07 23 2008 by Street Sense Media

Student overcomes homelessness, gets into art school, page 3

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Where the Washington area's poor and homeless earn and give their two cents July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008 • Volume 5, Issue 19

Activism

Organizing Ourselves By Eric Sheptock

See

Organizing, page 12

Number of District Homeless Increases By Mary Otto The homeless population of the District has increased since last year according to the findings of an eighth annual survey, compiled for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. The count found 6,044 homeless people living in District streets

and emergency and transitional shelters, a 5% rise over last year. But some involved in the effort say the numbers do not fully reflect the size and complexity of the District’s homeless population. They are calling for more dedicated efforts to better document the homeless and their needs. The recently released figures

were gathered Jan. 24 by service providers and volunteers who canvassed shelters, meal centers, transitional and supportive housing programs and outdoor campsites. However, a shortage of volunteers to help conduct the survey this year left many homeless people undocumented, said Mary

Ann Luby, of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. “Southeast wasn’t counted,” she said. “We need to do something far more organized involving park police, fire, and Metro. We need to engage the universities.” The annual enumeration is

See

Number, page 4

D.C. Child Protective Agency in Crisis Cases Backlogged, Director Resigns By Robert Blair

Photo by Lee davis/Street Sense

Many are they who could tell you of just how disenfranchised the homeless often feel. They frequently receive promises from politicians, especially during election season. All too often those promises are broken. Even the cabinet members that are appointed by elected officials tend to make and break promises. Then there is the shelter staff to deal with. Some have a genuine concern for the people that are placed under their care. Others couldn’t care less about their homeless clients. Then again, there are the homeless advocates who care but have limited resources and influence. All in all, the homeless have good reason to feel disenfranchised and to assume that there is no way out of their predicament. I was a facilitator at a meeting which was held at One Judiciary Square on Dec. 9, 2006, by members of Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty’s transition team. The purpose of the meeting was to gather the concerns of the homeless community and take them to Mayor-elect Fenty. More than 80 homeless people showed up. The 15 people in my group were rattling off their concerns so quickly that I had measurable difficulty writing them all down. I also have comments from multiple Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) hearings in my e-mail account. (I’m always glad to send them out upon request.) Nonetheless, at the ICH meeting on June 12 of this year, I heard complaints from the homeless community that are identical to those mentioned in 2006 and 2007. These comments have yet to be addressed. The homeless have come out in force and spoken up for themselves. They’ve waited patiently for the DC government to act on their behalf. They’re still waiting. It’s h i g h t i m e t h e y m ov e d

www.streetsense.org

Trying to bring energy prices down

A handful of demonstrators carry signs at a “Stop the War on the Poor” rally on Capitol Hill last week. The protest was organized by Americans for American Energy, a group that supports drilling for oil in offshore areas as well as in Alaska. Many of the 15 speakers, including Harry Jackson, senior pastor of the Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., emphasized their view that domestic drilling will help the poor by bringing energy prices down.

Inside This Issue FICTION

Hypothermia Be careful which van you get a ride from, page 10

At an oversight hearing, called in response to the death of a sixmonth-old boy, officials heard that the District’s Child and Family Services Agency is in crisis and is unable to deal with an increased volume of child welfare investigations by its Child Protective Services (CPS) division. The hearing was called by Tommy Wells, chairman of the City Council Committee on Human Services, following the June 25 death of six-month-old Isiah Garcia. Garcia had been the subject of a child neglect report to the CFSA three months earlier. That report came while the child’s mother, Morgan Herrera El, and her four young children, were staying at a shelter for abused women in D.C. Testifying was Judith Meltzer, deputy director of the Center for the Study of Social Policy, who also serves as a court-appointed monitor for the CFSA. She spoke of roughly 2,000 non-completed

CPS neglect and abuse investigations and called upon the City Administrator and CFSA director “to acknowledge the emergency and immediately activate emergency measures.” Unless bold steps are taken now to reverse patterns of operation that have proved ineffective,” Meltzer cautioned, “my experience suggests that the problems will grow rather than decrease.” In January of 2008, national publicity from the Banita Jacks case, in which four young sisters were found dead and their mother was arrested for their murders, resulted in a huge increase in hotline calls to CFSA and new open investigations. The agency came under attack when it was found to have prematurely closed its investigation of Jacks’ children’s situation. Six social workers were fired in the aftermath. The subsequent death of Isiah Garcia in June came in the wake of CFSA’s revised standards on investigations – reforms that

See

Child, page 4

EDITORIAL

POETRY

NEWS

Street Sense vendor Jeffery McNeil talks about how he got started as a Street Sense vendor, page 12

A powerful poem by Anthony and Tyrone, page 9

Hiding the homeless, cracking down on stolen recyclables and other news briefs from around the U.S., page 6

Homeless, Not Helpless

Five Little Kids in the Struggle

In Other News

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

ALL ABOUT US

Our Mission

1317 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20005 Phone: (202) 347-2006 Fax: (202) 347-2166 info@streetsense.org www.streetsense.org BOARD OF DIRECTORS James Davis Robert Egger Ted Henson Barbara Kagan Brad Scriber John Snellgrove Michael Stoops Francine Triplett David Walker Kathy Whelpley EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Laura Thompson Osuri EDITOR IN CHIEF Mary Otto VENDOR MANAGER Rita Renee Brunson ASSOCIATE EDITOR David S. Hammond (volunteer) INTERNS Joe McKnight, Craig Downs VOLUNTEERS Matt Allee, Robert Basler, Robert Blair, Jane Cave, Jason Corum, Rebecca Curry, Rick Dahnke, Jessica Gaitan, Joshua Gardner, Genevieve Gill, Cassandra Good, Joanne Goodwin, Roberta Haber, Carol Hannaford, Justin Herman, Annie Hill, Dan Horner, Phillip Hoying, Aimee Hyzy, Alicia Jones, Mary Lynn Jones, Maurice King, Geof Koss, Jessica LaGarde, Jeff Lambert, Karin Lee, Matthew S. Lee, Brenda K. Lee-Wilson, Claire Markgraf, Sam McCormally, Kent Mitchell, Kim O’Connor, Robert Orifici, Swinitha Osuri, Katherine Otto, Brittany Pope, Derek Culver Schlickeisen, Cara Schmidt, Jamie Schuman, Dan Seligson, Eric Sheptock, Katie Smith, Romney Smith, Kathryn Taylor, Matthew Taylor, Robert Trautman, Eugene Versluysen, Jerry W., Linda Wang, Denise Wilkins, Marian Wiseman, Corrine Yu VENDORS Willie Alexander, Michael Anderson, Katrina Angie, Jake Ashford, Lawrence Autry, Tommy Bennett, Corey Bridges, Bobby Buggs, Conrad Cheek Jr., Walter Crawley, Louise Davenport, James Davis, Bernard Dean, Muriel Dixon, Alvin Dixon El, Barron Hall, David Harris, John Harrison, Patricia Henry, Phillip Howard, Jo Ann Jackson, Michael Jefferson, Patricia Jefferson, Jewell Johnson, Allen Jones, Mark Jones, Brenda Karyl Lee-Wilson, Charles Mayfield, Lee Mayse, Jennifer Mclaughlin, Jeffery McNeil, L. Morrow, Charles Nelson, Moyo Onibuje, Therese Onyemenon, Thomas Queen, Kevin Robinson, Ed Ross, Dennis Rutledge, Gerald Smith, Patty Smith, James Stewart, Gary Stoddard, Archie Thomas, Ingrid Thomas, Francine Triplett, Carl Turner, Jerry W., Martin Walker, Mary Wanyama, Lawless Watson, Inell Wilson, Ivory Wilson, Tina Wright

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

Our Editorial Policy

Editorials and features in Street Sense reflect the perspectives of the authors. We invite the submission of news, opinion, fiction and poetry, hoping to create a means in which a multitude of perspectives on poverty and homelessness can find expression. Street Sense reserves the right to edit any material.

North American Street Newspaper Association

The Story of Street Sense Street Sense began in August 2003 after two volunteers, Laura Thompson Osuri and Ted Henson, approached the National Coalition for the Homeless on separate occasions about starting a street newspaper in Washington, D.C. A street paper is defined as a newspaper about poverty, homelessness and other social issues that provides an income to the homeless individuals who sell it. About 25 street papers operate in the United States and Canada in places like Seattle, Chicago, Montreal and Boston, and dozens more exist throughout the world. After bringing together a core of dedicated volunteers and vendors, Street Sense came out with its first issue in November 2003, printing 5,000 copies. For the next three years the paper published consistently on a monthly basis and greatly expanded its circulation and vendor network.

