YOUR VENDOR: $ 1 WWW.OSAPHILLY.ORG APRIL 2018 PHILADELPHIA’S STREET PAPER CREATING JOBS; ADVOCATING FOR SOCIAL CHANGE USAMONGHEROESTHE A LOOK AT PHILADELPHIA’S HEROES FOR THE HOMELESS PAGE 4
2 One Step Away ● APRIL 2018 ● OSAphilly.org OUR 2018 GOALSEVENTS CALENDAR YOU CAN HELP US ACHIEVE Our 2018 Goals 1 CREATE JOBS FOR INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS AND POVERTY. 2 PROVIDE OUTREACH AND MENTORS FOR PEOPLE LIVING ON THE STREETS AND IN SHELTERS. PROMOTE3VENDORS WITHIN ONE STEP AWAY AS TEAM LEADERS, VENDOR TRAINERS, AND REPRESENTATIVES.COMMUNITY 4 CREATE ADVANCEMENTECONOMICAND OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH FOR OUR VENDORS AS THEY MOVE BEYOND HOMELESSNESS. 5 PUBLISH A MONTHLY PAPER, FOCUSED ON SOLUTIONS BASED JOURNALISM, ADVOCATING FOR THOSE WITHOUT A VOICE. ESTABLISH6A DIGITAL PRESENCE, TO CONNECT WITH YOU AND EXPAND OUR AUDIENCES. 7 DEVELOP PARTNERSHIPS,COMMUNITY AND EXPAND TO ALL NEIGHBORHOODS.PHILADELPHIA APRIL EASTER SOUTH STREET HEADHOUSE DISTRICT EASTER PROMENADE @ PASSYUNK & SOUTH TO 2 ND & SOUTH PHILLIES HOME OPENER CHILD ABUSE AWARENESS MONTH MANAYUNK STREAT FOOD FESTIVAL LAST DAY TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN THE PRIMARY ELECTIONS PHILADELPHIA BLACK PRIDE TAKE BACK THE PHILADELPHIANIGHT @ FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH CENTER CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL FAIRMOUNT AVENUE ARTS CRAWL EL CARNIVAL DE PUEBLA @ WASHINGTON AVENUE PHILADELPHIA ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL @ PRINCE THEATER DINING OUT FOR LIFE (Participating restaurants donate proceeds to AIDS service PHILADELPHIAorganizations)SCIENCE FESTIVAL TED x PENN @ ANNENBERG CENTER SHAKURA SUNDAY CELEBRATION: CULMINATION OF THE CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL EARTH DAY201651196-87-28152226-29262829 SAVE THE DATE ONE STEP AWAY’S CELEBRATIONCHAMPIONS MAY 10, 6-9 pm THE PYRAMID CLUB PHILADELPHIA TICKETS @CHECKOSAPHILLY.ORGOUTOUR NEW NEIGHBORHOOD ZONES VENDORJOSEPHSPOTLIGHTALBATER
JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS AND POVERTY.
TO GIVE A VOICE AND A PLATFORM FOR PEOPLE TO BE HEARD. SUPPORT ONE STEP
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As a nonprofit organization, 501(c)3, One Step Away relies on donations to fund our program. One Step Away is a program of the human services nonprofit Resources for Human Development, a registered 501(c)(3). All donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. The official registration and financial information of Resources for Human Development may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.
AM -1PM OUR AFFILIATIONS MAKE YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TODAY! ONLINE: OSAPHILLY.ORG MAIL: ONE STEP AWAY, P.O. BOX 63703, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19147 $20 One Step Away is a member of the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) helping 27,000 vendors earn an income each year: www.insp.ngo. We are a program of Resources for Human Development Inc. (RHD), a national human services nonprofit: www.rhd.org. 1 INCOME 2 COMMUNITY 3 ADVOCACYWORKWEHOW One Step Away creates jobs for individuals who are experiencing homelessness or poverty. Vendors complete training and receive their first 20 papers for free. After that, they purchase papers for 25 cents each. One Step Away vendors distribute the papers for $1, keeping what they make. This allows them to earn income, gain self-sufficiency and employable skills, while engaging with the community. The monthly newspapers provide a platform for vendors to write about personal experiences, share insights, and advocate for social justice. As a nonprofit organization, One Step Away relies largely on donations to fund our program.
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To all of our Heroes out there—both those recognized in these pages and those not—we give our heartfelt gratitude to you for all that you contribute to our City. You help build a compassionate Philadelphia where all are cared for. Thank you for your passion, your perseverance, and your kindness.
In the next few pages, read about the Heroes our vendors nominated, and why they chose to do so; as well as nominees who have been recognized by other community members for their outstanding service.
A 16-year-old student, Benjamin developed an app, Dovtail, that will digitalize the donation process for individuals who are interested in donating to organizations such as shelters and soup kitchens. He wants to help organizations that are fighting hunger and homelessness. His work in this area is ongoing while he continues his studies. His future interest is social entrepreneurship as he looks ahead to college.
2018
HONORING OUR HEROES FOR THE HOMELESS MATHEWBEN
HERO FOR THE HOMELESS
In this issue, we recognize community members who work tirelessly to improve the lives of their homeless neighbors. We are grateful for each of these Heroes and are proud to recognize them with a “Steppy” Award.
— Reena Mathew
Each year, One Step Away dedicates our April issue to recognizing our Heroes for the Homeless and honoring those who commit themselves to working to end homelessness and bettering the lives of those currently experiencing homelessness. We accept nominations for our “Steppy” Awards from our readers and community members, as well as from our vendors—many of whom choose to highlight someone who has helped them overcome homelessness in their lives, or who offered them a hand up when they needed it most.
Benjamin Mathew, is a sophomore in high school in New Jersey and has a desire to help the homeless. He has served on the advisory board of Teens for TASK (Trenton Area Soup Kitchen) for the last two years. As part of his work with Teens for Task he has produced a documentary highlighting the work done by TASK.
Every day, people throughout the city of Philadelphia work to make life a little easier for those in need. Whether at a homeless shelter, government agency, meal-sharing or community-building program, or simply through friendly interactions in public places, there are countless compassionate individuals working to help those who have come upon hard times. So often, these actions can go without appreciation, recognition, or thanks.
Whether through a career dedicated to fighting homelessness, a volunteer commitment, or a generous gesture that can turn someone’s day around, each of us can play a role in making like a little easier for people experiencing homelessness. In the words of one of our vendors: “You have no idea how mean people can be—even a smile can change someone’s day.”
Upon this base of a growing community of service, Margaux hopes to add job training and health and personal care services to the menu of ways Guests are given a hand up. “The goal,” she recently said, “is not to build a bigger organization, but rather to create progress in the lives of the Guests that The Sunday Love Project serves.”
Students from Drexel University come to volunteer at first for academic credit, but many have returned to volunteer again, even after their academic requirement has been fulfilled. The volunteer at the greatest physical distance who make a direct contribution to The Sunday Love Project is Margaux’s mom. A talented seamstress in Florida, she made the table linens for the meal service and the fabric shopping bags for the food pantry, and she shipped them to her social entrepreneur daughter.
Having been offered a space within Holy Trinity Episcopal Church on Rittenhouse Square in the Summer of 2017, Margaux started offering two restaurant-quality, sit-down meals a week: Sunday evening dinner and Monday morning brunch. The Sunday Love Project couldn’t operate its food pantry and meal services without the efforts of its volunteers and the generosity of its donors. And that is where Margaux’s effective mix of caring and savvy has inspired trust and generosity from both groups.
MARGAUXMURPHY
A steadfast volunteer and partner from early on, Nicole and her daughters hail from Bucks County. They collect donations and food, transport them to Center City, and help operate the meal services. They exemplify outstanding generosity and commitment. Volunteers from Center City to Mt. Airy are in the kitchen each weekend turning out high quality, nutritious, and delicious meals for as many as 54 food-insecure Guests per sitting.Another example of how community has congealed around The Sunday Love Project is the story of Joe. Joe was one of the first people Margaux helped with food access. He became a volunteer and a key partner in Margaux’s efforts. When Joe passed away from cancer in November 2017, the community came together to honor him and provide him a funeral.
The crux of the experience at The Sunday Love Project is building community. It is something that the project’s founder, Margaux Murphy, has been accomplishing since the Christmas season of 2014, when she started serving food on the streets of her neighborhood. By building relationships with fellow residents, donors, businesses, fundraisers, and volunteers, in addition to the food insecure people on the receiving end, Margaux has catalyzed a community of generosity focused in Philadelphia and extending far beyond.
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When asked who inspires her, Margaux responded, “My Grandmother. She was always very attentive to seeing that everyone was taken care of.”
“She asks when it is necessary to ask; she documents what is done with the funds; and everyone knows what they’ve donated is going to the best and effective use,” said a volunteer who has also donated funds to support The Sunday Love Project. This innate character trait in Margaux is the seed of the community forming around her efforts to feed those who are food-insecure.
When asked on a recent Monday morning for one word to describe Margaux, volunteers offered: amazing, unstoppable, compassionate (said by four volunteers), energetic, and genuinely gracious. The nominating OSA vendor adds another adjective for Margaux: needed.
