OUR STORY
ARTISTIC WORKSHOPS
VENDORS
THE TEAM THE TEAM
VENDORS
treet Sense hosts a number of different workshops aimed at helping our vendors develop skills beyond writing for our newspaper. On any given day, our vendors are illustrating, painting, recording podcasts, taking photos, rehearsing plays, organizing advocacy groups and coming together as a community.
In 2023, artists/vendors published a book of their photography,
and shared their life experiences in an oral history project!
Abel Putu, Aida Peery, Al Edmonson, Akindele Akerejah, Amia Walker, Amina Washington, Andre Brinson, Andrew Anderson, Angie Whitehurst, Anthony Carney, Antoinette Calloway, Archie Thomas, Beverly Sutton, Brianna Butler, Burton Wells, Carlos Carolina, Carol Motley, Charles Armstrong, Charles Woods, Chon Gotti, Chris Cole, Conrad Cheek,
Abel Putu, Abraham Aly, Aida Peery, Akindele Akerejah, Amia Walker, Andre Baltimore, Andre Brinson, Andrew Anderson, Angie Whitehurst, Anthony Carney, Archie Thomas, Beverly Sutton, Brianna Butler, Cameé Lee, Carlos Carolina, Carlton Johnson, Charles Armstrong, Charles Woods, Chon Gotti, Chris Cole, Clinton Kilpatrick, Conrad Cheek,
Corey Sanders, Darlesha Joyner, David Snyder, Debora Brantley, Degnon “Gigi” Dovonou, Dominique Anthony, Don Gardner, Donte Turner, Earl Parker, Eric Thompson-Bey, Erica Downing, Evelyn Nnam, Faith Winkler, Floyd Carter, Frederic John, Frederick Walker, Gerald Anderson, George Gray, Gracias Garcias, Greta Christian, Henrieese Roberts, Henry Johnson, Invisible
Corey Sanders, Daniel Ball, Darlesha Joyner, David Snyder, Debora Brantley, Degnon (Gigi) Dovonou, Dominique Anthony, Don Gardner, Donté Turner, Doris Robinson, Earl Parker, Dwayne Butler, Eric Glover, Eric Thompson-Bey, Erica Downing, Evelyn Nnam, Floyd Carter, Franklin Sterling, Frederic John, Freedom, Gerald Anderson, Greta Christian, Harriet Fields, Henrieese Roberts, Henry Johnson, Ivory Wilson,
Prophet, Ibn Hipps, Ivory Wilson, Jacqueline “Jackie” Turner, Jacques Collier, James Davis, James Hughes, Jeanette Richardson, Jeff Taylor, Jeffery McNeil, Jeffrey Carter, Jemel Fleming, Jenkins Dalton, Jennifer McLaughlin, Jermale McKnight, Jet Flegette, Jewel Lewis, John Littlejohn, Josie Brown, Juliene Kengnie, Kenneth Middleton, Kym Parker, L.Q. Peterson, Laticia Brock, Lawrence
Jacqueline “Jackie” Turner, Jacquelyn Portee, James Davis, James Hughes, Jeanette Richardson, Jeff Taylor, Jeffery McNeil, Jeffrey Carter, Jemel Fleming, Jennifer McLaughlin, Jermale McKnight, Jet Flegette, Jewel Lewis, John Alley, John Littlejohn, Josie Brown, Juliene Kengnie, Kenneth Middleton, Khadijah Chapman, Kym Parker, Laticia Brock, Laura Smith, Lawrence Autry, Levester Green, Lu Potter, L. Morrow,
Autry, Levester Green, Marc Grier, Marcus McCall, Martin Walker, Maurice Carter, Maurice Spears, Melody Byrd, Micheal Pennycook, Michael Warner, Michele Modica, Morgan Jones, Nathanial Piscitelli, Nikila Smith, Patricia Donaldson, Patty Smith, Peaceful Tobias, Phillip Black, Queenie Featherstone, Rachelle Ellison, Randall Smith, Rashawn Bowser, Reginald Black, Reginald
Mango Redbook, Marc Grier, Marcus McCall, Mars, Martin Walker, Mary Sellman, Maurice Spears, Melody Byrd, Michael Warner, Michele Modica, Michele Rochon, Morgan Jones, Nikila Smith, Patricia Donaldson, Patty Smith, Phillip Black, Queenie Featherstone, Rashawn Bowser, Reginald Black, Reginald C. Denny, Ricardo Meriedy, Richard “Mooney” Hart, Rita Sauls, Robert Warren, Rochelle Walker,
Ron Dudley, Sasha Williams, Shuhratjon Ahmadjonov, Sybil Taylor, Tonya Williams Vennie Hill, Warren Stevens, Wendell Williams, William Mack
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mary Coller Albert, Blake Androff, Nana-Sentuo Bonsu, Jonquilyn Hill, Stanley Keeve, Clare Krupin, Ashley McMaster, Matt Perra, Michael Phillips, Daniel Webber, Shari Wilson, Corrine Yu
Denny, Ricardo Meriedy, Rita Sauls, Robert Vaughn, Robert Warren, Rochelle Walker, Ron Dudley, S. Smith, Sasha Williams, Saul Presa, Shawn Fenwick, Sheila White, Shuhratjon Ahmadjonov, Starchild Blk, Sureyakanti Behera, Susan Wilshusen, Sybil Taylor, Tasha Savoy, Tony Bond, Tonya Williams, Vennie Hill, Vincent Watts, Wanda Alexander, Warren Stevens, Wayne Hall, Wendell
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Brian Carome
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS
Doris Warrell
Williams, William Mack BOARD OF DIRECTORS Ashley McMaster, Blake Androff, Clare Krupin, Corrine Yu, Jonquilyn Hill, Matt Perra, Michael Vaughan Cherubin, Michael Phillips, NanaSentuo Bonsu, Shari Wilson, Stanley Keeve
DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS
Darick Brown
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Brian Carome
DIRECTOR OF VENDOR EMPLOYMENT
Thomas Ratliff
NEWS IN BRIEF
Only a fraction of families leaving Rapid Rehousing approved for housing vouchers
CAROLINA BOMENY Georgetown Contributing Writer
Only 97 families leaving Rapid Rehousing (RRH) have been approved for permanent housing assistance, D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA) Housing Choice Voucher Program Director Anton Shaw said during an Oct. 9 DCHA board meeting.
While over 2,200 families are being removed from the RRH program this year, only 489 families have applied for the available vouchers, according to Shaw.
The slow rate of applications, which DCHA blames mainly on a lack of communications from the Department of Human Services (DHS), is just the latest blow to the RRH program. While it’s meant to help families exiting homelessness achieve housing stability, few families are able to afford housing when the time-limited subsidy ends. With the high costs of housing in the city, advocates and participants fear families will return to homelessness if they can’t get connected to other resources, like the vouchers DCHA is offering.
In D.C., homelessness among families has increased 39% since 2023, marking the second consecutive year of rising rates in the District. More families need assistance with the rising cost of living in D.C., yet the safety net around D.C. citizens is weaker than a few years ago.
RRH assists families experiencing or at risk of homelessness by subsidizing their housing for 12-18 months. Families are expected to contribute 30% of their income towards rent and are only eligible for the assistance if they are part of another DHS program. Over 2,000 families in RRH received letters this summer saying they were no longer eligible to continue in the short-term rental assistance program due to funding shortages.
In July, the DCHA board voted to prioritize those families for 1,300 Housing Choice Vouchers, which would offer long-term housing assistance.
On Oct. 3 and 4, DHS (which runs RRH), and DCHA held mass application sessions. “We were expecting a larger turnout,” Shaw said during the meeting. Only 101 families showed up out of the 500 applicants expected, and only 37 completed applications.
“What we learned was families came to the session but did not have their paperwork, their documents, their income, statements, TANF [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] information, proper ID, and so on. So even though they came and signed in, they left,” Shaw said.
DCHA staff blamed the low turnout and low number of applications on DHS and case managers, saying there was a lack of communication with RRH participants about the application sessions and document requirements for approval. DCHA said they trained DHS personnel on this process, but still, most families were not properly prepared, especially regarding the specific documents required and the differences between the federal and local voucher applications.
Application sessions will continue, but delays in the process are causing concern many families won’t have housing as their RRH subsidy ends. “Is there a safety net?” DCHA Commissioner Rosa Burbridge asked at the meeting. “Is there somewhere in the near future that we can have a safety net that catches those families that seem apparently falling through?”
Of the 97 families DCHA has approved for a voucher, only one family was ready to move into a unit, pending their contract processing in the days after the meeting.
“It’s not just one family. That’s a family that will not be homeless, that will enjoy the holidays. So great job on that, because one is better than zero. Right?” Burbridge said.
BIRTHDAYS
DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS
Darick Brown
DIRECTOR OF VENDOR EMPLOYMENT
Thomas Ratliff
VENDOR PROGRAM ASSOCIATES
Rita Sauls Oct. 24
ARTIST/VENDOR
Daniel Ball Oct. 25
ARTIST/VENDOR
Aida Peery, Chon Gotti, Nikila Smith VENDOR PROGRAM VOLUNTEERS Ann Herzog, Beverly Brown, Madeleine McCollough, Roberta Haber
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Annemarie Cuccia
DEPUTY EDITOR Donte Kirby
EDITORIAL INTERNS
Fiona Riley, Tierra Cunningham
GEORGETOWN CONTRIBUTING WRITER Carolina Bomney
Jewel Lewis Oct. 31
ARTIST/VENDOR
Morgan Jones Nov. 4
ARTIST/VENDOR
DESIGN INTERNS
Kevin Alexander, Jihoo Yang
SOCIAL MEDIA INTERN Madi Koesler
ARTISTS-INRESIDENCE Bonnie Naradzay (Poetry), David Serota (Illustration),
Correction: The cover art of the Oct. 9 issue was attributed to Abel Putu. It was done by Abel Putu and Tiesha Peake. We are deeply sorry for the error.