For the first year, Street Sense operated as a project of the National Coalition for the Homeless, but in October 2004, the organization incorporated and moved into its own office space. In March 2005, Street Sense received 501(c)3 status, becoming an independent nonprofit organization. In October 2005, Street Sense formed a board of directors, and in November, the organization hired its first employee, a full-time executive director. A year later, in November 2006, the organization hired its first vendor coordinator. In February 2007, the paper started publishing twice a month as the network of vendors expanded to more than 50 homeless men and women. To support the increased production, Street Sense brought on its first fulltime editor in chief in April 2007.

Do you have comments on a story? Did we get something wrong? What would you like to see covered in Street Sense? Tell us! Write to editor@streetsense.org

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International Network of Street Papers

Street Sense Vendor Code of Conduct 1.

Street Sense will be distributed for a voluntary donation of $1. I agree not to ask for more than a dollar or solicit donations for Street Sense by any other means. 2. I will only purchase the paper from Street Sense staff and will not sell papers to other vendors (outside of the office volunteers). 3. I agree to treat all others – customers, staff, other vendors – respectfully, and I will not “hard sell,” threaten or pressure customers. 4. I agree to stay off private property when selling Street Sense. 5. I understand that I am not a legal employee of Street Sense but a contracted worker responsible for my own well-being and income. 6. I agree to sell no additional goods or products when selling the paper. 7. I will not sell Street Sense under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 8. There are no territories among vendors. I will respect the space of other vendors, particularly the space of vendors who have been at a spot longer. 9. I understand that my badge is the property of Street Sense and will not deface it. I will present my badge when purchasing the papers and display my badge when selling papers. 10. I understand that Street Sense strives to be a paper that covers homelessness and poverty issues while providing a source of income for the homeless. I will try to help in this effort and spread the word.

WANNA HELP? If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, or have a great article or feature idea, please contact us at 202-347-2006 or e-mail editor@streetsense.org If you are interested in becoming a vendor, contact Rita Brunson at the same number or come to a vendor training session on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2 p.m. at our office (1317 G Street, NW - near Metro Center).

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

PROFILE

profile

By Katherine Otto Derrick Davis, a friendly teenager with a rich laugh and limitless drive, doesn’t spend much time feeling sorry for himself. He chooses to dwell upon the positive. “I’m surrounded by people who help me all the time,” he said. “I feed off of what people are doing for me – not what people are not doing for me.” But he has overcome significant hardships to become the person he is today – a rising sophomore at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh studying graphic design. Davis was homeless throughout his high school career at McKinley Technology High School in Washington, D.C. The only child of single mother Annette Washington, a military-chef turned restaurant entrepreneur, Davis never had a long-term home growing up. Instead, he and his mother traveled from California to Georgia to North Carolina as she opened and ran restaurants. Washington home-schooled her son before and after work every day. Though his education was unconventional, Davis acknowledges the benefits of having the workplace as a classroom and the customers as teachers. Inspired by his love for video games and determined to pursue a career in technology, Davis applied to and was accepted by McKinley Tech. But the move to D.C. proved more costly than anticipated. Davis and his mother were forced to sleep in their Southeast restaurant. When the business languished, they had to shut down. Since Annette Washington would not entertain the idea of staying in local shel-

ters – concerned with her and Davis’ security and safety – she explained the choice he had to make was either to follow her away from D.C. to find work, or to stay by himself in D.C. and complete his dream. “My mother, she was raising a black male into today’s society by herself, and she never ever babied me,” Davis said. And so Davis said goodbye to his mother, who took a truck-driving job. She now resides in Seattle and works as a personal chef. Without his mother or a home, Davis crashed with his girlfriend, LaVelle Williams. But just one month before graduation, a D.C. Housing Authority residency check threatened to kick Davis out of school unless he properly registered himself as a homeless individual who was doubling up. “It hurt,” he said, “because I had to say my mom abandoned me when I know she didn’t.” People who heard his story were amazed. They asked him, “‘How do you deal with that? If that was me I’d go crazy.’” “But,” said Davis, “you don’t have a choice to go crazy and say screw it all.” Instead of becoming discouraged, Davis kept going. He discovered that a few other students at McKinley were experiencing similar hardships and found emotional support among his peers. He also found powerful allies in the McKinley administration and the Williams family. His faith has also sustained him. When facing trouble he has learned to “put it in God’s hands and just forget about it.” Amidst his struggles, Davis stayed focused

Photo Courtesy of Derrick Davis

Student Overcomes Homelessness, Gets Into Art School

A design by Derrick Davis, who is now a student at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

upon continuing his education. He earned two prestigious scholarships – from the Society of Satellite Professionals International, and from V-Tech Solutions Inc., a company whose President & CEO, Victor Holt, is an alumnus of McKinley Technology High School and a mentor to Davis as well. While he has left his old life behind, at the art institute the lessons of hardship have remained with him. He sees life differently than people who have not experienced homelessness, he said. “Everybody has their own bubble they live in, some are bigger than others. But once you recognize your world is bigger … you see there’s more going on than what you think.”

His current work in Pittsburgh focuses around t-shirt design, or what he sees as a communication mechanism to share the message that “it’s not about saving the world, but just fixing it, pretty much.” “My friends call me Captain Planet,” he said with a laugh. “I believe there’s nothing wrong with the world in the first place. It’s like having a computer – you buy it, something happens to it. You don’t throw it away and get a new one, you fix it.’’ Davis feels empowered by the new opportunities he has found. “I remember nights when my mother was crying and there was nothing I could do about it,” he recalled. “Now I can do something.”

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LOCAL NEWS

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

Number, from page 1

“There was quite a bit of growth in single people using emergency shelters,” said Tom Fredericksen, a researcher for the Comrequired by the United States Department munity Partnership for the Prevention of of Housing and Urban Development and Homelessness. An increase in the number is conducted according to rules set up by of shelter beds available this winter was also the federal agency. The count is designed reflected in the count, said Fredericksen in as a one-day point-in-time survey of per- a July 10 presentation of the enumeration’s sons served by Washington, D.C., and sur- findings to the Coalition of Housing and rounding suburban jurisdictions that have Homeless Organizations. received HUD funding for homeless pro“We had more people in more beds,” he grams. said. The effort provides The number of home“a snapshot” of homeless families living in the less people, said NeDistrict fell, however, to chama Masliansky, of 587, a reduction of almost the District’s Coalition of 100 since last year. Housing and Homeless As in previous years, Organizations. disabling conditions were But a working group found to be common at the coalition has among homeless adults. launched an effort to In the Distr ict, more develop “a more threethan one-third reported dimensional report” that chronic substance-abuse would provide a nuanced problems. Severe menlook at the city’s homeless tal illness was found in and a better understandnearly one-quarter of the ing of the needs of people adults, as were chronic not captured in the annuhealth problems. Nearly al enumeration, Maslian17% were physically dissky said: “the folks who abled, the count found. are doubled and tripled In this region, as across up, domestic violence the country, jurisdictions — Mary Ann Luby, survivors living in hotel are hoping to reduce their Washington Legal Clinic rooms, people living in homeless populations by for the Homeless vans who might not have investing in Housing First been seen.” programs which focus on Region-wide, the angetting homeless people nual count found 11,752 into housing and providhomeless men, women and children living ing them with medical and social services to in the District and its suburbs, a figure virtu- address their problems. ally unchanged from last year. In a trend seen as a mark of progress, a Overall, 24% of single homeless people total of 4,395 formerly homeless people in and 47% of homeless adults in families were the region – including 3,006 in the District working, the enumeration found. – are now living in permanent supportive In addition to the District, the numbers housing. of homeless people also rose in Frederick But this year’s count may have come too and Montgomery counties and in Fairfax early to capture the impact of the region’s and Falls Church. The numbers fell in Alex- housing downturn and slumping economy andria, Arlington, Loudoun, Prince George’s on exacerbating homelessness in the region, and Prince William counties. Fredericksen said. In the District, an increase of almost 500 “It might be too soon to see the current in the city’s homeless single population – to situation reflected in the numbers in an ac4,207 – was responsible for the increase. countable way,” he said.

“Southeast wasn’t counted. We need to do something far more organized involving park police, fire and Metro. We need to engage the universities.”

