03 30 2011 by Street Sense Media

Volume 8: Issue 11 March 30 - April 12, 2011

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Read more and get involved at www.streetsense.org | The D.C. Metro Area Street Newspaper | Please buy from badged vendors

Helping Runaways Catch Their Breath Sasha Bruce Youthwork helps at-risk, abused and neglected kids rebuild their lives Pages 6 - 7

Street Sense aims to serve as a vehicle for elevating voices and public debate on issues relating to poverty while also creating economic opportunities for people who are experiencing homelessness in our community.

News in Brief

ECycle event falls short

Metro fares cause concern in homeless community

Bringing children to safety at Sasha Bruce

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A photo essay on Cherry Blossoms by Kelsey Osterman

Read stories online at www.streetsense.org

Winter shelter program wraps up

Comic Strip Barney & Clyde, Now at Street Sense!

WEB EXCLUSIVE

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Vendor & war veteran spreads hope Last Word: Japanese street newspaper tells its story

A new issue comes out every two weeks, but you can stay connected to Street Sense every day! /streetsense @streetsensedc /streetsensedc Cover art by Kelby Miller

Looking at Things from Another Angle

By Douglas Knight Executive Director ave you ever sat in a familiar room, but in a chair that you rarely

use? You might find yourself thinking, “It looks so different from this angle.” Looking at a situation from an alternative point of view sometimes enables us to see it in a new light. Exhibit A: homelessness in our community. Let’s speak frankly (just you and I). It can be easy to look at a person who is homeless from a fixed point of view. “Why don’t you just do something for yourself?” Or perhaps, “I’m not going to give any money. I can only imagine what it will be used for.” Those assumptions are based upon stereotypes of homeless people being lazy or unwilling to help themselves, or both. It’s the familiar angle of a room from a familiar chair. However, I believe it is time to switch seats and look at homelessness from a different point of view. Encountering a Street Sense vendor presents an opportunity for you to see our friends who are homeless at an angle that reveals their goals: to move out of homelessness through work and a little help. This paper you hold in your hand is a unique, carefully designed, professionally crafted piece of media. The $1 investment you made in this paper is providing value to you, while also affecting the life of a vendor looking to improve his or her status. This is real commerce at work. You receive important news and, at the same time, you are supporting a person’s entrepreneurial ambition to better his or her life. This classic “win-win” exchange chips away at the cycle of homelessness by looking at it from a a different angle. As we say, “Homelessness Isn’t Helplessness…When You Have Street Sense.” Today, I ask that you challenge yourself. Switch seats when it comes to your perception of homelessness. Take a mo-

ment and talk to one of our vendors. Learn a little about that person’s dreams and goals, and how the work he or she does with Street Sense provides the empowerment, confidence and economic resources needed to reach beyond homelessness. Call or email me and ask about how you might get more involved and invest in our mission (and therefore, invest in our collective community). Organize your company to join us for a “Vendor for a Day” program. Experience selling Street Sense and see the world through the eyes of a vendor. Another way to invest in our mission is to include a new perspective on homelessness in your everyday conversations. Your actions might change the angle with which someone else views our friends who find themselves homeless in our community. Oh, and when you get a moment, try out that chair in the meeting room where you never sat before. It’s amazing how the room looks from that perspective.

E-mail Doug Knight at doug@streetsense.org or call him at 202-347-2006

ADDRESS 1317 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 PHONE (202) 347 - 2006 FAX (202) 347 - 2166 E-MAIL info@streetsense.org WEB streetsense.org BOARD OF DIRECTORS Lisa Estrada, Ted Henson, Brad Scriber, Michael Stoops, Manas Mohapatra, Sommer Mathis, Kristal Dekleer, Robin Heller, Jeffery McNeil, Jordan Rummel, John Snellgrove, Dameon Philpotts EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Doug Knight EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mary Otto MANAGING EDITOR/NEW MEDIA DIRECTOR Lisa V. Gillespie VENDOR AND VOLUNTEER MANAGER Robert Fulton INTERNS Kelsey Osterman, Gretchen Grant, Mehreen Rasheed, Kelby Miller, Holly Ceasar VOLUNTEERS/WRITERS Rhonda Brown, Margaret Chapman, Tracie Ching, James Clarke, Nikki Conyers, Bobby Corrigan, Irene Costigan, Sara Dimmitt, Joe Duffy, Lilly Dymond, Ashley Edwards, Garrett Epps, Rachel Estabrook, Sarah Ficenec, Robert Fulton, Andrew Gena, Steve Gilberg, Jane Goforth, Jonah Goodman, Roberta Haber, Elia Herman, Adam Kampe, Trisha Knisely, Vicki Ann Lancaster, Elle Leech-Black, Lisa Leona, Sean Lishansky, Elsie Oldaker, Katinka Podmaniczky, Mike Plunkett, Willie Schatz, Jesse Smith, Mandy Toomey, Brett Topping, Melissa Hough, Kate Sheppard VENDORS Michael Anderson, Charles Armstrong, Jake Ashford, Lawrence Autry, Daniel Ball, Donna Barber, John Bayne, Kenneth Belkosky, Patricia Benjamin, Tommy Bennett, Jimmy Bigelow, Reginald Black, Emily Bowe, Debora Brantley, Andre Brinson, Floarea Caldaras, Percy Carter, Peggy Cash, Conrad Cheek, Simona Ciurar, Virginia Clegg, Aaron Conner, Theresa Corbino, Avram Cornel, Anthony Crawford, Kwayera Dakari, Louise Davenport, Charles Davis, James Davis, Devon Dawkins, David Denny, Ricardo Dickerson, Muriel Dixon, Alvin Dixon El, Deana Elder, Richard Embden, Joshua Faison, James Featherson, Tanya Franklin, Samuel Fullwood, Larry Garner, David Ger, R. George, Marcus Green, Barron Hall, Dwight Harris, John Harrison, Lorrie Hayes, Patricia Henry, Shakaye Henry, Shawn Herring, Derian Hickman, Philliip Howard, James Hughes, Richard Hutson, Margaret Jenkins, Donald Johnson, Alicia Jones, Mark Jones, Evanson Kamau, Clinton Kilpatrick, Hope Lassiter, Mary Lisenko, James Lott, Michael Lyons, Johnnie Malloy, Kina Mathis, John C. Matthews, Charlie Mayfield, Herman Lee Mayse, Robert McCray, Marvin McFadden, Jermale McKnight, Jennifer McLaughlin, Jeffery McNeil, Kenneth Middleton, L. Morrow, Jai Morton, Saleem Muhammad, Tyrone Murray, Darryl Neal, Charles Nelson, James Nelson, Sammy Ngatiri, Evelyn Nnam, Moyo Onibuje, Douglas Pangburn, Franklin Payne, Michael Pennycook, Edward Perry, Gregory Phillips, Tracey Powell, Frank Pruden, Ash-Shaheed Rabbil, Michael Reardon, Melania Scott, Chris Shaw, Ronald Simms, J. Simpson, Veda Simpson, Gwynette Smith, Patty Smith, Franklin Sterling, Warren Stevens, James Stewart, Leroy Studevant, Beverly Sutton, Paul Taylor, Sybil Taylor, Steve Thomas, Larissa Thompson, Louise Thundercloud, Deborah Tibbs, Ronald Turner, Christopher Walker, Jeanette Walker, Martin Walker, Robert Warren, Lawless Watson, Paul Watson, Michael J. Welsh, Edna Williams, Sherle Williams, Wendell Williams, Susan Wilshusen, Ivory Wilson, Mark Wolf, Charles Woods, Tina Wright, Patricia Jefferson, Mike Leach, Authertimer Matthews

