9 26 2012

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Volume 9: Issue 23 September 26 - October 10, 2012

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Reimagining Welfare

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Obam a questi and Rom ney o pover ned on ty home and lessn ess.

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Street Sense aims 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 experiencing homelessness in our community.

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Homeless families struggle for shelter.

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Remembering Peter Bis.

11

Vendors eye the election.

16

A Pell Grant opens doors.

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@streetsensedc /streetsensedc 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.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Brian Carome EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mary Otto MANAGING EDITOR Eric Falquero VENDOR/VOLUNTEER MANAGER Allen Hoorn advertising/communications coordinator Rebecca Stewart

VOLUNTEERS/WRITERS Jane Cave, Margaret Chapman, Brandon Caudill, Lilly Dymond, Ashley Edwards, Andrew Gena, Steve Gilberg, Jane Goforth, Roxanne Goldberg, Roberta Haber, Jesse Helfrich, Maurice King, Sean Lishansky, Victoria Hatterman O’Banion, Ashley Perkins, David Piper, Mark Rose, Willie Schatz, David Sellers, Kate Sheppard, Ernie Smith, Lilly Smith, Kelly Stellrecht, Brett Topping, Charlotte Tucker, Marian Wiseman, Eugene Versluysen

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS Yebegashet Alemayehn, Margaret Chapman, Kristal Dekleer, Robin Heller, Heidi Keller, Sommer Mathis, Manas Mohapatra, Brad Scriber, Michael Stoops

INTERNS Joel Barnes, Sydney Franklin, Mariko Hewer, Nick Mutschler, Lauren Poole

Marian Meekins is looking for a life beyond welfare.

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STREET SENSE September 26 - October 10, 2012

NEWS

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D.C. Homeless Families Languish While Shelter Units Remain Empty

By Joel Barnes Editorial Intern The idea of homeless families sleeping in unsafe places while beds stand empty at the city’s emergency shelter rankles city council member Jim Graham.

Graham, who chairs the council’s human services committee, expressed his frustration with the situation at a Sept.

17 press conference. And he was not alone. Fellow council member Michael A. Brown and a crowd of families joined him at the event, held at the shelter at the former DC General Hospital.

“We are here today to call attention to a problem,” said Graham. Homeless children and their families should not be sleeping in parks, laundromats and bus stations while the city’s emergency family shelter at the former DC General Hospital has over 100 empty units, he said.

“You sit all day long for them to say no at the end of the day.”

“We want those beds to be filled,” said Graham. While family homelessness has increased dramatically since the recession hit, city efforts to address the problem have lagged, said the councilmen. The families urged the city to take swift action to get more funding for homelessness.

Currently, however, the money just isn’t there. A $7 million shortfall has been projected for the city’s homeless services budget for fiscal year 2013, according to David Berns, director of the city’s Department of Human Services.

The shelter at the old hospital, which routinely houses more than 150 families, has served as the city’s only hypothermia site for families since the decrepit DC Village Shelter closed in 2008.

The additional 118 units, opened last year and now standing vacant are being held in reserve for the winter months, Berns said. At a cost of

$500,000 a month to operate, it will cost the city $4 million to keep the 118 rooms open for the eight months when they are most needed, from November through June. Keeping them open year round would cost $2 million the city does not have, Berns added. To make matters worse, the city would run the risk of having no overflow space for families during the winter hypothermia season, requiring a costly alternative: the use of hotel rooms, Berns said.

“FIlling them now would result in the use of hotel rooms, which evidenced by the cost this past hypothermia season, could potentially result in up to $3.5 million in additional expenses,” he said. Such spending could result in other painful choices, such as the closing of emergency shelters for single men and women during non-hypothermia months, he said.

Berns instead is emphasizing an initiative that combines casework services for homeless and welfare families. The initiative is geared toward rapidly addressing the problems underlying the families’ homelessness rather than sheltering them longterm.

“Say you have 1,200 families who come in during the year.,” Berns said.

“The idea is not to build 1,200 shelter units and keep them for a year, but to build 100 shelter units and keep them for a month.”

Berns stresses that shelters are not a good response to homelessness and the families at the Sept. 17 press conference told stories that bore him out.

They complained of bad food, rodents and other problems at DC General.

Yet there were also those who said they wished they at least had a room in the shelter. Mary Brown, a mother of two young girls, said she suffers from heart disease and lost her job in 2010.

After becoming homeless four months ago, she said she and her children ended up sleeping in a park in Southeast DC. Her efforts to get help from local nonprofits or from the city’s Virginia Williams Family Resource Center, have so far proven fruitless, she said.

“No one would help me. I mean all

Council members Jim Graham (Ward 1) and councilman at large Michael A. Brown listen to a homeless man’s story.

Photo by Joel Barnes

they keep telling me is go here and go there but you go there and you sit all day long for them to say no at the end of the day.”

When Brown requested housing from the shelter at DC General, and told the representative that she had been sleeping in the park with her two daughters for two nights, the representative called child protective services , she said. She feared the children might be taken from her.

City officials have said they are required to report cases where children may be in danger, in order to determine whether they are being neglected or abused, but have stressed that homelessness alone is not a basis for removing children from their parents.

“Clearly they were clean. I knew that I had been taking care of them,” said Brown. “I might have had to use the McDonalds bathroom but I have been taking care of them. They’ve been going to school everyday. I don’t understand why I can’t be helped,” Brown said.

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Poverty Poverty and and the the Election: Election: Christians Christians Ask Ask Voters Voters to to Watch Watch Candidates’ Candidates’ Videos Videos

Circle of Protection released videos from President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney during a panel discussion at the National Press Club on Wednesday, Sept. 12.

Photo by Sydney Franklin

By Sydney Franklin Editorial Intern Poverty has gotten only passing attention during this presidential election year. But a unique coalition of evangelical and ecumenical religious groups called the Circle of Protection is seeking to change that. The organization has just released a pair of videos created

by President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney in which each candidate briefly discusses his views on the topic.

The Circle of Protection came together last year with the purpose of protecting poverty programs from budget cuts. Then, in July, the organization sent letters to both Obama and Romney asking each candidate to create a video explaining his position on poverty and hunger for distribution to American churches and religious groups.

“We believe this presidential campaign should include a clear focus on what each candidate proposes to do to provide help and opportunity for hungry and poor people in the United States and around the world,” the Circle organizers wrote in the letters to the candidates.

In his video response, President Obama said that his Office of Faithbased and Neighborhood Partnerships has expanded its work with groups helping the poor.

“The Bible calls on us to be our brother’s keeper and our sister’s keeper, and I believe that as a public servant, I must do my part to answer that call,” he said.

