05 29 2019

VOL. 16 ISSUE 15

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MAY 29 - JUNE 11, 2019

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The Cover

The Street Sense Media Story, #MoreThanANewspaper

The Sedgwick Gardens apartment complex has served as “a case study in how not to manage” the city’s housing subsidy programs, residents told the D.C. Council.

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.

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NEWS IN BRIEF More than 50 activists rally for housing rights outside the White House

BY LEAH POTTER // Editorial Intern

Healthcare for the Homeless Council conference attendees gathered in Lafayette Park. PHOTO BY LEAH POTTER

More than 50 activists and advocates gathered in Lafayette Square across from the White House on May 24 to demand that housing be considered a human right.

The rally – part of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council’s annual conference in the District – featured more than 10 speakers who rallied the crowd to highlight housing as an integral part of health care. Activists held signs that read “housing rights” and “health care for all” and chanted “Housing is a human right. Fight, fight, fight!”

Paul Tunison, a board member of the National Consumer Advisory Board from California, said housing should not be considered a privilege.

“It is up to everyone to demand that our rights for housing and health care be realized,” Tunison said.

Bobby Watts, CEO of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, said human needs are not being met in the United States because not having a home is a violation of basic and fundamental human rights.

“I say it is evil because not having a home kills people, not having a home destroys your opportunity,” Watts said. “Not having a home is one of the things that will keep you from reaching your full potential.”

He said elected officials in the United States have fallen short of the ideals set by the country’s founding fathers, because in the United States today, profits take priority over the people that officials are elected to serve.

“We have to demand that this government ... goes to the effort to make sure that everyone has these rights met,” he said. “If we don’t, then this country is failing and it is living a lie.”

Catherine Crosland, a doctor for Unity Health Care in Washington, D.C., described one of her patients who lost her housing due to “unfortunate circumstances.” The woman had been stably housed for years and lived with several medical conditions, like heart problems and high blood pressure.

Within one month of living in a family shelter – relying on fast food and soup kitchens – Crosland’s patient ended up in the emergency room. She died just five weeks after losing her housing.

“The best evidence-based intervention that extends the lives of people experiencing homelessness is housing,” Crosland said.

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NEWS

Congress Heights landlord tries to skirt blame for apartment disrepair in effort to redevelop land

BY JAMES MARSHALL @jamesmarshall_a

A

Congress Heights landlord sparred with attorneys for the District of Columbia in Superior Court this month over whether a judge should drop a requirement that the landlord pay for renovation of a dilapidated apartment complex in Southeast, instead allowing the firm to redevelop the land.

Geoffrey Griffis — founder of development company CityPartners, which owns the four-building complex surrounding the entrance to the Congress Heights Metro station — told Judge Kelly A. Higashi during a May 15 hearing that the buildings are in such disrepair that, based on the company’s analysis, renovating them would be nearly as costly as reconstructing them.

Street Sense Media reported in 2016 that the complex suffered from rodent infestations, bed bugs, leaky roofs, a broken heating system and other structural problems. Last November, a fire damaged all three floors at 1331 Alabama Ave. SE and spread to its sister building next door.

Renovating the 24 rent-controlled units at 1331 and 1333 Alabama Ave. SE would cost about $2.75 million, or 82 percent of the $3.4 million it would take to fully reconstruct the buildings, according to Griffis’s initial calculations that he presented in court. Griffis said the industry standard is not to renovate if costs exceed 60 percent of the estimated reconstruction cost. Griffis, a trained architect, led the D.C. Board of Zoning Adjustment for six years and recently completed a four-year term as a mayoral appointee to the National Capital Planning Commission. He also chairs the Southwest Business Improvement District.

“If you had an old car with 120,000 miles on it, you could keep putting money into it. You could rebuild the engine over and over again, but you would never get the value of it,” Griffis said in his testimony. He also blamed the District’s rent-control law for the apartments not being able to generate more revenue.

After a May 7 hearing in the case, Griffis increased his estimate of the renovation costs required to bring the buildings up to code by almost $370,000. He said his original analysis had erroneously attributed the $1.7 million spent on renovations so far to only half of the properties, 1331 and 1333 Alabama Ave. when the receiver in fact used that money to make repairs at all four of the buildings owned by CityPartners in Congress Heights. For the revised number, Griffis also included an additional $940,000 worth of repairs needed to bring the buildings up to the housing code that had not been a part of his original analysis.

Calculating these costs is an evolving process that results in varying estimates, Griffis said at the May 15 hearing. He added that the change did not alter his contention that it’s more feasible to redevelop the site than to renovate the existing buildings.

The legal dispute over these four properties began in 2016 when D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine sued the complex’s former owner, the notorious landlord Sanford Capital. The lawsuit alleged that the company was purposely allowing the buildings to deteriorate and become uninhabitable.

After agreeing to cease doing business in the District until 2025 due to its track record of willful negligence at its properties, Sanford Capital found itself in even

more trouble. The company transferred its Congress Heights properties to CityPartners in 2017 without giving the tenants a chance to buy their units. Residents, in a separate lawsuit, accused Sanford Capital of violating the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which gives renters first priority to buy their units if landlords decide to sell.

Meanwhile, the Congress Heights apartments declined further, and CityPartners became the primary defendant in the attorney general’s lawsuit. In 2017, a judge appointed David Gilmore as a third-party property manager — called a receiver — to oversee the rehabilitation of the buildings. It was under Gilmore’s watch that the 2018 fire severely damaged six units. Today, only about 10 families live in the apartment complex.

At the May 15 hearing, attorney Argatonia Weatherington of the District’s legal team called a property manager to the stand as an expert witness in an effort to discredit Griffis’s cost estimate as far too high.

The expert, Raven Cerny, works at Catalyst Property Solutions, the company the District has nominated to replace Gilmore, who has asked to step down.

“To bring all of the apartments [in 1331 and 1333 Alabama Ave. SE] back on line, we’re looking at $1.2 million,” Cerny said.

Geoffrey Griffis did not cause the fire, which was an act of arson that occured as part of a domestic violence incident. Nor did he cause the housing code violations that existed before the fire.

Defense Counsel That figure did not include electrical or plumbing repairs because Catalyst Property Solutions hasn’t yet evaluated the extent of the damage to those systems.

Cerny, who inspected the properties in mid-April, noticed that many of the pipes in the building had cracked.

“There is some concern with the plumbing of the property and how the property was winterized,” Cerny said, referring to the possibility that cold weather contributed to the damage. “We saw a lot of cracks when we were there. A lot of pipes still had water in them, so we know when we turn the water back on, there are going to be some pretty major leaks.”

When CityPartners attorney Gwynne Booth asked Cerny whether the fire could have caused the pipes to crack, Cerny did not rule out the possibility.

Both parties were given 20 minutes to make their final arguments at a subsequent hearing on May 17. Each side focused on interpreting the District’s Tenant Receivership Act and the receivership order handed down by Judge John M. Mott on Sept. 26, 2017.

Booth, an associate with Greenstein Delorme & Luchs, argued that nearly all costs under the current

receivership are higher than they should be, including those for security, repairs, and the rent differential for relocated tenants. For instance, she said the District’s estimate of $15,000 to cover the monthly difference in rent for the displaced tenants is “far above market rent for the area” and noted CityPartners had offered all tenants the opportunity to move into a one-bedroom apartment at Griffis’s T Street SE property at a cost of $950 per month.

She said the fire had significantly changed the dynamics of the situation, noting that Griffis did not cause what an April 15 court order described as an act of arson that occurred as part of a domestic violence incident. Booth added that her client also had not caused the housing code violations that existed before the fire.

Griffis’s visit to see the fire damage firsthand the day before the May 7 hearing had led CityPartners to believe the scope of necessary work would prompt the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs to require that the complex be brought up to current housing codes, instead of older standards that applied due to their age. She cited sprinkler systems as an example of something that would be newly required under current standards. Maintaining that renovations could not be completed in an economically viable way, Booth contended that forcing CityPartners to repair rather than redevelop the site would constitute a government “taking” of the property prohibited under the Fifth Amendment.

Booth further argued the Tenant Receivership Act empowers the receiver only to “collect all rents and payments for use and occupancy” and said there is no legal support for the District’s request to use insurance proceeds to pay for the renovations being overseen by the receiver.

In a letter to CityPartners from Westminster American Insurance Co. previously submitted to the court, an attorney representing the company disputed that assertion.

