05 31 2017

Volume 14: Issue 15 May 31 - June 13, 2017

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New Laws to Govern Homeless Community

By Eric Falquero, eric@streetsense.org

On Wednesday, June 14, D.C. Council will open up the law that governs homeless services in Washington, D.C. After 11 months and at least as many community feedback sessions, Mayor Muriel Bowser transmitted the proposed Homeless Services Reform Amendment Act of 2017 to Council Chairman Phil Mendelson.

The HSRA of 2005 was enacted after being crafted over several years by government, nonprofit and community leaders. It created the local Interagency Council on Homelessness and mandates that the ICH create and monitor progress on the city’s strategic plan to end homelessness. It governs policies such as at what point the District’s right to shelter is in play. It asserts what rights and responsibilities service providers have to their clients and similarly asserts what rights and responsibilities clients have when receiving services. And unlike the system the 2005 legislation was created to guide — today the HSRA often governs the rights of permanent housing programs and consumers.

Thus the 39-page act from 2005 has been amended twice, — in 2010 and again in 2013 — to modernize the legislation and improve the efficiency of D.C.’s response to people in crisis.

During the 2010 Fenty administration, the 5-page update centered around tightening what requirements someone seeking city services must fulfill to prove they are a District resident and qualify for services. In 2013, the 9 pages of definition updates from the Gray administration changed the scope of what premises service providers could enforce their policies on, and how to remove inefficiencies such as— such as if a bed or unit had been obviously abandoned, but law required the unit be held for a certain period of time in case

the client returned, while others that could use the spot waited without aid. One such clarification dealt with whether someone should no longer receive housing assistance if they refuse the first two units they are offered.

Bowser’s 2017 proposal is only ten pages shy of the original law. Part of it was introduced as emergency legislation in 2016. D.C. council reviewed and passed the Medical Respite Services Exemption Temporary Amendment Act of 2016 to address an immediate need and tabled the rest of the items until this complete package was introduced and could be discussed with full testimony and input from the community.

It is billed as aligning local requirements with those at the federal Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act — including how funding is tracked and the definitions of who qualifies for what services. Another primary reason for the update is to reflect the switch from an emergency shelter system to one based more on a variety of housing solutions, in line with the Homeward D.C. 5-year plan created by the ICH. For the past year, meeting attendees have praised the opportunity to codify in law some of the mayor’s more morebenevolent practices, in case her eventual successor is not as concerned with helping the homeless community. Similarly, attendees have sounded alarm bells over propositions such as giving the Department of Human Services veto power over the independent Office of Administrative Hearings appeals process for service provider grievances — the executive ruling on the actions of the executive.

Now that the initial amendment proposal has been submitted, D.C. Council may edit any aspect of the existing law as they review, refine and add to the amendment’s language. ■

New Plan for D.C. Homeless Youth

By Justine Coleman, justine.coleman@streetsense.org As a part of the District’s fight to end youth homelessness by 2022, D.C. officials released the city’s first-ever strategic plan to decrease youth homelessness on May 22.

The D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness created the plan, which they call Solid Foundations, after collecting two years of data from the D.C. Homeless Youth Census. City government implemented the youth-specific count after it became apparent that children and young adults do not frequently access traditional service providers and shelters — thus going uncounted in the traditional homeless census conducted every January.

By expanding prevention and outreach efforts, increasing housing options and providing youth with mentors, the ICH plans to work toward ensuring people up to 24-years-old have roofs over their heads and a strong support system, according to the plan.

The ICH and Community Foundation for the National Capital Region co-hosted the launch of the strategic plan last week at the Hill Center with a panel including representatives from D.C. government, support agencies and youth who experienced homelessness.

Having a data-driven plan is important to help shape what kinds of programs the District needs and how much those programs would cost, according to D.C. ICH Director Kristy Greenwalt.

The percentage of homeless youth experiencing chronic homelessness -meaning with a disability and for at least a year or four times in the past three years -- tripled from 8 to 24 percent, according to the 2016 census. Greenwalt said this could have resulted from having limited years of data.

She added that the plan includes new programs specific to youth, such as stabilization services to help young homeless people return to their families and for the family to receive services as a unit.

“If you don’t address the root causes of the problems and address the family conflict, there’s a higher likelihood that they will keep running,” Greenwalt said in an interview.

Ramina Davidson, the case management and housing coordinator at HIPS, said the plan takes into account subgroups that are overrepresented in the census including the LGBTQ communities. Seventeen percent of homeless youth identify as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, queer or questioning, while 7 percent identify as transgender.

Forty-three percent of homeless youth identified as LGBTQ in the 2015 census.

“It’s clear that a lot of LGBT youth have experienced a lot of trauma either in their families or on the street,” Davidson said during a panel discussion at the release event. ■

STREET SENSE May 31 - June 13, 2017

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NEWS IN BRIEF HSRA Amendment Act & Process Overview D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness 64 New York Ave NW, DC 20001 Room 659 Wednesday, May 31, 2017 12:30pm to 3pm

HSRA Amendment Overview & Testimony Prep Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless 1200 U St NW, DC 20009 Friday, June 9, 2017 11am to 2pm *Lunch & transportation reimbursement

Human Services Public Hearing: HSRA D.C. Council 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, DC 20004 Wednesday, June 14, 2017 10am

Wards 7 and 8 to City: Focus on ‘Crisis’ in Affordable Housing

By Mark Rose Volunteer

H

ousing experts, nonprofit leaders and concerned citizens attended a series of workshops hosted by the nonprofit advocacy group Empower D.C. to discuss sections of the city’s 20-year Comprehensive Plan to guide land use and development, which is being updated. Participants were grouped at tables by ward for discussions, which were often intense. Based on sign-in lists, about 100 people attended the workshops.

Empower D.C. has been compiling notes of the meetings and will present those notes to the D.C. Council in June. Due to high interest, the deadline for accepting public input was extended by nearly a month to June 23.

People at the meetings agreed that all who live in the District need to be able to afford a roof over their head, regardless of their income — a concept housing advocates call “universal housing.” But the city’s affordable housing policy is not grounded in the most relevant data. Instead, housing policy uses Area Median Income as a metric.

And AMI is based on incomes of residents of the greater D.C. metro area, which includes Montgomery County, Maryland, and Fairfax County Virginia — two of the richest counties in the country. As a whole, District resident are not as wealthy as residents of Montgomery or Fairfax Counties. And in 2015, D.C. was heralded as having a greater income disparity than any state in the country.

So the median, especially a regional figure, skews higher than the average income of District residents.

The current comprehensive plan’s affordable-housing model says that one-third of all new housing unit production must be reserved for those at 80 percent or less of AMI. But D.C. renters with incomes approaching 80 percent of AMI do not have the same dire need for housing assistance as D.C. residents at the lower end of the scale, those with incomes at 0-30 percent and 30-50 percent of the AMI. The absolute numbers of individuals at the lower end of the scale is unknown to housing officials, but thought to be significant. A 2016 D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute Report claimed that the vast majority of households – 89 percent – have incomes below $32,100 for a family of four: 30 percent of the area median.

Nor is it known how vouchers that make low-cost housing available to those with little funds impact affordable housing. Forty percent of existing housing stock is single-family housing, officials said. Advocates called for calculating housing information by ward, not by the immediate neighborhood. Housing advocates at the Empower D.C. meetings also emphasized the lack of precise information on how much affordable housing stock has been produced vs how much affordable housing has been lost.

Eric Sheptock, an affordable-housing advocate, and Melissa Millar, the director of policy and advocacy for Community of Hope, noted that private developers are not required to follow two important housing-fairness laws. The Davis–Bacon Act, a federal law, requires that contractors who receive federal funding pay their workers at least a living wage; and the District’s First Source law requires contractors doing business here must hire a certain number of D.C workers for their projects.

Another important focus at the input meetings was economic development, related to both education and job training as well as increasing job opportunities.

Meeting attendees agreed that to afford housing, people need to be able to get jobs. So-called Supported Training

A May 6 meeting held at Christ United Methodist Church in Southwest D.C. and organized by Empower D.C. to collect resident feedback on the Comprehensive Plan update. | PHOTO BY MARK ROSE in advance of new development projects, especially those in the poorer wards, would be useful.

It was also suggested that “sweat equity” requirements — apprenticeship programs that hire and train workers who would benefit from a housing project to work on that project, could be put into developers’s contracts.

The District successfully implemented a sweat-equity pilot program in 2013. Several attendees noted the logic behind this program model and the return on investment for developers. A person needs a job and a place to live – he or she works with a developer to build a building, moves in, and retains his employment with the developer on additional projects.

