04 15 2020

VOL. 17 ISSUE 12

$2

APRIL 15 - 28, 2020

Real Stories

Real People

The new normal Organizations and individuals continue adapting to support people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

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Real Change

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© STREET SENSE MEDIA 2003 - 2020 1317 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 (202) 347 - 2006

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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.

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VENDOR CODE OF CONDUCT

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

1. 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.

2. I will only purchase the paper from Street Sense Media staff and volunteers and will not sell papers to other vendors.

3. 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.

4. I agree not to distribute copies of Street Sense on metro trains and buses or on private property.

5. 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.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Brian Carome

7. I agree to sell no additional goods or products when distributing Street Sense.

Eric Falquero

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

Nikki D’Angelo

9. 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.

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

A man named Moon seeking to connect with passersby at Dupont Circle.

Part of a photo essay of D.C. during the pandemic, Burgess. The full series is available here.

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 BEN BURGESS

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

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

INTERESTED IN BEING A VENDOR? New vendor training: every Tuesday and Thursday // 2 p.m. // 1317 G St., NW

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Shuhratjon Ahmadjonov, Gerald Anderson, Charles Armstrong, Katrina Arninge, Lawrence Autry, Daniel Ball, Aaron Bernier-Garland, Tonya Bibbs, Reginald Black, Mathew Bowens, Rashawn Bowser, Debora Brantley, Laticia Brock, Lawrence Brown, Brianna Butler, Anthony Carney, Conrad Cheek, Anthony Crawford, Louise Davenport, James Davis, David Denny, Reginald Denny, Ricardo Dickerson, Patricia Donaldson, Nathaniel Donaldson, Ron Dudley, Joshua Faison, Queenie Featherstone, 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, Frederic John, Henry Johnson, Mark Jones, Morgan Jones, Mathew 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, Mark Monrowe, L. Morrow, Collins Mukasa, Evelyn Nnam, Earl Parker, Terrell Pearson, Aida Peery, Hubert Pegues, Marcellus Phillips, Jacquelyn Portee, Abel Putu, Ash-Shaheed Rabil, Robert Reed, Corey Sanders, Arthur Scott, Mary Sellman, Patty Smith, Ronald Smoot, David Snyder, Franklin Sterling, Warren Stevens, James Stewart, Steffen Stone, Beverly Sutton, Sybil Taylor, Jeff Taylor, Archie Thomas, Eric Thompson-Bey, Sarah Turley-Colin, Martin Walker, Michael Warner, Vincent Watts II, Sheila White, Angie Whitehurst, Wendell Williams, Christine Wong, Charles Woods, Latishia Wynn

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR INTERIM VENDOR MANAGER DIRECTOR OF CASE MANAGEMENT

Lissa Ramsepaul

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, Kelsey Falquero, Roberta Haber, Thomas Ratliff, 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

// 3

NEWS IN BRIEF UPDATE: How to claim your stimulus payment

Dear supporters, readers, community members, and friends,

The IRS created a web portal to submit your personal information

I am writing with great urgency to ask you to be a part of a sustained outbreak of kindness and compassion for our neighbors most in need. We are deeply grateful for your past support, and I am writing to ask that you renew it today.

Even before COVID-19, homelessness was claiming lives in our community. Since midDecember, three of our vendors have died, none older than 60. The youngest was 35.

Now the coronavirus pandemic exponentially adds a new, multi-pronged threat.

Artist/Vendor David Denny. PHOTO BY NANDO ALVAREZ

Without significant and sustained assistance in the fight against the coronavirus and the economic havoc it is wielding, the women and men we work alongside at Street Sense Media will be the hardest hit and last to recover. Only if we act together, as a community, can we lessen the impact of this threat.

On March 27th, the pandemic forced me to suspend the print publication and distribution of our newspaper. This was the hardest decision I’ve had to make in my eight years at Street Sense Media. But it was necessary to protect the health of our vendors and the community they work in.

For the first time in 17 years, and until public health experts lower the threat level, Street Sense will only be published online.

We take enormous pride in the journalism we produce in partnership with our vendors who write for and distribute the paper. For many, selling Street Sense is their only source of income. It helps them pay for their most basic human needs. For others, selling Street Sense allows them to make rent payments on apartments secured after years of homelessness, to supplement income from minimum wage jobs, or to help support family members.

Like many people in our community right now, Street Sense Media’s vendors are struggling with an overwhelming sense of uncertainly, a loss of income, and the health threat the pandemic presents.

And as I already mentioned, our homeless colleagues were facing enormous challenges to their health and welfare before the onset of this crisis. Right now, we urgently need your help in the form of financial contributions.

We’ve decided it’s essential to keep our offices open to support our vendors and respond to their changing needs. We urgently need donations to set up and manage a vendor relief fund. That fund will deliver rental payments to stop evictions, utility payments to stop shutoffs, and direct support for essentials such as food and medicine. Our offices will also remain open so we can distribute income that vendors generate via our mobile payment app. Since public health experts have recommended social distancing to contain the virus, we’ve lost nearly our entire cohort of office volunteers. To maintain operations at a time when demand for our programs is increasing, we’ve had to add hourly paid staff to replace these volunteers. And we are bracing for a time when staff will be absent for extended periods due to illness.

Homelessness and extreme poverty have been socially isolating our unhoused colleagues for decades. The pandemic, efforts to contain it, and beliefs that homeless people may be more likely carry the virus, are pushing people we work with and care about to the brink of desperation. Thus, our offices are also remaining open so our case management staff can help our colleagues through levels of anxiety that can be overwhelming and even life threatening.

Please consider making a donation to support Street Sense Media today. Your kindness and generosity may very well save a life. We deeply appreciate your support and wish you and yours the very best in this challenging time.

Sincerely,

Or send checks to: Brian Carome Chief Executive Officer Street Sense Media

Click here to give online.

1317 G St NW Washington, DC 20005

In the previous edition, days after the CARES Act became law, Street Sense Media reported that any low-income adult or child with a valid Social Security Number should be included in the stimulus package.

We noted then that anyone who is not required to file taxes and does not receive benefits from the Social Security Administration would most likely need to proactively submit their information to the IRS through a yet-to-be-developed system in order to receive the “economic impact payment.” That system is now available for non-filers to submit their information here. Another feature on the same site called “Get My Payment” became available today. It allows those who did file a 2018 or 2019 tax return to check the status of their stimulus payment and had been advertised earlier in the month. A link to instructions for how to provide the IRS an updated mailing address, if needed, is available just below the “Get My Payment.”

One exception to inclusion in the stimulus package is that anyone who owes back child support payments may end up with that amount garnished from their stimulus check and sent to the custodial parent of their child. Artist/Vendor Wendell Williams shares his perspective on this stipulation in our opinion section on pages 10-11.

—ericf@streetsensemedia.org

New Jersey Ave. encampment cleanup challenges CDC COVID-19 guidelines, witness says City workers displaced an encampment of people experiencing homelessness from the New Jersey Avenue and O Streets NW Park on the morning of April 14, according to a Street Sense Media vendor who was in the area and observed the event. The park is located several blocks away from the nonprofit homeless services provider So Others Might Eat. This was one of two scheduled “encampment protocol engagements” for that date listed on the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services website, the agency that coordinates such cleanups.

“They took everything from these people … all their possessions … all their tents,” the Street Sense Media vendor said. “It’s not fair. Where are homeless people supposed to go?”

The camp residents he spoke with expressed concern that going to a shelter would be more dangerous now that residents in several shelters had tested positive for COVID-19. On March 22, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended pausing encampment sweeps amid the pandemic, saying outdoor settings may allow people to increase distance between themselves and others in comparison to indoor congregate settings like shelters.