“I am concerned that your reading of the receiver’s powers may be narrower than the applicable statute and governing court order provide,” Charles Peoples wrote on April 17, one month prior to the hearing.

Whether or not the receiver is allowed to put Griffis’s insurance proceeds from the fire to use, Booth stressed that “the sky is not the limit” when it comes to making reasonable repairs and fulfilling Mott’s order, which she interpreted as specifying an initial amount for these repairs and leaving the option open for the receiver to petition the court for more.

In line with this interpretation, the defense claimed the receiver had been repairing more units than were necessary to safely house the remaining 10 tenants. The receivership was put in place to bring the units of current tenants up to code, not to remedy conditions in all of the units, Booth said.

Attorney Jimmy Rock, representing the District, countered that re-letting other units in the four-building complex is necessary to foster a sense of community and increase safety, making it a better option than letting the majority of units sit vacant and rundown.

The District’s summary centered around the intent of the Tenant Receivership Act — “to safeguard the health, safety, and security of the tenants of a rental housing accommodation if there exists a violation of District of Columbia or federal law which seriously threatens the tenant’s health, safety, or security.”

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This passage from the 2001 law was one of several exhibits on large poster boards that Rock pointed to and read from throughout his presentation. “Nothing here discusses the owner’s economic desires or well-being,” Rock said of the law’s statement of purpose.

The District argued 5914 LLC, the CityPartners subsidiary that owns the property, should have reasonably anticipated the cost of complying with receivership and making all needed repairs when it took ownership of the properties. Griffis previously acknowledged that he and Sanford Capital CEO Carter Nowell were aware of the buildings’ poor condition, Rock said.

The District’s attorney claimed the fire-damaged units could be repaired for several hundred thousand dollars less than CityPartners’s insurance company is willing to pay and argued the proceeds should be used by the receiver for that purpose. Rock questioned the analyses of the properties’ value that Griffis supplied to the District on May 8 and May 14 after having been asked to speak to these figures during cross-examination on May 7. Rock argued that the costs of renovation would not exceed 60 percent of the cost for redevelopment, the industry standard Griffis had previously cited as a threshold for deciding whether to renovate or build anew.

The District had sought to have that portion of Griffis’s testimony stricken from the record after the May 7 hearing, but the judge turned down the request. Booth explained that her client’s analysis was evolving as he continued to learn more information.

“Griffis is always going to find a number,” Rock said in response. “He is always going to find a way to justify his desire to redevelop.”

Rock characterized CityPartners as essentially seeking termination of the receivership, though its request was “styled as modification.” The company is asking to be released from paying for renovations, which the District sees as effectively meaning termination. “This has already been heard by the court. We’re now rehashing what CityPartners requested when they obtained the property,” Rock said.

On July 13, 2018, the court denied the company’s second request to terminate receivership — months before the November fire. In response to Rock’s argument, Booth reiterated her claim that the fire damage had fundamentally changed what was at stake in the receivership. She argued it would be unreasonable for the court to require CityPartners to pay for the scope of renovations sought by the District unless the intent of the receivership is to punish CityPartners.

Higashi did not hear arguments on who should be the new receiver on May 15 or 17, although she confirmed the court had received written recommendations from both parties. The District subsequently filed a brief in opposition to CityPartners’s recommendations.

Aside from an Aug. 20 mediation session specific to litigation surrounding the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act, no further court proceedings are scheduled. Higashi is expected to issue a written decision regarding City Partners’s request for a preliminary injunction and modifications to the remediation plan.

The judge previously rejected the company’s motion for a temporary restraining order.

This story was co-published with TheDCLine.org

// 5

Activists stand outside of the Wilson Building the day D.C. Council will determine it’s last changes to the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Support Act of 2019 and call for more investment in public housing repairs.

PHOTO BY WILL SCHICK

DC Council restores some funds to UMC and housing preservation

BY WILL SCHICK Editorial Intern

When it comes to the fiscal year 2020 budget, one thing is clear: The D.C. Council knows how to compromise.

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson’s amendment to the budget to increase funding for the United Medical Center and to restore limited funding to the previously cut Affordable Housing Preservation Fund seemed to allay the concerns of most everyone present in the council chambers for the second vote on the city budget on May 28.

Most. But not all.

A large crowd of nurses and medical workers wearing black t-shirts emblazoned with the District of Columbia Nurses Association logo clambered into the legislative meeting with the hope they could influence lawmakers to do more to restore funding for the District’s only public hospital.

For Roberta Lenoir, president of the nurse’s association, cutting this hospital’s funding makes little sense. In her view, UMC provides a critical service to the community as it serves as the only full-service hospital east of the Anacostia River. Since “$25 million [out of $40 million] were taken from our budget” she stated, “we need to have that restored; [otherwise] it will mean the death of the hospital.”

Chairman Mendelson’s amendment would supplement UMC’s budget with a one-time subsidy of $4 million for a total of $19.5 million. Concerned that this level of funding would be insufficient, Councilmember Trayon White introduced a measure to add an additional $3 million to the $19.5 million for a total of $22.5 million, scraping together funds from a wide-range of other existing programs.

Concerned about access to emergency medical services in Wards 7 and 8, White referred to a weekend shooting incident, describing how “a woman drove her car to the nearest hospital and that was the UMC.” He then went on to say he couldn’t imagine how the incident would have transpired if the victims had not had access to a nearby medical center. White characterized his proposed additional funding to help keep UMC open as a “drop in the bucket.”

Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray, however, was fervently opposed. He argued that UMC has, over the years, experienced a 30 percent decrease in patient enrollment.

According to these numbers, he said, there didn’t appear to be as much a demand for medical services as the debate made it seem. Moreover, he said that since “638 of the 903 employees from UMC live [in] and are from Maryland,” D.C. taxpayers may be inadvertently subsidizing jobs for non-residents.

White’s measure passed with an overwhelming majority, 10 votes in favor, two against, and one abstention, bringing the total fiscal year 2020 funding for UMC to $22.5 million, which is still just over half the hospital’s previous $40 million.

While Mendelson’s proposed amendment increased support for the Affordable Housing Preservation Fund to $11.5 million, Councilmember Anita Bonds put forth an amendment to add an additional $4 million to the fund.

This $4 million would come from the budget approved for the Housing Production Trust Fund during the first budget vote on May 14, reducing the total amount for the trust fund from $120 million to $116 million. This amendment passed unanimously but falls short of meeting the Mayor’s proposal to fund affordable housing preservation at $15 million and the Housing Production Trust Fund at $130 million.

At the end of last year, the D.C. Housing Authority announced it needed more than $300 million dollars in the next fiscal year just to address lead and similar environmental hazards in the most dangerous units in the agencies portfolio. Years of disinvestment from HUD and deferred maintenance has led to such conditions. Mayor Muriel Bowser included $0 in her proposed 2020 budget to address public housing concerns.

Mendelson explained that the planned budget would incorporate $24.5 million from the reserve funds of Events D.C., the city’s official convention and sports authority, to fund public housing repairs.

Dispelling concerns from At-Large Councilmember David Gross that this plan would not meet certification from the city’s Chief Financial Officer due to the fund’s obligation to remain dedicated to paying off bonds, Mendelson defended the Council’s plans.“Legislators are those who must assert where taxpayer funds are allocated,” he said.

Mendelson explained that the source of the $49 million would be Events D.C.’s excess revenue and would not detract from their ability to make good on their bond payments. Half of theses funds will go to the public housing repairs while the rest were used to negate a hotel room tax Bowser had proposed as a way of funding investments in 911 technology. He added that his opinion was supported independently by both legal counsel and by his private discussions with the city’s Chief Financial Officer.

Moments later, a motion to pass the Fiscal Year 2020 budget was introduced, and the $15.5 billion Budget Support Act was passed. The legislation will go on to the mayor for her signature before being transmitted to Congress.

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NEWS

Apartment development proceeds behind the Masonic Temple despite pushback from new Dupont civic group

BY ALEXANDRA KELLEY Volunteer

A

group of Dupont Circle residents convened a special meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2B on May 16 to consider plans for a new 150-unit apartment building. A number of people who do not live in the single-member districts that make up the ANC attended to observe the outcome after a small delegation of residents established the Dupont East Civic Action Association to oppose the project.

What initially appeared to be a typical neighborhood versus developer spat has morphed into a rigid battle over government transparency.

