01.29.2025

OUR STORY

CASE MANAGEMENT

people moved into housing using case management services

In 2013, we began offering case management services to help anyone, including vendors, with their needs — from obtaining identification cards and emergency cash for bills and food to accessing supportive programs and applying for housing vouchers. Our team builds long-term relationships with our vendors and other clients to understand their needs and help them create plans to achieve their goals.

people, including artists/vendors, used case management services in 2023,

Physical and mental health services, emergency cash assistance and housing services were and are being provided hundreds of times throughout 2024 and 2025.

of which were new clients.

The Cover

THE TEAM

THE TEAM

VENDORS

A. M., Abel Putu, Abraham Aly, Aida Peery, Akindele Akerejah, Amia Walker, Andre Brinson, Andrew Anderson, Angie Whitehurst, Anthony Carney, Archie Thomas, Beverly Sutton, Brian Holsten, Brianna Butler, Cameé Lee, Carlos Carolina, Carlton Johnson, Charles Armstrong, Charles Woods, Chon Gotti, Chris Cole, Conrad Cheek, Corey Sanders, Darlesha

Joyner, Daniel Ball, David Snyder, Debora Brantley, Degnon Dovonou, Dominique Anthony, Don Gardner, Donald Davis, Donte Turner, Earl Parker, Elizebeth Bowes, Eric Thompson-Bey, Erica Downing, Evelyn Nnam, Faith Winkler, Floyd Carter, Frederic John, Frederick Walker, Gerald Anderson, George Gray, Gracias Garcias, Greta Christian, Henrieese Roberts, Henry Johnson, Invisible

Prophet, Ibn Hipps, Ivory Wilson, Jacqueline “Jackie” Turner, Jacques Collier, James Davis, James Hughes, James Lyles III, Jeanette Richardson, Jeff Taylor, Jeffery McNeil, Jeffrey Carter, Jemel Fleming, Jenkins Dalton, Jennifer McLaughlin, Jet Flegette, Jewel Lewis, John Littlejohn, Josie Brown, Juliene Kengnie, Kenneth Middleton, Kym Parker, L.Q. Peterson, Laticia Brock, Lawrence Autry,

Levester Green, Marc Grier, Marcus McCall, Maurice Carter, Maurice Spears, Melody Byrd, Micheal Pennycook, Michele Modica, Morgan Jones, Nathanial Piscitelli, Nikila Smith, Patricia Donaldson, Patty Smith, Peggy Jackson Whitley, Phillip Black, Qaadir El-Amin, Queenie Featherstone, Rachelle Ellison, Randall Smith, Rashawn Bowser, Reginald Black, Reginald

COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF GAGE SKIDMORE/WIKIMEDIA, DESIGN BY JOSHUA HONG

Denny, Ricardo Meriedy, Rita Sauls, Robert Vaughn, Robert Warren, Rochelle Walker, Ron Dudley, Ronnell Wilson, S. M., S. Smith, Sasha Williams, Saul Presa, Shawn Fenwick, Sheila White, Shuhratjon Ahmadjonov, Sureyakanti Behera, Susan Wilshusen, Sybil Taylor, Tasha Savoy, T.K. Hancock, Tony Bond, Tonya Williams, Vennie Hill, Vincent Watts, Warren Stevens, Wayne Hall, Wendell Williams,

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ashley

Bonsu, Stanley Keeve

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

OFFICER

Brian Carome

The Cover

COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIST HOUSE, COVER DESIGN BY ANNEMARIE CUCCIA

Wendy Brown, William Mack, Willie Futrelle

McMaster, Blake Androff, Clare Krupin, Chris Curry, Cole Ingraham, Jonquilyn Hill, Matt Perra, Michael Vaughan Cherubin, Michael Phillips, Nana-Sentuo

NEWS IN BRIEF

D.C.’s homeless services adapt to cold weather, inauguration

KATHERINE WILKISON

Editorial Intern

People who sleep outside in D.C. have experienced a month of disruptions as inclement weather, persistent cold, and the inauguration of a new president altered available services.

Despite the cold weather, shelters have yet to reach capacity this winter, Anthony Newman, the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) deputy administrator said at an Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) meeting on Jan. 22. Newman estimated at least 70 men’s emergency shelter beds are available and unused. So far in January, which tends to be the peak month for shelter utilization, about 1,650 people have used emergency shelter services, fewer than the 1,778 beds the ICH estimated would be needed.

D.C. has experienced several hypothermia alerts and cold weather emergencies this winter. During prolonged cold weather emergencies, the city stationed warming buses around the city, Newman said, with bilingual English-Spanish signage. Still, many service providers and community members worry DHS is not sharing enough information about the buses with those who need them. The warming buses, which are WMATA buses that stay stationary near places where lots of people live or spend time outside, may just look like operational metro buses, so people don’t always know they can seek shelter there, community members said.

At the meeting, DHS officials expressed concerns about widely publicizing the warming buses. Currently, the agency only shares information about the buses and their locations with DHS-affiliated service providers, who can then share the information with their clients.

“We don’t want to attract crowds, don’t want this to become a spectacle for media,” Newman said. “Warming buses are not our first option, nor is it something DHS sees as the best option.”

The decision to keep bus locations “silent,” or unpublicized, angered some meeting participants.

“This is why people get frostbitten,” said one person who identified herself as Miss Umi.

BIRTHDAYS

Ivory Wilson Jan. 29

ARTIST/VENDOR

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS

Darick Brown

DIRECTOR OF VENDOR EMPLOYMENT

Thomas Ratliff

VENDOR PROGRAM ASSOCIATES

VENDOR PROGRAM VOLUNTEERS

Charles Woods Feb. 2

ARTIST/VENDOR

Participants also discussed concerns about accessing shelter in inclement weather. While the city operates a separate bus service to bring people to shelters during the winter, community members reported some of the buses are not accessible to those with disabilities. It is left up to service providers and drivers to request ADA-compliant vehicles when needed. This process can leave people sitting outside for hours waiting to be picked up, according to service providers.

Officials and service providers also expressed concerns about losing a “key resource,” the Mt. Pleasant Library, which will be closed for renovations from Feb. 10 through June 23, leaving some Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant residents worried about a lack of resources in their communities. District Bridges and Miriam’s Kitchen continue to operate as the primary service providers for the area.

In addition to the cold weather, D.C. services had to adapt to the inauguration on Jan. 20. During the inauguration, officials relocated people living within the “no walking zone,” downtown and expanded the emergency operations team. One hypothermia shelter, located at the Church of the Epiphany, was closed over the inauguration weekend, and vehicle access to other shelters and day centers downtown was limited. Many people living by MLK Library, which was inside the “no walking zone,” left the area before the inauguration, though some stayed behind, according to ICH members. The library was closed on Inauguration Day, and those who stayed behind were left out in the cold. Recent changes to the enforcement of library policy have pressured people to leave what was once considered a “safe space” for many experiencing homelessness.

“It’s an imperfect system,” Newman said.

Near the end of the meeting, current ICH Special Advisor Eileen Rosa, who joined the organization in July 2022, announced she would be leaving in February. No immediate plans to replace Rosa were discussed. The ICH website currently lists only two full-time employees, Rosa and Theresa Silla, the ICH director. The ICH is currently hiring for six additional roles.

Frederick Walker Feb. 3

ARTIST/VENDOR

EVENTS AT SSM

ANNOUNCEMENTS

□ Two beloved workshops are back!

□ Photography Workshop is every Thursday at 12:30 p.m.. Come work on those photography skills.

□ Theater Workshop is every Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. Join Leslie and Roy to build the next Street Sense Media players performance piece!

□ Is the office closed for a holiday or bad weather? Street Sense follows the federal government (opm. gov/status). Also, you can call the front desk (x101), check your texts or emails from Thomas, or go to the vendor announcements page at streetsensemedia.org/ vendor-info.

VENDOR CODE OF CONDUCT

Read this democratically elected code of conduct, by vendors, for vendors!

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

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

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

4. While distributing the Street Sense newspaper, I will not ask for more than $3 per issue or solicit donations by any other means.