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Child, from page 1

(6) Providing financial incentives to attract other CFSA program staff to take assignments were supposed to ensure that neglect and in CPS; and abuse investigations were being diligently (7) Revitalizing CFSA’s social worker repursued. cruitment process, including recruiting reWhen it was discovered that the social tired and other social workers on a temporary worker handling the case had not seen Isiah contract basis. Garcia during those three months, and had Meltzer also commented forcefully on the not seen children in 17 of the 50 investiga- need to deal with the underlying sources of tions assigned to her, she was fired by Mayor family problems that can give rise to CPS inAdrian Fenty. The social worker’s supervisor terventions. was placed on administrative leave. “Families and children are struggling with In remarks at the hearing, Wells said he did multiple needs,” she explained. “Some of not believe that accountability for such trage- which can be ameliorated within the public dies should stop at the level of front-line staff. child protection system, but some cannot.” He indicated he was particularly concerned Meltzer noted that adopting a comprehensive about the adequacy of CFSA’s supervisory approach to addressing the roots of family oversight and support for its social workers. problems will demand the active involve“This is not about the ment of many public and death of one child,” Wells private agencies, advocates said, “but about an agency and community partners. “This is not about in crisis – not meeting the In her testimony at the the death of one demands placed on it.” hearing, Bobo sought to Two days following address the concerns exchild, but about the hearing, Dr. Sharpressed by Wells, Johnson an agency in lynn Bobo, CFSA’s direcand Meltzer about CFSA’s tor since February 2007, ability to ensure the safety crisis — not meetresigned her position. of D.C.’s children. ing the demands Mayor Fenty named Dr. She recounted a number Roque Gerald, head of of specific actions CFSA placed on it.” CFSA’s Clinical Practice had taken over the last six division, as interim direc— Tommy Wells , months to deal with the tor of the agency. City Councilmember unusually high volume of Also testifying at the new investigations, and hearing was Geo T. Johnreported that hotline calls son, executive director of and new investigations District Council 20 of the American Federa- were now returning to pre-surge levels. tion of State, County and Municipal EmployBobo also announced plans to begin an ees, the union that represents CFSA’s social “all hands on deck” initiative in August that workers, and CFSA director Bobo. would involve all qualified agency staff comJohnson spoke briefly about what he de- pleting from 1 to 3 investigations. In addition, scribed as inadequate supervisory support she said she was also exploring the possibility and excessive caseloads. He stressed the of using social workers from other D.C. agenunion’s desire to establish a working partner- cies to help clear up the case backlog. ship with CFSA to evaluate and address the Bobo’s subsequent resignation means problem of high investigative caseloads. that the Fenty administration likely will be Referring to the Jacks and Garcia cases, searching for a new agency director at the Johnson said: “We show outrage, shock and same time it will have to be taking steps to remorse, but we don’t fix the system.” shrink the backlog of CPS investigations and Meltzer’s testimony addressed two issues: improve supervisory oversight and support. The current problem of, and possible reIn a later interview with Street Sense, Meltsponses to, what she called the crisis at CFSA zer declined to comment on Bobo’s resigna– including, but not limited to, the backlog tion. Her response to the appointment of of incomplete CPS investigations; and the Gerald as interim agency head was: “He’s a need for better access to mental health and terrific guy.” family support services to help address famMeltzer saw a couple of hopeful signs in ily problems that, if unresolved, can lead to recent events. The city administration, she situations that require CPS’s intervention. said, appears to be committed to resolving Meltzer offered a number of recommen- the current crisis, and public awareness has dations to improve the current conditions at been raised in positive ways. CFSA, including: The biggest potential short-term obstacle (1) Assigning CFSA directors, program likely to effect reform efforts, according to managers and supervisors to assist in con- Meltzer, is the sort of vicious cycle that can ducting or completing unfinished CPS inves- occur when problems with workforce and tigations; caseload levels affect agency morale and (2) Postponing all nonessential vacation for make it even harder to recruit the additional CFSA staff for the next three months to ensure social workers needed to solve existing probsufficient staff to assist with the crisis; lems and repair the system. (3) Requiring CPS program managers and “A lot of attention will have to be given to supervisors to routinely accompany social building a consensus that CFSA can do the workers doing field work to better measure job and will support its workers,” Meltzer performance and provide support; said. Also important, she noted, will be es(4) Ensuring that every supervisor regu- tablishing a strong sense of shared mission larly reviews progress by social workers on and shared values within CFSA’s ranks. all open investigations; Meltzer identified morale building, strong (5) Creating a process that more equitably leadership, and the prompt provision of addistributes CPS investigation cases across all ditional resources as the keys to achieving efinvestigative staff; fective CFSA improvement in the shortterm.

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

LOCAL NEWS

‘Environment of Hostility’ Blamed for Rise in Attacks on Homeless Violent attacks against homeless people in the U.S. increased significantly in 2007, with the number of lethal attacks jumping by 40% from the previous year’s figure, according to a recently issued report by two groups that advocate for the homeless. Fatal attacks jumped from 20 in 2006 to 28 in 2007, while the total number of violent incidents increased from 142 to 160 – a rise of 13% – according to the study “Hate, Violence, and Death on Main Street USA: A Report on Hate Crimes and Violence Against People Experiencing Homelessness 2007.” Factors ranging from local laws that criminalize homelessness to a current fad for “bum-bashing” videos “send a message to society that homeless people are not human [and] do not deserve respect” said Tulin Ozdeger, the civil rights director for the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. The law center prepared the report along with the National Coalition for the Homeless. Local laws that restrict public sleeping, sitting, storing property or asking for money create an “environment of hostility” against homeless people and send the message that “attacks against them will not be taken seriously,” she said.

iStockPhoto

By Daniel Horner

Fatal Attacks on homeless people increased by 40% in 2007 according to a recent study.

The two groups have not done a full “scientific analysis,” but Ozdeger sees a correlation between such laws and attacks. Florida, whose 31 violent anti-homeless incidents topped the 2007 list, has a number of localities that have passed anti-homeless

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measures. Another factor in the continued prevalence of violence against homeless people is “bum bashing” videos, according to the study. Over 6.8 million copies of such videos have been sold and teenagers have imitated the videos

“by recording themselves beating up homeless individuals just for the fun of it,” the report said. Retail sales of the videos have slowed down, but that success has been offset by the rise of YouTube, where such videos are popular, Ozdeger said. After Florida, the states with the largest numbers of incidents were California (22), Nevada (14) and Ohio (13). But Nevada’s population of 2.5 million is far less than California’s 36.5 million, Florida’s 18 million and Ohio’s 11.5 million. Locally, the report did not cite any 2007 incidents in D.C. or Virginia. Maryland had one, in Baltimore. But Ozdeger cautioned that the figures may well be low. The report draws its data primarily from media reports, since victims of the attacks often don’t report the attacks to law-enforcement authorities, she said. David Pirtle, who said he was the victim of several attacks when he was homeless, confirmed that point. Pirtle, who now lives in Southeast, said in a July 14 interview that he did not report the attacks to the police. On the basis of his experiences and those of his

See

Violence, page 6

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

6 NATIONAL NEWS

Violence, from page 5

IN OTHER NEWS By Jessica LaGarde

New Home for Homeless Hospital On July 8, the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, which serves 10,000 people annually, relocated its facility in Jamaica Plain to a $42 million complex in the South End. The facility includes a primary-care clinic with 14 exam rooms and a five-chair dental service. Beyond the state-of-the-art equipment and flat-screen televisions, the new facility will give patients more space and reinforce the idea that they are people who matter, Bock said. – The Boston Globe

Vancouver to ‘Hide’ Homeless During Olympics In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver, B.C., is discussing strategies to hide homelessness. The currently proposed plan is to purchase single room occupancy hotels in the Downtown Eastside. Though the proposal may sound logical, it causes concern for some Vancouver citizens because vacancy rates are close to zero, SROs are often full of insects and fire code violations, and there is currently no legal way to prevent property owners from evicting tenants. – The Vancouver Sun

Crackdown on Theft of Recyclables Because of the increased value of these goods, and our country’s economic slowdown, many U.S. cities are seeing organized teams of “poachers” collecting trucks piled high with mixed recyclables. In San Francisco, poachers can be fined up to $500 and get six months jail time. In New York, thieves are subject to arrest, vehicle impoundment and fines of up to $5,000. A crackdown on the theft of recyclable materials could hurt the very poor, who rely on the income from turning over bottles and cans for refund values of between 5 cents and 10 cents per container, say some homeless advocates. In a survey conducted in 2000 by the nonprofit advocacy group Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, 75% of homeless people in Los Angeles said they depended on income from recycling. – Associated Press

Church to Sue City of Elkton An Elkton church focused on serving the homeless is suing the town of Elkton because ACLU officials and church leaders said the town is hindering the church’s expression of faith by blocking attempts by the church to open a day center for homeless men and women. An ACLU statement said the zoning board isn’t recognizing the center as a religious institution but instead as a social or philanthropic organization, and though the church already owns

property zoned for use by churches and businesses, Elkton’s zoning board required the center to have a special zoning exception. – The (Baltimore) Sun

