07.06.2022

VOL. 19 ISSUE 33

$2

JULY 6 - 12, 2022

Real Stories

suggested donation goes directly to your vendor

Real People

“

Real Change

I’m tired. I’m frustrated. I’m hungry. I need to find some food because they threw away three of my coolers.”

Capitol South encampment cleanup spurs resident resistance STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

@ STREETSENSEDC

2 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A / / J U LY 6 - 1 2 , 2 022 © STREET SENSE MEDIA 2003 - 2022

BUSINESS MODEL

1317 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 (202) 347 - 2006 streetsensemedia.org info@streetsensemedia.org

How It Works

Street Sense Media publishes the newspaper

Each vendor functions as an independent contractor for Street Sense Media, managing their own business to earn an income and increase stability in their life.

$2.00

YOUR SUGGESTED

$.50 Vendors pay

DONATION

per newspaper copy

goes directly to your vendor, empowering them to overcome homelessness and poverty

VENDORS Abel Putu, Abraham Aly, Aida Peery, Amina Washington, Andre Brinson, Andrew Anderson, Angie Whitehurst, Anthony Carney, Anthony Pratt, Archie Thomas, August Mallory, Betty Everett, Beverly Sutton, Brianna Butler, Carlos Carolina, Carol Motley, Charles Armstrong, Charles Woods, Chon Gotti, Chris Cole, Chris Sellman, Conrad Cheek, Corey Sanders, Cortney Signor, Daniel Ball, David Snyder, Debora Brantley, Don Gardner, Doris Robinson, Earl Parker, Eric Thompson-Bey, Evelyn Nnam, Floyd Carter, Franklin Sterling, Frederic John, Fredrick Jewell, Gerald Anderson, Gracias Garcias, Henry Johnson, Ivory Wilson, Jacqueline “Jackie” Turner, Jacquelyn Portee, James Davis, Jeanette Richardson, Jeff Taylor, Jeffery McNeil, Jeffrey Carter, Jemel Fleming, Jenkins Daltton, Jennifer McLaughlin, Jermale McKnight, Jet Flegette, Jewel Lewis, John Littlejohn, Joshua Faison, Juliene Kengnie, Justin Blakey, Katrina Arninge, Kenneth Middleton, Khadijah Chapman, Kym Parker, Laura Smith, Lawrence Autry, Levester Green, Malcolm Scott Jr, Marcus McCall, Mark Jones, Maurice Spears, Melody Byrd, Michael Warner, Michele Rochon, Mildred M. Hall, Morgan Jones, Patricia Donaldson, Patty Smith, Phillip Black, Queenie Featherstone, Redbook Mango, Reggie Jones, Reginald Black, Reginald C. Denny, Ricardo Meriedy, Rita Sauls, Robert Warren, Rochelle Walker, Ron Dudley, Sasha Williams, Shawon McCrary, Sheila White, Shuhratjon Ahmadjonov, Susan Westmoreland, Susan Wilshusen, Sybil Taylor, Warren Stevens, Wendell Williams BOARD OF DIRECTORS

NO CASH? NO PROBLEM.

Mary Coller Albert, Blake Androff, Jonquilyn Hill, Greg Jaffe, Stanley Keeve, Clare Krupin, Ashley McMaster, Matt Perra, Michael Phillips, Daniel Webber, Shari Wilson, Corrine Yu

Pay vendors with the Street Sense Media app!

S earch “S treet S ense ” in your app store .

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Brian Carome

AVA I L A B L E

Darick Brown

As self-employed contractors, our vendors follow a code of conduct.

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.

4.

5.

I understand that I am not an employee of Street Sense Media but an independent contractor.

While distributing the Street Sense newspaper, I will not ask for more than $2 per issue or solicit donations by any other means.

I will only purchase the newspaper from Street Sense Media staff and volunteers and will not distribute newspapers to other vendors.

Capitol South encampment resident Tiny sits on top of her furniture, to prevent it from being thrown by DPW and DMHHS workers PHOTO BY HOPE DAVIS

CASE MANAGER

Leo Grayburn

DIRECTOR OF VENDOR EMPLOYMENT

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.

Aida Peery, Clifford Samuels

8.

I will not sell additional goods or products while distributing “Street Sense.”

9.

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

Jeff Barger, Haley Gallagher, Roberta Haber, Ann Herzog, Kevin Jaatinen, Jacob Kuba, Eva Reeves, Mauricio Reyes

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.”

INTERESTED IN BEING A VENDOR? New vendor training: every Tuesday and Thursday // 2 p.m. // 1317 G St., NW

The Cover

Doris Warrell

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS

VENDOR CODE OF CONDUCT

3.

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

The Street Sense Media Story, #MoreThanANewspaper Originally founded as a street newspaper in 2003, Street Sense Media has evolved into a multimedia center using a range of creative platforms to spotlight solutions to homelessness and empower people in need. The men and women who work with us do much more than sell this paper: They use film, photography, theatre, illustration, and more to share their stories with our community.

Our media channels elevate voices, our newspaper vendor and digital marketing programs provide economic independence. And our in-house case-management services move people forward along the path toward permanent supportive housing.

At Street Sense Media, we define ourselves through our work, talents, and character, not through our housing situation.

Thomas Ratliff

VENDOR PROGRAM ASSOCIATES VENDOR PROGRAM VOLUNTEERS

MANAGER OF ARTISTIC WORKSHOPS

Maria Lares

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Will Schick

EDITORIAL STAFF

Kaela Roeder, Athiyah Azeem, Annemarie Cuccia

MICHAEL STOOPS FELLOW

Jasper Smith

INTERNS

Atmika Iyer, Hannah Loder, Holly Rusch, Hope Davis, Ingrid Holmquist, Riley Nee

ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

Ariane Mohseni (Film), Bonnie Naradzay (Poetry), David Serota (Illustration), Lalita Clozel (Film), Willie Schatz (Writing)

ARTS EDITOR (VOLUNTEER)

Austine Model

OPINION EDITORS (VOLUNTEER)

Rebecca Koenig, Emily Kopp, Lydia DePillis, Bill Meincke, Ben Shimkus, Candace Montague, Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, Orion Donovan-Smith

EDITORIAL VOLUNTEERS

Josh Axelrod, Ryan Bacic, Katie Bemb, Lilah Burke, Chelsea Ciruzzo, Lenika Cruz, Alison Henry, Kathryn Owens, Nick Shedd, Andrew Siddons, Jenny-lin Smith, Rebecca Stekol

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

NEWS IN BRIEF

// 3

AT A GLANCE

DC raises minimum wage to $16.10 ANNEMARIE CUCCIA Staff Reporter

VENDOR PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENTS • New Workshop! Watercolor (painting) workshop is every Thursday at 11:45 a.m. 12:45 p.m.

• “Beat the Streets” is every Thursday at Street Sense at 3 p.m.

• Papers for vaccinations?

Show us your CDC card and get 15 papers for being fully vaccinated plus 10 more for being boosted.

The John A. Wilson Building, which houses Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office. Photo by Kaela Roeder

T

he District raised its minimum wage to adjust for inflation, keeping it higher than any state in the country. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the increase two days before it took effect on July 1.

The minimum wage is now $16.10 for non-tipped employees and $5.35 for tipped employees.