Leslie Jacobson (Theater), Roy Barber (Theater), Willie Schatz (Writing)
EDITORIAL VOLUNTEERS
Abigail Chang, Andrew Chow, Annie Hoge, Anne Eigeman, August Dichter, Benjamin Litoff, Candace Montague,
EVENTS AT SSM
ANNOUNCEMENTS
□ The October vendor meeting will be Friday, Oct. 25, at 2 p.m. Come for pizza, drinks and community convo.
□ Take the vendor survey! $10 and 10 papers for just 10 minutes of your time. Sign up at the admin desk.
□ Ask your customers to take the audience survey! It ends when this issue ends. Earn 10 newspapers for every customer you refer. The vendor with the most referrals wins $50 on Nov. 6.
□ Find a list of vendor announcements and other useful information just for you at streetsensemedia. org/vendor-info.
Cari Shane, Chelsea Cirruzzo, Dan Goff, Franziska Wild, Grier Hall, Jack Walker, J.M. Ascienzo, Josh Axelrod, Kate Molloy, Kathryn Owens, Matt Gannon, Micah Levey, Nina Raj, Rachel Dungan, Ryan Bacic, Susannah Birle, Taylor Nichols, Zach Montellaro
VENDOR CODE OF CONDUCT
Read this democratically elected code of conduct, by vendors, for vendors!
1. I will support Street Sense Media’s mission statement and in so doing will work to support the Street Sense Media community and uphold its values of honesty, respect, support, and opportunity.
2. I will treat all others, including customers, staff, volunteers, and fellow vendors, respectfully at all times. I will refrain from threatening others, pressuring customers into making donations, or engaging in behavior that condones racism, sexism, classism, or other prejudices.
3. I understand that I am not an employee of Street Sense Media but an independent contractor.
4. While distributing the Street Sense newspaper, I will not ask for more than $3 per issue or solicit donations by any other means.
5. I will only purchase the newspaper from Street Sense Media staff and volunteers and will not distribute newspapers to other vendors.
6. I will not distribute copies of “Street Sense” on metro trains and buses or on private property.
7. I will abide by the Street Sense Media Vendor Territory Policy at all times and will resolve any related disputes with other vendors in a professional manner.
8. I will not sell additional goods or products while distributing “Street Sense.”
9. I will not distribute “Street Sense” under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
10. I understand that my badge and vest are property of Street Sense Media and will not deface them. I will present my badge when purchasing “Street Sense” and will always display my badge when distributing “Street Sense.”
D.C. Council proposal would prohibit utility shutoffs in winter, summer
LIAM BOWMAN Volunteer Freelance Reporter
When Ericka Yarborough fell behind on her utility bills last winter, Pepco shut off the power in her Columbia Heights apartment. It stayed off for nearly eight months. No power meant living in the dark, showering with cold water, and having no refrigerator to store groceries. It also meant living with no heat during the coldest months of the year. “It was rough during the wintertime,” said Yarborough, 34, who lives in subsidized housing and receives public assistance. “It’s freezing cold. You got to put on a million blankets, if you even have a million blankets… You’ll be freezing cold. You barely want to get up.”
“Just living and going through this, it’s really hard and it’s frustrating,” she added.
Yarborough is hardly the only D.C. resident to navigate extreme weather without power. Many District residents are struggling with the cost of utilities. In the first eight months of 2024, Pepco sent 113,105 disconnection notices to customers, including 23,181 to lowincome customers, according to a company report to the D.C. Public Service Commission. In the same time period, Pepco disconnected residential customers for nonpayment 6,396 times, affecting 1,076 low-income customers.
A new proposal before the D.C. Council would expand utility protections for vulnerable residents like Yarborough by guaranteeing electricity and gas connection throughout the summer and winter months. The bill, introduced in June by Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau and Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, would prohibit utility companies in the District from disconnecting electricity or gas to certain at-risk households from Nov. 1 through Feb. 29, and May 15 through Sept. 15. Currently, D.C. law prevents utility disconnections during weekends, holidays, and when the temperature climbs above 95 degrees or below 32 degrees.
“In the District, we have some safeguards in place so that people won’t have their power turned off when it’s extremely hot or extremely cold. The reality is — and what I’ve heard from residents who are struggling to pay their rent, utilities, food, and more — is that it’s not enough,” Nadeau wrote via a spokesperson on Oct. 8. She says the bill “is a way to ease at least part of that burden as residents work to get above water. And it’s a way to protect our most vulnerable residents from unhealthy living conditions,” she added.
Under the proposal, titled the “Utility Disconnection Protection Act of 2024,” the expanded protections would apply to households with children under 18, seniors over 65, individuals with disabilities, and recipients of certain public assistance programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The District’s Department of Energy and the Environment would be responsible for enforcing the new regulations.
If passed, the bill would require utility providers to offer payment plans to protected customers who are disconnected due to nonpayment year-round. It would also put a $25 limit on the amount a company can charge to restore a customer’s power or gas. Currently, companies can require customers pay their overdue balance in full before the company restores service.
For Yarborough, easing the financial burden of getting reconnected would be a gamechanger. “I think that would have definitely made a difference, because, you know, it’s three-hundred and something dollars” to pay the full bill and be reconnected now, she said. “And [it] should be like, ‘Can you pay $50 to $75?’ That’s reasonable.”
The bill also contains a provision requiring utility companies to file monthly reports on the number of disconnections and unpaid bills broken down by ward and ZIP code. Utility companies currently have to file reports quarterly but do not differentiate by area. For disadvantaged residents, “The Utility Disconnection Protection Act could serve as a piece of legislation to provide pivotal consumer protections,” said Kintéshia Scott, assistant people’s counsel at the Office of People’s Counsel, a consumer advocacy group. Scott said many D.C. residents have yet to financially recover from the pandemic and “there are a number of consumers who face economic challenges and who are struggling to catch back up.”
Pepco, the District’s public electric utility, opposes the bill. In a statement, a Pepco spokesperson said that while the company “fully understands and shares the concerns that have prompted the introduction of the ‘Utility Disconnection Protection Act,’” implementing “a new moratorium on disconnections, while well-intended, risks creating unintended consequences. Such a prolonged measure could leave customers with insurmountable debt.”
The statement added Pepco offers flexible payment options and only disconnects customers as a last resort.
A representative for Washington Gas, the District’s public natural gas utility, said the company would comply with the bill if it passes. They added Washington Gas does not disconnect customers when temperatures fall below 32 degrees. Nadeau, however, believes the current temperature-based regulations are flawed, especially because companies don’t have to turn the power back on when temperatures hit extreme levels. “If Pepco turns off the electricity on Monday when it’s 89 degrees and on Tuesday the temperature rises to 95, they don’t have to turn it back on,” she wrote in the Oct. 8 statement. “With more and more 90-degree days as the climate changes, saying that electricity can be shut off in the heat of summer – just not on the day temps rise over 95, isn’t enough. Those are conditions in which nobody should have to live, much less children with asthma, struggling seniors, and other vulnerable populations.”
Selah Goodson Bell, an energy justice campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity and one of a group of advocates who pushed for the bill’s introduction, said the proposed changes are an important step forward.
“One of the main things the bill is trying to fix is the fact that we’re seeing shutoffs still peak during the summer, but these shutoffs are most dangerous for particularly vulnerable households,” Goodson Bell said. “Residents like seniors, youth, pregnant or postpartum individuals, and also individuals with a disability. All these different groups are more sensitive than the average person to extreme temperatures.”
A resident of Columbia Heights Village, a subsidized apartment complex, Yarborough was able to get her utilities restored earlier this year with the support of community organizations like the Columbia Heights Village Tenants Association.
Cynthia Hall, the tenant association’s chief operating officer, said many residents of the property face similar challenges. Within the previous two to three years, she estimated at least three dozen residents there were disconnected, some for more than three months.
But with the safeguards in the bill, Hall said, “even if these [residents] fall into a financial hardship again, they don’t have to worry about sitting in their apartment in 30-degree weather without power.”
The bill has been referred to the council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development and Committee on Transportation and the Environment, which must approve the bill before it can go to the full council for a vote. Neither committee has scheduled a hearing for the bill, so it may not get heard before the council period ends this year. If so, Nadeau spokesperson David Connerty-Marin said the council member plans to reintroduce the bill next year.
Residents rely on A.C. to keep cool in the summer. Photo by Mitchell Luo/Unsplash
A new report finds its end left them struggling.
Pandemic
aid was a lifeline for families.
CAROLINA BOMENY
Georgetown Contributing Writer
The end of pandemic-era benefits, which provided nearly $30,000 on average to many low-income D.C. families from 2020 to 2022, has left some facing food and housing insecurity. According to a new report from the United Planning Organization (UPO), many families are now struggling to meet rent and other expenses after a period of relative stability.
“The pandemic provided an unprecedented level of economic security for a lot of people and then it just disappeared overnight,” said Ed Lazere, UPO’s legislative advocacy director.
For three years, a typical low-income single-parent family with two children received four main federal benefits totaling almost $10,000 a year: three economic stimulus payments between 2020 and 2021, an expanded Child Tax Credit that offered enhanced monthly payments in 2021 and 2022, increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) monthly allotments in 2020 to 2022 and two rounds of federal Emergency Rental Assistance, via the Stay D.C. program, to assist with rent in 2021 and 2022. Though support declined in 2023, families still received an extra $400, according to the report, thanks to some continued higher SNAP benefits.