People at the meetings focused on the need to attract jobs to wards 7 and 8. Retail and service establishments could be co-located with mixed-income housing.

It was emphasized that affordable housing availability needs to be ensured all across the city. And many participants called for designations of neighborhoods such as “stable” or “emerging” to be removed — placing equal value, expectation and investment on all residential areas.

Of particular significance, meeting participants agreed that re-development of public land, such as vacant parcels or existing District-owned buildings, as well as exercise of eminent domain by the District for abandoned or blighted properties can and should be used for redevelopment into affordable housing. A bill to this effect, the Property Rehabilitation for Affordable Housing Act of 2016, has been introduced by D.C. City Councilmembers Anita Bonds, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, as well as Councilmembers Grosso, Nadeau and Silverman.

Increasing relative densities throughout District neighborhoods to ensure affordable housing availability in each ward for people of various income levels, backgrounds and educational levels, is important, attendees agreed in the compiled meeting notes.

Encouraging development around transit such as Metro allows higher density. Meeting attendees said they want all transit corridors “on the table” for consideration for development. They called for places where “there is the greatest opportunity for infill and growth” not to be singled out because doing so will also further concentrate affordable housing in certain areas.

Moving on, meeting attendees called for recent housing projects with high densities brought into use within the past few years to be reviewed. Sheptock called for particular attention to be paid to how many projects there are and how many are done, as well as how many affordable units each delivers. Also, he called

for monitoring how many acres of the city’s developable land have been given up and how many are remaining.

The current figures troubled participants. Sheptock said 60,000 units renting for $800 or less were available a decade ago. At most, 32,000 of those remain.

That means almost 30,000 affordable units have been lost.

Attendees agreed that the Comprehensive Plan must predict how many projects will be needed. That is a figure that the District government should monitor in assessing its population’s needs, he added. Basically, is available affordable housing keeping pace with residents’ needs?

Developers also need to be pressed about how many affordable units they’re delivering and at what price ranges — compared to what working District residents are actually able to earn.

Sheptock added that U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development governing statute indicates that policy should “affirmatively further(ing) fair housing.”

Significantly, that language makes no mention of clustering housing around Metro stations, as has been done around here for years.

According to the meeting notes, many attendees suggested that D.C. government should re-word zoning language to more clearly define mixed-use development guidelines and allow the flexibility to formally change commercially or industrially-zoned land to residential, or vice-versa.

Housing is a universal human right, meeting attendees agreed, referencing the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Sheptock and others proposed declaring the current situation a “state of emergency” to help expedite permitting, financing, zoning review and other steps in the process.

A number of attendees agreed also that tax incentives alone are not sufficient. Three proposed options for ensuring long-term commitments to affordable housing such as giving out project-based vouchers and providing master leases that would agreeing to house people for less rent by use of tax credits under Schedule H. Rent control is critical and needs to be strengthened, all agreed. All said that the periods of time rent control is in effect needs to be increased. Sixty percent of D.C.’s residents are renters.

Housing discrimination against renters has already been shown to happen, several experts noted in the compiled notes, especially against voucher holders.

The notes also called for a new task force on affordable housing to be put in place that would include representatives and stakeholders from government, advocacy organizations and private citizens.

A neighborhood impact statement for new developments was suggested, which would include transparency on the amount of money a developer is making on the project and how much rent they are charging.

Importantly, a better definition of “affordable housing” was called for. Rather than the regional AMI approach, meeting attendees suggested that a District-specific AMI needs to be calculated to ensure that the prices of housing units here match the incomes of D.C. employees and residents. ■ The next Empower D.C. community input meeting is scheduled for noon on Saturday, June 10 — location to be determined. More information on the plan, the amendment process and how to submit feedback directly is available at https://plandc.dc.gov.

STREET SENSE May 31 - June 13, 2017

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NEWS Council Budget Tweaks to House Homeless People Not Enough to Curb Housing Crisis

By Justine Coleman justine.coleman@streetsense.org The D.C. Council approved a $14.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2018 on May 30, funnelling more dollars to public education and affordable housing initiatives than Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed in April.

Boosting D.C. Public Schools’ budget by $11.5 million and D.C. Public Charter Schools’ by $7.2 million, fiscal year 2018’s budget continues Bowser’s priority to create a budget that allocates the most funding for public education in D.C. history.

D.C. Council will may now slightly adjust the bill and will return for a June 13 legislative meeting to discuss, potentially amend and vote to enact the now-engrossed bill. “ To t h e e x t e n t t h e c o m m i t t e e changes have been made, while they are significant in meeting community and council priorities, they affect a fraction of [Mayor Bowser’s] proposal,” Chairman Phil Mendelson said during the Committee of the Whole Meeting.

Funding for homeless services and prevention programs was extended by almost $12.2 million by the council, which

will provide nearly 600 additional beds and units for families and individuals fighting homelessness, according to the budget.

To allow the D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness to reach its goals for the first year of its strategic plan to help homeless youth, the Council dedicated funding from the Department of Human Services by more than $2 million for 165 more slots and units, according to the budget.

The budget also added $2.2 million more to the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides low-income families with child care, cash and work readiness training assistance, according to the budget. The council’s addition brings total program investment to about $10.3 million for FY2018.

The Council reallocated $3 million originally for the rapid rehousing program, which places recipients in housing with a lease and subsidizes that housing for a limited time while the beneficiary looks for work. Bowser originally proposed 130 rapid rehousing units for families but advocates have recently testified before D.C. Council against the rapid rehousing model’s effectiveness. These arguments are summarized and supported in the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless’

report “Set Up to Fail,” released in early May, which found that 45 percent of families in the program end up in eviction court and only two out of every five participating families are able to maintain their housing when the rapid rehousing subsidy ends. The $3 million will instead fund targeted affordable housing vouchers and permanent supportive housing to put 35 families in stable housing.

Overall, the Department of Human Services saw a decrease of more than $210,000 from Bower’s proposed budget under the Council’s budget.

After the mayor’s budget was released, the Fair Budget Coalition requested more funding to supply housing for 1,303 individuals and 1,296 families, according to a list of priorities from the advocacy group.

The Council added funds for an additional 196 supportive housing options and 138 affordable units for individuals, not including youth, and families, respectively, according to the final budget. The mayor’s proposal already added 202 and 262 of these housing options for individuals and families, respectively.

At-large Councilmember David Grosso expressed his disappointment that the budget did not further support education

and housing programs within the city.

Grosso proposed amendments to limit estate and business tax cuts and provide more services for the poor. His proposals were ultimately declined by the council.

At-large Councilmember Robert White said the tax cuts make up a necessary strategic financial decision to support the programs in the future.

“Building and maintaining these and other social programs requires a strong and balanced economy because when we lose revenue, we are forced to cut these programs,” White said.

Beginning in 2018, the District is expected to have the most progressive tax reform in the nation, according to the budget.

Following the mayor’s budget release, Legal Clinic Attorney Amber Harding estimated an additional $25 million would be needed to effectively invest in housing vouchers and permanent supportive housing services, according to her testimony with the council.

“I think we all agree that D.C. has an affordable housing crisis of massive proportions, and that homelessness is the acute, urgent edge of that crisis,” she said in the testimony. ■

ADAPT Demands Recognition

By Caleb Beverstock Volunteer On May 15, ADAPT, a disability rights organization, gathered its members at the White House to advocate for disability awareness. Hundreds of disabled demonstrators gathered at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to demand recognition from the Trump Administration.

“When he was running for president, Donald Trump promised that under his watch, Americans would not die in the street for lack of care,” said activist Priya Penner.

The organization issued a list of demands for President Trump, which include guaranteeing the same rights that every other American experiences and endorsing the Disability Integration Act, which was introduced by Senator Chuck Schumer in 2015. The act would serve as an addition to the Americans with Disabilities Act. which prohibits discrimination against citizens with disabilities.

“There’s no asterisk on the constitution that says you are too disabled to enjoy life, liberty, and property free of government influence,” said Bruce Darling, an organizer for ADAPT, in a press release. “Yet that’s what people with disabilities experience every day in this country.”

The Disability Integration Act would overturn the institutional bias in Medicaid and community-based services and supports, according to the press release.

ADAPT’s position is that no American president has yet managed to adequately address these concerns of the disability community. ■

TOP-LEFT: Demonstrators gather on 15th Street NW. Photo by Gwynette Smith. BOTTOM-LEFT, RIGHT: Demonstrators gather between White House and Lafayette Park, displaying protest signs. Photos by Roberta Haber.