California Town Creates Parking Havens for Homeless New Beginnings, a nonprofit outreach group in Santa Barbara, Calif., is creating a network of safe overnight parking havens for homeless people living out of their vehicles. New Beginnings manages 12 parking lots across Santa Barbara, which are currently filled by some 55 vehicles. Michael Stoops, executive director of the Washington-based National Coalition for the Homeless, said that the organization is receiving reports that homeless people living out of their vehicles is becoming more common. – Agence France-Presse

State Grants Will Prevent Va. Shelters Closing More than 120 homeless shelters across the state, including the largest facilities in Northern Virginia, will share $18 million in state grants over the next two years, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) said recently. The grants, which are administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, make up anywhere from 20% to 70% of the shelters operating budgets. – The Washington Post

Denver Plan for Homeless is Not an Attempt to Hide Them, Activists Say The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless plans to get 500 movie tickets as well as passes to the Denver Zoo, Denver Museum of Nature and Science and other cultural facilities for the people it helps during the Democratic National Convention next month. Many day shelters will have expanded hours during the convention, and big-screen TVs are being donated to some shelters so patrons can watch convention goings-on without being caught up in the mayhem. A two-day voter registration drive is also planned at shelters and health clinics to ensure that metro-area homeless people have access to the polls in November. Opponents of the plan say it’s just another way of trying to hide the homeless, to sweep the problem under the rug during the convention. Backers of the plan say it’s a more sanitary and humane way to take care of people, to keep them safe while security measures and crowds increase for the convention. “Particularly those with mental illness can’t cope with crowds,” said John Parvensky, president of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. — Rocky Mountain News

homeless friends, the “best case scenario” is that “the police don’t do anything,” he said. When he was homeless, he lived in several cites across the country, he said. The worst attack was in New York City in 2004, he said. A “couple of guys” beat him with an aluminum bat or wide pipe, he said. He said he suffered a chipped tooth and probably cracked ribs. But rather than going to the police or seeking medical assistance, he “just found a spot to curl up for a few days to recuperate,” he said. His assailants did not appear to be homeless men or criminals, he said. They were “nicely dressed,” and appeared to be collegeage, he said. Of the people accused and convicted of violence against the homeless in 2007, 86% were 25 and under, with many saying they committed the crimes for the “thrill” or “fun” of it, the report said. Pirtle said he had “never been attacked by anyone other than young kids who are intoxicated and bored.” According to the report, some of the attacks seem to be motivated by “bias against the victims because they are homeless.” For that reason, the study asserts that attacks

against the homeless should be tallied as hate crimes. Brian Levin of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino said that failing to count attacks against the homeless as hate crimes “denies the rightful communal condemnation of this prevalent, but often invisible form of violent prejudice.” There were 187 fatal attacks on homeless individuals from 1999 through 2006, according to the report. For that same period, FBI statistics show 85 homicides classified as hate crimes, the report said. The report does include some examples of efforts to help raise public awareness about the causes of homelessness and the needs of homeless people. For example, Florida’s Miami-Dade County public school district’s curriculum for all grades includes lesson plans relating to homelessness. For Pre-K and kindergarten, the goal is to “give children an understanding of the needs that we all have to be comfortable and comforted,” according to a section of the curriculum quoted in the report. There was also a Florida-wide public education project, initiated by NCH in conjunction with AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteers, the report said.

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Street Sense . July 23 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Aug. 5, 2008

LOCAL NEWS NATIONAL NEWS

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

Street News Service

Is the

Still Out There? By Alejandro Queral

lthough election drama may make great television, media coverage of electoral politics is not helping us make the best decision this November. Election years are fat years for news outlets throughout the country, but especially for those engaged in the 24-hour news cycle. (CNN, Fox News and MSNBC are the obvious ones, but all the Web-based news outlets — from washingtonpost.com to huffingtonpost.com to drudgereport.com to more local political blogs — also are under the gun.) Not only are the media competing against each other to break the important story, or more often, the sexy story, they are also under pressure to do it faster and more often than everyone else. Competition is ingrained in our minds and in the capitalist system; survival of the fittest sounds OK when it comes to making computers or cell phones. But this approach to presenting the news leaves little room for real, quality reporting. Under the 24-hour news cycle, reporters are under pressure – real or imagined – from their editors, their corporate bosses and the other news outlets that are about to break the story they’ve been working on for a week. And when reporters are under this kind of pressure, their ability to establish reliable sources, follow up on leads, crosscheck against other information and look critically at the story suffers. Sometimes we get extreme expressions of this news ailment. Remember Jayson Blair, who in 2003 lied his way through at least 30 articles he wrote for the New York Times? I don’t know why he lied or made up the stories he did, but the important thing is that the Times published these stories and backed them up, at least for a while. And, as a feature writer, Blair was not even under the pressure of writing breaking news. This environment has proven to be fertile ground for the politics of fear and distortion that crippled John Kerry’s campaign in 2004 and which threatens to muddy the elections this year. The “swift boat” attack against Kerry by a shady group of self-identified Vietnam veterans was quickly picked up by the mainstream media, and the allegations were repeated endless times, even though there was never any conclusive evidence — and very little conclusive evi-

dence, at best — that the allegations made by the swift-boaters were true. This, by the way, was a key tactic used by Karl Rove: If you repeat something over and over again, it begins to sound like the truth (“truthiness,” to use Stephen Colbert’s coinage). So it didn’t matter if reporters tried to confirm or dispel the allegations made by the swiftboaters; all that mattered was that the (unconfirmed) allegations continued to be repeated hour after hour for days, within a couple of weeks before the election. This election year we’re likely to see more of the same, especially if the media continue to report on every rumor floating on the blogosphere. In the spring, just before Obama clinched a sufficient number of delegates to become the presumptive nominee, a blogger named Larry Johnson posted a story in his blog about an alleged video of Michelle Obama at Trinity Church (the same church of Jeremiah Wright fame) ranting against the United States and using the word “whitey.” No such video has ever been produced or surfaced in the Internet. The rumor failed the YouTube test: if a video that is the alleged source of a story does not pop up on YouTube within a week of the story, it probably doesn’t exist. Johnson’s allegations were based on conversations he had with “Republicans with access to knowledge but who do not know each other.” How convenient. Not only does he quote “anonymous sources,” he makes sure those sources don’t know about each other. (Which is, by the way, an impossibility inside the beltway: everyone with access knows, or knows of, everyone else with access.) But the rumor started by Johnson was not what caused the most damage to the media and to our democratic process. The problem was that the media gave legs to the non-story when they asked Obama about the video as if the allegations were not unproven, and therefore probably true. How twisted is that? Even Obama seemed surprised and shot back asking why they were covering something for which the media had no proof other than the shoddy allegations by a mid-level blogger with access only to his imagination. The Obama campaign is trying to pre-empt a swift boat attack by starting its own dispel-the-rumors Web site. I don’t know how effective this will be. Rumors are spread by e-mail, but they are cemented by headlines. So, while the Obama site may be able to educate some skeptical

This, by the way, was a key tactic used by Karl Rove: If you repeat something over and over again, it begins to sound like the truth.

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and inquisitive voters, the majority of voters will only see a headline, hear a sound bite or watch a 10-second video confirming the e-mail sent by that loony relative who’s always on the Internet. Already, Democrats in West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and other states voted against Obama during the primaries because they were led to believe he is a Muslim, or because he allegedly refused to put his hand on his chest while singing “God Bless America.” The politics of distortion work in part because reporters continue to repeat unfounded rumors, and because no one bothers to look into the origin of the allegations. I don’t know that we can solve this problem without treading onto hallowed First Amendment grounds, so it will fall onto the voters’ shoulders to discern a solid news story from one tainted with the politics of fear. Jon Stewart may have given us a preview on his Daily Show. Calling the media’s on-going reporting of unfounded rumors about Obama “Baracknophobia,” Stewart mocked: “Oh, this is interesting. SomeguyI’veneverheardof.com is reporting presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama has lady parts. Obviously scurrilous and unfounded, we’ll examine it tonight in our special, ‘Barack Obama’s Vagina: The October Surprise In His Pants.’” I hope he’s just kidding. Reprinted from Street Roots, Portland, Ore. © Street News Service: www.street-papers.org

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

POETRY

Lovers Observed

My Troubled Life

Fat missiles of rain dimple the puddle at his feet as the spectator, chilled beneath a bus shelter, watches the frantic tangle of lovers calling each other in the guttural language of desire, feeding each other caresses and soft bites and the occasional cry of rapture.

Here I am born into a world of troubled human beings No one knowing what today, tomorrow, or the next day brings

The spectator’s eyes and skin burn even beneath three layers’ soaking; to the lovers, he stands, insignificant as the rain, and the cars sloshing along the street and the passersby dismal under their umbrellas clutching parcels that drip with the rhythm of their footsteps.