Under D.C.’s Fair Shot Minimum Wage Amendment of 2016, D.C. can raise its minimum wage based on the Consumer Price Index, a tool economists use to measure inflation nationally. On June 10, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which oversees the index, announced the amount urban consumers were paying for housing, food and gas increased by 8% between May 2021 and May 2022. This is the largest one-year increase since 1981.

Under the Fair Shot Act, D.C. increased its minimum wage from $11.50 in 2016 to $15 in 2020. Bowser first adjusted the minimum wage for inflation last summer, raising it to $15.20. This January, she set the living wage — the rate businesses receiving contracts or grants from the D.C. government have to pay their workers — at $15.50. With the most recent announcement, the living wage increased along with the minimum wage to $16.10.

Even before the increase, D.C. had the highest minimum wage of any state or territory in the country. Of the 33 jurisdictions with minimum wages higher than the federal rate of $7.25, only D.C. and California have hit $15 an hour.

But the increase doesn’t guarantee affordability. For one,

D.C.’s tipped wage is lower, now at $5.35 an hour up from $5.05.

Employees on the tipped wage are supposed to hit the $16.20 mark with tips or be paid by their employer for the difference. Workers, however, say not every employer does this correctly, which can lead to confusion and wage theft.

In 2018, D.C. voters approved a ballot measure that would have raised the tipped minimum wage to the standard minimum wage over eight years. The D.C. Council repealed the measure later that year before it could take effect. This year, voters can expect to see a similar measure on the ballot in November, called Initiative 82.

Since 2018, the council has become more progressive, making a repeat repeal unlikely. Eighteen states have a higher tipped wage than the District.

Even workers who will now be making the $16.10 wage struggle to afford to live in the city, many residents pointed out on social media after the mayor announced the increase. Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator shows a single person working 40 hours a week would have to earn $23.13 an hour to actually afford to live in D.C., and $43.07 an hour if providing for a child.

Housing costs are a major factor in the cost of living. Someone working 40 hours a week and making the new minimum wage would make about $33,500 before taxes in a year. It costs $23,088 to rent a studio in D.C. for a year, and $28,800 for a one-bedroom, on average. Any individual making minimum wage who rents an apartment at this place would be classified as severely rent-burdened.

BIRTHDAYS Brianna Butler Artist/Vendor

June 29

4 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A / / J U LY 6 - 1 2 , 2 0 22

NEWS

One Journey Festival showcases what it means to be a refugee HANNAH LODER Editorial Intern

Batalá Washington performs in the Unity Parade as children debut the welcome banner they made during the festival. Photo by Hannah Loder

A

s Serbian forces invaded Croatia in 1991, beginning the Croatian War of Independence, the violent conflict forced Vanda Berninger, then in her early 20s, to flee her home.

Berninger was one of the lucky ones — she had the means to start over in Germany.

She enrolled in university, finished her studies and, from her experience as a refugee, decided to join the German Green Party to advocate for others who knew what it was like to flee, to leave everything behind.

After nearly 20 years of promoting comprehensive immigration and refugee policies in Germany, Berninger started over once again, this time in the United States.

In 2015, wars in the Middle East forced more than one million people to seek asylum in European countries.

Nearly half of the refugees had been displaced from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the Pew Research Center.

Thousands of refugees flooded to the U.S. borders, too, as reported by data from the Department of Homeland Security.

At the time, Berninger noticed negative rhetoric about refugees and immigrants in the United States. She met Wendy Chan, who had come to the United States from China when she was 12. Chan shared Berninger’s understanding of what it means to start over in a new country and wanted to

help change how refugees and immigrants are perceived in America.

They noticed a stigma around what it means to seek a new life in an unfamiliar country.

“Immigrants and refugees are always seen as poor people who need help. They are poor people who need help and who are in a really horrendous life situation, but they (are) also people,” Berninger said. “They are people with families.

They are people with friends. This identity gets lost in the transition.”

Refugees seek resettlement because they have been displaced from their homes, making them “home-less,” Berninger said.

“I think that is also one of the experiences that is not often associated with refugees, but that is a really crucial experience — that you are really suddenly from the full, independent person (to the) person who doesn’t know where to go,” Berninger said.

Berninger and Chan decided to do something to destigmatize what it means to be a refugee and immigrant.

In 2017, they cofounded One Journey, a festival celebrating the cultures, food and contributions of refugees and immigrants.

The festival’s name acts as a reminder that people walk many paths through life, but everyone is on the same

journey of humanity, Chan said.

This year’s annual One Journey Festival featured music, storytelling, a global marketplace and opportunities for attendees to take action to support refugees in the Washington region on June 25 at the grounds of the National Cathedral.

Many organizations supporting refugees shared their work with festival visitors in the Take Action tent. Safe Haven Space, founded by Egette Indelele in 2021, a former refugee from Burundi, is an organization offering mental health support to people who have been displaced.

“Finding a job and school is important…, but it is also important to take care of yourself mentally and have that education, or that mental health support, once you arrive,” Indelele said.

Speline Irakoze, a festival attendee, approached the Safe Haven Space table and began talking to Indelele.

Their conversation brought tears to Irakoze’s eyes. They discovered they were both former refugees from Burundi, had spent time in refugee camps in nearby African countries and both came to the United States in 2006.

“I was actually crying because I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone here in D.C., or anyone here in the DMV area, who were also refugees,” Irakoze said. “And to see that she is making a positive change on the refugee community… was

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

impactful.”

Homes Not Borders, a nonprofit that connects refugees in the D.C. area with furniture, household items and job support, was also present at the festival. Laura Thompson Osuri, executive director of Homes Not Borders, cofounded Street Sense Media in 2003.

Homes Not Borders has worked with refugees facing homelessness. The organization has helped multiple Afghan refugees after they entered the country apart from the airlift, meaning that they faced detainment by immigration officers.

The refugees qualified for asylum, so officers released them onto a bus. They had nowhere to go.

The threat of homelessness is one of many challenges refugees face, Noah Klose, the community outreach manager, said, citing the high cost of living in resettlement areas.

Beyond the Take Action tent, the festival featured music

from a variety of performers, as well as stories from people who have experienced life as a refugee.

While Jabali Afrika, a Kenyan rock band, performed at the festival, people across the grounds danced along to the music. Joseck Asikoye, cofounder of the band, said music is a great teacher.

“Apart from teaching, music is medicine; music is food; and music can heal, too,” Asikoye said.

Batalá Washington, an all-women Afro-Brazilian drum corps, led the Unity Parade, which featured children marching with a banner they made at the festival that read, “Welcome,” in different languages.

Shared Studios, an organization connecting current refugees with people across the world through technology, allowed attendees to speak live to people at refugee camps in Uganda and Iraq.

“I hope some people challenge themselves to come

and experience something new, try some new food, listen to someone speak about their plight as a refugee or as immigrants and be able to find a way to connect,” Dana Lea, marketing and communications volunteer at One Journey, said.

In a world where many people face hardships, Lea said everyone should be able to receive support.

“We have to be able to have a system in place that can successfully resettle people and not just bring them here to make them live in limbo once again,” Lea said.

Through the One Journey Festival, Berninger hopes people learned to relate to the refugee experience.

“Because all of us, at some point in our lives, we needed to find refuge, whatever it is for us — psychological, physical, emotional,” Berninger said. “I would love to (take) the stigma out of that word and it become the beautiful word that it is — to feel safe somewhere again.”

