02 19 2020 by Street Sense Media

VoL. 17 IssUE 8

FEB. 19 - MARCH 3, 2020

real Stories

real People

suggested donation goes directly to your vendor

real Change

Poor people stand up

National campaign to build community and spark change stops in DC stReetsenseMedia.oRg

@ stReetsensedc

2 // st reet sens e me di a / / Fe b . 1 9 - ma rch 3, 2020

BUsINEss MoDEL

info@streetsensemedia.org VeNDorS

how it works

street sense Media publishes the newspaper

each vendor functions as an independent contractor for street sense media, managing their own business to earn an income and increase stability in their life.

$2.00 YOUR SUGGESTED

$.50 vendors pay

DONATION

per newspaper copy

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

No CAsH? No pRoBLEM.

Pay vendors with the Street Sense media app!

s TREET s ENSE m EDIA . ORG /a PP

avai laBl e

VENDoR CoDE oF CoNDUCT

as self-employed contractors, our vendors follow a code of conduct. 1.

2. 3.

4. 5.

street sense will be distributed for a voluntary donation of $2.00. i agree not to ask for more than $2.00 or solicit donations for street sense media by any other means. i will only purchase the paper from street sense media staff and volunteers and will not sell papers to other vendors. i agree to treat all others, including customers, staff, volunteers, and other vendors, respectfully at all times. i will refrain from threatening others, pressuring customers into making a donation, or in engaging in behavior that condones racism, sexism, classism, or other prejudices. i agree not to distribute copies of street sense on metro trains and buses or on private property. i agree to abide by the street sense media vendor territorial policy at all times and will resolve any related disputes i have with other vendors in a professional manner.

BoArD oF DIreCtorS mary coller albert, blake androff, jeremy bratt, cameron curtis, jennifer Park, michael Phillips, dan schwartz, john senn, aaron stetter, daniel Webber, shari Wilson, corrine yu

CHIeF eXeCUtIVe oFFICer brian carome

i understand that i am not an employee of street sense media, but an independent contractor.

i agree to sell no additional goods or products when distributing street sense.

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

elizabeth duan

i understand that my badge and (if applicable) vest are property of street sense media, and will not deface them. i will present my badge when purchasing street sense. i will always display my badge when distributing street sense.

lissa ramsepaul

10. i agree to support street sense media’s mission statement. in doing so i will work to support the street sense community and uphold its values of honesty, respect, support, and opportunity.

the Cover

the Street Sense media Story, #morethanANewspaper

the Poor People’s campaign – a national call for moral revival had a stop for its “We must do more” tour at the church of the epihphany in downtown d.c.

originally founded as a street newspaper in 2003, street sense media has evolved into a multimedia center using a range of creative platforms to spotlight solutions to homelessness and empower people in need. the men and women who work with us do much more than sell this paper: They use ﬁlm, photography, theatre, illustration, and more to share their stories with our community. our media channels elevate voices, our newspaper vendor and digital marketing programs provide economic independence. and our in-house case-management services move people forward along the path toward permanent supportive housing. At Street Sense Media, we deﬁne ourselves through our work, talents, and character, not through our housing situation.

photo By Reginald Black

shuhratjon ahmadjonov, Wanda alexander, gerald anderson, charles armstrong, katrina arninge, lawrence autry, daniel ball, aaron bernier-garland, reginald black, mathew bowens, rashawn bowser, debora brantley, andre brinson, laticia brock, lawrence brown, brianna butler, anthony carney, nysir carter, conrad cheek, anthony crawford, louise davenport, james davis, david denny, reginald denny, ricardo dickerson, Patricia donaldson, nathaniel donaldson, ron dudley, joshua Faison, queenie Featherstone, jet Flegette, jemel Fleming, samuel Fullwood, james gartrell, anthony gary, kidest girma, chon gotti, marcus green, levester green, barron hall, dwight harris, lorrie hayes, Patricia henry, derian hickman, vennie hill, ibn hipps, dan hooks, james hughes, joseph jackson, chad jackson, david james, henry johnson, mark jones, morgan jones, mathew jones, matt jones, juliene kengnie, jewel lewis, david lindsey, john littlejohn, scott lovell, michael lyons, William mayer, jennifer mclaughlin, jeffery mcneil, ricardo meriedy, billy meyer, kenneth middleton, l. morrow, collins mukasa, evelyn nnam, Franklin owens, earl Parker, terrell Pearson, aida Peery, hubert Pegues, marcellus Phillips, jacquelyn Portee, abel Putu, ash-shaheed rabil, corey sanders, mary sellman, Patty smith, ronald smoot, david snyder, Franklin sterling, Warren stevens, beverly sutton, sybil taylor, jeff taylor, archie thomas, eric thompson-bey, martin Walker, michael Warner, vincent Watts, sheila White, angie Whitehurst, Wendell Williams, charles Woods, latishia Wynn

INTEREsTED IN BEING A VENDoR? new vendor training: every tuesday and thursday // 2 p.m. // 1317 g st., nW

Artist/Vendor

streetsensemedia.org

eDItorIAL DIreCtor eric Falquero

VeNDor mANAGer DIreCtor oF CASe mANAGemeNt CASe mANAGer nikki d’angelo

DIreCtor oF DeVeLoPmeNt maddie cunnigham

WrIterS GroUP ArtISt-IN-reSIDeNCe Willie schatz

oPINIoN eDItorS (VoLUNteer) rachel brody, arthur delaney, britt Peterson

eDItorIAL INterNS avi bajpai, ben cooper, julia Pinney, sahda Polonko, katherine randolph

DeSIGN INterN camille rood

ADVISorY BoArD john mcglasson

eDItorIAL VoLUNteerS ryan bacic, roberta haber, thomas ratliff, mark rose, andrew siddons, sarah tascone, jenny-lin smith

oFFICe SALeS VoLUNteerS bill butz, jane cave, roberta haber, ann herzog, lynn mandujano, leonie Peterkin, eugene versluysen

streetsensemedia.org

EVENTs

// 3

NEWs IN BRIEF 11-month-old dies in hotel used as overﬂow space for DC family shelters

the d.c. council has been holding oversight hearings with district agencies since jan. 6 to review their performance in Fy2019. the mayor is expected to release her proposed Fy2021 budget on march 19. d.c. council will then hold public committee hearings to review the budget from march 23 to april 9. more Info: tinyurl.com/dc-budget-21 monday, Feb.10 senior budget engagement telephone townhall time: 12:00 pm to rsvP, please call 202.442.8150

thursday, February 20 budget engagement Forum #2 time: 6:30 pm location: udc student center 4200 connecticut avenue, nW

tuesday, February 18 budget engagement Forum #1 time: 6:30 pm location: edgewood recreation center 301 Franklin street, ne

Saturday, February 22 budget engagement Forum #3 time: 11:00 am location: kenilworth recreation center 4321 ord street, ne

saturday, Feb. 22

uPdates online at ich.dc.gov

tuesday, Feb. 25

DC Poor Peoples’ Campaign mobilization meeting

D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness meetings

Street Sense media memorial Service

Strategic Planning Committee Feb. 25, 2:30 pm // 441 4th st nW

2 pm - 3 pm Church of the epiphany 1317 G Street NW

10 am - noon John Wesley Ame Zion Church 1615 14th St NW learn more about the june 20 mass Poor People’s assembly & moral march on Washington and how you can get involved. light refreshments will be provided. INFo: tinyurl.com/ppc-events

Shelter operations Committee Feb. 26, 1 pm // tbd * Likely 441 4th Street NW Youth Committee Feb. 27, 10 am // 441 4th st nW ***List features only committee meetings. For issue-focused working group, contact ich.info@dc.gov.

It has been a very difﬁcult several months for our team due to the loss of many colleagues. Please join us in honoring the lives of alice carter, moyo onibuje, angela Pounds, and james stewart.

Submit your event for publication by emailing editor@streetsensemedia.org

AUDIeNCe eXCHANGe international network of street Papers @_insP

an 11-month-old girl died last week after being injured at a hotel used as an overflow homeless shelter, according to a release from d.c. police. the death was ruled a homicide and is under investigation. At around 3 p.m. on Feb. 6, police were notified of an infant who had been taken to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries, the release stated. The girl — identified as Makenzie Anderson — arrived unconscious and was pronounced dead at 2:44 p.m. after succumbing to her injuries, according to a Washington Post report. the mPd release stated an autopsy on the young girl’s remains determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head. the infant sustained the injuries at the quality inn & suites in the 1600 block of new york avenue, northeast — where the city government contracts for rooms to provide families experiencing homelessness who cannot fit into its shelter facilities. street sense media reported in november 2017 and February 2019 that safety concerns, strict curfews, and lack of space for children to play made some families feel uneasy and unwelcome staying at the quality inn and a days inn and the hotel arboretum. the days inn is also still contracted for overflow shelter capacity. The Hotel arboretum is not. the department of human services outlined a plan in February 2019 to exit four motel shelters by the end of 2020, including the quality inn by the third quarter, the Washington city Paper reported..

