10 01 2008

Street Sense . October 1 – October 14, 2008

2 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 Kristal DeKleer Robert Egger Ted Henson Mary Lynn Jones Sommer Mathis Brad Scriber John Snellgrove Michael Stoops David Walker Kathy Whelpley EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Laura Thompson Osuri EDITOR IN CHIEF Mary Otto ASSOCIATE EDITOR David S. Hammond (volunteer) INTERNS Lisa Gillespie and Carol Cummings VOLUNTEERS Sherry Antoine, Robert Basler, Robert Blair, Cliff Carle, Michelle Capuccio, Jane Cave, Jason Corum, Rebecca Curry, RickDahnke, Ben Edwards, Jessia Gaitan, JoshuaGardner, Genevieve Gill, Cassandra Good, JoanneGoodwin, Roberta Haber, Razia Hamid, Carol Hannaford, JustinHerman, Annie Hill, Dan Horner, Phillip Hoying, Kayne Karnbach, MauriceKing, Geof Koss, Jessica LaGarde, Karin Lee, Matthew S. Lee, Brenda K. Lee-Wilson, Claire Markgraf, Gregory Martin, Kim O’Connor, Gabriel Okolski, Robert Orifici, Swinitha Osuri, Miranda Pantano, Jon Pattee, Katinka Podmankzy, Cara Schmidt, Jamie Schuman, Kathryn Taylor, Matthew Taylor, Robert Trautman, Francine Triplett, Eugene Versluysen, Jerry W., Linda Wang, Denise Wilkins, Marian Wiseman, Corrine Yu VENDORS Willie Alexander, ake Ashford, Kenneth Belkowskly, Tommy Bennett, Reginald Black, Corey Bridges, Bobby Buggs, Cliff Carle, Conrad Cheek Jr., Louise Davenport, James Davis, Bernard Dean, Muriel Dixon, Alvin Dixon El, Randy Evans, Tanya Franklin, Barron Hall, David Harris, Patricia Henry, Phillip Howard, Jo Ann Jackson, Michael Jefferson, Patricia Jefferson, Carlton Johnson, Jewell Johnson, Allen Jones, Mark Jones, Brenda Karyl Lee-Wilson, Robert McCray, August Mallory, Gregory Martin, Charles Mayfield, Lee Mayse, Jennifer Mclaughlin, Jeffery McNeil, L. Morrow, Charles Nelson, Sammy Ngatiri, Moyo Onibuje, Thomas Queen, Kevin Robinson, Tyrone Rogers, Dennis Rutledge, Gerald Smith, Patty Smith,Franklin Sterling, James Stewart,Leroy Studevant, Eric Thompson, Francine Triplett, Carl Turner, Jerry W., Martin Walker, LawlessWatson, Wendell Williams, Ivory Wison

We are proud members of:

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.

September Donors Amir Afkhami

Margarita L. Ortiz

Richard Atkins

Ed & Pam Rosenthal

Elaine Ballute

Margaret Roeber

Danielle Kwateng

Leah Shaw

Thank You!

International Network of Street Papers

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Street Sense

. October 1 – October 14, 2008

PROFILE 3

ADAPT Fights for Accessible Housing

By Carol Cummings

COURTESY OF TOM OLIN

“How do you spell power?” “A-D-A-P-T,” chanted ADAPT members recounting their weeklong DC protest resulting in 50 total arrests at various congressional and government offices.

ADAPT, an organization that supports the right to accessible, affordable, integrated housing for America’s disabled, rallied in Washington DC from Saturday, September 13 through Thursday, September 18 to solve the housing crisis for low income people with disabilities “Right now this country is seeing a lot of news about the mortgage and banking crisis for middle income homeowners, “ said Marsha Katz, Montana ADAPT. “How quickly we’re working at government bailouts, yet if you’re poor and have a disability you get swept under the rug; the crisis of low income people with disabilities [has been] long standing.”

Eleven ADAPT members were arrested at McCain headquarters in Arlington, VA including Randy Alexander of Tennessee ADAPT who was tackled by police while reaching into his backpack. Detective Crystal Nosal of the Arlington, VA police department commented that many of the protestors were working towards arrest and were proud to be arrested.

She added that the Arlington police used the minimum amount of force necessary.

Amy Meisner explained that a women working in McCain’s office was demanding ADAPT members to leave the premises because she kept insisting that she had to “run”.

“Well I’m glad you can run, because I can’t,” Meisner said.

ADAPT members gather on the Hill advocating for accessible afforable housing.

“McCain has seven houses, all we want is a simple apartment,” said Cassie James, Pennsylvania ADAPT. “People just don’t get that if you live in an apartment and it’s not accessible and it’s not affordable, you can’t live there,” Amy Meisner said.

On the plaza outside the US Department of Housing and Urban Development better known as HUD, ADAPT established a 24-hour tent city for the duration of their protest, calling their base “DUH City”, HUD spelled backwards. In their “DUH City” compound, ADAPT members built various accessible structures out of cardboard boxes. They also hand delivered issues of the DUH City times

to congressional members during the whole week of protests.

“The last few days were amazing. I wasn’t sure if we would be able to sustain DUH City,” said Anita Cameron of Rochester, NY who’s been working for ADAPT for 25 years.

ADAPT members from all over the country gathered at various congressional offices including the office of Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) who failed to provide 500 promised housing vouchers that would allow some disabled to move from nursing homes to their own homes.

Cassie James of Philadelphia explained that for well over a year, Barney Frank and staff said, “without a doubt” they could ob-

tain 500 housing vouchers, but one day he stopped picking up the phone. “[Barney] acted in bad faith, he committed, but didn’t follow through,” said Marsha Katz of Montana.

ADAPT members also visited the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the headquarters of Republican Presidential Candidate, Senator John McCain (R-AZ). While members of the DNC accepted their literature and an invitation to “DUH City”, Senator McCain’s office visit resulted in arrest.

Bobby Coward, founder of DC based Direct Action and leader and chair of Capital Area ADAPT, described a young man in his mid 20’s who was paraplegic and could not find accessible housing. The young man did not want to live in a nursing home, so instead resided in a homeless shelter. When Bobby offered to take him out to eat, he refused because he didn’t want to have to use that bathroom.

Katz explained that instances like these are common and ADAPT wants to make visual the problem that disabled people face. Most disabled who refuse nursing homes end up on the street with no care for their physical and mental disabilities. Once they put us in an institution they now figure that you have someplace to live, explained Meisner “Out of sight, out of mind,” Katz said. “We demand to be at the table where decisions are being made.”

“I’d rather go to jail then die in a nursing home,” one of the attendees and protestors shouted.

“We went down to H-U-D and took back what they stole from us… took back our dignity, ain’t nobody gonna walk all over me,” Cameron sang.

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4 LOCAL NEWS

Vote, from p.1

according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“I didn’t think it mattered and you got to know who to put in there,” said Savoy, who became homeless after he lost his home with his sister when she was moved into a nursing home. “There has to be some difference between the two people so that it matters which way it goes.”

Re g i s te r i n g ho me le s s pe o ple to vo te versus people with homes offers particular challenges, such as having no street address, but an address can be as vague as the bench by 14th and K streets.

“Wouldn’t it be cool if homeless people decided who was the next president, or even the next mayor?” said Michael Stoops, executive director of National Coalition for the Homeless.