Why am I nominating Margaux Murphy? It’s simple: Out of all the serve sites in Philadelphia that I have visited, The Sunday Love Project wins out for quality of food as well as the atmosphere and the experience of respect. Out of all the site managers I have spoken with, Margaux Murphy of The Sunday Love Project speaks the one word anyone who needs to use such services want to hear, and that anyone donating to such services wants to hear: Progress. —Francis, OSA vendor
Profile of Margaux Murphy of The Sunday Love Project (sundaylove.org) written by: Francis
MARGAUX MURPHY, DIRECTOR OF SUNDAY LOVE PROJECT HERO FOR THE HOMELESS
I work in human services for Resources for Human Development (RHD). My position is Assistant Regional Director of PA Behavioral Health & Housing. I oversee residential programs, mental health outpatient services, homeless shelters, and a case management program. We work primarily in Montgomery County. My current position isn’t just working in homeless services, but I’m a believer that homeless services touch any work we do. I believe that poverty is a major cause of homelessness; so, whether it’s working with our mental health program or another service area, many of the people we serve are experiencing homelessness, are formerly homeless, or at-risk to becoming homeless.
Still our jobs are to make homelessness, rare, brief, and nonrecurring:
Brief: Move people on quickly and out of the system into housing.
Owen’s interest and passion has grown for homeless services over the last decade, from when he started working at the 300 plus homeless shelter for men – the Ridge Center. There, fresh from graduating college, Owen provided service to men with behavioral health issues in the hope that they would remain in shelter rather than return to the street.
— Jim Piasecki, Regional Director, Philadelphia Behavioral Health and Housing Division, RHD
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Rare: You want to prevent as many people going into the homeless system as possible – it’s a rare occasion. If you can’t pay your electric bill, how can we help so you don’t become homeless?
Nonrecurring: Provide supportive services, outpatient, and give people the proper trainings to not get back into your system.
HERO FOR THE HOMELESS Owen's work at FASST Connections with the people experiencing homelessness is excellent, his passion and dedication to the men, women and families in Phila. homeless system, is excellent. The system, men and women will sorely miss his energy and expertise. We believe recognition of his work is important.Joyce M. Sacco, Director of Housing, DBHIDS, Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbilities Housing and Homeless Services
Q1: What is your job?
Over the years, along with continuing to do direct care by engaging in special cases requiring his high-level engagement skills, he has become involved with the various homeless organizations throughout Philadelphia. He has long supported the City’s Point-In-Time Count by going out during the early morning hours to meet, talk and tabulate the individuals who call the streets their home in Philadelphia. He has been active in various committees with non-profit and City agencies to develop policy and increased collaboration amongst the many involved in reducing homelessness. It is for this work, his interest in researching best practices, and willingness to do whatever it takes to collaborate with others to use these practices for the better good of the homeless in Philadelphia that make Owen Camuso a hero.
Owen’s passion is continuously fueled by his respect of these men’s experience and strength as they struggle with seemingly endless adversity. He then helped expand into additional men’s shelters, giving Owen the chance to work throughout the City and further learn the various neighborhoods and faces of homelessness.
CAMUSOOWEN
OWEN CAMUSO, ASSISTANT REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF PA BEHAVIORAL HEALTH & HOUSING AT RHD
I also strongly believe in overlapping these systems, because so many people are vulnerable who we serve in outpatient programs. Knowing how to address homelessness, coordinating a housing crisis plan, knowing what resources are available, and knowing how to deal with that, is all part of the job. You need to know how a homeless system interacts to be able to help Homelessnesssomeone.andpoverty in Montgomery County — rural and urban homelessness — are two totally different things. Access to resources is the main issue. In Philly you can take a bus anywhere. If you’re on methadone in Philly, you might have seven methadone clinics near you, whereas in Montgomery county it might take you three hours to get to one. As a city there are resources in Philadelphia, whereas in Montgomery County there are not as many. Our homeless system is a lot smaller: Fewer people, but fewer services too. This comes with positives though: Coordination is a lot easier, and Montgomery County does coordinated entry very well; it is easy to coordinate when there are not as many resources and the system is not as big. In Montgomery County we do not have the numbers of homeless, like in Philly. Street outreach looks a lot different in counties because homelessness is not as visible as it is in Philadelphia. Affordable housing and affordability look different too. When you are placing people in Montgomery County or in Bryn Mawr, housing and people are different. People in the program might be coming from an inner city—some from Philly but many from Norristown—but both are a different living environment then Bryn Mawr. That is jarring for some people. Everything looks different out there, and it might not be a good place for someone to live. It’s a culture shock to some of the people we serve, but also to the community. People tend to have an acknowledgement that homelessness exists, but not in our back yard.
gone. You are out there on your own. Right now, there is an interesting model in the UK, called peer landlord. In this unique arrangement two people are living together instead of just one. We always assume people like to live alone, but that’s not always the cause, sometimes people need other people. I can’t come home and be by myself, I want to be around other people.
I really liked the idea of case management and helping people—people outside of the walls of prison. How do we keep people out of prison? I wanted to work with people and the community, so they didn’t have to go to jail. I wanted to help provide overlap in care – how do you get people out and keep them out? Not just get a prescription, but provide continuous care. That’s what attracted me to case management and the homeless population. My first job in Philadelphia was a case manager for RHD’s FaSST/Connections, working at Ridge Avenue Shelter. At the time it was the single male intake shelter of Philadelphia. Any single male who was homeless had to access Ridge Shelter to be integrated into Philadelphia’s homeless shelter system. I was at Ridge for two years, and then I went to work with Back on my Feet, a start-up program that used running as a way to engage people who were homeless. At Back on my Feet, everyone was a person. I wasn’t a human services worker, I was a runner; we were all runners, and we all had something in common. It wasn’t homeless versus doctor, it was a runner to a runner.
There are plenty of them. I remember I had just moved to Philadelphia when I was working at Ridge Shelter. I learned a lot about myself working with the homeless population. I remember not knowing the city at all or how to get around. So I’d engage with the men I was working with in the shelter. They would show me around the city, and how to get on SEPTA. I thought that was cool. I had come to this job with the idea that I’m the counselor and you’re my client—I am going to help you. But in this we switched roles, and the guys were the ones showing me what to do. It taught me that everyone has some kind of knowledge you can tap into, and that I needed to really get to know people, instead of looking at it as I’m the staff and you’re the person I’m going to help.
Especially when we talk about housing affordability, in Philadelphia a two bedroom can get you a nicer place in a better neighborhood. When we are always trying to place singles into housing, typically what is affordable for a one bedroom would be in a neighborhood with violence or drugs.
From the provider’s standpoint, as people who deal with homelessness every day, we should seek out people to have these tough conversations. We need to understand where people are coming from, even when their opinion is “I don’t want people sleeping on my steps,” and work together to get people off their steps and in the right programs to help them.
Q2: When/where did you first become involved with helping the homeless?
When housing some of the most vulnerable people in the city, even getting someone to give you their name is really a win in the homeless service book – that’s when the true work can happen, once you have that trust. I remember in those first years, there were people on the street that I was trying to engage to get them into housing. They wouldn’t sign any paper work, let alone even give us their names. I spent over two years engaging them; we went from them not even giving us their names to then working with them to get in housing. It was a two-year process, not because the housing wasn’t available, but because they were resistant to moving into housing. When we finally got them into housing, it was memorable.
The definition of solving homelessness isn’t 100% no homelessness – solving homelessness means you have enough housing stock to serve everyone on the street. We need to come to the realization at some point of time, and we need to manage our expectations. Education would be helpful, people need to know what they don’t know. If they have an opinion on homelessness, they need to seek out to get those answers or that education from someone who works with those people. The biggest criticism we hear is “why don’t they just get a job?” If you have that mindset, you just ask yourself how do you get an answer from someone who knows homelessness? Do not be afraid to educate yourself on the wicked problem that is homelessness, because everyone has an opinion on it.
Q4: What do you think causes homelessness?
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Q3: What is your most memorable moment dealing with the homeless?
Q5: What do you think we, as a society, need to do to solve the homeless issue?
A variety of things. I mean it could be anything that causes homelessness. There’s an entire spectrum of causes, but the main thing, in my opinion, is poverty. Because people don’t have the resources to bounce back. If people are working and aren’t making living wage or a tragedy happens, like a medical thing, then you can become homeless since you don’t have the necessary resources. Poverty is a big cause. As is family conflict. Lack of affordable housing is also big. Affordability in the city is hard right now, especially when trying to earn a living wage. I’m a big believer that everyone can work, but they might need extra support to work.
Jobs availability for people with disabilities or other health factors is also a cause. People often cite drugs and mental illness as the cause of homelessness, because that’s what people see on the streets. But that is not the only factor; there are so many hidden factors that cause homelessness too. If you have a disability and had a caretaker for 20 years who suddenly passes away, you can end up homeless. Imagine, your whole life, someone took care of you, but now they are
While I liked Back on my Feet’s innovative engagement strategy, I missed working in the behavioral health field. So, I left to work strictly in behavioral health at FaSST/Connections as a Program Manager. I then spent six more years at FaSST/Connections. In my role I worked more on building the larger homeless systems. In this role I worked on partnership building and collaboration – because obviously we can’t solve homelessness alone, so we tried to bring people together to work together. We worked with city government and funders to drive services and make services work in the system. If the system works well, it helps make case managers’ jobs easier, and it allows us to give better service to people experiencing homelessness.
Growing up in a different area, homelessness looked different: It was staying with family or sleeping on someone’s couch. I didn’t see homelessness like in Philly—people who are street homeless. I became involved with homelessness when I first moved to Philadelphia, almost 10 years ago now, in 2008. I think now that I look back on it, I wanted to make the most impact somewhere. Growing up in Central Pennsylvania, I was attracted to an urban area, and thought I could really make a difference in Philadelphia.
So as a community we need to look at different options and strategies to work with people to keep them in their housing and out of the homeless system. Would doubling people up work as an option? We need to look at that.