—ben.cooper@streetsensemedia.org

Curtis Investment Group fined $900K for housing discrimination in DC The Ofﬁce of the Attorney General (OAG) of the district of columbia announced on Feb. 13 that curtis investment group, inc., a maryland-based real estate and property management company, will pay the district of columbia $900,000 for discriminating against low-income renters. this resolves a lawsuit brought against curtis by the oag in 2019. the 2019 suit had alleged that curtis and several related maryland-based corporate entities posted discriminatory housing advertisements online and refused to accept housing vouchers and other forms of assistance from prospective tenants. in his announcement of the settlement, d.c. attorney general karl racine stated, “real estate companies are now on notice that discriminating against tenants on the basis of how they pay their rent is illegal. if they violate the law, we will seek to impose serious ﬁnes and penalties.” —Roberta Haber

international network of street Papers @_insP

next stop for the @bigissue #vendorcityguides series is the us capital, Washington dc. @streetsensedc vendor Wendell is on hand to offer you some top tips for what to see and do in his home city! https://tinyurl.com/insp-dc-guide

Writing poems since he was a teenager, @streetsensedc artist Franklin sterling developed an intriguing style based on medieval english and blending other languages: https://tinyurl.com/franklin-proﬁle

11:28 am - 17 feb 2020

coRRections in the previous edition of street sense, the photo essay on pgs 8-9 titled “soldiering on” mismatched the bios and photos of two individuals featured in the essay, Percy davis and charlie kudla. the online edition will be updated.

4 // st reet sense me di a / / Fe b . 1 9 - ma rch 3, 2020

NEWs

Rent subsidies, mental health care tied to housing stability By ReuteRs staff Reuters.com

dults who are experiencing homelessness and also have mental illness may have an easier time finding and keeping stable housing when they receive rent supplements and mental health support services, a Canadian study suggests. Researchers focused on the effectiveness of Housing First, a program in Toronto that’s different from traditional approaches to housing for homeless adults with mental illness that require aid recipients to achieve sobriety and or undergo psychiatric treatment. Housing First provides immediate access to housing and mental health services without any preconditions. All 575 participants in the current study were homeless and mentally ill, and some of them also had substance use disorders. Researchers randomly assigned them to receive Housing First services with community treatment or with intensive case management, or to a control group that only received access to more traditional support programs. Over the first year of the study, people assisted by Housing First spent 70-72 per cent of their days in stable housing, whereas people who received traditional support services conditioned on sobriety and psychiatric treatment spent 23-30 per cent of their days in stable housing, the study found. And by the sixth year of the study, people assisted by Housing First spent 86-88 per cent of their days in stable housing, compared with 60-78 per cent of days in stable housing for individuals who received traditional support services. Much of this difference might be due to the higher likelihood of unmet needs among homeless adults who received traditional support services instead of immediate assistance through Housing First, lead study author Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos of the Center for Addiction and Mental

Health in Toronto and colleagues write in Lancet Psychiatry. “Participants with high support needs in the TAU group maintained persistent low levels of housing stability during the study period, exposing persisting access barriers to appropriate services for this population,” Stergiopoulos and colleagues write. “These findings highlight the unmet needs of homeless adults with mental illness and high support needs, even within a resource rich service delivery context, and the limited effectiveness of usual services in supporting housing stability for this population,” the authors write. The study is the first to suggest that Housing First is associated with lasting increases in the number of days homeless adults spend in stable housing, especially for individuals with more severe mental health needs, the study team notes. Housing First wasn’t associated with improvements in quality of life, reductions in the severity of substance abuse problems, or better functioning in the community, the study found. But the program didn’t make any of these outcomes worse, either. It’s also not yet clear what specific aspects of Housing First might have had the most positive impact on the lives of homeless adults, or how easily a program like this might be replicated. Even so, the results add to the evidence suggesting that the Housing First program does meet the needs of many adults it serves, Emmy Tiderington of the Rutgers School of Social Work in New Brunswick, New Jersey, writes in an editorial accompanying the study. “This study adds to an extensive body of literature that has already demonstrated the positive effect of Housing First on housing stability over time,” Tiderington writes. “The major contribution of this particular study is the documentation of the effect of the intervention over a six-year period, which is the longest follow-up to date.”

APPLY FOR DISCOUNTS ON YOUR UTILITY BILLS APPLY FOR DISCOUNTED RATES ON :

Natural Gas

Residential Essential Service (RES) Program

RES eligible customers will receive an approximate 25% discount on total bill.

Water

Customer Assistance Program (CAP)

Potential discount could be over $500.00 annually.

Electric

Residential Aid Discount (RAD) Program

Potential savings of $300-475 annually.

Telephone

Lifeline Program (Economy II)

Annual discount on one land line service per household.

Courtesy of Reuters / INSP.ngo

for more info call 311 or visit doee.dc.gov/udp To apply for the telephone Lifeline Service (Economy II), call 1-800-837-4966 A homeless man sits on a grate venting warm air in a steady snowfall in toronto's downtown financial district.

reuters/andy clark

These discounts are for DC residents and are subject to income eligibility requirements.

streetsensemedia.org

Mass meeting shows strong local support for next March on Washington By Reginald Black Artist/Vendor

he Poor People’s Campaign held a mass meeting on Jan. 29 as part of a 20-plus-state tour to prepare for a huge rally and march on Washington that will happen early in the summer. “We’re coming back June 20th 2020,” said Alvin Jackson, an organizing leader for the D.C. chapter of the campaign. To get the meeting started, Rev. Glenna Huber welcomed guests to Church of the Epiphany in downtown D.C. “We understand the Biblical mandate of God’s love,” she said before giving the floor to Rev. Liz Theodoris, a national leader of the campaign. This revival of MLK’s 1968 Poor People’s Campaign was launched in 2018 with the theme of highlighting and connecting many intersecting and overlapping issues of poverty. At the Jan. 29 meeting, local activists and impoverished people from across the country had a chance to speak. A common theme of modern day poverty in the United States is the shift in demographics in cities where gentrification is occurring. Cheryl Brunson, a resident and leader of the tenants association at Brookland Manor in Northeast D.C. spoke for many low income people here in the District. “Developers are trying to throw us out of our own community,” Brunson said. “They are jailing us in our own neighborhoods. Legislators are allowing this to happen to us … I’ve been here 30-plus years. They’re using [Brookland Manor] as a cash cow. This is our home.” Brunson said Mayor Muriel Bowser gave a developer $47 million to build on the property and put out the remaining residents by not building units large enough to fit their families. “They’re jailing our teenagers for leaning on the fence, for standing on the porch. It’s breaking my heart,” Brunson said. “The neighbors that I used to see are there no more. They are not neighbors anymore because they are homeless.” In an effort to stay in their homes, Brunson and the tenant association have been organizing neighborhood events, filing appeals, and testifying before D.C. Council. “We’ll continue to stand strong,” Brunson said. “Hell, no, we won’t go.” Megan Macaraeg, labor organizer for the D.C.-based immigrant rights nonprofit, Many Languages One Voice, said people who live in poverty are subject to trauma and violence, and often experience police brutality.

Macaraeg described a call she received from a neighbor about an incident in Columbia Heights where the police had “crushed” a 15-year-old to the ground for the crime of selling tamales on 14th St NW in Columbia Heights. The teenager, Genesis Lemus, joined Macaraeg at the podium. “Street vending [without a permit] is criminal in D.C.,” Macaraeg said. She praised the youth that Many Languages One Voice has been organizing, saying young people have been actively pressuring the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory affairs to provide them with permits so that they may earn a living legally. For Lark Catoe-Emerson, another District resident, poverty has a different manifestation when compounded with mental health issues. Catoe-Emerson said she was never able to have a normal relationship with her adopted mother because her mother did not receive adequate treatment for paranoid schizophrenia. Catoe-Emerson said the court system is built to destroy Black families, adding that waiting to intervene until a person is an immediate threat to themselves or others is a sign of inadequate health care. She said she was blocked from managing her mother’s care, which left her mother without the option of staying in her home or the ability to keep her things. “I should have been able to take care of her. But I spend my time fighting the system that profits to keep her the ward of the state,” Catoe-Emerson said. “For too long the lawmakers have ignored the pain and struggle of poor people. The mayor’s ‘Fair Shot’ [language] sounds good, but it’s more harmful than helpful. It blames the poor for their poverty.” Catoe-Emerson said she is not a bad mother if her kids steal food because they don’t get enough through the school lunch program and that being unable to afford a lawyer does not make her a bad daughter. She said tax dollars should be used for housing and health care, not to fund wars, the lifestyles of politicians, or dog parks. Catoe-Emerson urged attendees to organize and take action. “They may be able to ignore me if I stand alone,” she said, “but not if we stand together. They can’t ignore 140 million poor people in this country if we stand together.” Karla Mendez-Guerrero, a deaf student at Gallaudet University and the director of equity for the student body government, said the deaf community experiences high rates of unemployment, leaving many deaf people

