encamping due to bulk hoarding, biohazards, fire hazards, agricultural damage, and intrusion upon the intended use of this public space.”
“This shit is bullshit,” said G, a resident who asked not to be identified to protect her privacy while living outside. “It’s taking a toll on my stuff but also on me as a person.”
She explained that her tent, bikes, and other belongings have endured a decent amount of wear and tear due to the repeated moves. She also expressed feeling exhausted and frustrated with DMHHS’ approach. In her words, “they want to push their asses in my life.”
“People just want to live settled down,” G said, as she rested for a moment before moving her stuff across the road to figure out where to go next. But despite the repeated closures, appealing options for shelter remain few and far between. Low-barrier shelters have been nearly full since the end of hypothermia season, according to reporting by Street Sense.
Even the Aston, a non-congregate shelter in Foggy Bottom, which the Mayor has pointed to as a way to house encampment residents, hasn’t helped to fully ease the burden of repeated closures. As of the May 12 Aston Community Advisory Team meeting, 83 residents were living in the Aston, with multiple intake meetings scheduled for the upcoming weeks. Intake meetings are required to move into or tour the Aston. But, for some encampment residents, the experience at the Aston didn’t match expectations.
In an email, the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) told Street Sense, “all staff are expected to treat clients with dignity and respect.”
DHS also explained security staff at the Aston complete “a comprehensive set of training courses, including trauma-informed care, cultural competency, customer service.” According to DHS, these courses “designed to help security staff approach their role with empathy, awareness, and professionalism.”
The worker verified other staff and other people experiencing homelessness have had similar experiences. This is echoed by encampment residents who returned to living outside after negative experiences at the Aston. Mr. G, another resident of the Foggy Bottom encampment, is someone who found the Aston difficult.
“It sucked. I was, like, forced after losing everything, nobody told me nothing,” Mr. G said, he moved into the Aston following repeated closures earlier this year.
“So I already knew it was some bullshit from the jump, but I still insisted on packing. But then that night, after I went to the Aston for them to tell me, ‘Oh, you could only take two bags in. Your tools and everything — we can’t store.’” Mr. G said.
All shelters in the District follow a standard two-bag maximum, according to DHS. In a comment, DHS told Street Sense staff at the Aston, “try to be as accommodating as possible during the intake process,” and allow clients to use the storage present in their rooms to store personal items. When excess belongings create barriers to shelter, “DHS and case management staff collaborate to explore alternative solutions,” DHS also wrote.
Mr. G also voiced issues with security at the Aston being overly strict and unfriendly. He felt as though being searched and passing through a metal detector was unnecessary — in part because security staff scrutinized some of his belongings and tools. Before leaving the Aston, Mr. G said the security pressed him about having an Alan key that he needs for his scooter that he uses to get around.
After the 16th closure of Heather Bernard’s Mt. Pleasant encampment on April 30, Bernard agreed to tour the Aston. After Ubering to the housing facility with District Bridges and Miriam’s Kitchen outreach workers, Bernard instantly decided the Aston wasn’t for her.
Instead of speaking directly to Bernard, Aston workers spoke to outreach workers about requiring an intake meeting to tour and did not respond to Bernard’s questions. Simultaneously, security staff walked over with a handheld metal detector and spoke over Bernard and the other Aston staff. Bernard walked out of the Aston and declined an intake meeting because she felt disrespected by the staff not speaking to her.
“I’m trying to talk to them and they’re in front of me talking over my head,” Bernard said. “I don’t put up with that bullshit. When you’re in the street, you’re decent.”
Shortly after Bernard walked out of the Aston, an Aston employee walked outside and asked a Street Sense reporter and outreach worker if security was the reason Bernard no longer wanted to tour the Aston. After being told Bernard felt disrespected, the worker responded, “That’s what we’re experiencing with security, and we’re working on that.”
Security screenings are necessary to prevent weapons from entering the shelter, according to DHS. DHS also told Street Sense the Aston’s staff, “explains the purpose of the screenings to residents upon request during entry, at orientation, and through ongoing engagement and dialogue during their stay.”
However, Vernia Anderson, who’s also a resident at the Aston, also told Street Sense she felt security was repeatedly unfriendly.
Anderson gave the example of being approached by security while trying to work on a computer located on a different floor than her room. Security told her she had to go work elsewhere even though, according to Anderson, there aren’t program rules about using a computer on a different floor.
Ultimately, while the initial promise of a non-congregate shelter is attractive to many people experiencing homelessness, in part because many have experienced challenges at large congregate facilities, moving to the Aston is not without difficulty.
As Anderson described her experience at the facility as “good, but like it’s a jail.”
Upcoming encampment closures include: May 28 at 2230 Adams Place NE, May 29 at MLK Library on 945 G St NW, June 4 at DDOT underpass on 555 South Capitol St SW and June 5 at Banneker Rec Center on 2417 9th St NW.