STREET SENSE March 30 - April 12, 2011

City Budget Meeting Raises Questions for Homeless Worries about the impact of looming cuts in local and federal funding of programs for the poor dominated a March 24 City Hall meeting among a group of local homeless men, a legal advocate and interim city Councilmember (at-large) Sekou Biddle. “There are rumors floating around about some shelters getting closed,” said homeless activist Eric Sheptock. Marta Beresin, an attorney at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, spoke of congressional cost-cutting that could result in a $25 million gap in the local human services budget. She mentioned the possibility that the city family shelter at DC General Hospital might stop accepting new families at the end of this winter’s hypothermia season. “There are a lot of people willing to have their taxes raised so they don’t see children and adults living in the streets,” Beresin told Biddle. “We are legally mandated to balance the budget, but not on the backs of poor and disadvantaged residents,” said Biddle, who was temporarily named to the at-large seat on the council in January, but is facing an April 26 special election to keep the job. “We have to find savings

NEWS IN BRIEF to preserve the human services budget.” Fred Swan, of the city Department of Human Services, was not at the meeting, but said in an email that no decisions have been made on cuts or reductions in homeless services. “At this point, the budget is still being developed by the Mayor’s Office and then will go to the Council for consideration and approval. It’s still too early to say what the budget for Human Services/ Homeless Services will be.” -Mary Otto

State of the District: Social Services Vulnerable Under Looming Budget Cuts The District of Columbia will have a compassionate and unifying government, vowed Mayor Vincent Gray in his first State of the District address on March 28. In his administration’s rollout of its priorities for the year, Gray focused on job creation and education reform, peppering his speech with calls to bridge the gap between the city’s haves and have-nots. “Above all, it is a compassionate government -- one that takes as its most urgent task the welfare of the least fortunate among us,” he said. “One that gives our homeless both shelter and a permanent path to a normal life.”

But under the weight of a $322 million projected budget gap for the 2012 fiscal year, funding for social services is likely to take a beating. Councilmember Jim Graham (Ward 1), as chairman of the Human Services Committee, is trying to fend off reductions in funding to D.C.’s social safety net in order to address the needs of the growing poor and homeless population here. “We have a hard job ahead of us to protect those who are the most vulnerable in this economy,” he said. “I’m hoping and praying that the mayor will hold the line -- no more major cuts in this area.” Is he confident social services will be spared from the Gray administration’s cutting room floor? “No,” he said. “No, but we’re going to fight it. We’re going to fight it.” In his speech, Gray called the budget gap “daunting,” but reiterated his resolve to not use reserves to close the budget gap. “Some of the agencies that we depend upon will be asked to make do with less,” he said. “We cannot and will not use budget gimmicks to close the gap. … We will emerge from this process like an athlete after a period of intense training: with a government that is leaner, but also one that is stronger.” -Ellen Gilmer

THE STORY OF STREET SENSE Street Sense began in August 2003 after two volunteers, Laura Thompson Osuri and Ted Henson, approached the National Coalition for the Homeless on separate occasions with the idea to start a street paper in Washington, D.C. They saw it as a means of empowering the area’s poor and homeless and desided the paper would cover homelessness and other social issues. After bringing together a core of dedicated volunteers, Street Sense published its first issue in November 2003, printing 5,000 copies. About a dozen vendors sold the first issue of the paper. For the next three years, it pub-

YOUR DOLLAR

lished on a monthly basis and as a project of the National Coalition for the Homeless. In October 2004, the organization incorporated and moved into its own office space. In March 2005, Street Sense received 501(c)3 status, becoming a nonprofit organization. In October 2005, Street Sense formed a full board of directors, and in November, the organization hired its first employee, a full-time executive director. A year later, Street Sense hired its first vendor coordinator and began partnering with several service providers. In February 2007, the paper increased the frequency of publication to twice a month.

65%

Each vendor makes a personal investment in Street Sense, by purchasing is- Directly sues at a rate of 35 cents per copy. This aids the money helps cover out production and vendor printing costs for the paper, while still allowing the vendors to sell the paper at a low price and substantial profit.

San Francisco Tough on Homeless In an attempt to promote local businesses and tourism, San Francisco police are enforcing an ordinance that prohibits sitting or lying on the sidewalk during daytime hours, according to Reuters News. The ordinance, which has drawn much criticism, was passed by 54 percent of voters in November. According to Reuters News, 45 warnings have been issued since the beginning of the enforcement on March 11. The ordinance prohibits sitting or lying on the sidewalk from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. A warning is given on the first offense, according to Reuters News, followed by fines up to $500. “You’re not allowed to sleep anywhere, to sit anywhere, to lie anywhere,” said 23-year-old Kieran, a homeless person. “So where are you supposed to go?” Phil Arnold, finance director at the city’s human service agency, said that the city’s Project Homeless Connect, a program to help find jobs and resources, offers help to people struggling with homelessness. -Caroline Hopper

Vendor Code of Conduct

In order to support the increased production, Street Sense brought on its first full-time editor-in-chief in April. To d a y, S t r e e t S e n s e h a s f o u r professionals, more than 100 active vendors and nearly 30,000 copies in circulation each month. The newspaper has become a major source of news for Washingtonians, providing content on issues which often go uncovered by the mainstream media. Street Sense is a member of the National Association of Street Newspapers (NASNA).

35% Supports costs

1. I agree not to ask for more than $1 or to solicit donations for Street Sense by other means. 2. I will only purchase the paper from Street Sense staff and will not sell papers to other vendors (outside of the office volunteers). 3. I agree to treat others respectfully. I will not “hard sell,” threaten or pressure customers. 4. I agree to stay off private property when selling Street Sense. 5. I understand that I am not a legal employee of Street Sense but a contracted worker responsible for my own well–being and income. 6. I agree to sell no additional goods or products when selling Street Sense. 7. I will not sell Street Sense under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 8. I will stay a block away from another vendor. 9. I understand that my badge is the property of Street Sense and will not deface it. I will display my badge and wear my vest when selling papers. 10. I understand that Street Sense strives to be a paper that covers homelessness and poverty issues while providing a source of income for the homeless. I will try to help in this effort and spread the word.

