11 12 2008

$2

S treetS ense.org

`

November 12-26 2008

Where the poor and homeless earn and give their two cents November 12-26, 2008

Volume 6 Issue 1

Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?

Veteran hikes to raise $3,700 for homeless vets Page 8

Tiny investment changes lives in Bangladesh

b about y

Page 15

Help Street Sense Reach One Million!

See page 3 for details

Non-profit attempts to alleviate holiday burdens Page 6

2

S treetS ense.org

November 12-26, 2008

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/WRITERS Sherry Antoine, Robert Basler, Robert Blair, Cliff Carle, Michelle Cappuccio, Jane Cave, Jason Corum, Diana Cosgrove, Rebecca Curry, Rick Dahnke, Ben Edwards, Jessia Gaitan, Joshua Gardner, Genevieve Gill, Cassandra Good, Joanne Goodwin, Roberta Haber, Razia Hamid, Carol Hannaford, Justin Herman, Annie Hill, Dan Horner, Phillip Hoying, Kayne Karnbach, Maurice King, Geof Koss, Jessica LaGarde, Karin Lee, Matthew S. Lee, Brenda K. LeeWilson, 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, Jake Ashford, Kenneth Belkosky, Tommy Bennett, Reginald Black, Corey Bridges, Bobby Buggs, Cliff Carle, Conrad Cheek Jr., Louise Davenport, James Davis, Bernard Dean, Muriel Dixon, Patrick Ebitit, 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, James Lott, Robert McCray, August Mallory, Gregory Martin, Charles Mayfield, Lee Mayse, Jennifer Mclaughlin, Jeffery McNeil, L. Morrow, Charles Nelson, Sammy Ngatiri, Moyo Onibuje, Thomas Queen, Raymond Ragland, Kevin Robinson, Tyrone Rogers, Leroy Sturdevant, Sybil Taylor, Eric Thompson, Francine Triplett, Carl Turner, Jerry W., Martin Walker, Lawless Watson, Wendell Williams, Ivory Wilson

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.

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 full board of directors, and in November the organization hired its first employee, a fulltime executive director.

A year later in November 2006 , the organization hired its first vendor coordinator, and began partnering with several service providers.

In February 2007, the paper started publishing twice a month and to support the increased production, Street Sense brought on its first fulltime editor–in–chief in April.

As of November 2008 the paper has 80 active vendors and prints more than 30,000 issues each month.

Do you want to continue to support Street Sense throughout the year?

Order a subscription today!

Not only will you receive 26 issues packed with all our latest news, poetry and photography, you will also help raise awareness about poverty in the D.C. area. ___ YES! I want to subscribe to Street Sense for just $40 a year for 26 issues. ___ YES! I want to give half of the cost of a subscription to my favorite vendor: ________________________________ Name: _______________________________ Address: ______________________________ _____________________________________ City:__________________________________ State:__________________ Zip: __________ Phone: _______________________________ E-mail: _______________________________ Please make checks payable to Street Sense.

Mail to: Street Sense, 1317 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20005.

Thanks for your support!

We are proud members of: North American Street Newspaper Association

International Network of Street Papers

Vendor Code of Conduct 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

10.

Street Sense will be distributed for a voluntary donation of $1. I agree not to ask for more than a dollar or solicit donations for Street Sense by any other means.

I will only purchase the paper from Street Sense staff and will not sell papers to other vendors (outside of the office volunteers).

I agree to treat all others – customers, staff, other vendors – respectfully, and I will not “hard sell,” threaten or pressure customers.

I agree to stay off private property when selling Street Sense.

I understand that I am not a legal employee of Street Sense but a contracted worker responsible for my own well–being and income.

I agree to sell no additional goods or products when selling the paper.

I will not sell Street Sense under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

I agree to stay a block away from each another vendor and respect the space of all vendors.

I understand that my badge is the property of Street Sense and will not deface it. I will present my badge when purchasing the papers and display my badge when selling papers.

I understand that Street Sense strives to be a paper that covers homelessness and poverty issues while providing a source of income for the homeless. I will try to help in this effort and spread the word.

Oct. 29– Nov.10 Donors Algernon Austin Margaret Leigh Caulk Winnie Clarke Microsoft Giving Campaign Thank You!

S treetS ense.org

`

November 12-26 2008

3

A message from the director

Five Crazy Years on a Grassroots Mission Five years, half a decade - wow!