With his tent, an encampment resident walked back to his encampment before the clearing, upset and unsure of where he would go next. Photo by Madi Koesler
Bernard looks out the window pointing out apartment buildings she likes as she Ubers to the Aston.
Photo by Madi Koesler
Scott sits at his encampment beside the Cleveland Park Metro Station. April 23 was the second time this year his encampment was cleared by DMHHS. Photo by Madi Koesler
Back the the laundromat after feeling disrespected at the Aston, Bernard finishes up her laundry with Quinntez Washington, Community Navigator from District Bridges. “I know where safety is for me,” Bernard said after reflecting on the Aston. Photo by Madi Koesler
Heather Bernard stands beside Jo Furmanchik, Outreach Specialist from the Washington Legal Clinc for the Homeless, who holds a bag of laundry supplies. Before heading to tour the Aston, Jo and two other outreach workers from District Bridges and Miriam’s Kitchen helped Bernard wash her belongings so they could be eligible for DMHHS storage. Photo by Madi Koesler
Creating a database about the police to provide evidence of their crimes
SHUHRATJON AHMADJONOV
Dear President Donald Trump, dear senators and congresspeople of the United States,
I propose a comprehensive approach to the study and legislative regulation of the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the police by creating a database of those organizations’ activities. The FBI is the leading American counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization. The FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes.
Let’s assume some FBI agents and police officers grossly violate the laws and the U.S. Constitution. How can this be proven? To do this, it is necessary to create a database of the activities of FBI agents and police officers, as well as their leaders.
Information should be accumulated on the daily work of FBI agents and police officers, as well as their leaders. To do this, it is necessary to create a separate service for the collection of such information. This bank of information should begin with a complete list of FBI agents and police officers, and FBI and police informants. Let the legislators decide what parts to collect of the information flow of the daily work of all employees and informants.
I find it important to accumulate phone and walkie-talkie conversations among FBI agents, police officers, and FBI and police informants. This information that will best reveal what each agent, employee, and their serving informants (informers) are doing, who and how they are following legal, illegal, and sometimes provocative orders given, and steps taken to enforce them.
It is also relevant to collect the daily orders, their daily, weekly, and other progress reports, and some other important information each FBI agent, police officer, and informant receives. It is also appropriate to accumulate letters of complaint from citizens about the work of FBI agents and police officers, as well as their superiors.
Such a bank of information must be opened, and it must exist separately. The FBI and the police will continue to work according to their operating principles, that is, there will be no interference in their work. It’s just that information about their work will be accumulated in parallel in a separate database.
At present, approximately this amount of information is accumulated in the archives and files of the FBI and the police. FBI and police officials and officers have access to this information. And at any time, especially when it threatens them with dismissal and exposure, they can destroy relevant information, which could confound an investigation. In the case of the creation of a parallel database, the leaders, agents, and employees of the FBI and the police will not be able to selectively destroy certain important information.
Of course, this database will be classified and carefully guarded against leakage of information and against extraneous illegal interventions. Only a certain people among the deputies of the legislative chamber of the state or the U.S. Congress, or a special commission being created to study and control this information, would have access. The commission can include one authoritative and honest officer of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the police. It is better to either write the choice of members of the commission in the law, or let the deputies of the state or country legislature decide.
In the event of an unusual crime, the commission will examine all materials. The leaders of the FBI and the police will not be able to destroy any information. Serious omissions and illegal actions of leaders, agents, or police will be clarified. Based on the analysis of this information, it will be possible to develop laws regulating the work of leaders and employees of law enforcement agencies.
Only such a serious and comprehensive approach to the study and legislative regulation of the work of the FBI and the police, and possibly other law enforcement agencies, will make it possible to drastically reduce crime in the United States. To be continued…
Shuhratjon Ahmadjonov is an artist/vendor with Street Sense Media.
Eunuch, men’s mental health
INVISIBLE PROPHET
Many of my pieces are about personal experience and current events against humanity. Women are pulled apart by atrocious, violent behavior by individuals in political or civilian life. I have not said much about men’s mental health; at most, I’ve hinted at it.
The word “eunuch” describes a male who has been castrated. I’ve researched the history of men’s mental health, and it is very interesting. There is a dark, vicious side to the reasoning behind eunuch. I always wondered about how mental illness starts for men. What I found may shock male readers, maybe women too.
I read an article from Britannica online, and the inherited practices through religion, status, or other atrocious behavior. I’ve learned intergenerational trauma is rooted in many aspects of life. Eunuchs were hired in the Middle East and in China, but that’s just part of the history. You may ask why any male would agree to be hired and castrated for work.