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

Aida Peery, Chon Gotti, Nikila Smith

Ann Herzog, Beverly Brown, Madeleine McCollough, Roberta Haber

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Annemarie Cuccia

DEPUTY EDITOR Donte Kirby

EDITORIAL INTERNS

Cara Halford, Ella Mitchell, Fiona Riley, Franziska Wild, Gabriel Zakaib, Katherine Wilkison

WEB INTERN

Zachi Elias

SOCIAL MEDIA INTERNS

Madi Koesler, Matt Corpuz

GRAPHIC DESIGN INTERN Josh Hong

ARTISTS-INRESIDENCE

Alexandra Silverthorne

(Photography), Bonnie Naradzay (Poetry), David Serota (Illustration), Leslie Jacobson (Theater), Roy Barber (Theater), Willie Schatz (Writing)

EDITORIAL VOLUNTEERS

Abigail Chang, Andrew Chow, Anne Eigeman,

Benjamin Litoff, Cari Shane, Chelsea Cirruzzo, Dan Goff, Emily Blumburg, Jack Walker, J.M. Ascienzo, Josh Axelrod, Kathryn Owens, Loren Kimmel, Mark Rose, Marcella Villagomez, Matt Gannon, Micah Levey, Ryan Bacic, Susannah Birle, Taylor Nichols, Zach Montellaro

6. I will not distribute copies of “Street Sense” on metro trains and buses or on private property.

7. I will abide by the Street Sense Media Vendor Territory Policy at all times and will resolve any related disputes with other vendors in a professional manner.

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

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

10. I understand that my badge and vest are property of Street Sense Media and will not deface them. I will present my badge when purchasing “Street Sense” and will always display my badge when distributing “Street Sense.”

“A force of nature:” Remembering poet Redbook Mango

FIONA RILEY Editorial Intern

edbook Mango, a poet, rapper, and Street Sense vendor, was found dead in October after loved ones reported her missing in May 2023. She was 44.

Those close to Mango remember her as generous, intelligent, and a talented writer — a “force of nature” who wanted everyone around her to feel seen, heard, and loved.

“She would come into a space and just pull everyone toward her,” said Thomas Ratliff, Street Sense’s director of vendor employment.

Mango was born Chandra Brown on April 21, 1980, in El Paso, Texas, according to a family obituary. She lived in Winston-Salem, North Carolina for a few years during her childhood, but spent the majority of her time in D.C.

Mango’s care for others and passion for writing started young. She was the “perfect child” growing up, Sheila Brown, Mango’s mother, said. She made straight A’s in school and strived to “be the best” at everything she did. Her mother remembers that even at a young age, Mango used poetry as a way to “write her way through whatever she was going through.” She was known to carry around four or five notebooks stuffed with her writing.

“The first time she went through something I gave her a notebook, a pen, and a Bible, and in three days she was alright,” Brown said. “She could always express herself through her writing because she had an articulate vocabulary and her wording and rhymes would always capture.”

After graduating high school, Mango worked in D.C. government and served as a preschool Sunday school teacher at Smith Grove AME Zion Church. She spent some time in North Carolina, but again returned to D.C. Mango joined Street Sense in December 2021, publishing 35 poems, frequenting writing workshops, and spreading her “magnetic energy” to vendors, staff, and volunteers.

Ratliff often thinks back to the first time Mango shared a poem she had written and memorized with Street Sense’s writer’s group, describing her delivery as a rap that held the attention of everyone in the room. During her time at Street Sense, Mango performed long poems from memory at several workshops, in the office with vendors, and at a poetry slam.

“She stood up in the middle of what I think was a workshop, gets up on top of a table that is not meant for standing and just starts going through this amazing piece of poetry, just from memory, that she had written,” Ratliff said, recalling one of the first times she performed her work at Street Sense.

In a poem Mango published a few months after joining Street Sense, “What does writer’s group mean to me?,” she wrote “Writers group has come to be, an excellent outlet for my therapy.”

Mango frequently spoke with Brown about publishing her poetry, but told her mom she often lost her writing when she moved to new places. Brown said many of the pieces Mango wrote for Street Sense “have nothing on the work” she sadly doesn’t have access to now.

Mango filled rooms not just with poetry, but with laughter, Ratliff said, giving “a piece of herself” to everyone at Street Sense. Mango had a “passion for people,” Brown said, and dedicated her time to helping people experiencing homelessness. Mango always wanted to “better people” and looked for ways to understand those around her, often showing her love by laughing and joking with people, Brown said.

“She would give herself when she didn’t have anything to give,” Brown said.

In a poem titled “Homeless entertainer,” Mango opened with “You are not alone — It’s many of us who do not have a home.” She wrote that “life is a journey,” and “God put us here, we just have to wait.” Some of Mango’s poems reference herself and people close to her experiencing homelessness and struggling with housing.

Mango is survived by three children who are “as intelligent as her,” Brown said. “When she was being a mother, she was always a great mother,” Brown said of her daughter. She said while life circumstances unfortunately “grabbed her attention,” her desire to be loved and ensure everyone around her felt cared for never faltered. “She only ever wanted to love and wanted someone to love her, that was her whole thing,” Brown said.

Mango mentioned her children in several pieces for Street Sense, including a poem titled “A good daughter/child,” where she wrote “Now nobody is perfect, but my daughter is.” Mango was missing for a year and a half before D.C. police found her body encased in concrete in a refrigerator by an apartment building in Northeast D.C. in October. The D.C. medical examiner has not determined the cause of her death, according to NBC4 Washington. Mango was “one of God’s angels,” Brown told Street Sense. Mango turned to and thanked God in many of her poems, including “Listen, Lord,” and “Faith.”

In the last poem she published for Street Sense, titled “Thank you staff,” Mango thanked God for the day, noted “life is too short,” and said she missed several people including her son and mom. She ended the poem with words that now resonate with many of the people who loved her: “Realization is missing you all the time.”

A photo of Redbook Mango in the Street Sense office. Photo courtesy of Thomas Ratliff

Redbook Mango participating in a Street Sense workshop. Photo courtesy of Thomas Ratliff

VENDOR PROFILE

Thirty years after he applied for one, a federal voucher changed his life

GABRIEL ZAKAIB Editorial Intern

W

hen doctors told Morgan Jones his liver was failing, Jones had to worry about more than his health. At the time of diagnosis, the now 65-year-old Street Sense vendor was homeless.

Born in D.C., Jones had waited for a federal housing voucher for 27 years. His new liver issues, however, meant he couldn’t wait any longer. Jones’s struggle for housing mirrors many in the District. The 2024 Point-In-Time Count recorded over 5,500 individuals experiencing homelessness in the city, up 14% from the previous year. The federal Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) offers low-income residents a chance at housing stability, providing a longterm federal housing voucher that enables individuals to rent an apartment. However, getting approved for a rare HCVP voucher means navigating through a sea of electronic paperwork and bureaucratic red tape – and don’t forget the other thousands of people already on the waitlist.

About 30 years ago, Jones said he was approved for a voucher, but a mistake sent the letter to the wrong address – a shelter where he previously stayed. Jones missed the deadline to use his voucher and was forced to re-apply.

“I’d apply over and over again. They didn’t give it to me for 27 years,” Jones said. Jones presumes he was denied for all these years because the government considered his residence at a communal shelter, Jeremiah House, enough. People living in transitional housing like Jeremiah House fit the literal definition of homelessness, as they lack a fixed, regular nighttime residence, but aren’t considered currently homeless, a label that gives priority on a housing voucher application.

There’s also a chance Jones was just too low on the list. D.C. closed its waitlist for HCVP vouchers in 2013. By 2022, the housing authority was just starting to house people who had originally applied in 2004. When names do come up, their contact information can be a decade old.

By the time Jones most recently applied for a voucher, the introduction of weekly dialysis treatments so weakened his body he could barely climb the shelter’s stairs to his bed.

After a renovation at Jeremiah House forced Jones to leave, shelter manager Dwayne Jones (no relation to Morgan Jones) stepped in to help Morgan Jones file a new electronic voucher application.

“He’s an older gentleman, so the technology was a setback for him,” Dwayne Jones said. The two dredged through sprawling digital documents, coordinated meetings with the D.C. Housing Authority, and made sure all materials were submitted on time. Morgan Jones credits Dwayne Jones as the key to securing the voucher.

“If I hadn’t had anybody who knew computer work I probably would have never got the voucher,” Morgan Jones said. “He took his time and helped me get my voucher. I really appreciate what he did for me.”

The two finished the application in 2024 and received an approval letter in the mail nearly a month later, Morgan Jones said. Morgan Jones said he moved into his new apartment about three months ago. He believes his deteriorating health made his case more urgent to the D.C. Housing Authority.

As the voucher and rental processes becomes more digital, elderly individuals experiencing homelessness become more distanced from the chance at a home. One in three older adults feel they don’t have the digital skills needed to take advantage of being online, according to an AARP (previously known as the American Association of Retired Persons) annual report. Getting a housing voucher is an involved, time-sensitive process that requires emails, PDF uploads, and exchanging e-signed documents. The process can be overwhelming for someone of good health who grew up in the digital age; Morgan Jones said it was nearly impossible for a 65-year-old going through dialysis who knows one wrong step could mean years more of waiting.