Washington City Paper reported last month that the deputy mayor’s office removed April cleanup dates from its website and updated the March dates to be “trash-only engagements,” where tents and other belongings would not be thrown out. The DMHHS website did not say the April 14 cleanups would be “trash-only.” The deputy mayor’s office did not initially respond to requests for an interview.

—ericf@streetsensemedia.org

$2

NEWS

The first half of every edition of Street Sense is reserved for local news affecting D.C. communities and occasional national and international news related to homelessness. Think we should be writing about something? Send tips and suggestions to editor@streetsensemedia.org.

PHOTO: A check-in station for The George Washington University Hospital drive-through coronavirus testing on April 9. This photo essay of D.C. during the pandemic, from our cover, through each section’s title page, was taken by Photojournalist Benjamin Burgess. The full series is available here.

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NEWS

While DHS works to shelter and quarantine homeless residents, housing referrals have been put on hold

BY AVI BAJPAI AND REGINALD BLACK Editorial Intern, Artist/vendor

As cases of COVID-19 were rapidly increasing last month, the D.C. Department of Human Services notified housing providers that it was temporarily suspending the Coordinated Assessment and Housing Placement (CAHP) program, which is the District’s primary tool for housing homeless residents.

DHS Director Laura Zeilinger said that continuing CAHP was “not realistic” given the series of in-person meetings and property visits involved in assessing, matching, and housing individuals through the program.

The system relies on a detailed assessment interview with people seeking housing that determines how vulnerable they are compared to others seeking housing and what their individual needs are. When space in a housing program opens, the services that placement provides are compared to the assessment data. Serviceprovider staff then meet to discuss the placement options together and decide on the final “match.”

“Right now we are not in a place where being out in the community doing housing searches, applications, inspections, voucher briefings, and CAHP meetings can be done in a way that is safe and protects people,” she said.

For service providers like Pathways to Housing D.C., which fill placements in its ‘housing first’ programs through CAHP, the suspension prevents Pathways from housing any new clients who weren’t already matched before the referral system was paused. Pathways does not accept direct referrals for its Housing First programs, per its website. As the coordinated entry model was being adopted in D.C., city officials spent significant

time asking all housing providers to move away from direct referrals and participate in CAHP. Individuals who were already matched prior to the suspension of CAHP have still been able to secure housing.

The program’s suspension was announced by DHS on March 23 during a D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) conference call. That week, Pathways housed three people who had previously been matched to the program, according to Executive Director Christy Respress.

As of March 30, a total of 31 individuals had either been housed or were waiting to move into Pathways’ permanent supportive housing and veterans housing programs in D.C., or its housing program in Montgomery County, Maryland.

On March 19, just before D.C. paused housing referrals, U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced the Human Right to Housing Act of 2020 to Congress as a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was co-sponsored by seven fellow House Democrats and includes more than $300 billion to invest in housing infrastructure and assistance over the next decade and $10 billion over that period for FEMA emergency food and shelter grants.

“The homelessness crisis in America predates the COVID-19 pandemic, but the consequences of federal disinvestment in critical housing infrastructure and supportive services have never been clearer, Jayapal said in a press release. “The experience of homelessness is not a moral failure of individuals, but a structural failing on the part of a society that has refused to prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable, including safe and affordable housing.”

A similar conversation has been inching forward in the District for years. In 1989, local organizers including the late Mitch Snyder led the "Housing Now!" demonstration

that drew the participation of Coretta Scott King, Jesse Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and others. In 2008, the D.C. Council passed a ceremonial resolution declaring the District would strive to provide all the rights outlined in the United Nations’ 1948 universal declaration human rights, which includes safe housing for all.

Earlier this year, as the ICH finalized a major update to the city's plan to end homelessness, homeless and formerly homeless members of the ICH recommended the plan include goals to advance housing as a right in D.C. and to serve as a national model. Those goals were approved in the final plan at a March 10 ICH meeting, which now awaits the mayor’s approval.

The suspension of CAHP referrals, while understandable for the time being, comes at a time when “we actually need to accelerate housing placements and figure out creative ways to move people into housing,” Respress said. The possible solutions Respress suggested include having virtual apartment showings and teleconference meetings with property managers and service providers.

In a March 30 interview, Zeilinger cast doubt on whether the lengthy referral process could be replicated virtually. If the stay-at-home order signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser is extended for “a prolonged period beyond a matter of days,” then DHS would look at ways to resume the program virtually, she said.

Zeilinger did not respond to a request for comment on whether DHS is now considering restarting CAHP referrals virtually.

Bowser’s order, which was announced on the same day as Zeilinger’s interview with Street Sense Media, is currently in effect until April 24. An announcement on whether school and business closures will extend past that date is expected to be made this Friday.

DHS waives case management billing requirements for service providers facing higher costs and staff shortages

BY AVI BAJPAI avi.bajpai@streetsensemedia.org

Over the past 30 days, as cases of COVID19 have skyrocketed, D.C. service providers have scrambled to adapt to the public health situation and continue serving the homeless residents who rely on them.

One concern that emerged early on among case management providers involved the billing structure they were subject to under the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS), which they said did not factor in the added costs and staff shortages they were anticipating in the coming weeks.

Under the standard billing system, providers are paid on a monthly basis for each client they serve. In order to be

paid at the full value of their contract, providers must meet a set number of case management interactions, which include face-to-face, phone and attempted contacts.

For Miriam’s Kitchen, which provides case management to 216 of its guests, receiving a temporary waiver from the billing requirements was crucial, according to CEO and President Scott Schenkelberg.

By March 13, just two days after Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public health emergency, Miriam’s had cancelled all volunteer shifts and was preparing to move its meal and case management services to an adjoining outdoor courtyard, where people could more easily distance themselves from others. Around that time, a coalition of service providers, including Miriam’s

and Pathways to Housing D.C., requested that DHS temporarily waive the requirements and pay providers at their full rates.

The staggering cost of moving Miriam's entire operation to the courtyard, which entailed setting up tents and renting three portable restroom stalls, along with overtime expenses and increased spending on food, was nearly $200,000 per month, Schenkelberg said. The portable restrooms alone, depending on usage and the frequency of septic servicing, can cost up to $6,000 per month.

By March 20, the request for temporary waivers had been initially approved for all case management providers, and during a phone call with providers on March 23, DHS discussed the new regulations which

would allow for full billing, Schenkelberg said. A formal agreement stipulating the new terms of billing was circulated to providers on March 26.

Schenkelberg said the response from DHS was “impressive” and estimated that being able to bill at the full rate could translate to almost $100,000 in billing through the end of the fiscal year.

Pathways D.C. Executive Director Christy Respress said she was “thrilled” that DHS was “really listening in this time of crisis and really flexible to the extent that they can be.” The organization plans to use the extra funds to purchase cell phones for clients who lack them and are harder to contact, as well as essential supplies like masks, hand sanitizer, gloves and disinfectant wipes.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

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King Greenleaf Recreation Center.

2018 IMAGE COURTESY OF GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Concerned with operations at King Greenleaf shelter, one woman is leading a charge to assist residents

BY BEN COOPER ben.cooper@streetsensemedia.org

W

hen Taylar Nuevelle went to the women’s emergency shelter at King Greenleaf Recreation Center on April 7 to drop off a cellphone for a client, what she saw was “heartbreaking.”

Some of the women at the Southwest D.C. shelter had dirty or torn clothing. Others had no shoes. Hand sanitizer and masks were few and far between despite the ongoing spread of the coronavirus. So Nuevelle promised the women that she would come back with items.