“When the economy goes down, it has a tidal effect. As more people loose their homes, it’s important to still remember them as acting members of society.”

First year law student Luis Rodriguez coordinated the drive as a part of the National Law Center on Homelessness to educate students about the reality of homelessness.

“I wanted to give law students the opportunity to meet people they wouldn’t have met on a day to day basis,” said Rodriguez. “A lot of people’s opinions changed during the week; it put a face on homelessness. We have to take them into account when we make decisions that will impact their lives.”

First year student Todd Rubin registered 15 people in his two hours at the Bread for the City day program.

“It was surprising to see people getting involved, but the real obstacle from here on will be translating registering to voting,” said

communities. After leaving home, he found it hard to maintain a job because of dropping out of high school in the 11th grade.

While registered voters with a bachelor’s degree or higher turned out to vote at a rate of 80 percent in the 2006 election, only 56 percent of those whose highest level of educational attainment was a high school diploma cast their vote in the election.

“I could care less who gets in the chair, but it matters what happens after they get elected and the changes that happen,” said Wright.

“I have to keep my faith on it.”

Lisa gillispie

During the 2006 elections, only 31.3% of people living in poverty (making less than $20,000) voted, while 64.2% of people making more than $100,000 voted, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“There is a myth that homeless people do not participate in society, but if they show up at the poll place and stand in line with everyone else, it breaks that perception,” said Brenda Morton, second year law student who has lived in D.C. for 25 years.

“My mom used to drive us to the fire department where we voted and we’d play on the voting machines; it’s been instilled in me and needs to be not just in higher income families, but in lower income families. That vote matters just as much.”

D.C. does not prohibit felons from voting, as in many states where 13% of black men in America are prohibited from voting because of felony conviction laws according to the U.S. Justice Department.

“This is the first time I’ve registered because I was incarcerated for previous elections and now that felons can vote in D.C., I have a chance to do so,” Kacey Vest, 32, who attends the Father McKenna Center.

“If you don’t vote, it’s like you don’t even exist.

I want to have a say in things like affordable housing and gas prices.”

Raymond Savoy, 59, registered for the first time, even after serving in the Air Force at Andrews Base during the early 1970s.

Of the 136 million people that were registered to vote in the election, 29% did not vote. Of those who did not vote, 12% said they did not because they felt their vote did not count,

Street Sense . October 1 – October 14, 2008

Raymond Savoy, 59, registered to vote for the first time this September.

Rubin, who encountered a lack of knowledge about their polling places. “Many people were weary of registering under a party, the parties need to do some outreach to people to let them know what the party is doing, so there isn’t a negative corrupt stigma attached.”

Michael Wright, 29, stays at Adams Shelter and hoped that the election outcome would bring more jobs to lower income

2

Yorkshire terriers for adoption

Contact: jameswallaceltd@googlemail.com

Street Sense . October 1 – October 14, 2008

Franklin, from p.1 list. Confronted with the news he no longer had a place at Franklin, sank down on what was left of his old bunk.

“I sat there on my box spring. The mattress was gone.”

The Fenty administration has cast the closure of Franklin Shelter as part of a major step forward for the homeless, a shift away from emergency homeless shelters to permanent supportive housing programs.

Nationwide, cities are following similar “Housing First” strategies to end homelessness by providing housing to indigent people and providing them with the social services, counseling job training and health care they need to address the problems that underlie their homelessness.

In keeping with the initiative, administration officials say they are currently moving 300 homeless individuals and 80 families into places of their own. In one whirlwind visit, city officials arranged for the placement of 55 Franklin men in permanent supportive housing one day last month.

But advocates worry that other men may fall through the cracks.

At Franklin on the evening of Sept. 19, a member of the shelter staff offered Strother some trash can liner bags for his things, saying, “Charles. You’ve got to get going.”

But Strother felt like he had nowhere to go.

He joined other men and climbed onto a waiting van.

Over the past several weeks, the administration of Mayor Adrian Fenty has tried to emptied out Franklin shelt e r, t a k i n g down the 300 beds, even after the Sept.

16 passage of emergency legislation by the DC City Co u n c i l d e signed to delay or stop the closing, The legislation ordered Fenty to show that his administration had placed all the men from the shelter in permanent supportive housing and that the city had adequate shelter for the winter before closing Franklin.

But the mayor apparently never signed the legislation nor reported back to the council, according to Doxie McCoy, a spokeswoman for City Council Chairman

LOCAL NEWS 5

This has been an ordeal for me, to be totally homeless. Life throws you curves.

-Charles Strother, former Franklin resident

photo By Luke of Dc Indy Media

Protesters chant and disrupt traffic in the area around Franklin Shelter Friday, Sept. 26.

Vincent Gray.

When Franklin closed on Sept. 26, more than 50 men still remained. All of these men were transferred to Martin Luther King Jr Shelter, also known as 801 East, located on the grounds of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.

“The chairman was very disappointed and shocked that it happened,” McCoy said.

The emergency legislation never had the teeth it needed to save the shelter or assure adequate bed for the winter, complained Council member Phil Mendleson, the only member who voted against it.

“I think we have a problem,” he said.

The Mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

At presstime on Sept 30, advocates armed with a motion for an emergency restraining order were in Superior Court, trying to get the shelter reopened.

The action came after a weeks of protests and rallies held by supporters of the shelter, and a Sept. 19 hearing where city officials sought to reassured Tommy Wells, chairman of the city council’s Committee on Human Services, that the city will have adequate accommodations for homeless men this winter, even without Franklin. The official winter homeless plan, required by law to be in place by Sept 1 has not yet been approved. A draft plan showed 1,390 beds this winter, down from the 1,710 beds available last winter. . “The housing of 300 chronically homeless men has created capacity within the emergency shelter system,” testified Department of Human Services Director Clarence Carter.

“What’s the backup if we are wrong?” asked Wells.

“The same backup we use every year,” said city administrator Dan Tangherlini.

“We’ll work with our nonprofit partners to get beds on line. “ City officials say they have no immediate plans for the historic Franklin School building, located on prime real estate at

13th and K streets NW. Two years ago, supporters of the downtown shelter helped stop a city effort to lease out the building to a developer who hoped to convert it into a boutique hotel.

“What is the urgency of closing Franklin?” asked Wells.

“There is no urgency in closing Franklin,” said Tangherlini. “The urgency is in housing the chronically homeless. “ That same night, following the hearing, Strother and the other Franklin men on the van were taken to the New York Avenue Shelter in Northeast. He was relieved to have a place for the night, but not at ease.

He had stayed there before.

“I had a real nice set of dentures that were stolen. That’s the type of clientele there. Misery loves company.”

This time, his comb disappeared, and a jar of hair oil. .

“I ’d ra t h e r re f ra i n f ro m re t u r n i n g there.”

Strother was able to stay with family friends on Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights. On Tuesday and Wednesday he stayed in a motel in Laurel, an area he had discovered while working as a courier, before his vehicle was stolen two years ago.

His funds were limited and he had to get back to the District and his job, keeping records at the Dwelling Place Senior Center, a program operated by So Others Might Eat, or SOME, an interfaith community organization. Besides, the staff there was worrying about him.