It began with the announcement that an apartment complex would be constructed on a grass and concrete lot behind the House of the Temple, which is located at 1733 16th Street NW and is owned by the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. In 2017, the Masons began talks with a developer, Perseus TDC, with the aim of generating income from their land. After the Masons issued a press release announcing the development of an apartment complex on their property, a small group of nearby residents formed the DuPont East Civic Action Association (DECAA). Former ANC2B commissioner Nick DelleDonne, a member and spokesperson of DECAA, was one of the people who mobilized neighbors to defend what they say is one of the few remaining green spaces in the immediate area. The fenced-off lot behind the temple includes a lawn, several trees, a squat white building and a parking area.

A major point of contention for DECAA is the aesthetics of the proposed building, which will stretch for two blocks along 15th Street NW and feature four stories above ground, with additional penthouse space, and two residential stories below

The initial landmark boundary the HPO sent to DelleDonne.

A diagram depicting the twob1“English Basement” levels for the planned Scottish Rite development. RENDERING COURTESY OF PERSUS TDC

ground, as well as underground parking. As a contemporary apartment complex, it will likely distinguish itself from the historic 16th Street homes. “It’s too big for the site, it doesn’t fit into the historical context, and it blocks the view of the temple,” said DelleDonne, who called the structure “obnoxious.”

He isn’t alone in his opinion. More than 50 residents appeared at the May 16 ANC 2B meeting in support of DECAA, with a smaller minority speaking in support of the new development.

A fixture of the debate was the proposed subterranean housing, two levels of “English basement duplexes” with “areaways” between the units and the wall to allow natural light to reach the units.

ANC 2B commissioner Ed Hanlon stated that “this will not be affordable housing.” Because the Scottish Rite is building “by right,” they are not requesting any special zoning exceptions in exchange for incorporating more affordable housing and Perseus TDC does not need any approval from local government, though approval of the Historic Preservation Review Board is required, since the site sits in two historic districts. Like all new residential development in the city, 8 percent of all units included in the final design will be set aside for low-income residents who participate in the “Inclusionary Zoning” lottery. Representatives from Perseus did not produce any projected rent prices, but concurred with Hanlon that the units throughout the building would rent for roughly their market value, which is currently $2,318 for a one-bedroom, according to the website RentCafe. While they would not be affordable housing units, the subterranean units would be the cheapest option available. DECAA and other anti-development activists referred to the idea as “gross” and “inhumane,” whereas pro-development meeting attendees pointed out that

The second copy of the landmark boundary from the HPO, with visibly reduced property lines.

in the competitive D.C. housing market, someone will be happy to rent there.

DECAA’s plan is to block development that would redefine the territory. The immediate grounds surrounding the Masonic Temple are designated as a historic landmark, which cannot be redeveloped. The group submitted an application to the Historic Preservation Office to increase the landmark boundary to include the vacant lot, the carriage house, and the patch of land. DelleDonne’s logic was that all of the aesthetic elements the planned housing would interrupt made it a good candidate for an amendment to the original landmark boundary. The Historic Preservation Office in turn sent DECAA updated documentation of the Masonic Temple and surrounding properties that showed the landmark boundary line was set approximately 100 feet east of the Temple, encompassing the proposed development site. DelleDonne and DECAA thought they were in the clear and that development would halt.

Eleven days later, however, the Historic Preservation Office sent a revised copy to DECAA, with a strikingly different map. The boundary line had been placed farther inward at the back apse of the temple, making those 100 feet of property undesignated land and not landmarked. This means they are suitable for development. DECAA received no explanation for the correction. DelleDonne is now spearheading an effort to expand the landmark boundary. The Historic Preservation Office rejected DECAA’s proposal, citing a lack of historical significance to the extended grounds Perseus plans to build upon. “They were determined to fix this so that it is not a problem [for the developers]. And that’s the wrong way to do this,” DelleDonne said. DECAA then turned to ANC2B to vote on the issue as part of the commission’s role in advising the Historic Preservation Review Board.

DECAA had proposed two amendments for the ANC to consider, both focused on redefining and extending the landmark designation associated with the Masonic Temple far enough to prohibit building on the adjacent lot. Both amendments were voted down at the May 16 special meeting.

The Historic Preservation Office similarly denied DECAA's request to extend the landmark designation on May 23 and included any future requests to extend the boundary in that decision. The ANC also approved the latest iteration of the Scottish Rite development plan in the same meeting. DECAA's only clear path forward is the option to appeal the ANC votes to the Housing Preservation Review Board.

The civic association’s ultimate goal is to have the Historic Preservation Review Board refer the case — especially regarding the two conflicting HPO documents —to the Mayor’s Agent, a special government official who oversees historic preservation disputes. DelleDonne insists this is no longer just about developing part of an old neighborhood, and that it is now an issue of accountability. “We’re saying: you can’t erase a report. You’ve got two of them from the same office.

That is a contradiction that cannot be resolved.” He believes the issuance of the second report was an intentional move to enable further development on the Masonic Temple grounds.

“It’s just simple: that is not fair. It raises suspicions about the trustworthiness of the government.”

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DC seeks resident feedback for multi-year plan to overcome barriers to fair housing

BY JAKE MAHER @jamesmarshall_a

I

nput from residents is set to play a key role in a report on the state of fair housing in the District being compiled in order to comply with federal mandates that local governments combat historical patterns of segregation and crack down on illegal discrimination.

The D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) held meetings across the city in late April and early May where community members shared their experiences and concerns surrounding affordability, legal protections for renters, and similar issues.

Another meeting is scheduled for tonight from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Ward 5 at Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library, with sessions in wards 2 and 7 still being scheduled.

The city stands to lose block grants that fund housing and services for people experiencing homelessness and people living with HIV/AIDS if the D.C. government fails to demonstrate to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development that it is working to “affirmatively further fair housing.” The requirement, which applies to any government agency that accepts HUD funding, seeks to force adherence to a key tenet of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Each community is required to “actively” work to overcome housing segregation and create more inclusive communities. Simply preventing illegal discrimination is not sufficient in the eyes of the federal government.

DHCD contracted two nonprofit legal organizations — the Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC) and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law — to research the report, known formally as an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice. The HUD-mandated document, which is supposed to span five years, provides a mechanism for federal officials to measure local officials’ performance in ensuring compliance with civil rights laws.

Funding could be at risk if D.C. fails to adhere to the plan it produces, though HUD only withholds money in extreme cases, according to Thomas Silverstein, a fair housing attorney working on the report for the Lawyers’ Committee, which has produced similar reports for New Orleans and Los Angeles in the past.

Along with federal and District government data, resident feedback will be an important basis for the report’s conclusions, Silverstein said. To that end, DHCD scheduled six community feedback forums from April 22 to May 9 and three additional upcoming meetings in areas where there were scheduling issues or low turnout.

“The purpose of this meeting really is to get input from community members who are directly affected by housing policy and related policies in DC, both by the government and by private industry,” Silverstein said at a May 6 meeting in Cleveland Park, “to make sure what our analysis shows is consistent with reality, and not just abstractions based on data.”

The forward in a HUD guide for the creation of such reports printed in 1996 during the Clinton administration said much the same thing. It acknowledged HUD had previously tried to prescribe national remedies for local situations that too often failed because the communities were not involved in the decision-making process.

At the April 30 feedback forum in Petworth, attendees talked about a general lack of affordable housing and a shortage of units for large families. Conversation touched on what some residents saw as inadequate funding levels for the Housing Production Trust Fund. Residents also vocally criticized the conditions in public housing units owned by the D.C. Housing Authority and the opacity of the agency, which they said makes it difficult to lodge a complaint.

Community members also criticized the D.C. Council’s recent changes to the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which gives renters the right of first refusal when their building is being sold. Last July, the act was weakened to exempt singlefamily homes and basement units from the law.

Silverstein said the report will include sections on segregation, racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty, publicly supported housing, disproportionate housing needs, disparities in access to opportunity, access for people with disabilities, and fair housing enforcement and outreach.

According to information distributed by Silverstein and Megan Haberle, deputy director of PRRAC, the D.C. government has a responsibility to “take actions to overcome patterns of segregation and foster inclusive communities free from barriers that restrict access to opportunity.”

Along with the Lawyers’ Committee, PRRAC is helping compile the Analysis of Impediments. Silverstein said the recommendations of the District’s last such report, produced in 2012, are widely perceived as inadequate to handle the dramatic rise in housing prices in D.C. that has led to displacement of longtime residents of the District.

Silverstein said that the Lawyers’ Committee and PRRAC hope to complete a draft of the report by mid-June. After being edited by DHCD, the document will become available for a 30-day public comment period in July before it is finalized.