She posted in the D.C. Mutual Aid Network Facebook group — which has more than 2,500 members and a goal of “[taking] care of each other and [keeping the] city as safe as possible” — detailing what she saw and listing needed items. She received dozens of emails and comments on the post from people looking to help and donate.

And in her visits to the shelter on the following days, she was able to deliver items that the women were in desperate need of.

“I was back [the next day], and as soon as I got there, they saw the boxes and they were very, very excited,” said Nuevelle, who founded the nonprofit Who Speaks For Me? in 2010.

She brought essentials such as bras, women’s hygiene products, bars of soap, towels, and clothes. Still, women at King Greenleaf were struggling. After Nuevelle finished handing out items and clothing on April 9, one woman — wearing a sweatshirt that was too small, sweatpants that were too big, and no underwear — walked up to her and asked if she could have a change of clothes.

By Friday, though, Nuevelle said she had received enough clothing donations to open a thrift store if she wanted.

Problems with the shelter’s operations persisted. Conditions hadn’t improved in the days following Nuevelle’s initial visit.

Social distancing practices weren’t being enforced, and cots were close enough that women could reach and touch each other.

Supplies are being delivered to King Greenleaf two to three times per week and paper masks are being provided while waiting on an order for cloth masks, according to D.C.’s Department of Human Services.

“I don’t want that shelter shut down because I don’t want people to be on the street,” Nuevelle said. “But I think that we have plenty of buildings that could be used in the city right now so that we can move some of those women into other locations so that they can actually practice safe distancing.”

The King Greenleaf Recreation Center is used as a hypothermia shelter from November through March, but the Department of Human Services opted to keep it open as a low-barrier shelter — along with the Malcolm X Recreation Center — during the public health crisis. All recreation centers in the city are closed for their traditional purposes until further notice. DHS has reported that 62 individuals in D.C. shelters have tested positive for COVID-19 as of April 13 and a spokesperson from the mayor’s press office confirmed on April 14 that at least one homeless person has died from the disease.

DHS said it’s focused on making sure that people who display symptoms of COVID-19 are pulled out of congregate shelter settings and then connected to isolation sites. There were 225 homeless people at those sites as of April 13.

Nuevelle said 58 women were at King Greenleaf on April 8 and 62 were there on April 11. The shelter’s capacity is currently being capped at 85 with plans to de-densify in the future, according to DHS. Audits are also being conducted at every shelter site, according to DHS. The department acknowledged it is not surprising that concerns Nuevelle witnessed are occurring amid the challenge of getting people to follow the guidance it has provided.

Catholic Charities D.C. is contracted to run the emergency shelter at King Greenleaf Recreation Center and manages most of the city’s year-round low-barrier shelters. The nonprofit was contacted for this story but unable to comment on Nuevelle’s concerns by publication time.

As DHS continues to adapt during the evolving situation, Nuevelle said she plans to keep visiting King Greenleaf to ensure that the women are getting what they need.

“It makes me a little sad that it’s so little we’re giving them, but it means the world to them,” she said. “When the world has become so compact that a pair of socks can make you light up, you really get it.”

LEFT: Maxi pads ready to be distributed to women at the shelter.

ABOVE: Stacks of bulk supply orders btained for the women living at the King Greenleaf emergency shelter.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TAYLAR NUEVELLE

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NEWS

As 12-step meetings halt in person due to the coronavirus, recovery goes online

BY JULIA PINNEY julia.pinney@streetsensemedia.org

E

lizabeth, a Narcotics Anonymous member and resident of the D.C. metro area, can’t attend her usual meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her Sunday meetings now happen on Zoom. In the previous weeks, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines restricting group gatherings and encouraging social distancing, many Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous groups decided to shift meetings to virtual platforms or cancel them altogether.

Both NA and AA are guided by the Twelve Traditions, which state that each group is an autonomous body. As such, the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous stated that decisions about whether to close meetings should be made through “group conscience,” respecting local and state authorities. NA World Services similarly said it was not their role to make statements about health issues and would “honor each NA group’s responsibility to discuss and determine what is best for their meeting.”

One in 12 adults in the United States says they are in recovery, according to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Elizabeth said the more than 300 NA meetings in the DMV area every week likely served around 6,000 people per week before in-person meetings were shut down. More than 1,500 AA meetings are listed on the Washington Area Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous website, with many now temporarily shut down.

According to Wendell Williams, a Street Sense Media vendor, the 12-step meetings he usually attended began to be cancelled or moved to being conducted over the phone or on Zoom starting the week of March 20. He wrote about it in the March 18 edition of Street Sense. One of the driving forces was the loss of meeting places as churches and clubs began closing their doors.

On March 24, Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered all non-essential businesses closed in the District. Grocery stores, healthcare clinics, banks, organizations providing social services to vulnerable populations, and others deemed essential businesses are exempt. The mayor did not order churches to close and exempted travel to houses of worship in her stay-at-home order.

But gatherings of 10 or more people are prohibited, in line with CDC recommendations, which led most to close anyway.

The Dupont Circle Club, one of a handful of nonprofit organizations in the region dedicated to offering a place for 12-step meetings, addressed its closure in a March 29 message on their website. It said their doors would remain closed “until there is a substantial change in the public health threat” and linked to information about meetings conducted by phone or online.

People seeking help with recovery can find a directory of AA meetings updated daily on the Washington Area Intergroup Association’s website. The Chesapeake & Potomac Region of NA similarly has a continually updated document listing meeting cancellations and shifts to Zoom or the phone. Each organization also operates a hotline that will connect the caller with another person in recovery to talk through their situation.

(NA hotline: 1-800-543-4670, AA hotline: 202-966-9115) Elizabeth said the move to virtual meetings, especially those on Zoom, could be a barrier for members of the District’s lowincome and homeless communities if they don’t own a tablet or

COURTESY OF PXFUEL.COM

a computer. However, as long as someone can find access to a phone with enough minutes available, they can attend a virtual meeting. “Any meeting is good,” she said. “Just listening is good.”

Williams worries that the absence of in-person meetings may be an excuse for people new to recovery to stop. “They hadn’t completely bought in … They were always going reluctantly because people were telling them they had to,” said Williams, who has been in recovery for over 30 years. “That’s different than the person who goes because they want to. They love going, they love what it’s doing to them.”

Elizabeth added that social distancing has the potential to be especially damaging for new members. “Drug users are very isolated people,” she said. ”It’s a vicious spiral, like water going down the drain: the worse you feel, the more you want to be alone, the more you want to just not feel or not care. So this compounds [that in] someone in early recovery let alone

“... AA is not just a ‘place,’ but exists in the hearts, minds, and help offered.”

Alcoholics Anonymous General Service Office someone who’s thinking about coming into recovery.”

The nature of 12-step programs is that someone new to recovery gains a support network and a sponsor. A sponsor is “someone who has been in recovery long enough to understand how you feel when you’re first detoxing and how uncomfortable it is and how crazy you think and how up and down your emotions are,” Elizabeth said. But it takes a while for a beginner to feel comfortable reaching out and this could be a barrier to continuing with recovery.

Williams has several friends also in recovery with whom he has made personal commitments to call each other every day. But he said this might not be the case for someone new in recovery and online meetings can’t compete with sitting in a room with a group of people going through a similar process.

“We know the power of sitting in a room with 30, 40 other recovering people,” Williams said. “There’s an energy. There’s a dynamic. There’s a cosmic force that you don’t get on the phone, that you don’t get in a chat,” he said.

Elizabeth appreciates that she can see the faces of everyone attending her NA meeting on Zoom, but said even that doesn’t replace being together in person.

“When you’re with other people, other people become your higher consciousness, like I’m admitting in front of all these people that I’m powerless. It’s like confession and to admit in isolation, it’s not the same thing,” Elizabeth said.