As a society I think that the only way we’ll solve homelessness is if we all come together, and we all buy into this larger goal of solving it. We can all join in, even if it is something small: It doesn’t have to be this huge volunteer effort, even volunteering once a year is helping out. We need people to be kind in general. If you don’t want to donate time or resources, be understanding of people. But we also need to bring the community together, and work together. It’s a big issue, obviously, so we need many people to help. I personally am not going to solve homelessness. RHD isn’t going to solve homelessness. The city government isn’t going to solve homelessness. We need everyone to pitch in, and as a city I think we can really make progress if we bring everyone together. And we need to ask those tough questions: How do we target the at-risk homeless population? Are people earning a living wage, and can they afford their housing without having to be on the streets or go into the shelters? We need to look at income levels: Can people afford the housing they are living in? If so, money management can be huge in maintaining housing. All of these factors need to be set-up, and it takes a lot of people and support. There need to be supportive resources, because it’s traumatic entering the homeless system. Our goal is to prevent people from entering or re-entering the system: Let’s provide the necessary resources so someone does not need to be homeless.
But what originally attracted me to homelessness was when I was doing my college internship in a jail. I remember when we released people from jail, there was no re-entry program. It was very rural in Central PA, so when someone left jail we’d say, “Here’s the closest pharmacy and address; we’ll call in the prescription.” There was no after-care plan, or next steps. And then a few weeks later, we’d see them back in jail.
From this position my biggest takeaway is that we work in very, very large systems; everyone cares a lot about what they do, and we all have the same goal. When working in large systems, you need to coordinate care, and collaborate in large systems. This starts with building partnerships with other nonprofits and government, and also the community. It takes everyone to come to the table to really work together.
Owen’s Final Thoughts: I absolutely do have hope in the homeless system. I think we provide great services. But we always have this goal of solving homelessness, and that’s an aggressive goal. So, I think we should reflect on the great work we are already doing.There is a lot more to homelessness than these street numbers. We are doing great things in homeless services, but it’s a huge social issue, and we all need to get involved.
Evan has been a champion in the homeless system. He has been involved in street outreach for over five years and is a strong advocate for the homeless population.
Evan has always been a big advocate for individuals who are homeless and have behavioral health issue. He has engaged people on the street to successfully place them directly in housing and has always practiced a housing first philosophy. Most recently he has taken on the task of being at the front lines of the opioid epidemic and working to educate the community of opioid use as well as advocate for opioid user treatment.
I wasn’t planning on getting into the field of homelessness, but am extremely thankful I worked with them. It is really rewarding, I absolutely love my work.
Q3: When/where did you first become involved with helping the homeless?
My job is a mobile program manager, so I go out into the community and engage people on the streets and active drug users. I talk with people, as a peer, and try to convince them to get services or come inside.
FIGUEROA-VARGASEVAN
— Owen Camuso, Assistant Regional Director Pennsylvania Behavioral Health & Housing Division, RHD
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I am the Program Manager of PeerNet Homeless Specialty at Mental Health Partnerships. We offer homeless services from mobile peer-to-peer recovery to housing support programming. I’ve had the privilege and honor of managing this program for the past four years.
I was never homeless, but my wife was: As a child, she and her family were homeless. My wife was home less in Philly, and 100% of my drug use happened in Philadelphia. Since we are a couple, I absolutely share my wife’s experience. People can overcome many adversities in life. You can be homeless one day, but with the right resources and intervention, you can be in a different situation the next day.
While seeking education at CCP in Behavioral Health and Human Services I was working at Philly Recovery Center as a certified counselor doing peer support on substance abuse. Mental Health Partnerships reached out to me about a position with PeerNet. I had no previous experience with homelessness or outreach, but the organization was willing to train me and help me understand the population.
I am a person in recovery who experienced substance abuse and mental health challenges. Those experiences are what attracted me to the social work field. I wasn’t a social worker in the past; actually, I was using narcotics. But even during my addiction, I’ve always had a heart for helping others. I’d talk to others about seeking help even though I was using. I’d talk to those who were homeless about seeking shelter. I’d just have a conversation with them, treat them like human beings. Tell them to get help so they can overcome their tragedy. Then in 2011 I was incarcerated directly because of my substance abuse and addiction to opioids and released in early 2012. When I got out of prison, I sought education at CCP for Behavioral Health and Human Services, then got a bachelor’s degree at Eastern University in Organizational Leadership. Now I am working on my Master of Social Work at Widener University. I’ve learned a lot while working with people: Everyone has a name, everyone has a story. Some people have
Q1: What is your job?
EVAN FIGUEROA-VARGAS, PROGRAM MANAGER OF PEERNET AT MENTAL HEALTH PARTNERSHIPS HERO FOR THE HOMELESS
Q2: Have you ever experienced homelessness?
Q4: What is your most memorable moment dealing with the homeless?
We can’t have an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality. We need a plan in place. We need beds and treatment programs.Iamasupporter of any organization that will put together a proposal for a safe injection site. We need a comprehensive user engagement site: welcoming individuals struggling with all types of narcotics, engaging all types of drug users. In addition, there would be an opportunity to screen people for psychological issues and mental health – a lot of people are self-medicating with narcotics. I want to be at the table because I believe in peer-to-peer recovery. Peers are at the epicenter of what’s going on. I know from working as a homeless service provider, homeless individuals can’t talk to city council; however, that does not mean their voices shouldn’t be heard or that they don’t matter. Someone needs to be there to amplify those voices. People active in drug use and homelessness need to be at the table.
If you’re physically addicted to narcotics, the next bag you do might be laced, and you may lose your life. You don’t want to hurt anybody; you don’t want to hurt yourself. You don’t want to disappoint anyone, but your body is saying you need one more. And the issue is that next bag might be laced, and you die.
I wish we could take all of these conversations and energy and get together to ask why we have open air drug markets in Philly. Some dealers sell poison. Why are these dealers not on the street? Why are we picking on the user? Users don’t have the energy, resources, or a voice.We need to work together to create low-barrier housing for individuals. The rent is extremely high in the city of Philly. We need low-barrier housing: Places people can afford to live in, continue to feed themselves, provide for their family, and enjoy life.
At the end of the day, I want to help amplify the voice of the active user, homeless person, person struggling with mental health – their voices their opinions need to be heard. What people aren’t understanding is that Tulip & Lehigh, Kensington & Lehigh, are part of the community; they should be treated as so and given a place at the table where their opinions are valued. We need to be all-inclusive. If we’re listening to the business owners, law enforcement, and religious groups, then also listen to users and homeless individuals. Don’t exclude anyone – everybody’s voice needs to be heard.
In addition to that, I think we need to take a more empathetic approach to homelessness. As I talk to you, I’m a paycheck away from homelessness. If I stop paying my mortgage, I am one step away from homelessness.Thatpersonmay be homeless today, but that could be me tomorrow; and if that was me tomorrow, how would I want to be treated? I want the world to know that people can and do recover. They don’t just recover, they thrive in recovery. We need to talk about how substance abuse, physical abuse, and increasing mortgages all lead to homelessness. It’s not a one-size-fitsall issue or solution. Life happens; life is so interesting. Sometimes you think it can’t happen to you; but life happens, and that could happen to you.
Evan’s Final Thoughts: We have some really great people helping us solve some of society’s complex problems it’s going to take all of us from all walks of life to get homelessness solved.
challenges with mental health, substance abuse, homelessness – but these individuals have a name; they are someone’s family, someone’s brother or sister. We can’t give up on them. In my job I’ve encountered people with master’s degrees or PhDs; I have a coworker who was homeless for 20 years. I hear the same story over and over with the right support, right invention, right opportunities, individuals can recover. The human spirit is amazing. It is extremely resilient; you can bounce back from almost anything.
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I have so many different stories. One that stands out was a person who was on the street who we kept trying to work with. We were able to collaborate with outreach to get them off the street and get them mental health and substance abuse help. He completed the Journey of Hope program and obtained an apartment, then became a certified peer specialist. Now he can provide the same services he received. I think that’s pretty amazing, when it can come full circle like that. He is now helping people in the same position he was helped in. People can and do recover.
Q5: Why do you feel so passionate about harm reduction?
Nobody is their diagnosis, right? People are so much more than their diagnosis or current challenge. We need the community to step up and believe in these people, so they can get the right supports. People can’t recover if they’re dead. You can’t enter into recovery if you’re dead. We need to come together as a society and talk about this. This year, 1,200 people died of opioid overdoses – 1,200 preventable deaths. If we had a safe injection site, individuals could have been engaging these people. We need to help individuals on their journey to recovery.Noteverybody is ready to stop using narcotics today. However, that doesn’t mean they are ready to die. We need to use harm reduction as a strategy, so people can get well.
Q6: What do you think we, as a society, need to do to solve the homeless issue?
I’ve been here for a little more than eight years. My job is to work with the men to eventually be placed in housing. I stopped keeping count when it was above 200 men, but I know I’ve placed 200-300 men in housing in the past eight years.
In essence anyone who is willing to work within the system ends up getting housed.
On any given day I both love it and hate it. The process is daunting. It is a very difficult system that doesn’t always function smoothly. We work with difficult folks, in a difficult situation. Sometimes you think you’re on a treadmill.
Chris has an amazing sense of humor that can’t be beat by anyone.
It’s a source of pride and helps me refocus: If I’m patient and do things at his time, he’ll get where he needs to go – like everyone we worked with.
Kailo Haven is a safe haven in the city’s shelter system. It is the entry point to the shelter system for chronically street homeless men, with mental health and/or serious substance use. As for Philly’s street population, it’s the toughest popula tion in the City. It’s the guys who resist shelter and need to be convinced that what we offer is for their benefit. Men stay in the shelter until we succeed in housing them. There’s no cap on their length of stay. We had a man with us for six years before we got him into a place. That’s not usual, but there are so many variables in the mix that we have no control over. Someone’s length of stay is often driven by sources that we can’t control.