As federal programs have waned, the city has seen rising rates of people experiencing homelessness, being evicted, and seeking out food assistance. Additionally, the District has cut housing and rental assistance programs over the last two years, meaning there are fewer local resources to make up the difference.
Despite high demand for the program’s services, the 2025 D.C. budget cut the local Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) by over $13 million. On Oct. 1, the same day the program was scheduled to reopen for new applications, the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation that further cut back on pandemic-era tenant protections.
These changes mean tenants are no longer automatically protected from eviction when applying for ERAP and have to provide additional proof of their eligibility, including income and the nature of the emergency situation that qualifies them for the program.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a Sept. 30 press briefing that the program hurts affordable housing providers, that she said report $100 million in unpaid rent. In September, the affordable housing developer Neighborhood Development Corporation closed after 25 years, citing the difficult market. But advocates say the new policy will only make evictions easier and lead to further displacement in D.C.
“The huge problem is that people don’t have money to pay rising rents and rising food prices and if we don’t address that, changing how people qualify for ERAP isn’t going to get landlords any more money in their pockets,” Lazere said.
Applications for ERAP did not open in October as scheduled and a new opening date has not been publicly announced. The program will no longer open quarterly, as it did in 2024. Once the portal reopens, it will remain up until funds for the 2025 fiscal year run out. Before
the 2023-2024 cycle, when the program ran year-round with significantly more funding, there was usually no more money by the middle of the year.
Housing isn’t the only area nearing a crisis. Over 250,000 D.C. residents — 38% of the city’s population — are facing food insecurity, up from 35% in 2023, and from almost 12% in 2020. Many nonprofits that provide food assistance have reported a surge in demand and fewer resources to keep up. D.C. Central Kitchen’s Chief Development Officer Alexander Moore said the increased emergency SNAP allotments allowed people to afford healthy food in small community corner stores. But with the end of those benefits, the choice to eat well, have agency on what products to buy, and support local businesses has greatly diminished.
“So what we are facing is, I think, a really significant potential perfect storm that impacts food security, It impacts wellness, it impacts public health. All at a time when we now have a pretty good evidence base for what works, and we’re making choices to do the opposite frankly,” Moore said.
Deschawn Cromartie, 56, is one of the D.C. residents severely impacted by the pandemic. Without programs like UPO’s food package distribution, she said would not be able to afford food and feed her family.
“I get only $33 dollars for SNAP. And $33 doesn’t carry you a long way in the grocery store,” Cromartie said. “Can I live off of that for the whole month? No.”
Cromartie is diabetic and said UPO’s food program was a lifeline during the pandemic and still is, allowing her to access fresh food and vegetables, meat, and other nutritious items for a better diet.
“Lord have mercy and behold, do you know my grandkids were so fond and proud to see so much vegetables,” Cromartie said. The grandmother, who recently lost a son and suffered a stroke shortly after, says UPO was critical in helping her get back on her feet.
“I’ve been gaining my weight back. I’ve been doing things that were out of the ordinary. My grandbabies come, and they’re just like, Grandma, what’s on the menu?”
While the end of emergency allotments “absolutely cratered the sales” of healthy foods and vegetables, Moore said the 2024 Give SNAP a Raise policy had a significant impact in restoring some of the pandemic-era resources. The program, which increased SNAP benefits by 10%, ended in September and is not included in the 2025 D.C. budget.
“It’s really important, I think here in D.C. and across the country, we flip this idea of funding food as being a social program. It’s not. It is one of the most cost-effective investments we can make in public health, in educational achievement, in closing economic disparities and the racial wealth gap,” Moore said.
Both Lazere and Moore asked D.C. policymakers to think about these as economic issues rather than social assistance.
“It’s better for the whole city, including for the landlords who worry about rents being paid and the grocery stores that are worried about shoplifting. Everybody’s better off if we pay attention to the economic security of the people with the lowest incomes in D.C.,” Lazere said.
Illustration by Jihoo Yang
‘Have
You Seen
Teri?’ Film shows the reality of homelessness and its impact on a family
TIERRA CUNNINGHAM Editorial Intern
To honor World Homeless Day, 23 people came together at the Suitland Creative Center for the third film screening of ‘Have you Seen Teri?’ from the independent filmmaker and director K. Dené Chinn. Chinn’s film centered around her estranged Aunt Teri, her relative on her father’s side. Teri lost contact with the rest of her family over 20 years ago, as a result of their fragile relationship and her struggle with housing instability
Chinn chose to host the third screening of this film to coincide with World Homeless Day, which began in 2010 to raise awareness about those experiencing homelessness. The panel discussion moderator, Shani McIlwain, spoke about the importance of community outreach in preventing death and other tragedies.
Black communities have been historically underserved compared to white counterparts. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, African Americans represent 13% of the U.S. population, but represent 37% of those experiencing homelessness and more than 50% of homeless families with children. These disparities only worsen with a global disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, 32% of Black adults lost their jobs compared to 24% of white adults, which is one factor why renters of color reported instability in their ability to pay rent, according to CAP 20.
“There is a saying when America catches a cold, Black people catch pneumonia,” McIlwain said. “When you talk about homelessness, when you talk about mental health, when you talk about anything that affects humans…our community is always more vastly hurt and affected negatively in those areas.”
The film begins with the mystery that no one in Chinn’s family has had contact with her Aunt Teri in over 20 years. Chinn takes on the emotional quest of finding her aunt and learning what happened to her, though she has little record or traces of where she could be.
Chinn’s nine aunts and uncles did not grow up together in the same household. Their birth mother, Cleo, only cared for one of her children, Derek. The family doesn’t know why Cleo didn’t care for the rest of her children, but Teri, Brenda, and Iris were raised by another family member, to whom Brenda refers as mommy.
Because the siblings grew up separately with different family members, Brenda says in the film the siblings had a lack of trust among them.
“I truly believe everything that all of us have gone through mentally, especially my sister Teri, stems from the mother,” Brenda said. “She [didn’t] give us her love, we never saw her.”
Teri and Brenda only knew two of their other siblings, until Brenda was about 16. At that point, they met the other half of the family, and learned the woman raising Brenda and Teri was not their biological mother.
“She had all these children in the little city of D.C. and nobody knew each other,” said Brenda. “How awful is that? That is so awful, I don’t care what no one says, it stems from the parent.”
In the film, much of Teri’s upbringing is narrated by her sister Brenda, since they lived together, but Brenda says the two were not close growing up. Brenda recalls not interacting much with Teri as an adolescent, going separate ways as teenagers. However, Brenda believes that after their adoptive mother died, it took Teri to a dark place.
“I don’t know how she absorbed that or how she developed, but we as sisters didn’t talk. We didn’t have a sisterly bond,” she said. As a result of the isolation the siblings grew up in, Brenda believes Teri struggled because there was no one left in whom Teri could confide.
“What’s going on? What’s gonna happen? Cause what do she do now? Who does she know? I think her world shattered,” Brenda said.
After their mother died, Teri took steps to carve a life for herself. After graduating from Eastern High School in the early 1970s, she enrolled in the University of Maryland, according to the film, though she left after a year. As a young adult, Teri held many jobs, working as a contractor at the Naval Research Laboratory, and working at United Planning Organization, which helps fight poverty. To her siblings, she was living a seemingly successful life as a single woman. Teri always made an effort to dress well with name-brand clothing and accessories, her siblings said, but at home in her apartment she had nothing.
“I went to see her one time,” said her brother Kenneth. “I said I ain’t know Black people lived in this building cause it’s a very nice building, so when you go in there is no furniture, everything is on the floor.”
Brenda said Teri’s struggles started slowly. Teri’s transient lifestyle began with her living with siblings and other family members, but this was short-lived. Teri lived with Chinn’s family for a time, but she was so young she doesn’t remember it. At the point the film was made, Teri’s family suspected she had been homeless for about 30 years.
Employees with N Street Village, an organization that supports women experiencing homelessness, who were interviewed in the film said Teri’s story sounded unfortunately common, as many Black women who seek help from the organization have not been able to find support elsewhere. Teri’s family said they suspected that in addition to housing insecurity, Teri was dealing with mental health challenges.
“Homelessness itself is traumatic,” Kenyatta Brunson, the former CEO of N St Village, said in the film. “Systematic oppression plays a great deal in how Black women deal with stress and trauma.”
Two decades later, Chinn took on the quest to heal family wounds and bring closure to the family along with her father, Kenneth. Chinn contacted shelters and state hospitals and opened a police investigation. The last information the family had about Teri was that she had stayed in a shelter for some time in the 1990s. The last time her family had seen her was in the late 1990s.
Chinn and Kenneth went to shelters and service agencies around the area looking for Teri. Kenneth passed away in 2022 without finding his sister, but Chinn carried on the search.
Chinn found the apartment her aunt lived in and left a message to contact her. After Chinn spoke to Teri on the phone, the siblings said they felt a sense of closure. The call with Teri only lasted six minutes, and she hasn’t reached out since.
Reflecting on the emotional toll of making the film, Chinn credited her faith for enabling her to persevere. The name of Chinn’s production company, 6:33 Productions, is inspired by Matthew 6:33. Through the ups and downs of the creative process and personal situations, Chinn relied on her faith to finish the film.
“My faith kept me going because I was applying for grants to get this film done and there were a lot of no’s and that could be discouraging,” said Chinn. “I lost my father during the production of this film, that was a blow, but I also felt called to do the film.”
The director of ‘Have You Seen Teri?,’ K. Dené Chinn (middle, holding microphone) participates in a panel discussion after the film screening. Photo by Tierra Cunningham
OPINION
Random Acts of Kindness: Lightning may not strike twice but it seems stupidity does!