Though she had not experienced an instance herself, Elizabeth explained that another downside of 12-step meetings on Zoom are the instances of “Zoom bombing” in which someone enters a recovery meeting for the sole purpose of disrupting it. As a precautionary measure, the meetings she attends are now password protected.

Twelve-step meetings are essential to many people fighting for their lives against addiction, according to Williams “Maybe, just maybe, we’ve lost the view of our primary purpose in the sense that we’re like first responders,” he said.

“We should never shut down. We’re like the emergency room.”

A press release on the Alcoholics Anonymous General Service Office website in response to the move to digital plan ends with the note, “AA in the digital age has certainly taken on a new meaning in these challenging times, reminding its members and those searching for help that AA is not just a ‘place,’ but exists in the hearts, minds and help offered.”

Williams is adapting to a new normal that is less grounded in “place.” He described a 6:45 a.m. meeting he recently attended where he was able to listen to a truck driver who was in his rig on his way from Louisiana to Arizona speaking of his experience with recovery. It was almost like the real thing. “You close your eyes.

You think you’re in a real in-person meeting,” Williams said. “I could feel the energy just listening to people who were logging in under some trying circumstances instead of just taking a holiday.”

Even so, he’s taken to driving to recovery clubs that had shut their doors and standing in the parking lot and calling a few people. “I’m just old-school. I just gotta go,” Williams said.

He has also been compiling text threads and Facebook group messages to help communicate information about online meetings to a network of those in recovery. He said that it’s vital right now to stay plugged into the 12-step community.

“We can close everything and take weeks off, but the disease of addiction is not taking weeks off,” Williams said.

In addition to physical meetings that have been moved online, the AA Online Intergroup and Virtual NA directories list recovery meetings that have always been held remotely.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

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KEEPING UP WITH THE COMMUNITY

National nonprofit provides pandemicspecific recommendations for protecting the homeless community

BY REGINALD BLACK Artist/Vendor

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, homeless service providers centers, community rec centers, places of worship and arenas are adjusting how they meet the needs of their constituents. were proposed as options for expanded shelter space.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness has put together a De Jong said this is not the time to work on major roadblocks; web-based series to discuss some of the changing strategies. it is more important to “take people in our system and move Iain De Jong, president of OrgCode and creator of the them into housing.” There is a danger that when the pandemic Vulnerability Index - Service Prioritization Decision Assistance eventually ends, the system will be “overwhelmed.” Backlogs Tool that powers the “coordinated entry” model for referrals may occur with regard to housing vouchers and homelessness to housing assistance, facilitated two webinars. Used locally may increase when current restrictions on eviction are lifted. and around the country, the VI-SPDAT is an assessment tool In the second webinar, the needs of people who are already for matching the needs of unsheltered people with appropriate in housing were addressed. De Jong called for “frontline staff” housing options as they become available. to support people in housing.

The first webinar focused on serving sheltered and De Jong described the work of OrgCode in developing or unsheltered persons during the pandemic, De Jong refining technologies to connect service providers and clients. acknowledged, “We are still learning.” He emphasized the He emphasized that how organizations prioritize whom to importance of outreach. “The last thing we want is people serve must be defendable and transparent. He urged providers all over looking for food,” he said. “Outreach is necessary.” to work with healthcare organizations and recommended that De Jong explained that people who are homeless make support staff at housing sites screen residents for symptoms. choices based on their Support staff should be aware immediate circumstances. that some people are living Thus, during the pandemic, with food insecurity and many have abandoned financial problems. shelters in favor of being He stressed the need to help outdoors. De Jong pointed out residents by having standards the benefit of couch surfing for apartment cleanliness, and reunification with family personal hygiene, and harm members, if possible. reduction. He also encouraged The first webinar included housing support staff to think suggestions and strategies about the many ways people to increase safety during the get cash, including day labor pandemic, which has resulted and panhandling. “Housing in closure of many spaces support staff should know Iain De Jong that people experiencing what financial support exists in President, OrgCode homelessness might normally [the] community like the backs go to, such as coffee shops of their hands,” De Jong said. and day centers.

He recommended the use of open-ended questions to De Jong said the public and private sector must continue identify residents’ immediate needs and long-term goals. efforts that were in progress before the pandemic hit. He stressed He stressed the importance of maintaining contact with that right now, even in the midst of a pandemic, “exits” out people who are experiencing violence. He suggested that of homelessness are needed. He warned that coordinated entry housing organizations help clients create personalized guestshould not come to a grinding halt. “Let us not forget that management policies. housing is harm reduction,“ he said. He suggested that providers De Jong pointed out that housing organizations should work with people they already know and if the process of getting remember the landlords’ needs and make sure rents are someone housing has begun, it should continue. paid on time. He recommended such organizations use their He wants outreach personnel to conduct symptom screening connections to landlords to find vacancies. and he encouraged organizations that are working with De Jong supported the use of virtual team meetings and case encampments to develop a “floor plan or site plan” that allows reviews during the pandemic so that service providers, advocates, encampment residents to practice social or physical distancing. and people experiencing homelessness may have continuing During the webinar, guidance from the CDC was mentioned connections. He said communities need to think about how to as support for not performing sweeps of homeless encampments. remember the deaths of people affected by COVID-19.

“I’m not a fan of sweeps,“ De Jong said.

The webinar concluded with words of encouragement for De Jong said that outreach workers should know what has the audience. “Know … that without you, people will feel changed and street outreach, if done well, will be especially the impacts of homelessness. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to helpful at this time. others. You're awesome,” De Jong said. “With every community “It certainly isn’t business as usual,“ De Jong said when pushed to the brink during the epidemic, it is refreshing to addressing public transit, the use of masks, and medical see all over the nation people are banding together to help transportation companies. He urged providers to use a modified those who are homeless. Hopefully, ... everyone experiencing street outreach van and personal protective equipment when homelessness [will] make it into housing.” serving unsheltered persons. Hotels, motels, convention

It is more important to “take people in our system and move them into housing.”

There is a danger that when the pandemic eventually ends, the system will be “overwhelmed.”

Artist/Vendor Chon Gotti is preparing to celebrate his Earth Day birthday. IMAGE COURTESY OF CHON GOTTI

BIRTHDAYS Warren Stevens April 18 VENDOR

Chon Gotti April 22 ARTIST/VENDOR

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OPINION

The section aims to foster healthy debate about critical issues affecting vulnerable communities in the District. We have an open submission policy and welcome diverse voices from across our region, regardless of your housing status. Whether you’re responding to something we’ve published or putting forth a new argument, send your thoughts to opinion@streetsensemedia.org.

PHOTO: An essential employee waits to order food at the McDonald’s at 17th St. and Pennsylvaina Ave NW on March 22. Caution tape has been used to rope off all seeting and keep customers away from the cash registers. This photo essay of D.C. during the pandemic, from our cover, through each section’s title page, was taken by Photojournalist Benjamin Burgess. The full series is available here.

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OPINION

The People’s Money

BY ANGIE WHITEHURST

The following is a lot to read (all but my kitchen sink).

But it’s written hoping the modge podge will help you sync up, stand up, and make change by being socially responsible and astute enough to push the needed changes through using the research, facts, data and analysis produced by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of The Census.

This is all about my, your, and our money as it relates to the U.S. Census. And believe me, it is definitely about getting the MONEY. But the census can only perform what it is mandated to do by law. Full disclosure: I once worked for the Census Bureau, as a data collector.

Why it matters To get to the point, there are an estimated 350 million people in the United States of America. A NAACP Census Day Release says 800,000 Black people are estimated to not be accounted for in the count. Another huge segment of concern is the failure to count homeless persons and unregistered residents. Another problem: children ages one to four years old are missing from the data collection.