Though Strother is a few years shy of 60, he has been given temporary home in the Dwelling Place Shelter for Abused Elderly.

“He’s here now,” says Dwellling Place director Brother John Gleason, “We’re helping him find housing.” ‘ Strother is quietly grateful.

“This has been an ordeal for me,” he

Street Sense . October 1 – October 14, 2008

6 POLITICS

Street Politics By David S. Hammond

The Franklin Shelter Saga Years of rumors about Franklin Shelter may have finally come true, with the city emptying the building the last week of September.

I could hardly believe what I saw on TV, where gear was being carried out the door, because Street Sense has been hearing Franklin Shelter might close, or might not, almost since the paper was launched in November 2003.

But whatever happens at Franklin – whether or not the City Council makes the city reopen the shelter there – it’s looks like no one has yet figured out a place for homeless people.

That’s why we see ongoing friction and concern over the use of everything from public libraries, to park benches, to decommissioned public school buildings, to the taxpayer dollars available for permanent supportive housing – or emergency low-barrier shelters downtown – or “transitional” shelters in other neighborhoods – or the larger shelters on the east side of D.C., on New York Avenue, NE, and at St. Elizabeths in Anacostia.

And the Franklin story has joined with so many other stories and rumors of renovation, closure, and transformation around the city, at the Gales, Emery, and Randall shelters, as well as the ups and downs at CCNV, the massive shelter complex at Second and D streets, NW. When he represented Ward 4 on the D.C. City Council, Adrian Fenty chaired the Human Services Committee. He used to ask for clear answers from the administration of Mayor Tony Williams about progress and planning for a shelter system that was already in major transition. Sometimes he couldn’t get them. Sometimes the limits on public funds and limited space downtown made them hard to give. And sometimes the answers became clear only when shelter beds were moved.

Now it’s Fenty who has to juggle those factors, and who is being pressed for the kind of answers he himself used to demand. The new chair of the Human Services Committee, Tommy Wells, is playing the role Fenty used to, and the enthusiasm many homeless people had two years ago when Fenty was running for mayor has turned to anger.

What We’re Up Against Fenty is up against the same 25-year-old disaster of homelessness inherited by his predecessors, a status quo held in place by limited money and space, NIMBYism, public indifference, and the difficulties in helping people get out of chronic homelessness.

His promise of a “housing first” approach – apartments for the most vulnerable homeless people – instead of facilities like Franklin makes is widely recognized as a way to stabilize the most fragile lives. Whether Fenty will bring stability to the shelter system itself remains to be seen. And so does the ultimate arrangement of that system.

The Bottom Line for Shelter Policy The worst-case scenario for Franklin’s closing is scores of homeless men pushed out into the street and living on park benches and in doorways downtown. And the cold rainy weather we got the last week of September shows exactly why the closing of Franklin, just as the winter hypothermia season approaches, has everyone so worried.

That’s because behind all the loftier stated goals of the shelter system – rebuilding lives, helping people live in dignity, preparing them for housing and employment – is the gut-level fear that someone will freeze to death.

That, too, is at stake.

What’s on your mind?

E-mail StreetPoliticsDC@aol.com.

On the Hill

Biden and Davis Give the Homeless a Second Chance

By Street Sense Staff According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, “Each year, some 650,000 people leave state and federal prisons, and many times that number leave local jails…One in five people who leave prison becomes homeless soon thereafter, if not immediately.”

In order to address this issue, Democratic Senator and vice presidential candidate Joe Biden from Delaware introduced legislation in March of 2007 to improve reentry planning and implementation, along with cosponsors Sens.

Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Patrick Leahy (D-CN).

The Recidivism Reduction and Second Chance Act (S. 1060) authorizes $216 million per year in grant funding for programs to address the factors affecting recidivism, including substance abuse treatment, academic and vocational education, housing and job counseling programs and mentoring.

Although this legislation was never voted on by the Senate, a nearly-identical bill, H.R. 1593 in the House of Representatives introduced by Rep. Danny Davis (IL-7) and 89 congressional cosponsors,

became law earlier this year when it was signed by President Bush.

Among other provisions, this bill, now Public Law 110-199, establishes a National Adult and Juvenile Offender Reentry Resource Center to collect data and assist in carrying out offender reentry programs; authorizes federal grants to nonprofit organizations to provide mentoring, job training and placement services; and requires the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to continue mentoring services to offenders after their release from prison.

When he introduced the bill, Rep. Davis said, “When the prison door swings open, an ex-offender may receive a bus ticket and spending money for a day or two...But as they return, they often face additional barriers to reentry: serious physical and mental health problems, no place to stay, and lack of education or qualifications to hold a job…One-third of all correction departments provide no services to released offenders, and most departments do not offer a transitional program, placing a heavy burden on families and communities...That is why I have sponsored the bipartisan Second Chance Act.”

Street Sense

. October 1 – October 14, 2008

ART 7

Fairfax County Adopts “Housing First” Plan

By Derek Schlickeisen

Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series (1940-41), Panel no. 3. Casein tempera on hardboard, 12 x 18 in., The Philips Collection, Washington D.C., acquired 1942.

Migration,

from p.1

The third painting in the series shows a crowd of black people walking across the countryside. Their clothes are old and plain, and they carry old suitcases, packages, cotton sacks. They’ve got their bags packed and they’re leaving. They’re traveling as far and as fast as they can. This is like the Egypt story with Moses, and people leaving. And the floods and the boll weevil are like the plagues of Egypt.

“In every Southern home people met to decide whether or not to go north. ... The trains were crowded with migrants.”

– Panels 30 and 6 These people were like the Hebrews in Egypt. They knew their lives had been spared, and asked “What do we do now?” So it was a great decision – a life-changing decision. There has to be something to motivate you. And the other paintings tell us about that – all the plagues.

Patty’s mother grew up in Mississippi. Patty was born there and in 1960 when she was about six years old her mother took her to Pittsburgh.

“The migrants arrived in Pittsburgh, one of the great industrial centers of the North. ... The migrant, whose life had been rural and nurtured by the earth, was now moving to urban life dependent on industrial machinery.”

– Panels 45 and 7 “My mother was tired of living on a farm,” Patty recalled, “and she got tired of picking cotton. When we came north, first my mother worked in a laundry. She did housework for white people, too. Then she found work in a steel mill and on an assembly line.”

“They found discrimination in the North. It was a different kind. ... But living conditions were better in the North.”

– Panels 49 and 44 The first paintings were kind of drab and dark, but then they became more vibrant later in the series. Why is this?

Could it be that Jacob Lawrence was trying to tell us something about the lives of these black Americans?

In the second half of the series, the colors are a little brighter. They have more hope and more energy. Maybe someone sent the migrants some money from up North. It’s not like panel 3, where they wore old clothes and rags and carried their things in boxes and cotton sacks. Someone sent money and they were going away to liberty.

In panel 3, the poor people are all bunched together as they walk, in the middle of the painting. But in the last painting, they’re relaxed and they’re spread out along a railroad platform. They are wearing nicer clothes and they no longer look poor. They’re not bunched together in a lonely countryside – they’re living their own lives, because their lives have changed.

That’s because up North, they found freedom. The Promised Land – the way we saw the whole scenario.

“In the North the African-American had more educational opportunities. ... In the North they had the freedom to vote.”