The crowd dances along to Cheick Hamala and the Griot Street Band, one of the festival performers. Photo by Hannah Loder

Volunteers walk in the Unity Parade wearing event t-shirts that read, “Many paths, one journey.” Photo by Hannah Loder

An event volunteer plays with child in the Kids’ Corner. Photo by Hannah Loder

// 5

Egette Indelele speaks with Speline Irakoze about her organization and experience as a refugee. Photo by Hannah Loder

The drum corps plays as the Unity Parade concludes with the children’s ‘Welcome’ banner. Photo by Hannah Loder

6 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A / / J U LY 6 - 1 2 , 2 0 22

NEWS

DC’s domestic workers can’t take the abuse any longer.

They might not have to ANNEMARIE CUCCIA Staff Reporter

Members of the National Domestic Workers Alliance outside the D.C. Council building. Photo courtesy of the National Domestic Workers Alliance

F

or the past two years, Reina has had three jobs.

“Teacher, mother, provider,” she said. “It was very difficult.”

Reina, who asked to be referred to by her first name out of concern for retaliation, is a domestic worker in D.C. When she moved to the U.S. from Honduras in 2018, domestic work seemed like a good setup. Reina enjoys taking care of children, and meeting families helped her get to know a new country.

But soon, Reina felt her employment as a domestic worker relegated her to second-class status. Families discriminated against her because she wasn’t born in the U.S., or because she isn’t fluent in English. The comments hurt, but without labor protections that are standard in other workplaces, there was little she could do to stop them.

“There are times that I have not liked my work because I don’t feel valued,” she said in an interview conducted in Spanish.

This feeling was solidified one day when Reina went to a client’s home to clean. When she got there, the man said he wanted to get to know her before she started cleaning, eying her dress. Reina immediately knew something was wrong. She told him she had to take out the trash and then snuck out. Harassed and without a paycheck, she didn’t call the police. She didn’t even realize at the time that she could have done so.

The median annual earnings for a domestic worker in the Washington region are $21,573, according to the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA). That’s $10,000 less

than what a full-time worker would have made over the past year earning D.C.’s minimum wage, which just rose from $15.20 per hour to $16.10. Domestic workers are not always employed full-time, and many report wage theft.

After years of exploitation, Reina and nearly 9,000 other domestic workers in the District may finally receive protections other workers take for granted. A bill pending before the D.C. Council, the Domestic Worker Employment Rights Amendment Act of 2022, responds to the abuses domestic workers face with three provisions — adding domestic workers to human rights and workplace safety protections, mandating a formal contract between domestic workers and employers, and giving grants to community organizations to publicize domestic workers’ rights. The protections would apply to domestic workers hired directly by individuals, as well as those who work for agencies that handle the arrangements.

“We have sacrificed a lot to take care of your children,” Reina said. “And this is why we are asking for this bill to finally be included in human rights law.”

At-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman, who chairs the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, introduced the bill in March after months of advocacy from NDWA’s local chapter. Eight councilmembers joined Silverman as co-introducers. Ahead of a June 16 public hearing, council staff and advocates agreed that the bill was likely to pass.

But after the hearing, Council Chair Phil Mendelson referred the legislation to two other committees — the Committee on Government Operations and Facilities and

the Committee on Business and Economic Development.

Silverman criticized the action, which she warned could prevent action on the bill before the expiration of the current two-year council period.

“Delaying the passage of these bills has consequences on vulnerable women of color who earn a living as domestic workers in our city,” she wrote in a memo to Mendelson.

Responding onn Twitter last week, Mendelson said the bill could still pass by the end of the year. The council will be in recess starting July 15, meaning the earliest the bill could see a markup is this fall. The two additional committees that will be reviewing and marking up the legislation are chaired by members who co-introduced the bill, Mendelson pointed out Even before the recent procedural wrangling, proponents were calling for the council to promptly add protections that advocates and domestic workers say are overdue and desperately needed.

“It’s time that you take us into account because we don’t have a single right,” Reina said. “We do work with love.”

The legislation before the council is actually a pared-down version of a 2019 bill that would have provided domestic workers with nearly every existing worker protection: overtime pay; family, medical and universal paid leave; unemployment and workers’ compensation; and guaranteed rest periods and days off. The previous bill also would have established a division in the Department of Employment Services for domestic workers. Despite the expressed support of 11 councilmembers, the bill never received a hearing.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

// 7

Members of the National Domestic Workers Alliance testified at a D.C. Council hearing on June 16. Photo courtesy of the National Domestic Workers Alliance

This year, NDWA pushed for a less ambitious bill to ensure it can pass, but the membership is hoping to win more protections eventually. In the meantime, having a contract with their employer will give domestic workers the opportunity to negotiate for paid leave and rest time.

“We dream big here at NDWA — we think our workers deserve a lot more than just the floor of the laws,” senior policy attorney Reena Arora said in an interview.

Domestic work as work Domestic workers have fought to be included in U.S. labor protections for a century while housecleaning, nannying and caretaking work continued to be set apart from other forms of employment. When Congress passed the Social Security Act in the 1930s, legislators excluded domestic workers from the program — a decision that scholars from the Urban Institute say was based on racist views toward domestic workers, who were mainly Black at the time. Though Harry Truman signed a bill extending coverage in 1950, the broader precedent was set. Domestic workers are excluded from several of D.C.’s labor protections and benefits, including workplace protection and anti-discrimination laws.

But domestic workers are workers, a point emphasized in the testimony of 20 members of the D.C. chapter of NDWA at the June 16 hearing. If anything, domestic workers are more in need of labor protection than the average employee, said many of the 100 people who testified for the bill: They work in the homes of their employers, isolated from public view. Over 90% of D.C.’s domestic workers are women, many of whom have experienced sexual harassment, according to testimony at the hearing. Just under 80% are people of color and 60% are immigrants, who may speak limited English and rely on the families they work for to adapt to the District. Workers are entirely at the mercy of their employer, and there’s no human resources department to resolve disputes.

This bill would begin to build a set of protections for domestic workers. If passed, it would include domestic workers within the framework of the D.C. Human Rights Act, which prevents discrimination in the workplace based on race, gender, religion, and 14 other protected traits. Domestic workers who experience harassment or

discrimination would be able to file a complaint with the D.C. Office of Human Rights. Domestic workers would also come under D.C.’s laws regulating occupational safety and health. Many people who employ domestic workers don’t take the safety precautions required by law in larger workplaces, several workers testified.

Workers would have to assert these protections by filing a complaint or asking for employers to mitigate hazards, Arora said.

Defining the job To Linda Mamani, domestic workers are magicians, able to do anything asked of them. And a lot is asked — Mamani has often had to work extra hours without pay, she testified. She’s hoping a provision in the bill will require her employer to sign a contract with her ending that practice.

While domestic workers are generally hired for one task, such as child care or cleaning, their responsibilities and hours often pile up. There are power differentials in domestic work relationships that embolden employers to ask more than initially agreed upon, according to testimony from employers and domestic workers. The threat of retaliation if workers speak up is real, and employers have fired domestic workers for being pregnant or going to a doctor’s appointment, workers testified.

While domestic workers may work with an employer for many years on either a full- or part-time basis, people who hire domestic workers in D.C. don’t have to sign any formal agreement with their employees. If passed in its current form, the bill would require any person who employs a domestic worker for more than five hours a month to draft a contract outlining duties, hours, salary, rest and meal breaks, and leave policies. Under the bill, the mayor would be required to post a contract template online.