In his video, Romney said that restoring the economy and reducing the debt would help “lift our brothers and sisters out of poverty.”

“My vision for recovery starts with jobs,” he said. “…and I have a five-part economic plan that will help create 12 million new jobs by the end of my first term in office.”

Romney also promised to work alongside and “seek the counsel” of faithbased organizations if elected.

The two videos were made public at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 12, following the release of the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual data on poverty, which reported rates hovering over 15 percent nationwide.

Christians should not vote in this fall’s presidential election until they have seen the videos, said Barbara WilliamsSkinner, co-facilitator of the National African American Clergy Network and a leader in the Circle of Protection.

“The Bible makes it very clear that the highest priority for every Christian is how we treat the poor and vulnerable,” Williams-Skinner said during a Sept. 14 panel discussion, held to announce the release of the videos at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The National Council of Churches (NCC), a founding member of the Circle, does not not endorse candidates. But the ecumenical organization joined the Circle and supported the release of the videos as a way to “highlight the need for the need to address poverty issues,” according to Cassandra Carmichael, director of the NCC’s Washington office.

Rev. Michael Livingston, a former NCC president who took part in the press club event, said that the presidential candidates have raised over $1 billion for the campaigns.

“Since the recession began in 2007 two congressional districts in the entire nation have seen poverty decrease significantly. In 388 congressional districts, poverty has deepened,” he said. “Our

candidates are not talking about this.

It doesn’t seem to matter.”

The Circle referred to both candidates’ budget plans as moral documents, saying that when you decide where to put your money, you’re making a moral value decision. The group asked voters to decide which candidates’ policies are best for the poor.

The 2011 census revealed the causes and solutions of poverty are complicated. Some 46.2 million people still remain below the line, meaning 1 in every 6 Americans are technically poor.

For some, the Circle’s effort raises questions.

“We were critical of the Circle of Protection because we thought it came across as partisan,” said Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), an alliance of Christians who monitor the political involvement of American churches.

“It seemed they were equating compassion for the poor and needy with constantly enlarging the size and power of the federal government and seemed not to consider other ways in which the poor and needy were best served.The way they have framed their issues, they seem to side with President Obama,” Tooley said.

But he challenged that idea.

“There is no direct guidance from Scripture as to what extent we help the poor,” Tooley said. “It is overall positive and good for society and democracy and for churches that both major candidates are willing to make those kinds of presentations to church-

es and religious groups.”

Rob Boston, senior analyst at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said he saw the Circle’s efforts as just the latest chapter in a long history of religious organizations speaking out on social issues.

“Religious groups on the right and the left take part in this process,” Boston said. “Poverty is — or should be — a bipartisan issue. Groups on the right or the left may disagree on how to reduce poverty, but it appears that this organization is merely reflecting a societal consensus that no American should be left to wallow in poverty.”

But Katherine Knutson, a political science professor at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN. questioned whether the videos would actually swing any votes.

“People who are watching these videos are pre-inclined to have these issues on their minds,” said Knutson. “My question is, are you just preaching to the choir?”

The videos can be viewed at www. circleofprotection.us/elections.

STREET SENSE September 26 - October 10, 2012

g aginin

Reim are to Welf Work

*an occasional series

By Mary Otto Editor-in-Chief Past the crowd waiting at the metal detector and the laminated signs pointing to disability assistance and burial assistance, up on the fifth floor of the city Department of Human Services offices on H Street NE, there is a meeting going on.

It’s a TEP meeting. The short acronym encapsulates a very tall order.

The men and women hunched in the chairs are TANF Employment Providers, with TANF standing for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, commonly known as welfare.

They are the cadre of vendors hired by the city to move thousands of District’s welfare recipients into work as part of an ambitious TANF redesign program.

Many of the city’s 17,700 beneficiaries have been getting checks for years.

But time is running out for them. A year ago, the District of Columbia implemented a 60-month time limit on welfare benefits.

More than 6,000 families who had been on the roles for more than five years saw their monthly stipends cut.

Another round of cuts was scheduled

City Launches TANF Redesign being opened and new caseworkers are being brought on board with the goal of assessing 1,500 welfare recipients each month for the next six months and referring them on to TEP vendors.

But more reductions are coming for families who remain on the roles past the time limit.

These vendors must succeed where others have failed and move families off welfare before their stipends disappear altogether.

They are picking through the ruins of previous efforts, searching for clues, for signs, for answers. Among the challenges will be finding jobs for folks who have never been formally employed, who have criminal records, who are coping with homelessness or mental or physical or educational impairments.

Yet man who is running the meeting, David Ross, chief of the office of program monitoring at the city Department of Human Services, remains upbeat, cheerful.

He is telling a story, talking about his own stint as a young welfare case manager a decade ago. He is describing a client who was the bane of his existence. A negative and bitter woman, addicted, angry.

Then he calls her up to the center of the room.

Marian Meekins is casually yet neatly dressed. She has high cheekbones and carefully-combed hair. She is not the same woman he once knew.

“This is our customer. And when we talk about transformation, she is the embodiment of this redesigned TANF program.”

TANF recipient Marian Meekins (center) urges a one on one approach. for Oct. 1. Then, last week, the city council passed emergency legislation to spend the $3.8 million needed to forestall the next round of reductions for six months and give the TANF redesign time to work. New welfare intake offices are

He asks her to talk of her own journey.

It has been a hard one but she does not flinch from recounting it.

“God placed it on my heart to come out and speak to you,” she tells the TEP crowd.

“I came from a family who sold dope, who sold drugs. That’s all I knew. No education. The only thing I knew was how to work the streets. So I got into it.”

She bore four children, she spent five years in prison. When she was first called into the city welfare office, she did not trust David Ross.

“I didn’t trust anyone, because hoes on the street don’t trust anyone.”

She threw all her anger at him, all her pain. He kept listening.

Then one day she said to him, “I have a drug problem. I need help.”

And he helped her. Others helped her too. She got clean and she has remained clean for three years.

Her life took another leap forward, she said, when she was assigned to a new TEP vendor, Grant Associates.

There was something about how the people at Grant embraced her, past and all she said.

In terms of welfare-to-work efforts undertaken by states and cities since President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act back in 1996, the District has lagged behind. But Grant Associates has enjoyed success in New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta, getting welfare beneficiaries into jobs by building relationships with employers and providing one-on-one attention to their “customers,” beneficiaries like Meekins, working with their barriers as well as their strengths.

At Grant, “they really love me,” she tells the TEP folks, now sitting hunched forward on their seats. “They are really on my side.”