Remembering Larry Michaels, as He Arrived

By Bryan Gallion Editorial Intern

Larry Michaels thought he would have a brief stay on the street. But a day turned into a week and a week turned into months.

“I was downtown the first day he showed up,” said Steve Thomas in an interview with Street Sense. “He was clean, he was well-spoken and his fiancé had just thrown him out.”

But Michaels started drinking and those

months turned into years.

Lawrence Michaels passed away in November 2016 while living near Pennsylvania Avenue’s Freedom Plaza. He was in his mid-40s.

“Larry was a fun guy,” said Michael Barnett, a member of the downtown homeless community in that area. “He was a sweet man.”

Thomas had witnessed a change in Michaels from the time he first met him after some time living without a permanent home.

“He lost all kinds of weight – everything had just changed,” Thomas said. “He gave up. He just didn’t care.”

A change in someone’s morale is easy to detect when living in the same homeless

c o m m u n i t y, a c c o r d i n g t o T h o m a s .

Michaels’s fiancé was everything to him but he made a fatal mistake that ended the relationship.

“If you deal with the same group of people long enough, you can see when the flame goes out in their eyes,” Thomas said.

Michaels started to experiment with alcohol and drugs, which led to addiction and his downfall, according to Barnett.

“He literally just drank himself to death for the next four or five years,” Thomas said.

Michaels’s struggles on the street are ones Thomas has noticed in others on the street.

“Homelessness breeds complacency.

And a lot of the times, the longer that you’re homeless, the more likely it is that you’re going to give up,” Thomas said.

Barnett will remember Michaels as a “funny dude” who “liked to box.”

While Michaels struggled with homelessness, Thomas said he should be remembered as the clean, well-spoken man he was when he first arrived downtown. ■ This article is part of an ongoing initiative to write obituaries for everyone who dies in the D.C. homeless community.

Learn more at StreetSense.org/obits.

14 Students Graduate New Workforce Readiness Program

By Justine Coleman justine.coleman@streetsense.org Fifteen weeks after joining the AmeriHealth Caritas office and working toward a hospitality certificate, 14 Black American students became the workplace readiness program’s first graduates.

AmeriHealth Caritas, a health care private insurer that manages state Medicaid, hosted the Pathways to Work program along with the Young Women’s Christian Academy to provide working opportunities for financially struggling people at risk of homelessness, according to Karen Dale, the market president and CEO of AmeriHealth.

Three students from the program received jobs at AmeriHealth as care connectors who select intervention programs to help at-risk members. They will earn roughly $40,000 per year. Two two other graduates were hired at The George Washington University Hospital and Unity Health Care. Other graduates have more interviews scheduled, including with AmeriHealth, according to Sonya Anderson, AmeriHealth’s senior human resources business partner.

“I think the accomplishments and the growth that I’ve seen in 15 weeks – that’s amazing,” Anderson said in an interview.

The program leaders singled out graduate Titiana Kelly, 21 — who will work at AmeriHealth as a care connector specializing in rapid response — for her persistence making repeated phone calls

and having many conversations to ensure she was admitted to the program.

“I was just so tired from going from job to job, and I knew this was an amazing opportunity for me,” Kelly said in an interview. “Like, I just couldn't give up on it and miss out on the opportunity that I had.”

Graduate Diamond Bedney, 24, a single mom, got a job as a care connector

specializing in helping pregnant women.

She said she joined the program to get a second chance to obtain employment.

“I’m proud of myself more than maybe I ever was,” she said. “This has not rebuilt me but touched up a lot of my skills that I didn’t know I had.”

Dale, the AmeriHealth market president and CEO, said she created

The first Pathways to Work class graduated on May 22, 2017.

PHOTO BY JUSTINE COLEMAN

the work readiness program to help find solutions for family homelessness and home insecurity within the District. After developing the program in December, she and AmeriHealth immediately started putting it together bringing in participants in January.

“In our city, there’s a lot of opportunity however those with access to it are not always the people who need it most,” Dale said in an interview.

In the program, the participants spent three days a week working in different departments at the AmeriHealth office and attending workshops on work-life balance, financial literacy and computer skills, according to Dale.

The students traveled to the YWCA the other two days, where they took hospitality courses and used a training lab for improving skills such as typing. The program focused on certifying participants in hospitality because of the high number of entry-level jobs offered in a touristcentered city like D.C., Dale said.

Program leaders expect to have another Pathways to Work class begin in September and hope to involve more community partners in the program.

“We are a small piece of giving them a stepping stone to an economic future,” Dale said. “And that to me is huge, not only for them, but for their children and their extended families.” ■

STREET SENSE May 31 - June 13, 2017

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NEWS

The Myth of ‘Stolen’ Jobs

By Ariel Gomez Editorial Intern

An undocumented immigrant family from Guatemala talks to a volunteer after their arrival to Announciation House, an organisation that provides shelter to immigrants and refugees, in El Paso, U.S. January 17, 2017. Picture taken January 17, 2017.

food and shelter. This was the beginning of modern day labor.

This way of life is still often seen today in the Latino immigrant population, especially following the recession in 2008.

“They struggle, they hustle,” said Eva Maria Chavez of the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles, when talking about Latino immigrants. Referring to their ability to find alternative means for income, such as doing day labor.

A study conducted by Castaneda-Tinoco, Jonathan D. Klassen and Curtis Smith found that among Hispanics and Latinos within the homeless community, about 41 percent reported a source of income compared to 17 percent of non-Hispanic and non-Latino homeless individuals. This was partially explained by the prevalence of day laborers and agricultural work among Hispanic and Latino respondents.

“There is a demand for day labor in this country. Very badly paid, but there is a demand. So, immigrants are able to find these jobs typically,” Castaneda-Tinoco said. “It’s not because they are better workers or better people, but there is niche employment for them.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF REUTERS/TOMAS BRAVO

W

e have all heard the statement that immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants, come to this country to take American jobs from the citizenry. But, exactly how true is that statement? What is the reality of the employment landscape when talking about those who live in this country without documentation?

According to Ernesto Castaneda-Tinoco, a professor of sociology at American University, for this issue to be understood one must first look at immigration as a whole and analyze why people initially decide to leave their native home.

“The working class migrants and immigrants come from poor backgrounds, mostly Latino, and work in low paying jobs — typically, if undocumented, under the table in the service industry,” CastanedaTinoco said in an interview. “[Immigrants] are lucky if they make the minimum wage, typically they make much less. Which is a problem when the D.C. metropolitan area is a very expensive place to live.”

The stereotype that immigrants come to take away American jobs or live off the government is simply inaccurate, according to Castaneda-Tinoco.

“Migration from Latin America since the 1960s has been by people, for the most part, that come to work and to do more work,” Castaneda-Tinoco said.

Most Latino immigrants do not use social services, even if they have the right to do so. This is largely due to fear of how accepting benefits could affect attempts to gain citizenship, according to CastanedaTinoco. “Simply put, foreign-born Latinos underuse government resources, not abuse them,” he said.

Day Labor

The Trump Era

According to Castaneda-Tinoco it was believed to be the duty of churches to provide food, shelter and help to those in need. However, with the growth of capitalism and industrialization there was a higher demand for labor and this led to the creation of “Poor Laws,” that made it a crime to be an unemployed, yet able bodied man.

These laws led to the Hobo movement in the United States, which saw people refusing to work and instead traveled across the U.S. trading labor in hours for

However, there have been changes to the employment landscape for Latino immigrants, partially due to the Trump administration. “[Immigrants] will be hidden because they don’t want to be deported,” Chavez said.

But it is not only undocumented immigrants that are more reluctant to disregard the law now with President Donald Trump in the White House, employers too are fearful.

According to Janethe Peña, executive director of D.C. Doors, all job applicants must go through a system known as E-Verify in order to get employment.

This system allows an employer to see if an applicant’s Social Security number matches their name and if they have a valid U.S. work permit.

Without E-Verify clearance, one cannot be legally employed in the United States.

“The rules are not as lax anymore.

Before, during the Obama administration, not everyone was really implementing E-Verify,” Peña said. “But now, with Trump, E-Verify is really happening.

People are getting checked. So it’s becoming very hard to find employment.”

Chavez sees the issue as the increasing barriers put in place in order to be able to secure a job and not that there are not enough jobs for everyone.