In 2010, SOME served 262,101 meals through their Dining Rooms program and 143,779 meals to its program’s residents -- for a total of 405,880 meals.

Filling up on Empty Bowls Organization helps the hungry, while teaching about hunger By Gretchen Grant Editorial Intern Blue, maroon and mauve; round, oval and tall. A sea of over 500 handmade bowls filled the gymnasium of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in upper Northwest Washington, D.C. The sight of all those empty bowls carried a powerful lesson about hunger. And the March 15 Empty Bowls event also helped raised more than $21,000 to help So Others Might Eat (SOME), a local nonprofit, provide food, clothing and health care to poor and homeless city residents. More than 800 guests milled through the $20 bowls created by members of local pottery groups and students from the Corcoran College of Art and Design, high schools, Montgomery College and arts organizations throughout the city. It was a decade ago that SOME began partnering with Empty Bowls, an international grassroots program focused on alleviating hunger. Since Empty Bowls started in Michigan in 1991, events such as the one at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament have taken place across the United States and in at least a dozen other countries, Empty Bowls organizers say. The idea behind these events is simple. Potters and other local craftspeople pitch in and make the bowls. Guests come and enjoy a meal of soup. Then they give a donation and keep a bowl. According to SOME’s development associate, Megan Gannon, the events help SOME and deliver a larger message. “It’s a good opportunity for us to not only raise money, but also promote hunger awareness through a creative way,” Gannon said. Ursula Unnewehr, a guest at the event, said that empty bowls held a poignant reminder for her. “I’m becoming more and more aware of people having less than I do,” said Unnewehr. “ I wanted to share in some way.” Shahdeh Ammadi, alumni relations and development officer of the Corco-

Above, guests browse through an assortment of hand crafted bowls on a dozen tables. Organized by SOME, they raised over $21,000 to fund their programming.

KELBY MILLER, STREET SENSE

ran Gallery of Art, said art students at the school enjoyed preparing for Empty Bowls. “The beauty of all of this and what our students really love about Empty Bowls is you don’t have to put your name on anything,” Ammadi said. “It’s the anonymity that makes it special to them.” After browsing through the wide assortment of bowls for purchase, guests were treated with a choice of soup, ranging from clam chowder to butternut squash, bread and cupcakes from Legal Sea Foods, Liberty Tavern, Panera Bread, Parker’s Classic American and Bread & Chocolate. This year was Legal Sea Foods’ first time partnering with Empty Bowls. “We wanted to find a communitybased organization that’s got a great reputation, and you can’t find one better than SOME,” said director of operations of Legal Sea Foods Gil Aragona. “This will be one of the many events that we do with SOME because we think it’s a great organization.” The leftover food was destined for SOME’s dining rooms, transitional housing programs, senior centers and day programs for the mentally ill. In addition to the many guests who shopped for bowls and enjoyed the food, pastor John Enzler of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament and John Adams, a Catholic priest and SOME president, also attended the event and expressed gratitude for the help provided through events such as Empty Bowls. Adams assured the participants that their efforts would help those less fortunate. “There are lots of people in our area that go hungry and homeless,” Adams said.

The Coalition of Housing and Homeless Organizations will hold a meeting April 14 to discuss Metro’s policies. The WMATA Board of Directors’ next meetings, which include time for public comment, are scheduled for March 31 and April 28.

Changes at Metro Trouble Charities

STREET SENSE March 30 - April 12, 2011

LOCAL NEWS

Nonprofits register complaints with WMATA By Mehreen Rasheed Editorial Intern Some of the District’s social service groups have found the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s new fare policies for Metrorail and Metrobus difficult to maneuver. Organizations such as health clinics and employment agencies, among others, often provide Metro fares to their low-income clients to help enable them to return for appointments. But groups say that changes to Metro’s tokens, SmarTrip cards and paper flash passes, as well as payment methods have made it harder for them to help their very poor clients. And the changes, which went into effect early this year, but were largely unannounced, came as a surprise, according to Amanda Formica, a case manager at Miriam’s Kitchen and executive board member of the Coalition of Housing and Homeless Organizations (COHHO). “The policy changes weren’t on the WMATA website; we heard through second- and third-hand sources,” said Formica. “They should have let people know in advance. It shouldn’t be so difficult for the general public to figure out what’s going on...and when the information is available, finding it shouldn’t be like looking for a needle in a haystack.” COHHO sent a letter to Metro on March 23 addressing the members’ concerns, according to Nechama Masliansky, senior advocacy advisor at So Others Might Eat and an executive board member of COHHO. The letter was approved at a COHHO meeting in early March before being sent to the WMATA board of directors and copied to the D.C. City Council Committee on Public Works and Transportation. The letter highlighted concerns with Metro’s discontinuation of paper flash passes, which various organizations ,such as clinics and rehabilitation facilities, give to clients to provide their

fare to and from appointments. The letter also highlighted the challenge confronted by organizations with one credit card to adhere to Metro’s limit of two transactions per day, when attempting to provide for a large number of clients. Another concern was that because Metro Center’s sales offices no longer accept checks, weekly bus passes must be obtained through a three-step process where the provider first personally accompanies the client to purchase subway tickets, transfers them to a SmarTrip card and then uses the card to redeem a pass from a sales window. “Everything has just become more labor intensive for the client and for the organization, and neither has that kind of time,” said Formica. COHHO also raised concerns with Metro’s consistency in their policies and transparency in decision making. For instance, Metro kept tokens available for social service agencies to distribute, but according to the letter, some organizations are turned away arbitrarily while others have been told tokens were not available. The letter said process of becoming an approved social service agency was “unclear,” though according to Formica, “There really isn’t a process that we know about, some groups are just told they’re not approved…but it can’t just be an ad-hoc thing. There should be a system in place.” Finally, the letter called for WMATA to work together to solve these problems, and to attend an April 14 meeting to discuss solutions. “We really, really would like to work with them,” said Formica. “I’d like to see transportation that’s more accessible for homeless and low-income.” WMATA received the e-mail with COHHO’s letter March 24, but will take up to 10 business days, or until April 7, to respond, according to WMATA Public Affairs Coordinator Taryn McNeil. Members from Metro’s board of directors could not be reached for comment.

Volunteers helped individuals and companies unload their donated technology for the ECycle event, which will help homeless people gain access to technology. KELSEY OSTERMAN, STREET SENSE

Reality Doesn’t Compute with Expected Donations By Kelsey Osterman Editorial Intern St. Patrick’s Day was not as “green” as it could have been. The turnout was disappointing for a computer recycling drive geared toward bridging the so-called “digital divide” by teaching homeless men and women to repair and refurbish computers. But organizers for eCycle D.C. are determined to press forward. They are continuing to seek additional donations to add to those contributed by between 50 to 100 individuals at the organization’s inaugural St. Patrick’s Day collection drive. Though over 200 printers and computers were collected at the event, Lou August, president of host organization WildTech, estimates that only about 20 of the donated computers and 20 of the printers can be refurbished. This was significantly lower than the 700-800 computers they hoped to refurbish after the event. Twenty monitors and 10 laptops will

also be reconditioned. “We had the capacity to process probably up to 50 times the amount of equipment that we got,” August said. WildTech can refurbish computers with Pentium 4 processors, but anything slower will be recycled through federal prison employment program, UNICOR. August sees the event as a collection strategy suited for the past couple of years, when the community had nowhere to dispose of their old electronics. But now, other available options may have hurt the turnout at eCycle D.C. “I think it’s because consumers have alternate ways to get rid of their old computers now,” August said. “The District of Columbia offers monthly drop-offs of computers at Fort Totten.” The money raised at the event will cover the cost of refurbishing, August said, but not the cost of the actual event, such as personnel and licensing.