// 5

From Left: Lark Catoe-Emerson, Cheryl Brunson. Rev. Glenna Huber, Liz Theoharis, Wendsler Nosie Sr. Photo by Reginald Black

with no option but to rely on Social Security Disability Insurance as income. But it is not enough. “Who can afford to live on just $771 a month?” asked Mendez-Guerrero, who is the first in her family to attend college. “I’ve been struggling financially. My father’s income increased recently. But that resulted in them cutting my financial aid.” She said her father’s increase in income isn’t enough to support her schooling, and she’s not alone. More than 120 students, or 10 percent of the student body, had to leave the university due to financial issues, according to Mendez-Guerrero. She said finishing college is critically important because many employers discriminate against deaf people and there are not enough good-paying jobs. ”Our president has proposed cuts in SSI and SSD, and that means some of us won’t be able to afford health care.” Mendez-Guerrero said. “I believe we need equality and that we all need the opportunity to live.” Representatives of poor people from across the country told the group why they’ll be joining the June, 2020, march on Washington. West White, an organizer with the California Homeless Union, described homelessness as the most visible expression of poverty. “In the wealthiest state, human beings are living in chicken coops on gas station rooftops, on river bottoms. Our children are being stolen from us simply because we cannot afford housing. Entire families spend the night in cars running the engines all night and dying of carbon monoxide poisoning as a result. Where I live In Monterey County, 6,000 students don’t have a house to live in.” White said his union is bringing together those who have nothing left to lose. Wendsler Nosie, Sr., former Chairman and Councilman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in southeast Arizona, said the U.S. government is preparing to transfer ownership of a mountain that his people view as holy to a foreign company. The company will mine the mountain for copper and other minerals. “For over 500 years, Native Americans have suffered,” Nosie said. “Without mother earth we have nothing.” Hope Koss, a woman from Pennsylvania, said she was born poor and saw enlistment in the U.S. Military as the only pathway out of poverty. “The poverty draft is very real,” Koss said. In the military she faced discrimination for being a woman and was decomissioned early. With no home to return to, she eventually became homeless. Now she works for Put People First PA, advocating for health care as a human right. Koss claimed that University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a $20 billion nonprofit,

controls many hospitals throughout the state and has purchased many failing rural hospitals, ostensibly to save them. She said UPMC has instead repeatedly allowed such facilities to fail in order to rezone and resell the property. Koss said residents who relied on those hospitals are dying because they cannot afford to travel to the next town to get the health care they need. Rev. William Barber, one of the co-chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign, said the first role of the campaign is to force a focus on poverty that hasn’t existed for 50 years. He called the idea of scarcity in America a cover up, and accused lawmakers in 22 states that have passed voter suppression laws since 2010 of diluting power, maintaining the status quo, and holding down the poor. He railed against the fact that it takes 107 hours of minimum-wage work per week to afford a basic apartment in D.C. and that more than 6,500 people are homeless. “That’s the cover up, it doesn’t have to be that way,” Barber said. “We have the money, we just don’t have the mercy. We have the cash but we just don’t have the conscience.” Pastor Graylan Hagler of Plymouth Congregational Baptist Church on North Capitol Street NE further expounded on the situation in the District of Columbia. He said Black and brown people are being rapidly displaced from the city. “We’re trying to bring a halfway house to D.C.,” Hagler said. “The politicians don’t want them to come home. We’re not going anywhere.” Barber said one third of the country is stricken by poverty, and 250,000 Americans die in poverty each year — roughly 700 people per day. “But seven people died from vaping and we got a hearing and a presidential meeting and called it a national emergency,” Barber said. He said there ought to be a “mourning” in America. He reminded the crowd that when the speakers that preceded him were sharing their stories, they were sharing tragedies. “Don’t clap like it’s something to be celebrated,” Barber said. “When we hear what people are going through, our hearts should mourn, our eyes should tear up, our feet should prepare to march, our mouths should swing open, to even think we have to have a homeless union in America.” Barber said the march on Washington in June will create a stage for poor people to testify and demand that these moral failings be addressed. A “mobilization meeting” for the D.C. chapter of the campaign is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22, at John Wesley AME Zion Church, 1615 14th St NW. “We are going to change the narrative. America, your heart will be broken, your conscience will be sheared, and we will show you a way out, if you let us,” Barber said.

6 // S t reet S ense Me di a / / Fe b . 1 9 - Ma rch 3, 2020

NEWs

Sandra Jackson, House of Ruth executive director. Photo courtesy of House of Ruth

DC native honored by Georgetown Univeristy for her work to help homeless women and children By Catherine Lee The D.C. Line

This article was first published by TheDCLine.org.

s a newborn fresh out of the hospital and the last of five children, Sandra Jackson lay in a bassinet in her family’s home on S Street in Northwest, her parents and siblings huddled around her. Jackson tears up as she recalls the story one of her sisters later told about that moment. “My sister says she knew I was special, so I carry that with me,” says Jackson. “I don’t take it to mean that I’m special. I take it to mean that there was something special I needed to do and that I was purposed to do.” Growing up, Jackson learned that “Sandra” is derived from the Greek name Alexandra, which means “defender of mankind.” So, it was no surprise that Jackson grew up to be a social worker. Now, with more than two decades of experience in social services management in the D.C. area, Jackson, 64, serves as executive director of House of Ruth, which provides safe housing and other services for women and children in the District who have experienced homelessness and domestic abuse. In recognition of Jackson’s service, Georgetown University honored her with its 18th annual John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award on Jan. 20 as part of the

Kennedy Center’s annual Let Freedom Ring Celebration. The award recognizes a local individual who exemplifies the values of Martin Luther King Jr. and the university, presented on the federal holiday that honors the civil rights icon. Since Jackson took charge in 2016, House of Ruth has increased the services it provides to clients by 31% and nearly completed its firstever capital campaign for the construction of a new day care center, opening on Pennsylvania Avenue SE in Ward 7 this summer. “Under Sandra Jackson’s leadership, [House of Ruth] has been able to expand its work to help some of our city’s most vulnerable women and children rebuild their lives,” says Chris Murphy, Georgetown’s vice president for government relations and community engagement, whose office participates in the nomination process for the award. “I think Dr. King would be proud to see her honored with the Legacy of a Dream Award.”

‘I heard the calling early’ Jackson’s father died when she was 14. By that time, the family had moved to Benning Heights in Southeast and her mother had left her job at a box factory in D.C. to take a position at the U.S. Government Printing Office. Jackson describes her mother as “the connector” who hosted Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners for her extended family and cared for relatives when they were sick.

“I heard the calling early,” says Jackson, a petite woman. “I saw firsthand what it was like to really serve others, provide for others and care for others.” She met her future husband on a playground in Benning Heights when she was about 12; he was a couple of years older. They were both students at Kelly Miller Middle School in Northeast. After school, he would walk her home, carrying her books. Jackson went on to Spingarn High School; he enrolled at what was then Phelps Vocational High School. She and her husband — the Rev. Alonzo Jackson Sr., pastor of St. James Baptist Church in Capitol Heights, Maryland — have been married now for 42 years. Jackson, who became executive director three years after joining House of Ruth in 2013 as director of operations, spent the early years of her career working in human resources — recruiting nurses for a couple of hospitals in the District. But, by the late 1980s, she had found her true calling. She took a job at Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Washington — visiting at-risk families in their homes — and earned a master’s degree in social work from Howard University in 1993. She served as regional director of Catholic Charities’ D.C. Family Services for five years. Jackson left Catholic Charities in 2002 for a job as an administrator with the District’s Child and Family Services Agency, where she

worked for a decade with children in foster care. “Permanency became near and dear to my heart, making sure that children found good homes if they couldn’t go back to their own,” she says.

A Georgetown professor helped to start House of Ruth More than 35 years before Jackson joined House of Ruth, the organization was created with help from Georgetown sociology professor Veronica Maz, who was also instrumental in starting D.C. social services agencies Martha’s Table and So Others Might Eat (SOME). Once described by Washington Post columnist George F. Will as a “hyperkinetic fireplug,” Maz died in June 2014 at the age of 89. According to her Washington Post obituary, Maz took a couple of her students to D.C.’s skid row on a wintry day in 1970. Before she left, a man fell down in front of her. Assuming he was drunk, she walked around him, got in her car and drove home. Haunted by the experience, she chastised herself for not helping him. She later left academia and started working on the streets of D.C. Bolstered by Maz’s advocacy, House of Ruth opened in 1976 as a shelter for abused women, housing eight homeless women on its first night in the basement of a Massachusetts Avenue NW row house, according to the organization’s website. At the time, the

streetsensemedia.org

// 7

AT A GLANCE District had only a few shelters for men; there were none dedicated to serving women or their children. Now, in addition to a day care center and a counseling center, House of Ruth runs 14 housing programs — seven for women and children, and seven for single women. The programs provide “a continuum of housing,” says Jackson. The housing includes apartment buildings that are staffed 24 hours a day by House of Ruth as well as apartments scattered around the District, where women and children receive services in their homes. Women who no longer need the services of House of Ruth can stay in their apartments at affordable rents, avoiding the disruption of yet another move. In 2018, House of Ruth served 1,048 women and children, offering safe housing to 417 women and children a night in its programs, according to the organization’s website. House of Ruth’s counseling center offers therapy to all trauma survivors, regardless of gender, providing individual counseling and therapy to more than 100 survivors each month and group counseling to an additional 45 each month.

Not satisfied with the status quo Tara Villanueva, director of House of Ruth’s day care center, says she could tell from the moment she first met Jackson in 2013 that this woman would be a strong advocate for homeless and abused women and children. Jackson was visiting the center, known as Kidspace, for the first time. “I could see from the look on her face that she knew the place wasn’t working for us,” says Villanueva. “She knew we were doing great work in the building, but the building was in bad shape. She wasn’t satisfied.” At the time, Kidspace was in its original location on Pennsylvania Avenue SE, where it launched in 1996. In the months ahead, House of Ruth faced a licensing deadline that would require substantial renovations to keep the center open, so the agency moved to several modular buildings owned by New Macedonia Baptist Church on Alabama Avenue SE. After about 18 months, the church decided to reclaim the buildings and House of Ruth was once again in search of a new location. Fortunately, the AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation had a building on Savannah Street SE that had recently been vacated. Kidspace has been renting it since September 2018. “Savannah Street is much better than what we’ve had in the past,” says Villanueva, who first came to House of Ruth as a volunteer when she was 18.