According to Britannica, Eunuchs had two functions: as guards and servants in harems or women’s quarters, and chambers of kings. These men were considered phenomenal guards for wives or concubines in a palace. Eunuchs had many roles for rulers, and it became a highly sought-after career path. Though the worst part of it was eunuchs were castrated as punishment, or were people who had been sold by poor parents.
Also during the Chou period (c. 1122-221 B.C.), eunuchs were political advisers to the emperors, and this custom lasted through many dynasties and cultures such as Persia (559-330 B.C.), Roman emperors, and Muslim power after AD 750.
Religion also played a role in male violence. Priests and monks volunteered to become eunuchs to avoid sexual sin or temptation. The idea of Christian theologian Origen (c. A.D. 185-c.254) based this practice on Matthew 19:12; 5:28-30. There was a Christian sect of eunuchs during the 3rd century, Valesii, who believed castrating themselves and their guests was serving God.
There’s also an Italian practice where singers known as castrati are castrated as young boys to allow them to sing as adult sopranos. During this time, someone had the right mind to end this practice by Pope Leo XIII (1878). The inhumane practice is destructive and cruel to the male ego. Back then, I don’t know if mental illness was a matter of construct, but eunuchs were a sign of someone inheriting a trauma. Castration is something so inhumane, how could one stand it without being physically ill and mentally unstable? In the present day, male dominance is animosity towards figuratively emasculating the male species. Coherent influences suggest an opposed construct of male dominance.
Psychology Today discusses the importance of men’s mental health and encourages men to not live in silence. There is never a discussion about the suicide rates of men, who are 50% of the population but more than 75% of suicides according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I’ve learned many men do not use mental health services. It could explain the escalation of Men’s violence against women.
The article does not examine rising violence against women as an epidemic without mental health services. Psychology Today lists six reasons why men face barriers when seeking assistance as: “Dominant masculine ideals, often involving stoicism, independence, strength, and control. Poor mental health knowledge, which can manifest as difficulty communicating or recognizing a need for psychological help. Societal and selfstigma, which can cause shame about being seen as weak, discomfort with emotional disclosure, and problem minimization. A typical symptom expression (male depressive syndrome), which isn’t adequately captured in current diagnostic criteria. Clinician biases, stereotypes, and discomfort due to rigid assumptions regarding common male behaviors and response. Lack of men-centered services.”
Whether this is true for some men and not for others, the two Psychology Today articles do not discuss the importance of preventive steps to assist in nonviolent behavior for some. The criteria for emotional regulation are another concept many do not discuss in men’s mental health. Instead, multicultural, religious beliefs, social norms, inherent teachings, and other factors generally group all men together and say, statistically, men will not seek mental health services.
Invisible Prophet is an artist/vendor with Street Sense media
The extermination of lawyers
Ladies and gentlemen of the public jury,
As fear you may not get what you want creeps into your thoughts, to which conclusion do you jump? Flight? Acceptance? These are weaknesses, symptoms of evolutionary surrender. And while you may dress up that surrender in reason or virtue, the truth is clear. Human nature — our Darwinian inheritance — does not bow. It claws. It survives. It fights.
But here, in this civilized society, the lion is no longer at the doorstep. We no longer trek miles to gather food for winter. It is no longer commonplace to kill thy neighbor for their resources — well, at least not in this particular version of “civilized” society. Here, we do it through civilized means, with civilized weapons. Weapons called lawyers.
And so I stand here today, not in moral outrage or righteous fury, but in cold-blooded self-interest. As a lawyer, I have witnessed the true nature of the beast. I am the beast. And with no shame — only strategy — I now present the case for the “extermination of lawyers,” for the elevation of myself, and the profitable removal of all others.
The weaponization of the law
Do you seek compensation for faults that occurred, or those that are just perceived? You’d better have a good lawyer. Are you trying to get the house, the kids, the bank account? You’d better get the best lawyer. $150 an hour? $250? $550? $1,000? It doesn’t matter. Pay what you must. After all, you’re not paying for justice. You’re paying to win. To survive. To take as much as you can and make sure your opponent gets exactly what they “deserve.”
And when it’s all over, when the verdict arrives, and you feel 50% free — why not call your lawyer again? Not for legal advice, but for comfort. Anger, stress, anxiety? Call. Billable. Call. Billable. They become your therapist, your confessor, your soldier.
The illusion of victory
The day came when I got what I thought I wanted. I felt relief, but only halfway. The other side was diminished, broken. It should have been enough. But was it what I truly wanted? I guess? I took what I could. I extracted. I prevailed. But still, it felt empty.
And the bills? I didn’t keep track. Who does when vengeance is the drug?
We don’t go to lawyers for justice. We go for the advantage. We don’t hire them to find the truth. We hire them to construct a version of truth that favors us, and bury the rest in procedure, filings, and courtroom performance.
The parasite class.