“Undocumented immigrants believe in the American Dream, they have this hope that if they work hard they will make it. They also know that it takes time,” Castaneda-Tinoco said. ■

The Latin American Immigrant The majority of documented and undocumented immigrants in the United States and in the D.C. metropolitan area come from Latin American countries, in D.C the majority from El Salvador with around 270,000 recorded in the 2015 census. So, when talking about the employment landscape for immigrants in D.C., it can be assumed that we are discussing the landscape for Latino immigrants in the District.

Anti-deportation demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, December 30, 2015. Detainment and deportation is not unique to the Trump administration. Immigrants and supporters rallied in protest against the Obama administration’s planned series of raids to remove hundreds of undocumented families as early as January in the first such large-scale effort targeting the recent flood of border crossers. PHOTO COURTESY OF REUTERS/CARLOS BARRIA

Culture, Classism & Cash Shape America’s Oral Health

By Bryan Doyle | Photos by Benjamin Burgess Volunteer

I

n 2007, journalist Mary Otto received a tip from a Baltimore-based lawyer at the non-profit Public Justice Center. The lawyer, Laurie Norris, described a low-income mother who was having trouble booking a child’s dental appointment, though under Medicaid, all her children were entitled to dental care.

Otto had no idea this seemingly simple story would ultimately become tragic and inspire her reporting for the next decade, eventually leading to her new book, “Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America.”

The lawyer who gave Otto the tip was working on behalf of Alyce Driver, who had a 12-year-old son, Deamonte, with an infected tooth. Driver had struggled to find dental care for her five children and — in a stunning combination of a lack of information, a frustrating medical bureaucracy and even a brief stint in a homeless shelter for the Driver family — Deamonte’s condition remained untreated for too long. Eventually, the bacteria from his abscess spread to his brain. The child was a patient at Children’s Hospital when Otto met the family and wrote about them for the Washington Post.

It was the last week in February, 2007, and Otto’s story was already filed and ready for publication in the next day’s newspaper when she called Alyce Driver for one final check-in. That was when she learned the awful news. Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver had died.

Otto’s detailed reporting on this tragic situation would help lead to Congressional hearings nationally and the creation of the Deamonte Driver Dental Project mobile clinic in Maryland along with a host of reforms that opened up dental health care

access to the state’s poor. Members of Congress, led by Maryland’s delegation, fought for, and won, a guaranteed dental benefit for children covered by the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) which now covers about 8 million children from working poor families across the country. The book inspired by Deamonte Driver’s story is a comprehensive examination of the lack of dental health access in poor communities and efforts being made to alleviate the suffering.

Long-time Street Sense readers may remember Otto as editor-in-chief of Street Sense from 2008 to 2014. During that time she also pursued a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served as the oral health topic leader for the Association of Healthcare Journalists.

Her new book has received high praise in national publications such as the Atlantic and the New Republic and from leaders across the state of Maryland. One of the book’s admirers is Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-8), who has said that “Mary Otto’s unflinching work on the miserable state of oral health in America gnaws at you like a toothache.”

The book could not come at a more urgent time, as oral health advocates are worried about the efforts underway b y t h e Tr u m p A d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d Congressional conservatives to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and revamp Medicaid, with the future of CHIP and dental benefits at serious risk.

Fresh off a positive review of her book in the New York Times, Otto took the time to speak with Street Sense about her new book and the connection of dental health to poverty.

So much of the Drivers’ predicament had to do with a lack of Medicaid benefits, and disincentives for private practice dentists to treat patients on the Medicaid program. How quickly did it lead to a response from public officials?

It happened pretty quickly, actually.

There was a new governor in Maryland, Martin O’Malley. He was very anxious to confront this problem. The Maryland delegation included Congressmen Elijah Cummings, who squared off with George W. Bush on Medicaid and what should be done with the Children Research Insurance Program. Congressional Democrats wanted a guaranteed dental benefit to be part of CHIP, but President Bush had threatened to veto any expansion of the program.

Deamonte’s story was a defining moment during the battle on the issue.

Why is it so hard to find a dentist who accepts Medicaid in American cities, where one might assume a dentist shortage wouldn’t be so stark?

Medicaid providers may not be taking new patients. Medicaid pays half of what commercial insurance pays. [Dentists] say they’re losing money on these patients, so they either won’t take them at all or will only take a limited amount. If most dentists take this approach, you can see where this is going. There’s an access problem throughout the system: I have talked to Medicaid patients that will drive miles and miles just to find care.

Adults, unlike children, aren’t even entitled to dental health under Medicaid; some states do and some states don’t offer the coverage. Fewer than half of children covered by Medicaid actually receive dental benefits. In some cities and states

they now have the ability to give basic trainings and fluoride at school and senior centers to really increase the amount of preventive care, but that’s not enough.

How has this lack of access to care affected rural areas?

In the book, I describe one particular clinic in rural Western Virginia that had been organized by Remote Area Medical.

They are a nonprofit group who originally provided medical supplies and services to developing nations until the founder of the organization, Stan Brock, realized that there were communities right here in the States that were in dire need of services. So they started airlifting supplies into some of these communities in the very western tip of Virginia: gauze, dental chairs and other medical instrument.

So they’ll put out a call to volunteer practitioners — physicians, doctors, nurses, hygienists, medical students. [The volunteer practitioners] converge on this community for a weekend of care. They provide all kinds of care specialists that can treat people with diabetes, breast exams, physicals. But the line for dental [treatment] is always the longest. One family drove all the way from Florida to get care from [the weekend clinic in rural Western Virginia].

What impacted me the most was just how much pain people were in. Think about the pain you get when you have a bad tooth problem, and imagine having to travel across the country to get care.

People had to sleep in their cars to make sure they got in line. But you never forget the pain they’re in. Hundreds of thousands of teeth are extracted at these events.

The disease is so advanced that it almost always leads to extraction.

One issue that I keep seeing in reading the coverage is how dentistry has become separated from the healthcare industry. How did that happen?

Well, I found out from my reporting that it happened in Baltimore Maryland, about 30 miles away from where Deamonte had lived. Back in the 1840s, the first dental college in the world was founded in Baltimore by two dentists who were selftrained -- which was normal back then because [dentistry] was much more like a trade or a service that could be performed at a local barbershop.

But this was also a time when medicine was becoming much more scientific. [The two self-trained dentists] thought dentistry was worthy of professional status so they went to the University of Maryland College of Medicine to talk about including a program for dentistry but, as the story goes, the skill of dentistry had no interest for [the people at the College of Medicine].

So [dentists] started their own school, and a whole separate profession grew from there -- with a separate educational system, a separate financial system. So you have this chasm between the medical industry and the dentistry industry, and patients have to bridge that gap alone. If you’re poor and don’t have out-of-pocket money, there are real barriers to care.

How has the industry been regulated?

Organized dentistry has guarded the marketplace for dental services very carefully. By protecting their autonomy and authority to provide care in the public practice system, they often find themselves at odds with advocates’ efforts to expand care through alternative workforce models, whether it’s government officials or activists in the public health space.

The dental therapist model is a good example of one of these models that could work. Here you have a mid-level technician with just 2 years of schooling and half the price of a regular dentist, who can meet basic needs in poor communities that don’t

autonomy and professional authority of their profession, which is their right. They do have a lot of expenses: many graduate [with] a quarter million dollars of debt; they buy equipment; they hire staff. They [may] count Medicaid as their overhead, but that doesn’t always work. There are other ways that might be more economical for everyone.

have dentists. They can fill teeth and provide basic extractions. [Dental therapists can provide] a narrow range of badly needed routine services. The idea is maybe this model is reaching people who don’t have access to dentists. [Dental therapists] can meet the needs of Medicaid patients that dentists say they’re losing money on.

They’ve been using this model in tribal communities in Alaska and Washington state, and in Minnesota, but it has yet to catch on at the national level.

Right now, it appears the economy of private practice can’t bridge the gap to the more than 100 million Americans who have barriers to care. Public health officials and leaders have recognized for a while that we need to find a way to expand care to those people. Organized dentistry has pushed back on the idea, saying there are enough dentists around to meet the need. That tension is alive and well today.

So most dentists don’t want to lose money by treating Medicaid patients, but also don’t want dental therapists to be empowered to fill the gap in the market?

Dentists have fought to preserve the

Why has this issue been so underreported?

I think part of it is that for people who have private benefits and enough to pay out of pocket for care and who live in affluent areas where dentists are competing for their business -- they just have no idea of the millions of others who cannot get care. Meanwhile, a third of Americans struggle to get access to care because they are poor and live in underserved areas, or they have minimal public insurance that doesn’t get them far.