WENDELL WILLIAMS
n today’s world, calling someone stupid is socially awkward and totally unacceptable. The one saving grace, thank God, we got left in this oh-toopolitically-correct world is that you can still call yourself stupid. And to quote a fictional caricature, “Stupid is what stupid does!”
IFor those of you just tuning in to the often-described off-beat stuff I write about, I’ve contributed a column titled Random Acts of Kindness. In it, I chronicle the kind things people, in a lot of cases outright strangers, have done for me or others in times of need without knowing the impact.
Almost exactly two years ago I wrote an opinion piece about a zany last-minute decision to fly down and tour the low country of Georgia and South Carolina, with a base camp in Savannah. Because of my obsession with a damn book, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” we all got caught up in a category 4 or 5 hurricane named Ian. No need to rehash the details here; you can read all about it online in “When hurricanes strike, unhoused people seem forgotten” on the Street Sense Media website.
Well, what did Brittany Spears sing, “Oops I did it again?”
Earlier this week, on a whim, we hopped on a flight to, of all places, Cancun, Mexico for what we thought was going to be a quick “free” vacation. You would have thought we’d learned a thing or two, but oh no. My friend put a documented “slow learner” in charge of handling the details, which almost assured the possibility of lightning striking twice.......
When we arrived at the Cancun airport, it was deja vu. Except we of course didn’t pay attention to the clues, just like two years ago. I missed things, like there were 10 times as many taxi drivers as potential riders. They had handmade signs and were waving to us and asking if we needed transportation. But ours was arranged by our host, so, acting smug, we waved them off while walking through the gauntlet. Still clueless, I answered my friend’s question as to why things seemed deserted. I looked around at all the open margarita and taco kiosks all over the outside plaza of the airport with no customers and I answered, “Man, it’s just Monday.” You see, we had a foolproof plan for an almost free vacation
— the ole visit a timeshare routine, which I’ve done a few times for a beachfront condo somewhere. But as we got into the resort-provided van, my friend commented on how empty the streets looked again. I said something like it was just the end of the season, and continued not to see things like plenty of taxis just parked on the sides of the roads and almost no pedestrian traffic. And the next series of events is proof positive that, as they say in therapy, “denial” is not just a river in Egypt. We get in the hotel the place has that strange “Hotel California” kind of feel to it. It’s like every employee is in the lobby and has been waiting for our arrival with uniforms so crisp and sharp they would make the maddest of dictators jealous at their inauguration. And we continued not to pay attention to the numerous red flags the universe was waving. I confessed already to being a slow learner. Now add to that I’m also, at times, a slow thinker. We walked by a group of men wrestling with sheets of plywood in a sitting area before the main bank of elevators without even taking notice. In an irony of all ironies, in my work helping others recover from addictions, I’m always preaching the importance of awareness and how it can save your life. My friends and children quote me word for word on that subject, yet I stumbled on past so many obvious warnings that Stevie Wonder would have sounded the alarm.
But the thought of the free vacation had indeed blinded us to the reality right in front of us, as if we’d ventured through some portal of stupidness that didn’t allow us to access any critical thinking skills. My friend had been telling me about this upscale mall across from where she stayed before, where the real rich and famous shops are, you know one of those malls where all I can afford is a couple of scoops of ice cream in the food court and that’s still $10-15. And then we’d have dinner somewhere nearby, now how traumatizing could that be? But boy it was!
So, we hopped on a local bus for the ride to the Cancun version of Rodeo Drive. All along the main drag, where normally you saw nothing but tourists packed on the sidewalks, there was no one. Again, it’s Monday and my thinking is still distracted by the famous luxury brand names on the walls outside, not noticing the absence of shoppers nor the heavy presence of military-style guards with automatic weapons. I’d learn why later. It was, of course, because of the weather. It was an outside mall, a huge one with some brands I’d never heard of, let alone dreamed of owning. I got that $10 ice cream and waited for my friend who walked around what seemed like a twentyfirst-century ghost town.
We looked for a place to eat in the mall but nothing seemed inviting, so as we left we became the hottest property around, two people going somewhere and needing a cab. So, we had the driver head back towards the resort and picked out a restaurant, and even that was strange. They all looked closed but they weren’t so we took the scientific approach, eenie meanie miney moe and went in. We walk in and we’re what seems like the only customers in this beautiful place with breathtaking views. “Table for two please.” Initially, I thought inside in AC, but my friend said let’s sit outside by the water. There, we came face to face with reality for the first time and no amount of denial was powerful enough for us not to understand what was happening.
As we sat, another couple came in, meaning four diners in a place that would hold over two hundred. I was sitting that close to the rising waters. For the first time, I’m going oh shit. All of the past week I’d been worried about my friends living around the Asheville, North Carolina area with the flooding there and the damage to their homes. So, this close-up view started to mean something different. As we got up to leave, we saw the docks disappearing under the beating waves to the point where it was just boats bobbing in open water.
So now there’s a little fete, so we walk to a 7-11-like convenience store to get a few things for the night and a sobering sight met us — contractors with stacks of plywood on dollies starting to board up the windows and doors. We grab another cab sitting amongst many out front and head back for the night. Now I begin to recall what I saw when we checked in that morning but paid no attention to, the resort workmen boarding windows in sitting areas facing the ocean. How could I be so stupid to not ask one question during check-in? Our answer would come around 3 a.m.
Well, we got settled down and tried to watch some TV in Spanish before falling fast asleep. I woke up to relieve myself and, cutting the light on, saw a white piece of paper under the door. I started to read it and went WTF and my mind flashed back to two years ago and my Street Sense story about how this same friend and I just missed being caught up in the destruction of Ian’s path on a similar sojourn. We were just as clueless as we were in Savannah with more experience, explain that. It was deja vu. In my personal living program, we’re always saying how this or that behavior is insane, with the definition of insane being doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. This couldn’t be happening to two sharp intelligent people, again, but it was beginning to seem like it was.
Stay tuned for part two of Wendell’s journey.
Wendell Williams is an artist/vendor with Street Sense Media
Island being boarded up for the hurricane. Photo by Wendell Williams
Empty resort in Cancun. Photo by Wendell Williams
2024 VOTER GUIDE
Street Sense voter guide 2024
n the Nov. 5 elections, District voters can weigh in on their picks for the D.C. Council’s two at-large seats and councilmembers for wards 2, 4, 7, and 8. They can also vote on a ballot initiative, Initiative 83, which would open up D.C.’s primaries to registered independent voters and implement ranked-choice voting on ballots.
IThe 2024 election comes five months after the Supreme Court ruled in the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson case that cities could punish people for sleeping outside, granting local governments more authority to expand the criminalization of people experiencing homelessness. Now, D.C. residents can elect representatives who reflect their perspective on how the city should respond to increasing homelessness and what support District officials should implement or bolster.
Democrat Robert White, Independent Christina Henderson, Republican Rob Simmons, and Statehood Green party candidate Darryl Moch are running in a pick-two race for the at-large seats. White and Henderson currently hold the seats.
Incumbents Democrat Brooke Pinto from Ward 2 and Democrat Janeese Lewis George from Ward 4 are running unopposed. In Ward 7, Democrat Wendell Felder and Republican Noah Montgomery are vying for the councilmember position, and in Ward 8, incumbent Democrat Trayon White is running against Republican Nate Derenge.
Street Sense sent a series of questions to each of the candidates, asking about their stances on key issues like affordable, safe, and subsidized housing, shelter capacity, and encampment clearings. Some of those responses are included below and the rest are online on our website. Responses will be updated online if and when more candidates respond to our survey.
How to vote
D.C. allows citizens to register to vote in person on election day, as long as they can provide proof that they live in the District. Proof of residence can include a government-issued photo identification, a bank statement, or a utility bill. People experiencing homelessness can list their address as a shelter, street corner, or park, as long as they can trace their proof of residency to the District.
The deadline to register to vote online and via mail passed on Oct. 15, but citizens can still register in person through Nov. 5 by contacting their local election office.
To vote in person on election day or during the early voting period, citizens can visit voting centers across the city, which District officials advertise online.
Ward elections
In Ward 2, Pinto is running unopposed. Pinto, who has served as the ward’s councilmember since June 2020, lists “addressing homelessness” as one of her key policy points. She is on the D.C. Council’s Committee on Housing, and says she works to promote affordable housing options and increase the number of service providers.
During the 2025 budget deliberations, Pinto advocated for
the budget to include immediate repairs to The Aston, a shelter on New Hampshire Avenue that will serve as the city’s first non-congregate shelter. In January 2023, Pinto introduced legislation to “dramatically” increase the number of public restrooms in all wards and is now proposing a similar bill to place mobile showers in each of D.C.’s quadrants.
In Ward 4, Lewis George is also unopposed. She first joined the council in 2020. Her key policy points include expanding affordable housing and strengthening social services. She states she will continue to push for increased funding for the Emergency Rental Assistance, Permanent Supportive Housing, and Targeted Affordable Housing programs. Lewis George also worked with five other councilmembers to introduce the Green New Deal for Housing Act, which advocates for sustainable social housing. The act would establish the Office of Social Housing Developments to focus on maintaining and growing affordable housing in the District.
In Ward 7, Democrat Wendell Felder is up against Republican Noah Montgomery. Felder, who would replace retiring Councilmember Vince Gray, is proposing a recovery plan that would prioritize building safer communities, including by preserving affordable housing options and combating poverty and health care inequities. His website says he wants to improve the quality of housing in underserved communities, but does not mention people experiencing homelessness.
Montgomery’s key issues include safety and prosperity, which he said he would achieve by increasing police presence in the ward and “holding the violent accountable” while lowering taxes and adding jobs. He does not detail plans for affordable housing or combating homelessness on his website.