Guilt, pain, pleasure and crime Built deep into our culture Drilled into my mind

As a youth of today’s society My heart set, full with irony Murder, rape, stabbings, killings Yet a positive individual like me still willing They don’t understand the things we face But yet here I am smiling Accustomed to my race – African–American, yes I am Knowing I can excel – yes I can

No one really knows what goes on In my young troubled life

— Andre Gregory

These lovers don’t notice that they are wet, don’t care about the baleful sky or the next moment. The spectator stands, eyes transfixed, perhaps to caress a memory but his reality holds only the scene of the passionate oblivious scramble before him hungry mouths and hands are etched on his conscience – a slap that stings, a taunting memory.

Five Little Kids in the Struggle

As the bus rumbles away the lovers continue their embrace stickily wet, and sheltered by the moment.

I see five little kids with five little bellies They want some food like peanut butter and jelly How we gonna split this PB & J down? I get half, you get half We all eatin’ now Least we’re not hungry, but we’re still not full It’s hard out here Like a tug–o–war pull Five little kids with only one mom Livin’ in a backyard next to a pond Leeches and rats And in the air flyin’ round, bats This is nowhere for a kid to lay No bed, no sheets Is that any place to stay?

The bus arrives, the lone man boards and settles in for a ride to his dry and barren room hot plate and television.

— David Harris

— Anthony & Tyrone

10 FEATURES

Fiction

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

By Chris Jablonski

Hypothermia

o groggy, so tired.

The pain awakens me. Ohh, My side. So tired. I’ll just sleep a little more. The pounding ... my head ... MY SIDE. What time is it? What DAY is it? Where am I? Why am I strapped to this bed? Beep, beep, beep. Where is that sound coming from? I have hoses running in and out of me. Hospital. How long have I been here? WHY am I here? So much pain in my side. Let me think, was I in an accident? I don’t remember. Where’s my clock? Wait. I don’t even have a clock anymore, or a room, or a house, or a car, job or family. It’s coming back to me; I don’t like what I remember. I was on track through school. I did my share of partying but never went in for the hard stuff, just booze and pot was enough for me. Don’t get me wrong, I was no angel. I tried coke a couple of times, but it wasn’t my thing. I landed a job right after graduation as an investment analyst. I started out at close to six figures. I met a woman who seemed like the right one and she said yes to my proposal of marriage. I was making close to $500,000 a year at that point. How many new cars, clothes, toys and gadgets are enough? We had all we needed and more, so it was no financial strain for her not to work. At my office I was on a fast track thanks to my angel and mentor. He was a few levels up the ladder from me and never hesitated to reach down to help me navigate a rung. This is why when he came to me and asked if I would join him and some of his peers for after-work drinks I hesitated only a second. Whirr, whoosh, slow warmth, comfort too tired to go on now, must sleep. Do I need to go into the gory details? One night became once, twice, then thrice weekly. Somewhere along the line my imbibing started to encompass the weekends, too. I couldn’t see the changes in me, nor why my having what I deserved and earned as a right by being a man was a problem; after all I WAS the breadwinner in the house. The nagging and bitching got to such a point I started staying in hotels in town some nights. I was under a lot of stress at work; somehow I was no longer the golden boy. My reviews suffered, and this at the hands of the man that I didn’t want to have a drink with in the first place. Then one day the axe just fell. I didn’t see it coming; after all, look at the years and commitment I had given them. Thank God I had my friend “John Barleycorn.” She threatened to leave me many a time and she almost did. On one occasion I got home to find her and the furniture gone. When the police arrived they seemed more interested in the way my car was dented and parked across the lawn and street, than in the thieves who had ransacked my home and made off with my wife, children and worldly belongings. I assured them that I had taken a cab home in my current intoxicated state (a lie), that I would never drive

drunk, despite the times I had been wrongly convicted of the same offense. Whirr, whoosh, slow warmth, comfort, eyes too heavy … Beep, beep, beep. The sounds awaken me. I didn’t know or care what to do when the foreclosure notices came. When the bank finally took control of the property I wasn’t there, but I do know that the crew they brought to move my things would be excessive if there was more than one person. How many people does it take to throw vodka bottles away? Wait, that sounds like a joke. I’ll have to work on the punch line. Whirr, whoosh, slow warmth, comfort. Too tired to think anymore … Sleep. Beep, beep, beep. The sounds awaken me again. It’s dark out now. Quiet here, other than the machines. Beep, beep, beep. I was able to stay with family for a bit, but they seemed to be under the same delusion as my wife: that my drinking was a problem. To make a long story less long, I wound up in front of a liquor store early in the morning waiting for it to open. The shakes were excessive that morning. I couldn’t believe it, there was already a line waiting for the store to open. I met a gentleman there who struck up a conversation about sleeping accommodations and such. We weighed the pros and cons of vodka over fortified wines for a bit, and then he asked if I was new to the streets. I didn’t understand, I was in my 40s and had been outdoors quite a bit in the previous years. Well, he took me under his wing, so to speak, and made sure I had an understanding of what I was into. It being the summertime “the

livin’ was easy,” as the song says. But winter came. I knew by that point where to go to get shelter, food and clothing, so all was well in my little world. As luck would have it I drank too much one day and passed out. I missed getting a bed at any of the shelters. I didn’t know what to do. I went to the place I usually stayed (when sober that is), but there was “no room at the inn.” The chap behind the desk said not to worry, he would call for the hypothermia hotline van to come and take me to an emergency shelter. I thanked him profusely, and he told me to be quiet and have a seat on the bench ’til the van came. About ten minutes later a van pulled up, honked and waited. I was told “there’s your ride.” I got up walked out into the frigid air and climbed into one of the nicest conversion vans I had ever seen. “Thank God he’s gone,” Eddie said. “Can you believe he could still walk around with all that liquor in him? He reeked. Well, at least he’ll be somewhere warm and safe tonight.” Ten minutes later the hypothermia van pulls up and toots its horn. Eddie steps outside and yells, “Your other van picked him up a few minutes ago.” The driver yelled back, “We don’t have another van.” Eddie yelled, “I don’t know.” The driver shrugged and drove off. Inside of the other van, the person riding shotgun asked me if I wanted a drink. Of course I couldn’t be rude and refuse his hospitality. He handed me a crystal tumbler full of vodka and said, “Enjoy.” As I guzzled it down I noticed a peculiar taste, but I attributed that to the drink being a finer grade of alcohol than I had been used to for a while now. Suddenly I was very tired, dizzy. The driver asked if I was OK, as he gave a deep guttural laugh. I wonder if anyone ever noticed that the vehicle bore this simple script on the rear doors: “EMERGENCY DELIVERY – HUMAN ORGANS”

FEATURES & GAMES 11

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

Gregory’s Great Game

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Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

12 EDITORIALS

Maurice Speaks

By Maurice King

The Consolation of Fools

have suffered once again a major setback with regards to housing. I was issued a DMH Home First II housing subsidy that has a strict time limit. I spoke with landlords about potential housing opportunities within 48 hours of receiving the subsidy, but I couldn’t seem to make the connection between them and my case manager at my core service agency, which is what was necessary to procure the housing. Every day that went by ran the risk of my losing my chance at housing. No matter what I did, I could not seem to push things along. Every time I face such a situation, I keep remembering the scene in “Terms of Endearment” in which Shirley MacLaine ran around the nurses’ station screaming at the top of her lungs. The nurses, of course, said to her, “Are you going to behave?” thereby placing the blame on her, when all she was asking for them to do was to give her dying daughter her pain shot, which was not such an exaggerated request, or at least one would not think so. She was only taking issue with their apparent attitude towards a dying person that giving pain relief is not that urgent and can certainly wait. What perturbs me in my case is that the people involved in my case are trying to make it seem that I did not do enough to process my housing application. I made the contact with the landlords in question and gave the relevant telephone numbers to my case manager so as to enable contact. What more could I do? The landlord specifically told me to have my case manager contact her or her agent; that left the next step to be done by my case manager, but somehow I’m being fingered as the

Organizing, from page 1 to Plan B. At the ICH meeting on June 12, man after man stood up and spoke of being treated disrespectfully by staff and physically abused by security officers at different shelters. They explained that, when they complain to shelter management, they are asked if there were any witnesses. As one man put it, “They act as if, if there aren’t any witnesses, it didn’t happen.” Several of these men had multiple stories to tell. One man claimed to have six stories in addition to his own in which he witnessed security officers abusing shelter residents. It was also said that the police fail to respond when a resident calls and says he or she is being abused by security officers. How-

one who dropped the ball. It’s very frustrating to be so close to being in housing and yet to be so far. In April 2007 I was in the same situation, yet because of bungled management of paperwork, I lost the opportunity, and it was totally out of my control. I am having flashbacks of that experience now, because once again, because someone did not make the necessary contact, I have been done out of housing. Because the Department of Mental Health has its own requirements that include an inspection of the premises prior to occupancy, there is a procedure that must be followed before a person can move in, and that requires the involvement of a case manager. There’s no way to get around it: I could not do this job on my own, no matter what anybody says. The trouble is, that’s what the others involved in my case are trying to say: that I did not do enough, and that’s what is holding me up. I maintain they must have a lot of guilt to need to look for such a desperate way to cover for themselves, because I don’t get a salary to do the job of a case manager. Once again, I am back to saying something that I’ve said many times before: the people whose jobs are to help get the homeless into housing seem to look for reasons to avoid actually doing what they are supposed to be doing and seem to blame the homeless for their plight instead. That is certainly the easy way out. It ensures that there will be a needy, homeless population to justify the jobs that deal with that population. Yet it is hardly an efficient or productive way to operate. Stories such as mine are not rare. I have heard them repeatedly and from many reliable sources. However, as a Hebrew saying goes, “The sorrow of many is the consolation of fools.” I certainly find no solace in knowing that I am not alone in my suffering.