This topic can be invisible for some people and a life-changing dilemma for others.

What’s the connection between dental care and poverty? What can be done about this locally?

Well, for one, there’s the lack of care. There are a couple of good places that provide care locally but there’s never enough.

Then there’s the problem that a person can be stigmatized for poor dental health.

WIth a missing tooth, it might be harder to get a job and get out of poverty.

The problem with oral health also affects the vendors at Street Sense. Many are in immense pain from the lack of care. In the book I quote a Street Sense vendor, Aida Basnight, who courageously shared the story of her own struggle with oral disease. She spoke for millions of low income adults who do their best to do their daily work and overcome poverty in spite of that painful burden.” ■

STREET SENSE May 31 - June 13, 2017

9

NEWS

VENDOR Good Health Starts Young

VOICES

By Sheila White Artist/Vendor

The way to develop a healthy lifestyle is prevention from the start.

Parents must teach their children by example.

One basic, key example is getting children to brush their teeth every day, after meals or eating sweets.

This instills the importance of preserving their teeth. By the time they grow up, they will have built good habits to last a lifetime, such as flossing and getting physical check-ups regularly.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DENTAL SOCIETY: Reduced Fee and Free Dental Care www.dcdental.org

Mary's Center for Maternal & Child Care

Howard University College of Dentistry Dental Clinic

So Others Might Eat Dental Clinic

3912 Georgia Avenue, NW 202-545-8023 Monday - Saturday 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. www.MarysCenter.org

600 W Street NW (202) 806-0007 After Hours: (202) 865-6100 Monday – Friday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Wednesday & Thursday 5:30pm – 7 p.m.

60 O Street, NW (202) 797-8806 Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. www.SOME.org

Max Robinson Center

Spanish Catholic Center Dental Clinic

Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center

2301 MLK, JR. Avenue, SE (202) 745-7000 Mondays 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Tuesdays 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Wednesday & Thursday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Friday 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. www.Whitman-Walker.org

1618 Monroe Street, NW Administrative: 202-939-2400 ext. 925 Appointments: 202-939-2400 ext.922 Monday - Wednesday 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Thursday: 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

1st & 3rd Saturday of the month: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. www.CatholicCharitiesDC.org

1701 14th Street, NW Administrative: (202) 797-3500 Appointments: (202) 745-7000 Monday & Thursday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Tuesday & Wednesday 8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Friday 8 a.m. – 12 noon www.Whitman-Walker.org

OPINION

Can You Go Home Again?

By Jeffrey McNeil Some people say: Jeff, the door is open, you’re welcomed back. However, can I heal old resentments? I don't recognize today's Democratic Party. Once upon a time, liberals were tolerant and open-minded; today they have contempt for anyone who rejects their worldview. I love God, but they mock the concept of religious liberty.

Liberals have no respect for those who believe in morality and ethics.

Modern liberalism is a disease of narcissism. It's a perpetual need to have someone feel sorry for you, instead of doing something about your circumstances.

I get it, President Trump triggers you.

He makes you want to sit in a safe space eating chocolate-covered bonbons. You hate the bronze skin and orange hair, his vulgarity makes you become unglued.

Trump’s presidency challenges everything liberals cherish. I hear all this rhetoric about fascism, but what freedoms has Trump taken away? He's trying to make America a winner. Who can be against Making America Great Again?

I want to help you, but l can't align myself with women dressed up as vulvas.

I respect property, not anarchy. If being a Democrat means aligning yourself

with Maxine Waters, Al Green and other liberal nutballs who clamor for Trump’s impeachment, then what you're saying basically is: “Screw you, Constitution and democracy.” Why can't liberals humble themselves and acknowledge what is true: Hillary Clinton lost because she was a terrible candidate.

Trump won because he had a human side. In his own way he acts like an American: We are who we are. The Trump supporter does not care about global enlightenment. I love my guns, God and Constitution. I like frying pork and beef, and I'm not ashamed of being a deplorable. I’m on the side of the farmer, carpenter and miner. I don't regret voting for Trump. He’s not ashamed of being a man; he's what America needs.

Washington is a place where people believe they're entitled, but Trump unnerves them because he doesn't coddle or pamper them.

I once drank from the well of liberalism. When you're a child, it's drummed into you how the white man's getting rich off of your expense. I remember watching Roots, feeling the whips, the blood-curdling screams of our women being raped, the plantation where the evil slave master stands there with his shotgun. All this had an effect: I was

angry, I was ready to overthrow whitey and replace America with a Black utopia similar to Haiti or Grenada.

A funny thing happened on my way to becoming a revolutionary in the struggle for social justice. I joined the military. I had the pleasure of visiting the all-Black countries of Grenada and Dominica. I thought because I was Black I would have some shared camaraderie with my Black brethren. I was disappointed by how undeveloped these countries were, They had dirt roads, no modern plumbing, goats and wild animals roamed the streets.

I was told you enter the village at your own peril, because crime was so rampant.

I was dismayed by how undeveloped and primitive these countries were. I gave up hope for Black nationalism.

I should’ve learned then, about pro-Black, back-to-Africa militancy. What do you do when everyone Black is on the Democratic plantation? During the ‘80s, Black conservatives were rare. The first Black conservative I heard was Dr. Thomas Sowell. I wasn't ready for him because I still had that groupthink mentality.

By the ‘90s, I began to break away from the groupthink mentality. My metamorphosis began with Marion Barry.

I felt he should’ve resigned for the good of Washington, D.C. I didn't like Blacks

defending him for the sake of being Black. Then there was the Rodney King riots: I never understood being so mad at the white man you rob Black-owned businesses and burn your neighborhoods down. Once again I was called a coon, sellout and Uncle Tom. I didn't really break away from liberalism until 2012. I voted for Barack Obama but I didn't see him as a god. I began to change when Blacks refused to look at him objectively. To criticize Obama was tantamount to being a race traitor. I endured Barack Obama, I held on when he bailed out Wall Street, I stood silent when he trampled over religious liberty, but I began to sour when he fought for everyone's rights but the 97 percent of African-Americans who revered him.

Democrats stopped talking about jobs or helping poor people and minorities. It seems that every issue centered around the extreme demands of abortion-rights activists or the LGBTQ community. If you had any objections, no matter how trivial, you were read the riot act and run out of the party. I never thought I would support Donald Trump, but liberals gave me no choice.

everyone around him says cannot possibly be true, but which he maintains anyway, likely due to an inability to accept the simple numerical truth of the popular vote numbers.

His anger, coupled with his ability to perceive a slight from miles away, and his complete inability to pull a punch, leaves most Americans somewhere between perplexed and terrified about our future.

What actions might he take if he feels insulted by another nation, or another nuclear power? I have faith in the fact that he must have a line he isn’t willing to cross, that he wouldn’t kill my family and yours to protect his ego. But the thing is, if we look at his history, we see no evidence that tells us he wouldn’t cross that line.

Simply put, whether it’s a narcissistic

personality disorder or an antisocial personality disorder or something else, the simple fact is that our president may be suffering from a mental illness of some kind. His personality has been called “extreme” for decades, but few have been willing to call him ill — probably because his reaction would be to use every ounce of his wealth and power to destroy anyone who opposes him, burning villages and salting the earth in his wake.

But he works for us now, and I think it’s time we took a look under the hood.

And if I’m right, we need to do what the NRA and Trump himself said we should: remove his ability to become the biggest mass shooter in human history.

Jeffrey McNeil is a vendor and frequent contributor to Street Sense.

Nukes and Narcissism

By Brett Pransky On June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof walked into a church carrying a gun, killed nine people, and injured a tenth. The shooting was an act of terrorism, an act of racial hatred, and a national tragedy. And according to most on the right, it was avoidable. Even our new president seemed to acknowledge this just after Virginia reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were gunned down on camera in 2015: “This isn’t a gun problem,” he said. “[I]t’s a mental problem.”

Many Americans agree with the president. A 2015 ABC News poll claims that 63 percent of Americans believe that mass shootings are not a gun issue, but a mental health problem. The NRA has strongly pushed this narrative, with Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre arguing after the Navy Yard shooting in 2013, “We have a mental health system in this country that has completely and totally collapsed. We have no national database of these lunatics.”

So let’s take the president at his word, and the NRA at theirs. Let’s “go after people with serious mental illness,” as Senator Ted Cruz suggested during his primary campaign. If mental illness is the

real culprit here, we need to root it out and remove the danger.