“If you don’t sign the right thing or you miss out on a call, you can lose your voucher,” Morgan said. “You only have six months to find a place to stay. You go to the back of the line from my understanding.”

Older residents are the fastest-growing group of unhoused people in the U.S., according to a Department of Health and Human Services report. In Maryland, adults aged 65 and older facing homelessness rose 77% from 2018 to 2024, state data revealed.

Today, Morgan Jones is in good spirits and immensely proud of his new place. He resides in a quiet and clean apartment, thanks to the HCVP voucher program. There are elevators where long staircases once stood. An unstable shelter has been replaced by a peaceful, protected place to rest and recover.

“If you don’t do dialysis, you will be dead within a year,” Jones remembers doctors telling him after he was first rushed to the hospital. Today, he credits his voucher with not just getting him an apartment, but saving his life.

Morgan Jones stands in his apartment in Southeast Washington. Photo by Gabriel Zakaib

D.C.’s homelessness service bodies fail compliance checks by D.C. inspector general

KATHERINE WILKISON Editorial Intern

Arecently released audit of D.C. homelessness service agencies found they were not in compliance with city regulations regarding filing reports, maintaining records, and conducting shelter inspections.

On Dec. 31, the D.C. Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released its audit of Homeward DC 2.0, the city’s strategic plan to reduce homelessness and improve the services system by 2025. The report found the agencies and organizations responsible for homeless and homelessness prevention services in D.C., the Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH), the Department of Human Services (DHS), and The Community Partnership (TCP), had failed to follow all required processes in fiscal years 2021 and 2022.

While the OIG’s report celebrated some achievements of the homeless services system, including increasing D.C.’s family shelter capacity by 24% between 2018 and 2021, it said the failures “jeopardize” the city’s goal of making homelessness “rare, brief, and nonrecurring.”

The ICH brings together homeless service providers and government agencies, hosting forums where officials can discuss programs. Most homelessness prevention and shelter programs are run through DHS. TCP, a non-profit, coordinates service provision and maintains data on homelessness in D.C.

In advance of the audit, the ICH released a document outlining how the agency’s responsibilities and requirements were met in 2021 and 2022. It included several concerns regarding staffing and capacity at the agency, and its ability to meet legislative mandates like providing updates to the mayor.

“The current staffing and infrastructure of the ICH is not sufficient to support a strategic plan like Homeward DC 2.0 that includes 160+ strategies across 12 goals,” the ICH wrote. While the ICH is funded for at least seven positions, it will only have two full-time staff members as of Feb. 10, as Deputy Director Eileen Rosa recently announced her departure.

In fiscal years 2021 and 2022, the OIG found the ICH failed to develop work plans to ensure its adherence to the Homeward D.C. 2.0 plan and did not send annual reports on the strategic plan and progress towards ending homelessness to the mayor’s office as required by D.C. law.

This meant “there is no reasonable assurance that the goals, strategies, and objectives in [Homeward D.C. 2.0] are measurable and achievable,” according to the OIG report, though the report found some activities did align with the strategic plan.

In fiscal year 2022, the ICH’s five committees also failed to create work plans to guide their work.

During a Jan. 22 ICH committee meeting, ICH Executive Director Theresa Silla said the agency will begin working on an annual report for the mayor’s office to fulfill the unmet requirements. The annual report will focus on examining changes to the homeless services landscape, reviewing existing strategic plans, detailing the resources needed to implement the plans, and assessing services for particular groups, such as youth or older adults experiencing homelessness.

“Right now we need to focus on evaluating Homeward DC 2.0 and Solid Foundations,” Silla said, referring to ICH’s current strategic plans. Both plans will expire this fall, and the ICH is expected to spend the next several months developing their replacements.

ICH has not yet formally responded to the report, and did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

The OIG issued similar recommendations to DHS. That agency, too, failed to issue all required annual reports in violation of D.C. law. DHS’ Shelter Monitoring Unit, which conducts announced and unannounced inspections of homeless shelters, did not submit a report in 2021.

“Because DHS did not consistently issue the annual monitoring report on the quality and compliance of the homeless shelters, the District did not have appropriate feedback regarding the quality of shelter services, or any trends identified during DHS’ monitoring efforts for one of the two fiscal years we assessed,” the OIG wrote. The unit failed to “consistently conduct” inspections of short-term housing facilities in 2021 and 2022. DHS is required to conduct at least one announced and one unannounced inspection of each of the seven short-term housing facilities every year. In 2021, DHS conducted no unannounced inspections. In 2022, DHS inspectors conducted more inspections but failed to complete the required unannounced inspection at The Kennedy, a facility located in Ward 4.

“As a result, there are no formal records of some of the shelters’ conditions, services, and practices, including the facilities’ cleanliness and the safety of the shelters’ current and potential residents,” the OIG wrote.

According to DHS’s response, the agency didn’t conduct inspections due to the pandemic, an intentional policy change. The agency suspended unannounced inspections in 2020 and resumed in spring 2022, “once it was safe to do so.”

DHS admits it did not conduct an unannounced inspection of The Kennedy in 2022.

According to the OIG, when inspections of these facilities and others did occur, the DHS Office of Program Review, Monitoring, and Investigations did not submit “corrective action plans” on time. The corrective action plans, the OIG wrote, are necessary because they allow providers to “improve or correct deficiencies” that affect the health and safety of shelter residents.

In 2021, five of six reports were submitted late. One was not submitted.

In response to this finding, DHS called its internal standards “not always realistic” and pointed to the unusual circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. The agency wrote it would update its deadlines for corrective action plans.

DHS also failed to ensure that the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) administrator maintained all data as mandated by an agreement between DHS and TCP, the lead agency responsible for HMIS, OIG found. The required three years of HMIS data was not preserved and made available to the OIG upon request. Its response to the OIG, DHS said this was due to a technical misunderstanding about accessing files.

“HMIS is a dynamic system that allows users to update historical data for accuracy, which may lead to changes in reports over time. Data pulled at different moments will reflect these updates, making report replication difficult,” DHS wrote.

Moving forward, DHS plans to require TCP to develop “a data reporting Standard Operating Procedure” and retain copies of all reports for at least three years following the law.

While many of the processes OIG found city agencies failed to complete are internal, the report said they are essential.

“Deficiencies in implementation prevented DHS and the ICH from meeting and achieving some of the requirements and objectives of HDC 2.0,” the OIG wrote. “Without structured plans, actionable deliverables, and critical updates to the Mayor, the District jeopardizes achieving its overall goal of making homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring.”

D.C. government agencies tasked with handling homelessness did not meet all city regulations. Photo by Kaela Roeder

What the Trump administration means for people experiencing homelessness

FRANZISKA WILD Editorial Intern

A FEATURE

move away from housing first solutions for homelessness. Further criminalization of sleeping outdoors. Cuts to housing programs. These are some of the changes advocates and people experiencing homelessness worry could be on the horizon as President Donald Trump moves back into the White House, backed by a Republican-controlled Congress.

During Trump’s first term, he appointed officials who rejected evidencebased housing first approaches to homelessness and cut programs aimed at all low-income Americans. But more recent comments and policy proposals found in Project 2025 indicate the shifts this time could be even more drastic. Based on publicly available statements and past policy decisions, Street Sense has tried to map out how the federal government might change its approach to homelessness over the next four years, and how that shift might impact Washingtonians.

What Trump has said about homelessness

Trump’s past statements about homelessness have focused on tent encampments. He’s often criticized the visibility of unsheltered and street homelessness, calling for encampments to be moved outside cities.

In his most recent presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly made homelessness a political issue, blaming mayors of Democratically controlled cities. In a 2022 speech at the America First Agenda Summit, hosted by the America First Policy Institute, he attacked D.C. in particular for its visible tent encampments, saying they give foreign leaders who visit the city a “bad impression.”

At that conference, he proposed using “large parcels of inexpensive land in the outer reaches of the cities” to create semi-permanent tent cities. In the same speech, he declared, “you have to move people out” into these tent cities, suggesting he would support forcibly relocating homeless people.

This was confirmed in a video released by his presidential campaign in 2023, where he announced his plan to tackle homelessness. In the video, Trump said he would “ban urban camping” and force people to move into designated tent cities with the threat of arrest.

“Violators of these bans will be arrested, but they will be given the option to accept treatment and services if they’re willing to be rehabilitated — many of them don’t want, but we’ll give them the option,” Trump said in the video.

Trump has not yet moved to implement a national street camping ban. The policy would likely require an act of Congress, according to D.C. Shadow Senator Ankit Jain. But regardless of whether Trump directs changes to encampment policy at the federal level, advocates worry about the impact his rhetoric and policy suggestions could have across the country.