In Ward 8, Trayon White, the incumbent Democrat, is up against Republican Nate Derenge. In August, White was arrested for bribery charges, but has remained on the ballot. There are also three write-in candidates for Ward 8, who have registered over the last few months following White’s arrest: Olivia Henderson, Michael Brown, and Khadijah Long.
White (no relation to At-large Councilmember and candidate Robert White) serves on the Committee on Housing and promotes “housing for all” by saying he will reduce evictions and develop underserved communities. He does not specifically mention people experiencing homelessness as part of his key policy initiatives.
Derenge states on his website he wants to increase affordable housing options by closing the D.C. Housing Authority and putting individual units up for auction where they can be bought for a 30% discount. He does not mention homelessness on his website.
Henderson, a former Ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner, co-chaired an advisory team for short-term family housing. She lists affordable housing as one of her main policy goals, in addition to successful youth programs and safe neighborhoods.
Long has experience in housing services and advocacy and crisis intervention, according to the Facebook account for her campaign.
Information on Brown’s campaign and initiatives is not available online. He did not participate in a Washington Informer article on the Ward 8 write-in candidates.
Three candidates provided responses to the questions: Pinto, Henderson, and Derenge.
1. Affordable Housing: Six candidates for ward council member seats list increasing access to affordable housing as one of their main priorities. What resources, if any, will you implement or expand to help people experiencing homelessness access housing options in the District?
Pinto (Ward 2, Democrat): During my first term, I have been steadfast in my efforts to address homelessness by advocating for increased access to affordable housing, lowering barriers to housing for neighbors experiencing homelessness, and securing critical resources. I fought to secure $400 million for the Housing Production Trust Fund, which is essential for both creating new affordable housing and preserving existing units across the District. We have increased the number of permanent supportive housing vouchers for residents across the District and have lowered barriers to accessing these vouchers by ensuring someone’s past involvement in the criminal justice system cannot be considered as part of a housing application. As a part of my bill, the Recovery Act, I provided for requirements for new projects in the Central Business District to have 20% of units affordable to ensure that as we build a new downtown, that there is a place for everyone.
I’ve championed a reentry housing program, which provides 70 single rooms with wraparound services for residents returning from incarceration. This program not only helps ensure safe housing but also offers the support necessary to rebuild lives and reintegrate with dignity. I am proud to have supported the Generating Affordability in Neighborhoods (GAIN) Act, which expands affordable housing options and strengthens our community’s ability to provide for our most vulnerable residents.
When I am reelected, I will continue to push for these and other critical measures, as my commitment to addressing homelessness and opportunities for affordable housing remains unwavering. I am determined to expand housing access, strengthen support services, and fight for every resident’s right to safe and stable housing.
Derenge (Ward 8, Republican): According to a federal audit, 25% of housing units managed by DCHA are vacant. Sell the public property to the people, and allow these units to be utilized.
Henderson (Ward 8, write-in candidate): To tackle homelessness in the District, I’ll focus on expanding access to stable housing and the support people need to get back on their feet. This means providing job training programs that help individuals develop the skills they need to find long-term, steady employment. We also need to make sure mental health care and substance abuse treatment are easily available, because these services are key to breaking the cycle of homelessness. I plan to work with local nonprofits, businesses, and faithbased groups to build a strong network of support that helps people transition out of homelessness for good. Expanding outreach efforts will ensure folks know about and can access the resources that are already out there. I also want to make sure people have legal aid to protect them from eviction or housing discrimination. Everyone deserves a safe place to live, and I’m committed to taking a comprehensive, people-first approach to help end homelessness in our community.
2. Encampment Closures: D.C. has been increasing the rate at which it closes encampments. What is your stance
FIONA RILEY Editorial Intern
on the city’s encampment engagement policy, and should the city be closing more or fewer encampments?
Pinto (Ward 2, Democrat): Addressing homelessness and ensuring that all residents have access to safe and stable housing is one of my top priorities. I support a compassionate and housing-first approach. When it comes to our encampments, I believe closures must include wrap-around and follow-up supports to get residents on a fast track to housing.
I’ve supported the CARE pilot program, which has been effective in helping transition residents from encampments into housing. This program prioritizes connecting individuals with housing and support services before closing down encampment sites, and I believe it should be expanded across Ward 2 and the District.
Additionally, I have championed the new model of bridge housing to ensure that residents waiting for permanent housing don’t have to live on the streets or in encampments. Rather than displacing people without supports or a follow-up plan, our goal must be to help empower people to move into safe, supportive, and indoor housing where they can rebuild their lives with dignity.
Derenge (Ward 8, Republican): Close more encampments.
Henderson (Ward 8, write-in candidate): The issue of encampments in the District is complex and tied to a bunch of different factors (social, economic, and political). While closing encampments may address public health and safety concerns, especially in areas where they infringe on public spaces, it’s not a long-term solution. Simply shutting them down without providing enough resources like shelter or affordable housing can lead to more people being displaced and forced into even less safe situations. I believe we need to take a comprehensive approach. This means prioritizing stable, permanent housing solutions while providing wraparound services like mental health care, substance use treatment, and job training to help people get back on their feet. We also need to engage with local residents, businesses, and service providers to find strategies that support individuals experiencing homelessness without just pushing the problem somewhere else. In short, we need fewer encampments, but only if we’re addressing the root causes and ensuring there are safe and stable alternatives for those in need.
3. Stakeholder Input: How have you involved people with lived experience of homelessness in your policy-making, and how will you in the future?
Pinto (Ward 2, Democrat): The lived experiences of neighbors who are experiencing or who have experienced homelessness has shaped my policy perspective and initiatives that I have championed in a number of ways, including establishing the first of its kind bridge housing model to ensure that people can live in private, non congregate units due to conversations with neighbors about their concerns of living in congregate settings, providing for the Aston to be drug and alcohol free due to conversations with neighbors about vulnerabilities of being preyed upon by drug dealers or people trying to get them off track, introducing my bill “Expanding Access to Public Restrooms” to provide for public access to restrooms across the city due to conversations with neighbors about how challenging it can be to find a place to use the restroom, introducing, passing, and funding my bill to provide for free access to menstrual products in our public buildings and spaces to build on my work to provide them in all of our schools. These ideas came from neighbors explaining how difficult and costly it can be to find these products, introducing my bill to provide mobile showers and laundry units in every quadrant of our city due to conversations with neighbors about challenges of finding access to hygiene and laundry, lowering barriers to access housing vouchers from conversations with neighbors about how difficult it can be to access due to prior involvement in the criminal justice system.
Derenge (Ward 8, Republican): I want experts to comment on all proposed legislation.
Henderson (Ward 8, write-in candidate): Involving people with lived experience of homelessness is key to creating real solutions that work. If elected, I’ll make sure their voices are part of the process by setting up advisory councils where they can provide direct feedback on policies. I also plan to include them in focus groups and brainstorming sessions to help shape new ideas. We’ll keep an open line for ongoing feedback to see how policies are actually working on the ground and adjust as needed. For bigger policies, I’ll support launching pilot programs where people with lived experience are involved from the start. I also want to encourage these individuals to become advocates for their communities, helping to ensure their voices continue to be heard in shaping policies that affect them.
City-wide elections
Four candidates are vying for the D.C. Council’s two at-large seats, including the two incumbents — Democrat Robert White and Independent Christina Henderson. Republican Rob Simmons and Statehood Green party candidate Darryl Moch are challenging White and Henderson for their seats in the pick-two election.
White chairs the Committee on Housing, and said he wants to increase housing affordability across the District and allow people experiencing homelessness to use outstanding housing vouchers. He is working to increase shelter access in D.C., and in May proposed the Pets in Housing Act to require the Department of Human Services (DHS) to offer at least one pet-friendly shelter in the District for people experiencing homelessness. The housing committee oversees the D.C. Housing Authority, and White advocates for more affordable housing by supporting initiatives to collect data on current needs in the District and bolstering accountability for providing public housing programs.
Henderson outlines increasing affordable housing options as one of her main policy points, and passed a bill in September 2023 to help minors who are experiencing homelessness or in the foster care system access healthcare records. She worked to introduce and pass the Fairness in Renting Clarification Amendment Act in November 2023 which requires landlords to give at least a 60-day notice for rent increases, and states on her website she is expanding resources to ensure tenants don’t live in poor housing conditions.
Simmons says he wants to promote public safety and economic prosperity, and states that education is “everyone’s ticket out of poverty.” He said he would work to raise high school graduation rates to 90 percent and grow “second chance” employment opportunities and end homelessness — though he doesn’t outline how.
As a representative from the Green Party, Moch’s website states he supports rent control to prevent more people from experiencing homelessness because they can no longer afford rent. His website does not outline specific policies for combatting homelessness or improving housing affordability in the District.
Two candidates provided responses to the questions: White and Moch.
1. Affordable Housing: Three of the four candidates for at-large council member seats list increasing access to affordable housing as one of their main priorities. What resources, if any, will you implement or expand to help people experiencing homelessness access housing options in the District?
White (Incumbent, Democrat): People experiencing homelessness need prompt access to housing through D.C.’s voucher program. Since there are not enough social workers and counselors available to help individuals seeking vouchers,
I have established free master’s programs at the University of the District of Columbia to increase the numbers of social workers and counselors who will help those seeking vouchers. Furthermore, many people who have vouchers lose opportunities to access an apartment, because the D.C. Housing Authority does not have enough capacity to inspect the apartments that those with vouchers are seeking. Hence, I have pressed DCHA to expand its base of contractors to conduct the needed inspections.