A template that includes paid leave and breaks could make it more likely that employers provide domestic workers those benefits. Currently, many domestic workers are expected to work without guaranteed sick days or time off. This continuous work exacerbates the stress of an already demanding job, workers testified.

This was the case for Ann Marie Ramdial, a domestic worker from Trinidad who has lived in D.C. since 2007.

Ramdial testified that she works with new mothers, many

of whom call her a “baby whisperer” because she always knows what’s wrong with their child. Though Ramdial likes caretaking, stress caused her to lose so much weight that her doctor told her continuing to do domestic work could kill her.

“I am passionate, I am strong, but many people want us to be silent,” she said. Ramdial has now left domestic work and helps other caretakers stand up for their rights.

The first step of many With such a dispersed labor force, several people told Silverman’s committee, it’s crucial for the city to run an information campaign about the protections to which domestic workers are entitled — including those already in place under existing local and federal law.

The bill would authorize the mayor to give grants to community-based organizations to advertise the rights of domestic workers. These grants could also go to organizations like NDWA to help workers fight abuses and file claims — a successful model in New York, according to Arora, the NDWA attorney.

“It is far too much to ask for a worker to do that on their own initiative, especially in a language they don’t know,” she said. Many workers are initially scared to bring a case against an employer. “It was through domestic worker leaders … they came forward,” Arora added.

Domestic workers and their advocates hope that any future education campaign — along with the attention the bill has already received — will change the way people who employ nannies and housecleaners think about their work.

As for Reina, she is hoping for more rest breaks and days off, but also to feel empowered in her workplace.

“We have to be respected,” she said. “People have to know the work we do is dignified and valuable.”

This article was co-published with The DC Line.

8 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A / / J U LY 6 - 1 2 , 2 0 22

NEWS

Encampment cleanup paused for a day; residents resist ATMIKA IYER AND HOPE DAVIS Editorial Interns

DMHHS and DPW took encampment residents’ belongings that remained inside the perimeter of their cleanup, and threw them into the garbage truck. Photo by Atmika Iyer

T

he woman climbed on top of a stack of furniture, determined. She lived on a deadend sidewalk for three years and built it into her “apartment without walls” in a tunnel between Capitol Hill and Navy Yard. On June 28, she wanted to make it as hard as possible for employees from the Office of the Deputy Mayor of Health and Human Services (DMHHS) to move her home. She gave her name as Tiny.

Service providers, waste removal trucks and DMHHS workers began arriving at the underpass at 8:30 a.m. on June 28 for a scheduled cleanup and “biowaste removal” of a five-person encampment. Three of the encampent’s residents moved their belongings down the closed street by 10 a.m. when the cleanup officially started.

After about three hours, DMHHS paused its clearing of Tiny’s encampment and decided to return the next day. By then, DMHHS employees had thrown away Tiny’s kitchen cabinets and the tent she’d made into her bedroom. DMHHS returned June 29 and helped Tiny move belongings to the other side of the tunnel where she said she will rebuild.

DMHHS’s engagement at the tunnel is one in a pattern that has drawn criticism from homelessness advocates.

According to the agency’s website, Tiny’s was the fifth

Tiny sat on top of her belongings to protect them from being thrown away. A service provider tried to convince Tiny to come down. Photo by Atmika Iyer

encampment cleanup DMHHS conducted in June. At the start of that month, the National Park Service cleared 35 people from a nearby encampment outside Union Station.

While engagements often displace encampment residents, DMHHS allowed Tiny and her neighbors to re-establish their encampments in the underpass where they did not block the sidewalk.

The process still meant a day of packing up and resettling.

Tiny would not be able to return to the spot she’d made home for three years because it blocked the sidewalk, DMHHS Deputy Chief of Staff Jamal Weldon said.

Tiny argued that her abode was well out of the way of any passersby, on a sidewalk that tapers off into a wall.

DMHHS told Tiny that the sidewalk was off limits based on city law. DMHHS did not provide Street Sense Media with a specific law by publication time, but a sign posted by the agency on site called blocking sidewalks “a public safety hazard.”

Weldon told Street Sense that the agency wanted to address potential hazards such as trash, hoarding and rodents in the area. City workers power washed the sidewalk, hauled away trash and resident belongings and sprayed for pests.

Residents in the encampment told Street Sense that DMHHS informed them the area would be safe for pets again two

hours after spraying.

Weldon said that while they could resettle parts of the underpass, any belongings not moved out of the way by the time DMHHS and the Department of Public Works (DPW) began cleaning an area would be removed.

Tiny and her neighbor, Apollo, experienced multiple cleanups in the area before, but this time was different.

They wanted to resist. This place was their home. Apollo kept a green tent with a plant beside it, with small stones decorating a pathway.

“They basically just want us to be uncomfortable,” Apollo said the day before the clearing began.

He questioned why they had to move before the District addressed the trash that gathers from the neighboring park or the large concrete blocks piled in the underpass. Why spray for rats when his cat keeps them at bay?

Even if she wanted to move, Tiny had trouble moving her things because of third degree burns she sustained in a cooking accident. Her medication made her drowsy and she slept for hours the day before the cleanup.

“The humidity, it makes me feel like once I sweat, it feels like I’m burning all over,” Tiny said.

She didn’t trust the promise that they could resettle.

Encampment sweeps occurred every two weeks where

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

Some of Tiny’s belongings sit at the edge of the tunnel on June 28.

She is known in the neighborhood for her “apartment without walls” that was taken apart. Photo by Hope Davis

Tiny carries away furniture from the remains of her “apartment without walls” on June 29. Photo by Hope Davis

she used to live in NoMa. She told DMHHS and outreach workers that she was told she could return there, but found barricades blocking the previous NoMa encampment.

Tiny and Apollo hoped to resist DMHHS by refusing to remove their belongings. They stalled the cleanup until around 11:40 a.m. when Apollo complied, putting his cat in a carrier and moving his things aside before the team could spray for rats.

Tiny, however, continued resisting. In an attempt to protect her belongings, she climbed on top of a stack of furniture. After three minutes, Tiny came down from the pile as DMHHS workers began grabbing her possessions and throwing them into a garbage truck. Tiny rushed to grab what she needed.

She asked friends to stand in front of her furniture to block DMHHS and DPW. She thought of filling the garbage truck to capacity with trash and sat on more furniture.

Tiny’s apartment without walls sat at the end of the tunnel, made up of different rooms full with furniture thrown away by luxury apartment buildings in the area. The

// 9

kitchen had a table with a cloth and centerpiece, cabinets for cans, and coolers for perishables. Tiny built the home with the ethos of “recycle, reuse, restore.”

“All this is someone else’s trash,” she said.

She told a representative from the Department of Behavioral Health that all she needed to leave would be a housing voucher and time with a U-Haul.

While Tiny fought to keep her property, Apollo came to help Tiny argue with the city workers, and DMHHS paused the cleanup and decided to come back the next day.

“I want to nap,” Tiny said. “I’m tired. I’m frustrated. I’m hungry. I need to find some food because they threw away three of my coolers.”

Weldon told Street Sense in an email that the cleanup “was paused due to the scheduled need of our DPW partners in another area of the District that could not be neglected.”

