01 15 2007

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Every part of this issue is written by vendors and other homeless and formerly homeless people.

L R L A DO N UE E V SS I Where the Washington area's poor and homeless earn and give their two cents January 16, 2007 - February 1, 2007

Volume 4, Issue 3

Suggested Donation

www.streetsense.org

Mayor Calls on Homeless to Help Set New Priorities By David Pirtle

Vendors say “Thank You” to donors. From left to right: (top) Jesse Smith, Jake Ashford, Patricia Jefferson, Alvin Dixon El, Brenda Wilson, (bottom) Chris Sellman, Michael Jefferson, Patty Smith, Cliff Carle and Phillip Howard.

The Readers and Givers We Love

O

n behalf of all the vendors, I just wanted to thank all the donors who have given generously over the last few months. I’m really impressed by the level of generosity and unconditional love that donors have expressed.

They not only buy the paper but they buy you food and coffee when you are out there. This generosity is giving me a passion for work that I have not had in years. I enjoy getting up every morning and am excited to do something creative that I love.

By Cliff Carle

In late November I was asked to serve on Mayor Adrian Fenty’s eTransition Team as a co-chair of the Homeless Services group alongside Sczerina Perot, an attorney who has worked for the last 10 years with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. My involvement with the homeless is even more direct. I was homeless in D.C. for many months and was the strategic director for the Committee to Save Franklin Shelter. Our task was to draft a three-page document that would make concise recommendations for how the coming administration could best alleviate the problems affecting people who are homeless in the District. How can you craft an effective strategy to combat homelessness in

three pages or less? Still, we moved forward with this huge undertaking and began a series of “webinars,” or online chats. These chats brought together various interested parties including service providers, government officials, and formerly homeless individuals. Everyone brought his or her own ideas to the table. However, the problem with conducting these meetings online is that there is very little opportunity for persons who are homeless to access a computer at any given time. In order to solve this dilemma and bring current members of the homeless community into the discussion, Perot and I organized a face-to-face meeting specifically for homeless individuals. Several members of the Committee to Save

See MAYOR, page 8

The most amazing donors are those that give and don’t even buy a paper. They say, “Oh no, I don’t need that, but have this.” I’m a macho man, but that leaves me choked up when people give like that.

See

GIVERS, page 16

Pathways Out of Homelessness By Jake Ashford

Imagine finding a program in the District that finds housing for homeless people who have mental issues. I found this in Pathways. This discovery has changed my opinion about nonprofit organizations. My past opinion was that nonprofit organizations were designed for failure, simply taking

money from the government in order to benefit from other people’s misfortune. Pathways is not like that at all. I had interviewed Pathways executive director, Linda Kaufman, in December 2006 and she explained the program to me. She said that Pathways makes it possible for homeless people with mental illness to find housing, and Pathways

continues to monitor these people while they are in housing to make sure they succeed. Kaufmann added that the organization’s primary goal is getting homeless people housing and they work to achieve this before taking care of any other issues. Pathways has been in Washington, D.C. for three years and has

See

PATHWAYS, page 4

Homeless individuals and advocates met in December to discuss their biggest concerns, from affordable housing to shelter conditions to services offered.

Inside This Issue

INTERVIEW

FEATURES

The results of the annual vendor survey are revealed, page 6

More drawings from Jean-Jean and his motivation, page 15

LOCAL

EDITORIAL

VENDOR NOTES

Vendor Brenda Karyl Lee-Wilson gives a rundown of all the inagural events and her hopes, page 5

Vendor Patricia Jefferson on Open Door Shelter’s new bag search policy, page 17

Vendor Manager Jesse Smith talks about studio appearances and makeup in the paper’s 15 minutes of fame, page 18

Ringing in The New Mayor

Vendors by the Numbers Unfair Searches

Artistic Statement Street Sense on TV


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