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In 2002, the Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention estimated that there were 1,682,900 homeless and runaway youth.

Shelter Provides Hope for Homeless Youth By Gretchen Grant Editorial Intern By the time she turned 18, Jasmine Williams was homeless. She says she left home to escape the sexual abuse that began when she was 14. But with no family to turn to, Williams began couch-surfing, staying with random people who she met. There were a few nights when she slept on the street. Then, Williams found out about an independent living program for young people weathering crises, run by a District-based nonprofit called Sasha Bruce Youthwork. Williams applied, hoping for a safe and stable place. She was eventually approved for the program and it helped her transform her life. The goal of Sasha Bruce Youthwork is to improve the prospects of young people who find themselves in situations like Williams’. They may be runaways or homeless, abused, neglected or otherwise at-risk. The organization provides shelter and counseling and life-skills training to approximately 1,500 young people and several thousand of their family members every year. The organization, which now has an annual budget of more than $8 million and runs 18 programs throughout the city got off from a very small start nearly three decades ago. While founder Debbie Shore was in college that she started volunteering and quickly realized that she had a passion for helping youth that were having difficulty finding stability in their lives. “Although it’s exciting at first to be on your own and on the street, it can quickly turn into something that is not so positive,” she said. Shore discovered the deep interest she had in helping youth reconnect with their families, continue in school or find another stable living situation. Recognizing the need for a homeless program specifically geared toward helping young people, Shore opened the Sasha Bruce shelter for at-risk youth and their families in the D.C. area back in 1976. It is open around the clock and available to youth all over the city, as well as youth traveling from longer distances. With ten beds, nine are currently

taken by co-ed youth between the ages of 12 and 17, though staff say no one is ever turned away. But Shore was not finished. She kept finding additional ways to help. In the late ‘70s, Sasha Bruce formed a partnership with a group called Project Safe Place which provides immediate help and supportive resources for all youth in crisis, through a network of different sites sustained by qualified agencies, trained volunteers and businesses. Fire houses, clinics, businesses and service agencies that display “Safe Place” signs alert youth in need that help can be found inside. When Sasha Bruce gets a call that someone has shown up at one of the sites, a representative from the organization picks him or her up within 30 minutes. “[It’s a] network all over the city that provides a safety net around young peo-

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Youth at the Sasha Bruce Shelter relax by playing a pick up game of basketball during an open house event. In the late ‘70s, Sasha Bruce partnered with Project Safe Place, which provides resources to youth in crisis. In addition to signs, Safe Place uses water bottles, bracelets, key chains and pens to promote the organization. GRETCHEN GRANT, STREET SENSE

Only 17.7 percent of all e-waste was recycled in 2009, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Continued from Page 6 ple,” said Shore, who says so many children have been picked up over the years that she has lost count. But Sasha Bruce does not always wait for young people to show up asking for help. The organization has developed many methods for reaching out and finding young people at risk or in need. “We have vans that go out every day and into the night that give out information to people and let them know what services are available,” said Shore. In addition, trained staff travel to the majority of local junior and se-

economic situation that’s happening now all over the nation, and it creates a situation where families and youth are strained,” said Johnson. Recently, the number of youth between the ages of 17 and 20 has increased the most, according to Shore. Though the number of kids has increased over the past few years, Johnson still says that the program has made a difference in the lives of those youth and their families. “This program has made a difference on some level of bridging the gap of families coming and working together as opposed to families going back into the street,” he said. As for Jasmine Williams, she credits

nior high schools to let students know about the services offered by Sasha Bruce. Shore said she sees an increasing number of youth in need of a place to stay. She calls the problem a “terrible reality.” But the organization also seeks to help young people address the issues that have led to their crises. For instance Sasha Bruce site director George Johnson helps assist young people in mending or stabilizing relationships with their families. Since the average stay for youth at the Sasha Bruce shelter is two to three weeks, the staff tries to counsel both the youth as well as the family in hopes of resolving the immediate crisis that the family is facing. “We try to accentuate the strengths of the families just to let them know that there are more things going right than wrong in the family,” Johnson said. Due to economic circumstances, many families are being forced to double up with other families, forcing many older youth to move out earlier than expected. “These are very difficult times for young people and families, given the

Sasha Bruce for her graduating high school and the acceptance to Lincoln City College on a full scholarship. She decided to decline in hopes that she can stay local and attend the Georgetown University in the fall. “They’ve done a lot for me, not just giving me shelter and clothes, but they’ve helped me grow and improve as a person. Being surrounded by so many people who are passionate about their job and don’t do it for a paycheck, it’s just taught me so much about being selfless and kind,” she said. She is now the coordinator of Sasha Bruce’s newly-created Youth Advisory Board, which goes out to speak with peers about the HIV testing and STD screenings that are provided by the Sasha Bruce Power Program. The board also educates youth about sexual health, personal health, hygiene and wellness. Williams says she’s thrilled to be part of an organization that helped her in so many aspects of her life, and she’s eager to spread the word of Sasha Bruce. “The support they offer is incredible,” she says, “and it has inspired me to give that to someone else.”

STREET SENSE March 30 - April 12, 2011

NEWS

Continued from Page 5 And despite the low turnout, people who donated equipment at the 11-hour event were grateful for the opportunity to discard their old electronics in a constructive way. “I received lots of compliments and ‘thank yous’ from both the volunteers and community we helped,” said Rose Bottle, WildTech employee and event volunteer. Margaret Myers, vice president of WildTech-CCNV, also heard praise from equipment donors. “They were glad we did [the event], and they’re hoping we do another one,” she said. “They were satisfied.” Volunteers from the 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) were on-hand during the day to help unload and categorize the technology. Pallets of modems, keyboards, printers and other devices were collected in the CCNV shelter parking lot. Once each stack was complete, volunteers secured it in plastic wrap, making it safe to transport. NTC helpers also installed a wireless Internet system in the CCNV shelter and served meals at D.C. Central Kitchen. However, the wireless network is not yet operational, according to Myers. “They did the wiring and everything, but they’re waiting for one piece of equipment to come so they can actually configure the network,” she said. Myers said the last part should arrive soon. Homeless men and women, employed by WildTech-CCNV, will be learning how to refurbish the equipment donated at eCycle D.C. Many of them also provided tech support at cyber cafés during the NTC, serving over 2,000 conference participants. “The technology they provided worked flawlessly,” August said. “They have a great reputation.” The eCycle D.C. event is just one of many ways the District is helping lowincome people learn and utilize modern technology. Mayor Vincent C. Gray toured a new computer lab at D.C. General Hospital on March 23. The lab will provide computer access and skills to “the District’s most vulnerable residents,” according to Gray’s website. The lab will also be open to children who might need the computers for homework.