But if everyone seems to agree that those suffering from significant mental illnesses should be barred from access to guns, what about tanks?

Combat aircraft? Cruise missiles?

Intercontinental ballistic missiles? The ability to end life on planet Earth?

Questioning our new president’s mental state is nothing new. And while his followers once explained away the unbalanced things he said and did as the despicable “locker room talk” of the campaign trail, even his most ardent supporters expected the Oval Office to be a sobering influence. Even they must be disappointed as the lies, tantrums and conspiracy theories just keep pouring out each day.

His obsession with even minor criticism, his lack of empathy and his rage have been on display from the start.

He has consistently lashed out at anyone who dares question him — calling for violence at his rallies, attacking the press at every opportunity and rage-tweeting at 3 a.m. Most recently, he has called for an investigation into what he believes are 3 to 5 million cases of voter fraud during the election, a claim that literally

Brett Pransky contributes writing to StreetSpeech in Columbus, Ohio.

Have an opinion about how homelessness is being handled in our community? Street Sense maintains an open submission policy and prides itself as a newspaper that elevates community voices and fosters healthy debate. Send your thoughts to opinion@streetsense.org.

STREET SENSE May 31 - June 13, 2017

1#1

OPINION

Solutions to the Homeless-Industrial Complex

By Eric Jonathan Sheptock Since 2006, I have been one of several committed but unpaid homeless advocates in Washington, D.C. We all come out of pocket in order to attend various meetings that are put on by government and the nonprofits and to do outreach to other homeless people. The city's Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) has said that it values the input of the advocates.

We’ve asked them to pay us.

The ICH has yet to move on the draft document it drew up in the summer of 2014 in which it itemized a $12,200 budget that was meant to support 14 advocates who’ve experienced homelessness, so as to request funding from the D.C. Council. Go figure. Maybe the publication of 2017 count results revealing that D.C. had 9,000+ homeless people in January will cause this body, which hasn’t yet considered the reasons why the city’s 2004 ten-year plan failed (in 2004, we had 8,253 homeless people), to reconsider now how it might support and increase input from the advocates.

After all, the ten-year plan has had a 110 percent failure rate 13 years in, thanks to many well-paid professionals who are now 1.5 years into the five-year plan called

“Homeward DC” (D.C. having counted 7,298 homeless people in 2015, when it was adopted).

No worries. At least one professional from the non-profit community actually does value input from the homeless -Monsignor John “Father John” Enzler, CEO of Catholic Charities D.C. He has actually begun to pay me a decent-sized consulting stipend so that I can assist him at designing a better system for serving D.C.’s homeless community. I’m all in and began working on my plan mere hours after our meeting. If all goes well, as I trust it will, there may be opportunities for other advocates and social workers to become part of a system of real solutions that actually decrease homelessness consistently and permanently.

Over the past several months, I’ve stated different ideas of mine to a certain social worker I know who’s been in the field for 30 years — only to have her tell me that those ideas are tried and true, though D.C. Government refuses to fund them. One such idea is that of offering transit cards to the more difficult clients so that they’ll make regular visits to the social/caseworker’s office. Another is putting all of the social service information that a homeless job

All Kinds of People

solutions. Together we’ll figure out ways to improve the system that is supposed to get them out of homelessness -- new ideas that do more than just warehouse homeless people and which might even be presented to some non-governmental funders. However, I’m not under any illusion that the donors will fund a 13-year, 110 percent failure. I’m therefore incentivized to develop a set of ideas that actually work.

S o , w h e n t h e c i t y ’s h o m e l e s s people see me walking around with my notebook in hand, they will know that I’m there to hear their ideas and concerns; because someone took the time to hear me. Together we, the homeless, will accomplish with a relatively small amount of financing what many well-paid professionals have not been able to accomplish for so long with literally billions of dollars: a consistent decrease in the number of homeless Washingtonians.

Eric Jonathan Sheptock is an advocate for the homeless.

Kalorama Dental Arts Dr. Habib S. Mitri

By Reginald Black When selling Street Sense you encounter all kinds of people. Most of them are on their way to somewhere, to do something.

Most people just pass by. As a vendor of information, I sometimes have interaction with security guards. For the most part, many of the guards appreciate that I am making positive use of space and time.

Every so often, though, I find myself in battle with them about public vs. private space. On one occasion, I was told I could not sell the paper on a street near the White House. I showed the guard my badge and told him Street Sense has agreements with the Metropolitan Police Department agreeing to that arrangement. He insisted that because this was “Obama’s block” I couldn’t distribute the paper there. I did everything I was supposed to, but still had to move along.

We all have faced discrimination, but for those who are impoverished it makes the situation worse. D.C. has the ability to be a model of a human rights city. But every day many discriminative actions take place against those impoverished citizens. Let’s hope that through time many voices here at Street Sense we can

seeker needs in one place -- from transit assistance for the job search and enough to tide them over to their first paycheck all the way to helping them find a rental that they can now pay for.

I’ll soon ask her what she thinks of the idea of taking three-years’ worth of the $10,000+ dollars that D.C. spends annually maintaining a single, non-disabled homeless person as well as the $4,000 that the Department Of Employment Services spends annually on a D.C. job seeker and using it to pay for a year’s worth of rent, job training and other services -- so long as the individual can be sure not to need such services for at least two years thereafter.

Because of this new opportunity, I’m recollecting my many thoughts and ideas which have hereto now seemed to fall on deaf ears, for the most part, and will put them to work finally. I’ll go so far as to review statements that homeless people made in 2006 concerning their struggles obtaining employment and housing -statements that were gathered during the four inaugural meetings of the ICH. As part of this new effort, I’ll find ten high-functioning homeless people so as to gather input about their struggles exiting homelessness and to follow their situations through a series of experimental

reach those in power and implement ways to combat and eventually end poverty.

Reginald Black is a Street Sense vendor.

2100 Connecticut Ave NW # 100 Washington, DC 20008 (202) 387-2313

The Street Sense Writers’ Group is led by writing professionals and meets every Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. The group’s goal is to develop ideas and collaborate on the next great issue of Street Sense.

Back to Living The Beauitfull Game

By Chon Gotti, Artist/Vendor The problem with most people today is that most people have forgotten how to live. For them, being negative is the norm.

Wow! What must we do to save the life that God has given us?

Well hello we must change our focus if we want to win in this beautiful game of life. The very first thing we must do to win is change the rules of the game.

Estranged No More

Mom’s Birthday

By Elizabeth Bryant Artist/Vendor

I’m so excited! My daughter and I talked for the first time in two years.

There were no arguments and I have to accept that I used to start most of those.

We ran into each other at the bus stop.

We just communicated and respected one another. I was so excited that I almost couldn’t stop talking. She took my number and said that all she wanted was for her mother to be in her life.

By Ken Martin Artist/Vendor

I just need to trust that God and the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ are in control, not me. I have to start praying right away that I don’t get back in the driver’s seat.

I just take one minute at a time and I pray that I don’t mess it up! I can’t stop putting in all the hard work that I have been in order to be a better person.

I’ll be here. I’m waiting for the call.

How We Define Being “Poor”

By Barron Hall, Artist/Vendor Lack of money doesn't necessarily ma k e o n e p o o r.

Some of us are poor because of the way we have lost our love and fear of God. We are a people who — when we were captured and brought here — lost everything.

We lost our whole culture because the so-called Christian slave owner, in order

to be master over us, had to make sure all we knew was what he allowed us to know. Thus, our culture, our way of life, had to be about him. He stole everything we had and knew about ourselves. Except our physical being. And in some instances, he cut us off from that too Whatever you sow you shall reap. So our God is a loving God, but he is also a just God. He watches in judgment and the word of God says the poor and orphans will get their just inheritance.

Thank you, Street Sense.

Metro Clean-up

By Philip Black a.k.a. “The Cat in the Hat,” Artist/Vendor Metro needs to do a better job keeping the rail cars and the platform clean.

On Friday, May 19, during the morning rush, there were two mice running up and down inside the train. In a car full of people there were two mice playing

tag. There was paper all over the floor, water bottles on the platform, plus again, we have someone eating on the platform, which that $150 fine I received for eating pizza says is against the law.

But you had to see it to believe it.

And to top it all off, police are drinking Starbucks coffee and eating muffins while on duty on the platform.

Metro needs to hire more people to help keep the system clean.

It is her day. No, not Mother’s Day. My mother’s day!

Born May 17, 1922, Vernice E. Martin officially became a mother on May 15, 1941. Ironically the very reason she began to celebrate her motherhood was what made it years later virtually impossible to enjoy.