Those omissions mean cities and states are losing scads of money to underwrite, to enhance,or to continue funding support programs. We wonder why many services we need in our communities are underfunded, not funded, canceled. Might it be because 800,000 Black people did not fill out the 2010 Census form and 6.3 percent of young black children are overlooked?

(Oops: let us not forget the invisible uncounted: those incarcerated, arrested, or held without hearings because they can’t post bond. And don’t forget those under court supervision held in mental health facilities, group homes, and halfway houses. Who counts them? I guess that’s why money and comprehensive services are paltry. I bet you did not think or know about that. It’s not your problem, or is it? You see these people on the street every day. Too bad, the census does not count them. Our money allocations from the infamous Uncle Sam need to include them, too.

But don’t blame the government. Blame ourselves for not flexing our check and balance muscle to assure by law that all vulnerable segments who — excuse me, human beings — who are included. After all, the funds do come from tax and revenue collection from the hands of human beings as individuals and signatories of registered businesses. They have no voice or recognition except as a count under the prison health care industry, not the population census. We need legislation for that!

Thank goodness advocacy groups like the ACLU exist to lead the way!

Leaving that all aside: Kyle Arbuckle, housing advocacy organizer at the National Low Income Housing Association, gives the best summation of what the U.S. Census is and what it means to we, the people: “We take a census every ten years. The data collected on the U.S. population is used by the cities, counties, and states to determine how much money will be allocated to housing programs, schools, school lunch, childcare, job training, economic development, the potholes you hate, the old bridges needing million dollar overhauls, the erecting of levees and flood barriers to protect and save people’s lives, building expansion and rehabbing of hospitals,

public schools, universities, housing assistance vouchers, subsidies and programs for businesses, farmers, veterans, the financially challenged, hungry and ill, the elderly, those challenged and those with disabilities.”

The Population Census and the Industry Census are the sources of research and data used to determine the amount of money to be allocated per person, per sector by population/ industry. Then the award goes to, perhaps, whoever needs it the most. For the COVID-19 emergency relief stimulus package, money is authorized for working people to survive financially while hunkered down in place, contractors, services and supplies, hospitals’ needs to treat pandemic victims; the people needing hospitalization and care during this COVID-19 pandemic crisis. (Say: Thank you, Census)

President Coronavirus

BY JEFF TAYLOR

Arbuckle also stated “Every year, billions of dollars in federal funding go to hospitals, schools, roads, and other resources based on census data. Census data can be used to amplify the voices of under-represented people in Congress and shape the future of communities. For the past several years, National Low Income Housing Coalition’s The Gap uses data from the Census Bureau and concludes that there is no state in the U.S. with an adequate supply of affordable rental homes for the lowestincome renter. The solutions to the severe shortage of affordable homes is a significant and sustained federal commitment to housing programs designed to meet the affordability needs of the lowest-income families.

However, some communities with the greatest needs have been harder to count in the census leaving the value of these programs less apparent.

“Through our participation in the 2020 Census and continued calls on Congress to fund affordable housing programs at the scale needed, we will ensure that significant investments in federal resources are targeted toward programs that will give the lowest-income renters access to affordable and decent homes.”

In closing, Arbuckle’s point is critical: politicians, PACs, marketers, pollsters, big pharma, banks and developers utilize census data and demographics on where and how to spend money. We should not be one sided. We need to utilize the data as justification for what we need, e.g., healthcare, education, housing, and jobs for all. If you love your money in the tax bucket and you want certified evidence to make your points in terms of funding for your state and community, fill out the 2020 Census.

It is the easiest in the history of America. Twelve questions and you are done, online no less, at 2020census. gov. There are no citizenship status questions and the Supreme Court assured the census could not be used for political mayhem. So immigrant residents should feel safe and secure in completing the census forms.

We the people have the two most powerful tools to work with: the vote and the census. Let us use both efficiently, because my piggy bank is empty. I can't pay the rent, my bills, or the mortgages; My credit cards are busted; And I know I’m not alone.

What an unimaginable monster Trump has turned out to be!

Ripping immigrant babies from their parents' arms and storing them in cages wasn't enough.

Attempting to take food out of the mouths of poor people via draconian food benefit cuts wasn't enough.

Rolling back environmental standards across the board, hurling us all even faster to the worst of an unfortunate albeit not unavoidable future of untold environmental devastation wasn't enough.

No, Trump's cruelty and flagrant disregard for the less fortunate, for anyone and everyone who fails to show him proper adulation, has reached new lows.

Trump has said he will only offer help to states whose governors are "appreciative." Which means any governor who dares to call Trump out for his criminally slow response to the pandemic is slowtracked for help and ultimately granted less help for their communities.

This is Trump's mess and his alone. The Obama administration had set up dozens of early pandemic detection units around the globe, including one in China. But a lot of good those efforts did when two years into his administration Trump fired the team charged with overseeing the program!

The Obama administration's Department of Homeland Security had a playbook to follow for just such a crisis. Team Trump wasn't interested in reviewing that playbook during the transition period and all the work that went into preparing for just such a crisis was tossed in the trash.

Imagine how this all would have played out with a competent, compassionate administration. Early and wide testing would have been conducted, social distancing measures would have been taken and the overall impact of this world-changing event would have been much more minimized.

But we got what we got: a guy who was raised by his father to be a self-centered asshole. Not exactly the kind of guy you want or need in charge of things during times such as these! At least somewhat comforting is that fortunately, in the U.S., governors have sovereign authority in their own states to act (or not to act) with the resources and policy decisions within their states' borders.

Unfortunately, some Republican governors — either out of loyalty to Trump or their own stupidity — overruled Democratic mayors in their own states who have attempted to take social distancing measures.

Now Trump, regardless of health officials' advice and the better judgement of both Democratic and Republican governors alike, is ready to "re-open the country." Trump thinks it's his decision to make. The governors disagree. It'll be interesting to see how President Coronaviris handles it when he sees who the decision is really up to.

Angie Whitehurst is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media

Jeff Taylor is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

A direct impact on housing

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

Clear the shelters, house people now

BY WILLIAM MERRIFIELD, ESQ.

The severe and chronic nature of homelessness in the District means that thousands of people experiencing homelessness face significantly higher risks of illness and death amidst the COVID-19 crisis. The best way to alleviate this risk is clear: vacate shelters and house all residents immediately.

Homeless shelters for single people are communal by nature, characterized by barracksstyle bunk beds, shared bathrooms and little space for personal belongings. Some homeless families have been placed in D.C.’s newly constructed family shelters, but hundreds remain in old hotels along New York Avenue, which lack cooking facilities to prepare healthy meals, have poor internet access that is inadequate for distance learning and have for years been reported to be unsanitary and unsafe. Tent encampments have grown throughout D.C., as there are no shelters for couples or families without children and because moving into shelter means sacrificing important possessions in order to abide by the common two-bag policy. Each of these environments limit opportunities for selfquarantine and sufficient sanitation, rendering members of this population vulnerable to worstcase-scenarios if the virus is contracted. Like other communal living spaces, such as nursing homes, jails/prisons and detention facilities,

one positive case can spread rapidly through an entire community. While the Department of Human Services has taken some steps to reduce the spread, there is only one way to ensure the safety of thousands of our residents: shelters must be emptied immediately, and the District must use every resource at its disposal to get our homeless population into safe, stable housing.

The COVID-19 pandemic may be a natural disaster, but the underlying housing crisis is entirely human-made. Unfortunately, D.C. government officials have consistently sacrificed working-class residents to homelessness. For decades, our government has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into private development projects that routinely renege on legal affordability thresholds, erase family-sized units and let affordability restrictions expire. In exchange, these developers fund re-election campaigns. Our tax dollars pay for this in the name of “affordable housing,” though the majority of D.C. residents cannot qualify for or afford these luxury units.