Lawyers no longer exist to uphold society — they are society’s most refined predators. They do not settle conflict; they prolong it. They do not speak truth; they obscure it. They serve not people, but power. And they grow fat off the fear of the very clients they claim to protect.
But I, unlike them, am willing to admit it. I have no illusions. No pretense. No ethics beyond efficiency. Which is why I, in full possession of legal knowledge and rhetorical weaponry, propose the systematic extermination of all lawyers.
Except one. Me.
Survival by elimination
Let me be clear: this is not about morality. This is about market share. This is about consolidation. In their absence, I alone would command all retainers, all rights, all wrongs. A monopoly not of virtue, but of vice.
Let the courts be emptied, the contracts simplified, the truth unshackled by the only honest liar left. Me. Is it evil to use the tools of corruption to cleanse the corrupt? Perhaps. But only a lawyer could make that sound noble.
I rest my case.
JEFFERY CARTER
Artist/Vendor
There’s nothing wrong with spending too much time on anything as long as you have a balanced, productive life and a harmonious atmosphere. And, remember: don’t put nothing before God.
Mother, I always miss
DEGNON DOVONOU Artist/Vendor
Mom, what can I tell you that you don’t already know
When I was a little boy, you were the loved one who showed me
how to walk and talk
I remember if it was still yesterday
You worked hard to give me hope every day when my father was away
Sometimes I feel emptiness, Mom
I know the whole world celebrates his mother, but I mourn you
Remember that as long as I think about you, it shows me how often you loved me
I know you are no longer here, but spiritually, you are just right there
How many more times will I cry and share tears for you?
This day is to celebrate mothers and not to mourn them,
But know that through my tears my joys are transported
Through my emotions transcends the courage you taught me,
Through my sorrows, my desire to see you by my side,
Through my grieving, my love for you transpires
I have been able to have beautiful children who’ll make you smile, I know
No doubt you are the most beautiful and sweetest mother in my life
You instilled in me the values of bravery, the temerity to go through any situation
Even in the depths of my difficulties on this land of men, I will not forget that you have been
Sometimes my tears flow, my pillows are filled with tears when looking at the window
If I can send you back this beautiful flower of poetry, I will tell you, Mother, I force myself to live without you
Like an angel in the hereafter, watch over me and your grandchildren
You told me that once you were gone, life without you might not be happy
I finally understood that lesson the hard way
Only the joy of doing and doing well animates me,
But the fear of dying too soon engulfs me and terrifies me
As I am alive, I will strive to be a good boy as you have dreamed
To you, Mother, may God bless you and I thank you with all your kindness
As long as I breathe in that glimmer of hope you planted in me,
As long as I sweat this sweat of bravery you have passed to me,
I’ll take care of you, and on that note, I say Happy Mother’s Day
A sweet and adorable mother
A mother whose absence is felt,
A mother whose presence is felt again and again
A mother from whom I hold the breath
She no longer lives in spite of herself, but continues to live
Living without living again
Happy Mother’s Day to you, my Mother
New life
QAADIR EL-AMIN Artist/Vendor
Walking through the zoo,
Thinking who is caged, me or you?
What makes us different when we suffer the same symptoms?
Being a victim of other people’s thoughts. Limiting the path I walk.
But like a hawk, I can fly.
Stay on the ground, I ask why?
As I take to the sky. I began to live my new life.
‘Ragtime’ Riviera Experiment
FREDERIC JOHN Artist/Vendor
Mmm-mmm! That sweet sting of salty Atlantic air in one’s nostrils. The “whasshh” of the earlymorn breakers incessantly pawing at the gentle slope of the tideline.
Perhaps that’s part of what inspired Irish-American tycoon Martin O’Malley to construct a delicate miniature rendition of St. Peter’s Basilica (in Rome) on the pristine banks of Spring Lake, New Jersey. This stately church became the centerpiece of what was known as “The Catholic Riviera” at the turn of the last century.
Naturally, Mr. O’Malley’s cohort of East Coast land barons filled the hitherto empty dune acreage with posh, porticoed, domed, and turreted hotels like the Monmouth, Warren, Shoreham, and Essex/Sussex to better attract avid sun-seekers to the central Jersey shore.
Luckily for such an astute filmmaker as Milos Forman, when searching for an appropriate live location for key sequences of his screen adaptation of E.L. Doctorow’s epic novel, “Ragtime,” much of the circa-1900 fabric of Spring Lake Township and seascape was a perfectly preserved petri dish of leisurely charm. (Not to mention the laissez-faire culture clash of “haves” versus “have-nots”.)
My dear mother, born in 1910, had introduced me in 1968 to the hazy allure of an Edwardian whistle stop — Spring Lake/Belmar on the Central Jersey line. My primal memory-after image of that visit was the abrupt looming of the vast dome and dizzying rotunda of the 1904 New Monmouth Hotel that appeared on the horizon as a bulging Silk Road wadi, complete with porches awash with tray-bearing porters, and waiters bowing and smiling for the louche, pampered guests.