– Panels 58 and 59 Patty said, “I’m tremendously glad we came to Pittsburgh – it’s the best move we ever made. In the North, even though they met with a lot of hostility, there was a lot more hope. Like Dr. Martin Luther King said, about his dream where a little black child and a little white child will hold hands and sing ‘free at last!’ ” “And the migrants kept coming.”

Fairfax County Virginia, one of the nation’s most affluent communities has adopted a “Housing First” action plan that aims to completely transform how individuals and families confront the challenge of homelessness by 2018, according to county leaders involved in formulating the plan.

“A home, a safe place to live, is the starting place,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Catherine Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill). “Housing First is a model in which the primary goal is to provide shelter, and then to follow up with a variety of supportive services before imposing conditions for assistance. We have learned that you cannot just say you need to start doing certain things before you get a house. It is the starting place.”

Hudgins said the shift to focus in housing came from a 2006 “Summit to End Homelessness” at Freddie Mac’s corporate headquarters in McLean. Here leaders from the faith and non-profit communities expressed concern that the County’s existing services were doing little to alleviate the root causes of homelessness.

“Advocates came together and said we were only managing the issue, not ending it,” said Hudgins.

A key aspect of the Housing First approach is its preventive nature. Not only does the program attempt to provide stable housing to individuals and families in need, but it seeks out those in danger of losing their housing for either financial or personal reasons.

“We do not wait until someone has entered into a spiral that leaves them living in the woods or their car,” explained Sharon Bulova (D-Braddock), vice-chair of the county’s Board of Supervisors.

“Rather than let that happen, should someone lose their housing, we try as best we can to get them into a supportive shelter, and then try to get them into a situation where they do have a place they can call home. We then follow up with the kind of support needed to stabilize the individual or the family again.”

The two supervisors said the plan would both conserve the county’s time and resources while offering a more effective road to financial and personal recovery for the homeless it seeks to help. In particular, a consensus emerged from the 2006 summit and followup meetings that those struggling with substance abuse see better outcomes when first provided with stable, independent housing.

“You just have to start living in a way where you have a sense of respect,” said Hudgins. “Then, if they are willing to continuously accept services like substance abuse treatment, we get better returns on the investment we make.”

The County’s Web site on homelessness notes that Housing First also proves more cost-effective when dealing with homeless families. The average cost of placing homeless children into foster care is $47,000 whereas the cost of subsidized housing and follow-up services for the same families averages only $9,000 with Housing First.

Government and non-profit leaders in Fairfax are hoping for more than a dramatic reduction in the number of homeless by 2018, however, they are aiming for a cultural shift.

“I would like to be able to say that the culture of obtaining housing is different from what we have been doing up until now,” said Hudgins. “We know that sometimes substance abuse and failure in a recovery program leads to a loss of housing. And if someone is on the street, they will not have the supportive services to go into recovery. We cannot expect a person like that to turn around in 30 or 60 days. They need a long-term commitment.”

That commitment may already be growing in the form of greater community awareness of an issue that, in the past, has not enjoyed a high profile in this affluent community. More than 250 activists and members of the faith and business communities packed into the 2006 summit. Also church and synagogue members collaborated with the County and nonprofits to open “hypothermia centers” during winter months to provide shelter from the cold.

“It became a very warm, supportive partnership,” said Bulova.

“Your everyday neighbor became more aware of the problems associated with the homeless population that people would otherwise be oblivious to. It is kind of a hidden problem here in Fairfax, and people came away from this experience in the past few years with a better appreciation for the problem and a desire to address it.”

Street Sense . October 1 – October 14, 2008

8 POEMS FEATURES

Homeless Zoo As I walk the perimeters of my cage I sit down and take a rest, And watch all of the children and their parents Stare at how differently I am dressed.

The signs give clear instructions That we should not be fed, Because the less that we should eat, The faster we’ll be dead.

Why me? Why us?

How could this be? That we partake in this human zoo.

I never could quite come to terms, With how I used to be a visitor too.

The zoo is not such an awful place Until you’re the main event, Just please be gentle with the eyes As I am confined to my cage of bench and cement.

--- Michelle Cappuccio

God Bless You Did you sneeze? Or Are you at church? Breaking Bread no instead Out in the streets, on the streets A few more days to live To survive The power I have in my hands is: food for thought Is that good enough?

More than I ever could have imagined.

As he reaches out with his dirty fingernails My heart breaks, the loaf in half As I hand him his fork and knife.

God Bless You he says As I dig into my thirty dollar meal I repeat No. May God Bless You. --- Michelle Cappuccio

Street Sense . October 1 – October 14, 2008

PHOTOS & POETRY 9

Street Sense Writer’s Group “Fusion Improbable” at the Kennedy Center

The Man Has Got Game

By Carlton Johnson

By Jerry W.

L

eventually be like, if he becomes president. I couldn’t get staff assistance until I insisted on several occasions, though I did some personal performance art to complete the experience – wearing an NCH “Kick the Real Bums Out [of Congress]” t–shirt, playing with gift store super balls, and buying a “DIVA” car sticker to adorn my wheelchair.

After dinner, the go–go scene started. Food and liquor were flowing, unlike the St. Elizabeths summer concert series, where Italian ices, water and meds were the menu for a one–hour performance.

But the Kennedy Center has an upscale concession and upstairs Cafe, but on the plaza there were foods like BBQ, apple turnovers, and some fried dough stick that wasn’t really to my taste.

Anyway, no less than two African American women initiated dancing with this wheel chaired crazy guy, and I can’t dance without drinking, and I don’t drink anymore, so I guess I was just too tired. But the attention was appreciated, even if I couldn’t return the party mood. And Chuck, you’re amazing, making the Rolling Stones’ geezer rock seem passé, and yes, the police did “come knocking,” but not “Can’t We All Get Along” style – it was more community–organizing style.

And it all got me thinking – I wonder what this nation comes to, for whites and others, if Obama makes it to the White House and survives his presidency, not stopped by racism, and unharmed by unenlightened types.

And the illusion of a Harvard lawyer that gets down to the people, myself somewhat inspired, is more like Reagan’s acting, or like a ‘Bama... . And Reverend Wright, we need you, as White House Press Secretary, to handle the media!

So Rock On (or, um... “Go–Go”?) Reverend Chuck! And here’s a question for all of you: Artists and performers have traditionally crashed into high society, but how about 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and what memorial if Obama serves as president?

Cliff carle

ast year’s Kennedy Center Open House included an amazing performance of a young Asian woman sitting alone on stage. Enter a young African American male with boom box blaring, interrupting her quiet. Nasty looks ensue, but he learns a little respect for her, and she takes on some of his moves, and vice versa. Basically, fusion happens.

At this year’s Open House, a similar thing, with a twist. Of course, Obama is on the ballot and the political circus is in town. So maybe that helped D.C. go–go legend C h u c k B r ow n g e t the South Plaza this year?

Brown’s per formance followed a long day of family and kid–friendly activities, including the Junk Jams, one of my favorites. Think tub–thumping with recycled materials, hub caps hung from a framework of pipes. Junk Man concluded by preaching recycling to give our next generations a planet worth inhabiting. “God doesn’t make Junk,” artist Donald Knaack said, but if you have interesting stuff to get rid of, contact him in Vermont.