Finally, for those who need this level of support, I favor increasing the number and the quality of living quarters in temporary and permanent supportive housing.
Moch (Statehood Green party): There are a variety of options that we would need to assess for the greatest impact in the shortest time for long-term sustainability. I support the expansion of programs that assist residents when they are having trouble paying rents or mortgages to ensure they are able to remain in their homes. We could provide incentives and supports directly to property owners/managers and banks/ mortgage companies who expand services and programs for home preservation. We would also explore the expansion of co-ops and other forms of housing that move people from renting to ownership. I would support the expansion of the rent control across the district. Finally, in building more affordable housing we would incentivize opportunities to owners and developers who create truly affordable housing set by standards D.C. puts in place which would set what is affordable based on real factors of housing needs, average renter salaries, and reasonable rates across the district. The idea of affordable would no longer be set by the property owners who can provide certain types of upgrades which changes the market values and therefore resets “affordable” to rates that only certain people can afford and that is not affordable housing.
2. Encampment Clearings: D.C. has been increasing the rate at which it closes encampments. What is your stance on the city’s encampment engagement policy, and should the city be closing more or fewer encampments?
White (Incumbent, Democrat): Our goal must be to eliminate the need for encampments. That some individuals prefer encampments to facilities that the D.C. government funds is a damning indictment about those facilities. We must provide desirable alternatives to encampments.
Moch (Statehood Green party): D.C. should not close encampments until it can replace the need for them with housing that people are able to live in and maintain. And for the rare group who want to live off the grid, we should invest in the types of “campgrounds” that would allow for this in sanitary and safe conditions. No one should have to live in squaller or unsafe conditions no matter their means or status.
3. Stakeholder Input: How have you involved people with lived experience of homelessness in your policy-making, and how will you in the future?
White (Incumbent, Democrat): I have spent time in encampments talking with individuals living there, and I will continue to do so. In addition, when the Council addresses homelessness issues, my staff and I routinely seek input from those experiencing homelessness and from their advocates. Moch (Statehood Green party): I have worked with, protested with, and advocated for the unhoused communities in various places. I would bring that experience and relationships to my work on the Council. Decisions would be informed by people who have Cirect experience and also who have a stake in needed policy and infrastructure changes to support the end to this unhoused and unaffordable housing, unsafe living conditions permanently; we have the ability to address these issues of poverty and economic security and with me on the council we will have someone who also has the will to get it done.
No astronaut left behind, thanks to the University of Central Florida and Crew-9
ANGIE WHITEHURST AND LISA BLACKBURN-ULLVEN
With Hurricane Helene reminders all around us, most thought for sure that the launch would be “scrubbed” (a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) term for delayed) a second time with rain, thunder, and dark clouds looming; but as space exploration and the University of Central Florida (UCF) enthusiast Tammy Blackburn describes, “This was an extraordinary rescue mission to bring two astronauts stranded in space back to their home on Earth.”
Watching as the rocket took off from the shoreline, someone in the audience set the tone as they played “Space Oddity” by David Bowie. Like a carefully orchestrated duet, the latest updates from mission control were announced in the foreground of a shared phone speaker.
Children were on heightened alert as rocket boosters rumbled from seemingly random directions in the sky. As I looked into the sky to try to spot the next rocket through the clouds, I could hear a child’s continuous high-pitched cry, their sensitive ears hearing a preview of what sounded like a monster truck soaring through the sky.
Even the fish were a little jumpy. I had heard that dolphins sometimes leap out of the water during launches. As I asked if anyone had seen any dolphins, about a dozen tiny fish leaped out of the water a few times as they swam forward. I had never seen a school of fish do that before. For a glimpse of the fish, the launch and to hear the frontline sound of the sonic boom, check out the video on our YouTube channel GuidedResults. https://www.youtube.com/@GuidedResults
Y’all are in the way!
DONTÉ TURNER
have a couple of questions about these bike lanes. Are the bike lanes for the people who depend on bikes as a means of transportation, or are they for your motor vehicle owners to park and use the lane, too? I believe some of us tax-paying citizens, especially the less fortunate ones, would argue the purpose of using our tax dollars for a bike lane was to keep every vehicle and its owner (including bikes) in its respective place.
IIsn’t the purpose of the bike lane to keep the bicyclists in their lane so they won’t be on the sidewalks in the citizens’ way, and the purpose of the car lane is to stay in the car lane? So, why are people using the bike lane for parking cars, dropping an order off, getting an Uber call, picking up a date, dropping kids off, etc? There’s been motorists that have driven through the bike lanes and that’s very dangerous. Unless it’s a dire need or a need for high security, there shouldn’t be any reason for you all with cars, trucks, company cars, buses, or any motorized vehicle to be parked in the bike lane, or driving through it for any reason.
There are bicyclists who use the bike lane to go to work, exercise, and to make UberEats deliveries, and they go at a certain speed. There are certain bike lanes where there are curves and if there’s a car illegally parked there or driving in that bike lane and that bicyclist gets hurt because of the motorist’s recklessness, he or she could get seriously hurt or worse. Then there’s a lot of big consequences and controversy because it seems the majority of the government are more
So, why are we thanking UCF and the crew? Well, UCF was built with the space partnership in mind and to develop young minds to contribute to our ‘now’ as well as our future. Nearly 30% of the Kennedy Space Center staff is from UCF, the most in the nation. It seems like the side-by-side rescue astronaut from America and cosmonaut from Russia represent the incredible possibility for us to achieve the UCF vision of “fostering global collaboration.”
Aboard the “Freedom” capsule, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov united strengths to contribute to “the development of sustainable and innovative solutions for Earth and beyond.” Astronauts, experiencing an out-of-this-world view of our Earth from space, truly realize how rare our Earth is and also how, if we step back, we may discover that we are one.
Innovations inspired by space exploration from cell phone cameras to satellite TV invite us to realize how far-reaching goals just might be possible. For those seeking hope, you can look and actually listen to what appears as the third brightest star in our sky. The International Space Station is now broadcasting back to Earth a video of children around the world singing. The creator, Topper Carew, had them sing “This Little Light of Mine.” This mission was to simply to send some light to the world.
To learn more about UCF space programs, you can view https://www.ucf.edu/space
To join us and learn more on Road Trip Stories, you can view https://linktr.ee/guidedresults
Angie Whitehurst and is an artist/vendor with Street Sense Media. Lisa Blackburn-Ullven is an author.
worried about gaining more money and power than worrying about us souls who need the necessities God provided you people of power, who claim to take care of the less fortunate.. Like enforcing laws such as traffic laws for bicyclists. Didn’t y’all just spend our tax dollars to put cameras on the buses, so that people who drive in or are parked in the busonly lane illegally get ticketed? Why can’t y’all do the same for the bike lanes?
What was the point of spending tax dollars on another traffic lane when you don’t enforce the law about vehicles being in that lane?! Cyclists have enough trouble trying to ride on the sidewalk as it is, but allowing or looking over the fact motorists are blocking the bicyclists’ right to passage isn’t making things any easier, and allowing them to drive their vehicle through it is even worse.
I understand you have people in the government that mean well, do well or their best, and fight for us less fortunate, and when you’re doing that you’re also doing that for The Lord (Matthew 25:1-46), I do get that. But, you also have those who are saying what people wanna hear just to get into that certain position of power to gain power for themselves. Their agenda is that of something like a false prophet (Matthew 7:15), using another’s name or situation to gain for self.
That is very irritable or as we say in our generational race “in the way.”
Donté Turner is an artist/vendor with Street Sense Media
Bike lane. Photo by Donté Turner
28th amendment: Amnesty?
SHUHRATJON AHMADJONOV
ear Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,
DI propose that you initiate the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would grant the president the right to give amnesty to prisoners.
After the adoption of the amendment, the president should issue an executive order, the Senate should debate and adopt the Amnesty Law, and the legislature of each state shall consider the pardon of every prisoner resident of that state.
As of 2022, there were 1,808,000 prisoners in U.S. prisons. There is an average of 541 prisoners per 100,000 residents. The U.S. leads in the number of prisoners in absolute terms and holds between a fifth and sixth of all prisoners on the planet, although the population of the U.S. is only 5% of the world’s population. The cost of maintaining the prison system to U.S. taxpayers is $80 billion annually.
There is a great injustice in the U.S.: millions of honest Americans are unemployed and homeless. At the same time, criminals are in prison buildings, provided with food, heat, clothing, and even security. The government spends billions of taxpayers dollars on their maintenance. This is very expensive given the national debt of more than 35 trillion. It is appropriate to say that freedom is more valuable than all prison benefits.
Through amnesty, it is possible and necessary to gradually release up to a million prisoners in U.S. prisons. They must work, feed themselves, their children and families, and also pay taxes.
If Biden, together with Harris, announces the draft of the 28th amendment on amnesty, then hundreds of thousands of relatives of prisoners and ordinary Americans will vote
The president we need
JACKIE TURNER
We want a president who knows and practices our Declaration of Independence, i.e, “all [men] are created equal and are endowed with certain inalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
We also can’t have a president who cuts anyone out and just gives money to the rich.
Our president should concentrate most on what’s going on in America. Education is number one. We should put more money into public schools so they are free and available for all of us.
Blue away Trump
ROBERT WARREN
Artist/Vendor
The enemy of the people that old Grim Reaper don’t let that enemy catch you sleeping as he’s whispering a melody of lies
Words of hate are all for you as evil does what evil do and it never shows any love the narcissist needs the blood and wealth of the people you see in the eyes of the Lord who sees everything
The enemy of the people that old Grim Reaper
wipes out whole generations from the great grand to that baby boy and girl, in this world of the Old Testament law
To the fourth generation, 2019, four hundred years, it all seems like a dream before the enemy of the people that old Grim Reaper struck once more the people’s hearts will be broken and sore for evermore
And they called it COVID-19, of all things the mismanagement, baby, please
in the elections for candidates from the Democratic Party, and we will win the election.