Flash forward to 1980. Maelstroms of memory swirled through my temporal brain — a veritable “Motorola” as I stumbled along the warped, torn, sand-choked brick footpaths toward the stately “E&S.” This last had supplanted the Monmouth as reigning resort “Grand-Dame” since the Big M’s 1974 razing for another and possibly grander development.
By now, dear mom was in hospice care, but somewhat convinced she was the “Black baby” born in the cabbage patch, which to this day contributes to my firm belief I’m of mixed racial stock. I had a ridiculous crush on a boardinghouse-keeper’s daughter from a hostelry called the Federal Inn. So then in ‘82 I berthed at the Fed once again with Linnie, my current gal chum — this time discreetly in an adjoining chamber.
Forty-four years might shake loose a few details, but I’m certain Linnie preferred to sunbathe whilst I busied myself taking Polaroid snapshots of the unloading of Stanley Steamer and Rio Motor Coach “picture cars” from a monstrous flatbed truck outside the E&S Hotel.
The white rockers in which the old crones from Philadelphia tipped back and forth during high season swayed haughtily on the astroturf veranda carpet, devoid of devotees in pinafores. Seems I snuck into a costume fitting for corseted, starchy, blindingly white shortwaists, which were the unisex choice of fashion for the summer of 1910.
I promenaded along Surf Avenue in my dress whites, but a sergeant major(ette) from Costume checked my SAG card and informed me, “You’re not on the payroll roster”. I was pulled out of line, but they let me take some swell sepia stills on my bellows camera before hightailing it back to Gotham City on the 4:38. I also learned the dowagers wouldn’t be back to the E&S veranda. At production’s close the hotel would become a condo. Ah well, “O tempora, o mores!”
A violation
ANGIE WHITEHURST Artist/Vendor
Deportation by force is using eminent domain on human beings, real people. The last time I heard of such a dastardly act was the forced immigration and importation of people from Africa. They called it slavery, the peculiar institution. Forced homelessness without consent. If it is allowed to occur again, even in reverse as a geographic displacement, it is enslavement, a human rights violation, and more importantly, against every word stated in the U.S. Constitution. A silent coup d’état has occurred, and the silence is our siloed lips.
Where does your integrity lie?
CARLOS CAROLINA Artist/Vendor
The definition of “integrity”
1. Adherence in a code of morals and values
2. The quality of being honest and fair
Integrity means everything, if you ain’t know. You can never really judge or truly know a person whom you meet in the course of “their” struggle. Facts are, you’re not really meeting the true them. You’re just meeting the part of them that is just trying to survive, the part of “them” that is in survival mode. And though you may not meet the true “them,” they will sure meet the real you. So, who are you, and where does your integrity lie?
Peace day
ROBERT WARREN Artist/Vendor
Where I come from
BRIAN HOLSTEN Artist/Vendor
We didn’t have denial
But admitted truthfully
We didn’t look in dismay
But saw the monument
Not in arrogance
Encouragement
Not entertainment
Living history
We didn’t say curses, but
Forgiving, healing, hoping
The three possibilities
We didn’t become hateful
We got uplifted
And we never failed to understand
Undervalued, unfavorable
Unvoiced, unclear
Uneasy or everything
Never disgraced
Just renewed
Wonderful Blue Moon
TIM HOLT Artist/Vendor
This is the first time I’ve done this, so I don’t know where to begin. I’ve been in D.C. for two months and am enjoying it and learning more. I need more clients. Just like y’all!
I left Tennessee at 11 o’clock at night and got here the next morning at 11. The bus ride coulda have been longer, if you like long trips. Didn’t sleep. I stayed up, looking at the stars as I was going down the road. I’m glad to be in D.C. with my new family.
Street Sense vendors, alongside other community members with grassroots organizations and representatives, held our local Fifth Annual Peace Day Gathering at Malcolm X Park, formerly Meridian Hill Park, in Ward 1. We were recognizing the work D.C. mutual aid networks have been doing over the last five years to provide resources and services for community members experiencing housing instability. This year’s Peace Day, like in the past, was focused on a day of peace and fellowship with community service members, while also acknowledging the call for peace in all armed conflicts around the world, specifically in Gaza and Isreal for a permanent ceasefire, an end to conflict, and a lasting peace.
The International Day of Peace, also known as World Peace Day, is observed around the world on September 21. The United Nations General Assembly has declared a day devoted to strengthening the idea of world peace. This year’s local Peace Day also focused on community members continuing to support those in services and standing up for justice on many levels to be able to help achieve the peace of mind so many of our community members still need to have as a part of the process of going home.
Photos from the set . Photos by Frederic John
How do I say goodbye?