“But it’s still not 100%.” At its current location, Kidspace can only accommodate 44 children. When the center moves to the new building, which is under construction at the original site on Pennsylvania Avenue, Kidspace will enroll up to 88 children. The new facility will have a community room that neighborhood residents can use for meetings and playgrounds for children enrolled in the House of Ruth program as well as for those who live in the community. Since the start of the capital campaign in 2017, House of Ruth has raised $7 million for the construction of Kidspace. With $230,000 left to go, Jackson meets often with potential donors, promoting the organization’s mission and talking about the needs of the women and children in her care. Jackson says she wants the same things for House of Ruth clients and their children that she wanted for her three children when they were growing up — a safe home and high-quality child care. Nothing less will do, she insists, because the stakes are too high for women and children who have suffered the trauma of homelessness and domestic abuse. “Many of our moms experienced trauma as children that was never dealt with,” she notes. “Then they experience domestic violence and homelessness on top of that. Their children have been impacted and have very special needs. If they leave House of Ruth and can’t get affordable housing and that causes them to spiral again, that’s not fair to the family.”

Caring for her staff Jackson notes that the jobs of House of Ruth teachers and social workers are demanding. To support her staff, she provides opportunities for them to participate in leadership and credentialing programs. Under her

guidance, House of Ruth has developed partnerships with other social services agencies around the city. House of Ruth staffer Seteria Hollinshed, who coordinates a program that provides dormitory-style housing for single women in a building that was once aD public school, says the partnerships have enhanced the organization’s visibility. House of Ruth “is more at the forefront in discussions about domestic violence and homelessness,” notes Hollinshed. “Other agencies are calling for our expertise in different areas.” As part of the Legacy of a Dream award, Georgetown is working with House of Ruth to develop a yearlong partnership tailored to the organization’s needs, according to a university spokesperson. Partnership programs for previous awardees have included symposiums, scholarships for employees to participate in executive leadership programs at the university, and the development of local legislative strategies to advance an organization’s priorities, the spokesperson notes. Jackson commutes to the House of Ruth offices on Northwest D.C.’s Thomas Circle from her home in Solomons, Maryland, about 90 minutes away. She doesn’t mind the long drive because it gives her time to work out issues that House of Ruth clients are facing. “I’m always thinking about what our families need to be successful.” Chris Robinson, coordinator of House of Ruth’s Hope Rising housing program, says she doesn’t know when Jackson finds time to sleep. Jackson acknowledges that the hours are long, but she’s sustained by the impact that House of Ruth makes on the lives of women and children. “We don’t always see that impact right away but sometimes there are glimmers, little pieces that shine, and I tell myself that’s why I’m doing this.”

James Stewart, a longtime vendor who sold the paper near Eastern Market, Freedom Plaza, and other locations, passed away on Feb. 7 at the age of 61. Please send memories and tributes to be considered for publication to editor@streetsensemedia.org. a memorial service for james and others will be held at 2 p.m. on Feb. 25 at the church of the epiphany, 1317 g street nW. the lives of alice carter, moyo onibjue, angela Pounds will also be honored at this time.

BIRTHDAYS William Meyer feb. 11 ARTIST/VENDOR

our stories, straight to your inbox street sense Media provides a vehicle through which all of us can learn about homelessness from those who have experienced it. sign up for our newsletter to get our vendors' stories in your inbox. House of ruth served 1,048 women and children in 2018. Its capital campaign to pay for new, expanded facilities for its day care center is nearly complete. Photo courtesy oF house oF ruth

www.StreetSenseMedia.org/newsletter

8 // S t reet S ense Me di a / / Fe b . 1 9 - Ma rch 3, 2020

NEWs

Felipe and Lilia Salvador in the living room of their one-bedroom Columbia Heights apartment. Photo by Avi Bajpai

Tenants on strike describe the financial, medical, and emotional toll of apartments in disrepair by avi bajpai avi.bajpai@streetsensemedia.org

t is early February and Columbia Heights resident Felipe Salvador says his family hasn’t had functional heating for months. Instead, he had to buy two portable radiators, one for the bedroom in which his three kids sleep and the other for the living room. On especially cold nights, when extra blankets weren’t enough, Salvador says he had to leave his oven on with the door open. He and his wife saw no alternative despite the safety hazard. Even then, the makeshift arrangements were no substitute for the broken heaters, which the building’s owner, Urban Investment Partners Property Management (UIP), is responsible for maintaining. Salvador says he, his wife Lilia, and his kids have all gotten sick without adequate heating. It’s just one of the myriad problems that he and his wife describe in detail while sitting at the dining table tucked between the kitchen and living room in their one-bedroom apartment. These are some of the disputes at the heart of a rent strike launched in December and the resulting court battle. Another issue emerged in October, when Salvador began to notice bubbles forming in his bathroom ceiling. Over time, Salvador says, the ceiling started to leak. When a maintenance worker sent by UIP came to fix the leak in mid-November, the drywall caved in, leaving a gaping hole in the ceiling. The worker left anyway. “We were very mad and we were very frustrated,” Salvador says in Spanish, as Georgetown University students and activists Mariel Mendez and Daniela Gaytan translate. “Every time we would go to use the toilet, and you looked up, some dirty water would fall on you. It was a matter of trying to dodge the water that was falling from the ceiling.” After multiple complaints about the ceiling, UIP sent another worker who declared that nothing was leaking and said there was nothing he could do. Salvador’s wife, Lilia, says they waited weeks for UIP to patch up the leak. Ultimately, they gave up and tried to solve the problem themselves, using ceramic and tin sheets.

The nonstop leak in Salvador’s bathroom caused the ceiling to cave in (left), and when repairmen sent by UIP refused to fix the damage, Salvador was forced to patch it up himself (right). Photos courtesy of Felipe Salvador

The nonstop leak in Salvador’s bathroom caused the ceiling to cave in (left), and when maintenance workers sent by UIP refused to fix the damage, Salvador decided to patch it up himself (right). Photos courtesy of Felipe Salvador Not until December — when Salvador and 12 other tenants in the building at 3435 Holmead Place NW launched the strike — did UIP respond to their complaints. With the help of local activists from the D.C. Tenants Union and Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, the tenants served management with notice of their intent to withhold rent if adequate repairs were not made within a month. UIP responded swiftly, serving each of the tenants with eviction notices in late December. The tenants are now working with the activists to challenge their evictions on the grounds that by failing to make repairs, UIP did not maintain habitable living conditions in violation of D.C. law. As explained in the D.C. Tenant Bill of Rights, local law entitles tenants to a “warranty of habitability” — a legal standard that holds landlords responsible for “keeping the premises safe and secure and free of rodents and pests, keeping the structure and facilities of the building in good repair, and ensuring

adequate heat, lighting, and ventilation,” says Joel Cohn, a legislative director at the D.C. Office of the Tenant Advocate. If their landlord is notified of a problem and fails to make adequate repairs “within a reasonable period of time,” tenants can legally withhold rent by providing written notice, documenting their claims and paying each month’s amount into an escrow account while they await a court order on their situation, Cohn says. The practice is not without risk, as tenants may still end up evicted in the end. Cohn recommends tenants first seek a property inspection from the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs and secure a housing code violation report to justify a potential rent strike. Since 2004, DCRA has received 51 property-code violation complaints from residents in the Holmead Place building. Of those, 31, or roughly 60%, occurred after 2011, when UIP bought the building for a foreclosure price of $7.05 million and took over management. The current assessed value is $10.87 million, according to the District’s property tax database. UIP’s website lists rents for the three available units as $1,462 for a studio and $1,609 for a one-bedroom unit. UIP did not return multiple requests for comment. Salvador says he joined the rent strike because he wanted “someone to listen to us.” He says there are other tenants in the building, many of them Hispanic immigrants, who might want to join the strike but can’t afford to miss work to appear in court, or are unaware of their rights. “We come to this country, we don’t know the laws here. If they tell us stand up, we stand up. If they say sit down, we sit down, because we don’t know better,” he says. “Of course, the management takes advantage of that. But when it comes to rent, they’re always after that.” Lilia has been unemployed since losing her job in February 2019. She has been hired to start a new job soon, but for the last year, Felipe shouldered the entire burden to provide for the family. To make ends meet, he has been working as a part-time Uber driver in addition to his regular shifts as a delivery driver for a local supermarket. In total, Felipe says he works roughly 70 to 80 hours per week to pay for repairs on top of his $1,483 rent. Three floors up, in a smaller studio apartment, another tenant who has been withholding rent says she has had mold on her living room walls. Norma Salvador says she has also had problems with cockroaches and mice, as well as three separate bedbug infestations. The two tenants are unrelated and happen to share the same last name. When her apartment was first infested with bedbugs, Norma says, she threw out all her furniture and belongings, including her mattress and a table given to her by a relative. However, she couldn’t afford to refurnish her apartment again, so she relied instead on insecticide she bought from Home Depot to deal with the subsequent infestations. Other tenants at Holmead Place have complained of bedbug infestations, according to Norma. Felipe confirmed that his previous apartment in the building had also become infested. After the most recent infestation in November, Norma went with the other tenants to UIP’s main office in Northeast D.C. to deliver a 30-day notice of their intent to withhold rent. “We told them we were giving them a month to fix everything,” she says. “They told us they were going to do repairs, but it seems like there are way too many repairs to make.” Lilia thinks UIP has been fixing problems in units that aren’t participating in the strike. No repairs have been made to the apartments of the tenants who are withholding rent, she says. The tenants made their first appearance in D.C. Landlord & Tenant Court on Jan. 22, prior to which they held a rally against UIP outside the courthouse. Norma and Felipe are both scheduled to reappear in court for further proceedings in February and June, per court records. This article was co-published with TheDCLine.org

streetsensemedia.org

// 9

A screenshot from Anthony Williams’s 2018 interview with the nonprofit advocacy group Invisible People, filmed in Union Station. Watch recording at tinyurl.com/IPTV-anthony. Courtesy of InvisiblePeople.tv