She asks the crowd not to lose faith in women like her.

“We are gonna be resistant. That’s all we know. We’ve got these problems,” she says. “But people are able to change.”

When she is finished, the crowd bursts into applause.

Marian Meekins does not stay for the entire TEP meeting. Instead she heads back to Grant Associates, located near the Navy Yard in Southeast to continue her job search. The cut that last year reduced her monthly welfare stipend to $267 made life harder for her and her youngest child, 16-year-old Konovia, a bright girl who dreams of college. Even with rental assistance and food stamps,

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they struggle. Unpaid utility bills loom.

The shrinking welfare checks have given her a heightened sense of urgency about finding work.

“They are putting a fire under me.

And I am moving. I am changing.”

Still, the prospect of the narrowly averted Oct 1 cut, which would have left her and her daughter with less than $200 a month filled her with dread.

She is open to any kind of job but says she would love to do maintenance work.

“I love to clean. It gives me a sense of calm. It takes me to a different place.”

Passing the upscale restaurants and businesses along 8th Street SE, she shakes her head.

“We tell them we are from Grant Associates, welfare to work. They’ll tell you they are not hiring,” she says.

“Why don’t you give us a chance?”

She knows the answer. She also knows she is different now. But the world may take more convincing.

The offices of Grant Associates are impeccably neat and painted in light, hopeful colors.

Case manager Art Lockwood, a Gulf War veteran oversees Meekins’ efforts.

Currently he and three other case managers at Grant are handling 160 unemployed clients. Sixty to 120 more jobseekers are expected to arrive at their offices within the next six months as the city’s TANF redesign goes into full swing. They will sit in Dondrae McGee’s classroom for a week long training program that focuses on resume writing and interview skills as well as dreaming and planning for the future.

“A dream without a plan,” he warns, “is just a catnap.”

They will attend Monday and Thursday job clubs. They will keep records of their search for work. Grant program manager Vanessa Preston, a professionally dressed woman with a tiny silver envelope charm around her neck, will keep a careful watch over them. She knows the challenges, the fears, the baggage the barriers.

“The conventional wisdom says you can’t find a job for those candidates.

That’s not our mode of operation,” she says. “We want to challenge the conventional wisdom.”

Out in the front room, Marian Meekins is seated at a computer. She begins filling out another application.

Housing Advocates: Discrimination a Major Issue for Voucher Holders “Demand far outpaces the supply for housing vouchers in the district” - Don Kahl, Executive Director Equal Rights Center

The D.C. Housing Authority, located at 1133 North Capitol Street N.E. Washington, coordinates affordable housing opportunities for low-income residents.

By Nick Mutschler Editorial Intern A civil rights organization is suing a district landlord for allegedly posting a rental ad on Craigslist for an apartment in Southeast Washington that warned perspective tenants against applying if they planned on using housing vouchers.

Housing discrimination remains a serious issue within the District, according to the D.C.-based Equal Rights Center (ERC). The organization reported a 45 percent rate of income discrimination against housing voucher holders in a 2010 report.

“An individual’s ability to obtain adequate and safe housing of their choice significantly impacts all aspects of daily life,” said ERC Executive Director Don Kahl in a recent statement.

Rent prices have grown faster in the District than in many other major cities like Los Angeles and Chicago. As a result, rent costs have outpaced the incomes of most D.C. households since 2000, according to the DC Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI.) In a lawsuit filed in D.C. Superior Court, the ERC claims that the landlord Theophilus LLC violated both the D.C. Humans Rights Act as well

Photo by Nick Mutschler

as the U.S. Fair Housing Act by using discriminatory language in advertising the apartment, located in the Greenway neighborhood.

“Although landlords will sometimes outright refuse potential tenants because of housing vouchers, there are more subtle forms of discrimination [against voucher holders,]” Kahl said.

Attempts to reach the landlord for comment were unsuccessful.

Income requirements, application fees, varying rental rates and level of encouragement can become barriers that block vouchers holders from using their vouchers.

But even obtaining a voucher is difficult. Because of high demand, applicants can wait for years, and once they receive the voucher, they must find a suitable rental unit within approximately 150 days, or risk losing the voucher.

Program participants pay a portion of the rent that is based on a percentage of the family’s income, (on average about 30 percent,) and the DC Housing Authority pays the rest of the rent directly to the landlord.

“Demand far outpaces the supply

for housing vouchers in the district,” Kahl said.

There are currently around 10,500 families in the district using housing choice vouchers, formerly known as Section 8 vouchers, but there are thousands on the waiting list.

Affordable housing is defined as housing that costs no more than 30 percent of a household’s income. Yet housing costs are high in the Washington region.

Almost 40 percent of D.C. households spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs and 20 percent of D.C. families find themselves spending half or more of their income on housing, according to 2010 census data.

“This is not just a claim of source or income discrimination, [Theophilus LLC] also listed that individuals must be ‘working’ or ‘professionals,’ Kahl said.

“But within the workforce, 30 percent of people who are over 16 years old and who have no disability are not in the labor market, while those with disabilities have 80 percent not in the workforce.

There is a huge discrepancy.”

At the start of this year, Washington Mayor Vincent Gray declared the re-

formation of the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force to help define a vision for housing in D.C. from now until 2020. The goal of the task force is to help city leaders ensure the creation of more affordable housing for D.C. residents.

“We want to make sure the needs of low-income residents are adequately addressed by the task force and keep the long-term residents in mind,” said Elizabeth Falcon, campaign organizer for the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development (CNHED).

A task force training session will take place Sept. 27 at CNHED, located at 1432 U Street NW. In October, the Task Force will begin an open hearing in Ward 6 to gather feedback from public about preserving low-cost housing, supporting first-time home ownership and addressing the needs of D.C.’s homelessness.

“Our goal is to have the District give more support to affordable housing programs and bring in the community to voice their concerns about affordable housing,” Falcon said.

STREET SENSE September 26 - October 10, 2012

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Honoring a Capitol Hill Homeless Icon

Peter Bis on a sunny day in March of this year.

Photo courtesy of Lauren Shellito

Friends of Peter Bis gathered in the pews for an hour long service honoring the homeless man.

Photos by sydney franklin

By Sydney Franklin Editorial Intern With last month’s death of homeless savant Peter Bis, we are reminded that we’re all just passing through life, said Deacon Gary Bockweg of St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill.

“Over the years we had come to take Pete’s presence for granted,” said Bockweg during a sermon at a memorial Mass held for Bis on Saturday Sept.

22. “We’ve been walking past his vacant spot under the tree for a few weeks now. And each day growing a little more accustomed to the emptiness there.”