PEGGY JACKSON WHITLEY Artist/Vendor
Hey
Vennie,
As I prepare this poem for you, it’s so hard not to cry I never thought the day would come when I would have to say my final goodbye
Girl, it’s hard for me not to see your face, your smile, and not to hear you sing as we sang
See, God had another plan and place for you to go I can’t even control the feelings here in my heart After 30 years, we will forever be apart
Vennie, I don’t know what to do, These tears keep falling, knowing my life must go on without you It was just us two, But I know God will take care of you, And God will see me through
To my best friend, I will always love and miss you, See now that you have gained your wings, Now in heaven, you shall sing I know you will proudly fly With this photo, poetry, This is how I say my final goodbye (Missing you)
Puzzled by a look
CONRAD CHEEK
Artist/Vendor
Mother’s Day
CYNTHIA HERRION
Artist/Vendor
My beautiful mother. I love her dearly. She was always there when I was growing up, and she is still there. She is a loving, caring, nurturing person. Yes, she was strict with me. But now I understand why. She still teaches me about life. She is 93 years old and still amazing. I honor my mother.
Places to sleep
FREDERICK WALKER
Artist/Vendor
Story time
NIKILA SMITH Artist/Vendor
“Why should I spend time with you?” It made my brain stop and think. I have stories that have never been told. You should spend time with me because my life is a page-turner. I’m thinking about how to kick this off.
I know of everlasting suffering on fresh beauty that’s dead from an overdose of life mixed with drugs, leaving behind two kids. This young lady’s story is heartbreaking. Stepping on the scene at a young age, falling in love with a fast and ruthless life, dating a succubus who just wanted to suck her beauty. She truly was beautiful. Her biggest flaw was not being book and street smart, known for her beautiful face and naturally beautiful hair. Dropping out of school to hit the block, getting pregnant, and not understanding how to be a mother is deep.
Mayor Muriel Bowser: Please keep more hotels open so the homeless have more options about where to sleep. And Councilmember Robert White: We should have homeless shelters at Metro stations and bus stops in our nation’s capital.
Freedom for All
WENDY BROWN
Artist/Vendor
I was “puzzled by a look of perplexity” by a late adolescent teenage girl. The young lady had looked at me like she knew me in a way that made me feel admired and cared for.
At the time, I had no explanation for the way she stared at me and continued to watch me from the corner of her eye! I just knew that this wasn’t normal, and there must be a reason for it.
A possible reason occurred to me about a week later!
I realized an incident had occurred prior to the COVID-19 epidemic five years ago. While waiting for a bus bus one cold evening on my normal commute home, I was sitting on some expired Street Sense papers, which were insulating me from the cold metal WMATA bench. A little girl approached, and before she could sit down, I offered her the papers to sit on. She accepted them.
Soon after, a young man approached me and asked me for a cigarette. I said yes, but as I was searching for my cigarettes, he became disrespectful to the woman who was with the little girl.
At that point, I refused to give him the cigarette, and he directed his anger towards me. “I didn’t care!”
As he complained, the little girl said to him, “he was nice to me!”
Soon, my bus came. I left the papers with the little girl, and perhaps she is the one who had me “puzzled by a look of perplexity.”
At this point in my lifetime, I hope that between my inventions and my lawsuits for discrimination on the jobs that I’ve participated in will possibly grant me the financial stability to be able to have a car and be able to finance her way through college. That is, if we meet again and her mother approves of my helping. I was poor when we met, but I could be well off and help her in the future, God willing!!
It seems deportation has become a way to deal with poor people. While green cards and jobs used to be a way of life, now the government seems stuck in villainizing people instead of helping them. When foreign countries are able to function with or without us because of our border laws, we can see our ways of governing aren’t working, and all borders should be open and all people free. Freedom of speech and rights to respectful housing should not be limited for lack of creative options. As a capitalist society, we are responsible for choices that require universal cooperation. The federal government should work on security issues for the nation, while the D.C. government should work on local issues. Even though I am housed now in Permanent Supportive Housing, the homeless community will always be the issue I do the most for. In this sense, being homeless once, I will always be homeless.
So I stepped in to explain and teach the importance of a steady bedtime for kids, responsibilities, needs, and necessities, and how important it is for her to have a strong connection with her children. I was no saint, but my kids were my breath and what I breathed for. I noticed a lot of women were not good mothers. It hurt that I was not able to help this young lady maneuver through this wicked part of this mess we learned was life. She wanted to be loved by many who didn’t care for her, especially the love of her life, a man who didn’t know love, which was stolen from him at a young age. One of my biggest memories was her sense of humor. This young lady was so funny, and her energy was impeccable. When I heard she died, with details, I was overwhelmed, but I never showed my feelings. I was happy God stopped her suffering, finally. No more. In a way, I died with her, because I saw the whole scene in my head. She wasn’t a good mother because the streets hijacked her soul, but God took it back. I always prayed her last words were “God, please forgive me.” My last conversation was so heartbreaking, pleading for something I couldn’t give her. When she started crying, I walked away. After everything she had been through, she still had beauty. I just couldn’t look at the ugly.