Anthony Denico Williams, aspiring group home director, killed at 20

By Julia Pinney julia.pinney@streetsensemedia.org

amily and friends filled the pews of The House of Praise in the Deanwood neighborhood on Feb. 13 to celebrate the life of Anthony Denico Williams. He died on Jan 26. in an altercation over a sale of K2, a synthetic form of marijuana, at Union Station. This April would have been his 21st birthday. According to court documents, Williams refused to sell to Angel Moses because she owed him $5 from a previous transaction. In response, Moses stabbed Williams around his left shoulder, passed the knife off to a man nearby, and fled the Metro platform where the altercation occurred. While Moses said Williams got in her face and taunted her, security footage shows him not reacting aggressively to her threatening advances, according to the court records. Markkee Coleman, 21, one of Williams’ close friends at Kingsman Academy said Williams was like a brother to him and someone who would give you the shirt from his back. “I don’t know why anybody would hurt somebody like that,” said Coleman, who previously interned with Street Sense Media. Williams started experiencing homelessness shortly after his mother, Denice Williams, died of colon cancer in 2016. He remained without housing until his death according to his childhood friend, Tahlibrah Magruder, 20. “When his mother passed, that’s when a lot of

forget about everything that was going on. I stuff started really going downhill for him,” just remember him saying, “It’s your birthday. Magruder said. Why are you not turning up?” Coleman said he would go down to Union This selflessness was who Williams was, Station to see Williams, and the last time he Magruder said. “The one thing I will never saw his friend, a couple of days before he forget about him is he was always there for died, Williams seemed to be doing well. They everybody. It didn’t matter what he was going didn’t talk much about his being homeless, through, how he was feeling. And he was but Coleman would often ask if he had a going through a lot.” job. “He’d say ‘I’ve been looking, I’ve been Williams loved spending time with friends, looking,’” Coleman said. as well as playing football and dancing, Coleman also remembered Williams’ smile according to friends and family. The program which could light up a room, a sentiment distributed at echoed by members the service said of his family during many were a portion of the holding Williams service in which in their hearts. those in attendance “Cherishing his were invited to memories are share memories father and one of Williams, who sibling, and a host many knew as of aunts, uncles, Nico or Smurda. cousins, and Friends also spoke grandfather, and about Williams’ other relatives ability to turn a and friends, bad day around as well as his and dedication to homeless family having a good time. he embraced,” the Magruder talked program read. about a recent Wi l l i a m s birthday when she previously received was feeling sad media attention about not having in 2018 when plans. “He just Grace McKinnon, popped up, talking A copy of the program for Anthony Denico Williams’s a licensed social to me, making me funeral at The House of Praise. Photo by Julia Pinney

worker in the district, videoed a confrontation he had with U.S. Capitol Police near Union Station. The officers had Williams at gunpoint and were ordering him to get on the ground. McKinnon videoed while calming Williams down. “Just get on the ground, bruh. Hey bruh, just get on the ground. Don’t die, this is not worth dying for,” she can be heard saying to Williams in the video. In a Jan 27. Interview with WUSA9, McKinnon commented on the tragedy of Williams dying so young. “He still had this whole life ahead of him. For it to end like this, I don’t know if there’s meaning in that.” Williams talked about his dreams for the future in a March 2018 interview with the organization, Invisible People. Along with a nice job and a roof over his head, he hoped to be in a position to give back to others. Williams described the home he wanted to open for adults and kids who had nowhere to go, and the recreation center he would form to provide after school programming and job support. Magruder felt similarly about Williams dying so young, as she reflected upon seeing his face for the last time as he laid in an open casket. “Seeing him here today really hurts. We used to talk about what he wanted to do, he don’t get to do that.” Street Sense Media is committed to providing free obituaries for members of D.C.’s homeless community. If this is needed, contact editor@streetsensemedia.org.

1 0 // S t reet S ense Me di a / / Fe b . 1 9 - Ma rch 3, 2020

opinion The Democratic base cares about ‘identity politics’ for a good reason By Jeff Taylor

In the Jan. 24 - Feb. 4, 2020 issue of Street Sense, opinion writer Jeffery McNeil made some claims that demand rebuttal, if for no other reason than to educate Mr. McNeil on a number of topics. In his last column, McNeil wrote: “If Tulsi [Gabbard] and [Andrew] Yang don’t find a way to unify what’s left of the Democratic Party I see Republicans being in power for decades to come.” Mr. McNeil further stated: “Instead of being a big tent where they let the base pick the nominee, the Democrats are doing everything they can to prop up a puppet such as Joe Biden or a deceiver such as Elizabeth Warren.” Setting aside the slurs against Biden and Warren, we are in primary season. That’s when the base picks the nominee. It’s the base that likes Biden and Warren. (As a matter of fact, a majority of Black voters, who are a significant part of the progressive base, like Joe Biden.) The only reason Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang never really gained any significant traction (unlike Buttigieg) is because there just wasn’t that much energy from the base. The GOP base is more straightforward: It’s the rich and powerful, the extreme religious right, and white nationalists. The Democratic base is far more diverse. I don’t think Mr. McNeil understands the Democratic base. At all. He rails against identity politics, but that is a huge part of the progressive base. And for good reason. The Democratic base is women, people of color, millennials, LGBTQ+ folks, and other minority and/or marginalized peoples.

Mr. McNeil also stated that President Trump “is on the verge of being re-elected in a landslide.” I know Mr. McNeil knows what polls are, but it would appear he hasn’t been paying attention to the latest polling, specifically the polling on impeachment. Every reputable pollster is showing a majority of Americans wanting Trump impeached and removed from office. Hell, even a recent Fox News poll showed that support for impeachment and removal climbed to 50%. Polls even show that despite a decent economy, a majority of voters are still displeased with Trump’s overall job performance. The only way Trump is re-elected in landslide is if there is direct interference with the actual vote count or voting machines, which unfortunately can’t be ruled out. Look, Mr. McNeil, I understand some of your frustration with the Democratic Party establishment. Too many of them are unfortunately centrists, which really means they’re GOP-lite. But the struggles of the working poor, the homeless, and the disadvantaged in general are at least on the radar of Democrats. The GOP? Unless you’re already rich and powerful, or useful to them in some way, they really just don’t give a rat’s ass. That’s reality. Come back to the Democratic Party, Jeffery. What you seek you will never find in the GOP. Jeff Taylor is a Street Sense Media artist and vendor..

Bernie Sanders, 2016. Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore

The raw truth about Bernie Sanders and socialism By Jeffery McNeil

Growing up in New Jersey, I encountered many people like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Before there was AOC and Ilhan Omar there was Bela Abzug, Angela Davis, and Shirley Chisolm. Whether it’s radicals such as Noam Chomsky, or Sanders, all they do is get on their soapbox about how America is a racist country that must be remade into some socialist utopia where everyone gets free education, health care and whatever fantasy you desire. Details never matter. If you say “cost,” they trot out children such as David Hogg and Greta Thunberg to say “How dare you” because the world is going to end in 10 years. I always wondered: If the world will end because of climate change, how will spending trillions of dollars prevent it from happening? When I hear about socialism, I think of onceprosperous cities, such as Camden, Jersey City, and Elizabeth. These cities used to have bustling factories that employed thousands of people with good-paying jobs. What destroyed them was these left-wing socialists such as Sanders, posing as friends of the worker. I remember working as a chef at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City when one of these Sanders types was trying to unionize us. Many wanted to organize but I had no

interest in rocking the boat — I was making decent money and living comfortably. I tried to warn people about these vipers. Atlantic City was hit by a recession and it wasn’t good optics to demand higher wages and gold-plated health care plans at a time when everyone in town was struggling. But with the left, everything is a moral stand. While I wasn’t satisfied with my wages, I could have quit and started a business. So, why did I need these buffoons representing me? The management did try to compromise but the militants refused. I’m not a great talker or debater but I can spot cons like Bernie Sanders. I saw these people had three-piece suits and drove fancy cars while I needed this job to pay my bills. They would get on their soapbox railing about how the Trumps and the Carl Icahns of the world rake in the dough while you starve, when the truth was you could find another place to work if you weren’t happy. Eventually, they went on strike. The management didn’t bite on their demands and eventually closed up the Taj Mahal. In the end, Icahn is still a billionaire, Trump became president, and Atlantic City still hasn’t recovered. Socialism sounds wonderful. But I realized long ago that people such as Sanders have no clue how to implement their fantasies. You can raise taxes, and

increase salaries, and blather on about universal health care, but it’s all fantasy unless you find the sucker who’s willing to pay for all the promises. This is why socialism always ends in blood. The only way to implement socialism is through the barrel of a gun. If your a business and the government says we’re going to take 80% of your income, what’s stopping them from taking everything? What business is going to stay in a country where they can’t make a profit? If you know the government is going to take everything,why would you work? So people stop making things and stop growing food. Socialism ends in blood because if you don’t incentivize people to work, then they have to force people to build the roads, maintain security, and hold the nation together. The good news is Sanders has no shot of being president because, unlike in Cuba and Venezuela, the capitalist class in the U.S. will never allow him near the switch box. Don’t be surprised to see the legacy media push the radicals under the bus and support Trump. That is how dire the situation has become. Jeffery McNeil is a Street Sense Media artist and vendor.