I am not convinced we will solve the issue of homelessness – there will always be people with mental illness, people who abuse certain substances, people who get done dirty by the system and lose their housing. There are a lot of tools in Philly that work successfully, but we have to be honest in the discussion about homelessness: Is 0 homelessness an attainable goal? When I work, I work with one guy at one time, to do one thing. If you always take one step forward you always get some where versus pining about pie in the sky. When you get lost thinking, you are not doing. Actions are more important than goodWhatintentions.mostconcerns me is that we’d be more efficient and effective in using the tools we have in-hand. Get those recom mendations into the discussion.
Q3: When/where did you first become involved with helping the homeless?
Chris, I think you are an amazing human being, a great case manager, and a better friend. Congrats man, I’m so proud of you.
— Mike Gold, TCM Supervisor, FaSST/Connections
10 One Step Away ● APRIL 2018 ● OSAphilly.org
Q2: Have you ever experienced homelessness?
Q5: What do you think we, as a society, need to do to solve the homeless issue?
Chris’ Final Thoughts: It’s flattering to be nominated. I am grateful for the opportunity to be of service. It’s fulfilling, I often go home very happy, very satisfied. My wife makes the living and I do good in the world. I’m grateful to RHD, FaSST/Connections, and Kailo for the opportunity to do this job and get the tremendous satisfaction out of it.
One day a guy came in—it took outreach six years to get him in. He lived under the subway, way below the ground. When he came in, he wouldn’t make eye contact. He wouldn’t sleep; he wouldn’t even be in a bed—he stayed on the living room floor. It was a very hard situation; you could tell he was mentally disturbed. Then one day my coworker T said hello to him. So each day we’d say hello, and he started saying hello too. Then one day he came to the door of my office, with a big smile. “Hey Chris it’s William!” He came in and hugged me. “I’m in housing now,” William told me.
BERGLUNDCHRIS
Q1: What is your job?
No. I had a period in my life when I owned a home but was running single digit balances in my checking account. I’d pay all my bills and then have $17 in my checking account to next pay day. I’ve managed bipolar disorder all my life and have been 30 years clean and sober. So, my experience isn’t necessarily with homelessness, but it goes deep. I understand mental health and substance use.
Q4: What is your most memorable moment dealing with the homeless?
Early on in my own recovery I was very active with AA and Double Trouble, but I did that as an amateur. There was a time in my life, almost 20 years ago, when I was in between city planning jobs, scratching my head a little. A woman from Double Trouble said to me, “you’d be a good case manager.”
Now, three agencies later, I’ve been a case manager for 17 years, eight years at FaSST/Connections working at Kailo Haven.Iused to do Intensive Case Management for adults, and for a period of time, ICM with children. Then I came to FaSST/ Connections and went to work in the shelters. With ICM you are constantly traveling around, going to houses and schools. I thought shelters would be easier because the population is there. Boy was I wrong! I quickly learned homeless men have lives, they go out to do what they do. You have to win their trust, get their attention. Only then can you sit and do paper work; it’s a process.
Chris is definitely a hero because he goes far out of his way to help those in need. He’ll go that extra mile to help someone, providing assistance to get housing, encouragement to go the next step, and whatever is necessary to get them where they need to be. He’s genuine: He doesn’t do it for a check; he does it to help people—for that good feeling in your heart that you helped someone, that you made someone else’s life better.
— Daniel Rogers, DSP/CPS, Kailo Haven
From the guy sleeping on the floor to the huge smile on his face, now in housing. It was a great moment. I keep that in my back pocket. When days are hard, I rub it for good luck, and go back to work.
Chris has worked on the front lines of homeless services for almost ten years now. Over this time he has engaged some of the most difficult people who have been living on the streets for years. He has successful housed many of these individuals. Chris has the ability to really meet people where they are at in their lives. I have seen Chris be patient and persistent with people struggling in their recovery. When the individual is ready Chris is there no matter what time of day to help them take the next steps to overcome their addictions. Chris is very skilled and could do any job he wants to, but he has dedicated his skill set to working on the front line of homelessness in—Philadelphia.OwenCamuso, Assistant Regional Director, Pennsylvania Behavioral Health & Housing Division, RHD Chris engages with some of the most vulnerable people in the homeless population to get them connect to benefits and resources. He is a source of knowledge and inspiration to staff and participants.
CHRIS BERGLUND, CASE MANGER FASST/CONNECTIONS AT KAILO HAVEN, RHD HERO FOR THE HOMELESS
I know Chris through work at Kailo Haven. He is our in-house case manager. His job is to take people on appointments. He has one-on-ones with the men, to make sure that they are ok, and he knows where they are at with life.
Father Chris Walsh, Saint Raymond of Penafort Since 2015, Father Chris Walsh and St. Raymond of Penafort Church have been partners with Depaul USA in providing volunteer and program support for the residents of St. Raymond’s House, a permanent supportive housing program for 27 men and women.
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Volunteers from St. Raymond’s Church have taken on the responsibility of providing a home-cooked meal each Sunday for lunch for residents of the program. One program resident says, “I look forward to seeing [the church volunteers] each week. They are the highlight of my week. They really care, and it shows.” They have embraced their homeless neighbors and invite program participants to church events so that they can integrate into and become an important part of the community.
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Sanchez from Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission is always there to help the homeless and give them a bed to sleep in and food. — Kevin SANCHEZ Margaux’s personal dedication is tremendous and her personal sacrifices to help are extraordinary. — Francis
Joe’s way is to work hard, share everything, and never take “No” as the final word when it comes to the needs of children and families. He is certainly a hero and deserves to be recognized, but would never think he does.
— Shannon Morgan, Associate Director of St. Raymond’s House, DePaul USA
— Joyce M. Sacco, Director of Housing, DBHIDS, Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbilities Housing and Homeless Services
HERO FOR THE HOMELESS
HOUSE PASSAGEOF
— Jim Piasecki, Regional Director, Philadelphia Behavioral Health and Housing Division, RHD
THEREWHOTOTHANKVOICES:YOUALLTHOSEWEREFORUSHEROESFORTHEHOMELESS
Joe Willard, Vice President of Policy, at the People’s Emergency Center has been a driving force politically and in providing improved service for homeless women and children for many years in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. He is the founding co-chair of the Housing Alliance of PA HAPPN Advocacy Group — A statewide advocacy effort make up of providers involved in advocacy and policy change around homelessness. He has led many visits to Harrisburg and Washington DC advocating for additional federal and state resources for families experiencing homelessness. He created and organizes the Philadelphia Family Provider network. Joe helped bring additional resources to Philadelphia around needs of children and the issues related to school. Joe is passionate and tenacious about the needs of homeless families.
VENDOR
Landon is changing lives through his men’s group. — Jeff LANDON The staff at House of Passage. They help us with our needs at the shelter: Beds, food, and clothes. — Anna
MARGAUXMURPHY
Joe has worked tirelessly at both the local and state level lobbying for additional services for families, with a specific emphasis on infants and children. His work at the People’s Emergency Center encompasses both his negotiating additional services and funding for homeless families as well as developing such services. He is a willing leader in various meetings with local, state and federal officials, always attempting to educate them on the plight of the children and families. He has done research on families and children which he willingly shares with all providers of service. (As seen pictured above speaking at a homeless event).
THANK YOU TO ALL OUR HEROES!
— Brian
Father Chris and St. Raymond’s parishioners consistently seek new ways to become involved and improve the lives of those living in poverty. They have made a huge impact on the lives of those served by Depaul USA. Not only are they dedicated to serving and volunteering their time routinely, but they genuinely care about the lives and well-being of those who are homeless and living in poverty. They advocate for those who are served by our programs, are responsive to the needs of the residents and our organization, and continue to invest significant time and dedication to improving the lives of those living at St. Raymond’s House. They spend time getting to know residents individually, learn their interests and build genuine relationships with them. One parishioner says, “We love coming to St. Ray’s because we really care about the people who live here, and we want them to feel loved and cared about.”
HOMELESS FR.WALSHCHRIS
HEROWILLARDJOEFORTHE
The man who runs the food cart at 18th & Market, he is a good man. He feeds people, including myself, if they don’t have money to eat or money for coffee.
Our vendors would like to say thank you to the following individuals, “for your support, kindness, and for helping us when we had nothing.”
Joe Willard, Vice President of Policy, People’s Emergency Center
12 One Step Away ● APRIL 2018 ● OSAphilly.org JOIN US FOR AN EVENING CELEBRATIONOF ONE STEP AWAY HOSTS OUR CELEBRATIONCHAMPIONS5.10.18
OSAphilly.org ● APRIL 2018 ● One Step Away 13 Join us in Celebrating our Champions May 10, 2018 6-9 PM The Pyramid Club 1735 Market Street, 52nd Floor Philadelphia, PA 19103 Tickets & Sponsorships Available at OSAphilly.org Cocktail Party | Silent Action | Awards Ceremony | Celebration ...JOIN US FOR AN EVENING CELEBRATION ONE STEP AWAY’S CHAMPIONS! FROM THE STREETS TO THE 52nd FLOOR... THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:
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Arch Street United Methodist Church 55 N. Street (Broad and Arch) HOMELESSNESSOUT
Inspired by former Light Heavyweight Champion Boxer and Philadelphia legend Matthew Saad Muhammad, One Step Away continues to echo his message every day:
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“EVERYBODY HURTS. EVERYBODY GETS HIT. Everybody gets down.