Back on the dreary morning of Nov. 15, 2003 when our first issue was released, I could not have even imagined that Street Sense would be going so strong and would have grown so much in just five years. I think I have said something similar on every anniversary of Street Sense, but its worth repeating as the success of Street Sense continuously amazes me.

But it’s not just the success that amazes me, but that we have done so staying true to a foundation that Laura Thompson Osuri me and cofounder Ted Henson established even before this scrappy little paper had a name. The first tenet was that the content of the newspaper would present as objective articles as possible and would not advocate for one issue or another.

Over the course of five years, this

foundation has helped Street Sense become known as a reliable and credible news source when it comes to issues related to poverty and homelessness.

Several news outlets – including NBC4 and WAMU - now call us when they want background on a homelessness topic or if they want a homeless person to talk to for an article or news segment.

Additionally, over the last year our articles have been reprinted in a handful of smaller publications including the Pew Charitable Trust’s Election Weekly.

The second tenet we had was that Street Sense would not simply use homeless people to sell papers (or “pimp the homeless” as many terminated vendors like to say) but that they would be involved at every level and we would try at every level to help them to get off the streets.

Most Street Sense vendors now view the organization as more than just an employer, but as a caring, family-like environment where they can not only get help but also get respect. We currently have one vendor on the board of directors, two vendors that train new

recruits, three vendors that help in the office, and dozens more that write and help with the production of the paper.

And over the last year we started connecting vendors to readers looking for help with odd jobs and we are working to better train our vendors to transfer their newspaper sales skills into other sales jobs.

Holding true to these foundations, Street Sense has been able to grow from a project of the National Coalition for the Homeless with a dozen vendors and five thousand issues a month to a stable nonprofit with three staff members, 80 active vendors and more than 30,000 issues each month. And in the last year alone the growth of vendors and newspaper is astounding and has already passed our expectations with still two months left in the year. And in just a few short months we will print our millionth copy!

This growth is not because of expensive strategic marketing, recruiting or promotion plans. But it simply came through the grassroots word of mouth promotion from reader to new reader,

Street Sense has been able to grow from a project of the NCH with a dozen vendors and five thousand issues a month. donor to potential donor and vendors to vendor recruits. Street Sense indeed began as a very grassroots effort. And holding true to our editorial and vendor tenets, we are and will remain a very grassroots organization.

Thanks to all our readers, donors, volunteers and – especially - vendors for contributing to Street Sense’s success and growth over the last five years.

And please continue to spread the word over the next five years.

I can hardly imagine a decade of Street Sense in Washington D.C. But as the first five went by lightning fast, Street Sense will be in the double digits before we know it.

Help Us Reach 1,000,000 After five years, 84 issues, hundres of vendors, and thousands of eye opening news stories and thoughtful editorials, Street Sense is just a few short months away from publishing its one millionth newspaper. One million newspapers!!! Just think, if you line up all the printed copies of Street Sense end to end from the steps of our office you would reach New York City.

This is an exciting milestone, indeed. But we aren’t there yet. Right now we have printed about 900,000 newspapers, but to print the next 100,000 we need the support of very reader. To help Street Sense continue being the place where “the Washington area’s poor and homeless give and earn their two cents” we are looking to raise 1,000,000 cents for each year of Street Sense- or $50,000 - by our millionth copy, expected in February.

If just every regular reader (about 6,500 people according to our 2008 readers’ survey) donates just $10, and we would more than exceed our goal. And if dozens of new readers donated as well, Street Sense would surely reach one million! So please fill out the form below and decide what you want to contribute to help Street Sense reach one million copies and print one million more.

I will donate: ___ $10 - The minimum regular reader donation. ___ $50 - $10 for each year of Street Sense. ___ $84 - $1 for each issue of Street Sense. ___ $221 - $1 for each mile that every copy of Street Sense would cover. ___ $480 - $1 for every vendor ever with Street Sense. ___ $1500 - For printing one issue (15,000 newspapers) ___ Another amount of $____________ ___ Another amount of $_______ for vendor: _________

My Information Name:__________________________________________________ Address:________________________________________________ City/State/Zip:__________________________________________ Phone:___________________E–mail:_______________________ Please make checks payable to Street Sense.

Street Sense is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit organization.