As a small child, M o t h e r ’s D a y w a s a big deal because she was a mom and her mother — lovingly known as Gram — lived with us.

That meant we hosted visiting aunts, uncles and cousins bearing food, drinks, gifts, and toys for the children, at our house all day long! Then the worst occured.

My mother’s eldest child, my older brother and best friend Donald died unnecessarily in the process of joining the United States Army.

Donald hadn’t even been sworn in yet — which meant for Mom, there would be no financial compensation.

Uncle Sam felt a plot in Arlington Cemetary, a 21 gun salute and a folded flag would be adequate compensation for her, and the mothers of 98 other recruits in the fatalities of the November 1961 plane crash.

More irony: the pilot and co-pilot — the only two that had been sworn in — had parachutes, walked away and lived to talk about it.

Had they died, their moms would have at least been spared the fright. You see, the surviving mothers had to file a collective class action suit to get Uncle Sam to pay damages.

A whopping $10,000! I guess in 1962 that was a lot of money for the lives of 99 young adult males, 18 to 26 years old, willing to serve and fight for the good old US of A. The same country that used “they hadn’t been sworn in” as a loophole.

Mom was a feisty warrior. Although a

lot of her fight was knocked out of her with that one, she was still a tough bird!

Nevertheless the big celebration week of Mother’s Day, Donald’s birthday and my mom’s day was gone. We went from Family Fest to ice cream, to cake and tears. She would never be the same.

Don’t cry for her though. Mom kept on living, but without quite as much gusto.

She maintained membership in two social clubs and a bowling league. My mother battled tuberculosis at a time when the afflicted were isolated from the public and committed to sanitariums.

My mother was institutionalized for 16 months, but she won a victory against TB. Back then, you were quarantined in what they then called a sanitarium. She was away for 16 months, but she won!

Mom watched us grow into adulthood (but not necessarily maturity). She worked for social change at Common Cause under founder John Gardner, former Health, Education and Welfare Secretary under President Johnson.

My mother’s example inspired my sister to work for ACTION.org and me to join AmeriCorps VISTA. Mom,had heart disease, as do I.But nothing stopped her, and once she had a heart attack on a Tuesday and bowled 270 twenty-four hours later. But that’s Mom! She left us August 2, 1984. My dad, David Martin lasted exactly two weeks after Mom’s passing.

I’m very proud to be her youngest, even though mom once jovially commented that, as one of the last born there, I’m one of the reasons they decided to close and tear down Garfield Hospital.

I know that the tenacity, wit, charm, and love for our fellow man that brother Donald frequently displayed in his brief life — which I have been accused of once or twice — came from the girl born in Anacostia 95 years ago today.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

STREET SENSE May 31 - June 13, 2017

Let's Make America 'Not' Hate Again

Street Sense Vendor James Davis meets with the legislative assistant for Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), advocating for homeless rights on behalf of the National Coalition for the Homeless. | PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMES DAVIS

By James Davis Artist/Vendor In the late 90's a person sleeping on the banks of the Ohio River, in a sleeping bag, was pushed and rolled into the river and left to die.

A group of teenagers armed with baseball bats proceeded to beat — nearly

to death — the person they had rolled into the river.

A series of videos called Bumfights featured homeless people committing heinous acts of violence, drinking urine, diving into a pool to retrieve drugs and nearly drowning. Fake News?! I say not!

Hate crimes against the homeless have risen significantly since 2013

ART

with over 199 violent attacks in 2014 and 2015 alone, according to the most recent survey conducted by the National Coalition for the Homeless. Some of these attacks resulted in deaths. In fact, since then, more people have died as a result of being homeless than all of the other protected classes combined (race, religion, gender identity, etc).

The late Michael Stoops spearheaded NCH’s effort to introduce legislation placing homeless people in a protected class.

Over the past 15 years, NCH found 1,437 violent hate crimes committed against homeless people, including 375 victims who were murdered. Perpetrators tended to be males under 30 years old, with victims being generally middle-aged men.

This is unacceptable in a modern society. Join NCH and I, as a member of their speakers’ bureau, in getting hate crimes, such as these, made part of the protected class.

I ask my customers and all Street Sense supporters to continue to mail their read or unread copies of the paper to the White House. Thank you very much.

CANTOS FOR THE SINGERS

Sweet Lover

By Frederic John Artist/Vendor

By Patty Smith Artist/Vendor

Endurance, represented by th'eternal song.

But existence, always in this plane, too brief!

Consider the Purple One, A Prince among the tribes, His parabolic arc Knocked us out' da Paisley Parc!

Do not mourn for him- the Museum has his peacock Guitar; His soul has launched very ever Far!

Sweet lover, please understand When the darkness comes All in the streets.

The man in the cab knows When down the street we go I’ll be holding your hand And watching every step you make

James, endlessly flinging back the gilded CapeLeaping one leg to the other, For his mighty energies, Never a bother.

The building’s high Towering to the sky Birds swing up in the sky Looking down at us They know of my love for you So you see, I can’t do without you

Michael, we hardly knew ye, Building joy through your endless energies!

Your high notes carried our synergies Above and beyond any petty Tragedies.

Let us look back to the year 'Thirteen, The loss of a grand ancestor was felt quite keen'— Bobby Blue Bland resounded his tales of love and woe, Oh so sweetly throughout the land.

Even a hillbilly Elvis by his own hand Emulated your process hairstyle to "Grace" his 'Blackish' voice and crooked smile.

Now we hear of Cuba Senior's loss, For fluid tenor balladry; He was the boss. A 'Main Ingredient,' We like to say, who was the acme To the finest Music which raised our spirit Back in "The Day!" So let us not falsely grieve and moan, For these giants now live in a hate free zone!

13

Have you ever asked yourself how certain things exist? For example, a i r. Yo u can’t see it but it is there. The wind: You can feel it but you don’t see it. Who gives man the capability to design

(Oh What A Nightmare)

By Ronald Dudley a.k.a.”Pookanu” Artist/Vendor She had eyes that sparkled Dimples with short curly hair Five kids at 23 No one really cared Mother very religious Father was never around To teach his baby girl That life is full of ups and downs She had her cycle at nine And to the world she was Oh so fine A grown up body On a baby’s mind Her step brother’s blind to the fact That that’s his sister he’s watchin’ And with no one there to stop him He’s been seein’ her blossom When she close her eyes at night You the reason she dream When she scared to go to sleep You the reason she scream “Mommy help me!

Daddy save me!

‘Cause it hurts and it bleeds When he rape me!”

Come to me and never leave me I need you always to be with me See the nightness come We hustle together In the night Then we go to our peaceful place That place we call home Just love each other Forever and forever.

Why I Believe

By Leonard Hyater Artist/Vendor

Suicidal Thought 2

and build entire cities?

The next question becomes, do you believe in a higher power?

Have you ever questioned why you are here on Earth?. I believe I am here for a reason. And believing in God, whether readers agree or disagree with my faith, gives me peace of mind and a will to live and serve Him. I am not trying to offend anyone but I simply felt compelled to write this for the last four weeks.I know He is real. One more question: Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Oh what a nightmare Baby I know you scared All you need is a hug And someone who really cares Don’t cry Just take my hand I’ll be their when you call To catch your tears before they fall ‘Cause you done been through it all.

sudoku!

The Importance of Having a Social Life COUTESY OF KRAYDAD.COM

By Jackie Turner Artist/Vendor From birth, people are told that they must learn to get along.

Babies growing into children must learn the importance of playing fair and develop the skills to follow the rules in games.

Children growing into pre-teens must learn

the skills to determine what is playful and what is not a game.

Teens growing into young adults must try to apply these skills in life and business.

And adults growing into seniors learn what it means to live a healthy and productive life, outside of business and pleasure.

And hopefully at some time in your life, with all of these experiences, you will realize that we are all social beings.

Broken Hand, Broken Collar

By Moyo Onibuje, Artist/Vendor

last edition’s solutions

Tragedies happen for a reason.

Early in April, I slipped in the bathroom, dislocated my middle finger and damaged other fingers. I was worried about this, as an artist in a family of artists. I feared it might damage my work.

My relatives are known as artists. Fela Kuti, with whom I stayed for three years travelling in Africa and Europe, was a great artist. And his son, Femi Kuti, is known as Africa’s most famous musician. I am a trumpet player myself, as well as a keyboardist.

I primarily see myself as an advocate, however. I mention this because when I went to Washington Hospital Center after my hand

accident, things didn’t look good. After an X-ray, the doctor put my finger in a splint. But, a week or so later, after I removed the splint, the finger still looked bent.