Homeless But Never Helpless By Jeffery McNeil

could find some. Because of some advice, one of the first entrepreneurial ventures I tried was picking up cans. I would walk from the Northeast section of Washington to Georgetown picking up cans. Sometimes I would make $15 a day. Many times, I would try to find other people to help, but I soon became frustrated by their grumbling and complaining about the hard work and the little money they were getting. Many did not understand that earning a few dollars is better than having none and, when you work for something, you feel better than when you are just given the spare change out of somebody’s pocket. I understood early on that life is a game of inches – any little gain is progress. And by paying attention to the little things, I find the big things take care of themselves. My life changed at the end of last July when I made eye contact with someone wearing a green vest. On it was the Street Sense logo. I would be hard-pressed to believe that eye contact would change my life, but it did. I went to the office, got a few papers, made a few dollars and never looked back. The impact made me believe that homelessness starts in the mind. However, if you are willing to open your mind and explore all the wonderful opportunities this country has to offer, and, most importantly, are diligent in all you do, you never have to be broke, poor or hungry. Strategy, planning and preparation can minimize catastrophe. The longer I sell and do my entrepreneurial ventures, the more I kick myself for taking so long to understand business. There are many opportunities available to take control of your life and live the American dream, if you are willing to work hard and sacrifice. Being homeless is one thing, but just being pitiful and lazy is another. I don’t have everything I want, but you can be assured I’m not laying around feeling sorry for myself, hoping someone spares me some change; I won’t be helpless. Thank you.

Maurice King has been writing for Street Sense since January 2004. E-mail him at benadam@cyberdude.com.

grew up in northeast N e w Yo r k , Ne w Je r s e y a n d Philadelphia, Pa., in neighborhoods that were very ethnically diverse. My first knowledge of vending came from flea markets in New Jersey, where it was not uncommon to see Jewish people selling hats, Koreans selling vegetables and Indians selling rugs, with every group showing me the ways of business. At the time, I was not one of their top student; many of the independent ventures I started went bankrupt. Eventually, I gave up and never really thought about running my own business. However, the teachings and experience I learned helped me in corporate America. I was always managing, and keeping records and statistics for business owners. Even though I only had a vague knowledge of business and accounting, I still had knowledge. This understanding would become very valuable when I fell down and became homeless. Washington, D.C., is a unique city like nowhere else. You have the best and most talented people trying to make their name here. In addition, you have many people from other countries who can speak several different languages and bring different skills when looking for work. These types of conditions lead to many disadvantages for people who are competing for the same lower–skilled jobs. I first became homeless, like so many others, because of depression. I had no motivation or ambition – I just wanted to give up on life. I did not think about goals or personal finances. However, I quickly became aware that if I was going to survive in Washington, I would have to not be like the homeless I had seen in the parks and shelters. So I never complained or blamed anyone for my situation. I asked people who had income where I

ever, the police come quickly when security calls about a shelter resident. City Administrator Dan Tangherlini suggested that the man who witnessed six other people being abused give his accounts to the officer who was present at the meeting. Several days after the meeting, a woman told me that she had been waiting for at least one woman to stand up and speak. None did, with the exception of a certain woman who felt that those who were complaining about their treatment at shelters were just being plain unappreciative. The woman I spoke with explained that since no other women had spoken first, she had promised the director of her shelter that she would speak first with the director before taking her complaints elsewhere. She also ex-

plained just how disenfranchised the women at her shelter felt and expressed a desire to see the homeless men, such as myself, stand up for the women. I’d be glad to. I’m flattered to be asked. Some people think that the homeless lack any ability to organize themselves, but this does not have to be the case. The homeless are often being mistreated. Those whom the homeless count on to vindicate and protect them are not coming through. Taken together, this means that the homeless must organize and advocate for themselves. They would disprove the stereotypes, for one thing. Furthermore, they would show that they just won’t stand for the mistreatment and

they would force people to respect them. They would also see what they can do when they put their minds to it. After all, one of the reasons that some people remain homeless is that they have gotten used to having so much done for them, not by them. That said, failing to adequately serve the homeless population may be one of the best things that the D.C. government and various service providers have ever done insomuch as it has forced the homeless to take the reins of control and to save themselves. And so I charge the homeless to take heart and be a part of the solution. Let’s organize ourselves. Eric Sheptock is a homeless advocate and resident of the Franklin Shelter.

Jeffery McNeil regularly puts on a suit to sell Street Sense. E-mail him at jeffery_mcneil2000@yahoo.com.

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

EDITORIALS 13

Surviving Together

From the Writers’ group

Sweet Potatoes Are Yum–Yum

By Teresa Jackson

, Ms. Jackson, am 43 years old. Wow! I have made it through all my struggles. Before I had child re n , i t w a s easy for me find a place to stay, but after becoming a mother, I lived in homeless shelters in Maryland and Washington, D.C., on and off until 1998. Why? One reason was that I was already a struggling mother of one and got pregnant with another while I was living in a two–bedroom apartment with three other adults and three children. I refused to have an abortion to get rid of my daughter, who is now 16. Before she was born, I stayed in a homeless shelter in Prince George’s County with other pregnant mothers who were thrown out of their homes because of overcrowding, left because of abusive relationships, or simply had nowhere else to go. My reason for being in the shelter was that I didn’t know who to turn to after being thrown out of a household that I thought loved me no matter what decision I made about my unborn child. Life is a struggle when you don’t have enough money or a home and are living

off of welfare. Trying to raise a second child made it even harder for me. Another reason I was homeless was because living off of welfare and trying to pay a rent larger than your welfare check is impossible. Even though my one–bedroom apartment cost more than my welfare check, I tried to provide a home for me and my children to the best of my ability, but I was evicted from two different homes because I fell so far behind in rent. So there I was, homeless again, and I remained that way until my name was pulled from the D.C. Housing Authority wait-list. Now I believe that God does provide homes to people through this program. I was always very grateful for my three–bedroom apartment I lived in from 1998 to 2008, and I am even more grateful for the three–bedroom house that I moved into in March. I went through struggles, ups and downs, hatred, crime, and poverty. I went through a time when all my money would be taken to pay bills before I saw a cent of it. But despite all of these experiences, I hold no grudges. I have love in my heart. I am full of forgiveness to those who wronged me. My children and I are just thankful to have survived all that we went though together, and if it weren’t for affordable housing, I would not have been able to make it. Te re s a Ja c k s o n i s a St re e t S e n s e vendor.

Recovery Story

By Patty Smith

was just thinking about my Grandma’s sweet potatoes and how yum–yum they were. The best way to use sweet potatoes is to make a pie. First, you clean the kitchen. Wash all the dishes. Next get the large pot, big spoon and pie pan together, and preheat the oven.

Wash the sweet potatoes and place them in the large pot on the stove. Boil them until they are tender. Peel off the skins and put them in the big pan. Next get all of the ingredients together – the cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and milk. Smooth together all of the ingredients, including the sweet potatoes, and pour them into the pie pan. When it’s baking, the intense smell makes me say “yum–yum!” Vendor Patty Smith has been taking a writing class at Strayer University. This essay grew out of an exercise in directive writing.

The High Point of Human Existence By David S. Hammond

he first time I ever ate Italian pesto was just about a dozen years ago. It had just been made with basil fresh from my host’s kitchen garden, blended with olive oil, pine nuts, and parmesan cheese into a tangy, cheesy, nutty sauce served over warm pasta. I didn’t even know what it was, but as soon as I’d taken the first bite, I exclaimed, “OK, I

have now lived a full life and reached the high point of human existence.” Everyone laughed, because they knew exactly what I meant, and somebody passed the wine. For the rest of the summer, I ate pesto three times a week. David S. Hammond volunteers with the Street Sense writers’ group.