All donations are tax deductible.

You can also donate via credit card and set up reoccurring donations at www.streetsense.org

4

November 12-26, 2008

Fannie Mae woes hit nonprofits

By Lisa Gillespie In October, eleven new women arrived at N Street Village because they lost their jobs or housing. Mary Funke, executive director of the nonprofit program for poor and homeless women, wonders what would have happened to these women if places like N Street Village were not around to help them.

And hers are not idle worries. The government takeover of one of Washington’s philanthropic giants, Fannie Mae, has many nonprofits fearing for their futures. They are concerned that the collapse of the troubled national, government-sponsored mortgage lender could result in a decrease in funding to many groups that help the poor and homeless. And the timing couldn’t be worse for such programs, which are stretching to meet increasing demands in the midst of the current economic crisis.

“If programs start to close, people still h a v e t o e a t ,” s a i d Funke. “If we weren’t there, they might go somewhere else, but what if those other places were closed as well because of a lack of funding?”

Fa n n i e Ma e h a s been one of the top charitable organizations in the District

They will not go from giving the majority of funding to nothing-- it’s not a message that wants to be sent -- but it will be cut -Bob Lose

where, unlike other cities, not as many corporations exist to give funds. Over the years, N Street Village and other nonprofits have come to count on assistance from Fannie Mae’s charitable arm, the Fannie Mae Foundation, particularly its Help the Homeless Program.

Since 1988, the program’s fundraising efforts have culminated in an annual Help the Homeless Walkathon, held on the National Mall on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

In 2005, the Walkathon raised $7.8 million for 178 local homeless service providers.

This year’s Walkathon will be held on November 22. But the Fannie Mae Foundation itself has been liqudated as part of the government takeover and planning for this year’s walk was shifted to Fannie Mae’s office for community responsibility. Fannie Mae officials would make no comment on the future of the Walkathon.

And the future of Fannie Mae’s philanthropic work under government supervision is also unclear, according to experts.

“The government is going to play a big role in what they do and don’t do from now on,” said Bob Lose, who chairs American University’s department of finance and real estate at the Kogod School of Business.

“If you wanted to take a hopeful viewpoint, they would take the hundred million dollars in lobbying and give it to a charity,” Lose said.

But in spite of the uncertainty, Lose predicted there will still be help for nonprofits from Fannie Mae. “They will not go from giving the majori-

ty of funding to nothing -- it’s not a message that wants to be sent -- but it will be cut.”

Last year, N Street raised $ 259,314 through Walkathon pledges and this year the goal is $325,000. But only a third of that has been raised so far.

If the Walkathon ends completely, Funke said “it will leave us high and dry and not just in the money sense; it’s the advocacy and education. With thousands of people walking, it spreads awareness to people that may otherwise not get the opportunity to be aware of the reality of homelessness.”

The best thing charitable groups can do in the midst of the uncertainty is to tighten their belts, Lose said.

“If you were a usual receiver, you might want to budget 50% to 10% less,” he said.

Nonprofits and Fannie Mae alike will be cutting salaries and looking for new ways to be efficient, according to Lose, a prediction that rings true with N Street.

“We’re doing everything we can to stay up despite the decrease in fundraising with the Walkathon,” Funke said, who included a present temporary hiring freeze and consolidating with other organizations as an option in the future. “There has been a decrease in giving and this has a direct correlation with the economy. We are down in the first quarter and so is the stock market.”

This year, N Street is behind in fundraising, but is still ahead of most other organizations.

“What happens if we do not get the funding to keep programs that work with the mentally ill, housing issues and recovering programs going?” Funke said. “What happens to that person who is mentally ill and goes out on the streets?”

S treetS ense.org Foundry

United Methodist Church A Reconciling Congregation

Invites you to join us in worship on Sundays at 9:30 and 11:00 AM Sign Interpretation at 11:00

Homeless Outreach Hospitality Fridays 9:00 AM

Foundry United Methodist Church 1500 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 (202) 332-4010 www.foundryumc.org

By Carol Cummings American University’s Catholic Student Association held a Mini-Help the Homeless Walk on Saturday, November 1 as part of the larger National Help the Homeless Walk to be held on Saturday, November 22.