Thist story was co-published with TheDCLine.org

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AT A GLANCE

Vendor/Artist Anthony Crawford also earns an income and expresses himself through Second Story Cards. Check out his latest designs for Father’s Day! COURTESY OF SECOND STORY CARDS

BIRTHDAYS Charlton Battle May 29 ARTIST/VENDOR

Ron “Pookanu” Dudley May 30 ARTIST/VENDOR

ACCOMPLISHMENTS James Davis

Re-elected to the board of directors for East of the River Family Strengthening Collaborative ARTIST/VENDOR

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2018 HUD’s Fair Housing Door Exhibit in Honor of 50 years of Fair Housing // U.S. DEPT. OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

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8 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // M AY 2 9 - J U N E 11, 2019

Tensions at this apartment complex reveal a lack of coordination among District agencies that support low-income residents

BY JAKE MAHER @JakeMaher2

I

n recent months, one Cleveland Park apartment building has become a focal point for criticism of the city’s subsidized housing programs, with problems reaching the attention of the police and D.C. Council and spawning debates over how best to provide housing for D.C.’s most vulnerable residents.

Mounting complaints among building residents about mismanagement and the effect on their quality of life have recently brought the case of the Sedgwick Gardens building under public scrutiny and highlighted a legal loophole that has subtly weakened the city’s rent-control protections. A D.C. law enacted in February offers hope for reform, yet the legislation remained inert and unfunded until recently.

Meanwhile, city officials say they’ll provide expanded social services to deal with situations they say are unique to Sedgwick Gardens.

But the broader issues raised are applicable far beyond Cleveland Park, with experiences at Sedgwick Gardens providing a prism into how the city’s housing programs can lead to what advocates for low-income tenants see as perverse effects that reduce the availability of affordable housing.

The case of Sedgwick Gardens Over the past two years, as use of cityissued housing vouchers has increased at the Sedgwick Gardens apartments at 3726 Connecticut Ave. NW, so have reports of problems ranging in severity from thefts of clothing from the laundry room to a resident being found dead in their apartment when a case worker visited four weeks after their death. In one case, SWAT team officers engaged in extensive negotiations with a tenant whom Sedgwick Gardens resident Diane McWhorter described as repeatedly violent and whom she heard threaten to kill each officer one at a time. Because the city protects the privacy of recipients of housing subsidies, it’s unknown whether any of these incidents involved tenants with vouchers.

Residents of Sedgwick Gardens have publicly expressed their concerns several times, including at a May 6 D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development

PHOTO BY ERIC FALQUERO

community meeting and a February oversight hearing of the council’s Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization. But the issue has come up at other meetings as well.

At DHCD’s meeting, held to identify fair housing violations in Ward 3, the majority of attendees were from Sedgwick Gardens and similar apartment buildings in the area, expressing anger with a lack of oversight at Sedgwick. Carren Kaston, president of the Sedgwick Gardens Tenant Association, cited a “stampede” of residents — voucher holders as well as other residents — out of the building as a result of the crisis there.

“Conventional” residents of the rentcontrolled art deco building began noticing a high number of housing voucher recipients in spring 2017, according to testimony from both Kaston and McWhorter at the February hearing. This time frame coincides with an increase in the cap of how much the D.C. Housing Authority is willing to pay for a voucher recipient’s rent in order to give “DCHA customers even more choices of where they can afford to live,” according to the agency’s website. By 2019 nearly half of the building’s 140 units were occupied by voucher holders, Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh said at a community meeting in March.

Officials at the various agencies involved have not been forthcoming when asked how so many subsidy recipients ended up in the building, according to the tenant representatives who spoke at the February hearing. The programs that put them there, housing experts say, allow tenants to decide where they want to live, though those choices are often hindered by subsidies that don’t cover market rent in the District or a given landlord’s resistance to “taking a chance” on renters who rely on assistance.

At the February hearing, McWhorter called Sedgwick Gardens “a case study in how not to manage the program.”

Rather than blaming the voucher holders personally, the tenant leaders say they take issue with the city for allowing conditions to reach what they consider a point of crisis.

“Make no mistake: All kinds of residents, not only those paying full rent, are affected by the disruptions, the constant police presence including an overnight SWAT team occupation of the building, public drug overdoses,

attempted home invasions, fecal defacement of the property, domestic and other violence,” McWhorter said in Feb. 22 testimony before the D.C. Council. She added that police visits to the building rose from 12 in 2014 to 121 in 2018, although according to information the Metropolitan Police Department provided to The Washington Post, only five police visits determined a crime had occurred.

Kaston suggested that the city should limit the number of voucher holders that end up in any single building. “The cap is urgently needed to keep all residents — voucher and non-voucher — safe,” she said.

McWhorter and Kaston questioned why residents in need did not receive adequate supportive services, whether they had been responsibly screened for criminal backgrounds and if the D.C. Housing Authority placed them specifically at Sedgwick Gardens.

Anita Bonds, an at-large councilmember and the committee chair running the February oversight hearing, put these same questions to DCHA Director Tyrone Garrett and his staff.

Pre-hearing written testimony from DCHA said the agency complies with the D.C. Fair Criminal Record Screening for Housing Act, which considers if and when a conviction occurred, whether a person is in compliance with parole/probation requirements, and whether the nature of a prior offense suggests a potential impact on the of other residents.

McWhorter had raised the question because “ATF officers entered the building with assault rifles to arrest a tenant who, as it turned out, had been under federal indictment since shortly before moving in last fall for trafficking heroin and other drugs.”

At the hearing, Garrett said the Housing Authority cannot consider a customer’s medical background, including mental health needs, for fear that doing so could discriminate against voucher recipients and foster stereotypes. He said the director of the Housing Choice Voucher Program had met with community stakeholders from the complex in response to the complaints and determined that some residents do in fact need more assistance, which would be provided

by DCHA’s sister agencies, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Behavioral Health. “The responsibility of managing behavior and managing lease

violations is the sole responsibility of the landlord,” testified then HCVP Director Roy McCoy, who left the agency in April.

Representatives from Sedgwick Gardens’ management, DARO Apartments, could not be reached for comment.

This spring, DHS assigned two social workers to help residents access social services five days a week, including some evenings, according to Jay Melder, who served until April as chief of staff to D.C.’s deputy mayor for health and human services.

“DHS is collecting data around their interactions with residents, types of concerns, resolution status of those concerns, and referral to service agencies,” Melder wrote in a March email. “This data will help inform DHS’s decisions moving forward.”

Source of income discrimination According to some housing advocates, discrimination is a factor that can lead to concentrations of housing vouchers in places like Sedgwick Gardens. It is illegal for landlords to discriminate against potential renters based on 20 traits protected under the D.C. Human Rights Act, including “source of income (SOI),” such as a housing voucher or other cash benefit.

But the law is hard to systematically enforce and subsidy recipients tend to be concentrated in areas where landlords will accept them. “ I t ’s unlawful resistance, but that resistance is why 70 percent of the folks using rental assistance in the city are in wards 7 and 8 or concentrated in places like Sedgwick Gardens,” said Brook Hill, an attorney

PHOTO BY ERIC FALQUERO

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with the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

A study by the Urban Institute from 2018 found that 15 percent of landlords in D.C. refused to accept housing choice vouchers, and 14 percent either placed conditions on accepting vouchers or said that they did not know their policy on accepting vouchers.

Kate Scott, deputy director of the Equal Rights Center, said that renters are usually too busy looking for somewhere to use their vouchers to report discriminatory landlords.

HCVP recipients have a limited time to use their voucher, or it expires.

“We hear from voucher holders fairly frequently that they are about to lose their voucher because of the amount of discrimination they face in the market,” Scott said. “It’s actually pretty difficult for people to enforce their rights.”

D.C. is taking some steps to crack down on source of income discrimination. In November 2018, Attorney General Karl Racine announced a lawsuit against a pair of real estate and property management companies for SOI discrimination. At-large Councilmember Elissa Silverman introduced a bill in March that would increase the penalty for SOI discrimination.

“We’re in an affordable housing crisis,” Silverman wrote in a statement to The D.C. Line and Street Sense. “Every suitable housing option in our city needs to be available to qualified applicants searching for their next home — whether they hold a housing voucher or not.”