By Tommy Bennett

n recovery, sometimes things are hard and I have to do what I have to do. If I don’t, I know things would change for me for the worse. My s o b r i ety time is five years of total clean time … but it wasn’t easy. The things I go through are sometimes hard but I always keep my program at the front, as it is the most important part of my continued success. People place me in things that I know I have to stay away

from in order to keep my clean time. My godmother, Joy, has continued to help me with my sobriety time. My friend, Christina, gives me strength and helps me along, too. Sometimes, she gives me tough love, which is necessary. For me, in order to do what I do, sometimes it is real hard. But I look forward, to the future, and I do what I’m supposed to be doing. With God’s grace, He gives me strength for my sobriety for these past five years. To get where I’m at, you have to do what I do and leave a lot of things alone in the past. Street Sense helped me to keep my sobriety because it’s given me something to do to keep my mind occupied. To m m y B e n n e t t i s a St re e t Se n s e vendor.

Your thoughts and editorials are welcome. Please e–mail content to editor@streetsense.org or mail to 1317 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005.

Just the Smell of Old Bay Seasoning Brings Back Memories By Cara Schmidt

y favorite meals were the crab feasts my parents used to host when I was a kid. I was never one of those children who was afraid to eat something gross, and as soon as I learned how to rip the shells off the crabs, I couldn’t stop eating them. I can remember late in August, when the crabs were just reaching their biggest, we’d always have one last summer feast before I went back to school and my parents went back to the routine of shuttling me around. All of those afternoons spent on a picnic

table bench have left me with an unbeatable love of crabs. Just the smell of Old Bay seasoning brings back memories of playing whiffleball with friends and family in the backyard, hours spent listening to stories about my parents when they were kids, and hot days without a cloud in the sky. As I grew older, my parents’ friends grew apart or moved away. Family members went off to have families of their own. I miss those days. Cara Schmidt volunteers with the Street Sense writers’ group.

These essays were written as part of the Writers’ Group. Join us Wednesdays at 2:30 p.m.

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

14 STREET SENSE NEWS

What our REaders are Saying... Good Homeless vs. Bad Homeless Dear Editor, As an avid reader and sometime writer for Street Sense, I felt compelled to write you about a quote featured in your most recent issue, which touches upon an issue that has concerned me for a long time, and most recently in light of statements in the media concerning the new stratification of the homeless. When I lived on the streets of New York and D.C., I wasn’t aware that there was a new dynamic evolving in the minds of decision makers and the media – a hierarchy of the homeless. The new paradigm, conceived in the minds of the housed as a way to rationalize the fact that more and more people just like them are becoming homeless, divides people experiencing homeless into groups, based upon loosely defined, stereotypical ideas about people whose actual lives are much more complex than this new ideology takes into account. If you are homeless with children, we should have sympathy for you, for the sake of the children, and therefore you are part of the “good homeless,” but if you have a substance abuse problem, it is your own fault, and therefore you are part of the “bad homeless.” If you have served in the military, you are part of the “good homeless.” If, instead of a military record, you have a criminal one, you are part of the “bad homeless.” If you are a victim of domestic violence, then you are part of the “good homeless.” If you are a registered sex offender, forced to live under a bridge because your community has zoned you out of the neighborhood, then you are part of the “bad homeless.” And so on. This attitude is reflected in the media, which focuses upon human interest stories about folks we can most readily identify as “victims,” and feel properly sorry for, such as a certain news network’s forthcoming story about “The New Face of Homeless,” depicting those who

have recently lost their homes in the current eviction crisis as especially worthy of our sympathy. The recent quote from D.C. Councilmember Harry “Tommy” Thomas in the last issue of Street Sense regarding prospective residents of a planned transitional home for victims of domestic violence as not really homeless, because they have jobs, is another example. For the record, Harry, the majority of persons experiencing homelessness are either employed or legally disabled. If the word “homeless” is a “misnomer,” to use your word, for most people experiencing homelessness, then to whom would you ascribe that label? Even the presidential candidates have gotten into the act, with Barack Obama pledging to end homelessness among veterans of the armed services. Are those who have not decided to join up and fight in the name of the U.S. government not equally entitled to the safety and security of a home? Fortunately (and I don’t often find an excuse to use that word when describing my illness) for me, I suffer from schizophrenia. That put me squarely in the category of the “good homeless.” As such I was able to get into a program that helped me transition off the street over a year ago. But many of my friends do not have such a sympathetic story. Most have an addiction, many have felony histories. Some have been out on the street so long that even their families assume they have chosen that lifestyle, and aren’t deserving of assistance. I think that we as a nation are better than that. I believe that housing must be a right, like any other spelled out in our Constitution. And rights belong to everyone, regardless of what we might think of them. Only when such a right exists, not just on paper, but in the hearts of all Americans, will we truly be able to eliminate the scourge of homelessness in this nation. David Pirtle Board Member, National Coalition for the Homeless

Vendors’Corner SERVICES NEEDED • Free medical care/insurance. • Vendors seek free education or training in all areas. • Rooms for rent.

JOBS WANTED • Photographer looking for work. Cliff Carle, PHOTOGRAPHER with outstanding interpersonal and organizational skills. Works well in both team and independent environments. Possesses a wide range of qualifications and photographic skills. Cliff specializes in natural, fun, creative photographs of people. • Landscaper/Painter/Carpenter seeking work. • Orin Andrus loads and unloads trucks, moves supplies, and tamps earth excavations, levels ground using shovels, tamper, and rakes. He also mows, trims, does edging, and has other landscaping skills. Orin performs interior and exterior painting (one stories only). Light carpentry and decks. Hardwood, laminate, and tile flooring.

DONATIONS NEEDED • Households items sought. Vendors Jeffery McNeil and Moyo Onibuje recently moved into their apartments, and both are in dire need of computers and furniture. If you can help with any of these requests, please contact: Renee Brunson Vendor Manager/Street Sense 202–347–2006

Get Twice as Much Street Sense Each Month Delivered Right to Your Door! Do you want to continue to support Street Sense throughout the year? Order a subscription today. Not only will you receive 26 issues packed with all our latest news, poetry and photography, you will also help raise awareness about poverty in the D.C. area. ___ YES! I want to subscribe to Street Sense for just $40 a year for 26 issues. ___ YES! I want to give half of the cost of a subscription to my favorite vendor: ____________ Name: __________________________________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________________________________ City: _____________________________________ State:_______________ Zip: ______________ Phone: ___________________________________ E-mail: _______________________________ Please make checks payable to Street Sense. Mail to: Street Sense, 1317 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20005. Thanks for your support!

Looking for a past story or poem? Visit the Street Sense archives online! Go to www.streetsense.org/archives.jsp to read past issues or use our internal search engine at www.streetsense.org

FEATURES 15 SERVICE PROVIDERS & VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

Community Service Index WASHINGTON, D.C. SHELTER Calvary Women’s Services 928 5th Street, NW (202) 783–6651 www.calvaryservices.org Central Union Mission (Men) 1350 R Street, NW (202) 745–7118 www.missiondc.org CCNV (Men and Women) 425 2nd Street, NW (202) 393–1909 users.erols.com/ccnv/ Community of Hope (Family) 1413 Girard Street, NW (202) 232–7356 www.communityofhopedc.org Covenant House Washington (Youth) 2001 Mississippi Ave SE (202) 610–9600 www.covenanthousedc.org Housing, education, job development Franklin School (Men) 13th and K streets, NW (202) 638–7424 Gospel Rescue Ministries (Men) 810 5th Street, NW (202) 842–1731 www.grm.org John Young Center (Women) 117 D Street, NW (202) 639–8469 http://www.ccs–dc.org/find/services/ La Casa Bilingual Shelter (Men) 1436 Irving Street, NW (202) 673–3592 N Street Village (Women) 1333 N Street, NW (202) 939–2060 www.nstreetvillage.org 801 East, St. Elizabeths Hospital (Men) 2700 MLK Avenue, SE (202) 561–4014 New York Ave Shelter (Men) 1355–57 New York Avenue, NE (202) 832–2359 Open Door Shelter (Women) 425 Mitch Snyder Place, NW (202) 639–8093

FOOD Charlie’s Place 1830 Connecticut Avenue, NW (202) 232–3066 www.stmargaretsdc.org/charliesplace Church of the Pilgrims 2201 P Street, NW (202) 387–6612 www.churchofthepilgrims.org Dinner Program for Homeless Women AND the “9:30 Club” Breakfast 309 E Street, NW (202) 737–9311 www.dphw.org Father McKenna Center 19 Eye Street, NW (202) 842–1112