They stopped only after Tiny had lost most of her home, including coolers that kept shirts cool to help her burns.

She’d lost the kitchen table and an entertainment center she hoped to sell for $50.

DMHHS and Community Connections workers cleaning up the former site of Tiny’s home after moving her belongings away from the sidewalk during the second day of the clean up. Photo by Atmika Iyer

“She had all that stuff and they was quick to throw her stuff in the trash instead of picking it up. And it’s all her stuff. You got to think about that. What if that was your life?

All you have is the things that you have,” Apollo said.

“Either no person wanted to help or they just wanted to destroy everything.”

When DMHHS and its partners returned the next morning, they helped Tiny move the rest of her belongings.

Tensions had cooled, though Tiny had to resettle what she had left on the other side of the underpass.

She told Street Sense that DMHHS gave her a deadline of Tuesday to cleanup her belongings stacked at the end of the street, where they’d been moved out of the way. She hoped to rebuild her “apartment without walls” over that time.

Tiny said she doesn’t know what the future holds for her.

She hopes to see a housing voucher by the fall.

“Y’all done took every goddamn thing that y’all wanted to take — that I let y’all take,” she said.

1 0 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A / / J U LY 6 - 1 2 , 2 0 22

OPINION

Three myths about homelessness LORI SMITH

O

ne of my many frustrations about homelessness is that housed people don’t seem to understand the urgency and immediacy of it. Case workers’ casual attitude about it can cost you survival and safety. I can’t imagine they would treat their own situation the same way, if it were them.

It’s a kind of negligence that’s hard to accept when you’re homeless.

When houseless people get a little help, they’ll usually relax for a minute, gain a little hope. But forward progress always seems to be as transient as the other aspects of our houseless lives.

You might ask yourself, why would desperate people be critical? Saying no, questioning anything, asking for more or something different always seems to generate a response born out of fundamental misunderstandings about what it’s like to experience homelessness.

Myth number one: Some people just want to be homeless.

Nobody wants to be homeless. Nobody.

Individual needs vary, but that’s it. People may not want to go to shelters because of poor conditions, crowds, sickness, lack of sleep, lack of safety, lack of autonomy, having half your stuff thrown away just to be accepted in, as well as a lack of electricity for proper heating or cooling with weather. Case work is an empty promise that no institution serving the homeless seems to fulfill. Basic needs, like sleep, are ignored. You will likely exit a shelter mentally and physically worse than when you arrived.

If you are brave enough to exercise your free speech on any of these matters or others, there’s a high risk of generating an “incident.” This will promptly force you to exit, or be arrested, or deemed “uncooperative” and forced into a mental facility, sedated and drugged, most likely with courts and law enforcement pencil-whipping your compliance. This doesn’t happen because people are ungrateful or don’t know what’s best for them.

Myth number two: Homeless people are lazy.

Every day of being homeless is work. You barely have time for anything else aside from tending to your survival.

Being homeless and holding onto a traditional job, if you’re able to acquire one, is very difficult for a variety of reasons.

Despite this, many homeless people are employed. It’s just not enough to lift you out of being homeless. I’ve personally held five jobs and several volunteer positions in a year and a half of homelessness. I also entered houselessness with significant savings from a job, and it didn’t keep me housed.

The assumption is that if it doesn’t work out, something’s wrong with you, not the other way around. It should have worked out for me and my kids.

Myth number three: Domestic violence is easy to escape and the system is fair I left a violent partner with three kids and did the “right” thing by seeking help through the shelter system, where we were granted a restraining order. I had no history of

substance abuse, nor criminal record. My financial history proves that even while under great personal strain at times, I managed, was independent, responsible and resilient. I networked and was creative, and organized with others.

We were displaced in November 2020. By the end of May 2021, I was finishing up my 8 year old’s school year of home and remote schooling. I had work lined up, a nice sliding scale home daycare for my two youngest, summer program options for my 8 year old, a new community of friends for all of us and was able to look at housing options again for us.

But the domestic violence system failed us. A variety of government shutdowns and system failures negatively impacted us. And domestic abuse is its own beast: Once you leave, the abuser will continue to pursue you. Not happy with the court rulings, mine persisted.

The domestic violence shelter system is critical, because I don’t have the money to wage a legal fight and stay housed at the same time. I had no open Child Protective Services cases, and I’d never been found guilty of child neglect or abuse. But my former partner illegally surveilled and stalked me. We were harassed with dozens of anonymous complaints to CPS hotlines and calls to police wherever we went. In the end, my former partner decided to rely on political favors with a local court commissioner.

Despite numerous declarations from our local community and friends, a restraining order still in effect, and a report from the law enforcement officer on site that he could find no evidence of abuse or neglect, my children were taken from me in May 2021. I won safety and support for my children as we faced continued domestic violence. I miss them every day.

Lori Smith is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

Being in jail is terrible, but I got through it

Join the conversation, share your views

RONALD SMOOT

I

went to jail on August 24, 2021.

I stayed there for about four months, and it was terrible. I was in the cell myself the whole time. The conditions were really bad.

For example, I wear eyeglasses, and I went to the medical office to take an eye test. The doctor told me I would receive them in three months, because they had to order them. I said okay, but I waited for seven months and I still didn’t get my eyeglasses.

I wanted to file a lawsuit on them.

Also, not only is the food terrible for my medical problems, but they feed you the same thing every week. For dinner you get bologna and cheese sandwiches every day. If you don’t have money for the commissary you will be hungry all day until breakfast.

I and about 30 other inmates caught Covid-19, so they quarantined us for 14 days until the virus was gone so we can go back to the program. When one person has it, it spreads around. But we don’t go anywhere, so I think a correctional officer brought it into the jail from the street. When they say they are sick, they can take off work, but we can’t leave.

Still, some officers will help you out, and that’s why I’m not in jail today.

One officer came to my cell twice and asked if I wanted to go start a re-entry program in December. I told him yes, I would like to go over there. He told me that I would go home sooner rather than later. So for the last three months, I was in the re-entry program, and it was a lot better than the D.C. jail.

One lady officer helped me with my letter to the judge to tell him what’s going on over here. I only had a misdemeanor and I wanted an early release, because people are dying with Covid-19. This is a serious matter and I fear for my life. I got on detail so I can get out faster than I was supposed to. I was very happy.

I got an early release in March and then I went home. I did so well in the program that my program director liked me. But I would tell anyone: Don’t go over to the jail if you can help it.

Ronald Smoot is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

.

•

Have an opinion about how homelessness is being addressed in our community?

•

Want to share firsthand experience?

•

Interested in responding to what someone else has written?

Street Sense Media has maintained an open submission policy since our founding.

We aim to elevate voices from across the housing spectrum and foster healthy debate.

Please send submissions to opinions@ streetsensemedia.org.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

// 11

Unlike ordinary people IBN HIPPS Artist/Vendor

When the D.C. heat comes, they melt like plastic upon pusher They crashin’ for D.C. skies– D.C.’s limit. Open opportunity but you make no effort for passage True happiness is your sadness, Confusion is no illusion, Channels of unsolved crimes on murder is what amuses him Alone is his most comfortable place, Matrix time of space His own world an’ dark an’ violent state of reality of the mind Smiley face big bright eyes, warm approach with A throwing vibe of someone you would like to hang around, Get to know, hangout with, enjoy life with, while you’re living An’ plus you a good listener an’ the beat of the heart sounds off rhythm but.