Computer monitors, modems, keyboards, telephones and other electronic devices were gathered and sorted at eCycle D.C. KELSEY OSTERMAN, STREET SENSE

The low turnout at eCycle D.C. this year has left August with questions about the event’s future. He sees a possible partnership with the Fort Totten collection site, but is unsure about getting permission for that arrangement. He hopes to continue to raise awareness among potential donors. But despite the disappointing outcome of this year’s event, August hopes the partnerships WildTech developed will continue in the future. “I’m very happy we did the event,” he said. “We made some tremendous partners. That just by itself made the event worth it to us.” WildTech is still accepting donations. Contact Lou August at laugust@wildtech.org or go to www.wildtech.org.

STREET SENSE March 30 - April 12, 2011

Pics & Poems

Snapshots of Spring O

ne of my good friends inspired me to take these pictures. As an art student, her work is whimsical, intricate delightful displays were constructed naturally, and I can take no credit for their splendor, I take pleasure in trying to catch the essence of their charm in photographs. - Kelsey Osterman, editorial intern

PHOTOS BY KELSEY OSTERMAN

10 10

Fiction

Arctic Ice Hockey: Part 1 By Ivory Wilson Vendor It’s July in the arctic and seal hunting has been very slow. In search of seals, Riely the polar bear and his life-long friends, Stanley, Paul, Cory, Nayla and Cody, need to stock themselves up on fatty foods if they’re going to survive the rapidly approaching winter. Sometimes, they must float for miles on pieces of icebergs. This year, the seals did a good job of hiding themselves and their young from the polar bears. Even the whales have done a good job of hiding. The polar bears know the whales need to come up for air every 35 to 45 minutes, but the whales swim out to the open sea and don’t pop up for air in large holes in the ice where the polar bears wait to attack and eat them. Riely and his friends wait around the huge hole all day. Stanley says, “Well, guys, no luck today.” Paul smiles, saying, “Let’s move to Plan B.” They all look at Paul and ask, “Plan B? What’s Plan B? We’ve never had a Plan B before.” Paul grins and says, “Well, we do now.” Corey smiles and insists, “Tell us about your Plan B.” Paul responds, “OK. I’ll tell you. Let’s all spread out, 20 feet apart and slowly walk along the ice looking down. When we see something dark and large coming up, it might be a whale. Then we’ll crash through the ice that’s over it, guys.” Right away Cody says, “Oh no, Paul. Wait a minute. Last time we all went on one of your hunting trips we almost got killed.” Nayla says, “I remember that, too. You had us dive through the ice and bang our heads on an Explorer submarine that you said was a whale.” Riely adds, “Paul, we’ve been telling you you’re going blind. You need eyeglasses. Why don’t you hop on an iceberg headed for Anchorage and get some glasses?” Paul puts his paw on his left ear flap and points to a hole, saying, “This is no ear piercing hole, no sir. This is a bullet hole I got from one of those triggerhappy hunters in Anchorage the last time

I was there. I am not going back there, no, sir.” Riely looks over the land and says, “Well, that only leaves us one choice the Wilkes Land.” Someone asks, “Do you mean we should go on that green land where there are trees and stuff?” Nayla says, “But that’s Kodiak bear land. Some of those guys are big and mean. I don’t know about going there, Riely.” Riely says, “If we don’t, we’re going to starve. We need to eat meat. The land there is full of caribou. The streams are full of salmon fish. What do we have to lose?” “Our lives!” Stanley says. “We could all be eaten by those guys.” But the bears have no choice, so they

set out across the green land. They see caribou running and moose grazing. Nayla says, “Man, look at all that meat to eat.” Paul says, “But it’s impossible to get one, because they can see us. Our white fur stands out.” Cody, Stanley and even Riely stop walking and just stare at the moose, their mouths watering. Coming up a hill, they see tall trees and a big flowing stream of clear water full of salmon. They run to it, jumping in and grabbing fish in their mouths, taking a bite, swallowing them down. They don’t look around or upstream before jumping in. Further upstream, the Kodiak bears are feasting on fresh fish, too. Some are just lying in the tall green grass, sunning themselves. Mark, the Kodiak

bear, looks downstream and sees polar bears, six of them, feasting on their fish. Why are they here, so far away from the ice? Mark was full of thoughts. This has never happened before. Years ago I saw some, but not this far inland. Mark the Kodiak bear looks around for his friends and says, “Doug, Krugman, Benjamin, wake up! Where are Martin and Nash?” “Martin and Nash are over there, running, bringing down a moose for dinner,” says Doug, raising his right claw, pointing to the fresh kill. Mark the Kodiak bear says, “Krugman, can you run over there to Martin and Nash and tell them to leave the moose for later? We have unwanted company. Get back here in a hurry. There may be a fight.”

According to the DC Department of Human Services, hypothermia season begins Nov. 1 and ends March 31. The DHS cites alcohol and drug use, older age and young age, among others, as risk factors for hypothermia.

STREET SENSE March 30 - April 12, 2011

NEWS

Winter Shelter Program Winding Down

Connecting the Dots of Service

By Bryan Albin Editorial Volunteer

By Jeffrey McNeil Vendor

It was 7:20 on a Friday evening and 16 men and women had gathered around a long table in Georgetown. The heating was turned all the way up inside, quite a contrast from the cold, blustery darkness outdoors. Bowls of chili and plates of salad, fruit salad and cornbread were set out on the table. Along the walls of the room, cots made up with clean white linens were set up. Some of the cots had duffel bags and backpacks set on top of them. And each cot had a chair standing next to it, draped with a winter coat, a hat and shopping bags. This haven of comfort was found in the community room of the Georgetown Presbyterian Church, located at 3115 P St. NW. The church was one of ten Georgetown churches that participated in this year’s winter shelter program organized by the Georgetown Ministry Center. The program, which runs from November until the beginning of April,was started in the winter of 1993. It annually serves ten homeless people who are selected by the GMC to participate. Each church takes a turn in the rotation, housing the homeless for two weeks at a time. On this particular Friday evening, the men and women arrived at the church by 7:14 p.m and each was greeted by Delores Jackson, a warm, motherly senior staff member for the GMC who has worked for the program for 18 years. Jackson is one of three senior staff members for the program. Malissa JohnsonBey and Charles Small are the others. Jackson marks down when each resident arrives and sleeps overnight in the shelter with the residents. As part of the program, dinner is cooked and served by church volunteers, who eat dinner with the residents. The volunteers purchase the food and bring it to the church where they prepare it in the church’s kitchen. Volunteers sign up to participate with the dinners through the GMC and usually come in groups of six to eight people. Some people volunteer frequently, but normally the volun-