Jake Shimabukuro and the ukulele underground represented, and I’m wondering if our more mobile readers, if musically inclined, could add that little guitar to their bands.

Unlike the harmonica, an overused choice for retro hobos without turntables to scratch or carry.

I missed the storytellers, but a woman in traditional dress was striking. Josh Nelson’s Kosher Gospel was full band, led on the piano by a black man in traditional African dress, plus yarmulke. He quipped about going through border patrol and answering “race: African American; religion: Jewish,” and being told to “please step over there for five minutes... .”

And Yiddish was served Sunday school/ temple–style minus the yawns: We all did something participatory like a Wave, holding hands with our neighbors, even in the handicapped nose–bleed seats of that theatre, breaking down barriers, artificial as they may be.

For accessibility, the Kennedy Center, an arts center dedicated to the memory of President John F. Kennedy, is huge, so wheelchair users and very senior patrons – or even Rosemary Kennedy, JFK’s late sister who was lobotomized – will need to get their own assistance. And those baggy poor–looking people, such as myself, might want to consider it turns out one needs to get on a media list ahead of time.

I wonder what the Obama memorial will

Note: Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Center holds free events over the year, but most others cost significant money until next year’s Open House. Students, visitors and political appointees might consider the Kennedy Center for theatre appreciation or a virgin tour, but this was more like a family reunion or buffet.

Jerry has volunteered with writer’s group over the last year. He may be contacted at DancesWithCars@gmail.com if not out biking, eating, or learning at Street Sense.

S

port in this day and age combines the passion of both the athletes and the fans. It all boils down to that unique exercise of artistic expression.

The individual development of knowledge and techniques for one’s favorite game of play is of the highest importance. Most athletes set high standards for themselves to overcome the short term difficulties that they may face.

They know that you must stay on top of their game or the game will stay on top of you.

It is that one passion that bonds coaches, athletes and the fans alike.

I love a good fight on whatever playing field be it mental or physical. Then, to add money to the playing field, that just may be the one thing that takes the athlete’s game to a whole new level of play – that whipped cream with the cherry on top of one’s favorite cake.

If I were to become one of the world’s greatest athletes, it would be in the world of tabletops – the individual sport of the mind. I like to outthink the one I am facing in any field of play because if you are not thinking of your every move or movements before and during you can be outplayed in any game or sport.

You can be the best in anything in life with all the accumulated knowledge by knowing what you want from the start of the game you’ll be able to foresee the ending in most cases. Talent and determination are truly immeasurable gifts. The treasure of individual expression is also the treasure of victory.

Reggie’s Reflections

By Reginald Black

Incident

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aving found

someone I enjoyed talking to was beginning to feel normal. I had even moved in with a friend.

Even though I enjoyed her, I had others on the side. I know that doing this is not acceptable, but you have to remember that being homeless has its pitfalls.

I was looking for a women for all the wrong reasons. I was not completely with the one I wanted.

I was on my way to pick up a check

from where I was working at the time, and an anonymous screen name was bad mouthing me. Mind you, this was on a mobile web dating forum.

I logged in to find someone defending me: suprising. Even though I had not logged into the chatroom, she was defending me, basically picking up the slack. I did not realize at the time she had done this, but I had left a detailed message of how grateful I was.

This one incident sealed my decision on her. But I didn’t truly know if I had the found the right person, but I was determined to find out.

Reggie has been a vendor over five months and regularly participates at writer’s group.

Street Sense Writer’s Group meets 2:30 to 3:30 pm Wednesdays in the Street Sense conference room.

This fall will be its one–year anniversary.

Street Sense . October 1 – October 14, 2008

10 FEATURES

File for the Stimulus Payment Before Oct. 15 Deadline

By Meg Newman Washington, DC ranks first in the nation in the percentage of eligible residents who have not yet filed for the Economic Stimulus Payment (ESP). There are still 15,000 DC residents who are eligible for the ESP and have yet to file a tax return.

This represents a potential $4.5 million loss to the DC economy and residents. Don’t leave money on the table! Here’s how you can find out more or get help to claim your payment: What is the Economic Stimulus Payment (ESP)?

The Economic Stimulus Payment (ESP) is an effort on the part of the national government to alleviate the financial burden of the struggling economy. These “bonus” checks are available to individuals who received more than $3,000 in 2007 in Social Security benefits, Veterans’ benefits, or wages. The payment is $300 for those with no tax burden and an additional $300 for each eligible dependent child.

Please note: Individuals who have already filed tax returns do not need to file separately

My Turn At The Table

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for the ESP. Residents who have been claimed as a dependent on another person’s return are not eligible for the payment. Individuals who received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are also not able to request the payment (unless it was in conjunction with wages, Social Security or Veterans’ Benefits).

How can residents claim the ESP? In order to claim the ESP, every eligible individual must file a tax return. Even individuals who are not required to file a return, have not done so in years, or have never filed a return are required to file in order to access this benefit. The Internal Revenue Service form 1040A includes a line (14A) to list Social Security benefits (this line is also for Veterans’ Benefits). Returns can be filed electronically or by mail. The deadline for filing a return to claim the ESP is October 15, 2008.

Who are these 15,000 residents who have not claimed their payments?

Most of the filers who haven’t yet claimed their payments are seniors, veterans, and individuals with disabilities who are not otherwise required to file a tax return, and may not realize they qualify. Nationally, 5 million low– income seniors, disabled veterans and other low–income workers are at risk of missing out on their payments. Residents unable to leave their homes are especially at risk of missing

out on the payment.

How can I get help to claim the ESP? On October 11, 2008 from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. volunteers will offer FREE tax filing assistance at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 901 G Street NW (near the Metro Center or Gallery Place metro stops). The DC Earned Income Tax Credit (DC EITC) Campaign along with Community Tax Aid, Councilmember Jack Evans’ Office, the Mayor’s Office, Catholic Charities, and the DC Office on Aging will host this FREE event for the public.

Social Security recipients can file for the ESP on this date so long as they have an approximation of their sources and amount of income from 2007.

Those looking for assistance in filing a tax return including wages are also welcome; however, their income must be under $30,000 for individuals, or $40,000 for families to be eligible for the free service. Please bring a Social Security card and all relevant tax and financial documents to receive in–person tax filing assistance.

Family and friends of home–bound ESP– eligible residents are welcome to come get information, ask questions, or receive assistance on behalf of a loved one. Please bring some form of picture identification information for the filer.

Eligible individuals with access to the internet can use the AARP’s online filing tool at: www.aarp.org/money for help completing and filing the 1040A. Help spread the word and ensure the DC economy does not lose $4.5 million!

If you work, live or regularly interact with seniors, veterans and/or individuals with disabilities, ask if they have received their ESP payment. Inform them of the free assistance available. The DC EITC Campaign can share promotional materials with you to help spread the word. For more information on the ESP outreach effort or the DC EITC Campaign’s year–round work, please contact: info@dceitc.org or 202–419–1442.

CAAB manages the DC Earned Income Tax Credit (DC EITC) Campaign – a coalition of government, nonprofit and private entities that educates residents about the EITC and other tax benefits for low–income workers; provides free tax preparation assistance to those who need help but can’t afford to pay; and connects taxpayers with financial education, credit counseling, and other programs and services that promote economic security.