But taking heed isn’t your best quality See what happens When you just want to be happy It’s eating you alive, even when you’re drowning in the liquor and high, No amount of drugs can save you, your are demons closing in, ready to make you their sacrifice Don’t be scared, don’t you want a better life?

You got a filthy soul, sins leeching on your mind Truly a sign of the times, there’s a knife in your hand ready to commit a crime But the real crime is being the hash Possession of the mind, devil hidden in your eyes And every move you make is never yours, You’re a slave to the lowest, a victim to the system– Behold a never ending cycle.

It’s torture, the pain never lies and the only way to live is to give up enternal life For the rotation of his rational thinking process comes to a stop He’s still living on his misused false educated abused childhood frame of mind sometimes which paves roads of destruction which destroy any good character

The experience of homelessness discrimination AMINA WASHINGTON Artist/Vendor

When living on the street, I had some rough and good experiences. The thing I focus on more is the discrimination and mistreatment of homeless individuals. I had to put up a verbal fight with a worker at a cafe because I could not use the restroom there. People also put me out of stories and accused me of stealing because I had multiple bags with me. My concern also was watching police threaten and jail people for sleeping on the street and asking for food and money. The law tries to keep homeless people in distress. I am never weakened by this but gain strength.

Unlike ordinary people She trudged down the muddy hill, instincts alert as the big heavy bag follows behind her. It took a minute before reality caught up and when it did laughs escaped her mouth. Eyes closed breathing in the sinful air.

But what does one care when the brain is slightly insane?

Unlike ordinary people Unknown to the mind body and soul His or her State of being.

Flashes of light be the sight of what seems to never be a normal way of life.

Hyped off of loneliness, life is in a fetus position, Lost with no hope for growth.

Dark shadows stalk cobwebs on corners.

Sleep is a battle to “um” an orb of existing for the world’s riches Soul sacrifice leads astray, What a waste of a beautiful mold of clay.

Hands reach, but no grip Thirsty when the well goes dry.

Sinful is his method for interaction.

Unlike ordinary people Why is his or her cries for help But their tears fall on deaf ears.

With loneliness comes fear For he sees no reason to be not alarmed So like a boxer, he or she dips on dodge Life ever reaching arm.

No self control,

Soul torn to its core, The mind is an empty place for negativity to store.

Beaten in the head since childhood with a distribution of violence.

To him, it’s the Pain hidden deep and silent.

Keepin’ it real and honest It was told a lie t The sky the limit Apple of my eye Never questioned God but For the people of this world he screams, “Why!” He knows for sure the demons watch And the devil does spies too This is beyond a lie For his or her road to the light i Is blocked with an echoing sound of that goddamn ticking clock.

Unlike ordinary people Time waits for no one Something he or she cannot Comprehend nor understand Grown women or man stuck In life’s crossing lane with no red lights, no holding hands An accident bound to happen Total crash into a situation with no understanding and missed chances Off balance he stands poses with his supposed fingers and hands Speaks a language for fans only, what seems to be big Bright eyes, warm approach into his or her deepest, darkest side.

Unlike ordinary people

Wheelchair basketball ABEL PUTU Artist/Vendor

I started playing basketball in 2002, when I met a group of wheelchair basketball players. When I go to a Wizards game, I get so inspired, because I also have that feeling when I play basketball. I am a Washington Wizards fan, and I will always be. They were the first team I met; I know all the players, and I admire them.

I feel so good when I play; I want people to recognize wheelchair basketball as a sport, especially in D.C because I live here.

I want everyone to know how important it is for us to play; it is a great way of exercising and being with your friends.

I also want all the world to know the importance of wheelchair basketball, everyone has the right to have a space to play their favorite game.

I want to motivate people, so they can see what we do, and understand that what we do is important.

My team and I have won lots of championships, and I am so proud of us, because we play with so much passion.

Wheelchair basketball has changed my life; it helps me to be focused, healthy and happy.

1 2 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A / / J U LY 6 - 1 2 , 2022

ART

Things that put joy in life

My new home QUEENIE FEATHERSTONE Artist/Vendor

JACKIE TURNER Artist/Vendor

Newborn babies Blooming flowers Sunshine and green grass People smiling and laughing The excitement for thinking of traveling Winning at any game you play Cuddling in a soft, comfortable place Watching the children run after school and play Hugging and kissing someone you love especially if you haven’t seen them in a long time To me, these are components of my life that are preludes to joy

The food review: Philly filet mignon sandwich KAROLY FREEMAN Artist/Vendor

This meal was made for myself and others on Saturday, June 25 at Kalorama Park. This was slow-cooked in the crock pot for three and a half hours on low. Lots of white onions and little peppers with no salt. It was an extremely tender steak, even more so cooked this way. It smelled so good I wanted to eat the surrounding air. No joke! An absolute delight to my nostrils. Awesome feel-good food and very filling. The only thing missing was some sharp cheddar or pepper jack cheese. Next time! The joy of food.

Blazing, not in glory FREDERIC JOHN Artist/Vendor

“No more pencils, no more books.

No more teacher’s dirty looks…”

Now, no more books.

For some: Kerosene (and many spoiled ballots) l will ignite their greasy fires.

Lit by ive, soon the teacher, and the student, might too disappear.

For what be learning, if there exists no yearning — in search of knowledge.

Vendor/artist Queenie Featherstone is still overjoyed and feels so blessed to finally be living in an apartment. She wakes up still with her heart filled with gratitude, thanking God almighty for keeping her alive and in good health. However, with the great faith that she has, and being around positive and strongminded friends, Queenie pinches herself and cries out “Thank you, God, this is really real. I’m not homeless anymore.” In gratitude, she writes this poem Merriment You are welcome No one left behind Eat a meal with me Willing to keep working hard Hours of prayer time Open 24/7 Maintain my business Earn respect

Faith REDBOOK MANGO Artist/Vendor

Today is a day you will never forget. Today is my birthday, but y’all call it Christmas.

I was born in a manger — thank God mom didn’t use a hanger.

Y’all call me Jesus, but God calls me Angel.

See, before I was born, I already had a purpose — To die for your sins cause we know why I worship.

Only one god and you must seek me first.

I am your role model, your guide and your nurse.

Now Jesus wept is the shortest verse we kept.

A sheep follows his shepherd, so we should follow our commandments and teach, “The Lord is my shepherd,” I must practice what I preach.

One day my parents couldn’t find me when I was 12 years old, They discovered I was in a chapel and the story unfolds.

I had a group of doctors and lawyers and priests.

I was training them with the doctrines that God had trained me.

See, nobody was perfect, but they claim I was.

I never lied or stole; I never killed no one.

On the day I was born, three wise men brought me gifts.

Now that’s why today you always look for presents.

To believe in me, you must have obtained faith.

To believe in something you can’t see and walk with grace.

Humble yourself and believe what I say.

I sacrificed my life so we could be together today.

Put God first and remember to pray.

You will be just fine. God will always make a way.

We all fall short of the glory.

That’s why we are saved by grace.

Knock on the door, and Jesus will reveal his face Seek and you shall find basic instructions before leaving earth.

That’s our bible — learn your verse.

HELP! WE’RE LOOKING FOR

volunteers Become a Street Sense Media volunteer and help further our mission to empower people experiencing homelessness.