teers vary from night to night. On this particular night, six volunteers, Jackson and the nine residents made up the 16 people eating dinner. After the initial silence of people eating, a conversation broke out. The residents talked about a variety of topics, from foreign politics to old episodes of “The Twilight Zone” and “Star Trek.” Slowly this dinner at a homeless shelter began to resemble a family dinner, as the volunteers and residents laughed and smiled. For John Green, a resident of the shelter who grew up in Southeast Washington, the interacPHOTO COURTESY OF GMC tion among the homeless guests and the church volunteers makes the GMC Georgetown Presbyterian Church participated in this winter shelter program a year’s winter shelter program through the Georgetown positive experience. Ministry Center. “You meet a lot of nice people here. There’s nice conversation,” at 7 a.m., Jackson prepares a breakfast said Green. He said he enjoys the people for them. After breakfast, the residents who come to the shelters and show that pack up their belongings and move on they care for those in need. to whatever their daily routines include. Green said he appreciates the shelFor Jackson, knowing the impact her ter for more than just providing a warm work has on the lives of the homeless place to sleep. For him, safety is another is her favorite part of her work. “When positive aspect of the shelter program. I had a resident come by and tell me “This place keeps you out of trouble,” that a movie I showed them helped he said. “When you’re alone out there stop someone from committing a suiat night, it’s easy for trouble to come cide, that’s powerful for me,” she said. about.” “That’s when I know I’m doing something After dinner, Jackson played the right here.” movie “Death Race 2” on the television. Along with its winter shelter program, During one scene, residents talked in the GMC offers other services to the excitement as a car was driven off of a homeless. At the GMC’s facility, located bridge and crashed onto the street be- at 1041 Wisconsin Ave. NW, homeless low. Watching films is a routine part of people can take showers or do laundry, an evening at the shelter, after dinner as well as access psychiatric therapy. each night before the lights go out. On “They (GMC) help you get back on special occasions, such as the Super Bowl your feet,” said Green. “But now it’s on and the State of the Union address, resi- me to keep standing, to move forward dents watch television instead. and try and make things better.” Before the residents leave the shelter

George Washington University Hospital is one of the locations where I sell Street Sense. Many people who buy from me are college students who want to learn about poverty. One, Katherine Schaff, recently told me about a project on which she and her Human Services 152 class were working to connect homeless people with services. She invited me to Ivory Tower on campus, where I met Natalie Kaplan, a classmate who also pioneered the project. They showed me their project, which they have named BRIDGE: Bridging Resources to Guide and Educate. This student-led initiative differs from similar social service efforts because it does not provide the services usually associated with those groups. Rather, their approach is to serve as a comprehensive guide by distributing pamphlets as well as enabling you to search online for information. The project’s mission statement says that its goal is to connect the dots by identifying and locating resources available in the D.C. area. On the homepage you can search for meals, housing and mental health services. Interactive maps give directions to the specific services. You can also give suggestions using their link that helps update the website. You can even submit blog posts that share additional services in the Washington area. And soon you will be able to evaluate service providers. If you cannot access the Internet, BRIDGE has a 64-page guide at various locations that lists approximately 700 social services sites in the D.C. area. When I visited Katherine and Natalie, I could see their passion and energy for helping the fight against poverty. They want to help the less fortunate find the resources they need to improve their lives. The two students are not looking for monetary gain. Through their project and similar projects at other universities, I have hope that a new generation will find ways to end poverty.

12 The Funnies

BARNEY & CLYDE IS A COMIC STRIP ABOUT AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN A HOMELESS MAN AND A TYCOON. IT’S ABOUT OUR MODERN, POLARIZED ECONOMY OF HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS. IT RE-EXAMINES TRADITIONAL MEASURES OF SUCCESS, FAILURE, AND THE NATURE OF HAPPINESS.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: GENE WEINGARTEN IS A COLLEGE DROPOUT AND THE NATIONALLY SYNDICATED HUMOR COLUMNIST FOR THE WASHINGTON POST. 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 WRITER’S GROUP FOR ALLOWING STREET SENSE TO RUN BARNEY & CLYDE.

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STREET SENSE March 30 - April 12, 2011

COLUMN

No Freedom in a Free Market

Op-Ed

Homelessness as a State of Mind The plight is part situation, part reaction

By Jeffery McNeil Vendor

By Maurice King Contributor

What place on earth can you find people huddled together sleeping outside? What nation has the elderly and disabled eating out of garbage cans? Where in the world do you see families waiting in line for a hot meal? Would you say Haiti, Japan or some war-torn nation? No, this is at 14th and K, two blocks from the White House. If you live in Washington long enough, it is hard to overlook disparities of rich and poor. It is not uncommon to see someone sleeping outside, someone asking for change or someone mentally ill screaming or picking through a garbage can. Unlike other countries that use terror and tyranny as an economic system for their citizens, we use free enterprise as a means to have power over ordinary citizens. Code words like gentrification and privatization have replaced words like segregation and discrimination. Value is measured by credit ratings, ability to make money for your employer or how many homes or cars you have instead of whether you make society better or raise the quality of life for all. It concerns me when someone in our country can go to Morton’s Steakhouse and spend $300 for a meal and at the same time have contempt for a single mom who needs food stamps. While we have troops patrolling Afghanistan and Iraq, we have cut the police force in our own inner cities. Is it communistic to ask why we are building up countries who do not want our help, when our bridges, roads and railways are in decay? Is it “leftist” to ask why we are building schools and universities in third world countries while condemning our teachers here and loading college students with debt? Is it “socialist” to think everyone should have decent living conditions, whether they have wealth or not? Every person who works for a living is entitled to basic necessities. If you get sick or injured, should someone profit off your calamity? Are you a leftist to question capitalism as undemocratic and immoral? Do free markets benefit the majority or is it a rigged system where a few prosper? How are we different than the dictators we condemn, bomb and occupy in the name of free markets? While we condemn dictators around the world for human rights violations, we don’t treat our citizens very humanely in our own country. To me, there isn’t much freedom in the free market.