DCHA has also taken a softer approach to helping voucher holders get housing, including outreach to landlords to persuade them of the benefits of cooperating with the voucher program. According to Hill, the city is reluctant to harm its relationship with landlords by bringing legal charges based on SOI discrimination. “[DCHA and DHS have] said things like they’re working to build relationships with landlords and they’re taking the approach of using the carrot rather than the stick,” Hill said. “That doesn’t get you anywhere with a landlord who’s decided they’re not going to take voucher holders.

There’s no relationship to preserve.”

Given the rate of SOI discrimination in the District, DCHA and DHS are pressed to house subsidy recipients anywhere they can, Hill said. “The only reason there are so many [voucher holders] in Sedgwick Gardens, and not in other buildings surrounding Sedgwick Gardens, is because the city was able to build a partnership with that landlord. So then they place as many people as they can there.”

The issues brought to light at Sedgwick have also invited discussion about the role of race. In a

legal complaint against several management voucher holders move out of a formerly companies, the Equal Rights Center argued rent-controlled unit, the apartment doesn’t that since 92 percent of voucher holders return to the previous rate. Instead, landlords in D.C. are Black, SOI discrimination is are allowed to rent the unit to anyone at the essentially the same as racial discrimination. higher rate last used to incentivize accepting Hill of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee a voucher recipient. This can lead to a much said he believes at least some of the rise in higher jump in rent than is typically allowed police calls to Sedgwick is attributable to race when a unit becomes vacant, which is usually and a discomfort with living with people who capped at 10 percent above what was charged have been homeless. “It’s another example to the former tenant and is never more than 30 of people calling the police on Black people percent more. Critics note this gives landlords just for ordinary, everyday activities,” he said. an incentive to move voucher holders into and Tenant leaders at Sedgwick say it’s the city’s out of an apartment to essentially exempt the failure to provide supportive services when unit from rent control. necessary — as well as appropriate At Sedgwick Gardens, McWhorter oversight over people placed said this loophole has caused through the voucher program significant turnover in the — that leads other building and warned that if residents to see a police buildings like Sedgwick call as their only option. are susceptible to such Other housing mismanagement, the advocates have also District is likely to see taken issue with what the departure of its they perceive to be middle-class tax base a demonization of and end up exacerbating voucher holders in the a reputation as a city discussions and media hospitable only to the rich coverage surrounding and the poor. It’s a loophole Sedgwick Gardens. Margaret that has surfaced in various Emery, a staff attorney for the D.C. buildings in recent years, PHOTO BY CHRIS KAIN Washington Legal Council for the including the Brandywine Apartments Elderly, and Kierstin Quinsland, director in Forest Hills. of permanent supportive housing for the “Our concern with the voucher program nonprofit Miriam’s Kitchen, wrote letters to the is that [it] pays above-market rents ... and editor of The Washington Post criticizing the provides an incentive to landlords to fill newspaper’s coverage of Sedgwick Gardens. their buildings with voucher residents,” At the February oversight hearing, Reginald David Luria, president of the Brandywine Black, a homeless D.C. native and Street Apartments tenants association, wrote in an Sense vendor, expressed similar concerns email. “This has led to poor screening of regarding attitudes toward voucher holders some of the residents, resulting in security living at Sedgwick and in other communities. and safety issues in our building.”

“Gentrifiers are young, often, and White. And Luria said crime at the Brandywine those are the ones I see complaining about Apartments has gone up 170 percent from crime, arbitrarily tying it back to voucher 2018 to 2019, with a police visit coming every holders,” he said. “I don’t think they recognize two to three days. they are part of a community.”

Beth Harrison, an attorney at the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, said she knew of a rent-controlled apartment building The rent-control loophole in Southeast where only five of the 12 units Amid the focus on administration of the city’s were occupied, with the building’s new owner housing vouchers, the Sedgwick Gardens case freely acknowledging that he planned to bring has also helped highlight some broader policy in tenants with housing vouchers to make the issues involving rent control. property more profitable.

D.C.’s subsidized housing programs include Harrison said these kinds of problems become the rapid rehousing program, managed by the even more severe under D.C.’s rapid rehousing D.C. Department of Human Services; and program, targeted at homeless residents. the Local Rent Subsidy Program and federal Under this program — intended to move Housing Choice voucher program (formerly people out of shelters in the short term and into known as Section 8), both managed by the permanent housing — residents get a subsidy D.C. Housing Authority. Each of these has covering 60 percent of their rent for several its own regulations but, in general, such months to a year. But critics say this framework programs are used to subsidize rent for lowruns the danger of setting people up in housing income people. they can’t afford in the long run, with problems Recipients are supposed to be treated like frequently arising when the subsidy expires any other potential tenant, with the ability to and the tenant becomes responsible for the choose where they would like to live by using entire rent. A 2017 report compiled by the the benefit to bridge the gap between their Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless income and the advertised cost of rent. To found that, on average, the total income of a encourage landlords to accept the vouchers, family that receives a rapid rehousing subsidy rent-controlled units leased to housing covers only 40 percent of the market rent for voucher holders do not have to adhere to the apartment they end up renting. the rent limitations set under the city’s rent As with the housing choice vouchers, this control law, with the city paying an amount program allows rent-control exemptions for closer to market rate. landlords, giving them the same ability to But many, even some of the program’s convert their units to market-rate prices. For strongest proponents, have pointed to a tenants in these cases, the loss of their subsidy glaring loophole in this incentive: When is exacerbated by the fact they must also pay

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market-rate rent when their rapid rehousing voucher runs out.

Testifying to the council in December 2017, Harrison pointed to a case where an $800 unit became exempt from rent-control limits because of a rapid rehousing voucher, with the rent rising to $1,200. When the subsidy expired after a year, the tenant “struggled to pay the rent, now locked in at a significantly higher rate than it would have been without the subsidy exemption,” Harrison said.

Harrison added that she heard many stories of landlords evicting voucher holders when their subsidies expired, effectively converting their units to market-rate. Intent in cases like these was difficult to prove, she said, so this practice was able to continue. Forty-five percent of families that have been in rapid rehousing for at least one year have been sued by their landlord for eviction, according to a 2017 report by the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.

Potential fix Scott Bruton, vice president of housing policy at the Center for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development, and Harrison brought the rent-control loophole to the attention of Bonds, as chair of the council’s housing committee, in 2017. That November, Bonds and Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau introduced the Rental Housing Affordability Re-establishment Act to address the problem.

Under the bill, when a voucher holder leaves a rent-controlled unit, that unit’s rent would revert to the rate it had been before the voucher holder moved in plus any annual increases accrued in the meantime. “This new approach gives housing providers a much greater incentive to continue to rent to tenants with subsidies, as only when they rent to subsidy holders would they be able to continue to charge the higher, marketrate rents associated with the subsidy,” the committee report on the bill reads.

The council voted unanimously in favor of the bill in October 2018, and it’s been law since Feb. 22, but it could not go into effect until the city allocated funding. The lowered rental income will reduce the city’s revenue from property tax and business income tax collections. Estimating that the law would affect about 600 units per year, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer predicted an estimated loss of $10,000 in year one and closer to $231,000 in total by the fourth year.

With the budget approved Tuesday, the council found $9,000 in fiscal year 2020 and $600,000 over the four-year plan to close the rent control loophole as of Oct. 1. But residents at Sedgwick Gardens and other rent-controlled buildings, and subsidy recipients throughout the District, are left with a system being criticized as prioritizing landlords over tenants.

“We acknowledge that you have been charged with addressing an enormous social problem that you didn’t create, and which is a symptom of an inequitable system that fosters the redistribution of wealth into the hands of those who already have it,” McWhorter testified to the council in February.

“Unfortunately, the voucher program seems to be very consistent with that trend.”

This story was co-published with TheDCLine.org

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OPINION

The region has built a lot of housing – but not enough, and not in the right places

BY JACLENE BEGLEY, LEAH BROOKS, BRIAN MCCABE, JENNY SCHUETZ

This column was first published by the nonprofit blog and advocacy organization Greater Greater Washington on May 16.

W

alk through downtown Washington, D.C. these days, and it looks like we’re in a construction boom. Cranes tower in the background of Nationals Park. The Wharf has transformed from a low-key fish market and marina into a forest of high-rise hotels, apartments, and chic eateries. New townhouses are sprouting like mushrooms from Fort Totten to College Park to Fredericksburg, VA. So with all this new development, housing should be abundant and cheap, right?

Not exactly. Our new report shows that, over the past 20 years, the region added almost twice as many people as housing units. As in many parts of the U.S., housing prices have been rising faster than income – a predictable outcome of housing demand outpacing supply. The amount of housing that has been built, and in which parts of the region, have profound implications for housing affordability and the region’s economic vitality.

not served by Metrorail – contributes to increased traffic congestion and negative environmental impacts.