Get to know the vendors and make a difference in their lives and yours!

You’ll support hard-working newspaper vendors by volunteering your time, four hours a week, distributing newspapers at the Street Sense Media office.

If interested, please contact Thomas Ratliff thomas@streetsensemedia.org 202-347-2006 (x103) For more information about these opportunities and other volunter positions, visit StreetSenseMedia.org/volunteer

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

No more, I love God

// 1 3

Did you get it? I got it!

Happy Birthday To the people that’s sharing this blessed day with me — claim joy in your life.

Let us rejoice, and sing in holy reverence that God brings you through another year, tremendously. Get yourself some colorful balloons to float in the air and watch them wave to your family and friends.

I fill your place with all kinds of pretty, heartfelt, fragrant flowers, dangling all around your feet and head in admiration.

Enjoy the day knowing you are loved and appreciated by friends and loved ones. Light candles and lanterns. And turn off the lights, because it’s party time!

Blast the music that you desire and move with excitement to the dance floor. Make a blessing and blow out the candles to your large, blue and gold cake.

Be thankful and grateful for all the good things that God has done for you. With that, be extra happy of all the gifts that family and friends give to you from their own hearts.

KYM PARKER

ROCHELLE WALKER

Artist/Vendor

Artist/Vendor

No more, I love God. When we hear I love you, when we say it to children, there is no more pain, no more worries.

Just be in this world.

When I tell myself I love you, I can fall deeply, though it’s not all the time.

No more, I love God, her power is pure, her love is so much, she loves all, she does it all every day, this world.

She shows us all the love with love.

We need to be closer together; we need to talk to her more often.

I love God, and God loves us all always.

It’s the Fourth of July, and the red and white stripes on the flag give us a sense of joy and freedom. White is for the hope of good times to come. Red is for the fireworks, hot hot! Blue is for freedom. It’s a time to salute all men and women who gave their lives so that we could experience freedom. The year 1776 was the year we got free in this land. The land which our forefathers lived.

It’s time to celebrate Independence Day, the Fourth of July with fireworks. Let us barbecue, cook hotdogs and hamburgers, and hold up our flags at parades.

It’s time to light up America. I know someone who sacrificed his life so we can be free. Free at last, free at last. Thank you almighty I am free. God bless America!

BRIANNA BUTLER Artist/Vendor

Fourth of July — fireworks God

Long time

RITA SAULS Artist/Vendor

ANTHONY CARNEY Artist/Vendor

KHADIJAH CHAPMAN Artist/Vendor

Pow, pow, not the gun!

Fireworks and other quirks of the holiday, as the children play.

With the sparklers, firecrackers and snakes.

For goodness sake, don’t lose a thumb or arm shooting cherry bombs.

Do take time to gaze at the displays in the air.

Next grab a chair then time travel back to 1776, what a year.

Happy Fourth of July.

God speaks to them, who speak to him, in the daylight to sunlight to moonlight.

In his quiet voice, he lives in every man, woman and child.

Remember to pray.

Spread love.

“I’m going to feel awful for a very long time,” I said, half asleep, half awake.

The street lights caught my attention, The rain sent me back.

“No, you won’t. It’ll get better.”

My mind wanders to a time when it was better.

But I know I’m going to feel awful for a very long time.

The drama you go through with the friends you love VENNIE HILL Artist/Vendor

Sometimes you really have to stay on the side, because there are always two sides to a story. But, why do we always believe our loved ones, and then come out looking like a fool when we find out the whole truth? It’s because we trust them, and when they are in pain, all we feel is their pain; we don’t wanna hear anything else.

The story I’m about to tell you about is a youngin’ that I’m just crazy about, in a son kinda way. Oh man, this youngin’ gets it in. I love him. I claim him, he’s one of mine now.

But, on the other hand, he has mental and anger issues.

Man, this baby can get out of hand in a second, and he has a son on the way any day now. This will be his first kid; he’s 27, can you imagine how exciting this is for him?

One day he walked up to me and said, “I’m going home,

I can’t take this, she won’t let me be in the labor room when my son is being born.” I tried to calm him down and told him, “Don’t you see: this her whole purpose, to throw off your game?” He left and went home.

Before I knew anything, here comes the police walking with his baby mother. I thought, “Oh Lord, what is up now?” Somebody walked past him and another person, while he was saying some crazy stuff about what he was going to do to her, then went and told her, so she called the police. They say she put a restraining order out on him, but I can’t tell!

People were coming up to me and telling me that he said he would kill her and the baby. As much as I talk to this youngin’, angry or not, he has never said anything like that to me. But, I say I am really one-sided on this thing. But, don’t get me wrong, I love her too. But, in my heart and soul, I think she’s sneaky, manipulative and greedy. I don’t

trust her, because one day she’ll be calling for anything and everything that she needs, then the next day she won’t even speak. This boy is in love, and she knows it. I believe she took advantage of his vulnerable situation and used it to her advantage. As I said, this is his first kid.

But, now he has two jobs and is getting ready for his baby because it’s due in any minute — she has already passed the ninth-month stage. And, that’s another thing, it might not even be his son. That would be very disappointing for him. But, that’s what some of these crazy women do.

Today I pray that this is his son because I think this will help me from thinking that he’s all alone. This means he has someone who he can depend on loving him, regardless because I see him being a great dad.

Like I always say, stay safe and stay clean.

OnlineCrosswords.net 1 4 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A / / J U LY 6 - 1 2 , 2022

This is the Daily Crossword Puzzle #4 for Jul 5, 2022

Across Across 1. Nothing more than 1. Nothing more than 5. Hurried 5. Hurried 10. Clip neatly 10. Clip neatly Easy Sudoku Puzzles by KrazyDad, Volume 13, Book 17 Woodsmen's tools 14.

14. Woodsmen’s tools 15.15.

Delete Delete 16.16.

Nevada Nevadatown town 17.17.

Counterpart Counterpart 18.18.

Recyclable (2wds.) wds.)

Recyclable item item (2 20.20.

Doctors' gp.

Doctors’ gp.

21.21.

Richard Richard____ ____ofof "Chicago" “Chicago” Perfumes 22.22.

Perfumes Singer____ ____Ronstadt Ronstadt 23.23.

Singer Artist’sboard board 25.25.

Artist's Beijing’scountry country 27.27.

Beijing's Cease-fire 29.29.

Cease-fire Usesthe theoven oven Uses 31.31.

33. Music or painting 33. Music or painting 34. Poems of praise 34. Poems of praise 38. Opening bet 38. Opening bet 39. Postpone 39. Postpone 41. Infamous fiddler 41.42.

Infamous fiddler Come together 42.43.

Come together Legendary boxer 43.44.

Legendary Confiscate boxer weapons 44.46.

Confiscate weapons “____ Runner” 46.48. "____ FeelRunner" 48.49.

Feel Loafer ornaments Smallornaments depressions 49.53.

Loafer Furious 53.55.

Small depressions © 2017 KrazyDad.com Coin factory 55.56.

Furious 57.

High’s opposite 56.

Coin factory Fill in the blank squares so that each row, each column and each 60.

Worsen 3-by-3 block contain all of the digits 1 thru 9.

57. High's opposite Horrid 60.63.

Worsen If you use logic you can solve the puzzle without guesswork.