As of next month, I will have been homeless for eight years. That puts me in the classification of chronically homeless, without a doubt. I am the first to admit that the experience has affected me profoundly. It has been very sobering. I used to be far more outgoing than I am today. I was never the eternal optimist, but when I first became homeless, I firmly believed that it would be just a shortterm experience, and that I would rejoin mainstream society rather quickly. Time has proven me wrong, and that proof has come with depression and despair. In 2008, when I got a job, my spirits lifted for a while. But when I was laid off a year later, I found myself searching for work in a job market that was daunting, to say the least. By now, I am wondering what the future holds for me, if anything. It was not so long ago that I encountered someone who claimed that he was “experiencing homelessness,” but was not homeless. That concept interests me considerably. Clearly, he has not fallen into the mindset of all too many homeless people who see little hope for the future, and I can envy that. It made me ask the question: to what extent is homelessness a state of mind? Eight years ago, my spirits took a major fall when I became homeless, but I firmly believed that it was only a temporary setback. Clearly I was wrong, and only after realizing how difficult it is to come out of homelessness did I start to define myself as homeless. I was encouraged by a therapist to try to find ways to define myself in a positive light instead of seeing myself as a homeless guy. Admittedly, that

wasn’t easy for me to do. I had accepted my homelessness as an overwhelming limitation to my life for so long that it severely restricted my interactions with people outside the homeless community. I had investigated possible opportunities to meet people through meetup.com. However, my attendance was poor, largely because I feared too much that people would ask me where I lived. Telling others that I live in a shelter would not make a good impression. I need to find a way out of this situation, but how? The only answer seems to be to find a way out of homelessness. Even with a dedicated case manager assisting me, that solution has not materialized yet. It makes me wonder how life will be if I ever do find the solution. My social skills have taken a beating as a result of having been homeless for so long. Just how will I react to the change? Clearly there are tradeoffs in the event that I do ultimately get housing. At the Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV), my schedule is largely defined by my role as a staff member, and I live in relative safety. Out in the community, I will have to restructure my life and will be susceptible to the risks of city living in Washington. It will be a major adjustment to make, and while I am convinced that it would be better for me, I still feel uncertainty about it -- if it ever happens. It’s the “if it ever happens” that worries me. I will soon be observing my 59th birthday, so finding work will not be easy, if at all possible. Without work, finding housing will be extremely difficult, if not impossible. Even if I do find subsidized housing, maintaining that housing on a fixed income will be very difficult. For these reasons, I wonder how much of homelessness is a state of mind. Once a person becomes homeless, falling into that state of mind is easy. Getting out of it, as well as getting out of homelessness, is difficult. Keeping spirits high is essential to finding the way out, but that is definitely not easy to do.

Happy birthday to our April vendors: Herman Lee Mayse, Barron Hall, Margaret Jenkins, Larissa Thompson, Richard Hutson and Marcus Green.

Returned from Hell but Long Forgotten U.S. war veterans struggle in the District By Mandy Toomey Editorial Volunteer Street Sense vendor Tommy Bennett paints a familiar albeit grim picture of his return from the Vietnam War, where he served with the U.S. Navy in the early 1970s. “When I came back,” he says, “a lot of people didn’t agree with what we had done over in Vietnam. They spit on us and called us baby killers.” To this day, Tommy is reluctant to talk specifically about what happened during his time in Vietnam, but he did say that while there, he questioned whether he would make it back home alive. “A lot of my friends didn’t make it back,” he says, “but I was lucky. I think about them all the time.” It took a while to get used to being home again, Tommy confesses. Although he did receive some initial counseling from the government and would meet regularly with fellow soldiers, he still fell into the grips of depression. Eventually, Tommy turned to drugs and alcohol to cope. In the mid-1990s, this war veteran found himself homeless and living in and out of shelters. Finally, in 2010, while living at the 801 Shelter, Tommy was able to secure an apartment, where he has been for about a year now. He says that although his life is a little better now that he has his own place, he is concerned that many veterans in the District are still struggling. These days, Tommy plays his part as an advocate for veterans’ rights. Recently, he went out to reconnect with people on the street and in shelters in the area to see how they were faring. He heard stories of people using drugs at the shelter and others who were unable to get into shelters even in the cold of winter. Frustratingly, according to Tommy, the situation hasn’t seen much improvement since he left the shelters. “When people don’t let others into

shelters,” he says, “it seems like they haven’t thought about what it’s like to sleep outdoors, what it’s like to not be warm.” Although optimistic about ending homelessness among veterans in the Washington, D.C., area, he is concerned that government funds toward solving the problem are not being used properly and need to be managed better. Even though Tommy has been through hard times more than once in his life, he wants to use his experiences to help others. “The goodness I receive, I can’t keep it to myself,” he explains. “It’s important to give it away.” Tommy is grateful for the help and support of his friend Christina and for the grace of God that has seen him through the hard times. Armed with this support and goodwill, he hopes to help other vets with his story. Tommy concludes that all the things he has experienced have taught him important lessons: “I hope people understand, if they see others sleeping outside or asking for change, don’t look down on them, because you don’t know where they are in life.”

Vendor Profile: Devon Dawkis By Mandy Toomey Editorial Volunteer Devon Dawkis was born in Jamaica but moved to Washington, D.C. five years ago, looking for a better life for himself and his family. He says he misses his home in Jamaica and struggles here, especially during the cold winters, but he is determined to make things work in the District because he sees it as a place where people can succeed if they work hard enough. Devon first heard about Street Sense last year from another vendor who convinced him of the quality of the organization. In January, Devon started selling papers near the Metro Center station at G and 13th Streets and now enjoys meeting different types of people daily. Kindness, love and understanding are three traits he applies to his work at Street Sense and characteristics he feels make him a strong employee. Devon worked for 10 years in Jamaica in cleaning and maintenance. He is now looking for similar work in the

Washington, D.C., area. For Devon, work is a sense of pride; he described his proudest moment as when “you have a job to get up for in the morning, and you look forward to getting there and doing your job.” Devon says he sees limitless possibilities for the future, but for now he hopes to find a job where he can work with kindness and understanding to get to the end of the day.

A Thank You to the Reader who Helped my Family Find Me By Kenneth Belkosky Vendor I do not know who it was, but thanks to a Street Sense reader, a family member whom I had not met before has found me. The family member was my brother Ernest’s son, Kevin. He found me thanks to a reader who told him to check Facebook. I had thought I was alone, since my half-brother’s son and daughter stopped contacting me. Now that Kevin has found me, his sister has also started to contact me. It is so nice that a reader helped my family find me! I will be taking most of the winter off due to the cold weather. I will be working on days when the temperatures reaches a high of about 45 degrees, but most of the time, I will be off and staying warm, playing with my cat, Cappy. I

am writing this so that the readers from Dupont Circle do not worry about me.