As a long-time tenant attorney, I know firsthand that thousands of D.C. residents were facing the existential threat of this politicallycreated affordable housing crisis well before the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of my clients at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless

worked full-time – many as “essential workers” – making a $15 minimum wage in a city that costs $33/hour to live in. D.C.’s emergent affordable housing shortage has inevitably boiled over into widespread homelessness and displacement, and, as always, Black residents face the most intense risk. Between 2000 and 2013, more than 20,000 Black residents were displaced from the District. Similarly, Black residents make up just under half of D.C.’s population yet 87% of adults who are experiencing homelessness. This vulnerability is reflected in COVID-19 mortality rates: Black residents make up a staggering 73% of deaths in D.C. In order to prevent further clear and present harm, the District must act immediately to clear shelters and house residents in vacant units, beginning with any development that has received a government subsidy, including Tax Increment Financing. Many of the buildings that have been subsidized by the District are luxury buildings that have high vacancy rates.

Developers routinely charge exorbitant rents and seek relief for vacant units in various ways, cutting off the so-called “invisible hand” at the wrist. Already paid for by our tax dollars, these units should be filled immediately at no cost to the District during this emergency.

Furthermore, the District should use hotels, dorm rooms and other vacant rooms to house people experiencing homelessness in the interim so that they can self-quarantine until permanent units are secured.

The dangerous plight of D.C.’s homeless population is part of a disturbing trend. Local politicians have demonstrated that their cost concerns are selective: human life has been proven less valuable than a dollar and a political

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connection. Even now, amid budget cuts that denied essential relief to thousands on the basis of cost, D.C. developers remain optimistic. And why shouldn’t they be? Their interests are well protected. The people of D.C. are not. This must change – lives are literally on the line. We can no longer accept a government that operates from a position of scarcity, selectively choosing who to protect when it should be acting to save lives, period. It doesn’t have to be this way. There is a better path forward.

Last May, Mayor Bowser signed an order to create 36,000 new housing units by 2025.

This constitutes yet another enormous infusion of public dollars into the same failed system that landed us in this dual crisis. Instead, 100% of the District’s investment post-COVID-19 should be reallocated to social housing, a permanently affordable public asset. Critically, this will keep rent money previously turned over to developers and investors in everyday people’s pockets, which they in turn will reinvest to jumpstart our local economy as we turn toward recovery. The District will also retain ownership of the land and the buildings on it, so the District, rather than private owners, will gain a permanent stream of revenue once the construction loans used to finance this investment are paid off. The days of turning over public land and tax dollars to private developers with a clear incentive to eradicate affordable housing are over. It’s time we started investing public money in the public good.

William Merrifield is a lawyer and an at-large candidate for the D.C. Council. He previously worked as a staff attorney for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless for eight years.

COVID-19 stimulus checks a trap door for the working poor?

BY WENDELL WILLIAMS

I must hang around with a cynical bunch because when we first heard about the proposal for stimulus relief checks due to the COVID-19 crisis almost all of my friends were skeptical as hell. We just didn't believe that the government would be so benevolent to care enough about the working poor and the problems that they would face in the coming weeks.

To recommend that people shelter in place and stay home for an indefinite period goes to show that some officials are simply out of touch with what it means to be a working-class person in America.

It's a no-brainer for those who have the resources to consider complying and staying in. Many people are being paid to work from home. Many people were telecommuters in the first place, like my sister who hasn't worked from an office in 20 years. Many people were retired with sufficient incomes and investments to hold them off for months, if not for the next year or so.

But the working poor and their families still go from paycheck to paycheck, living in fear. And in an effort to provide the basics for themselves or their families, they don't have the luxury of staying home indefinitely.

They've got to choose between getting sick and losing everything real quick. A lot of people, including this writer, never had the kind of safety net needed to make it through what is starting to seem like months of sheltering in place. So we are forced to roll the dice. But rolling them not only gambles with our lives but the lives of the unsuspecting members of the public we may come in contact with.

So when I heard about the stimulus package I listened with a discerning ear and being a skeptic, I said this may be too

good to be true. So at every chance I listened, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The conditions laid out for receiving a check changed daily during the deliberations on the bill. When it was all said and done it looked like a Christmas miracle for those of us who struggled financially even before COVID-19.

There was a lot of talk and debate about creating something that would be inclusive and making sure no group would be left out. Congress went back and forth about who would be eligible based on income and it seemed they were headed in the right direction. I talked with many people who would be above the income requirement and would receive no stimulus check and I was so happy and proud to hear many of them say that if they didn't need it and were given a stimulus check they would give the money to charity.

As the days went on more and more people I had contact with got very excited and enthusiastic. Knowing that they would be getting a significant contribution from the federal government with supposedly no strings attached. After debate, Congress settled on $1,200 for anyone whose income was less than $75,000, with the only requirement that they file a tax return for last year if they didn't file one for 2018. (And the IRS made a free website for people who don't normally file a federal tax return to provide their information and claim their check.)

But I sensed from the beginning it would be virtually impossible for Congress to pass a bill that would include help for everyone without being prejudicial, judgmental and biased. It wouldn't be America or the Congress not to leave someone or some group

out of some legislation that would benefit people during a crisis.

In this crisis, the powers that be have decided the trap door would fall open under the feet of those who owed child support, which may be withheld from our checks or eliminate some from receiving one altogether. It's a moral judgment by people who haven't walked a mile in the shoes of people who have been faced with this dilemma, and that would include me, yours truly.

We are still Americans aren’t we? We pay taxes and some of us may have even put their lives on the line serving this country.

But this is America, where certain states will still deny help to those in need based upon a moralistic view of their past behavior.

Stopping them and their families from getting the same help that others have access to because their life's journey was different.

In some states, if you have drug charges or have been in prison, you are not eligible for food stamps or public housing.

The powers-that-be have passed moral judgment on those of us who have struggled with executing our roles in society as mothers and fathers financially. But they do not take into account that many of us have rebuilt our lives and have become involved in our children's lives and contributed financially for years to their well-being without it being officially a child-support payment.

Shame on you Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, for allowing a trap door in this bill to eliminate any group of people from the help many Americans need to make it through the challenge of living through the COVID-19 crisis.

Wendell Wiliams is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

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ART

The art section is reserved exclusively to elevate the art of Street Sense Media vendors who contribute poetry, essays, illustration, fiction, and more.

PHOTO: A horn player at the corner of K Street and Connecticut Avevenue NW on April 2. This photo essay of D.C. during the pandemic, from our cover, through each section’s title page, was taken by Photojournalist Benjamin Burgess. The full series is available here.

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ART

Treading the Waters, Part 27

BY GERALD ANDERSON // Artist/Vendor

When we were last with Gerald, he was running the streets of New Orleans with his friend, Minew, who was talking to Muscles, a woman who was also involved with a major operator, Sam Skully. And things were getting heavy...

So Muscles called Minew. She said, “Where you at?”

He got off the phone. He said, “Man, dude don’t want to f*** with me no more.”

I said, “What she say?”

He said, “Man… .”

I said, “Man… Tell her to come around.”

So she swung through. She come through to pick us up.

She said, “Where y’all wanna go?”

I said, “Man, I don’t feel comfortable riding with her, man. … Man, I’m gonna leave you, drive your car myself.” I’m driving Minew car, because Minew had a 5.0.

So I get behind there. We go New Orleans east to the Daiquiri Shop, because that’s where most everybody hang out, the Daiquiri Shop. We go over there and get a daiquiri and s*** and kick the bobo.