Jesse Rabinowitz, communications director at the National Homelessness Law Center, is concerned about Trump’s proposal of creating designated tent cities, which Rabinowitz characterizes as rounding up homeless people and putting them into government-run detention camps.

“We have seen what happens as a world and as a country when we round people up and force them into camps,” Rabinowitz said. “It is never a good idea. It is never an okay thing to do, and, unfortunately, this administration does not seem to have concerned itself with actually helping solve homelessness. Rather, it continues to divide people and marginalize people who are already down on their luck.”

Donald Whitehead, the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, worries Trump’s statements will further encourage the criminalization of homelessness that was accelerated by the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Johnson v.s. Grants Pass. The case allowed local governments to pass legislation banning sleeping outdoors with the protection of a tent or blanket.

“We’ve already seen what one branch of government — when they act in a way that kind of dehumanizes people experiencing homelessness and also criminalizes people experiencing homelessness — we’ve seen a rapid ramping up of these kinds of ordinances across the country,” Whitehead said. Since the Supreme Court decision, over 100 cities across the country have banned camping, an NPR analysis found.

“The president doing that would actually ramp up that kind of move towards criminalization 1,000-fold,” Whitehead added.

Trump and encampments in D.C.

In addition to policy changes at the federal level, Trump could have a direct impact on encampments in D.C. through his oversight of the National Park Service (NPS). Much of the

green space where people in D.C. can camp or sleep is federal land and managed by NPS, a federal agency. Whether Trump would change how NPS conducts encampment closures on federal parks land isn’t clear, but advocates and local leaders are worried about the possibility of increased closures, given Trump’s rhetoric around visible homelessness.

But NPS also closed several encampments in D.C. during the Biden administration, Rabinowitz said. Since 2023, NPS has followed a policy to remove encampments from many parks in the city, including Rock Creek Park, McPherson Square, and federal land in Foggy Bottom, arresting at least two encampment residents.

“During the Biden administration, the NPS was incredibly harmful towards people experiencing homelessness,” Rabinowitz said. “ So the bar is pretty low, and we’re concerned that the bar is going to be lower.”

Rabinowitz also has concerns D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is willing to cooperate with the Trump administration’s plans around homelessness, increasing the rate of encampment clearings on both city and federal land. The city has aready increased encampment closures in recent years, occasionally working with NPS to close encampments across both types of land. After meeting with Trump, Bowser shared a statement that read: “President Trump and I both want Washington, D.C. to be the best, most beautiful city in the world.”

“Which, to me, reads as code for the D.C. government is going to work with the Trump administration to evict people experiencing homelessness from parks,” Rabinowitz said.

While encampment residents generally say all closures are disruptive and traumatic, especially as land available for camping shrinks, city closures are still governed by a standard written protocol. This protocol requires the District to give residents a couple of weeks’ notice and makes sure all clearings are accompanied by offers of case management and shelter. The same is not always true of closures on federal land.

“The clearings that have been done by the D.C. governments have been better organized and coordinated in terms of wrap-around services and all that stuff than the National Park Service clearings, and so that will certainly continue to be an issue,” Jain told Street Sense.

Ending homelessness under Trump

The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) is the federal agency officially responsible for ending homelessness. Trump has not yet nominated a new director for the ICH, but in his last term he appointed Robert Marbut to lead the agency. Marbut characterized homelessness as a personal issue and challenged the prevailing view among homeless service providers and advocates that the best way to help people experiencing homelessness is to provide a place for them to live.

During his term, Marbut faced criticism from advocates and experts for his policy positions and his public statements. In an interview with NPR, he claimed 93% of the money given to people experiencing homelessness is spent on “alcohol, drugs, and prostitution.”

When pressed on the research behind this number, Marbut said “We’ve done a lot of research,” but provided no concrete information. Research has found people who panhandle spend the majority of their income on food.

Before becoming U.S. ICH director, Marbut was a “homelessness consultant” for cities across the country, where he pushed for a “housing fourth” approach, a strategy grounded in the belief that homelessness is a personal failing rather than a systemic issue tied to a lack of affordable housing.

This view promotes policies that mandate people address their substance abuse issues or mental illness before they are allowed to receive housing. A majority of people experiencing homelessness do not experience mental illness or substance abuse issues — only one in seven people experiencing homelessness have a substance abuse disorder, and around one-fifth of people experiencing homelessness have a serious mental illness, according to data from the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

Housing fourth is the opposite of “housing first” policies, which aim to house individuals and then provide wrap-around support services to address any mental health challenges or substance abuse issues. For the last couple of decades, housing first has been at the core of the federal government’s solutions to chronic homelessness. The program is based on evidence and has a 90% efficacy rate, according to Whitehead.

This time around, Trump and his team have expanded attacks on housing first. Blaming housing first policies for the recent 18% increase in homelessness across the country is a distraction from the real policy failure, Rabinowitz argued: a lack of affordable housing nationwide. (continused on next page)

FEATURE

“The reason that there is more homelessness isn’t because housing first doesn’t work. It’s because elected officials have failed to do their jobs of ensuring that there’s enough housing for everybody,” Rabinowitz said. “Now they’re trying to pass the buck onto a program that is actually data-backed and proven to work across the country.”

Rabinowitz and Whitehead share concerns Trump might once again nominate someone like Marbut who would be willing to push policies they feel are both ineffective and, in Rabinowitz’s words, “cruel.” In terms of who Trump might nominate, Whitehead hopes “it’ll be somebody who cares about homeless people.”

HUD under Trump

One of the other major ways the federal government impacts homelessness policy is through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which funds public housing and housing voucher programs in addition to providing homelessness assistance funding to communities across the country.

In D.C., HUD provides funding to the D.C. Housing Authority in addition to federal grants intended to directly fund homelessness assistance programs throughout the District. In both 2022 and 2023, D.C. received nearly $30 million from HUD in grants aimed at ending homelessness, but under a new administration and new HUD secretary, this money might be in jeopardy.

During Trump’s first term, in both 2018 and 2019, D.C. received around $10 million dollars less in HUD grants, but Street Sense was unable to determine how inflation, the pandemic, and other economic factors played a role in these disparities. On Jan. 28, the Trump administration planned to freeze all federal grants and loans, according to reporting by the Associated Press. This move to freeze all federal grants could impact HUD grants and other grants given to cities and towns to address homelessness.

“This action endangers vital programs that support vulnerable communities nationwide, delaying rent payments, disrupting services, and risking staff livelihoods,” the National Alliance to End Homelessness wrote in a release in response to the freezes. It urged service providers to “prepare for disruption of reimbursement and any activity associated with grant execution.”

For his second term, Trump has nominated Scott Turner, a state legislator from Texas and former NFL player for the Washington Commanders, as HUD secretary. Reporting from ProPublica found that in Turner’s time in the Texas legislature, he repeatedly voted against bills supporting housing assistance programs, including two bills designed to study the cause of homelessness for young people and veterans. He also supported a bill that would allow landlords to refuse to rent to tenants who received federal housing assistance, a practice known as source of income discrimination that makes it difficult for people exiting homelessness to find apartments.

Both Rabinowitz and Whitehead’s national advocacy organizations, the National Homelessness Law Center and the National Coalition for the Homeless, are urging senators to vote “no” on Turner’s confirmation because of his record. It’s the first time the organizations have taken a stance on a HUD nominee.

Rabinowitz told Street Sense they felt “propelled” to take a stance on Turner because of the “myths and misinformation about people experiencing homelessness” that are being spread by some of the president’s closest advisors, like Elon Musk.

“He has not been in favor of many of the programs that we consider sacred when it comes to poor people,” Whitehead told Street Sense when asked about Turner.

Advocates worry under Turner, HUD and its vital housing assistance programs might become even more underfunded even as they already struggle to serve all applicants. In D.C., for instance, thousands more people apply for federal housing vouchers than receive them.

“The secretary nominee doesn’t support subsidized housing programs, and that is critical right now — only one in four of the people who qualify for housing actually get into it,” Whitehead said. Homelessness advocacy organizations are also concerned Turner might change how HUD, and by extension much of the federal government, approaches homelessness — including by supporting Trump’s efforts to end housing first policies and ban street camping.

In written answers provided to Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and shared on X by Punchbowl News reporter Brendan Pederson, Turner did not explicitly confirm he opposes the camps Trump proposes. In response to a question about the camps and housing first, he wrote: “If confirmed, I plan to undertake a thorough review of HUD’s homelessness policies and its continued reliance on the housing first model. It’s clear to me that our current approach to addressing homelessness is badly broken,” according to the document shared by Pederson.