Bis, 61, died of a heart attack the morning of Aug. 16. For nearly a decade he lived on the corner of Second Street and Massachusetts Avenue Northeast, creating a home under a tree across from the Exxon Station.

Bis was a neighborhood fixture on Capitol Hill, befriending countless passersby, from congressional staffers to students to business owners. His uncanny ability to remember names and faces amazed people who passed by his “office” under the tree.

“He must have known over a thou-

sand people by name in the neighborhood,” said Bockweg.

Bis sometimes stopped in for Mass at St. Joseph’s, and was considered an informal member of the congregation.

On Sat., Sept. 22, a service was held in his name, inviting all who knew him to celebrate his life.

Scattered throughout the church’s pews were men and women of many ages, from all walks of life. Each had a personal story of Bis. Martha Burns lived across from Bis when he was given an apartment through Pathways to Housing. She remembered sharing “a little cul de sac” with him at the end of the hall for nearly two years.

“We liked him because we recognized his humanity,” said Burns. “He was a paranoid schizophrenic. He was a hoarder and I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Burns described Bis’s apartment as being stuffed in every crevice. He often slept in the laundry room because he couldn’t get into his home. But he seemed most comfortable under his tree by the gas station, shouting his well-known catchphrases.

“Four days until the weekend!”

“It’s 10 a.m., tea time in London, cocktails in Singapore!”

“No skinny dipping!”

“He had a coping mechanism which was to charm people,” said Burns. “And he was very good at it.”

Another neighbor, Lauren Shellito, who also attended the service said she once photographed Bis for a class assignment on portraiture.

“At first he said, ‘No, the CIA is after me,’ said Shellito. “Finally he let me take it and ever since then we were friends.”

During his sermon, Bockweg said that the presence of the people attending the service highlighted the impact of one life lived fully.

“He touched hundreds or thousands of others who will always remember him,” said Bockweg. “How many of us will accomplish that in our lives?”

Paul Larkin passed Bis twice daily on his way to and from work at the Heritage Foundation.

“He was a kind soul, troubled, down on his luck, but had made a lot of what he had,” said Larkin.

Larkin has trouble with his knees

and walks with a cane. Bis seemed convinced his troubles were the result of skydiving. Sometimes Bis cautioned him not to skydive but others offered him encouragement: “You’ll be back skydiving in no time,” he would say, recommending a skydiving teacher he knew named Heather.

Bis was known as the homeless guy who never asked for money. He gave strangers business cards listing the address of his blog called “Peter Bis: Vatican, Finances, Mafia, Kalamazoo.”

Many of the details of his past remained mysterious to his friends. He claimed to have had an affair with Princess Diana and also to have been an extraterrestrial.

“He could amaze you one minute, and scare the hell out of you the next,” said Joe Jones, who sang “Danny Boy” during the service.

Posters, flowers, and packs of the Camels he loved now cover Bis’ tree.

In passing, the tree seems ordinary. To those that knew him, a familiar face has left, but the memories remain.

Bis was cremated and his ashes were sent to a younger brother in Kalamazoo, Mich.

NOT FAR FROM THE VINE

By Chris Shaw Cowboy Poet Pundits may cry, "Playoffs are nigh!"

Yet what of the hapless "Boys of September?"

Is theirs the flame, Or merely the dying Ember?

Consider Gio, or Neo. Bryce, or Trice, Morse, or Gorse?

Certainly had these and their comrades Evil twins, bouncing flyballs off their Wrists, or behaving as foolishly as if having Trysts!

Nay, I still believe in Nats Town, tho' if i stumble and call them "Senators," who is the wiser?

Still I dream of championship pennants, Dangling from the risers of Nats Park, and burn mystic sage to further guard my diamond heroes From the modern day Neroes of Philly and Hotlanta.

Remember ye, of not enough faith, Bernardina is a Shark, Not a Manta.

On with the championshipMay naught sink our crystal Ship!!

Illustration courtesy of white tiger press

What HOME Means to Me

By Eugene Sanford Volunteer So what exactly does HOME mean to me There are four different points to that question, my friend For after enduring the mean, heartless streets My pain of homelessness are truly at an end.

H is for Haven, my own comfortable abode A place to be stable, safe, warm and dry, I can find a large room to hide out from the world While kissing my homeless troubles goodbye.

O is for Opening, an invitation, really For family, friends, and those who’ve helped me I can invite them to visit anytime And show off mi casa for all the world to see.

M is for Myself, to whom I can take care of While staying in my place, I can heal from all pain Once this euphoria has completely worn off I will never reside on the streets AGAIN. E is for Eternity, as to how long I will stay No hopping around from shelter to shelter, Or from one city to another, place to place For at last I have reached the promised land And have regained my own exclusive space.

So that is what home truly means to me For I was once there before the streets came And now that this life has returned to my soul Life as I now know it, will never be the same.

Photo courtesy of Rob Pongsajapan

STREET SENSE September 26 - October 10, 2012

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Pics n’ poems Think You Know Everything?

By Veda Simpson Vendor A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

A crocodile cannot stick out his tongue.

A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours.

A shark is the only fish that can blink both eyes.

A snail can sleep for three years.

Butterflies taste with their feet.

The sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” uses every letter of the alphabet.

There are more chickens than people in the world.

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. ...now you know everything!

Graphic torn from the Washington Examiner by vendor Sybil L. Taylor. Read her views on the upcoming election on page 11.

Blues Folks: George and Ethel McCoy

George and Ethel McCoy, as seen at the first National Folk and Blues Festival, Wolf Trap, Vienna VA. This was a brother/sister act with deep roots in St Louis blues scene in 1971 they recorded anew for Silver Spring- based Adelphi Records.

Photo by Chris Shaw

Illustration by veda simpson

Comics & Games

Glarph The postulatin’ shark: A Great flick

Terron’s Game: Street Avenues

By Chris Shawk, “The Cowboy Poet”

By Terron Solomon, Vendor

STREET SENSE September 26 - October 10, 2012

Romney Unleashed

By Jeffery McNeil Vendor Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was recently caught on tape commenting that 47 percent of Americans don’t pay federal income tax.

The comment may come back to haunt him, since many of them are also veterans, military service members, seniors and working poor people who Romney might otherwise have been able to win over.

Even more troubling than Mitt Romney being caught on tape being candid about his views of the working class, though are his views on Israel and immigrants. Unfortunately it won’t matter in

the end, because there is a segment of society who will never vote for Obama, believing he is not an American.