Call us at 202–419–1442 for more information.

Send feedback on this column and your ideas for future topics to saving@caab.org.

By Patricia Jefferson

“Invigorating” Eats at Ceiba

LISA GILISPIE

ften selling my Street Sense newspapers nearby Ceiba, a restaurant that specializes in a mixture of Latin American, Peruvian, and Mexican Foods, I recently experienced the ambience there. Since 2005 Washingtonian Restaurant Award consistently rated the restaurant as excellent in food service and value. Rita Brunson, the former Street Sense vendor manager accompanied me.

After entering the large stylish restaurant, we were quietly seated by an attractive waitress. I would describe the restaurant as elegant, but business–like. We were seated at a comfortable table in which the atmosphere was quiet and serene. The seating had padded cushions with comfortable wooden straw chairs. After sitting, I observed photographs on the wall which depicted the Latin American culture which seemed unusual, but interesting. Also, as we were viewing the menu, we had the pleasure of listening to Latin American music that was played in the background.

When the waitress returned for our orders, she served us toasted flat–bread that was crunchy with Pumpkin Seed Hummus Sauce. The sauce was tangy and a little spicy. However, it went well with the flat– bread that was made of flour. While eating, we ordered drinks. Rita had a Coke and, I ordered a Sprite.

From the menu, there were good selections of entrees from which to choose. Rita

Patricia enjoyed a tasty chorizo hamburger at this Latin American lunch spot.

had already decided on her meal, before we arrived, but since I didn’t have that privilege, it took me a while to choose from the variety of selections. Rita later explained that she ate at this restaurant in the past.

Her choice was the Pumpkin Seed Crusted Crisp Tilapia with Fufu Mash, Spice Island Creole Sauce, Shaved Asparagus Slaw, and a side order of French Fries. Rita didn’t comment that much on her meal other than when I asked about the Tilapia, she stated that it was good and tender. I believe, maybe she was so engrossed in nibbling on the

French Fries that appeared scrumptious.

However, she didn’t make any comments about the Shaved Asparagus Slaw, which was left untouched, it looked healthy and wholesome.

After carefully viewing the menu, and since it had been awhile since eating a gourmet hamburger, I decided to order the (Chorizo Sausage from Argentina mixed with ground beef ) called – Ceiba “Hamburger con Chorizo Melt”– Griddled Sourdough Bread, Manchego Cheese, Mustard Aioli, and hand cut French fries.

The hamburger was prepared well, very tasty with just the right spices on the evenly toasted sourdough bread, in which the Manchego Cheese blended well into the thick burger along with the Mustard Aioli, Which was somewhat sweet, which made the burger invigorating and exciting to eat. Since the hamburger was thick and very filling, I was only able to eat half of the sandwich. I took the other half and, some of the fries as a “doggy bag”. By the way, the fries were crispy.

Afterwards for dessert, the waitress had several selections to choose. Among her selection, I choose the Coconut Tres Leches Cake with honey and Chili Frilled Pinapple Skewer and Cajeta Sorbet. It was presented well on the plate. I didn’t know what to eat first on the plate, but I began with the Pineapple Coconut Skewer and dipped it in the Cajeta Sorbet which was exquisite. The Coconut Tres Leches Cake with honey was light in taste and a delight.

The meal ended with a serving of Caramel Popcorn, which Rita had the pleasure of enjoying. I would recommend Ceiba for the quality and good service. The price of our meal only totaled $47.00. In addition, Cieba has daily drink specials Monday through Friday 2:30–10:30 PM with complimentary Bocaditos.

Patricia Jefferson has been a vendor for Street Sense for 18 months and she loves to write.

Gregory’s Great Game

Ketchup

Kangaroo Kentucky Keep Kitten Kept Keys Kiss Kenetic Kick

Street Sense . October 1 – OctoberKindness 14, 2008 Kool Knife Knowledge Kitchen Karate Kind KIng Kansas

FEATURES & GAMES 11

Gregory’s Great Game: The Letter “K”

Street Sense vendor Gregory Martin loves creating puzzles.

Simply find the following words in the grid below.

Ketchup Kindness Kool Knife Knowledge Kitchen Karate Kind

Street Sense vendor Gregory Martin loves creating puzzles.

Simply find the following words in the grid below.

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PLACE YOUR AD HERE! DEMOGRAPHICS And who your business will be reaching can’t be beat. Our typical reader is a 35–year–old woman who lives in D.C. and works for the government or a nonprofit earning $70,000 a year.

RATES Rates are about half the cost of the neighborhood monthlies and are as low as $57 for a 1/16 page ad that runs multiple times.

DISCOUNTS Discounts offered to nonprofits and to those that prepay for multiple ads.

With Street Sense now coming out every two weeks and reaching nearly 13,000 people each issue, now is the perfect time to promote your business with us.

Call Laura Osuri at 202–347–2006 or email info@streetsense.org for more information and to get a copy of our new advertising brochure. Or ask your local vendor, who can earn 20% commission from ads sales.

KIng Kansas Kangaroo Kentucky Keep Kitten Kept Keys

September Answers

Street Sense . October 1 – October 14, 2008

12 EDITORIALS

Is Greed Really Good?

By Jeffery McNeil

T

he recent market turmoil has turned the free–market system upside down.

The conservative philosophy of trickle–down economics has finally reached its conclusion with the $1 trillion dollar bailout of Wall Street.

Our elected officials have led us to a free–market system, where the rich get the spoils of bonuses and golden parachutes that are worth millions. Meanwhile, the poor and middle class get stuck with the bill in the form of higher taxes.

This is another classic case of a shipwreck where the rich get the lifeboat and the poor and middle class get to sink with the ship.

The economic philosophy of the current administration led to lax oversight of Wall Street and tax breaks for lobbyists, many who represent energy and drug companies.

All of this came at the expense of programs from the New Deal and Great Society, which were intended to put our country back to the pre– reconstruction age.

This new economic theory of free market conservatism is reminiscent of the classic line from the movie “Wall Street,” when corporate raider Gordon Gecko tells his young protégé that “greed is good.”

I ask the public: is greed really good?

Our administration told us the threat of global terrorism made war with Iraq necessary, which pushed the nation’s debt into the trillions. They told us we needed to give the wealthy tax breaks so they could set up offshore accounts in Switzerland, outsource jobs to Bangladesh, and have higher compensation and bonuses for CEOs. They said we needed to give tax breaks to oil companies so they could have windfall profits while arguing we need to drill in the United States because of our dependency on foreign oil.

What is really surreal is that so many of our great lending institutions got bailed out after they pressed the government for deregulation of Wall Street, which led to the collapse of our financial system as we know it.

This is the same administration who told the poor and middle class to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, that they didn’t need government, and to follow

the lead of the administration and work hard.

If you are not lazy, you’ll be rewarded, they said.

Who can forget Hurricane Katrina, when this administration dragged its feet in funding the victims from that disaster? But what is even more beyond belief is the urgency of our Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and White House in bailing out Wall Street bankers. While those who lost everything from Katrina got trailers, our CEOs will get bonuses and compensations in this great fairy tale known as capitalism.

As our Treasury secretary is making the rounds of the television networks trying to sell this chaos to the American people, the hedge funds and traders who are responsible for this disaster will be allowed to sell the debt and foreclosed homes back to the American people.