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Matthew had one of the most iconic stories in sports — a Philadelphia legend who rose to become an eight-time world champion after he was abandoned on the Ben Franklin Parkway as a child. Both in and out of the ring, he was known for his toughness and ability to absorb punches. But he also had an incredible demeanor of generosity and kindness. That spirit is what made him such a good advocate. Matthew meant something to people. He gave people hope. His whole life was about how much a man could endure and keep going. That was his whole thing—stay strong, do the right things, stay positive… and just keep getting back up. Matthew was a great carrier of that kind of message. He fought his way up from the streets of Philadelphia to conquer the world. He carried himself with dignity and respect. Even when he found himself in need, his first impulse was always to give to others. In doing that, he provided people who needed dignity, respect, and joy in their lives. While with us, Matthew was constantly advocating for others, but he was still very much fighting his way through his own tough times. Even after such a resilient life, he once again experienced homelessness as an adult. As One Step Away vendors can tell you, homelessness is a difficult experience to shake free of, and even when you’ve found housing, all it takes is one or two bad breaks to find yourself without shelter again. But “Miracle Matthew” always inspired us to stay strong and keep going. Thank you Matt for your dedication, commitment, and smile — and for always reminding us — we can get back up and continue the fight. In 2011, Matt teamed up with us to host our Annual Knock Out Homelessness event as an advocate and a motivator for those still experiencing homelessness. After seven successful Knock Out Homelessness events we are now excited to expand the event this year as the Champions Celebration. Join us in celebrating Matt, his spirit, and all of our Champions who help keep us going every day at our Champions Celebration on May 10, at 6 PM, at The Pyramid Club Philadelphia. to Matthew Saad Muhammad, Our Original Champion!
Vendor Site Hours: Monday, Wednesday,10AM–1PMFriday
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O FFERING A HAND UP NOT A HANDOUT
Broad
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But YOU CAN ALWAYS GET BACK UP.”
By: Jeff Greene
As the very vocal and sign-laden crowd peacefully made its way down North Broad Street—and into my heart—I remembered my own days of youthful and exuberant protests against many of the issues that still seem to be haunting our society today. There were protests back in the days of the ‘60s and ‘70s against so many troubling issues that I must implore you, dear readers, for brevity’s sake, to fill in the blank(s) for yourselves.
I feel that our planet and its young people need us adults to step up and help them become thriving stewards and great citizens of our corner of the universe. These children should never, ever have to take to the streets to tell us adults what the right thing is and how to do it. The love that we say we have for our children is going to need a comprehensive and ongoing upgrade…I’m just sayin’.
STUDENTS PROTEST IN PHILADELPHIA Photos & Story
Hundreds of bright young faces fill my camera lens as I photograph the Philadelphia Student Union’s march and protest on a very windy and cold but sunny March winter day.
“On the day that I turned 65, I pledged to extend my own life to
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The telling difference between my younger self and today’s youthful protesters was a chilling sense that these kids were not only fighting for their very lives. They were desperately trying to get us so-called “adults” to care about those very same lives, while also getting the attention of the government, whose “adults” are actually charged with the daily duty of protecting the lives of us all. The painful fact is that there are some people in those high places of government who only care about the money they get from the lobbyists who seem to be in charge these days.
On the day that I turned sixty-five, I pledged to extend my own life to the betterment of the lives of future generations. Also on that day, October 1, 2017, there was a mass shooting in Las Vegas in which more than 60 lives were lost and more than 500 human beings were badly wounded, both physically and emotionally. My heart sank when I realized that my loving friend and daughter, Tanynee lives and works in Las Vegas. I had only heard from her just that morning (thankfully, Facebook’s check-in system assured me that she was OK).
The violence that has visited on children in their schools these days has long echoes and many ongoing examples throughout today’s world. There are wars and blatant acts of terrorism that target children specifically or obliquely, and no country involved in these horrid practices is without blame. The machines of war are being used against our children and they are rightfully angry and looking around for the “adults” who can make them safe again.There seems to be free and clear access to these monstrous devices by those who should never be allowed to get their hands on that amount of firepower; and there are people in organizations that financially support politicians who will, in turn, easily relinquish their humanity for a few bucks. This is no accident. They dance together today in blood stained shoes and expensive clothing on the backs of the dead, bruised, and grieving. They have been doing so for years.
As I sat about writing this article, I had just tuned in to “60 Minutes” (CBS-10). This very subject was focused on in the beginning segment of the show. I highly recommend viewing it to gain a perspective from the point of view of some very concerned young people.
There were 55,188 homeless individuals living in Los Angeles in 2017, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Only 25 percent of the city’s homeless population was living in a shelter.
“Unlike the really poor countries who can with some legitimacy say, ‘Well we don’t have the money, we can’t afford it,’ the United States is in a position to say, ‘Well we do have the money, but that’s not how we want to spend it,’” Alston said. “And that raises pretty direct and obvious questions in terms of really respecting people’s basic human rights.”
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Alston also reported on the extraordinary efforts by municipal officials determined to help the poorest 20 percent of their communities; a church in San Francisco that offers services to the homeless seven days a week; and a community health initiative in Charleston, West Virginia, that offers medical services to 21,000 patients. When asked why he was exploring extreme poverty in the United States when conditions in other parts of the world are far worse, Alston said it is important to ensure the wealthiest country in the world is doing its part.
In his report, Alston noted the pervasive contrast between private wealth and public squalor.
“American exceptionalism was a constant theme in my conversations,” he wrote. “But instead of realizing its founders’ admirable commitments, today’s United States has proved itself to be exceptional in far more problematic ways that are shockingly at odds with its immense wealth and its founding commitment to human rights.”
Over the next two weeks, Alston also visited Alabama, Georgia, Puerto Rico, West Virginia, and Washington D.C. In his report, Alston said he witnessed homeless people who are “barely surviving on Skid Row in Los Angeles”; heard about thousands of people saddled with “unpayable debt” after receiving minor infraction notices; met people who lost their teeth because they did not have access to dental care; and saw sewage-filled yards in states that “don’t consider sanitation facilities to be their responsibility.”
By Adam Sennott, Courtesy of Street Sense / Real Change / INSP.ngo
UNITED NATIONS REPORT
In Skid Row alone, which comprises about 50 square blocks near downtown L.A., there were 4,633 homeless people, according to the city’s 2017 homeless census. Of U.S. HAS THE WEALTH TO END HOMELESSNESS AND CHOOSES NOT TO
In early December, United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston landed in Los Angeles, the first stop in his tour of extreme poverty in the United States. It was a Sunday, a day before he was scheduled to begin, but Alston said he had decided to get a head start on his mission. One of the first things he learned was that homeless people in the area have access to few public toilets. “All of the streets smelled of urine,” Alston said. He soon discovered that “the homelessness situation in California is pretty shocking.”
“Every country has human rights obligations, and every country should be doing the best it can,” Alston said. “So, if we had a system where the only human rights investigations focused on North Korea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a handful of other basket cases, it wouldn’t be a credible system.”
He also noted that while conditions might be worse in other countries, that doesn’t mean the United States doesn’t have its own impoverished populations, and it has a much harder time explaining why that poverty exists in the first place.
She said that while being an activist is harder when you are homeless, it is still possible to make an impact.
In the nation’s capital, Alston said he devoted much of his time to meeting with officials from the White House and Congress. He said that the Trump administration’s approach to fighting poverty is to move people from welfare to work.
The UN special rapporteur compared the conditions of Skid Row to those in a Syrian refugee camp.
Kelly Miller, an activist who has been homeless for about six years and lives in Washington D.C., recently traveled to Atlanta to share her personal experiences with Alston at a human-rights conference. Because of scheduling issues, she and 19 others recounted their stories to him by phone. “Basically, I just told [Alston] that I’m a victim of sex-trafficking,” Miller said. “And I told a little bit about the struggles of when I was outside in Kentucky, homeless and fighting, I even had to take a shower in the rain because I didn’t have anywhere to accessExperiencingwater.”
“The reality is that poverty, as I said, I think, in the report, [is] a political decision,” Alston said.
U.S. HOMELESSNESS
homelessness in a rural area is more difficult than being homeless in a big city, according to Miller. She contrasted her time in Kentucky with her time in the nation’s capital. “In the rural areas, number one, we don’t have a bus system, we don’t have churches that assist like they do here in DC,” Miller said.
Nonetheless, Alston was not optimistic by the end of his“Intour.alot of countries that I go to, one gets a sense that there are a number of policies that, if implemented, would really make a difference — and that governments might be prepared to look at those policies,” Alston said.
“A government can either decide to address it and eliminate it, or can decide that they don’t give a damn.”
Officials in L.A. would describe how much they were doing and the grand plans they had for the years ahead, according to Alston. But when asked whether their efforts would provide reasonable housing for all of the homeless population, those same officials admitted it wouldn’t even come close.
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Photo Credits: Office of the UN Special Rapporteur report. Clockwise from middle picture on page 4: UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston visiting skid row and talking with its residents. Homeless women from San Francisco.
“But in the U.S., the problem is much deeper.”
“It’s based on the assumption that most people who are on welfare could work if they wanted to, and it’s only laziness, or whatever, that prevents them from doing so,” Alston said. He said that along with members of the Trump administration, he encountered many state governments and politicians who believe deeply that people’s needing government assistance to survive is an aberrational situation and that many who receive benefits are simply scamming the system.
that group, 2,669 were sheltered and 1,964 were living on the streets.
“We don’t have organizations that assist. You’re just out of luck. You’re actually living in the woods,” explains Miller.
“Even though some money has been mobilized, and there are lots of policies and so on, the basic policy is missing,” Alston said. “And that is to eliminate all but the most hard-core homelessness.”