An example of a similar amnesty law is a law of the Republic of Tajikistan “On Amnesty,” which President Emomali Rahmon signed in 2011 in honor of the 20th anniversary of Tajikistan’s independence.
Here is a brief summary of some articles in the law.
Article 1 states that those sentenced to imprisonment who have served three-quarters of their sentence can be released.
Article 2 states that convicts who are women, minors, men over 55, disabled, veterans, recipients of state awards, and foreign citizens are exempt from serving their sentence in the form of imprisonment.
Article 4 states that convicted people who have committed minor and moderate crimes and who have been sentenced to up to five years of imprisonment may be released.
Article 8 states that the unserved term of punishment for people convicted of a serious crime can be reduced by one-third of the term, and by one-quarter for people who committed an especially serious crime, with some exceptions.
Article 11 states that the provisions of Article 8 do not apply to people who committed certain crimes, are sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty, who benefitted from amnesty before and committed a similar crime, or who committed another crime while in prison.
Shuhratjon Ahmadjonov is an artist/vendor with Street Sense Media.
Reinforcing the value of life is also very important. We have too much killing and dying because people don’t respect life as they once did. Too many children die too early. The president should emphasize the importance of families staying together and supporting children’s education. Sure, it’s great to be beautiful and handsome. But that’s way less important than emphasizing how sensitive and how smart you are.
So let’s have a president who gets back to those principles!
why didn’t you just inject some bleach for what my eyes have seen and my ears have heard from the enemy of the people
that old Grim Reaper who said Haitian people are eating cats and dogs as a delicacy you see it’s a religious thing if you believe in Jesus Christ
The enemy of the people that old orange Grim Reaper never would win a fight with a righteous woman in these strange times we live in a woman’s pride
and can you show me in the Bible the date and time when Eve ever died
Mother Earth will always give birth to the next generation to stand up for justice against the enemy of the people who wants to be a dictator on day one Vote blue for the people!
Jackie Turner is an artist/vendor with Street Sense Media.
A place for me
CARLTON JOHNSON Artist/Vendor
The time is here to win in the game of being on the street without a place to lay for the night
The time of being without is near; it’s almost over for me
No more sleepless nights not another day without something to eat and a place to sleep
Nightmare
NIKILA SMITH Artist/Vendor
Oogie Boogie stole me from a place I believed to be nice, opening my eyes to skeleton Jack, whose sweat is dripping with dead cells, white eyes with black dots, maybe pupils dilated, feeding off fear.
Visiting kind souls, nightmares become memories. Is a nightmare trauma?
Night sweats open feelings causing tears, stolen sleep, with blocked memory, events in life trigger the brain to remember.
Moving around the town
DEGNON DOVONOU
Artist/Vendor
When we move around the town
We know we must check on one another
By doing all that we should do to deserve the crown From God, the Father Don’t ever stop praying
To the heaven’s gospel place One day or another way
The unemployed
JAMES DAVIS
Artist/Vendor
Apprehension
Forlorn stares
Is there anyone who cares?
Wait in line
Three-to-four hours time
People gazing with frightened looks
Take a magazine
Why not read a book?
Chain smokers
Polluting the air
Something here
Does not feel quite fair
They need a job
Standing in line
With this mob, the unemployed
The poor asking for more
The professional, a foot in the door
When does it all end?
Only when the jobless line
Starts to thin
Life has sorrow, secrets haunting, mouth unglued, open free to advocate about the nightmares that brought me here.
Even if I don’t speak, the rings around my eyes never lie. But my rings are beautiful.
I’m lost, I’m using, I’m killing, I’m loveless.
I loved ‘til stupid from this delusion, I cried for so long cause I loved with my eyes closed. Goodbye is a forced option, my feet don’t listen and run to you. Imagine being old with my so-called true love.
I don’t love.
I loved is past tense. Pain is in this, I’m aware of which way to run. The melodies I loved with you are deleted, that playlist sucks. Watching the nightmare I’m in I realized fear, heartbreak, and unfaithfulness are separated from love. This is how I transformed into the Oogie Boogie man, creating my nightmare before Christmas.
Straight
MARCUS MCCALL Artist/Vendor
I’m one of those guys who will open my home to a woman and her child and not ask for money. Just one of those guys who will give my all. Everyone else I can’t say the same about. Straight, meaning I will put love and time into people. Straight means keeping a level head and staying grounded. Sometimes we as men can lose focus on our goals and stop doing what’s right.
I’m just one of those men who stay out of drama. I like good vibes and to stay mentally straight. I love putting in work for pay or helping out for fun. I’m a straightforward person. I stay ten toes down.
Joy and pain
RACHELLE ELLISON
Artist/Vendor
They say nothing can grow with only sunshine and no rain
I speak from experience, life’s biggest blessings come after the storm
A new spirit inside of you begins to form
You don’t even recognize yourself and the way you think
Life changes so fast every time you blink
God restores all you lost with bigger blessings
After you grow through life’s toughest lessons
He gives us talents and gifts that we must share
Someone in this world must be obedient and really care
Some people think this is done without personal regard
At the stake of our own mental health, and for little wealth
Giving, giving, giving till we can’t breathe
That’s not of God if we ourselves find no relief
Nothing done in chaos is a blessing
I just learned this from a very hard lesson
Blessed to live through another day
And to understand there is an easier, softer way
I know who I am, and my strength is great
Only God, however, knows the outcomes and only he knows my fate
Until next time I decide to write
I’m here to stay and will win this fight
I’ll be standing for those who haven’t found their voice
With renewed energy, being a vessel of God
They say you never know when an angel will entertain
So for now I’ll stand firm in the pain
Illustration by Nikila Smith
Jim and Flem in the deep fake era
LEVESTER GREEN
Artist/Vendor
So then, Olivia Fox, the next dialogue in the Donald J. Trump/Joe Biden story should be coming from Kamala Harris due to her affiliation with all of these deathtalking gangsta rappers she’s been meeting with lately. I mean, they talk and sell that death on a regular daily basis but they asses all up in comfort somewhere, not on the frontlines and they’re elevated on pedestals for it and praised up!?
So now we have the young highly-influenced posers coming up and out assuming their futuristic positions in society and they’ve got all sorts of gangster rap lyrics floating in their heads!
So mental health issues are very real! The fact that we’ve had to wade through the cruel ass makeshift laws of Jim Crow after slavery is just plain wrong! When we finally gathered our strength and confidence as a people and a movement we were able to organize, gather, regroup, and even strike back with a little game of our own. Fight with flimflam as I call it! It’s a slang term that I can best describe as the fledgling makings of jazz, hip hop, and scatting, and it all right on up to the stages of the ‘70s, after making it through the very trying times of the ‘60s and civil rights.
I give a shoutout to my two granddads the names of Flemion and Fleming, on both sides of my family tree. In my saluting to the overcoming of our struggles here in America, I believe this is only the beginning of the deep fake era and all the mental wounds are going deep. Once again the onus is being volleyed back and forth in this futuristic struggle between Esau and Jacob for this promised land.
It seems like some sort of fight is brewing as we’ve gotten a new influx of immigrants from overseas, as well as from South America, seeking out opportunities up north. I mean, it totally took us all of that time to recover from our Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination, causing riots and bringing forth our super ‘70s streak and the Black Panthers, til they slowed us once again with the crack epidemic.
I recall finding it quite bewildering that our government would purposely harm and sabotage its own residents! We’ve learned of the hate more vividly via the acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay’s film “13th.”
Well, we weren’t quite learning how to be slaves way back then when I was growing up, you know!? I was on course for my entry into the books of who’s who! So by the 90’s Generation X was now on deck and ready for the world to make our marks on it real properly! It wasn’t til then that we got our first black coach in the NBA and yes, finally, a Black president after the turn of the century!
Now it’s been a long time, but yes, it is some long and hard-fought progress and achievement that broke forth with the affirmative action of the 80s that offered an alternative to all of the superfly blow, smack, and crack dealing and indulging, for those who could and were able to hold down a 9 to 5, building wealth for others but still being able to now at least afford the ghetto project apartments.
Who got the better deal though, us or the Native Americans? I mean we got roaches and rats, but they got their designated wild parts and lands to grow and roam free in rugged outdoors, not to mention a hell of a trail of tears to walk it all out upon and in, like wow! Those caucasians really know how to plot and plunder rather properly, huh guys!? They were the original outlaws of their lands in old England, outcasted to the wind!
So I hear there is a war brewing, be it a rematch of the civil war or God’s children versus man’s children of technology, which would be the deep fake era. I think we can go with the image of Trump’s Black power fist that morphed into a Hitler salute and exclamations to fight like “fight the power,” thus transforming it from a salute to Black love into honor for Black hate! The flipside of that coin is the door rushing of a football game between Argentina and Colombia, which would bring to mind embedded within my memories, Shakira’s song “Hips Don’t Lie” in which Wyclef exclaims “No fighting!” Salute!
The election
JEMEL FLEMING
Artist/Vendor
The main topic of my article today is the vice president of the United States. The vice president serves a term of four years per election. The vice president is Kamala Harris and she completed her term. The president and vice president to the best of my knowledge can only complete two terms of eight years.
So, Kamala Harris is now running for president of the United States. This is the election for our nation, the U.S., It will impact all seven continents: Africa, Europe, Asia, Antarctica, Australia, North America, and South America.