While liberals are acting like a bunch of piranhas over a dead carcass, I urge everyone to hold off buying inauguration tickets. Mitt Romney and his rich buddies still have a war chest of cash, and many states have right wing legislatures who are still trying to block people from voting by using voter ID laws. Also as an African American, I know many blacks who are still smoldering because Obama came out and supported gay marriage.

Although it seems that the wheels are coming off for Romney and the Republicans, it remains to be seen if President Obama can deliver a knockout blow in the debates like Muhammad Ali, or will he be another Apollo Creed who failed to knock out Rocky Balboa. (which ended up giving us five more movies!)

I am hoping that Obama succeeds,

Traffic Jam

because it would be good for this country to be rid of conservatism and its love child the Tea Party. The Republicans should be embarrassed that they trotted such an inept candidate out onto the world stage.

But when all is said and done, America deserves better than what the political parties are selling us. That is why I remain an independent. To me voting for Obama is like bailing a relative out of jail, I don’t want to do it but its the responsible thing to do.

What really worries me is seeing liberals saturating the airwaves with this video. Some are predicting landslides and demise of the Tea Party.

I’ve seen this movie before, liberals have made these claims since Watergate. The liberal media circled the wagons claiming that conservatism was over. This fool hearted prediction about conservatism’s demise has been premature. Instead, a worse element evolved

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opinion

into the fundamentalist extremism you see today on the right. Republican Presidents like Richard Nixon or Ronald Reagan would be thrown out of today’s party, for working with democrats.

My advice to President Obama is to pull his liberal friends aside and say “zip it!!!”. There is no reason to gloat.

As someone who is a centrist, it doesn’t endear me to see liberal pundits breaking out there encyclopedias and fact checkers every time Paul Ryan or Mitt Romney say something ridiculous.

If liberals want Romney to win, keep it up !!! Bring out your calculators, fact checkers and historical anecdotes to show how intelligent you are.

Did the straight A approach work for Al Gore or John Kerry? I suggest to my liberal friends keep your smarty pants discussions about Republicans at Starbucks and let the market place work by letting Romney go unleashed.

Let’s Keep President Obama

By Shakaye Henry Vendor

By Sybil L. Taylor Vendor

Soul human trafficking is Not the American people’s choice But the President’s.

Say no more, Mr. President by Making the President serve Only a 4 year term.

We can tell congress Soul trafficking must stop.

Say 4 years is enough Stop Soul Slavery.

We must say “Yes We Can!” like Michelle Obama and let America know.

President Barack Obama is one of the best presidents we have had and who I feel should be re-elected for a second term. Obama has had good conduct and good manners on making decisions for this country.

Let us allow him another go around.

He’s trying to do the best he can for America. Mitt Romney wants the term and the votes. He wants Obama out so he can run. Let us not allow this. Let’s be strong for Obama.

He deserves another chance to lead the way. Let us get our votes in for reelection. Let’s keep the polls going.

He’s our goal and our best-running man who helped America in a very powerful way with issues such as unemployment, food stamps, welfare, and helping our U.S. troops.

Let’s keep him in office. He deserves to be re-elected again. photo courtesy of Lewis McChord

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

Before the Rain, part 6:

And the Waters Rose

By Chris Shaw Cowboy Poet Loomis was floating on the ethers, bruh. In his head rang the classic tenor sax stroll, “WALKIN’ WITH MISTER LEE,” By the great Lee Allen, as in..

“Baahh-duh-duh dumm, ba-dumpadumpa dum dum, Baah duh duh duh dummm, buh dumpah, dumpaaa...” excepting that Loomis was adding in new changes and breaks, and was just bopping around City Park. Hey now, what’s the rushing sound. Did somebody loose the faucets of every bathtub all over Uptown, or what, son?

In the peripheries of his twisted dream vision does he espy a grey wall of rushing sludge, yea high, NO! Can’t be--Now Loomis is in a terminal day room, with a crude solarium, rimmed with rusty metal casements. (There are, or were, such about certain wards of Charity Hospital, so this was plausible, yet there was brownish water slurping up, higher up over their gowns.) Loomis thought out loud, “God! This can NOT be happening.

And lissen, NO BODY is trying to

move, or even try squirming out of their chairs, is this just a dream?” He shook himself, struggled off the utility bed. He was fully conscious now.

Faint music, like some old warped violin Muzak. Definitely the far cry from Mr. Lee Allen! Now the lights were flickering. Cries from staff down the corridor. Moans from the sick. This nightmare was happening.

Showtime-it was real! Loomis was stiff and sore, and now the dirty water stung his wounded skin. A TV monitor dangled above his head, sizzling, sputtering, but a geeky mustachioed guy in a plaid jacket and pencil moustache was droning on in the screen, pointing with a stick at a chart fulla arrows, spirals, and slanted lines-“ISOBARS,” groaned Loomis, remembering his fifth-grade meteorology.

Max Mayfield, the frickin’ HURRICANE WONK-- but then, POP! PAZZOW!! the TV tube blew. Then the lights crackled out, and Loomis Reader is left in blackness, with random splashing sounds and unfocused screams his only company, in Charity Hospital.

(To be continued)

Are you Listening?

By Robert Warren Vendor Is the Lord Trying to tell us something?

Could the message be in the trees all ablaze?

Is the Lord trying to tell us something?

Could it be in the earth that shakes for days and days?

Is the Lord trying to tell us something?

Could it be in so many clear and sunny days, and prayers but no rain.

Is the Lord trying to tell us something?

Could it be at the end of a gun (and there never is just one)?

Is the Lord trying to tell us something?

Should we listen more closely to leaders who can’t agree on how to lead?

Is the Lord trying to tell us... that the day he promised is almost here for all to see?

By Franklin Sterling, Vendor

Two Wrongs Never Make a Right!

By Cynthia Mewborn Vendor, “C=mb” Every American remembers Trayvon Martin, a young African American fatally shot by George Zimmerman on Feb. 26. A few days later the outcry of injustice from protesters was heard around the world. Authorities determined that Zimmerman, a Hispanic, was on Neighborhood Watch when he shot Martin. Revenge was brewing around the nation against anyone who was Hispanic. Those emotions surfaced in Washington D.C. later that week when an innocent, homeless Hispanic man was brutally attacked after he and his friend came here to pursue the socalled American Dream.

Despite their language differences they were able to form a strong friendship. Though neither arrived here imagining America’s asphalt would become their home, their good life and bright future slowly turned into despair, poverty and suffering. Leisurely drinking became a habit and returning to their home countries became their only survival motivation. Their steady work vanished. Frequently overwhelmed by heat, cold or just an empty stomach, their pain and shame were only visible by the tears each tried to hide. Among their so-called friends, alcohol was plentiful but food was scarce.