I’m telling this n***, “Man, I ain’t even sleeping right at night. I’m thinking about this n*** put this hit out on our head.”

But Minew… Man, Minew a wild cat. He said, “Don’t worry about it. If you livin’ with the cat, you got nine lives!”

So I said, “Man, f*** it.” We kicked back for a minute. He down with his girl.

Later, we at the Second Line. Mardi Gras Second Line is like Superbowl Sunday.

We see all the big dogs. And Sam seen Minew.

Minew talking to Sam. Sam talking to him.

Sam told him, “Man, I knew she f***in’ with you. But you know what, little n***, your money not long as mine.”

Minew say, “Why that got to be money? Why this can’t be she love my gloss??”

I’m not laughing, but I’m feeling it.

See, these dough boys got heavy weight. But they girls be looking at us being a dealer, and without us you don’t make no money.

So we most of the pushin’, they just the sidekick.

Now, yeah, dough boys is the big boys that supply the drugs. We the little man.

But if you a woman, you lookin at--if that dude don’t move this s***, this dude don’t make no money because he don’t know how to move it.

All the while, they know you got it, but they maskin’ up. It’s hard to pin... because they not out there. You out there every day.

Some dudes, they got addicted to being around they workers. They like to sit in. They want to sleep right there on the spot. They just watch you.

I don’t like my dope man to sit down like that. If you gotta sit like that, I’m gone.

You got on a Rolex. I got on a f***in’ Seiko watch So you gotta be the dealer. But you try to tell them that, they think they know it all. See, that’s how the Feds roll up.

The Feds don’t worry about the user. The user gonna go into the program.

The dough boy’s going down.

It’s mostly the users that give up the dough boys because they can’t take the pressure. You got some dude think, like, “Man, I can’t give up the streets.

I like getting high!”

Only thing a Fed gotta tell ‘em is, “Man, I give you two eight balls.” They get ‘em a phone. They put them in a house, they pay they rent, and they put them in a hotel.

So when Minew say that, I’m not laughing.

But I’m feeling it.

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.

Where I’m At

BY LEVESTER GREEN // Artist/Vendor

It’s been seven months since I’ve been housed and I’m just all sorts of thankful for that! It seems it was long overdue. But then I think of the fallen street soldiers such as Charles Davis, may he rest in peace.

Charles spent over 28 years on the street before finally being housed.

My stretch was just under eight years straight.

I survived my torment. “The Shawshank Redemption” comes to mind a bit even though it wasn’t a prison sentence. I survived and surpassed to arrive at my landing pad of a home and no, I’m not having any suicidal thoughts. Homelessness IS survivable. I am a testament to that.

Years ago, when we were on the brink of economic depression, I recall reading about a man who had killed his beautiful family because he feared they would live in poverty. I empathize with the fear, but those feelings are part of life and you must keep on living to get to the other side. God rest their souls.

Having a place is an adjustment, but one I’ve been yearning for so I could get back to work with my talents. Some stability finally!

But I know it’s still a long and tedious process. I’ve made it here and am looking to advance. Rent paid is the bottom line. I’m in good standing and striving on to better things!

While the coronavirus is keeping us from working to sell the paper, you can support some Street Sense Media artists like me who also produce greeting cards with Second Story Cards, which can be ordered online. Exchanging pleasantries is always a telling sign of the gentle human warmth. Greeting cards are another, especially while we are all asked to stay apart.

My life, Part 2

BY DAN HOOKS // Artist/Vendor

In my last part of my story, I wrote about me from age 10 to 22. This time I’m digging into the details of how I started using drugs from the age of 10. And how I came from a good family. Coming up in a mediumincome family and having both parents working, I didn’t really want for too many things. But, because both parents worked, I had to go to my grandmother's house to go to school. My grandmother was from South Carolina and she was old at the time.

So she couldn’t keep up with us. So I was always getting into something I should not be. I never should have become the person I did. I was raised to be a better person. But because I had to go to school with kids from the projects, I was always having to fight for what my parents bought for me.

That had a very big impact on when I became this surreal, bad person.

It’s sad everyone don’t have the same chances in life . Then life would not be so hard, like me having to become someone whose parents worked so their kids would have a good life.

This is one reason I started doing the things I did. I became this real bad person because

I was not going to let no one bully me. I'll be the first person today to say, ‘I’m so sorry for the person I became.” Drugs can and will destroy your life; I‘m one whose it did. But going to jail should have made a person think about changing their way of life.

Going to Lorton was a new way to learn how to become a better crook. It was just like you was still on the streets because there was just as much drugs. I was having sex with my girl two or three times a week and it was alright with the corrections officer who was supposed to be overseeing the visit.

All I had to do was pay the CO $10 for 30 minutes in what was called “The HIt Spot.”

The real sad part was how easily you could get drugs. Every week I got what we called a “package”, i.e., drugs your visitor would bring in. So here I am having sex two to three times a week, making $10,000 a week off the drugs I’m getting, and seeing people stabbed to death all the time. So, if you did come home, why would you care ‘bout giving back? You was locked up, but it was just like being home.

This coronavirus is a major epidemic and crisis worldwide. It has already caused more than 20,000 deaths in my homeland, America. Trying to prevent the spread of the disease is mainstream, with 2020 sports seasons either cancelled or postponed.

It is important to keep all our major news sources truthful during this crisis so that we can use that information to make decisions that keep us and others safe. This includes television, radio, and newspapers like Street Sense.

Some people think COVID-19 is a joke

BY ERIC THOMPSON-BEY Artist/Vendor

When I first heard about COVID-19 back in December, I didn't take it seriously, I thought, "just another disease, it'll go away.” Then, in early March when the first two cases hit D.C., I knew the virus was real. Four months later here I am in my apartment quarantined and scared as hell.

But guess what? The virus doesn’t scare me, but the people who don't take the virus seriously certainly do. Like the owner of the corner store I live who doesn’t practice social distance. The guy on the bus who just coughs and coughs without covering his mouth, then gets angry when you respectfully ask him to cover his cough.

And the guys crowding the outside of the store where I live who are about two feet apart and possibly spreading the virus.

These are some of the things that scare me more than COVID-19 COVID-19 is real. It’s serious. It affects everyone in the U.S. and all over the world.

It's not a game. Many have died; many more will die. Let's take COVOID-19 seriously.

T here There are at least four folks out there somewhere in the DMV who have made donations to me through the Street Sense app. I wish I knew who these people were so I could give them a proper thank you. But I guess this little note to whoever they are will have to do.

The fact that there are folks who are making a few donations here and there helps give me a little ray of hope that I'll (we'll) make it through these unprecedented times.

I must confess that while I do write regularly for Street Sense, (primarily political opinion pieces), I do not put a tremendous amount of energy in trying to sell papers. For whatever reason I just have yet to find good spots and a good enough pitch to develop a roster of regulars. My only regular was my therapist who felt that Street Sense is a vitally important publication. Prior to coronavirus I was able to count on

!

BY JEMEL FLEMING // Artist/Vendor

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STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

selling her 10 papers a week w h i c h she would distribute as she saw fit among others who work in the social services sector.

My main gig is, (rather “was,” prior to the age of coronavirus), singing at various locations around the DMV, mostly at certain metro stations. So I don't know if my unnamed benefactors are contributing due to my writing or my music. Either way, I'm grateful beyond words for their kind generosity.

To all of you readers I thank you so much for your support and the support you are providing for other vendors as well. I look forward to seeing you all face to face once we are past this crisis.

Best Regards,

JEFF TAYLOR // Artist/Vendor

Click here or on the photo to hear Jeff sing.

A shoutout for my customers

BY AIDA PEER Artist/Vendor

I hope all my customers and their families are healthy and staying safe. I miss seeing you all.