Being in charge
JEFFREY CARTER Artist/Vendor
I am the HNIC. It makes me feel like I am the centerpiece of everything that matters in life itself. I am the gravity center of the world, which means I can rule the world. I also can wield influence over humanity and get a lot of attention from people and prospectors. I am a very powerful person. Thank you very much.
QUEENIE FEATHERSTONE
Artist/Vendor
I took a chill pill. No, not for a high, I’m not into that. No, not to smoke, I’m not into that. I’m afraid I’ll choke.
Thinking of this chill pill
Just to relax, cool out, Be still and chill.
I’ll be on a blanket lying on the hill. Lying in a hammock, rocking as I chill.
Having peace of mind and relaxation, all because I took a chill pill Ok Queenie, be real and wake up. Ha, ha, ha.
Dreaming
MAURICE CARTER Artist/Vendor
FUN & GAMES
Up Close and Personal
Across
1. Some colas (abbr./initialism)
4. Int’l relief org. for kids (abbr./init.)
10. The “A” in U.A.E.
14. Eponymous fragrance marketed by singer Grande
15. Tomorrow, in Tijuana (Sp.)
16. “Pet” that’s bald or green?
17. The Nixons, to close friends (3 wds.) (4,3,3)
19. German mister
20. Ugandan dictator hiding in “I am invincible!”
21. Word that may follow “blended” or “butter”
23. Hashtag invoked when sharing nostalgic photos (textese/initi.)
24. Archaeologist’s find
26. Mer contents (Fr.)
27. Man-mouse connector (2 wds.) (2,1)
28. Oft-quoted line from Hamlet’s fourth soliloquy (4 wds.) (2,6,3,3)
33. Salon or Slate, informally (1-3) (GAME anagram)
34. Bad-mouth, briefly
35. Crowning last step of a creative process, often accompanied by “Ta-da!” or “Voila!”...or a hint to a feature shared by 17-, 20-, 43- and 62-Across
41. Swiped
42. Limp watch painter Salvador
43. Another name for a name (2 wds.) (8,6)
50. Arapaho foe, or versatile vehicle, for short
51. Fly-___ (loud air show highlights)
52. Small shrimplike crustaceans on which whales feed
54. Abbr. on a bad check
55. Render less effective
59. Peek-____ or bug-____
60. Something snooty folks put on
62. One often contained some mother of pearl, on old sidearms (2 wds.) (6,4)
64. Rhyming partner of “greet”
65. Cornrows, crewcut or combover
66. Wall St. grp. (abbr./init.) (SEA anagram)
67. “Amazing Grace” ending (2 wds.) (1,3)
68. Excelled on an open mike (DELAYS anagram)
69 “Oh yeah? ___ who?” slangily
Down
1. Acoustic waves : SONAR :: Electromagnetic waves : ____
2. Ukraine peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014
3. Italian island where Mt. Etna is found
4. John’s “Pulp Fiction” co-star
5. Nicknames for moms’ moms
6. Where U.S. senators and representatives maintain their primary offices (2 wds.) (2,2) (incls. abbr./initialism)
7. Device that often causes string band members to change their tunes
8. Relatives on one’s mother’s side (SENATE anagram)
9. Big shot with big bucks, slangily
10. “___ du lieber!” (Ger.)
11. A nicer word for typical political malarkey
12. Photo touch-up tool
13. Running bills for Screwdrivers, Rusty Nails and Cement Mixers (2 wds.) (3,4)
18. Make a wool sweater
22. “Say what?”
25. Pan handler that may be quite well-paid?
29. Longtime Brit. recording giant now owned by Sony Studios (abbr./init.)
30. Did a marathon
31. “Zounds!”
32. E-mail address ender for a BMOC
35. Feet, quaintly (SOOTIEST anagram)
36. Past any and all serious obstacles (2 wds.) (4,4)
37. Barely make, with “out”
38. “Well, ___-di-dah!”
39. LOL or IMO, in the same ‘language’
40. Porcine animal sound on “Old MacDonald’s farm
41. Word whose literal meaning, in Japanese, is “harbor wave”
44. Kimono belt
45. Satyr’s quarries
46. An incident of sighting or observing someone/thing
47. Kind of auto racing that pairs rails
48. Early October babies
49. Woman’s name containing another woman’s name if you remove the first and last (identical) letters
53. Actress/singer Jennifer who was part of Bennifer
56. China setting
57. Pseudo-humble two-word response to a glowing compliment (1,3)
58. Did a jockey’s job
61. Sault ___ Marie (abbr.)
63. Central Israeli airport city
This crossword puzzle is the original work of Patrick “Mac”McIntyre. It is provided to us courtesy of Real Change News, a street paper based in Seattle, Washington. Learn more about Real Change News and the International Network of Street Papers at realchangenews.org and insp.ngo.
ILLUSTRATION
COMMUNITY SERVICES
Housing/Shelter Vivienda/alojamiento Case Management Coordinación de Servicios
Academy of Hope Public Charter School
202-269-6623 // 2315 18th Pl. NE
202-373-0246 // 421 Alabama Ave. SE aohdc.org
Bread for the City 1525 7th St., NW // 202-265-2400 1700 Marion Barry Ave., SE // 202-561-8587 breadforthecity.org
Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Marion Barry Ave., SE calvaryservices.org
Catholic Charities // 202-772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp
Central Union Mission // 202-745-7118 65 Massachusetts Ave., NW missiondc.org
Charlie’s Place // 202-929-0100 1830 Connecticut Ave., NW charliesplacedc.org
Christ House // 202-328-1100 1717 Columbia Rd., NW christhouse.org
Church of the Pilgrims // 202-387-6612 2201 P St., NW (1-1:30 on Sundays only) churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach
Community Family Life Services 202-347-0511 // 305 E St., NW cflsdc.org
Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 4 Atlantic St., NW communityofhopedc.org
Covenant House Washington 202-610-9600 // 2001 Mississippi Ave., SE covenanthousedc.org
D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 202-347-8870 // 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW dccfh.org
Father McKenna Center // 202-842-1112 19 North Capitol St., NW fathermckennacenter.org
Food and Friends // 202-269-2277
(home delivery for those suffering from HIV, cancer, etc) 219 Riggs Rd., NE foodandfriends.org
Foundry Methodist Church // 202-332-4010 1500 16th St., NW foundryumc.org/idministry
Identification services
Friendship Place // 202-364-1419 4713 Wisconsin Ave., NW friendshipplace.org
Georgetown Ministry Center // 202-338-8301 1041 Wisconsin Ave., NW georgetownministrycenter.org
Jobs Have Priority // 202-544-9096 1526 Pennslyvania Ave., SE jobshavepriority.org
Loaves & Fishes // 202-232-0900 1525 Newton St., NW loavesandfishesdc.org
Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org 2375 Elvans Rd, SE
2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE
Miriam’s Kitchen // 202-452-8926 2401 Virginia Ave., NW miriamskitchen.org
My Sister’s Place // 202-529-5991 (24-hr hotline) mysistersplacedc.org
N Street Village // 202-939-2076 1333 N St., NW nstreetvillage.org
New York Avenue Shelter // 202-832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave., NE
Patricia Handy Place for Women 202-733-5378 // 810 5th St., NW
Samaritan Inns // 202-667-8831 2523 14th St., NW samaritaninns.org
Samaritan Ministry 202-722-2280 // 1516 Hamilton St., NW 202-889-7702 // 1345 U St., SE samaritanministry.org
Sasha Bruce Youthwork // 202-675-9340 741 8th St., SE sashabruce.org
So Others Might Eat (SOME) // 202-797-8806 71 O St., NW some.org
St. Luke’s Mission Center // 202-363-4900 3655 Calvert St., NW stlukesmissioncenter.org
Thrive DC // 202-737-9311 1525 Newton St., NW thrivedc.org
Unity Health Care unityhealthcare.org - Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500 - Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699
1500 Galen Street SE, 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE, 1660 Columbia Road NW, 4414 Benning Road NE, 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 850 Delaware Ave., SW, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 1151 Bladensburg Rd., NE, 4515 Edson Pl., NE
Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless 1200 U St., NW // 202-328-5500 legalclinic.org
The Welcome Table // 202-347-2635 1317 G St., NW. epiphanydc.org/thewelcometable
Whitman-Walker Health 1525 14th St., NW // 202-745-7000 1201 Sycamore Dr., SE whitman-walker.org
Woodley House // 202-830-3508 2711 Connecticut Ave., NW
For further information and listings, visit our online service guide at StreetSenseMedia.org/service-guide
Retail Sales Associate
Burlington // 3100 14th St. NW
Full-time
Duties include greeting and assisting customers, maintaining a neat, organized and clean sales floor, and supporting the management team with day-to-day store operations. Candidates must be able to work a flexible schedule; including nights, weekends, and holidays as required.
Required: N/A
Apply: tinyurl.com/BurlingtonStoreassociateDC
Administrative Assistant
Community Bridge // Washington D.C.
Full time
Specific duties include, but are not limited to, the following: performs office management functions; telephone management for Senior Division/ Program Director; prepares, edits, duplicates and files correspondence; provides security escort duties in secure facilities; and enters data into databases utilized by the office.
Required: Position requires individual to have earned a high school diploma or equivalent. An Associate’s Degree is desirable.
Apply: tinyurl.com/KBRAdministrativeAssistant
Designer
Home Depot // 901 Rhode Island Ave NE.
Full-time
Designers support three primary store priorities: Customers First, In Stock, and Store Appearance. They provide fast, thorough, and friendly service to customers; assess stock levels of samples and brochures and restocking them as necessary; and ensure special order displays and showrooms promote a shopping environment that is appealing and safe.
Required: N/A
Apply: tinyurl.com/designerHomeDepot
Hiring? Send your job postings to editor@StreetSenseMedia.org