A few weeks after Trayvon’s tragedy, the two amigos were talking under a

tree. When one went for a drink, the other fell asleep. A few minutes later about 10 black teen-aged girls stood over the sleeping amigo. One dropped a very heavy brick on his leg and broke it. When the other amigo returned, his friend was gone. Later some friends explained what had happened. The injured amigo stayed in the hospital for weeks before he could walk well enough to be released.

The homeless amigo’s friend nursed him, cared for him and did everything he could to speed the healing process.

When the injured amigo cried when he told me his story. But he never used a racial slur or said a negative comment about what those girls did to him.

When I reflected later on what had happened, I was furious. I wanted those responsible to be caught right away.

Fortunately, they were. This incident shows that hatred, ignorance, stereotypes and prejudice always produce injustice rather than justice. Nevertheless, I believe tragedies are our greatest teachers and we can all be changed for the better if we enable calamities to educate us about how to care for each other without bias and prejudice.

If my amigos can heal from such a tragedy why can’t we? Well, we can. So, move on and make the world a better place. And start today!

STREET SENSE September 26 - October 10, 2012

11 33

news

A Veteran’s Thoughts

Mirror, Mirror

By Barron Hall Vendor

By Ibn Hipps Vendor

I think about my brothers who fought in Vietnam and I know they are probably turning in their graves. We fought and lost and now I see why. Some of the same weak lawmakers in this country are so busy thinking about themselves they forget the people they represent. It is the same thing a lot of them did back during the Vietnam War. They ran to places like Canada and left the poor of this country to fight in the war that their rich fathers started and hid until it was safe for them to come home and get the pardon they did not deserve. The men who died should be leading the free world today.

Another thing that troubles me. America allows people who have lost their own country to come here and bring their distractions with them. Here they gain the rich lifestyle they tried to have in their own country by opening liquor stores, selling drugs, keeping their feet on the necks of the poor. They have people here thinking that is the way to survive. But we will never survive in these United States of America if we always sacrifice so others can be.

Once again, on Independence Day, I remember the 58,000 soldiers who gave their lives in Vietnam. God Bless America.

Mirror on the wall...

He never learned how to really love himself, so he never feels love from anybody else.

Skeletons in the closet, bundles of bloody clothes of his personality, left on the shelf, which left no soul in his chest, no sense of direction.

What a mess of his life he made, a lost soul reaching through the darkness, can’t catch a grip.

Been slipped far from life, far from existence, tug-of-war with his soul, scents of burning flesh, wicked, sharp bones on every footstep.

Never put aside the hatred and pride, never put aside that suffering inner child.

To my pain, loneliness, heartache and misery, why didn’t you just leave me be?

Why!

Fall is Here

By Evelyn Nnam Vendor Fall began on Saturday, Sept. 22. Fall is a great season because you can do a bunch of fun, exciting and awesome things. You can do almost anything in the fall, such as go outdoors and enjoy nature, smell the leaves changing to bright red colors, as they fall from the trees. You can listen to the birds, chirping as they fly away. Fall is all about the change because there are many signs that show. For example, the color changes on the leaves, the weather changing from warm to chilly.

People are changing their warm weather clothing from shorts to pants and shirts to sweaters. Fall is a very nice season because you get to experience the changes and observe all the things you see around you. Fall is also an exciting season because you can play and have fun with your friends doing such activities as ice skating, playing in caves and going to important places that you really enjoy and love.

You can be creative with fall too. You can draw, paint or color if you want. You can get an easel and a canvas and go outside and paint what you see. You can even think of limericks, songs, poems and dance moves about fall. It’s really good for using your creative thinking and skills.

Why!

Whyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Was it pride that lead to greed, or was it the unclean souls touching me?

Was it the guilties that I participate, or was it the hellbound what was told my fate?

Wait, please! Judge me not, this soul been on a lonely road, I am not done yet.

I see dim lights, could it be that I can make right? marry my wife, put meaning to what was so so tangled tight in my life.

Loosen those wrongs to right, positivity is my shield to fight.

This is an emergency broadcast letter to my loneliness, heartache and misery: GOODBYE FOR GOOD.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, NOW who’s the positive of them all?

This is what happens in autumn.

Thank you and God bless.

our page

What am I Going to Do?

By Lee Angel Volunteer experience of coordinating some of the projects. The joy I felt in being able to help someone else and seeing their gratefulness oftentimes brought me to tears. Being a blessing to someone in need is what life is all about for me, especially knowing the journey I have traveled to be where I am today.

I was honorably discharged from the Navy in 2009, where I continued working in my current field, as an information systems technology engineer. Bahrain was my last tour as an active duty military member, and it was also my first tour as a contractor.

I lived in Bahrain for three years until several months ago when I moved with my son to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area as an engineer for Technica Corporation.

Downtown D.C. is where I met Philip Black, a Street Sense vendor that was previously homeless. I took the time to stop and speak with Phillip,

encouraging them to take a stand in their life. I want people to hear life stories and motivate them to go out and get their life back, to find what awaits them when they take that stand.

Assisting others also strengthens one’s existence and develops room for growth while providing appreciation for others; that reward is priceless full-circle. I want people to feel wanted, loved and appreciated, and those types of positive emotions are amplified when humbling oneself to help someone in need.

I hope this conveys who I am and what I would like to contribute. Assisting humanity in any manner should be every person’s mission, even if it is through words that inspire change, as I would like to make my mission for this paper.

Thank you for your time.

My Birthday

Lonely Days

By Phillip A. Howard Vendor

By Phillip Black Vendor, “The Cat in the Hat” Selling Street Sense papers means long and lonely days.

Most times you feel like you are on island, all by yourself.

Yo u c a n never lose your confidence when selling papers. To get through long and lonely days, I meditate and keep focus on what the main goal is. You have to remember that it’s more to just selling the paper… sometimes it’s about selling yourself.

to learn his story on how he was no longer homeless due to resources that allowed him to get a housing voucher for his very own apartment.

I was inspired and instantly thought of different ways to help him. I was able to provide Phillip with a washer and dryer, kitchen and bathroom items, as well some art to bring a little character to his new place.

Phillip has been a blessing to me every morning since. Being able to see Phillip’s face light up when telling me that he has on clean clothes inspires me to give back and do more.

Discovering new ways to contribute and lift others by inspiring through words is just one of my primary goals. Writing has been my outlet for a long time: my way of expressing thoughts when feeling suppressed by life’s issues.