The reported death of the single-family house has been greatly exaggerated Millennials may or may not have killed off mayonnaise, golf, and sex, but they haven’t wiped out single-family homes.

Nearly two-thirds of homes built since 2000 are singlefamily structures (both detached homes and rowhouses).

That’s almost exactly the same share single-family homes that existed in the Washington region in 2000.

Figure 3: Housing Value has Grown Faster than Household Income Median housing value and median household income, 1980-2017.

SOURCE: AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY 2013-2017. IMAGE BY THE AUTHOR..

D.C.’s gentrification sparks more conversation, but the exurbs are getting more (housing) action Despite the flurry of cranes in downtown DC, the exurban jurisdictions collectively have built more than twice as many housing units as the region’s inner core (Figure 1). Between 2000 and 2017, Loudoun County– population just under 170,000 in 2000 – built almost as many homes as the District and Arlington County put together (combined initial population of 760,000).

Too little housing at too high a cost poses economic risks for the region Figure 2: White picket fences, as far as the eye can see. Share of housing units by structure type for units built before and after 2000. SOURCE: AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY 2013-2017.

The type of structures built have clear implications for housing affordability. Because single-family homes use more land per housing unit than apartments in multifamily buildings, they are more expensive to rent or buy.

Not all the region’s jurisdictions are building the same type of housing, of course. Among the inner core – the District, Arlington County, and Alexandria – singlefamily homes make up less than one-quarter of newer housing. More than half the new homes built in Fairfax, Montgomery, and Prince George’s Counties are singlefamily, and the exurban counties built almost exclusively single-family homes (additional figures in the full report).

It’s not your imagination: Housing has become much more expensive Figure 1: Housing growth in the exurbs far outpaces the urban core Housing Units Built After 2000 by Jurisdiction Type and Name.

SOURCE: 1980-2010 DECENNIAL CENSUS, AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY 2005–2017 ONE-YEAR ESTIMATES.

While there are many reasons why jurisdictions grow at different rates, these patterns have important consequences for the region overall. Notably, building housing farther away from the region’s largest employer – and in locations

more than five times median income. While rising home values are generally good news for homeowners, they create financial stress on renter households.

Housing values in the Washington region have been rising faster than incomes for most of the last 20 years, with a brief respite during the Great Recession (Figure 3). From 1980 to 2017, real median incomes rose by 30% while median home values rose by more than 50%. Perhaps not surprisingly, the region has some of the highest home values relative to income in the country.

Across the US, median housing values are roughly three times median income. But in the Washington region, most residents live in jurisdictions with housing values

Expensive housing isn’t just a problem for individuals and families who are struggling to cover expenses. Problems in housing markets have broad impacts on the regional economy. Employers in highcost regions have difficulty attracting and retaining workers, especially younger workers who are more likely to be renters.

Because renters are, on average, lower-income and more racially diverse than homeowners, rising housing costs have regressive economic impacts as well. The spatial patterns of housing growth in the region – more construction in the exurbs – means that workers who stay spend more hours sitting in traffic to drive long distances. Commuting is neither productive nor pleasant, and comes at the expense of time spent with family or friends. Building most housing in locations not served by transit also has negative environmental impacts.

Decisions about how much housing can be built where are generally made by each local government, acting independently of their neighbors. But the impacts of these decisions affect all residents of the region – residents, employers, and their elected officials. We can’t afford another 20 years of sprawl and worsening affordability.

Jaclene Begley is a senior non-resident fellow at the GW Center for Washington Area Studies. Leah Brooks is an economist who teaches at George Washington University's Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration and serves as the Director of the university's Center for Washington Area Studies. Brian McCabe is an assistant professor of sociology at Georgetown University.

Jenny Schuetz is a David M. Rubenstein Fellow at the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

ART

Do pro-lifers practice what they preach?

BY JEFFERY MCNEIL

We often hear from political pundits how they yearn for America to come together -- but can that happen when there is so much that we fundamentally disagree upon?

I consider myself pro-life, conservative and libertarian, but I clash with my fellow Republicans on the issue of abortion.

While many of us agree the practice of abortion is abominable, we disagree on the alternatives. None of us like Roe V. Wade, but do conservatives want to go back to the days when women used coat hangers to kill their babies?

As a Christian, I sometimes wonder what Bible these pro-lifers read. Many talk a good game about how all lives must be protected but it’s these same people that put their hand on the Bible while cutting many programs that sustain life and enriching themselves with corporate tax cuts. It says in the Bible that it’s harder for a rich man to get to heaven than a camel to get through the eye of a needle. Jesus said to give your riches to the poor and follow Him. If conservatives take the moral high position that life begins at conception, why do they argue against life-sustaining programs such as paid family leave?

I love President Donald Trump but his $16 billion farm welfare program doesn't sit right with me. While conservatives talk about fiscal responsibility they are wasting our tax dollars bailing out farmers and cutting programs that aid children and single mothers. I believe in free markets, not picking winners and losers.

These same Republicans then make pious arguments about the sanctity of life yet regard policies that sustain life as socialism, doing everything to undermine women who try to raise their children under difficult circumstances.

When I was a progressive I didn’t want to clash with women and feminists over abortion.

While I don’t support abortion, I prefer that abortions be safe and performed under the care of a doctor, not in back alleys. I don’t know where I stand on the argument that life begins at conception but I accept first-trimester abortion, though I would prefer if women have the baby and put it up for adoption. After the second trimester, I agree with pro-lifers that killing a baby is murder and the doctors should go to jail. I don’t know if women should be jailed -- maybe counseling would be more appropriate.

Pro-choicers claim they should have control over their bodies yet want society to pay for their promiscuous lifestyles. Isn’t that a rightwing argument, that you should have control over your life, not the government? If you want power then take personal responsibility. If you want an abortion, pay for it.

I’m all for free choice but I’m not interested in socialism and paying for your lifestyle.

The abortion bills in Alabama and Georgia are too insensitive and heartless for me to support. Pro-lifers look like hypocrites, because you can’t say you're for limited government then ask the state to intervene on a woman’s uterus. If you are for life then these same people should step up for sustaining life from cradle to grave. If you’re for life then you're for some form of socialism.

If you care about life, then you should care about sustaining it!

The abortion bills in Alabama and Georgia are too insensitive and heartless for me to support.

Jeffery McNeil is a Street Sense Media vendor.

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Neighborhood before and after.

ILLUSTRATION BY ROBERT WARREN, ARTIST/VENDOR

Poor Folks

BY ROBERT WARREN Artist/Vendor

The thought of the day: How many people have moved away looking for greener pastures, in that old town across the river, with the one sit-down restaurant in town that usually closes before sun down. My old auntie had a home in that old town, and we used to stay there in summers gone by. I often wondered why?

Maybe she was helping her little sister with childcare for a good price. The general store was right there.

They went a long way in keeping us up to date with the big-time town across the river. People say it’s totally gentrified today; all the older Black folks have moved away. Some say they couldn’t afford to stay. Displacement is not a crime, so they say, but I wonder who ‘they’ are?

Greater Greater Washington wants to sing another song about all those who have gone away and say they left for greener pastures, across the river, in that old town...that now has two sit-down restaurants and a new 7-Eleven on the way. I heard the new FBI building was in-play, well that’s what they say, but I wonder who ‘they’ are.

The Chamber of Commerce says business is better than it’s ever been. Rich people are moving in, but poor folks are hard to find...say they have been displaced is a big big lie. Some folks want to spit in your eyes, trying to cloud our vision in what we all can plainly see: the war on the poor, against you and me. I had to move, you see. I now live in that little town across the river along with some other poor folks who look like me.

A young white couple, as nice as can be, with a black dog who seems not to like me. Well, that’s all I have to say about my home town. It’s a changing place, for poor folks who look like me.

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1 2 // S T R E E T S E N S E M E D I A // M AY 2 9 - J U N E 11, 2019

ART

Ode to Cherry Blossoms

BY EVELYN NNAM // Artiat/Vendor

The beautiful cherry blossom trees Everywhere in sight Sweet and delightful Flowers pretty and bright That bright pink and peace white color Smelling sweet with a fine fragrance.

Our eyes are in awe In the beauty of your presence When your petals flow with the wind And fall down to our feet.