And then I incurred a further injury!

I had heard that vouchers were being distributed by the Housing Department, and that those in need of such documents were gathering at a government building at in Judiciary Square, partially to be protected from bad weather conditions while awaiting the vouchers.

I tried to climb the back of this building to the first floor, but fell — injuring my collarbone, actually breaking the clavicle. I didn’t go to the hospital immediately, but when I did, I was treated for the collar break and also had my dislocated finger re-bandaged.

I was just trying to get some help. Now I need to be wary of why I’m in a cycle of tragedies.

STREET SENSE May 31 - June 13, 2017

15

COMMUNITY SERVICES Housing/Shelter

Food

Clothing

Showers

Case Management

Health Care

Transportation

Laundry

Education

Employment Assistance

Legal Assistance

Vivienda/alojamiento Coordinación de Servicios Educación

Comida Seguro

Assitencia con Empleo

Academy of Hope Public Charter School: 269-6623 | 601 Edgewood St, NE aohdc.org

Bread for the City: 265-2400 (NW) | 561-8587 (SE) 1525 7th St, NW | 1640 Good Hope Rd, SE breadforthecity.org

Ropa

Transportación

Covenant House Washington: 610-9600 2001 Mississippi Avenue, SE covenanthousedc.org

Línea directa de alojamiento YOUTH HOTLINE: (202) 547-7777

Duchas

Lavandería

Línea de juventud

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE: (202) 749-8000 Línea directa de Violencia doméstica

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOTLINE: 1-888-793-4357

Assistencia Legal

Community of Hope: 232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

SHELTER HOTLINE: (202) 399-7093

Línea de Salud del Comportamiento Jubilee Jobs: 667-8970 2712 Ontario Rd NW | 2419 Minnesota Ave SE jubileejobs.org

Samaritan Ministry: 1516 Hamilton Street NW | 722-2280 1345 U Street SE | 889-7702 samaritanministry.org

Loaves & Fishes: 232-0900 1525 Newton St. NW loavesandfishesdc.org

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

Calvary Women’s Services: 678-2341 1217 Good Hope Road, SE calvaryservices.org

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

Martha’s Table: 328-6608 2114 14th St, NW marthastable.org

Catholic Charities: 772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

Father McKenna Center: 842-1112 19 Eye St, NW fathermckennacenter.org

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

St. Luke’s Mission Center: 333-4949 3655 Calvert St. NW stlukesmissioncenter.org

Food and Friends: 269-2277 219 Riggs Rd, NE foodandfriends.org

My Sister’s Place: 529-5991 (24-hour hotline) mysistersplacedc.org

Thrive DC: 737-9311 1525 Newton St, NW thrivedc.org

Foundry Methodist Church: 332-4010 1500 16th St, NW foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities

N Street Village: 939-2060 1333 N Street, NW nstreetvillage.org

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

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

New York Ave Shelter: 832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave, NE

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

Central Union Mission: 745-7118 65 Massachusetts Avenue, NW missiondc.org

Charlie’s Place: 232-3066 1830 Connecticut Ave, NW charliesplacedc.org

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

Church of the Pilgrims: 387-6612 2201 P St, NW churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach food (1 - 1:30 on Sundays only) Community Family Life Services: 347-0511 | 305 E St, NW cflsdc.org

Vagrancy Comics #5: Pre-Existing Conditions

By Justin Benedict Former Vendor

Georgetown Ministry Center: 338-8301 1041 Wisconsin Ave, NW georgetownministrycenter.org Jobs Have Priority: 544-9128 425 Snd St, NW jobshavepriority.org

Patricia Handy Place for Women: 810 5th Street, NW, NW | 733-5378 Samaritan Inns: 667-8831 2523 14th St, NW samaritaninns.org

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

The Welcome Table: 347-2635 1317 G St, NW epiphanydc.org/thewelcometable Whitman-Walker Health 1701 14th St, NW | 745-7000 2301 MLK Jr. Ave, SE | 797-3567 whitman-walker.org

What Has Street Sense Done For You?

My Experiences with Homelessness

By Vennie Hill Bracey, Artist/Vendor

I

know what Street Sense has done for me. I can still remember the times I was sleeping in bus stops. Riding the trains until they came to an end and then riding them back again, so I could get some sleep. Sleeping in abandoned houses, while my husband stayed awake just to watch out for me. Being hungry sometimes or wanting to take a bath with no facilities available.

O n e d a y, w h i l e I w a s panhandling in front of a corner store, a guy walked up to me and said, “If you can do that, then you sure can do this.” He gave me the card for Street Sense.

It wasn’t easy. I went from sleeping in abandoned houses to motels, renting rooms, and finally an efficiency studio apartment. Now my husband and I have a one bedroom that we share with two cats — and we adore it.

Without the help of Street Sense, I don’t know where I’d be today. I left Street Sense because I

thought I could make it on my own. I am drug-free and haven’t been locked up in years. My husband found a job.

But when things get tight, having somewhere like Street Sense to go back to is great. This is Vennie and I am back to further my financial independence! Welcome me back because, for real, I’m glad to be back. I didn’t think I’d return to selling papers but I realize you need help, whether it’s one foot in or out.

We’re just a little bit behind. And I look forward to being a whole lot in front. Selling Street Sense is my job, I love doing it and I work very hard at it.

We at the paper appreciate the public for participating in purchasing the paper. To help us is to love us, as vendors, writers and other artists.

May God bless you and all of us.

We enjoy and hope to see you soon!

Living Outside

By Joe Jackson, Artist/Vendor

T

rying to find a secluded place and keep people out. That was hard at first, walking all night with nowhere to go. I started to think about how I got put out of the shelter.

Then I remembered that I got stabbed in front of it. Crying tears in my heart: what did I do to deserve this?

Screaming at night, walking down by the Potomac talking to myself, not knowing what to do.

This is around people I thought were my friends. But they laugh at me at night because they found out I was sleeping in the stairway of the building. They talked about me. So I stopped coming around them — it hurt me to hear that. At the time, my

mother was on crack cocaine. So I really went through something right there.

At night time I walked down by the water a lot thinking about how I can't get a job. No training, no career — so who will hire me? No one.

Then I talked to Mr. Paul. He owns the liquor store near Channel 5. There's a garage in back of the store. So I stay there in the back of that place in the rain, the sleet, and the snow.

Right now it is really hot in there. But I am staying strong and staying clean.

By Emily Bowe Artist/Vendor

I

was homeless off and on for over 18 years. When I was growing up in Arkansas, life was heavenly to me — even though it was the 50s. They didn't have cotton-pickers and chemicals to remove weeds from garden farms. So when we worked the fields in the summer, we had to do it by hand.

In the fall, the state would suspend school at the end of October so cotton could be picked. To me, it was fun. Well, except for the stinging worm or snake that came around once in awhile. When my cotton sack started to feel a little heavy, I would stretch out and rest on it. The cotton in that sack was very comfortable.

What I am trying to say here is that life was heavenly to me even though it might have seemed just the opposite to someone else.

During junior and senior high was a lovely time for me. Anything I wanted, I manifested. For example: In ninth grade I joined the band.

However, I was late getting to practice and most of instruments were gone when I got there. The only one I could get was a trombone. It was the best of choices and the worst.

I really wanted to play the flute. It had already been chosen, so no luck for me! I needed something easier to do. One day I looked out the band room window and saw one of my classmates practicing. He was the drum major: I decided that was the job for me, he could handle this trombone better than I could!

I decided to walk up to the band director's desk and make this proposition: I wanted to be the drum majorette. He quickly agreed. From that day on, I knew I could bring into my life whatever I wanted.

Then there came a turn in my life when I was about 32.

Relationships, anger, frustration and other pressures entered my life. I became like some other person. I lost my ability to manifest.

The worries of life shifted my view and I started looking at life through a different window. I was now in a shelter and remained there for many years to come. I even worked at the shelter for a time.

Then, at some point, it occurred to me that I should be working on myself. In May 2013 I was staying in my cube, on my bed, and began seeing myself going into an apartment with a key; I would say this over and over again, with easy certainty and without strain or apprehension.

I moved out of the shelter 10 months later into my own apartment. I have been here for 3 years.

May 31 - June 13 • Volume 14 • Issue 15

Street Sense Community Forum on

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June 3rd from 1-3 PM at 1317 G St. NW, 20005 Learn from, and ask questions of, a panel of experts.