I would like to be a voice for all those that are afraid or challenged by

People will believe in you when you believe in yourself; and believing in yourself means those lonely days will seem shorter. Just remember to always look forward to what you want, and at 5:30 am at Starbucks, I look forward to selling my papers.

I’m pretty sure everybody has long and lonely days on their jobs, but being the best we can and being who we are, we can deal much better with lonely days. The future is ours and as long as we remember that, we can handle anything that comes our way.

“Today (9/20) is my 61st birthday. I owe it all to the creator, our lord Jesus Christ. In my eight years being a vendor at Street Sense I’ve met good people and I’ve had a lot of good conversations. I feel blessed”

Street Sense needs 3 laser mice! ...for our computers of course.

We have 1 workstation without a mouse and 2 with rather inaccurate roller ball mice in desperate need of replacement.

If you can help us out, please contact our office at: 202.347.2006 info@streetsense.org

*no mice were harmed in the making of this advertisement

I am a Navy veteran. I have served my country for 10 years. As an active duty military member, I deployed to several different countries (Peru, Malaysia, Bahrain, Tahiti, Saipan, Guam, Australia), supporting a mission to maintain our safety and freedom. The decision to serve was on my own accord, and I am extremely proud of it.

Being deployed meant being out to sea for months at a time with numerous port visits and opportunities.

After completing my job-related duties in port, I was given the opportunity to participate in several community relations projects. These projects often times were to build homes for underprivileged families, feed the homeless, coordinate activities for special needs children and tutoring school age kids.

Taking advantage of every opportunity allowed me not only to be involved but also to have the fortunate

Service Spotlight: Hard2Hire.com

By Joel Barnes Editorial Intern Hard2Hire is an online job recruiting company that allows users to search for jobs in their area for free. The company puts an emphasis on providing greater access to employment opportunities to people who have traditionally been excluded in the job market and working with employers who are willing to hire these individuals. If you are looking for a job, this website is an excellent tool.

Users have access to an online database of jobs that are posted by employers. Users can customize their search criteria, such as industry or location, to look for a suitable match for employment.

Hard2Hire is dedicated to providing job opportunities to those who have had a difficult time finding employment, such as ex-offenders, people with disabilities and older workers.

Department of Mental Health Access Hotline 1-888-7WE HELP (1-888-793-4357)

SHELTER Calvary Women’s Services 110 Maryland Avenue, NE (202) 289-0596 (office) (202) 289-2111 (shelter) www.calvaryservices.org Central Union Mission (Men) 1350 R Street, NW (202) 745–7118, www.missiondc.org Open Door Shelter (Women) 425 2nd Street, NW (202) 393–1909 www.newhopeministriesdc.org/id3.html Community of Hope (Family) 1413 Girard Street, NW (202) 232–7356,www.communityofhopedc.org Covenant House Washington (Youth) 2001 Mississippi Avenue, SE (202) 610–9600, www.covenanthousedc.org John Young Center (Women) 119 D Street, NW (202) 639–8469, www.catholiccharitiesdc.org

Hard2Hire works with employers and partners with over 10,000 service providers to assist people in their career path. Hard2Hire is recognized under the approved to provide incentives for employers via The Second Chance Act. The act provides grants through nonprofits and government agencies to support services that help people returning from incarceration re-enter their community, on of which is employment assistance.

The government offers a federal tax credit of up to $2,400 for employers who hire individuals from targeted groups, including those with felony records. States can offer an additional tax break to those who hire people with criminal records as a way to support those trying to return to the job market, according to the company website.

Visit http://www.hard2hire.com/ job_search/ to begin a job search.

My Sister’s Place PO Box 29596, Washington, DC 20017 (202) 529-5261 (office) (202) 529-5991 (24-hour hotline)

STREET SENSE September 26 - October 10, 2012

COMMUNITY SERVICES St. Stephens Parish Church 1525 Newton St, NW (202) 737–9311, www.thrivedc.org

Martha’s Table 2114 14th Street, NW (202) 328–6608, www.marthastable.org

Food and Friends 219 Riggs Road, NE (202) 269–2277, www.foodandfriends.org s Miriam’s Kitchen 2401 Virginia Avenue, NW (202) 452–8089, www.miriamskitchen.org

Rachel’s Women’s Center 1222 11th Street, NW (202) 682–1005, www.ccdsd.org/howorwc.php

The Welcome Table Church of the Epiphany 1317 G Street, NW (202) 347–2635, http://www.epiphanydc. org/ministry/welcometbl.htm

So Others Might Eat (SOME) 71 “O” Street, NW (202) 797–8806; www.some.org

MEDICAL RESOURCES

Academy of Hope GED Center 601 Edgewood Street, NE (202) 269-6623, www.aohdc.org

Christ House 1717 Columbia Road, NW (202) 328–1100, www.christhouse.org Unity Health Care, Inc. 3020 14th Street, NW (202) 745–4300,www.unityhealthcare.org Whitman–Walker Clinic 1407 S Street, NW (202) 797–3500, www.wwc.org

OUTREACH CENTERS N Street Village (Women) 1333 N Street, NW (202) 939–2060, www.nstreetvillage.org Samaritan Inns 2523 14th St., NW (202) 667 - 8831 http://www.samaritaninns.org/home/ New York Ave Shelter (Men 18+) 1355–57 New York Avenue, NE (202) 832–2359

FOOD

15

Bread for the City 1525 Seventh Street, NW (202) 265–2400 1640 Good Hope Road, SE (202) 561–8587, www.breadforthecity.org Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW (202) 364–1419, www.cchfp.org Bethany Women’s Center 1333 N Street, NW (202) 939–2060, www.nstreetvillage.org

Charlie’s Place 1830 Connecticut Avenue, NW (202) 232–3066 www.stmargaretsdc.org/charliesplac

Father McKenna Center 19 Eye Street, NW (202) 842–1112

Church of the Pilgrims (Sundays only) 2201 P Street, NW (202) 387–6612, www.churchofthepilgrims.org

Friendship House 619 D Street, SE (202) 675–9050, www.friendshiphouse.net

Thrive DC Breakfast served Mon.-Fri., 9:30-11 a.m.

Dinner for women and children, Mon.-Fri., 3-6 p.m.