A “House of Legends” Vanishes – 1975

Shining and bringing light in our days Wooing us with your warm embrace Adding wonderful spice to the skies Covering the ground as you fall gracefully Becoming part of our pictures and videos As we love how you complete our poses.

BY FREDERIC JOHN Artist/Vendor

HISTORIC PHOTO BY FREDERIC JOHN, ARTIST/VENDOR

Wreckers tear away the fabric of the stately Dunbar Hotel, 15th street, NW between U and V streets, NW. Originally constructed in 1895 by German-American brewer/real estate magnate Robert V. Portner and designed by architect Clarence J. Didden, the vast edifice held over 300 rooms and was known as the “Portner Flats.”

This impressive orange ‘Roman’ brick pile, noted for curving towered bays, was trimmed with copper,

terra-cotta, and brownstone. A myriad assortment of grotesque and fantastic figures graced the entrance.

After 1928 the Portner was converted to the “New Dunbar Hotel,” serving for more than four decades as the primary lodging for illustrious visitors to D.C.’s “Black Broadway” — the U Street entertainment district – such as Duke Ellington, Cab Callaway, Sarah Vaughn, and many more!

Side by Side

We honor and celebrate your wonderfulness In parades and festivals of your awesomeness We thank you for being a part Of the marvelous season we call Spring.

Not too cold and not too hot but Coming in the time that feels just right.

We acknowledge that you are a part Of our history and we will always Celebrate your raw beauty that Fills the Earth with all you give.

As we prepare for what we will enjoy Honoring you and cheering for the Cherry blossoms We thank you for this beautiful nature That you bring to our lives.

BY REV. JOHN LITTLEJOHN // Artist/Vendor

What is side by side? Side by side is two people or two churches or two homeless shelters or two homeless outreach programs.

Or two cities or states or two nations or two worlds working together, for a common good to end homelessness.

They may be black or white, they may be rich or poor, they may be homeowners or homeless, they may be police or military men and the list goes on and on.

In ancient times, a city with broken walls led to a defeated people, exposed to danger and shame.

That is why the Jews rebuilt the Wall of Jerusalem.

How? By working side by side, an expression that can well describe Nehimiah 3. At first glance, chapter 3 might appear to be a boring account of who did what in the construction. However, a closer look highlights how

people worked together.

Priests were working alongside, perfume makers were helping as well as goldsmiths.

Two things stand out from this chapter. First, they all worked together for a common good. Second, all of them are commended for being part of the work, not for how much or little they did as compared to others.

Today we see damaged families and a broken society and frightened individuals. But Jesus came to build the kingdom of God, through the transformation of lives.

We can help to rebuild our neighborhoods and communities and our city and states and nation by showing others they can find hope and a new life in Jesus.

All of us have something to do. So, let us work side by side and do our part, whether big or small to create a community or society or city or state and country of

love and peace and Joy. Caring and sharing and unity...and the list goes on and on, where people can find Jesus.

Dear Lord help me to work with others, side by side by showing, once again love, peace, caring, sharing, and helping others. And pointing others to Jesus!

Let’s work together (side by side) to bring homelessness to an end.

Most books inform but the good book, which is the Holy Bible, transforms us from being divided to being united. From weak to being strong. From being homeless to homeowner.

Glory be to the Lord – Have mercy on me.

We must stay side by side, when it comes to giving or receiving donations. Or bringing homelessness to an end.

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Xavier Adventures

BY REGINALD DENNY, “THE ORIGINAL” Artist/Vendor

F

first and foremost, lest we forget, remember this: “All things work together for the good of them that love God and to them that are called according to his purpose.” A great writer penned these words.

It is in “The Quiet Crucible of your Personal Sufferings that your noblest dreams are born, and God’s greatest gifts are given in compensation for what you have been through?

This can be applicable to many who are homeless and even more to those who have had bouts with severe trials and tribulations. But God is faithful, and He will not allow you to suffer beyond that which you are able. Even in the trials He has a way of providing a way of escape that you can bear that which you are ultimately victorious throughout.

Who am I? I am the original Reginald! There is none other like me...none before me and there will be none like me after me. What you see is what you get and you ain’t seen nothing yet.

The good...the bad...and the indifferent, sometimes ugly, depending on what day it is, and every day is not the same.

Thanks be to God for the ability to endure no matter what comes our way.

I thank God for all He has done in my life, all what He is doing and all the things I know He will not hasten to perform in my life if I keep my eyes and mind on Him. There were ten students from universities who were to face the “Urban Challenge” devised by the National Coalition for the Homeless and they did just that, here in the nation's capital of Washington, D.C. This experience was truly an exciting and intoxicating and somewhat pressure-filled moment for all involved, the students, guides and speakers (James Davis, Reginald Denny). To live the homeless life is like a sprained ankle – it ain’t nothing to play with, my friends. Even though this ‘urban challenge’ was expressly for the Xavier students, it was truly a divine moment for James and me. These nights were something to behold.

We were scheduled to meet with the Xavier students at 8:00 p.m. to start the challenge. I arrived early to meet and greet visiting students. We were to meet at Freedom Plaza, adjacent to the Casimir Pulaski statue. As I waited their arrival, I saw off in the distance about 5 or 6 people careening along Freedom Plaza in my direction. It was not hard to recognize the students and their guide because they were carrying black trash bags but still moving hurriedly along.

At that instant, I thought I would play a slick little maneuver on them. As I hid out of their sight, they reached

Sleeping in Union Station. PHOTO BY JAMES DAVIS, ARTIST/VENDOR

the place of meeting at the Casimir Pulaski statue.

When they had comfortably seated themselves on the wooden benches, not giving them notice, I aggressively approached them and lashed out at them, in a threateningly manner, saying they were in my space where I sleep! Not knowing that in fact I was one of the spokesmen who was to meet them. I let them off the hook immediately so as not to incite too much fright in them. We all laughed.

These students (the first group) were in fact excited to be a part of the challenge. As we sat and talked about the first part of their day, it was truly something to behold. They told me they actually tested being homeless by having to pan-handle to obtain meals. It was disclosed to me that they did in fact raise money by pan-handling. Some were favored and some were not. Some people turned their noses up as if insulted, which the student felt was demeaning. No bathing, no money, no home to sleep in, sleeping outside in the elements and dealing with the public’s snarling comments and reactions on a daily basis, is truly an eyeopening experience for these students.

We had great conversations when James Davis (my confidant) and trainer finally arrived. Other students eventually showed up. We all had a great time getting to know one another and hearing the reasons for them accepting this challenge. It was getting late and somewhat breezy, so we decided it was time to settle down for the night. James and 10-12 students plus the guides began to prepare for our time to rest and sleep. After the long day the night sky enveloped us. We could hear and see skate boarders colliding on the pavement while we got ready, it was now about 11:00 pm. Everyone was weary but invigorated about the day of homelessness.

Before we slept though, we all had to prepare our makeshift beds made of cardboard boxes. While the students and guides slept, James and I kept watch but in shifts. Around 1:30 am, it got a little bit colder than we are expecting.

The one blanket did not fully serve the purpose for some of us. James and I decided to call hypothermic services for blankets. It took about 2 hours to get them to us, but this situation is part of the challenge, as it was now getting colder. The blankets finally arrived around 3:45 a.m. We finally slept.

The next day we ended our part (James and I) and the students went on their way, in the second day of the challenge pan-handling and finding food.

We met at the usual meeting place the second night around 8 p.m. We all decided to change the night's sleeping location to Union Station which was another adventure!

This Casimir Pulaski statue statue watched over us while we slept.

ILLUSTRATION BY REGINALD DENN,Y, ARTIST/VENDOR

Urban Challenge:

Xavier

BY JAMES DAVIS Artist/Vendor

Over the course of two days, myself and Reginald Denny participated in the National Coalition for the Homeless’s “Urban Challenge.” It was an eye-opening experience for the 10 students who participated, travelling from Xavier University in Cincinatti . They take with them a memory that will last not just through their college years, but a lifetime.

On a Monday night, we slept out at Freedom Plaza, amid the lights of the Wilson and Reagan buildings. The students tried to sleep after a day of panhandling, going to “soup kitchens,” and applying for jobs disguised as homeless folks. They managed to sleep amid the noises from the skateboarders in the plaza and the construction work at the Wilson Building.

On Tuesday night, we slept at Union Station since it was going to be a cold night. The students appreciate the warmth. At midnight, security came and escorted most or all of the homeless folks camped there out of the station.