Turner did not explicitly endorse or criticize housing first when asked about it in his nomination hearing, noting both housing and wraparound services play a role in addressing homelessness.

But other policy documents related to the incoming administration, like Project 2025, which was developed by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, explicitly reject housing first policies. On his first day in office, nearly two-thirds of the executive orders signed by Trump mirrored policy recommendations found in Project 2025, a Street Sense analysis found.

In its section on HUD, Project 2025 describes housing first as a “far-left idea premised on the belief that homelessness is primarily circumstantial rather than behavioral.” It argues the federal government should instead shift toward programs that provide “transitional housing, with a focus on addressing the underlying issues that cause homelessness in the first place.”

Rabinowitz rejects the premise housing first policies are a partisan issue.

“You can only consider housing first a far-left position if you agree that the George Bush administration, was a far-left administration, because housing first, when it started, was a Republican policy,” Rabinowitz said, noting that Texas, a red state, saw the second-largest decrease in homelessness during the 2024 Point-in-Time Count because it used a housing first, which is also known as “housing plus services,” approach.

In contrast, Rabinowitz argued the kind of transitional housing programs Project 2025 describes, which tend to require people first address substance abuse issues or mental health challenges or find employment before they are offered housing services, can be ineffective and cause people to repeatedly cycle in and out of homelessness.

“Transitional housing, which has gone out of style because it was incredibly expensive and did not actually connect folks to permanent housing,” Rabinowitz said.

Cost of housing in D.C. and across the country

One way of preventing homelessness is lowering housing costs, making housing more affordable for low-income Americans. During Turner’s nomination hearing, senators from both sides of the aisle emphasized the need to build more housing throughout the country.

In D.C., one way to build more housing — in particular, affordable housing — could be amending zoning laws to allow denser and taller buildings. However, D.C., unlike cities across the country, does not have complete autonomy to decide its zoning laws and building codes, something that has prevented housing development, according to Jain, D.C.’s shadow senator.

Jain believes if the D.C. Council could autonomously set zoning laws, it would prioritize zoning, which would allow for the creation of more affordable housing. Trump has said he wants to fix the affordable housing crisis, but with a Republican-controlled Congress, D.C.’s local autonomy could be at risk. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) already introduced a bill in 2023 to repeal D.C.’s home rule, and with a new congress that legislation that could now pass both houses.

“One of the things I hope to move forward on is replacing the Federal Height Act with a local Height Act, which is informed by the views and concerns of the actual people of D.C. through their elected council,” Jain said. The act limits the height of buildings in the District, making high-rise apartment buildings, which could provide needed housing, impossible to build.

Meanwhile, Trump has claimed his plan for the mass deportation of undocumented people and families would lower housing costs, arguing undocumented households have put a strain on the housing supply and increased prices, making affordable housing less accessible to U.S. citizens.

The data on household growth throughout the country and in the District, however, shows mass deportations would be ineffective in lowering housing prices, according to Riordan Frost, a senior research analyst at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

A member of the National Guard stands along Pennsylvania Ave. waiting for the motorcade during inauguration on Jan. 20. Photo by Madi Koesler

As of 2023, immigrants who arrived in the last decade made up 9% of all renters in the D.C. metro, according to Frost. “There’s definitely a lot of immigrants coming in and everything. But when you look at that on the household level, it’s not a majority, by any means, of either rent or homeowner.”

In fact, immigrants who arrived in the last 10 years only make up 4.6% of total households in the D.C. metro area, according to Frost. Mass deportation efforts are unlikely to have any significant impact on the housing supply, Frost said, because many immigrants have legal status, making them ineligible for deportation.

Frost also noted immigration often lowers the cost of housing because many immigrants work in construction. Mass deportations could restrict the amount of available labor to build housing, making housing construction more expensive.

“That is particularly true in certain parts of the country, and D.C. is one of those,” Frost said.

Rabinowitz also worries that, under Trump, other policy changes, like higher tariffs on other countries, might inadvertently increase housing costs by making the materials needed to build housing more expensive. Senators expressed a similar concern in Turner’s nomination hearing.

“Things like tariffs, especially on things like soft lumber, are going to drive up the cost to build housing,” Rabinowitz said.

Migrants experiencing homelessness

Trump’s anti-immigration policy stance also poses a direct challenge to people experiencing homelessness who may be asylum seekers, undocumented immigrants, or have some other kind of temporary immigration status.

Since taking office, Trump has passed a number of executive orders targeted at reducing immigration and deporting immigrants, in particular the “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” order. The order expands the use of “expedited removal,” and implements measures to ensure people without legal status, or even people with pending legal status, are denied work permits.

The order also comes after attempting to cut off federal funding to sanctuary cities, such as D.C.,that do not cooperate with or provide information to federal agencies about people’s immigration status. D.C. is a sanctuary city, as established by 2020 a city council act.

When asked if the Department of Human Services would begin collecting information on immigration status or share this information with federal agencies, a spokesperson for the D.C. Mayor’s Office did not directly answer the question, writing: “D.C. is and will remain a proud, inclusive city. We are going to be smart and strategic in how we respond to these types of issues. But know this: our values didn’t change, and our commitment to defending those values didn’t change.”

Trump has also rolled back Immigration and Customs Enforcement directives put in place by the Biden administration that prevented ICE from conducting immigration raids in “sensitive locations” like churches and schools. Whitehead worries about how this kind of enforcement might impact shelters or meal programs based in religious institutions, opening them up to ICE enforcement.

Deepa Bijpuria, the director of the Immigrants’ Rights Legal Services Project at Legal Aid D.C., said people experiencing homelessness are at much higher risk for detention and removal because of how difficult it can be for them to access the legal services that can provide some protection.

“I think one of the biggest impacts is going to be to make sure people are properly screened so they can apply for immigration protections because otherwise, they’re most at risk for immediate detention and removal,” Bijpuria said. “People don’t know what they’re eligible for, and I think unhoused people, more than anyone, are going to have a harder time finding free legal services.”

The changes could also impact people who are experiencing homelessness and do have legal status either as citizens or through a green card, but no longer have access to documents to prove it. People experiencing homelessness or housing stability often lose essential documents due to numerous moves or encampment closures.

“One of the other types of cases we see that I hadn’t seen before were unhoused people who are legitimate green card holders, who don’t have their physical card anymore because it was stolen, or it was lost,” Bijpuria said, adding it’s not “unheard of” for U.S. citizens to be detained by ICE.

When it comes to interactions with immigration enforcement, attorneys generally advise not to open the door for ICE agents unless they have a judicial warrant, according to Bijpuria. However, people experiencing homelessness don’t have that kind of physical protection. In the case of people who have some legal status, it might be beneficial to provide those documents, she said, but in other cases where someone lacks any legal status, they can invoke their right to remain silent.

“It’s really important that organizations, especially those that might be at risk of enforcement, have a plan in place and know what their rights are,” she added, noting that service providers should also prepare how to handle the arrival of ICE.

Bijpuria also stressed the best thing people can do right now is get screened for their immigration status. Legal Aid D.C. provides free walk-in screenings in their offices on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays according to their website.

“The sooner you can get a screening and be identified for some form of relief — and file — that will hopefully get you some protection,” she said.

When will we know more?

The administration’s timeline for implementing many of its proposed policy changes is still unclear, though Trump continues to issue several executive orders a day. On Jan. 23 the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs voted to advance Scott Turner to a vote before the full senate, something that could take place in the next couple of weeks.

No matter how quickly Trump and Congressional Republicans work to institute policies that would cut public assistance programs or end housing first approaches, advocates remain committed to holding elected officials on every side of the aisle accountable.

“Forcing folks into detention camps is not an okay solution, whether it’s coming from the Trump administration or the Newsom administration in California,” Rabinowitz said. “The solution is not detention camps. The solution is city, state, and federal elected officials doing their jobs and ensuring that everyone has a safe place to live.”

A man and a Trump merchandise vendor cross the street in front of a security checkpoint in front of John Marshall Park during inauguration on Jan. 20. Photo by Madi Koesler

30+ countries united – be a part of the solution!

ANGIE WHITEHURST AND LISA BLACKBURN ULLVEN

The 30th anniversary of the INSP (International Network of Street Papers) and its event on “Changing the narrative on homeless and poverty” invites us to think about what this new, improved, or revised view will be.

Together, this force of creativity across 35 countries has the power to create a vision board for the world to see and possibly even create a vision for what the world will be.

Will the vision board for 2025 be a picture of extreme weather that creates even more waves of devastation, poverty, and homelessness in the future? Former Street Sense production editor Athiyah Azeem’s Best Cover Artwork nomination shows a view of homelessness today before the record-breaking floods and heat waves head our way.