But it was not just conditions in Skid Row that Alston found alarming. In Alabama, he investigated cases of hookworm, an intestinal parasite that experts believed had been eradicated from the U.S. in the 1980s. Alston said he was shocked by the lack of urgency from public health officials.“Thisis not a problem that is yet affecting the elites, or the well-off,” Alston said, implying that neither the super-rich nor the government that represents them is motivated to consider radical changes to the country’s economic system. “It’s a shame.”
Ian McCurry is originally from Somerset Massachusetts and moved to Philadelphia in 2013 to pursue his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
In this new role as a Community Health Worker, Khadijah has the added abilities to assist and advocate for the homeless male population at the OBP location.
Marcus Henderson, BSN, RN; Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Marcus Henderson is a Philadelphia native from Roxborough. Marcus graduated from Franklin Learning Center High School and went on to obtain his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. As an undergraduate, Marcus developed a passion for community and public health through his work as a research assistant at UPenn Nursing’s center for Health Equities Research, and through his placement as a school nurse at a Philadelphia High School in Kensington. In these settings, Marcus was exposed to the social determinants of health and the health inequities individuals face in their communities. From these experiences Marcus realized he wanted to devote his career to helping individuals and communities. Marcus strongly believes the utilization of Community Health Workers is one possible solution in reducing these disparities many face on a daily basis.
Khadijah Sanyang is a strong nurturing woman in that she goes above and beyond the definition of her job title as a Community Health Worker. She takes personal pride in supporting and encouraging those she serves in the development of their individual health care needs on a daily basis at the Bethesda Project’s Our Brother’s Place (OBP) Shelter.
Ian’s experience providing healthcare for individuals experiencing homelessness stems from regular engagement through the outreach mission at Old First Reformed Church. In this setting he was exposed to health delivery issues that impact Philadelphia’s Homeless Community. He has worked as a volunteer coordinator leading volunteers to serve 80 homeless individuals and provide episodic case management services. Ian also worked as a research assistant with Penn Nursing’s Center for Health Equities Research. He currently serves as hospital chaplain at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. On a personal level, Ian seeks to mitigate the effects of the social determinants of health on homeless individuals’ health. Social determinants of health can include factors of where one works, sleeps, plays and prays; and recognizes the impacts that these factors can have on health. Up and Running addresses these determinants using Community Health Workers. These Health Workers are specially trained individuals who can understand the health risks that homeless individuals may face on a personal level. Under Ian’s leadership, Up and Running seeks to work with individuals who have fallen into homelessness and to assist them in achieving their goals.
Running’s team: Ian McCurry BSN, RN; Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Khadijah Sanyang, Community Health Worker
The Health Workers; Melissa Morris, Lucille Johnson and Khadijah Sanyang come to the Bethesda Project facility, Our Brother’s Place, Monday through Friday and often on weekends. These remarkable women have had a notable impact on the lives of so many men housed here, and I have witnessed firsthand their dedication and sincerity in what they do on a daily basis. We, the homeless community, welcome Up and Running Healthcare Solutions and thank them for their kindness and understanding in their daily interactions with our diverse needs and situations.
Yet, I will and do utilize those shared confidences as road maps to guide me in facilitating individuals’ needs and to build upon a working relationship. I also often advocate at social service needs and primary care providers’ appointments with the understanding of the individual symptoms and service needs. I advocate personal health issues that may not, or have not, been expressed or otherwise addressed properly due to lack of expression, shame, or distrust in the system. While on the other hand dealing with the fear associated with the unknown, more often than not, block the greater portion of this population from seeking help or accepting support.”
Up and Running’s Community Health Workers are specially trained members of the community who share demographic similarities with the populations they serve. Hence, their delivery facilitates care consistent with the population’s values and needs. Workers within this field of healthcare service have been used successfully during the transition from hospital to home environment. The Up and Running Program has potential to provide better care and outcomes to homeless individuals.MeetUpand
Lucille Johnson is a native Philadelphian. She has several years of experience working in the healthcare field. Throughout her career, Lucille has enjoyed helping others in times of need. Because of this natural desire to reach out to others, Lucille pursued studies at Randolph Skill Center for medical records and nursing assistance. She became a Certified Nursing Assistant while still in her teenaged years. After receiving her certification, she worked with people in a residential setting who were chronically ill. Lucille went on to Community College of Philadelphia and earned her associate degree in applied science, with a certificate in Foundations of Addiction Studies and Family Counseling. Lucille is also educated in behavioral health and human services. After college she spent a short time as an addiction counselor, and because she was willing to go the extra mile, Lucille took further classes in community health work, which led her to her current position at Up and Running Healthcare Solutions.
Melissa Morris, a certified Community Health Worker comes to Up and Running healthcare solutions with impeccable qualifications. Her employment goal was to engage in an area which would allow her to best utilize her skills in the betterment of the city, one community at a time. Melissa has worked at a variety of agencies within the mental health field over a 19 year period. Melissa says, “I’m certified in the following training: Dual diagnosis, mental health first aid, conflict resolution, mental health awareness, crisis prevention and also identifying triggers such as drugs, alcohol, sex, family dynamics etc. Being in a field such as this has given me such fulfillment that I feel blessed in my everyday life.”
THE ORGANIZATION ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF HOMELESSNESS
NEW
Melissa Morris, Community Health Worker
LOCAL NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT
By Calvin Helton, Sr. Up and Running Healthcare Solutions is a non-profit program that is dedicated to offering a much needed “helping hand” to any of the less fortunate citizens amongst our city’s population. The organization provides connections to healthcare resources designed to address the unique needs of homeless individual.
Lucille Johnson, Community Health Worker
Lucille says that being a Community Health Worker is not just a job for her and her coworkers. It’s something that they all have deep-rooted compassion for. She adores providing care for the homeless residents of Our Brother’s Place Shelter.
Khadijah sees herself as a person “full of compassion and dedicated to people in need.” She says, “I have been in the field of people-nurturing on a few levels for all of my working career.” Her career has included work in both the beauty industry and healthcare field over the last 20 years.
For Khadijah, her role is a personal one. “I am here to be a trusting and listening ear to the true thoughts and expression that encompassed issues that need resolution within a broad range of situations. I don’t judge, and I keep their confidences.
Up and Running Healthcare Solutions is currently offering their services to the homeless men via the Bethesda project.
The healthcare workers of Up and Running brainstorm topics of health and social needs, which they bring to a group they facilitate twice a week. This group provides the men of OBP a platform to share, express, and revisit life skills through open communication. Khadijah believes that the team at Up and Running Healthcare Solutions brings a fresh start and a new beginning for the homeless population.
18 One Step Away ● APRIL 2018 ● OSAphilly.org
For instance, "generative words" were employed as thematic springboards for lessons. These were words, such as "rice," that signified something vital in the lives of the students. Not only could they be organically linked to a whole series of other words of similar importance, they could also serve as the basis of linking the intellectual lessons to vital manual activities of the community, thereby further making the lesson meaningful and memorable for theButstudents.inaddition to fleshing out the concepts in Freire's earlier work as they pertain to literacy, Pedagogy in Process also illustrates the importance of other kinds of learning to a revolutionary perspective. For instance, he approvingly offers this quote from a central figure of the Guinea-Bissau independence movement: "Our culture must be developed at the national level of our country. And this must be done without holding the culture of others in low esteem [my emphasis – E.H.]. We must take advantage of all of those things in the culture of others, of all that is good for us and of all that can be adapted to our conditions of life. Our culture must develop on the basis of science. It should be scientific, not based on a belief in imaginary things. Our culture should not allow any one of us to think that lightning is the result of God's anger or that thunder is a voice speaking from the skies or the fury of IRAN. Tomorrow everyone in our culture must know that thunder occurs when two clouds, carrying negative and positive electrical charges, bump into each other. First comes the lightning and then the noise which is thunder." Amilcar Cabral, "Resistencia cultural," in PAIGC – Unidade e Luta, pp. 198-99, quoted in Paulo Freire, Pedagogy in Process: The Letters to Guinea-Bissau, Bloomsbury Academic, 2016(1978), p. 116, footnoteThis,surely, should put to rest the notion that Freire promoted any sort of objectivity-and-science-denying extreme relativism.
ERIC HAMELL Eric is a One Step Away vendor. An avid reader and writer, Eric maintains an online blog. In response to a book review he read, Eric decided to write his own review and submit it to One Step Away. He can be reached by email at strippy6@gmail.com.
While I found the ideas in Pedagogy of the Oppressed intriguing, I was frustrated by the dearth of concrete examples of their application. So, I was glad to see when I arrived at the end of the book, that he'd written several more, including one in particular that promised to fill that gap, which I have recently finished reading.Called
Why, then, does Professor Fiamengo think that he did so? She's apparently relying on second-hand information from people who may have motives for distorting Freire's message – people she herself doesn't trust, and for good reason. In her videos she cites many examples of academics in the humanities and social sciences practicing selective scholarship and ignoring inconvenient facts in support of trendy theories. (In one, for instance, she quotes from a feminist scholar who describes Canada's 19th-Century seduction laws as reflecting the denial of "women's cultural and legal control over their own bodies," completely disregarding that it was only men who were imprisoned under these laws.)
But this in no way precludes individuals from the oppressor class transferring their allegiance to the oppressed and offering whatever of their knowledge may be of help to the latter. Indeed, Freire repeatedly quotes with approval from revolutionaries like Fidel Castro, who came from the upper layers of society, so he clearly knows that this is possible.