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

Miriam’s Kitchen 2401 Virginia Avenue, NW (202) 452–8926 www.miriamskitchen.org The Welcome Table Church of the Epiphany 1317 G Street, NW (202) 347–2635 http://www.epiphanydc.org/ministry/ welcometbl.htm

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

OUTREACH CENTERS Bread for the City 1525 Seventh Street, NW (202) 265–2400 AND 1640 Good Hope Road, SE (202) 561–8587 www.breadforthecity.org food pantry, clothing, legal and social services, medical clinic Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW (202) 364–1419; www.cchfp.org housing, medical and psych care, substance abuse and job counseling Bethany Women’s Center 1333 N Street, NW (202) 939–2060 http://www.nstreetvillage.org meals, hygiene, laundry, social activities, substance abuse treatment Green Door (202) 464–9200 1221 Taylor Street NW www.greendoor.org housing, job training, supportive mental health services Friendship House 619 D Street, SE (202) 675–9050 www.friendshiphouse.net counseling, mentoring, education, youth services, clothing Georgetown Ministry Center 1041 Wisconsin Avenue, NW (202) 338–8301 www.georgetownministrycenter.org laundry, counseling, psych care Martha’s Table 2114 14th Street, NW (202) 328–6608 www.marthastable.org dinner, education, recreation, clothing, child and family services

Shelter Hotline: 1–800–535–7252

Rachel’s Women’s Center 1222 11th Street, NW (202) 682–1005 http://www.ccdsd.org/howorwc.php hygiene, laundry, lunch, phone and mail, clothing, social activities Sasha Bruce Youthwork 741 8th Street, SE (202) 675–9340 www.sashabruce.org counseling, housing, family services So Others Might Eat (SOME) 71 “O” Street, NW (202) 797–8806; www.some.org lunch, medical and dental, job and housing counseling

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Academy of Hope GED Center 601 Edgewood St NE 202-269-6623 www.aohdc.org Bright Beginnings Inc. 128 M Street NW, Suite 150 Washington DC 20001 (202) 842–9090 www.brightbeginningsinc.org Child care, family services Catholic Community Services of D.C. 924 G Street, NW (202) 772–4300 www.ccs–dc.org umbrella for a variety of services D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 1234 Massachusetts Avenue, NW (202) 347–8870; www.dccfh.org housing, substance abuse treatment, employment assistance DC Food Finder Interactive online map of free and low cost food resources. www.dcfoodfinder.org Community Family Life Services 305 E Street, NW (202) 347–0511 www.cflsdc.org housing, job and substance abuse counseling, clothes closet

www.nationalhomeless.org activists, speakers bureau available National Student Partnerships (NSP) 128 M Street NW, Suite 320 (202) 289–2525 washingtondc@nspnet.org Job resource and referral agency Samaritan Ministry 1345 U Street, SE , AND 1516 Hamilton Street, NW (202)889–7702 www.samaritanministry.org HIV support, employment, drug/alcohol addiction, healthcare St. Luke’s Episcopal Church 1514 15th Street, NW (202) 667–4394 http://stlukesdc.edow.org food, counseling St. Matthew’s Cathedral 1725 Rhode Island Avenue, NW (202) 347–3215 ext. 552 breakfast, clothing, hygiene Travelers Aid, Union Station 50 Mass. Avenue, NE (202) 371–1937 www.travelersaid.org/ta/dc.html national emergency travel assistance Wash. Legal Clinic for the Homeless 1200 U Street, NW (202) 328–5500 www.legalclinic.org

MARYLAND SHELTER Comm. Ministry of Montgomery Co. 114 W. Montgomery Avenue, Rockville (301) 762–8682 www.communityministrymc.org The Samaritan Group P.O. Box 934, Chestertown (443) 480–3564 Warm Night Shelter 311 68th Place, Seat Pleasant (301) 499–2319 www.cmpgc.org

Foundry Methodist Church 1500 16th Street, NW (202) 332–4010 www.foundryumc.org ESL, lunch, clothing, IDs

FOOD

Hermano Pedro Day Center 3211 Sacred Heart Way, NW (202) 332–2874 http://www.ccs–dc.org/find/services/ meals, hygiene, laundry, clothing

Community Place Café 311 68th Place, Seat Pleasant (301) 499–2319 www.cmpgc.org

JHP, Inc. 1526 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE (202) 544–9126 www.jobshavepriority.org training and employment Jubilee Jobs 1640 Columbia Road, NW (202) 667–8970 www.jubileejobs.org job preparation and placement National Coalition for the Homeless 2201 P Street, NW (202) 462–4822

Bethesda Cares 7728 Woodmont Church, Bethesda (301) 907–9244 www.bethesdacares.com

Manna Food Center 614–618 Lofstrand Lane, Rockville (301) 424–1130 www.mannafood.org

MEDICAL RESOURCES Community Clinic, Inc. 8210 Colonial Lane, Silver Spring (301) 585–1250 www.cciweb.org Mobile Medical Care, Inc. 9309 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda (301) 493–8553 www.mobilemedicalcare.org

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Catholic Charities, Maryland 12247 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring (301) 942–1790 www.catholiccharitiesdc.org shelter, substance abuse treatment, variety of other services Mission of Love 6180 Old Central Avenue Capitol Heights (301)333–4440 www.molinc.org life skills classes, clothing, housewares Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless 600–B East Gude Drive, Rockville (301) 217–0314; www.mcch.net emergency shelter, transitional housing, and supportiveservices

VIRGINIA SHELTER Alexandria Community Shelter 2355 B Mill Road, Alexandria (703) 838–4239 Carpenter’s Shelter 930 N. Henry Street, Alexandria (703) 548–7500 www.carpentersshelter.org Arlington–Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless 3103 Ninth Road North, Arlington (703) 525–7177 www.aachhomeless.org

FOOD Alive, Inc. 2723 King Street, Alexandria (703) 836–2723; www.alive–inc.org Our Daily Bread 10777 Main Street, Ste. 320, Fairfax (703) 273–8829 www.our–daily–bread.org

MEDICAL RESOURCES Arlington Free Clinic 3833 N Fairfax Drive, #400, Arlington (703) 979–1400 www.arlingtonfreeclinic.org

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Abundant Life Christian Outreach, 5154 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria (703) 823–4100 www.anchor–of–hope.net food, clothing, youth development, and medicines David’s Place Day Shelter 930 North Henry Street, Alexandria (703) 548–7500 www.carpentersshelter.org laundry, shower, workshops, hypothermia shelter Legal Services of Northern Virginia 6066 Leesburg Pike, Ste. 500 (703) 778–6800; www.lsnv.org civil legal services Samaritan Ministry 2924 Columbia Pike, Arlington (703) 271–0938 www.samaritanministry.com social, job and HIV/AIDS services

Street Sense . July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008

Tyrone Rogers

VENDOR PROFILE

PHOTO FINISH

March to the Capitol Courtesy of Children’s Defense Fund

By Brittany Pope Born in Washington, D.C., Tyrone Rogers attended H.D. Woodson High School. His favorite subject was English. “I love reading both fiction and non–fiction, but I hate math,” he said with a slight grimace. Tyrone’s hobbies include basketball and travel. He has been an avid Lakers fan since the age of 12. If Tyrone had any superpower, he would want the power to fly. He said he would use that power to travel, as it is one of his interests. His passion for travel has led him to Disney World and Los Angeles. Tyrone has worked temporary jobs in food services at area universities including Georgetown and George Washington. After losing his job, he said a friend led him to Street Sense. “I had seen people out selling [Street Sense], and a friend of mine referred me to it,” he said. Tyrone said he likes seeing the smiles on his customers’ faces. “It means a lot when they tell me they enjoy the paper and that they’re glad to support [the vendors],” he said. In the future, Tyrone wishes to see himself “as a rich man” but adds with a laugh, “We all want that. I see myself still being helpful and giving back to the community.” How did you become homeless? Lost my job.

Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) President Marian Wright Edelman (center) and more than 500 students from CDF Freedom Schools march from Union Station to the U.S. Capitol on Friday, July 11. The students marched to rally in support of CDF’s Healthy Child Campaign — a campaign to provide health coverage for all children in America. The march was part of CDF Freedom Schools’ National Day of Social Action. Across the nation, more than 9,000 children participated in the National Day of Social Action. To learn about CDF’s Healthy Child Campaign, visit www.childrensdefense.org/healthychild.

Favorite music? Pretty much all music except hard rock and country. Favorite food? Fried chicken

StreetFact

Of the people convicted of violence against the homeless in 2007, 86% were 25 and under. See story on page 5. Source: National Law center on Homelessness and poverty & national coalition for the homeless

Tyrone reminds customers to only buy from badged vendors and not to give to those panhandling with one paper.

July 23 – Aug. 5, 2008 • Volume 5 • Issue 19

Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20005

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