The greatest hits
TASHA SAVOY Artist/Vendor
It was Dec. 12, 1994. I was walking around the house laughing, joking, and talking on the phone. Suddenly, a sharp pain hit me. I sensed I was going to have one of my greatest hits, and I was right. I was in labor! That first greatest hit was an eight-pound, three-ounce baby boy. Then God gave me two more of my greatest hits. The second was an eight-pound, five-ounce baby girl on May 9, 2006. The third was a second daughter who arrived on Dec. 12, 2008. These will be my greatest hits for the rest of my life.
Illustration by Nikila Smith
FUN & GAMES
Across
1. Juliet, to Romeo
4. Pie type that pairs perfectly with RC Cola or Dr. Pepper
8. Great balls of fire
13. Code-cracking org. (abbr./initialism)
14. Ignorance of the law ____ excuse” (2 wds. (2,2)
15. Blood clots, in medi-speak
17. Device for measuring the amount of resistance in an electrical current (ME OR THEM anagram)
19. Collected, as the harvest
20. Update, as den walls
21. Throw in the towel
22. Actor Morales of “La Bamba” and “NYPD Blue”
23. Backrub response
25. ___ Major (constellation) (Lat. animal name)
26. Like dive bars and deep valleys... or an apt description of this puzzle’s bottom line (2 wds.) (3,6) (CELLO SWAP anagram)
31. Ravel classic
34. Cereal “for kids”
35. Scottish cap
38. Truck-driving competitions
40. 1000 mg. equiv. spelled out (2 wds.) (3,4)
42. Astern
43. Old Russian autocrat
45. ____ was to TomKat as Pitt was to Brangelina
46. Common feature of atria...or an apt description of this puzzle’s top line
48. Swanky
51. “Much ___ About Nothing”
52. Dog or luggage tack-ons
56. Red-faced
59. PLO guerrilla group (2-5)
62. Art of vintage TV’s “The Honeymooners”
63. Skin cream ingredient
64. Printing or lipstick application goof
65. Pie perch
66. Not in the phone book (abbr.)
67. James Cameron 1989 underwater thriller, with “The”
68. Place that hath “...no fury like a woman scorned”
69. Word that may follow arm or olive
Down
1. Dorm annoyance
2. Escorts to ones seat, casually
3. City west of Boise (PAN AM anagram)
4. Appearance
5. Bone: Prefix
6. Something an athlete may take around a track that a cat never takes at the milk bowl (2 wds.) (3,3)
7. “___ any drop to drink”: Coleridge
8. Hematology prefix with tonin (ROSE anagram)
9. The Untouchables, e.g. (1-3)
10. Ancestor of the adding machine
11. Cowboy, sometimes
12. Mushers’ vehicles
16. “I had no ___!”
18. Posted the old school way
21. An ex of Cugat who became a “Cuchi Cuchi” singer and actress
24. PC keyboard key found on either side of the space bar
27. Big name in vacuum cleaners
28. Lightheaded feeling that rhymes with boozy
29. Simple task or a sure thing
30. Put forth, as effort
31. One might have a supporting role in Victoria’s Secret ads
32. Gut-punch reaction?
33. Back muscle, familiarly
35. Angular head?
36. Some small batteries
37. Abbr. on a French envelope
39. Pre-entree course
41. Composer Mahler
44. Free from, with “of”
46. Beer/lemonade mix
47. Kraken who has a low net value to the team?
48. Campaign funders, for short (abbr./initialism)
49. ____ bin Laden, 2011 Navy SEALS target
50. Bush - or an anagram of BUSH with one added letter
53. Enjoyed immensely (2 wds.) (3,2) (TAUPE anagram)
54. Bouquet ___ (cook’s herb bundle) (Fr.) (GRAIN anagram)
55. Commandment word
57. Tilly and Ryan, for two
58. Face places for patches, maybe
60. Lazily lie about
61. ____ for it (was duped by a con artist’s comeon)
63. Type of tree, and its residue, encased in “The raging forest fire created a shocking level of damage”
This crossword puzzle is the original work of Patrick “Mac”McIntyre. It is provided to us courtesy of Real Change News, a street paper based in Seattle, Washington. Learn more about Real Change News and the International Network of Street Papers at realchangenews.org and insp.ngo.