Georgetown Ministry Center 1041 Wisconsin Avenue, NW (202) 338–8301 www.georgetownministrycenter.org

Sasha Bruce Youthwork 741 8th Street, SE (202) 675–9340, www.sashabruce.org

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Catholic Community Services 924 G Street, NW (202) 772–4300, www.ccs–dc.org D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW (202) 347–8870, www.dccfh.org Community Family Life Services 305 E Street, NW (202) 347–0511, www.cflsdc.org Foundry Methodist Church 1500 16th Street, NW (202) 332–4010, www.foundryumc.org Gospel Rescue Ministries (Men) 810 5th Street, NW (202) 842–1731, www.grm.org Hermano Pedro Day Center 3211 Sacred Heart Way, NW (202) 332–2874 www.ccs–dc.org/find/services/ JHP, Inc. 425 2nd Street, NW (202) 544–9126, www.jobshavepriority.org Samaritan Ministry 1345 U Street, SE 1516 Hamilton Street, NW (202) 889–7702, www.samaritanministry.org

Shelter Hotline: 1–800–535–7252

The Last Word: pell power!

Vendor Profile: Tommy Bennett

Morgan Jones Vendor

Mariko Hewer Editorial Intern

I recently applied to the University of the District of Columbia Community College thanks to a Pell Grant that I just received.

I was able to get my Pell Grant after I attended a job fair at 2200 Martin Luther King Avenue on September 13.

There I met a man named Kevin Jenkins from the Educational Opportunity Center. He handed me a pen and said to give him a call so I could sign up for a grant through the federal Pell program that helps low-income people obtain post-secondary educations.

When I arrived at Jenkins office, I was surprised to see I was the only one there. Jenkins told me not enough people knew about the center.

I was also surprised at how easy it was to sign up for the grant. Jenkins typed up an application and and in less than ten minutes I had a Pell Grant for $5,500! The only other things I needed to apply at UDC were a sealed and verified official GED transcript and a $35 money order. If you’re a recent high school graduate you don’t even have to pay the $35. Kevin Jenkins was a big help for me when getting my Pell Grant and his services were free! He also said

I was so enthusiastic about college that I should be a recruiter for UDC. If you want help applying for a Pell Grant you can make an appointment with Mr. Jenkins at the Educational Opportunity Center at 202-741-4739.

Until I find a career and while I’m going to school I choose to give back to the community. As a wise president once said “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” On September 8 I went to the Pleasant Plains Civic Association meeting held at Banneker swimming pool. This was the first meeting since the summer recess. Steven Johnson of Howard University spoke of the school’s homecoming. Sylvia Robinson had a report on Georgia Avenue activities, including new businesses coming to the corridor. The event was hosted by Darren Jones, President of the PPCA. The next meeting is Saturday, October 13.

While I was there I was even asked if I would like to serve on the PPCA board.

I use to be so proud but I’ve learned to show humility. It’s no shame to ask for help, the shame is not getting help when you need it. Help the Homeless help themselves. Buy a Street Sense Newspaper. Thank you for your support.

P.S. I would like to thank Peirce, Cory, Kristine.

Phillip Howard - 9/20 L. Morrow - 9/28 John “Mick” Mathews - 10/01 September 26 - October 10, 2012 • Volume 9 • Issue 23

Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW

Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Washington, DC

Washington, DC 20005

Mail To:

Permit #568

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

Interested in a subscription? Go to page 3 for more information.

To m m y B e n n e t t , 56, has one of the most positive outlooks on life you’ll ever encounter. In a soft but firm voice, he speaks about his love of people and his belief that he got where he is now “by God’s grace.” He is known in the homeless community for giving advice and support, as well as making new friends easily.

Bennett, who has been selling Street Sense for nine years, has not always been as calm or optimistic as he is now.

Born in Tennessee, his family moved to Southeast Washington, D.C., when he was three. After graduating from Anacostia High School, where he played football as a wide receiver, Bennett worked a few jobs and then enrolled in the Navy, where he participated in seek and destroy missions.

Bennett says he started “getting in trouble” after the Navy, but worked for Mayflower as a mover for several years.

“I was Mover of the Year three times in a row, and I got a plaque,” Bennett said, adding he was about 35 years old at the time. Soon after, Bennett injured his knee and had to stop working for Mayflower.

“I said, ‘Dang, my whole life is ruined,’” Bennett remembered. “[Then] I hooked up with some so-called friends of mine and got into the dark world,” what he calls selling drugs.

Bennett was arrested several times and always released on probation, but finally a judge sentenced him to a year in prison.

He was let out early with his record wiped clean. After his stint in jail Bennett stayed clean for 20 years, but he eventually turned back to the dark world.

“My record was clean, [but] I started hustling again,” said Bennett. “I didn’t need to hustle. I had a nice apartment, everything I wanted, but I got bored.”

When arrested again, Bennett was referred to an outpatient program where he says the head of the program “told me she [saw] something in me.”

The program also introduced him to Jose, one of the original Street Sense volunteers, who offered Bennett a chance to sell newspapers. At first, he struggled.

“I got frustrated,” Bennett said. “I said, ‘Jose, people don’t buy this pa-

per!’ Then Jose gave me the key. He said, sell yourself with the paper… I went back and thought on that slogan.”

The next day, Bennett said, “Street Sense this morning for the homeless, and have a nice day.” He made his first sale soon after, and has been selling papers ever since.

Bennett lived at Franklin Shelter until it was shut down, then moved to 801 East Men’s Shelter. At 801, he became known as an informal counselor who helped others find ways to leave the shelter. “[The counselors] don’t tell people the right sources to get out,” he said.

“What I was doing was telling them the right sources.”

Bennett also became somewhat of a local celebrity when he wrote an article exposing some of 801’s shortcomings.

He appeared on the news and says the shelter staff made some positive changes to the living conditions afterward.

“They started painting the bathrooms and trying to fix them up,” he explained. “[The manager] said, ‘Why are you messing with my staff like that?

You make us look bad.’ I said, ‘I’m telling the truth, it is filthy! You wouldn’t live in here like this, would you?’ He looked at me and didn’t say anything.”

Then one day Veterans’ Affairs came knocking. Bennett had filled out the correct forms to receive housing through the agency, but he was still waiting after a year and three months.

“I went to the guy who runs the housing for vets [department] and I talked to him … I said, ‘Your assistant told me I would get my apartment in six months to a year. It’s been a year and three months. Are you all gonna give me an apartment, or are you just messing with me?’”

The man told Bennett he would receive his apartment in two weeks’ time, but “I thought he was pulling my leg,” he said.

But Bennett got a phone call two weeks later telling him to pick up the keys to his new apartment.

“I didn’t believe it,” he said. “It was like a dream. I had to get used to the apartment [because] I was brainwashed since I was in the shelter.”

After two and a half years, Bennett has happily adjusted to life in his apartment. As he wrote in Street Sense recently, he has also been clean for 10 years and feels comfortable with his place in life.

“Where I’m at now, I’m at peace with myself,” he says.