Fiamengo is also not wrong to suggest that when many scholars deride concepts like objectivity and rationalism as nothing but tools of social control by dominant groups, this may help create an environment in which, increasingly, students feel entitled to engage in disruption or even violence to stop others' saying things they consider oppressive. And it's the very same devaluing of open-minded inquiry, and the very idea of objectivity, that makes it entirely believable that people taking this attitude might quote Freire selectively, or even paraphrase him inaccurately, to support ideas that were not his, and that they would do so with no compunction whatever. It seems likely to me that this is just what hasButhappeneditwouldbe quite unfair to pin that on Freire – just as it would be wrong to blame Charles Darwin for the pseudoscience of socalled social Darwinists in the last century who tried to use his ideas to justify racism and imperialism – or to blame Jesus of Nazareth for the Inquisition. Such misuse is the inevitable fate of any great thinker when they’re no longer around to defend themselves. To the contrary, I have no doubt that Paulo Freire helped a lot of people become better grounded in reality and better equipped to transform it, and that through his writings and example he will continue to do so.
Over the years, I’d encountered references to Paulo Freire’s book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, cited as inspiring the popular education and critical pedagogy movements. Being interested in both pedagogy (that is, the theory of education) and social change, I’d always figured this would be an interesting book to read, but it was never a priority.
BOOK
REVIEW: PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED
Then, last year, while watching a YouTube video by Dr. Janice Fiamengo – a professor at the University of Ottawa who’s highly critical of trends in higher education – I encountered a very different take on the book. Fiamengo described how it’s cited as an important influence on many in the academic Left, and apparently on the basis of second-hand information, held it largely to blame for a decline in support in the academy for such ideas as critical thinking and belief that there’s such a thing as objective truth. She suggested that despite its title, the book actually promotes the idea that “the oppressed have nothing to learn from their oppressors.”
Pedagogy in Process: The Letters to Guinea-Bissau, it's centered on correspondence Freire wrote to educators and officials of that country shortly after it had attained its independence, with which he and his team collaborated on their adult literacy campaign. It offers considerable detail about how the ideas in his earlier work were applied here.
Being very interested in anything to do with helping the masses to become better educated – and, at the same time, very concerned about the trends denigrating the pursuit of knowledge, trends that clearly run counter to the first concern – I now had to see for myself what this book really says, and so I made reading it aIpriority.didso a few months ago, and pretty soon became convinced that Freire was not guilty as charged. His best-known work is focused on ideas he and associates first put into practice in his native Brazil, largely in connection with literacy. Where it differed from conventional approaches, at least conceptually, was in an insistence on the idea that the teacher is also a learner, and the students are also teachers. Rather than seeing the students as passively receiving knowledge from the teacher as something prepackaged, complete, and unquestionable, the teacher and students work together on actively knowing the students' world. Closely related to this is the idea that the purpose of education is not for the oppressed to passively learn to adapt/conform to their world as it is but, rather, to approach it as a challenge that they progressively transform in the process of engaging and increasingly understanding it.
The specific reference to literacy might be considered sufficient proof that Freire isn't saying the oppressed have "nothing to learn" -- although, admittedly, it seems to be assumed that the teachers are typically from the middle layers of society and not from the oppressors, if the latter is understood to mean the upper echelons. Still, there's certainly nothing here suggesting a rejection of knowledge.Theonly thing in this book that might, by a stretch, be construed that way is a passage in which it is stated that dialogue between the oppressors and the oppressed isn't possible. But the statement is more nuanced than that. What's actually said is that the oppressors organized as a class cannot have dialogue with the oppressed – where dialogue is defined as an exchange premised on both parties' fully recognizing each other's humanity. But "the oppressors organized as a class" means, by definition, their constitution as a political party for the purpose of preserving their class privilege – that is, their domination and exploitation of the oppressed – and thereby logically excludes fully recognizing the latter's humanity, the prerequisite of dialogue in Freire's sense. So, he is completely right about this.
OSAphilly.org ● APRIL 2018 ● One Step Away 19
By: Eric Hamell Sometimes you hear good things about something for a long time, and it’s only when you hear something bad about it that you feel impelled to check it out.
Creatin’SuperhumancrownweareHeavenonearthWit’thedustfromstars
RICHARD “RAM” RAMSON Ram is a One Step Away poet and vendor. He likes the healing powers of spoken word, and records on YouTube under *Ram Riches*.
From flesh to spirit embrace the shift Your vision becomes different it’s a new way of livin’
Something like the same thing as being the defendant. With a long trial fighting a strong case. Not even enough time to think.
OUR FEATURED POETS
· By Brian Belcher ·
THE EYES
The last minute doesn’t work! So don’t move too slow to get your feelings hurt. Never does it feel good to always be in a rush. No time to talk now feeling like, I’m caught between a rock, and a hard place.
· By Keith Barbour ·
DEVIL BANG BANG still in this thing. Feeling like, I’m losing, but I just want to win it.
THE EYES – Sparkles, stares, and shines, And they can be warm and comforting at times, The eyes speak in so many ways, If you watch the eyes you can tell the time of day, (Early morning) The eyes are wide and chipper, (Late night) They’re low and watching the big dipper.
KEITH BARBOUR Keith is a poet and a regular One Step Away contributor. His poetry draws from the good times and the struggles.
20 One Step Away ● APRIL 2018 ● OSAphilly.org mn POETRY NOT ENOUGH TIME
Now what about the consequences, and repercussions. There are too many people talking at one time. When I begin to realize that nobody is really saying nothing. Throughout the day with so much to do, and not enough time.
· By Ram · Uh What’chu know about the dark side? People takin’ shots at your character Hatin’ on your vibes Crabs pullin’ on you they don’t wanna see you rise You a fighter though that’s why you still alive climbin’ high Never fallin’ victim to the enemy inside You was born to ride in your purpose is what you visualize Faith becomes wisdom only when action applied
And livin’ what you speak every single day & night
THE EYES – They speak for themselves, When you’re sick you can look in them and tell that you’re not well, Or when you’re caught by surprise and they get big and swell, Or when your friend gets caught stealing, and that look in your eyes that just have to tell.
THE EYES – Are a spectacular sight for seeing, They say they are the windows of the life of a human being, An array or spectrum of colors that they possess, Pure loveliness.
BRIAN BELCHER Brian is a One Step Away poet and vendor. Recently he has used his poetry to help him overcome challenges in his life.
THE EYES – Can be piercing at times, Like they can look right through your head and read your mind, The eyes can be bright and cheerful, And nothing to worry about or to be fearful, The eyes come slanted, slit, almond, and round, And hard and cold from necessary frowns, From envious jealous people always trying to hold you down.
THE EYES – When you’re out in the weather and the storm, When you come home you want a pair of brown eyes that’s soothing and warm, And red bloodshot eyes are evil and scorned, So pay attention because you have been warned.
THE EYES – Can take you as far as your imagination will expand, To outer space, deep seas and distant lands, And they can show you things that you won’t understand!!!
The fight until the end with the sky being the limit.
Business as usual this is not a hustle, I just stay on my grind. Every day I pray, and wish with hope. This too shall pass, and everything will be fine. Put forth the effort on a daily basis. Just to know that, it’s not all about me. Then if it’s just not enough time. How much time then will it be?
ELEVATE(VERSEHIGHERTWO)
THE EYES – Can be lazy and cock-eyed it, that’s why people wear glasses so they won’t be divided, With one eye looking one way and the other eye looking another, I can tell if you’re looking at me or my brother.
THE EYES – Can be hazel with a little flack, Surrounded by gold and the background is black, Blue eyes makes me smile, because they remind me of the beautiful sky for miles and miles, Green eyes, to look into them I get so excited, To get to know the person behind them I would be delighted.
We awaken new powers Divine Is your wealth In the truth be Cosmicgrounded Is your
THE EYES – Can show no mercy and be dark and bleak, Like a shark in the waters, ready to bite a swimmer’s feet, The eyes can wink, blink and roll, So take very good care of them and treat them like gold.
It’s necessary now to survive the times we in Wit’ spiritual gifts We raiseHealingThroughconsciousnesstheofself
UNCOVERED ISSUES FROM THE STREETS
By: Zachary Caldwell
Homelessness. I truly believe that the majority of homeless individuals honestly do not want to be there. Being homeless and physically living on the streets day after day, night after night, could really set the stages for all kinds of physical and mental distress. And truly one of the saddest things is to see a military vet, sometimes physically impaired, in homeless situations. And to be honest, most of these individuals are not an eye sore to our communities. It’s those folk that think such who are eye sores. Most of them forgot. They are individuals looking to get out of the ditches of being homeless, not eye sores.
UPDATE By: William Powell
If the name William Walker doesn’t ring a bell, it might well be intentional. But whether it is or it isn’t, I took it upon myself to write about issues or personalities that have been given the least exposure.
Long before the phrase “the white man’s burden” came to fore, William Walker seems to have personified many of its salient attributes—among them paternalism, militarism, aggression, pomposity, and a strongly held belief in the supremacy of western civilization and culture. But Walker was no ordinary man. He possessed several degrees: One in law the other in medicine, which he obtained right here in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania. For a person to gain not just one but several degrees in the mid nineteenth century was a rarity, and for man in his early twenties, it was almost unheard of. Walker was no wild-eyed Clint Eastwood style gunslinger but a highly educated visionary, however tainted that vision was. He gained little practical experience in either law or medicine. With substantial financial backing, he gathered a private army of mercenaries, or “filibusters” as they were called at the time, in California. His band of 100 “immortals” set sail for Nicaragua. In 1857, he put himself in the midst of an ongoing civil war, where he managed to come out fortuitously on the winning side, and subsequently reaped the benefits. Not satisfied with usurping power from his local backers and anointing himself—through fraudulent means—President of the Republic of Nicaragua, he imagined himself the first stage of the establishment of a Central American empire, founded and built upon through the slave trade. Walker, however, was overthrown and expelled. Upon his attempted return, he was caught, court-martialed, and executed. He was the victim of his own arrogance, overacting ambition, and rather astounding good luck. He was like a lottery player who, having won very big not once but twice, played once more with all he had and lost it all.