America is surely the land of opportunity, especially if you’re a Wall Street banker.

I guess it of grave importance that the higher–ups get their bonuses and compensation, and we all pay the tab in higher taxes.

D e s p i t e t h e Bu s h administration’s many mistakes, I don’t get too excited about the extremely partisan and Democratic–controlled House and Senate either.

The truth is the whole process of democracy as we know it is failing. Like the Romans, the Greeks and other great civilizations, wealth, power and corruption has polluted the great experiment of free–thinking nations.

When elected officials are corrupted by special interests like investment bankers and oil companies, as a nation we have to consider, is there much good in a two–party system that grants favors at the expense of the poor and the middle class?

Why vote if all they’re going to do is argue, filibuster and corrupt important issues that are vital to all Americans, whether they are affluent or poor.

We all pay taxes and all care about our country, so why is it fair that one gets a bigger slice than the other? The U.S. Constitution says all are created equal, regardless of class.

Make no mistake, after the dust has settled and we find out how widespread the bubble is, the inequality of wealth will be even farther apart than it is now.

We will only have two classes: the filthy rich and the dirt poor.

I again ask the question: Is greed really good?

“trickle–down economics has finally reached its conclusion.”

Jeffery McNeil regularly puts on a suit to sell Street Sense and loves to argue about politics.

Writing for Street Sense: One Year of Benefits

By Robert Blair

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ashington, D.C. is full of writers – in o u r g ov e r n m e n t agencies, trade associations, unions, universities, think t a n k s, l a w p a r t nerships, lobbying groups, newspapers, television stations and a host of non–profit organizations.

So, I’d like to celebrate the first anniversary of my own venture into amateur journalism by inviting those of you writers (of memos, law briefs, press releases, poems or whatever) who read Street Sense to consider putting your skills to work as volunteers.

Consider the benefits Benefit One: You get to meet all sorts of interesting people whose paths you’d otherwise be unlikely ever to cross.

Who are they? There are the homeless men and women you’d be meeting and writing about. But they’ll no longer be “The Homeless” to you. They’ll be David, the poet, John, the political organizer, Joseph, the painter, Charlie, the vendor, Brenda, the writer and animal lover, Roy, the blogger and Hazel, the military police veteran.

There are also the service providers, homeless advocates, policy researchers, and politicians you’ll interview. You’ll meet them and start to see them as individuals not just category stereotypes. And, if your experience is anything like mine, you’ll find that many of them will be among the most compassionate and caring people you’ll ever met.

The same is likely to be true about the Street Sense volunteers, vendors and interns you’ll come to know. They’re often impressive, but they’re always interesting.

Benefit Two: As a volunteer writer you can choose your stories and the timing of your deadlines. You can volunteer to do stories that the editor develops, participate in editorial meetings, or, (as you get to know the sub–culture and community you’re writ-

ing about better) propose and pursue stories of your own.

For example, I first attended a Street Sense volunteer orientation in July of 2007, didn’t volunteer to write an assigned story until August, and didn’t finish the research and interviews on it until early September.

I picked a topic that, as an economist and suburbanite who knew nothing about the District’s homeless programs, policies or personalities, I felt comfortable with: Whether residents of women’s homeless shelters have higher rates of mental illness than do homeless men. (They do.)

After some on–line research and interviews with psychiatrists and program administrators, the story lead me to my first visit to a homeless shelter – Calvary Shelter at 5th and K Streets, NW. That visit, and my conversations with the staff and women residents, convinced me that writing for Street Sense was going to be a hell of an education for me. And one I’d enjoy sharing.

One of my favorite experiences as Street Sense writer came while researching an article on “street poetry.” I was given the opportunity to participate in several creative writing workshops at Miriam’s Kitchen in Foggy Bottom. Being a former English major, that experience turned out to be a stimulating personal pleasure as well as a fascinating look at how street poetry gets written and published.

Third Benefit: All writers like to see their work in print. Street Sense comes out every two weeks and has roughly 10,000 readers.

And there’s the additional satisfaction of knowing that your work helps the paper’s vendors earn cash to support themselves.

So writers, if you’ve got a little spare time, and you think you might like to educate yourself and the paper’s readership on issues of homelessness and poverty, consider volunteering at Street Sense. Try it. You’ll like it!

Robert Blair is an economist and Street Sense volunteer writer.

Your thoughts and editorials are welcome.

Please e–mail content to editor@streetsense.org or mail to 1317 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005.

Street Sense . October 1 – October 14, 2008

Maurice Speaks

EDITORIALS 13

By Maurice King

We Need Answers and Action for Election Day

T

he presidential election is less than one month away now. It has taken me since the beginning of the campaigning to re a c h a d e c i sion on whom I will vote for, and even now I have not made one. Both candidates’ speeches and talks have left us with few details, and I have so many reservations about both candidates that I feel numb. I feel destined to take the sad path of voting for the lesser of two evils, but it is even sadder when a person does not know which canidate that is.

I have not enjoyed the discussions that I have heard during this election season between Senators Barak Obama (D– Ill.) and John McCain (R–Ariz.). sharply worded arguments that I could not dismiss them as “divisive.” As the words fly, however, we are left with many unanswered questions about each candidate’s plans and objectives.

Every citizen has the right to choose to vote for a candidate of his/her own choice.

However, when I hear someone tell a person to leave the country because of that choice, I truly have to ask what sort of society the United States has become when the freedom to vote has become a reason for expulsion from the country. That’s hardly democracy; it’s more like fascism.

However, as the election still remains before us, there is time to ask the questions that have not yet been successfully answered. The issue of homelessness affects millions of Americans, and poverty is still a reality to be dealt with by the next administration. Obama has spoken in broad generalities about dealing with poverty while McCain has been less than clear on anything dealing with economic matters. Americans must ask exactly what policies each man would pursue to address the issue of homelessness and poverty and what tangible outcomes he seeks to achieve.

Both candidates have the opportunity to enact their policies here on the streets of Washington, DC, where the plight of the

homeless are visible and in need of action.

It is a city where both senators have ties because of their roles on capitol hill; they can take the opportunity to get out into the city and to see how the underprivileged are really living. It would be part of the future president’s job to deal with the problem, and either candidate could use the District of Columbia as a place to garner support for their projected plans, if they have any.

The issues of the military utilization and national security pose a different sort of problem, as there is no way to test any of the candidates’ plans. Additionally, the current global environment is subject to change over time and is closely linked with foreign policy. However, treatment of veterans is a tangible subject that needs to be dealt with now. Veterans continue to return from war as long as the United States remains involved in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it is unlikely that we will completely leave both these areas soon. This issue demands attention from the candidates, which have failed to provide specifics as to how they will help the growing veteran population.

What is most important is that everyone who is eligible to vote registers to do so and cast his or her ballot on election day. For the person who thinks that one vote is not going to have any impact, let it be known that one vote multiplied times many makes a lot of difference. It’s your choice on Election Day; in addition to getting the answers to the nation’s often–ignored questions, we must use our power to help put policy in action. Even someone as confused and conflicted as I am still knows that.

But vote for whom? I wish I knew. You’ll have to figure out that question on your own. Vote for the candidate you consider to be the best suited for the job – that’s what it’s all about. If you are having a hard time deliberating, don’t worry about that.