We managed to sleep where the Marc trains come in without being put outside. As luck would have it, one of the officer used to be my ex-brother-in-law’s partner. I told him who I was with and told him about the program and he gave us VIP treatment. For that , one of the female students called me a god. Imagine that!

Anyway, it was a great and humbling experience for all involved.

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Four by

Theognis Be sweet, then bitter; kind, thann harshe to slaves, to servants and to neighburs at yowr door. ...

It would be shameful not to get behind te rapid horses and face tearful war. ...

In bad tayms, commun men gett onlie sillier bout the gentleman can stond strayter styll. ...

Nothing is worse, Kurnos, than bad temper which harms by indulging one’s worste tendencies.

From Penguin Books’ Hesiod and Theognis, translated by Dorthea Wender. These ben myn revisitations.

—Franklin Sterling, Artist/Vendor

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

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

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Foundry Methodist Church // 202-332-4010 1500 16th St., NW ID (Friday 9am–12pm only) foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities

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

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

Jobs Have Priority // 202-544-9128 425 2nd St., NW jobshavepriority.org

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

St. Luke’s Mission Center // 202-333-4949 3655 Calvert St., NW stlukesmissioncenter.org

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

Unity Health Care // 202-745-4300 3020 14th St., NW unityhealthcare.org

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

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

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

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

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOTLINE Línea de salud del comportamiento

1-888-793-4357

Laundry Lavandería

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

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

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

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HELP! WE’RE LOOKING FOR

volunteers Paper Sales This position requires keeping our vendors supplied with the Street Sense Media newspaper in a timely and efficient manner.

Paper sales volunteers work one 4-hour shift per week selling the paper to our vendors at a wholesale price, who then go out and sell the paper to the public.

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This position provides a great opportunity to get to know the vendors on a personal level as well as provide a much-needed service in our office.

Volunteers must be available for at least one shift Monday through Friday, either 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. or 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.

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To get involved, contact our Sales Manager, Jeff Gray jeff@streetsensemedia.org (202) 347-2006 x 15

Urban farming in a food desert

BY STEVE LILIENTHAL Volunteer

A

new awareness of healthier options and, more importantly, access to those options is taking hold east of the Anacostia River.

In April, Ward 8’s Giant grocery store inaugurated its Produce Rx program that will enable AmeriHealth Caritas patients with chronic conditions who receive “food prescriptions” to obtain vouchers for weekly or biweekly food purchases.

Seeds of Change, the Mars Food brand that sells organic food and seeds, is providing $115,000 to promote greater awareness of healthier food options for residents of Wards 7 and 8. In addition to funding food preparation demonstrations and healthy cooking classes, the grant supports an internship position and in-kind contributions of seeds.

It’s all part of a larger effort east of the Anacostia River to lessen the bedeviling inequity that comes with a food desert.

Scott Kratz, director of the 11th Street Bridge Park project, noted that his Capitol Hill neighborhood west of the river offers a number of full-service grocery stores to serve the more than 84,000 residents of Ward 6.

Seven full-service grocery stores were licensed in Ward 6 as of Jan. 16, but there is only one full-service grocery store serving Ward 8’s 80,000-plus residents, the Giant that is piloting the Produce Rx program.

Those inequities are consistent with D.C. Department of Health’s 2018 D.C. Health Equity Report and correlate with race, class, and educational levels.

Compared to the rest of the District, those inequities are consistent with lower lifespans and higher levels of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension, in which poor diets are often a culprit. D.C. Health’s report states that reducing the city’s health inequities depends largely upon “multiple sectors working collaboratively, each doing their part in promoting improved outcomes.” It’s not all that different in phrasing from the language used by the recipient of Seeds of Change’s $115,000 grant — an organization called Building Bridges Across the River (BBAR).

The organization held its first class funded by the grant at its Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus — better known as THEARC — on Saturday, May 25. Fifteen attendees led by D.C. Central Kitchen chefs learned how to make ratatouille and a spinach salad with strawberry vinaigrette.

THEARC, perhaps BBAR’s best known project, houses facilities for organizations that serve Wards 7 and 8, such as The Washington Ballet, Boys and Girls Clubs, Children’s National Medical Center — all either free to participants or at affordable rates.

Gentrification-wary residents and organizations have not always responded warmly to BBAR projects, such as the 11th Street Bridge Project, which intends to develop the antiquated

Learning on the urban farm. PHOTO COURTESY OF SEEDS OF CHANGE AND BBAR

11th Street bridges linking the Anacostia neighborhood in Ward 8 with the Navy Yard neighborhood in Ward 6. An Empower D.C. representative criticized the project in the City Paper a few years ago, arguing it was not a “concept of the community” and that private developers should not be given public land in Southeast D.C. BBAR organizers contend they employed a planning model reliant on community participation in developing the 11th Street Bridge Park project, noting that such research led to efforts helping renters become homebuyers and to aid small businesses. The organizers also want urban agricultural space and one is planned.

But a network of six BBAR farms that the organization calls “Bridge Park Plots” already exist in Ward 8, including THEARC Farm.

Standing tall and thin in the urban farm at THEARC, Jerome “JJ” Boone, 28, explained that he had a serious weight problem while growing up. The food he ate was too often packaged food or fast food.

“We all need food. That was the food that was here. So I ate it,” Boone explained, surrounded by plants in the urban farm.

He changed his diet before coming to work at THEARC, but Boone relishes the opportunity to educate himself and others on good health and nutrition.

Six years ago, Boone was just one of several young men in need of a job, standing by an ice cream truck near Parklands in Congress Heights, the same community where the farm is located. A woman approached asking who needed work. Boone’s resume was on his phone and he sent it right away. He started working as a garden associate and now manages the farm.

“This is something I never thought I’d be doing, let alone interested in,” Boone said. He has studied bees and permaculture, which places emphasis on sustainable agriculture.

The farm keeps bees to promote pollination and he has placed marigolds at the ends of the seed beds, not just for their aesthetic value but to deter pests.

Pointing at a row of trees, Boone said they grow peaches, pears, apples, and the lesser known but nutritionally rich paw paws. “And there’s asparagus beyond the trees,” he added.

Kale, collards, onions and potato crops are planned for this summer. And in the “hoop houses,” a stripped down version of green houses, there are seeds for okra, peppers and tomatoes.

Boone thinks there is potential for more urban farming and its products in Southeast D.C. “People just need to be introduced and informed.”

With some of the produce generated at the farms, BBAR has been providing another community-supported program, Community Raised Inspired and Sourced Produce (CRISP), that Boone describes as “like buying a magazine subscription.” The buyer receives the product in periodic installments or shares.

BBAR’s “preferred” CRISP participants include people experiencing homelessness; with refugee status; receiving federal benefits such as SNAP, TA N F, a n d M e d i c a i d and participants in D.C. Green’s Produce Plus program. Five dollars, paid weekly, purchases a single share of locally-grown produce, enough for small households. Ten dollars covers a family share for a household of four or more.

Pickups are held once a week at either THEARC, National Children’s Center, or Kelly Miller Middle School.

This year is organized

Jerome “JJ” Boone (left) stands next to one of the Bridge Park Plots he manages with another member of the Building Bridges Across the River team. PHOTO COURTESY OF SEEDS OF CHANGE AND BBAR

differently, Boone explained. Rather than receive the produce in pre-packed bags, people will be able to select their fruits and vegetables. The produce will be set out so it will be more like a shopping experience.

So far this year, 84 people are participating in the spring season of the program. A BBAR spokesperson said they’ll have two more seasons, summer and fall, and anticipate a couple hundred residents participating.

THEARC Farm and the Bridge Park Plots grew approximately 3,000 pounds of produce in 2018. Nearby Maryland and Virginia farms also supply produce for CRISP. CRISP participants can also attend healthy cooking classes.

Nelson Molina, the cook at National Children’s Center, will focus the classes on how people can eat healthy at reasonable costs. Molina preaches the need to use less sodium, less sugar, and less fat when preparing food.

THEARC Farm and the Bridge Park Plots are small compared to the farms in rural areas and therefore represent just part of the solution to food inequity in Ward 8.

However, Boone sees his work and those of the other urban farms in D.C. as playing an important role in changing neighborhoods and lives. Working for THEARC Farm helped turn his life around.

It helps produce fresh food for families, including those receiving federal benefits. And kids learn from seeing the farms.

For instance, one of the charter schools housed at THEARC has a designated plot on the farm, enabling the children to apply some of what they learn in science and health classes to the real world.

“We are doing what we can and what we are doing is big,” Boone said.

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