streetsensemedia.org

/ / 11

Honoring Baby Alice By Tori Cooper

When I have a problem I’m all by myself. All my “friends” put knives in my back. I live in a lonely world, just trying to survive. These are the opening lines in the poem “This is My Life” by Alice, a transgender woman whose life ended way too soon at the age of 35 on the streets of D.C. “Last night, the gay heavens welcomed another angel,” wrote Dito Sevilla, a friend of Alice — or Baby Alice as she was known — shortly after her death on Dec. 18. “A more harmless and innocent soul has never shared our streets; she’ll be missed terribly.” As much as I wish the death of a young transgender person is unique, unfortunately, it is not. Baby Alice is another beautiful soul we’ve lost too early. Her life and death illustrate many of the societal problems that the transgender and non-binary communities face. Alice struggled with homelessness. She suffered from mental illness and substance issues. Some claim she was kicked out of her parents’ home because of her gender identity. Her family disputes this. It is a very similar experience to what we know about many transgender youth who are thrown on the streets and disregarded by their own families simply for being themselves. Around one in four teens are forced into homelessness when they come out, which requires hem to make drastic decisions merely to survive. More than half of these teens turn to drugs and alcohol, perhaps to cope with the loss of family, and the loss of safety and security. Study after study has found that overall drug use is high among homeless youth, with one survey finding that 61% reported using drugs and 32% reported

using alcohol. These startling statistics are up to three times the average for teens who have a stable home. Tragically, there are too many Alices out there: young transgender women struggling to be accepted, seen, safe, and supported. The growing list of transgender people lost to violence, hate, discrimination, and despair is a heartbreaking reminder of the urgency of this cause. No matter who you are, each of us has the power to honor Alice’s life and help prevent these deaths. The first step to making a positive impact in a transgender person’s life is to affirm them. You don’t have to understand everything — or anything — about being transgender to embrace your loved ones. Understand that those of us, like Alice, who are assigned this divine task of gender exploration and expression just want to be loved and accepted for who we are. Rather than condemn and sit in judgement, listen and seek understanding. For many of us, love and respect is all that we are searching for. While love and acceptance form a foundation, we also need action. To save lives, we must fight against oppression and injustice. Homelessness is unjust. That anyone is forced to forgo mental or physical health care is unjust. Injustice after injustice, some big and some seemingly small, conspire to make it even more difficult to climb out of hardship. In 2019, 117 homeless people died in Washington, D.C.; many died due to extreme weather conditions, others from natural causes. There are literally dozens of shelters and services for the homeless in metro D.C., including homeless shelters and transitional housing. Yet even with so many options for help, people like Alice, many of them transgender and non-binary, are still dying on our streets.

According to Ruby Corado, the founder of Casa Ruby, a D.C. resource center that helps house and support mostly LGBTQ youth, Baby Alice would occasionally come to Casa Ruby for services, support, food, a shower and clothes. There are simply not enough organizations like Casa Ruby, places that offer an affirming and safe place for transgender and non-binary people. There are many barriers that keep transgender and non-binary people from accessing the services that are needed to escape the streets. Some organizations will only house transgender and non-binary people based on the sex they were assigned at birth. There are spaces for women that may not allow trans women because they lack correct identity documents. And the Trump-Pence administration is continually rolling back protections for transgender people — including access to affirming health care and housing based on their gender identity. We need laws and policies to change. We need people across the country to call their senators and representatives and urge them to support passage of the Equality Act to ensure clear protections from discrimination throughout our country. We need more programs to support us in our most vulnerable moments. We need those with time or treasure to contribute what they can to support the work of organizations like Casa Ruby. We cannot bring Baby Alice back. All we can do is ensure that more transgender and non-binary people have access to a job, stable housing and everything needed to prosper in society. Maybe then, we won’t be forced to grieve so many friends and neighbors.

You don’t have to understand everything — or anything — about being transgender to embrace your loved ones.

Tori Cooper is the Director of Community Engagement for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. You can follow her on Twitter @MsToriCooper1.

The media doesn’t care By Reginald Black

I am surprised by the many people who have involved themselves in advocacy for ending homelessness in our country. I am an advocate with lived experience, which gives me a unique perspective because I can share my real-time experiences and knowledge of the sheer difficulty of the issue. I frequently learn of people doing great things for those experiencing homelessness. One in particular was the late five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant. Unfortunately, it was only through his untimely passing that I learned he cared about homelessness. This gives me hope people with money or some sort of glamour from the entertainment world have some compassion that motivates them into action against homelessness. Kobe showed he cared by helping the United Way in Los Angeles, where he played for the Lakers, to provide various services to people experiencing homelessness. Yet despite all Kobe’s glamour and recognition, the media did not do justice toward his activism against extreme poverty. There are very few quotations from him, and the only pictures of his work in this area exist with the United Way and

the many fans who snapped selfies or took photos of him during their runs for the homeless. This and other failures to highlight homeless issues are one of many reasons I question media’s position on poverty. All it wants to do is cover removals, overdoses, and annual deaths. Very rarely will the media discuss the positive sides of poverty, such as Kobe’s conscious participation even though it was “just a photo shoot.” The United Way staff, management, and runners did not give that impression. I write all this to ask where is the media when a star like Kobe is doing positive things for the homeless? Why is that not a significant story to be told over more than just social media? Why does it receive the attention only after he dies? It really makes me wonder. I wish I could have had the chance to meet Kobe at an event to help the homeless so I could share ideas and solutions about the problem. This media issue is something I must bring to life because the media should emphasize the many of us who care. Reginald Black is a Street Sense vendor and contributor.

Kobe Bryant’s LA Lakers jersey number was 24. Illustrated by Martin Walker

1 2 // s t reet sense me di a / / Fe b . 1 9 - ma rch 3, 2020

ART

Love, happiness, and respect

Where I’ve been By joe jackson Artist/Vendor

By jaMes gaRtRell // Artist/Vendor

Hello Street Sense readers, fans, and supporters! It’s a pleasure writing to you another article elaborating on the poverties and struggles of individual homelessness! Today I ask you, when you walk towards vendors selling the Street Sense newspaper, what comes to mind? Maybe it’s “Does he really need help? Is he really hungry?” And subsequently, “Can I help that person by buying him or her some clothes and show him or her where to get free clothes? Can I get him a blanket when it is cold outside, with some warm boots and shoes? Enable him to walk comfortably? Perhaps house him or her or take him or her to a nearby shelter? Instead of sleeping on the streets!” These are things you should ask and that I would ask myself! I get up wondering, “How can I provide for myself?” First, I get the stiffness and laziness out of my system. I figure out how I’m going to earn my money to take care of myself? In between work, such as selling the newspaper or shining shoes, I go to school at P.G. Community College to get a GED. I am bettering myself for a future of going to college, earning a master’s degree, and someday have a career of my own! Times are rough and hard for us vendors and the individual homeless males and females! The U.S. is the land of the free, with opportunities for everybody. But we all have to be on the same page. We’re only strong if we stick together as one. That is something my community does for me. My supporters see my struggles and respect my motivation and my mentality to do better in life. I love to talk to individuals who express to me how beautiful their lives are. When I get finished selling my newspapers, I am tired from standing on my feet. I am thankful for the people I see from the 1800 block building, the coffee pastry shop next to the building, Subway on 18th Street, the clubs there, the Post Office crew, the Daily grill crew, the Sprint crew, the 1200 building crew, and the MPD officers around the area. Without these people, I wouldn’t be able to survive and make these positive things happen in my life. I am trying to promote my writing skills, and my love of expressing my struggles! May God bless you all! Sincerely speaking with my heart.

Hello everyone, my customers and friends. I know the people of Washington, D.C. haven’t heard from me because the holidays do something to me. Mentally, my family is not strong anymore when it comes to these days. A belated Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to you all!. And many more. My Thanksgiving was the worst ever. Yes, I went to go see my mother. But we didn’t have any food because my mother is sick and she can’t cook anymore. So I was there to see her and I was sick. My grandmother passed away and she used to do the cooking every year. It just wasn’t the same. While there was a lot of bad, I have to thank Joey

and the church members for helping me with a coat and winter boots around Christmas time. And I want to thank God for my place. Because it is very hard to deal with mental health and an addiction, when you don’t have no direction in life. I stay home because most of my friends have died in D.C.’s streets, going to house parties or parties in the street. So, I don’t party anymore. I miss a lot of people that were special to me that died last year and the year before that. Love the people that love you because it is hard to find love and someone that cares. Peace be with everyone. Love Everyone

Black History month By anthony caRney // Artist/Vendor

Black History is only a reminder for what happens all year long. Black people make history every day, despite racism and bigotry trying to stop them. My own history starts with my grandparents, Benjamin Carney and Mary Carney. My grandfather fled North Carolina to Washington, D.C., to build a better life. He and my grandmother bought a house in 1950. Even Jim Crow couldn’t stop them from providing our family with a home. But there are a lot of homeless people sleeping on the streets today. Pray with me that everyone who is homeless finds a home. Spread love.

Wedding ceremony for Benajmin and Mary Carney.

Photo courtesy oF anthony carney

When shall Jesus appear? By Rev. john littlejohn // Artist/Vendor

What is “appear?” Well, one definition is “to come into sight, become visible or noticeable.” The Bible says in the Book of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ Jesus which strengtheneth me.” The Bible also talks about appearing in the Book of Matthew 18:20, and it says, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I should appear.” We need the Lord Jesus Christ to appear in some form to bring homelessness to an end for good! This article is about mental health, and how Christ can appear for each of us and strengthen us. The Bible says in the book of John 3:16-17, “For ‘God’ so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.” Amen!