So, what about 2025 and beyond? Imagine if just two countries launched the creation of a new vision board, illustrating the cumulative effect as all populations from children to big businesses hop on board for a better world. With so much to see, this new vision may need to be in 3D.

Well, that is the plan! To celebrate the one-year anniversary of “Road Trip Stories” in Street Sense, we’re planning to plant a new seed with “Street Solutions,” where we focus on bringing actionable tips and mindsets to communities. Angie Whitehurst, community advocate, represents the “street” side of things. Lisa Ullven, community success coach and author of “Secrets to Sustainable Solutions – Tips from Business, Science, and Non-Profit Experts,” represents the “solution” side of things. Extreme weather is affecting all countries. We plan to share our tips and links across the INSP seas as a way of inviting people in all 35 countries. Our goal is to bring you small steps for significant results. Grass roofs alone are reducing roof temperatures more than 20 degrees. That is just one of the unlimited solutions to climate change taking place around the world. Together we can brainstorm and pave the way to a new vision.

Most of the solutions are already out there, in at least one country. Our goal is to explore and share more on the “how to.” Together, we will grow and create a new vision board.

The best real-world solutions are fun and repeatable like a family fun day. While it sounds silly, we need to have an everyone fun day where we join in learning tips and tools to make the world a better place. Together, the vision is to simply share solutions. You are invited!

Check out our YouTube channel @GuidedResults. You can also check out related Road Trip Story links at linktr.ee/guidedresults.

vendor/artist with Street Sense Media. Lisa Blackburn-Ullven is the author of “Secrets to Sustainable Solutions – Tips from Business, Science, and Non-Profit Experts.”

The incoming president

Ilook over the past eight years and see so many things changing in the United States. Overpopulation, for one, and everyone says that they can’t afford to eat, pay bills, or take care of their families. Yet, we continue to send money to other countries. I can say the U.S. does take care of the old people, but if asked, they’ll say they can’t afford to live.

The people in the U.S. don’t know how it is to really be without, to struggle every day to live. Everyone comes here in need of it all. They think you’re entitled to everything, but we are in budget problems too. Everyone wants more and more.

So now a new president comes in that’s not for all that. He wants to help the United States. Most people are all for the cutback, as long as it doesn’t impact them.

The thing I worry about is one person having control of too much of the government. Donald Trump has appointed all the people he knows will side with him, giving him control, just like the other dictators of the past.

He has the power because he was found guilty of a felony and still became president. I’m just saying we should not forget history.

Jackie Turner is an artist/vendor with Street Sense Media.

Merkaba unity

INVISIBLE PROPHET

The Merkaba is rooted in a high-dimensional meditation, balancing the polarity of will, self, and heart. Merbaka tradition is in the Book of Ezekiel. When I started meditation, the science of body, mind, and spirit were key elements to understanding the brain’s growth. Each key point demonstrates the chakra in trauma response. There are also discussions on how the mind connects to each organ and can carry toxic energy. The science simplifies the importance of Eastern philosophy.

Once I began meditating, my traumatized brain fought each breath I took. The teachers stated with trauma. My brain would take longer to heal and process a change from a normal routine. It was a long journey of two and half years to train this trauma brain.

With meditation, education is important for the human body. When I started, I didn’t believe it would change or shift my perception to a different way of life.

My body started having aches and pains and my organs felt sore and tired. It was like a transformation, shifting internally and releasing trauma that lasted dormant for years.

Eastern science educates on the transformation of an individual’s body, which begins through fasting and meditation.

It’s an amazing process and honestly, I don’t know if any human being could reach the Merbaka level of self-discipline. Ego is a hard place to live when healing the trauma brain.

I’ve illustrated the steps and breakdown of the Merkaba during meditation. If you meditate, have you reached the Merkaba level?

Falsely pardoned

ve had my experience with Trump supporters that was good, but I am very disturbed about Trump pardoning those people who broke federal law. SMH. I am not complaining, but two years ago I was falsely accused, and the reputation of that encounter is still affecting my life today. SMH. So it is troubling to know this is happening. I am sick to my stomach knowing these people are getting out, it’s another slap in the face. God have mercy.

Invisible Prophet is an artist/vendor with Street Sense Media.

Angie Whitehurst is a

JACKIE TURNER

ANDRE BRINSON

Andre Brinson is an artist/vendor with Street Sense Media.

Illustration by Invisible Prophet

The day before Thanksgiving

LEVESTER GREEN

Artist/Vendor

Now I can start to recuperate, but oh wow. That was like a Thanksgiving horror story, when I knew I had money on my card and the credit card company started playing me out! Talking about fraud and it being a newly activated card!? The mix-up led to an anxiety attack, causing me to lose my wallet, because the metro was all messed up and let people off at all types of odd places other than the regular bus stops. Boy, it was crazy and hectic!

That caused the chain reaction of losing my clothes washing change and all of my other credit cards. I was still stuck with that same rejected card from the Safeway, but I had already been using it and took money off it to bring up the balance on my regular bank account, with which I had just issued my rent check. It was valid with only that exact amount, so...

Now I need a replacement ID as well. Just glad I was able to order a new phone before it all went down, but even it came out of the box glitching, like huh!? The blame lies Capital One, because I called in whilst I was still at the register for all of those very same reasons. My card was glitching too and I knew it was activated and functioning but when I attempted it again after being cleared it didn’t work. That’s when Safeway seemed to surround me and start grabbing stuff. It became a hold up and then I couldn’t find my calm and chill down medicinal. It only exacerbated the whole situation and opened me up for this free sit-and-wait moment for the holiday, when all I needed was my fish on the way home to enjoy my Thanksgiving weekend! How crude. It came down to the cost of the pack of fish being the same as a two-piece Popeyes coupon meal, and nothing else much fitting in that price range, of better value anyway. How and why did the credit card company deny me the satisfaction of it? Thanks to the Sixth Presbyterian Church for their inclusion of some chicken legs in the food pack earlier that day, amen.

Oh yeah, the card had been doing the same denials the night before when I went to Whole Foods and Popeyes, where I had to call the operator and have him on the phone, but the transaction still didn’t go through for Tobacco Bazaar. It kept saying no debit and it was a credit card so I just went ahead and paid my $5 there in cash. The credit card company was initially my Walmart card, which they recently discontinued for everyone in favor of this newly issued Quicksilver Capital One credit card. So this is community-oriented too, like just how big of an impact it has!

I lost and failed to put my $5 in my bank account to sure up my rent check with a bit of a bumper. Plus all my laundry change was in my wallet pouch, so I didn’t have the peace of mind to get that completed and done, but fortunately, I did wash earlier that week so I wasn’t totally at a loss as far as fashion. I went nowhere and it was all down time but the voices in the wall stayed and remained, so I take it that they’re not close to their families, like a celebrity status of sorts. Guess I would’ve gone out to mom’s had I known these same ole plaguing rouge voices would STILL BE COMING FROM MY WALLS! GOD! IT’S BEEN AT LEAST TWO YEARS NOW GOING ON THREE BECAUSE I SEE THATS THE LAST TIME I WAS ABLE TO WORK ON EDITING MY CURRENT BOOK! This has to be someone’s old-school game plan, to be aware of the conductivity of these walls like the Underground Railroad or something, however I don’t recall any such as a child growing up in our apartment in Southeast D.C. on Barnaby Road!

Thank god for another year

Content warning: This article references domestic and sexual abuse.

Happy, happy birthday to me.

I was born on Jan. 20, 1981, and I grew up on Rock Creek Church Road in Washington, D.C. My first school was Petworth Elementary. At Gibbs Elementary I met my childhood friend, T. We’re still friends to this day. She’s one of my biggest supporters. I was taught by D.C. Public Schools and graduated in June 2000. I had my first son, Micah, in 2002. Then I had Eli and Kenneth Jr. One I didn’t raise and is being raised by someone else. In 2017, I was arrested and charged and became homeless. I lost everything, even my children.

In 2006, I became HIV positive at the age of 26. I became a volunteer at HIPS after 40 hours of volunteer training. In 2017, I worked as a drop-in center assistant at HIPS.

In 2020, I started as a student at the Academy of Hope. I am a survivor of HIV, mental health diagnoses, and domestic abuse. I’m nonbinary and a former sex worker and drug user. I’m a survivor of the worst life has to offer. I’m a survivor of being sexually abused as a child. I’m learning how to forgive and forget, but it’s a hard thing to do. Now, I’m on my mental health medicine and my HIV medicine and I’m in treatment. It’s good to live a different life now. I’m working at a job where I help people in the community and I’m part of the community in a good way. I’ve lived to see my oldest son go to college and become a young man.