Thank you for the years of buying the physical paper from me and the wonderful donations to me on the Street Sense Media app while you’re reading it online during this scary time of "social distancing."

I especially hope the many customers I know who do in-home care for their elderly parents are hanging in there and staying healthy. Tell Mom and Dad I said hello and I hope they are doing well during this difficult time. And let them know that I am doing well too.

Thank you for the support!

Missing my farmers market communities

BY WENDELL WILLIAMS // Artist/Vendor

Because of the health concerns involving the possible spread of the COVID-19 virus in our communities, the farmers market in Del Ray is suspended until further notice along with your opportunity to continue your gracious support of the locally produced Street Sense newspaper each Saturday. Del Ray residents have helped the paper create jobs for the poor and those experiencing homeless in our communities and have changed lives, including mine.

I started distributing the paper at the market and along Mt. Vernon Ave 12 years ago when I resided in Del Ray, and it saddens me not to be seeing so many of our faithful supporters and friends on the upcoming Saturdays. But we must be we and are ready to do our part to help. On March 26, the difficult decision was made to cease publication and distribution of our print paper until further notice.

This means I am also missing the many gracious supporters I used to see when working every Sunday at the Takoma Park Farmers Market. I started distributing the paper there three years ago and it hurts me not to be seeing so many of our friends.

Suspending in-person sales is a great sacrifice to the lives of my fellow vendors and I who are willing to face the immediate challenge of living on significantly reduced incomes to join the fight to “flatten the curve.” But there is a way you can continue

Wendell Williams, who writes about “Random Acts of Kindness” in his life, at a farmers market. PHOTO COURTESY OF WENDELL WILLIAMS.

your support during this most difficult time. Our first digital-only edition was released on April 1. You can go to StreetSenseMedia. org/Digital to read the latest edition, in full color and with multimedia. And, if you download the Street Sense Media mobile app, available for Android and iPhone, you can make your same generous donations without leaving your home. It's as easy as pie.

It is said it takes a village to raise a child. But, I know from experience it also takes a village to rebuild lives. Thank you for all your well wishes as well as all your prayers and please consider sharing this information. I look forward to when we can all see each other again.

1 8 // S T R E E T S E N S E

FUN & GAMES Sudoku #8 4 5

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If you've already donated, thank you so much!

My family and I really appreciate your support.

Sudoku #3 6Intermediate 3 2 Sudoku 5 7by KrazyDad, 4 1 Volume 8 9 20, Book 1 5 4 1 3 8 9 6 2 7 9 7 8 6 2 1 5 4 3 3 6 9 8 1 7 4 5 2 1 2 7 9 4 5 3 6 8 4 8 5 2 6 3 9 7 1 2 1 3 7 5 6 8 9 4 8 9 6 4 3 2 7 1 5 7 5 4 1 9 8 2 3 6

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Sudoku #8 4 7 6 5 1 8 2 9 3 5 8 1 2 9 3 7 6 4 2 9 3 4 7 6 1 5 8 6 5 7 8 2 9 3 4 1 We’re going through this coronavirus and no one is certain about what it means or how it behaves. But 1 people 2 4are3dying 6 from 5 this 9 thing 8 and 7 there is not yet a vaccine or a cure. So: do not fall for we do know any bad advice or bogus cures. Keep your distance. Wash your hands. Most of all, be safe!

8 3 9 1 4 7 6 2 5 And we’re still going through an Easter thing despite all this. Even though the Easter Bunny gets more 3 1 5 6 8 2 4 7 9 publicity than Jesus, it’s important to keep your people close and to keep the faith.

7 4 2 9 5 1 8 3 6

BY PIERRE JOHNSON 9 Artist/Vendor 6 8 7 3 4 5 1 2

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.

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All s e rv i c e s l i s t e d a r e r e f e r r a l- f r e e Academy of Hope Public Charter School 202-269-6623 // 2315 18th Place NE aohdc.org

Bread for the City - 1525 7th St., NW // 202-265-2400 - 1640 Good Hope Rd., SE // 202-561-8587 breadforthecity.org

Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Good Hope Rd., SE calvaryservices.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

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

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

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

Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.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

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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

2375 Elvans Road SE 2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE

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

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

N Street Village // 202-939-2060 1333 N St., NW nstreetvillage.org

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

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

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOTLINE Línea de salud del comportamiento

1-888-793-4357

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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 3020 14th St., NW // unityhealthcare.org - Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500 - Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699 1500 Galen Street SE, 1500 Galen Street SE, 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE, 1660 Columbia Road NW, 4414 Benning Road NE, 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 555 L Street SE, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, 1717 Columbia Road NW, 1313 New York Avenue, NW BSMT Suite, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 828 Evarts Place, NE, 810 5th Street NW

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

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

Whitman-Walker Health 1701 14th St., NW // 202-745-7000 2301 MLK Jr. Ave., SE // 202-797-3567 whitman-walker.org

For up-to-date information on service provider operations during the pandemic, visit: TinyURL.com/HOS-covid

// 1 5

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 can support our vendors by helping provide essential resources in our office for one five-hour shift each week.

If interested, please contact: Nikki D’Angelo nikki@streetsensemedia.org 202-347-2006 (x10) Or you can support our artists and interns by helping with editorial duties such as writing, editing, page design, and web publishing.

If interested, please contact: Eric Falquero ericf@streetsensemedia.org 202-670-5591

Public Handwashing Station Locations 1. M & Wisconsin: NW Corner by the COS store 2. Albemarle and Wisconsin: NW corner, on Albemarle by the Metro entrance 3. Dupont Circle: Right in the middle TOP: The handwashing station at the 21st and E streets encampment in Foggy Bottom on April 2.

BOTTOM: An Orange Line Metro platform on March 21. This photo essay was taken by Photojournalist Benjamin Burgess. The full essay is available here.

4. 21st & E Encampment: SE corner of 21st and E NW 5. Georgia Ave & Missouri Ave: By the Northbound bus station on Georgia in front of the Walmart 6. Brookland Metro 7. 14th and Park: Columbia Plaza

Thank you for reading Street Sense!

8. Eastern Market Metro 9. Bladensburg/Florida Avenue intersection 10. Safeway in SW: Near Waterfront Metro 11. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Avenue: In front of the Popeyes

From your vendor APRIL 15 - 28, 2020 | VOLUME 17 ISSUE 12

12. East Capitol and Benning Rd intersection: At the shrimp boat 13. 2nd and M Street NE: near REI 14. Union Station: Near the Metro escalators

WWW.INSP.NGO

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15. Franklin Park: NW Sidewalk, K St. and 14th Street by the bus-stop on 14th 16. Farragut Square: Sidewalk near the corner of K Street and 17th Street NW 17. 3rd and Virginia Avenue SE At the beginning of the month, the Department of Human Services installed public handwashing stations near locations frequently used by the homeless community for sleeping and where meals are distributed. A printable flyer of this information is available on the DHS website. It is kept on the “Resources for Homeless Service Providers” subsection of the department’s full list of modified operations during COVID-19.

THANK YOU for continuing to read Street Sense during these trying times. 26 people’s work went into what you just read.

If you can, please take a moment to pay one of our 130+ vendors as you would if you purchased a physical copy of the paper by using our mobile payments app.

In case you do not know your vendor’s name, a visual guide to all vendors listed on the app follows this page.

This is still new territory for us, and we appreciate any feedback on how to improve. editor@streetsensemedia.org.

Lastly, please help us spread the word about how to support our vendors and read these digital editions.

Vendor James Hughes

PHOTO BY ROLANDO APARICIO VELASCO

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Ron

Hello, I’m

Hello, I’m

Patricia

Williams

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