If we praise the Lord daily, I feel we ought to grow spiritually. If not, we need to take a self-examination of our mind, body, soul, and strength of heart to decrease some evil in these areas of our life. Once again, if God is with us, who can be against us? The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:11:“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.” Amen! The Holy Bible talks about his coming or his appearing in the Book of John 2:28. It says: “And now, little children, abide in him that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at this coming!” There are many glorious promises associated with the great promise that Christ himself shall once again appear in person. Paul reminds us of His former appearance on Earth. “But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put aways in by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrew 9:26). Then the promise is, “Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin into salvation” (Hebrew

9:28). Therefore, when He shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory, we shall receive an unfailing crown of glory, we shall be like him, and without sin unto salvation. These promises, even now, constitute an incentive for each believer to purify himself even as he is pure. But there is also the sobering warning associated with the sooncoming time when He shall appear. We should abide in him,that is, continue in him “hour” after “hour” and “day” after “day” and “month” after “month” and “year” after “year”, careful that whatever we do, wherever we go, and whatever we say. We are in no danger of being ashamed before him when He shall appear. It is truly a blessing when we can give to one another cheerfully, especially those who may have more than they need! It’s better to give than receive. Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over. We must appear for each other, strengthen each other in spirit, and so too prepare for when Jesus appears to us once again. Amen!

streetsensemedia.org

// 13

A legend, and the heir to the throne By Marcus Green // Artist/Vendor

I’ve been an LA Lakers family member since 1979 when Magic Johnson came to the team from Michigan State. So they’re my team and they’re like family. When they win, my family wins, and when they lose, my family loses. Kobe Bryant was a legend, the best player to ever play. (Mind you, I’m an LA Laker family member for life. I bleed purple and gold.) I’m still in shock that he’s gone. Honestly, I think the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot, and Kobe himself all dropped the ball. And Kobe knows better. The bottom line is the FAA should never have approved the flight. They’ve got people’s lives in their hands and that’s way too much power for anyone who would approve Kobe’s flight when they were grounding the LAPD. But the pilot could have chosen to turn around, too. His job is to make sure people get from point A to point B. And he made a fateful decision. And there’s enough tech out there for someone of Kobe’s wealth that the pilot should have been very informed about the conditions. Then, coming back to the legend himself. When you become a parent, you have one job on the planet: to take care of your family and protect and raise your kids. No one could have known this would happen — it’s an absolute tragedy and my heart goes out for his family. But everyone could have proceeded with more caution. I have four daughters that I love to death and I’m going to try and slow down myself. Though you know I’m not fly guy unless we’re talking about clothes. Tell your families, friends, and animals that you love them. Often. God bless Kobe and Gianna Bryant. Photo courtesy of @vanessabryant/ig / Instagram

Treading the waters, part 2

Rest easy, Pop Moyo

By Gerald Anderson // Artist/Vendor

When we were last with Gerald, he was telling of his later encounter with Glenn in the Federal prison system. When Gerald was coming up in his hometown of New Orleans, Glenn had been a major operator...

My Street Sense Companion By Laticia Brock, a.k.a Pweezy Village Artist/Vendor

My co-worker was a smooth-dressing playa; because of his cologne you knew he was there. You talkin’ about a player from the Himalaya; But one thing about it he loved selling Street Sense papers. Helping the homeless was how we rolled; I ain’t gonna say “we” Always we started the best of friends. But the one thing I like is that he was consistent; And if you needed to talk Pop Mayo always listened. Damn. Damn. So, rest easy, coworker. Scoping out those papers was well worth it. I will really miss that. Tell my other angel I said hello. And welove you for helping Street Sense grow. Moyo Onibuje with his daughter, Samoya. Photo By Eric Falquero

Dude was always my icon. Me and Minew was always together and we used to see him in the park. We used to always see him put a bag behind the tree. I always wonder why he put a manilla envelope behind the tree. It was so weird. I used to tell Minew, “Your turn to go get it.” Then when we get it, it have marijuana in it! He was in the park selling a lot of weed to people. I’d say, “Damn. Got it. Let’s go!” But he never knew it was us! When I ran into him in the Fed, he told me, he say, “Man, I work in the Commissary. Tomorrow ain’t my store day, but you gonna get to go to the store. Since you came in here yesterday, you’re gonna get emergency store. So what I’m gonna do, I’m gonna put it on my book, and I’m gonna make you $190 at the store, whatever you want.” “But in 30 days, you have to get your paperwork.” See, this is how the Fed work. I didn’t know, but if you less than 30 days, you gotta get your paperwork. They want to know if you a rat. In the Fed, they got some guys that know the law. They go look at the computer, see what’s your case. If you got “15-K”, they know you

ratted. That’s the case, “15-K.” Like you work with the government. You can go online, you can check it out. He hit the guy, he told him, “We not saying, Big Homie, that you good or you not good. ...But let’s keep things down. Because I don’t mess with no rat, Third.” I say, “Yeah.” Which I knew I was good on paperwork anyway. So it no problem. They were still asking me how it was in D.C. I was kicking the bobo, telling them how it was, how I lived in D.C. My homie was asking, “How you make it up there with them bammas?” I say, “Man, D.C. is just like being in New Orleans, but for real for real. They like Ninth Ward n****s.” Ninth Ward n***s, uptown n***s, got a different swag. They say, “Oh, so they like BAMmas!” They like, “Damn, you been up there all that time?” I say, “Man, I just jumped on the 10. The government ain’t going to give me no housing or nothing. Man, I had to do what I had to do. So I slung that dope like Doug throwed the football.” So after that, we kickin’ it. Like I said, Glenn was a good homie of mine. I hope one day he get out. To be continued. Anderson’s first book, “Still Standing: How an Ex-Con Found Salvation in the Floodwaters of Katrina,” is available on Amazon.com.

1 4 // st reet sen s e me di a / / Fe b . 1 9 - ma rch 3, 2020

FUN & GAMEs

statement of our country

Intermediate Sudoku by KrazyDad, Volume 20, Book 1

Sudoku #4

By Reginald Black // Artist/Vendor

9 4

8 9 Answers 2 3 9 Sudoku6 #1 8 6 5 4 2 7 9 84 7 5 1 3 8 5 3 19 64 2 241 78 9 5 186 3 5 8 6 5 3 2 5 2 7 1 8 6 3 5 17 1 2 67 4 6 3 3 5 2 6 4 9 7 4 4 9 1 3 5 3

7 6

Fill in the blank squares so that each row, each column and each Sudoku 3-by-3 block contain all of the digits 1 thru 9. #3

SUDOKU: Fill in

3 without 2 5guesswork. 7 4 1 squares If youthe useblank logic you can solve the 6 puzzle

so that each row, 4 a1logical 9 solve 6 the 2 puzzle. 7 3 order 8 to Need a little help? The hints page5shows column andsquare you should solve. Or use the answers page Use iteach to identify the next 9 7 8 6 2 1 5 4 3 if youeach really3-by-3 get stuck. block contain all of the 3 6 9 8 1 7 4 5 2 digits 1-9.

7 9 4 4 8 5 2 6 2 1 3 7 5 8 9 6 4 3 7 5 4 1 9 1

LASt eDItIoN’S PUZZLe SoLUtIoN >>

Sudoku #5 8 7 1 5 2 6 9 4 5 4 3 2 7 5 4 6 1 8 6 3 9 3 2 8 3 2 8 7 4 9 5 1 6 1 7 9 Sudoku #7 9 2 1 7 5 3 7 9 4 6 8 5 2 7 4 8 1 9 6 4 3 8 5 6 8 4 9 1 6 5 3 2 7 1 2 3

8 1 9 5 7 4 2 3

5 3 6 8 3 9 7 1 6 8 9 4 2 7 1 5 8 2 3 6

3 7 1

2 4 6

8 5

4 8 6 2

2 4 7 1 8 9 3 8 9 7 5 6 1 5 6 3 4 2

5 1

9 3 1 6 2 5 8 7 9 2 5 7 3 8 4 7 9 6 4 1

5 6 2

4 1 9 7 8

3 6 4 8 2 7 5 9 7 3 1 4 6 2 9 1 8

Statement of our country. The mode of being. A nation. The territory. Temperament of the mind. Abnormal tension within the land of our peoples' birth. Citizenship. Statement of the country. Intermediate Sudoku by KrazyDad, Volume 20, Book 1 By Rashawn BowseR A condition in the physical being of urban and rural characteristics. Sudoku #2 Artist/Vendor Relating to being associated of various conditions. Characterized by quantities. 1 4 9 3 7 Country 5 8 6of the 2 statement. What is lift? 3 5 2 1 8 An 6 atomic 7 9 4 system with social position. When you try so hard A 8 6 7 9 2 3 4 district 1 of5so-called elaborate or luxurious style of living. but nothing works. of the country. 5 2 4 6 3 Statement 9 1 7 8 How we fool Who do you go to9 8 6 5 1 7 2 3 4 each other into a politically organized body of one's birth. The members of an occupying legislative body, having a particular character. when your friends 2 6 5of the 9 statement. 7 3 1 8 4 Country are not really your friends? 4 7 8 2 6 Characterized 3 5 9 1 not by the particulars, I’m out on these streets of regulation and authority to high rank. 2 9 3 7 5 but 4 the 8 concerns 6 1 by day in, day out Statement of. just trying to make6 1 5 4 9 8 7 2 3 Country of. like everyone else. What happens to the body of people, that is sovereign in the need to be constituent units of the territory? But still I wonder,Sudoku #4 8 3 2 7 1 Country 9 5 4of the 6 statement. Do they know these dead streets?1 9 4 6 3 We the people, 5 7 8 2 asked to be expressed in words, the operation of our classed assembled into society. 8 1 3 9 So, what is lift? 5 6 7 4 2 To fully be representative of governing our associations, 8 3 1 5 in 6 a4 9 7 When you try to be2 strong special class of such that may exist our formal dignity. but your heart is all broken. 4 3 5 of8 the country. 7 1 6 2 9 Statement Let us relate to a condition of being something. I guess there is 4 5 9 3 8 7 2 6 1 Country 9 7of. 4 nothing but sorrow3 2 8 5 6 1 Statement because that’s all 9 that4I get. 3 5 8 7 2 6 1 of. Country of the statement. 6 7 1 9 4 3 8 2 5 illustration by The statement of our country. reginald black