I’m learning to have patience in my life. I’m learning everything doesn’t have to come at once. It takes time for things to fall into place. I’m learning how to be drug-free. I’m learning how not to use drugs to deal with the pain and abuse. Pain is love, like Ja Rule said. What did he mean by pain is love? I’ve learned the hard way, don’t anyone put pain in their love, because it’s not an easy road.

Happy, happy birthday

Thank god, thank god

To have lived another year

To have lived to 44 years old

Thank god for one more year

Thank god for one more year

Thank god for one more year

Happy holidays

Hopes for 2025

SYBIL TAYLOR

Artist/Vendor

This month has been very stressful for me and others. It has been brutally freezing and for me, and other vendors, it’s very hard to stand out in the cold trying to sell papers. Most of the time, customers will ignore me and many other vendors who are trying to survive and earn a living to make ends meet. Trying to pay off bills, trying to get food, trying to stay warm, with a cup of hot coffee, even hot soup. Hand warmers, mittens, a scarf, a heavy coat, trying to smile when deep down inside, you hurt. This has been a struggle and tough time, dealing with the cold. Please everybody support me and the other vendors to get out of the cold and stay warm all year. Help us in this difficult time.

CARLOS CAROLINA Artist/Vendor

A new year is here.

And like the crowd when it goes wild, I wish everybody cheer.

I wish grace to the grateful, I wish love to my neighbors, And peace to every block, Every city, Every nation.

Stay focused on your goals; Dream big and keep chasing. Many blessings to everyone, May everyone be successful.

I wish you well, I wish you the best, and success in every way. Joy to the world and happy holidays.

WENDY BROWN

Artist/Vendor

I would love to have 2025 be one of my best years. What would I do differently than in 2024? I would change the way I handle my finances. I would appreciate money more because you never know when it might be taken away! I would appreciate family and friends more because, again, you never know how long you might have them. There are so many things I might do differently that I hesitate to think what I would do the same!

I plan to look at homelessness more as a way I can help rather than feel helpless. This is a big change for me. Good luck to everyone.

DOMINIQUE ANTHONY Artist/Vendor

Working in D.C.

REV. DONALD DAVIS Artist/Vendor

Since I have been working with Street Sense Media, I have met a lot of good people in D.C. I have had a lot of fun doing Street Sense and I’m looking forward to meeting more people in D.C. and around the area and moving forward with Street Sense.

Bring back RFK stadium

FREDERICK

WALKER Artist/Vendor

The Washington Commanders are the best team in the NFL (Fox Sunday loves the team.) Mayor Bowser should bring RFK Stadium back to Washington, D.C. Charles Allen, D.C. councilmember, should save money for the stadium. Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

Good craftsmanship

JEFFREY CARTER

Artist/Vendor

A true story of my career and work experience as a cable TV installer: In 1985, District Cablevision came to Washington, D.C.’s Southeast, off of Shannon Place. I got my first cable TV job with the Excalibrate cable contractor office., From there, they trained me on the job, how to splice and install cable TVs from the pole to the house. They taught me how to relate to and deal with customers. Eventually, I became the number two cable installer in my company. I was so good at customer service customers would write to the cable company about my professionalism and how I did a good job installing their cable. One lady in Georgetown said she had never seen a person who worked with such craftmanship and that I did a wonderful job, and the company should give bonuses for every job I did. She said I was the best cable installer she’d ever come across in the industry and that I had restored a little of her faith in cable installer techs.

Like a thief in the night

FREDERIC JOHN Artist/Vendor

This piece was a pivotal moment in my life, and to write about a different Sept. 11 in New York City, I’ve been told, is very profound. I’m happy to share it here, but it will also appear in a longer format for an upcoming book. I hope you enjoy it.

It all started on a bright cloudy morning on Sept. 11, 1985. My Lexington Avenue 102 bus was rolling past 38th Street. “September e-leven,” I read aloud, to nobody in particular. “September eleven, nineteen-eighty-five!”

If you had to pick a moment in time for my PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) to kick in fully — why, that would likely be the moment. Mind you, I had been given a preliminary diagnosis of bipolar two, back in the fall of ‘84. My roommate Giorgio, who clearly was at least a few fries short of a happy meal himself, seemed to know a little bit of every type of human remotely connected to showbiz.

Doctor Dee was one such acupuncturist. So, G sent me over to his home office, conveniently located on Murray Hill. In the cozy studio space, we conversed, more me than Dee, natch. My anxiety level regarding flagging employment as a film player (even as a lowly extra) fed the vacuum of the dangling dialogue.

Doctor Dee asked me gently, “Do you realize how much pressured speech is coming out of your mouth, Jon?” I sheepishly admitted, “Yes, Doc you’ve got a point there.”

So, from that juncture, we’d meet casually, sometimes for my meager fee of $25, or free if I was totally busted — particularly after a pumping afternoon at Aqueduct or load Manhatten off-track-betting outlets. The worst of those sites would have to be the cramped, smoky cave inside Penn Station, where a lumbering, six-foot-eight bellowing drifter known only as “Gypsy” kept ordinary righteous gamblers like Frederic John from focusing upon the gentle art of nailing the winning horse!

I haven’t learned to not hurt when I see this young lady’s face. She is a part of my Black history and yours. I’m not a family member. I come to work and lately, she’s the first person I see. That picture reminds me of beauty crying, but being heard in a different way. Take the time to read from her point of view, and you too will also have a different memory that keeps Mango as always a part of Street Sense history.

I really didn’t want to hurt Mango’s family or any of her friends but I don’t want this to keep happening. The hurt, this grief I’m feeling, is letting me know I care and I weep for the love I may or not have.

#688

Illustration by Nikila Smith

Frugal

REGINALD BLACK Artist/Vendor

Careful with money food resources others avoid waste describing a lifestyle a meal small inexpensive sparing penny-pinching tight stingy being careful prudent thrifty

From the world, I hide within my poetry

CARLTON JOHNSON Artist/Vendor

Creative writing before my nightly sleep with the understanding of what it takes to be off the streets.

This is some of what I think of myself, just needing space for my dreams and the importance of not being alone with the long walks by day and not knowing where I’ll be by night.

DON’T make extravagant moves waste the money for the food be small, tight, or stingy

DO be careful with the resources avoid an extravagant lifestyle be careful to be tight be thrifty but prudent avoid prescribing or describing inexpensive resources avoid being tight never be stingy

Can we spare a dime?

No thoughts

T.K. HANCOCK Artist/Vendor

Today, I have absolutely no thoughts. I try to rack my senses, seeing if anything shakes loose. Absolute blackness. Like a cloak of darkness, my burning oil remains unlit… futility continues.

I choose not to question the absence of creation, afraid of the answer. Giving into the evasion, I breathe. Breathing is something.

The portrait is not the picture of life in the streets, surprised about what people may see, looking at me breaking off the hard times of the issues I face while homeless.

The part of my life I keep hidden from the world, homelessness, and the times I spread understanding on being alone and the solutions it takes to break free.

Ice storm, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2004

BRIAN HOLSTEN Artist/Vendor

On bricked heath, frozen in ice I carefully coordinate my footsteps In the blowing of a tremendous wind. My body chills as the cold makes me weary.

In uniform, I check each door, wearing triple-layered gloves, grasping and toggling my frozen keys and wand. Observation! Those giant icicles, overstretched, hang downward and everywhere.

The snow drifts 24 inches deep. I’m up to my waist, struggling to move. The penthouse, up high, becomes nothing more than actual frozen machinery. Light hits the ice crystals, creating variance of the colors’ brightened prism.

The howling wind, noisy and whipping, glides into the building, all freeze. All are frozen, and where may be the sanctuary from all of this ice hell? There is only one: the Solstice. A cup of hot cocoa and, to all, a good night!

Pass the torch

LATICIA BROCK

Artist/Vendor

How dare you? This truly hurt my heart. If you had become mayor would we have gotten the same results? You can’t always believe what you hear or see on TV. I believe you just hung around the wrong humans. What you do in the dark comes out in the light. I’m sad about the news about Trayon White last night.

But I still don’t believe this thing. That man could have been framed and he ain’t the only one who probably steals. Does the news always tell you what is real?

Homeless people still have a voice.

Pweezy for Mayor

Pass the torch.

When true love knocked on my door

DEGNON DOVONOU

Artist/Vendor

It’s time to remember the time when true love finally hit my door. Like a hunter chasing in the bush, I struggled to find true love. I struggled, yet stood out somehow in order to find someone, i.e., a beautiful woman, who would love me.

I thought with my friend I found the same love my mother had given to my father, but alas, I still remember those sleepless nights when I stood awake, Sad, and in the depths of my loneliness.