STREET SENSE March 30 - April 12, 2011

Service Spotlight: Covenant House By Maria Stoyadinova Editorial Volunteer Covenant House aims to help homeless and runaway youth with emergency housing, transition and education services, job training and child day care for youth with children. The organization has three housing programs in Washington, D.C. The Crisis Center provides emergency apartmenttype housing for youth and their children for up to 90 days. The Transitional Living Program, focused on longer-term housing, lasts for 18 months and is focused on helping youth regain their independence. Finally, the Rights of Passage program is for young adults, aged 18-24, who have demonstrated the willingness to work on specific short- and long-term life goals. The Transitional Living Program and the Rights of Passage Program are application-based. Applicants must have a job or be enrolled in a higher education or training program. Covenant House targets education by helping young adults prepare for

DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH ACCESS HOTLINE 1-888-7WE HELP (1-888-793-4357) www.dcfoodfinder.org

SHELTER Calvary Women’s Services 110 Maryland Ave, NE (202) 289-0596 (office) (202) 289-2111 (shelter) www.calvaryservices.org

core exams required for career development and higher education, including the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), the Adult Basic Education (ABE) exam and the General Educational Development (GED) exam. Covenant House also has a web-based learning software called PLATO, with a focus on adult literacy. The organization also provides an Artisans Woodworking Program, a six month job-training initiative and the Child Development Center, a day care center for children between 6 months and 3 years old. In addition, Covenant House has prevention services aimed at educating youth ages 11 to 18, helping them attain the skills necessary to make good decisions related to sexual activity and drug abuse. Before being considered for any of the programs offered at the Covenant House, youth must undergo psychosocial and skills assessments administered by Covenant House’s Service Management employees. To contact the Service Management Team of Covenant House call 202-6109632, or the NineLine at 1-800-999-9999. My Sister’s Place PO Box 29596, Washington, DC 20017 (202) 529-5261 (office) (202) 529-5991 (24-hour hotline)

801 East, St. Elizabeths Hospital (Men) 2700 MLK Avenue, SE (202) 561–4014 New York Ave Shelter (Men 18+) 1355–57 New York Avenue, NE (202) 832–2359

Open Door Shelter (Women) 425 2nd Street, NW (202) 393–1909 www.newhopeministriesdc.org/id3.html

FOOD

Covenant House Washington (Youth) 2001 Mississippi Ave., SE (202) 610–9600, www.covenanthousedc.org John Young Center (Women) 119 D Street, NW (202) 639–8469, www.catholiccharitiesdc.org

Community Service St. Stephens Parish Church 1525 Newton St, NW (202) 737–9311, www.thrivedc.org

Martha’s Table 2114 14th Street, NW (202) 328–6608, www.marthastable.org

Food and Friends 219 Riggs Road, NE (202) 269–2277, www.foodandfriends.org

Rachel’s Women’s Center 1222 11th Street, NW (202) 682–1005, www.ccdsd.org/howorwc.php

Miriam’s Kitchen 2401 Virginia Avenue, NW (202) 452–8089, www.miriamskitchen.org

Sasha Bruce Youthwork 741 8th Street, SE (202) 675–9340, www.sashabruce.org

The Welcome Table Church of the Epiphany 1317 G Street, NW (202) 347–2635, http://www.epiphanydc. org/ministry/welcometbl.htm

So Others Might Eat (SOME) 71 “O” Street, NW (202) 797–8806; www.some.org

MEDICAL RESOURCES Christ House 1717 Columbia Road, NW (202) 328–1100, www.christhouse.org Unity Health Care, Inc. 3020 14th Street, NW (202) 745–4300,www.unityhealthcare.org Whitman–Walker Clinic 1407 S Street, NW (202) 797–3500, www.wwc.org

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Academy of Hope GED Center 601 Edgewood St., NE 202-269-6623, www.aohdc.org Catholic Community Services 924 G Street, NW (202) 772–4300, www.ccs–dc.org D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW (202) 347–8870, www.dccfh.org Community Family Life Services 305 E Street, NW (202) 347–0511, www.cflsdc.org

OUTREACH CENTERS N Street Village (Women) 1333 N Street, NW (202) 939–2060, www.nstreetvillage.org

Central Union Mission (Men) 1350 R Street, NW (202) 745–7118, www.missiondc.org

Community of Hope (Family) 1413 Girard Street, NW (202) 232–7356,www.communityofhopedc.org

Charlie’s Place 1830 Connecticut Avenue, NW (202) 232–3066 www.stmargaretsdc.org/charliesplac Church of the Pilgrims (Sundays only) 2201 P Street, NW (202) 387–6612, www.churchofthepilgrims.org Thrive DC Breakfast served Mon.-Fri., 9:30-11 a.m. Dinner for women and children, Mon.-Fri., 3-6 p.m.

Bread for the City 1525 Seventh Street, NW (202) 265–2400 1640 Good Hope Road, SE (202) 561–8587, www.breadforthecity.org Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW (202) 364–1419, www.cchfp.org Bethany Women’s Center 1333 N Street, NW (202) 939–2060, www.nstreetvillage.org Father McKenna Center 19 Eye Street, NW (202) 842–1112 Friendship House 619 D Street, SE (202) 675–9050, www.friendshiphouse.net Georgetown Ministry Center 1041 Wisconsin Avenue, NW (202) 338–8301 www.georgetownministrycenter.org

Foundry Methodist Church 1500 16th Street, NW (202) 332–4010, www.foundryumc.org Gospel Rescue Ministries (Men) 810 5th Street, NW (202) 842–1731, www.grm.org Hermano Pedro Day Center 3211 Sacred Heart Way, NW (202) 332–2874 www.ccs–dc.org/find/services/ JHP, Inc. 425 2nd St, NW (202) 544–9126, www.jobshavepriority.org Samaritan Ministry 1345 U Street, SE 1516 Hamilton Street, NW (202) 889–7702, www.samaritanministry.org

SHELTER HOTLINE: 1–800–535–7252

THE LAST WORD

An Open Letter from The Big Issue Japan

“Fortunately, all our staff and vendors are O.K.” That’s the news from our sister street paper, The Big Issue in Japan. But things, as they tell us in this open letter to street newspapers all over the world, “will not be the same.” As Japan continues to cope with the aftermath of the terrible March 11 earthquake and tsunami, as survivors still search for thousands of missing loved ones, while struggling with homelessness and displacement and fears of a nuclear disaster, we were humbled to read this letter. The little worries of street newspaper life (“the magazine sales in Tokyo dropped”) are so seamlessly interwoven with the epic ones (“the vendors and people in Northern cities are fighting for their lives”). We can’t imagine facing such a disaster in our own city. It has made us take pause to think about what would happen to our own shoe-string newspaper and the vendors who sell it if such a thing was to happen. We wanted to share it with you. --Mary Otto, editor-in-chief

By Miku Sano Managing Director, The Big Issue Japan It is very good to feel that there are support from friends. I am sorry I will not be able to reply individually but we all very much appreciate your warm support. Fortunately, all our staff and vendors are O.K. There are smaller earthquakes ( b u t s t i l l a b i g o n e s ! ) e v e r y d a y. The nuclear accident in Fukushima is still not under control. The magazine sales in Tokyo dropped. There is no delivery to northern cities, hence, the vendors in Sapporo have nothing to sell. In Sendai, one of the place that tsunami hit, the vendors survived but do not know when they can start selling the mags again. Things are not easy and will not be the same, but we are not defeated. The vendors and people in Northern cities are fighting for their lives

Government of the District of Columbia • Department of Human Services

Help

BRiNg FamilieS wHO aRe HOmeleSS iN FROm THe COld FamilY SHelTeRS Families seeking shelter must go to the Virginia Williams Family

fashion in MidCity

caramel