At least you’re putting some thought into your choice, and there’s a lot to be said in favor of that.

“As the words fly, we are left with many unanswered questions about each candidate’s plans and objectives.”

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

The Safeway store at 5th and K Streets NW brightens up the Chinatown neighborhood.

Safeway Brightens Up 5th and K, NW

By Kenneth Belkosky

D

C’s newest Safeway store at 5th and K Streets NW is a great addition to my Chinatown neigh-

borhood.

I like the store; it reminds me of a store in my native state of Ohio called Finast.

This new Safeway offers a whole lot, from Starbucks to free food samples. And the store is huge inside. All we need now is one of those Bloom grocery stores.

The new Safeway is part of a new condo-

minium project that also includes a hardware store and will soon offer a health club.

Busboys and Poets has also opened a new restaurant/bar there . . I have not been there yet, but it looks like it’s a happening place that you have to be well dressed to get into.

Kenneth Belkosky has been a vendor for Street Sense for one month and he loves to listen to police scanners.

Sell on eBay, Give to Street Sense Through eBay Giving Works you can donate 10% to 100% to Street Sense simply by checking “donate a percentage of the sale” on your eBay sales form, and selecting “Street Sense.”

What You Get:

• Charity ribbon icon in search results • Tax-deductible receipt for your donations • Pro-rated fee credit when your item sells

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Street Sense . October 1 – October 14, 2008

14 STREET SENSE NEWS

Vendors’Notes Vendors to Readers: Thanks!

In the last two weeks several vendors have reported unusually generous acts of kindness from their customers. For example, the other day Jeffery McNeill received a nice note in the mail from a reader, and along with it came a $20 CVS gift card. In the course of a week Ivory Wilson received a new pair of sneakers and several dress shirts from his generous customers at 7th and E, Northwest. And vendor Kenneth Belkowsky has befriended a hot dog vendor and street sense supporter near his spot in Dupont Circle. This vendor gives Kenneth free sodas, discounted hotdogs and they both watch over each others post if one has to take a bathroom break.

So from Jeffery, Ivory, and all our vendors, thanks to readers everywhere for your generosity and kindness; it does not go unnoticed and it definitely motivates the vendors to do better at selling the paper and with life in general.

Street Sense to Readers: Thanks!

And while readers are giving from the heart to vendors, they are also giving generously to the organization. We’d like to thank Irene Wu for donating a sturdy four–drawer metal filing cabinet that came in handy during our office cleaning day on Sept. 19. And we’d also like to thank Kirkland, Ellis, Derrick and Wendell for donating six boxes full of paper plates, cups, bowls and napkins, which we also shared with our neighbors YSOP and the Church of the Epiphany. Now we will have plenty

of disposables for our vendor meetings for months to come, and the church will have plenty cups for their coffee hour for many, many Sundays.

Laptops Wanted/Furniture on Hold Thanks to everyone that called offering furniture to our fortunate vendors who have moved into housing. However, perhaps a general call for items was not the best idea. It seems that many of the vendors moved into apartments that were already furnished or they quickly got the basic furnishing through other means. So while we greatly appreciate all everyone had to offer, it seems most of it is no longer needed by our vendors.

So from now on, when a vendor moves into a place, we will run a specific list of his/her requests and their contact information to make donations easier for both ends.

However, while many vendors are set with furnishings, those in housing and those on the street have recently been demanding the same things: laptop computers. So if you have a laptop you are looking to get rid of, please considering donating it to Street Sense and we will pass it along to a vendor.

So long as the laptop is wireless or can take a wireless card and has a basic word processing program, our vendors would eagerly take any laptop you have to offer.

Please contact Laura Thompson Osuir at laura@ streetsense.org or call 202–347–2006, if you have a laptop you want to part with.

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What our REaders are Saying...

Seeing possibilities in all of us To the Editor, Hope this helps. I’d rather contribute money to man’s ability to work – as in a vendor selling a newspaper. Thank you for a good read and a good cause.

Rhoda.

The Keep My Job in America Act of 2009 To the Editor, Some folks are homeless because they became unemployed when their jobs left America and went overseas . The company made more profits, while people were sent into “occupational exile.”

I propose that the “Keep My Job in America Act of 2009” be enacted to stop this practice.

If a job leaves the USA for any reason, the products or services will not be allowed to reenter the USA to be sold. Period. If a company sends a job to another country (including to a USA territory such as the Northern Marianas Islands) the company’s products and services cannot “come back” to the USA and make more profits for the capitalists who own the company.

Any politician who votes against this bill should become unemployed at the next election – even if you have to come out of nowhere and run against an incumbent on the platform of just wanting a job.

Raymond Avrutis

Vendor Manager Wanted Street Sense is looking for a part–time vendor manager (20 hours a week) to oversee and assist its sales for of more than 70 homeless and formerly homeless men and women. The position will hopefully become full–time within six months.

The vendor manager would: • Recruit and train vendors • Assess vendors needs • Connect vendors to services they need and provide advice • Track vendors progress and paper sales • Create sales training program for vendors • Discipline vendors and mitigate vendor disputes Street Sense is looking for someone with: • Experience working with homeless individuals • Strong communication skills with a wide variety of individuals • Ability to multitask and excellent organization skills • Patience and flexibility • Ability to discipline and suspend/terminate vendors when necessary • Proficiency using Excel or other data management programs If you are interested in the position, please email your resume and a cover letter to executive director Laura Thompson Osuri at laura@streetsense.org or call 202–347–2006.

FEATURES 15 SERVICE PROVIDERS & VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Street Sense . October 1 – October 14, 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

VENDOR PROFILE

PHOTO FINISH

Stress Sells

Donald Johnson

By Denise Wilkins Vendor Donald Johnson has been selling the paper for the past six months. A native Washingtonian, Donald spent his teens in North Carolina and subsequently joined the U.S. Army in 1984 where he finished up as a sergeant in 1992.

Donald served in the first Gulf War and spent time at Ft. Dix and in Germany and Korea. He is a cook by trade and became homeless when he and his wife decided to divorce.

In his spare time he plays basketball in Anacostia Park. Donald wants his lawyer– customers at the corner of 11th and E Street, NW to know that he values their patronage!

Where do you find yourself in five years?

On top of the world!

What is your favorite movie?

Passenger 57 with Wesley Snipes.

What is your favorite food?

Pork barbecue from North Carolina.

Veteran Vendor Jeffery McNeill shows of one of his latest – and best – signs that he uses to help sell his papers. The poster is complete with a photo of Gordon Gecko, houses under foreclosure, President Bush and hurricane ravaged roadways. Jeffery said that he is trying to use all stress from presidential campaigns and financial market collapse to his advantage when it comes to selling Street Sense.

What is your favorite music?

R&B, specifically the artist, Jaheem.

How did you become involved with Street Sense?

Through a friend.

What is your favorite book?

Ski Mask by Nikki Turner

StreetFact

During the 2006 elections, 31.3% of people living in poverty voted, while 64.2% of people making more than 100,000 voted.

What advice do you have for other Street Sense vendors?

Give it all you got. Treat it like a job and build customer loyalty through respect and appreciation.

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

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

October 1 – October 14, 2008 • Volume 5 • Issue 24

Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20005

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