Just imagine for a moment, that the life you have is starting to plummet. I mean, for example, becoming so engulfed in debt to the point where you all of sudden find that your place of slumber is now the steam grates that sit atop our city sidewalks. Or an innocent experiment with drugs and alcohol that has now won the battle over any false control that you thought you had. These things can escalate to such an extent that you can’t even imagine at this point. And now, even then you find yourself in a type of a “Lo-debar”— a place of no pastures — in a type of environment, living on the streets of the city night after night.
I truly believe that more can be done regarding our local and even national governments in the hallways of homelessness. At no time should a person should be hungry, homeless, without proper Medicaid or Medicare, and especially, without a friend. Where are all the finances going? The churches alone cannot solve this poverty matter. We need folk like you and me, and our surrounding communities. Because then and only then, could true passion, zeal, commitment, and yes, dedication, all add up to a simple act of kindness. Kindness is the key that unlocks the gates of degradation. It’s the platform that could spark ideas and missions, even over a cup of coffee. Because one can start to reach upwards to the sky and feel the eradications of that deadly weapon we all know as homelessness.
Just imagine. That a once-homeless man or woman, is now in a home of their own. Why? Because as I stated earlier, kindness is the key that unlocks the doors ofHello,opportunity.andhow are you, One Step Away Supporters? This is William. As you can tell, it has been a wonderful new year, and the weather has been just great. It looks to me like it’s going to be great weather throughout the year. So how did you like the message from last month about those illusions and the big bad Stone Age? That is so that they stop messing and carrying on trying to disturb you and I all the time. I want you to tell me what you think about those two issues the next time I see you out there. Everything is coming along just great, still working on that illegal lockout. I am having a fascinating time filling myself up on that cable that I was talking to you about. You would not believe it—it is one of the most awesome things ever, and it helps replace the kind of sorry disturbance that I’ve been dealing with. It is replacing everything that I was trying to clear. The recovery should be a great turn out one day.
From William Walker’s 1860 book The War in Nicaragua, digitalized by the Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries: archive.org
OSAphilly.org ● APRIL 2018 ● One Step Away 21 THE LESSONS OF HISTORY: THE RENEGADE PRESIDENT, WILLIAM WALKER
HOMELESSNESS: IS THERE REALLY A WAY OUT?
By: Bryant Culpepper
Some people are of the opinion that history repeats itself. I don’t happen to share that view. I look at history as one vast ever-evolving, ever-changing continuum. While history might be ever-changing, human behavior seldom does. Greed, avarice, singleminded and self-serving ambitions are some perennial human traits. William Walker, who lived from 1824 to 1860, was the American “President” of the Central American country of Nicaragua; he might have been one individual with these traits.
And now as football season gives way to baseball season, I will finally reveal the solution to the aforementioned brain teaser.
AUTHORSFEATUREDOUR
POWELLWILLIAM William is a One Step Away writer likesvendor.andHetouse his articles to stay in touch with his andcustomersregulars.
UNCOVERED ISSUES
CULPEPPERBRYANT Bryant is a poet an author whose work examines his own journey with homelessness, and the state of the world around him.
22 One Step Away ● APRIL 2018 ● OSAphilly.org
SARAZINCHARLES Charles is a One Step Away vendor and writer. He often uses humor in his writing to help cheer people up. He can typically be found distributing the paper in Center City.
CALDWELLZACHARY Zachay is a One Step Away vendor and writer. He studied history at Temple University, which informs much of his writing. March’s PUZZLE SOLUTION: Streets in Philly
THE ANSWER By: Charles Sarazin
There is but one solution and is as follows: The farmer must first take the chicken across the river and leave said chicken on the other side. He can leave the bag of corn with the fox, since the fox won’t eat the corn. He must then row back across the river, grab the fox, and row the fox to the other side of the river. Now, he must leave the fox and put the chicken back in the boat and row the chicken back to the other side of the river again—because the fox can’t be left alone with the chicken. Now the farmer has to leave the chicken and grab the bag of corn and row the bag of corn across the river. He leaves the corn with the fox because the fox has no interest in the bag of corn. Then, he has to row back across the river to grab the chicken. Finally, he can row with the chicken for the last time across the river to join up with the fox and the bag of corn; and the mission is finally complete. See you next month, casrzn8005@yahoo.comCharles
Well hello there and welcome to the April edition of One Step Away. As I’m sure some of you remember, I published a riddle in the February edition titled, “The Fox, the Chicken and the Bag of Corn.” I said I would publish the answer in the following month’s edition, but those plans had to be put on hold as we all took part in history being made when the Philadelphia Eagles won their very first Super Bowl title. Of course, I had to write about that.
For those who may have missed it the first time around the dilemma is as follows: There is a farmer who has 3 items that he must move across a river in a rowboat. A fox, a chicken, and a bag of corn. He can only fit one item in the boat at a time. If he takes the bag of corn across the river first, that leaves the fox alone with the chicken and the fox will most certainly make a meal out of the chicken, so that is definitely not an option. Now if the farmer takes the fox across the river first and leaves the chicken alone with the bag of corn, the chicken will surely eat the corn, so that’s not going to work either.
OSAphilly.org ● APRIL 2018 ● One Step Away 23 CAN THANKS,PUZZLE?SOLVEYOUMYMARIA One Step Away is a community newspaper, accepting submissions from anyone who would like to lend their voice to the conversation. Writers can be homeless, housed, or anywhere in between. Submit to OSA@RHD.ORG Cre a te d w th Th e Te a c h e rs Co rn e r n e t Wo rd S e a rc h M a k e r Birds CO N U RE RO BIN BLU EJ AY FIN CH CRO W H AWK EAGLE O WL BLU EBIRD CATBIRD P U RP LEMARTIN FLICKER WO O D P ECKER SP ARRO W WREN CH ICKAD EE STARLIN G P ARAKEET FALCO N VU LTU RE Na me : R N S L I S I P E Z O L E F S Y L R E S J Y V M E H K U D U Z R E K C I L F J C Y K X R A X X T G W R S G C Q C E Z Q R V H C N I F E F F B Q S A G V T F N W O U X A Y I G N I L R A T S F W K D N N W D M F W N T E Y R W B S N O C R O X Z Z S B Z E K W R R M I U X O L I C L R Y C T Z R C X W R A R O V D B B L J B X H L A W R W H K X D M F P X E A C W Y J F X O R H V V C W R V E F U F N O D W L I I U J X O Z M L I C D L J I R H X J H B E E A G L E E D K L B K P R C J Q A A H Y K A L E G R E O B D P A R A K E E T N I H Y D I C R U D N L P R V U L T U R E L H X D L Z O N N A S U D V R P W M S V Q A O F H W B J N O K A E Y Y H C J X Y M K A L L A I E I Z C C D J N W H B I R O D M Y H J N R D E B Z I U A E Z N Y L P H D E P X P I F R K B L H E Y S W X G K D L Q L O N G N S G J D V C L H Q B J D 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 Across 1. Take as one’s own 6. Cookbook abbr. 10. Hardly the life of the party 14. Philanthropist 15. Kind of sax 16. Part of a list 17. Lure 18. Warty hopper 19. Baby foxes 20. Extreme altruism 23. Big laugh 24. Mountain poolCROSSWORDWordSearch 5 4 9 2 9 1 5 3 4 5 6 2 4 2 9 7 8 3 6 9 1 9 7 8 6 9 2 4 5 8 1 8 9 2 8 9 3 6 4 7 2 4 1 9 7 1 8 4 3 7 5 9 7 1 6 4 2 3 4 7 SUDOKU The object of a Sudoku puzzle is to fill in the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Good luck! CONTRIBUTED BY Street Roots, In Portland, ORegon See May’s Issue for The Answers to the Puzzles 25. Comeback 28. Taiwan capital 32. Bounce back 33. Back of a boat 36. Armageddon 37. Digestive tract 41. Prospector’s need 42. Noncommittal answer 43. Diminish 44. Cordwood units 46. Kitchen gadget 48. Ancient Andean DOWN 1. Do sums 2. Female deer 3. “___ bitten, twice shy” 4. Billiards establishment 5. Attempt to get 6. Golden Horde member 7. Alliance 8. Begin 9. Sole-searching field? 10. Two-piece bathing suit 11. Auditory 12. Nerve network 13. Dash lengths 21. Did nothing 22. Former French coin 25. Harvests 26. Panache 27. Biblical possessive 29. Prison-related 30. Related maternally 31. Do-nothing 33. Pigpen 34. Bar bill 35. “...___ he drove out of 38.sight”Correct, as text 39. Early development 40. Getaway drivers, e.g. (Var.) 45. Lookalike 46. ___ green 47. Infuriate 49. “He’s ___ nowhere man” (Beatles lyric) 50. Poison 51. “The Iliad” city 52. Convenience 53. Rebecca Solnit book “___ in the Dark” 54. Freudian topics 55. Shabby bar 56. “My man!” 59. Merkley, e.g.: Abbr. 50. Blow off steam 51. Compassionate 56. Talk big 57. Brightly colored 58. Auspices 60. Gift on “The Bachelor” 61. Crime boss 62. Stand (of trees) 63. ___ and terminer 64. Primordial matter of the universe 65. German industrial city puzzles
24 One Step Away ● APRIL 2018 ● OSAphilly.org