ILLUSTRATION
COMMUNITY SERVICES
Vivienda/alojamiento
Management Coordinación de Servicios
Academy of Hope Public Charter School
202-269-6623 // 2315 18th Pl. NE
202-373-0246 // 421 Alabama Ave. SE aohdc.org
Bread for the City 1525 7th St., NW // 202-265-2400 1700 Marion Barry Ave., SE // 202-561-8587 breadforthecity.org
Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Marion Barry Ave., SE calvaryservices.org
Catholic Charities // 202-772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp
Central Union Mission // 202-745-7118 65 Massachusetts Ave., NW missiondc.org
Charlie’s Place // 202-929-0100 1830 Connecticut Ave., NW charliesplacedc.org
Christ House // 202-328-1100 1717 Columbia Rd., NW christhouse.org
Church of the Pilgrims // 202-387-6612 2201 P St., NW (1-1:30 on Sundays only) churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach
Community Family Life Services 202-347-0511 // 305 E St., NW cflsdc.org
Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 4 Atlantic St., NW communityofhopedc.org
Covenant House Washington 202-610-9600 // 2001 Mississippi Ave., SE covenanthousedc.org
D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 202-347-8870 // 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW dccfh.org
Father McKenna Center // 202-842-1112 19 North Capitol St., NW fathermckennacenter.org
Food and Friends // 202-269-2277
(home delivery for those suffering from HIV, cancer, etc) 219 Riggs Rd., NE foodandfriends.org
Foundry Methodist Church // 202-332-4010 1500 16th St., NW foundryumc.org/idministry
Identification services
Friendship Place // 202-364-1419 4713 Wisconsin Ave., NW friendshipplace.org
Georgetown Ministry Center // 202-338-8301 1041 Wisconsin Ave., NW georgetownministrycenter.org
Jobs Have Priority // 202-544-9096 1526 Pennslyvania Ave., SE jobshavepriority.org
Loaves & Fishes // 202-232-0900 1525 Newton St., NW loavesandfishesdc.org
Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org 2375 Elvans Rd, SE
2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE
Miriam’s Kitchen // 202-452-8926 2401 Virginia Ave., NW miriamskitchen.org
My Sister’s Place // 202-529-5991 (24-hr hotline) mysistersplacedc.org
N Street Village // 202-939-2076 1333 N St., NW nstreetvillage.org
New York Avenue Shelter // 202-832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave., NE
Patricia Handy Place for Women 202-733-5378 // 810 5th St., NW
Samaritan Inns // 202-667-8831 2523 14th St., NW samaritaninns.org
Samaritan Ministry 202-722-2280 // 1516 Hamilton St., NW 202-889-7702 // 1345 U St., SE samaritanministry.org
Sasha Bruce Youthwork // 202-675-9340 741 8th St., SE sashabruce.org
So Others Might Eat (SOME) // 202-797-8806 71 O St., NW some.org
St. Luke’s Mission Center // 202-363-4900 3655 Calvert St., NW stlukesmissioncenter.org
Thrive DC // 202-737-9311 1525 Newton St., NW thrivedc.org
Unity Health Care unityhealthcare.org - Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500 - Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699
1500 Galen Street SE, 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE, 1660 Columbia Road NW, 4414 Benning Road NE, 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 850 Delaware Ave., SW, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 1151 Bladensburg Rd., NE, 4515 Edson Pl., NE
Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless 1200 U St., NW // 202-328-5500 legalclinic.org
The Welcome Table // 202-347-2635 1317 G St., NW. epiphanydc.org/thewelcometable
Whitman-Walker Health 1525 14th St., NW // 202-745-7000 1201 Sycamore Dr., SE whitman-walker.org
Woodley House // 202-830-3508 2711 Connecticut Ave., NW
For further information and listings, visit our online service guide at StreetSenseMedia.org/service-guide
Warehouse worker
Amtrak // Washington, D.C.
Full-time/ Part-time
The warehouse worker’s main responsibilities include receiving and processing incoming products, preparing orders for transport, and performing inventory and quality control duties. This person ensures the warehouse is clean and organized, maintained in accordance with the facility protocols and safety standards.
REQUIRED: 2 years warehouse experience, Able to lift up to 50 lb frequent lifting and/or carrying objects weighing up to 35 lb.
APPLY: https://tinyurl.com/AmtrakWarehouseDC
Stocking team associate
Walmart // Washington, D.C.
Part-time
Stocking associates are focused on unloading trucks and stocking new freight. They spend the majority of their time in the backroom.
REQUIRED: Able to lift 50 pounds
APPLY: https://tinyurl.com/WalmartStockerDC
Line cook
Planta // Washington, D.C.
Full-time
The Line Cook will be responsible for their station from prepping, cleaning, and cooking food as per recipe standards while maintaining a sanitized work area.
REQUIRED: one year experience
APPLY: https://tinyurl.com/PlantaLineCook
SHAWN FENWICK Artist/Vendor
PEGGY JACKSON WHITLEY Artist/Vendor