64. Once more 63. Horrid This Need a little help? The hints page shows a logical>> order to crossword solve the puzzle.

65. Snake’s poison answers: Use it to identify the next square you should solve.puzzle’s Or use the answers page 64. Once more 66. Enlightened one’s words if you really get stuck. https://tinyurl.com/SSM- 65. Snake's poison (2 wds.) crossw-07-06-2022 66.67.

Enlightened Young lady one's words (2 wds.)

68. All << LAST 67.69.

Young Over lady EDITION’S 68.

All PUZZLE 69. Over SOLUTION

Find the solution at https://onlinecrosswords.net/75210

FUN & GAMES

Sudoku #3

8

6

4

5 2

3 9 2 5 4

1 4

7 1 8 2 7 9 6 4 3 8 2 3 7 4 3 7

IBM had a PL/I, Its syntax worse than JOSS; And everywhere this language went, It was a total loss.

4

4 9 5 3 1 8 2

Down

1. Doll’s cry 2. Test

3. Strike back Down 4.

Compass reading (abbr.)

1. Doll's cry 5.2.Married Test again 6.3.Biblical Strikemount back 7. Detective’s 4. Compass reading assignment (abbr.)

8. Boston time zone 5. Married again (abbr.)

6. Biblical mount 9. Poor grade 7. Vocation Detective's 10. assignment 11.

Plant again 8. Not Boston 12. activetime zone (abbr.)

13. ____ code 9. Warsaw Poor grade 19. native 10.

Vocation 21. Tiny fly 11.

Plant again 24.

Map feature 12.

Not active 25.

Knitter’s stitch 26.

Performed 13. ____ code 27.

Stuff 19.

Warsaw native 28. Whetstone

30. Fanatical 32. Stable section 34. Beginning 46. Existed 21. Tiny fly 35. Honor roll (2 wds.)

47. Reporter's boss 24. Map feature 36. Messes 49. ____ wave 25. Knitter's stitch up 37. A few 50. Hockey venue 26. Performed 40. Poor me!

51. Wise people 27. Stuff 45. Fails to exist 52. Hearty soups 28. Whetstone 46. Existed 30. Fanatical 47. Reporter’s boss 54. Opponent 56. Horse's hair 32. Stable49.section ____ wave 34. Beginning 50. Hockey venue 58. Butter substitute 59. Bawl 35. Honor51. roll (2 people wds.)

Wise 61. Eden dweller 36. Messes 52.up Hearty soups 62. Clergy mem.

37. A few54. Opponent 40. Poor me!

56. Horse’s hair 63. By way of 58.exist Butter substitute 45. Fails to 59. Bawl 61. Eden dweller 62. Clergy mem.

63. By way of

Author Gene Weingarten is a college dropout and a nationally syndicated humor columnist for The Washington Post. Author Dan Weingarten is a former college dropout and a current college student majoring in information technology. Many thanks to Gene Weingarten and The Washington Post Writers Group for allowing Street Sense to run Barney & Clyde.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

COMMUNITY SERVICES

SHELTER HOTLINE Línea directa de alojamiento

(202) 399-7093

YOUTH HOTLINE Línea de juventud

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE Línea directa de violencia doméstica

(202) 547-7777

1-800-799-7233

Housing/Shelter Vivienda/alojamiento

Education Educación

Health Care Seguro

Clothing Ropa

Legal Assistance Assistencia Legal

Case Management Coordinación de Servicios

Food Comida

Employment Assistance Assitencia con Empleo

Transportation Transportación

Showers Duchas

All services listed are referral-free Academy of Hope Public Charter School 202-269-6623 // 2315 18th Place NE aohdc.org

Bread for the City - 1525 7th St., NW // 202-265-2400 - 1700 Good Hope Rd., SE // 202-561-8587 breadforthecity.org

Father McKenna Center // 202-842-1112 19 Eye 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

// 1 5

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOTLINE Línea de salud del comportamiento

1-888-793-4357

Laundry Lavandería

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

JOB BOARD Retail Associate/Cashier CVS Health Pharmacy // 1201 Maryland Ave SW Full-Time Provide customer service. Perform cashier duties like handling cash, checks and credit card transactions. Maintain the sales floor by restocking shelves and checking in vendors.

REQUIRED: N/A APPLY: https://tinyurl.com/CVS-Retail

Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Good Hope Rd., SE calvaryservices.org

Friendship Place // 202-364-1419 4713 Wisconsin Ave., NW friendshipplace.org

Catholic Charities // 202-772-4300 924 G St., NW catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

Georgetown Ministry Center // 202-338-8301 1041 Wisconsin Ave., NW georgetownministrycenter.org

Central Union Mission // 202-745-7118 65 Massachusetts Ave., NW missiondc.org

Loaves & Fishes // 202-232-0900 1525 Newton St., NW loavesandfishesdc.org

Charlie’s Place // 202-929-0100 1820 Connecticut Ave., NW charliesplacedc.org

Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org

Christ House // 202-328-1100 1717 Columbia Rd., NW christhouse.org

Church of the Pilgrims // 202-387-6612 2201 P St., NW food (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 // 202-540-9857 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

2375 Elvans Road SE 2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE

Miriam’s Kitchen // 202-452-8926 2401 Virginia Ave., NW miriamskitchen.org

My Sister’s Place // 202-529-5261 (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

Samaritan Inns // 202-667-8831 2523 14th St., NW samaritaninns.org

So Others Might Eat (SOME) // 202-797-8806 71 O St., NW some.org

Meat Team Member Whole Foods Market // 4530 40th St NW, Tenley Circle

Thrive DC // 202-737-9311 1525 Newton St., NW thrivedc.org

Unity Health Care 3020 14th St., NW // 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, 3946 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 1717 Columbia Road NW, 1313 New York Avenue, NW BSMT Suite, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 828 Evarts Place NE, 810 5th Street NW, 850 Deleware Avenue SW, 65 Massachusetts Avenue NW, 4515 Edson Place NE

Part-Time Provides support as a member of the meat team to include duties related to counter service, stocking and sanitation in the meat department.

REQUIRED: Must be able to lift 50 pounds.

In an 8-hour work day: standing/walking 6-8 hours.

APPLY: https://tinyurl.com/Whole-FoodsMeat

Crew Member Wendys // 4250 Nannie Helen Burrough Ave Full-time Provide customers with great-tasting food with quality customer service.

APPLY: https://tinyurl.com/Wendys-Crew

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 2301 MLK Jr. Ave., SE // 202-797-3567 whitman-walker.org

Last updated May 25, 2022

For further information and listings, gs, visit our online service guide at StreetSenseMedia.org/service-guide

Hiring? Send your job postings to editor@StreetSenseMedia.org

ART

AKINDELE AKEREJAH Artist/Vendor

CHRIS COLE Artist/Vendor

AMINA WASHINTON Artist/Vendor

DANIEL BALL Artist/Vendor

Thank you for reading Street Sense!

From your vendor, JULY 6 - 12, 2022 VOLUME 19 ISSUE 33 NO CASH? NO PROBLEM. WE HAVE AN APP! SEARCH “STREET SENSE” IN THE APP STORE

WWW.INSP.NGO

4 million READERS

ROCHELLE WALKER Artist/Vendor

9,000 VENDORS

100+

STREET PAPERS

35

COUNTRIES

24

LANGUAGES