Then—whew!—I finally met Olympia, the love of my heart, the light of my life, the duplicate of my birth, the Aicha of Taranga, the Queen of Dahomey, (former kingdom of Benin), the light of darkness, the Victoria’s Secret who goes out and makes the sun disappear, the woman of my dreams.

If I don’t have any luck, I will work on my new light in the valley.

FUN & GAMES

Across

1. ___ slaw

5. Almond-like color that’s an anagram of CURE

9. Treaties and other international agreements

14. Burden

15. “The Bridge of San ____ Rey” (Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1928 novel)

16. Courtyards (TIARA anagram)

17. United in a twosome

19. With Roebuck, a bygone pioneer in large-scale mail-order sales

20. Dead heat

21. White House office shape

22. Siouan speakers featured in the “Killers of the Flower Moon” novel and movie

23. Chose from a menu

25. Candidate’s goal

26. Any one of “Seven Deadly...” behaviors

27. Delhi dress

28. Show with spinoffs set in Miami and New York (abbr./initialism)

31. MIT part (abbr.)

34. Sleep like ____ (2 wds.) (1,3)

36. Diamond weight

38. Skedaddle

39. Major character with a big part in the Bible... as graphically depicted by the relationship between six paired sets of circled letters in this puzzle

41. Get a new mortgage for, briefly (abbr.)

42. Sails high across the sky like an eagle

44. “What’s ____ is prologue” (Shakesp quotation engraved on the National Archives Building in Wash., D.C.)

45. Dangerous March day for Caesar in the Theater of Pompey

46. Openly accept blame for

47. Pigeon-___

49. Squeeze (out), as a living

51. Slave Scott in a landmark civil rights case decision

52. Keeps from escaping, as flavor (2 wds.) (5,2) (SALINES anagram)

56. Good reason for a bouncer to bounce (2 wds.) (4,2) (incls. abbr.)

59. Stove or washer, say (abbr.)

60. WSW’s reverse

61. Missed the mark

62. California’s smallest coastal town, located at the tip of Orange County (2 wds.) (4,5) (AHA, CELEBS anagram)

64. Bête ___ (person one hates most) (Fr.) (literally “black beast”)

65. “Look out - golf ball comin’ yer way!”

66. Sharif of “Doctor Zhivago”

67. Amounts of medicine

68. Small bills

69. “Mi casa ____ casa” (hospitable assurance from Jose (2 wds.) (2,2) (Sp.)

Down

1. Openly accept blame for (2 wds.) (3,2)

2. TV studio sign (2 wds.) (2,3) (NO IRA anagram)

3.

5. Time for an early lunch, perhaps (2 wds.) (6,2) (incls. Abbr.)

6. Big name in bandages

7. Cambodian currency (LIRE anagram)

8. Currency exchange board abbr./initialism

9. Northeast New Jersey city known as the “Birthplace of Television” (CIA PASS anagram)

10. Really bothered, as a haunting fear or worry (2 wds.) (3,2)

11. Mountaineer’s challenge

12. Belted item that gets worn

13. Back talk

18. “Me neither,” more formally (2 wds.) (3,1)

22. Poetic contraction that precedes “the land of the free”

24. Fruity-smelling perfume compound (STEER anagram)

25. Wise guys

27. “Oh, no! That’s heartbreaking to hear” (2 wds.) (2,3)

28. Reputation, informally

29. Ump’s call

30. “How sweet ___!” (2 wds.) (2,2)

31. “Assuming that’s correct...” (2 wds.) (2,2)

32. Sweet ____ (sugar substitute) (1’3)

33. Actors Connery or Penn

35. Bounded along with graceful, springy 43-Downs

37. The Little Mermaid

40. Church features

43. Units of walking and/or running akin to paces

48. Brit. multivolume ref. (abbr./initialism)

50. Late legendary journalist Bernard ____ who was the founding anchor of CNN’s “Reliable Sources”

51. Tractor handle?

52. Something that rarely follows a split?

53. Some clothing lines?

54. Ancient Peruvians

55. India’s first P.M.

56. ____ for oneself (manage on your own)

57. Down Under suffix with kang or wall

58. ____ Kringle or ____ Kristofferson

59. Many millennia

62. Bay Area airport code

63. Abbr. in a help wanted ad

This crossword puzzle is the original work of Patrick “Mac”McIntyre. It is provided to us courtesy of Real Change News, a street paper based in Seattle, Washington. Learn more about Real Change News and the International Network of Street Papers at realchangenews.org and insp.ngo.

ILLUSTRATION

COMMUNITY SERVICES

Housing/Shelter Vivienda/alojamiento Case Management Coordinación de Servicios

Academy of Hope Public Charter School

202-269-6623 // 2315 18th Pl. NE

202-373-0246 // 421 Alabama Ave. SE aohdc.org

Bread for the City 1525 7th St., NW // 202-265-2400 1700 Marion Barry Ave., SE // 202-561-8587 breadforthecity.org

Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Marion Barry Ave., SE calvaryservices.org

Catholic Charities // 202-772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

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

Charlie’s Place // 202-929-0100 1830 Connecticut Ave., NW charliesplacedc.org

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

Church of the Pilgrims // 202-387-6612 2201 P St., NW (1-1:30 on Sundays only) churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach

Community Family Life Services 202-347-0511 // 305 E St., NW cflsdc.org

Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 4 Atlantic St., NW communityofhopedc.org

Covenant House Washington 202-610-9600 // 2001 Mississippi Ave., SE covenanthousedc.org

D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 202-347-8870 // 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW dccfh.org

Father McKenna Center // 202-842-1112 19 North Capitol St., NW fathermckennacenter.org

Food and Friends // 202-269-2277

(home delivery for those suffering from HIV, cancer, etc) 219 Riggs Rd., NE foodandfriends.org

Foundry Methodist Church // 202-332-4010 1500 16th St., NW foundryumc.org/idministry

Identification services

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

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

Jobs Have Priority // 202-544-9096 1526 Pennslyvania Ave., SE jobshavepriority.org

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

Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org 2375 Elvans Rd, SE

2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE

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

My Sister’s Place // 202-529-5991 (24-hr hotline) mysistersplacedc.org

N Street Village // 202-939-2076 1333 N St., NW nstreetvillage.org

New York Avenue Shelter // 202-832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave., NE

Patricia Handy Place for Women 202-733-5378 // 810 5th St., NW

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

Samaritan Ministry 202-722-2280 // 1516 Hamilton St., NW 202-889-7702 // 1345 U St., SE samaritanministry.org

Sasha Bruce Youthwork // 202-675-9340 741 8th St., SE sashabruce.org

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

St. Luke’s Mission Center // 202-363-4900 3655 Calvert St., NW stlukesmissioncenter.org

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

Unity Health Care unityhealthcare.org - Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500 - Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699

1500 Galen Street SE, 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE, 1660 Columbia Road NW, 4414 Benning Road NE, 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 850 Delaware Ave., SW, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 1151 Bladensburg Rd., NE, 4515 Edson Pl., NE

Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless 1200 U St., NW // 202-328-5500 legalclinic.org

The Welcome Table // 202-347-2635 1317 G St., NW. epiphanydc.org/thewelcometable

Whitman-Walker Health 1525 14th St., NW // 202-745-7000 1201 Sycamore Dr., SE whitman-walker.org

Woodley House // 202-830-3508 2711 Connecticut Ave., NW

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

Full-time

An hourly rate of $10 plus tips to bus tables and run food. If hospitality makes you tick, we want to meet you. And if you just love the smells, sounds, and flavors of an Italian-inspired kitchen (and beverage program), then you belong here.

REQUIRED: Two years of experience

APPLY: tinyurl.com/BusserOsteriaMozza

Back of house team member

Chick-fil-A // 707 G St. NW

Full/Part-time

Prepare, cook, assemble, and present food safely, quickly and efficiently, while meeting Chick-fil-A standards. You are responsible for providing an exceptional dining experience for everyone you serve each day and for ensuring all guests receive signature Chick-fil-A service and food.

REQUIRED: 18 years or older, able to lift 20-30 pounds and has the ability to stand for long periods.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/ChickfilABackHouse

Front desk receptionist

N Street Village // 1333 N St. NW

Full-time

The front desk receptionist performs reception responsibilities and provides administrative support. The receptionist requires the use of independent judgement in problem solving, knowing and understanding internal organizational policies and procedures, and the general workflow in carrying out a variety of difficult to complex office supportive duties.

REQUIRED: N/A

APPLY: tinyurl.com/NStreetVillageOfficeAssistant

ROCHELLE WALKER Artist/Vendor

MAURICE CARTER Artist/Vendor