"We love life, not because we are used to living but because we are used to loving." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

1 3

Lift

Sudoku #6 3 2 1 9 6 5 8 4 4 7 9 6 8 9 2 3 1 6 7 5 5 3 4 2 9 4 3 1 7 1 6 8 2 8 5 7

8 4 7 2 3 1 3 5 4 1 6 8 9 2 6 7 8 2 5 7 3 4 9 9 6 1

Sudoku #8 4 7 6 5 5 8 1 2 2 9 3 4 6 5 7 8 1 2 4 3 8 3 9 1 3 1 5 6 7 4 2 9 9 6 8 7

8 2 9 3 9 3 7 6 4 7 6 1 5 8 2 9 3 4 1 6 5 9 8 7 4 7 6 2 5 8 2 4 7 9 5 1 8 3 6 3 4 5 1 2

6 7 1 9 2 8 7 5 3 4 9 1 8 6 5 2 4

author gene Weingarten is a college dropout and a nationally syndicated humor columnist for the Washington Post. author dan Weingarten is a former college dropout and a current college student majoring in information technology. many thanks to gene Weingarten and the Washington Post Writers group for allowing street sense to run barney & clyde.

streetsensemedia.org

CoMMUNITY sERVICEs

SHeLter HotLINe Línea directa de alojamiento

(202) 399-7093

YoUtH HotLINe Línea de juventud

DomeStIC VIoLeNCe HotLINe Línea directa de violencia doméstica

(202) 547-7777

education Educación

Health Care Seguro

Clothing Ropa

Legal Assistance Assistencia Legal

Case management Coordinación de Servicios

Food Comida

employment Assistance Assitencia con Empleo

transportation Transportación

Showers Duchas

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

Bread for the City 202-265-2400 (nW) // 561-8587 (se) 1525 7th st., nW // 1640 good hope rd., se breadforthecity.org

Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 good hope rd., 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 // 202-232-3066 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 food (1-1:30 on Sundays only) churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach

Community Family Life Services 202-347-0511 // 305 e st., nW cﬂsdc.org

Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 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 eye st., nW fathermckennacenter.org

Food and Friends // 202-269-2277 (home delivery for those suffering from HIV, cancer, etc) 219 riggs rd., ne foodandfriends.org

Foundry methodist Church // 202-332-4010 1500 16th st., nW id (Friday 9am–12pm only) foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities

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 // 202-544-9128 425 2nd st., nW jobshavepriority.org

Loaves & Fishes // 202-232-0900 1525 newton st., nW loavesandﬁshesdc.org

martha’s table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org 2375 elvans road se 2204 martin luther king ave. se

Miriam’s Kitchen // 202-452-8926 2401 virginia ave., nW miriamskitchen.org

BeHAVIorAL HeALtH HotLINe Línea de salud del comportamiento

1-800-799-7233

Housing/Shelter Vivienda/alojamiento

// 15

1-888-793-4357 Laundry Lavandería

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 // 202-333-4949 3655 calvert st., nW stlukesmissioncenter.org

thrive DC // 202-737-9311 1525 newton st., nW thrivedc.org

Unity Health Care // 202-745-4300 3020 14th st., nW unityhealthcare.org

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

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

Whitman-Walker Health 1701 14th st., nW // 202-745-7000 2301 mlk jr. ave., se // 202-797-3567 whitman-walker.org

N Street Village // 202-939-2060 1333 n st., nW nstreetvillage.org

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

HELp! WE’RE LooKING FoR

volunteers become a street sense media volunteer and help further our mission to empower people experiencing homelessness. get to know the vendors and make a difference in their lives and yours! you’ll support hard-working newspaper vendors by volunteering your time, four hours a week, distributing newspapers at the street sense media office. if interested, please contact elizabeth duan elizabeth@streetsensemedia.org 202-347-2006 (x10)

Alice Carter, poet and performer, dies at 35 By avi Bajpai avi.bajpai@streetsensemedia.org

lice Carter, a Street Sense Media vendor and artist who called the District home for 13 years, died on Dec. 18, 2019 at the age of 35. A native of Pemberville, Ohio, Alice was a strong-willed and vibrant member of the many communities she belonged to, including Street Image courtesy of @jackiebensen / Twitter Sense Media and Foundry United Methodist Church on 16th Street NW, where she was a regular attendee on Sundays. She was well known by many residents and you some shoes,’ or ‘let’s get a coffee.’ There was no ‘let’s businesses on nearby 17th Street NW, where she panhandled. sit and have worship service together.’ We were just sitting Alice enjoyed writing poetry and listening to rap music there and playing, and it was fun.” — particularly, Eminem, her mother, Deborah Smith, He shared the memory at Foundry’s funeral service for recalled. She frequently performed at open mic nights Alice on Feb. 1. Afterward, her ashes were interred in the at Busboys & Poets, the chain of local coffee shops and church’s columbarium, where Lead Pastor Ginger Gainesrestaurants popular among artists. Cirelli said “She will always be a part of our community.” “She was very kind hearted but she was very hyper, and Throughout her time in D.C., she struggled with addiction she was very paranoid,” her mother said. “She would call and mental illness, but also had to contend with a volatile home and make sure we were all right, and let us know housing situation. While working with Street Sense Media’s she was all right. She loved her family and we loved her. case management team, Alice had recently obtained a We just didn’t have the tools to help her.” room for herself, with supportive services available, after Alice was diagnosed with mental illness at an early age and a number of programs determined she was not a good fit. suffered from substance abuse throughout her adult life, Smith Roberts said there was a “brokenness” in the Foundry said. Even then, her troubles community after her death that never stopped her from caring stemmed from a desire to have done about her friends and family. more to help her. Rev. Ben Roberts, a pastor at “As a full community and as a Foundry Church, said Alice had city, we probably could have done been a member since at least more, and we probably could have 2012, when he first joined the done it better—I think that’s a ‘yes’, church. Roberts said clergy and that is true,” Roberts said. parishioners at Foundry would Alice moved out of her childhood frequently check-in with her home after finishing high school and to make sure she was all right, joined a travelling church group. and if she ever needed help, she Her journeys took her to Toledo, would ask. Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, and But for Alice, being a part eventually neighboring Maryland. of the worship community was In May 2006, she arrived in D.C., most important. There were where she soon met Jeff Taylor, a times when pastors wouldn’t close friend and fellow vendor at hear from her for weeks or Street Sense Media whom she lived months at a stretch, Roberts with for many years. Pastor ben roberts said. But they knew that if she “Whenever Alice would walk Foundry United Methodist Church could make it to the regular down the sidewalk and see a penny Sunday service, she would. heads down, she would bend over and turn it heads up, “What has been very clear for me since Alice’s death, is and leave it there, so somebody else could find the good that Alice meant a whole lot to this whole neighborhood,” luck,” Taylor recalled. Roberts said. “Alice was a known entity in the area, and But after a number of negative experiences with people had all kinds of levels of relationships with her, from psychiatrists, caseworkers and police officers, Alice was seeing her either here, or at Street Sense, or on the street, deeply reluctant to seek treatment, Taylor said. At the or at the McDonalds or at the Whole Foods, whatever.” root cause of the inadequate services is a tendency to Sometimes, Alice wouldn’t be able to sit through an apply a “one-size-fits-all” solution to people who need entire service and would need a break, or would simply individualized care, he added. leave in the middle of service. Roberts recalled one such “I guess we live in a society [that says], ‘You know what, instance that he holds dear to his heart. there’s so few of them, and [it takes] so much energy and “One particular day, we had walked out and we were sitting so much time and so much money. It’s just not worth it,’” and talking for a minute, and she had pulled out a ‘Where’s Taylor said. “Our society treated Alice as if she just wasn’t Waldo’ book,” Roberts said. “And I wasn’t expecting her to worth the effort. She needed an extra measure of grace. And do that, so suddenly, we’re just sitting there, and we’re just she just couldn’t get it.” playing. We’re just looking through the ‘Where’s Waldo’ A memorial service for Alice and others will be held at book and we’re playing ‘Where’s Waldo’ together. We’re 2 p.m on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at The Church of the Epiphany, not trying to accomplish anything; there was no task to be 1317 G Street NW. done. There was no like ‘let’s call a caseworker,’ or ‘let’s get

There was no like ‘let’s call a caseworker,’ or ‘let’s get you some shoes,’ or ‘let’s get a coffee.’ There was no ‘let’s sit and have worship service together.’ We were just sitting there and playing, and it was fun.

more than 40 photos, mostly from Alice’s youth, adorned a poster board displayed at her funeral. Photo by eric Falquero

Thank you for reading Street Sense! From your vendor FEB. 19 - MARCH 3, 2020 | volume 17 issue 8

WWW.insP.ngo

4 million reADerS

9,000 VeNDorS

100+

Street PAPerS

CoUNtrIeS

LANGUAGeS