The proceeds from the mini-walk benefitted the Capital Interfaith Hospitality Network (CIHN), a nonprofit coalition of religious and community organizations serving homeless families in Washington, D.C. Since 1996, the members of CIHN have offered shelter, meals. companionship and support to families in need. CIHN hosts up to 16 families a year at their two shelter sites, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Rock Creek, MD and Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church on Nebraska Ave., NW. The interfaith network also provides the families with case

Homelessness is an issue that is now more talked about because of the economy.

-Kayla Garcia

managers who help them obtain the skills they need to be self-sufficient. In addition, “we are one of the few family shelters [in DC] that accept families with fathers,” said CIHN Director Shayna Hadley.

The walk, organized by the Catholic Student Association’s community service chairwomen Jane Granville, was inspired by the organization’s previous involvement in serving meals to the families living in CIHN facilities. Hadley contacted Granville who, along with members of the student association, made preparations for the one-mile, on campus walk. Granville said a diverse group of American University students attended the walk and that she would be definitely open to hosting another walk next year. “[Homelessness is an] issue that gets talked about a lot and is a big thing now with the economy, the walk is a chance to take action as an individual,” said Kaylor Garcia who is considering walking in Fannie Mae’s National Help the Homeless Walkathon.

“This is a better way to help [the homeless], because you know where the money is going,” said Marie Poole, an American University student walker, “It’s just my way of trying to help something that I see clearly as a problem in Washington.”

courtesy of AU

College Kids Walk a Mile for the Homeless

AU students walk for the homeless.

S treetS ense.org

After the Election

`

November 12-26 2008

Elation and Fear for Homeless Longtime homeless advocate Jesse Smith smiles and pulls a card from his wallet.

It’s a handsome, gilt-engraved business card that he received two years ago, back when he was homeless himself, living in the District’s Franklin School Shelter. It was given to him by the aide of a young Illinois senator who had heard about attempts to close the shelter, and was concerned about the fate of the men who were staying there.

Back then, Smith hadn’t heard of Barack Obama. But it touched him, that a senator would care about the men of Franklin.

Smith has kept the card ever since.

“It’s like a treasure,” Smith says. “I carry it with me always.”

Like Smith, many homeless advocates are heartened by Obama’s election. Yet the elation is tempered by the knowledge that the new president is taking leadership of a nation in deep financial distress. Across the country, family homelessness is on the rise, fuelled by the foreclosure crisis and the loss of a million jobs in the past 10 months.

And even as programs for the poor and homeless struggle to meet increasing demands, they are feeling the impact of municipal, county and state budget shortfalls.

Here in the District, the City Council responded to a looming $131 million budget gap with a vote on Nov. 10, freezing a sizable portion of the funding, approximately $7 million, meant for a permanent supportive housing program for the homeless in the coming year.

Council Chairman Vincent Gray stressed that the action would not result in the loss of housing for any of the 400 individuals and 80 families scheduled to be served by the $19 million program this year. But advocates worry about the future.

Fiscal pressures are also being felt in Washington’s suburbs.

In Woodbridge, Va., Gayle Sanders, program director at the Hilda M. Barg Homeless Prevention Center, is thrilled about the presidential election. But any help from the new administration may come too late for her own 30-bed shelter.

“It’s on the chopping block,” she says sadly. “We are a county program.” And Prince William County, like the District, has fallen upon hard economic times.

At the Father McKenna Center in Northwest Washington, happiness over the presidential election is largely eclipsed by the daily burdens of poverty, according to director Tom Howarth. Among some of the homeless men who stop by the center to do laundry, get a meal, a shower or counseling, there is a sense that “political life doesn’t reach down this low,” he says.

For others, there is mistrust of anyone’s political promises.

Election night celebrations erupt on Pennsylvannia Avenue after Obama’s victory was announced on November 4, 2008.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty championed the Franklin School Shelter back when he was a city council member. But he closed it this fall, leaving some in the homeless community feeling betrayed.

“We had high hopes for Fenty,” says Howarth. “Is Barack going to be another Fenty?”

Meanwhile, as economic problems deepen, the McKenna Center is having difficulty keeping up with an explosion of requests for food, rent and utility assistance. Last year, the center provided assistance to 143 households per month.

“In October, we served 258,” said Howarth. “We are facing some hard choices.”

The coming months will be truly challenging for many such programs nationwide, predicts Nan Roman, president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

“It’s gonna be rough,” she says. “I think there is a large group of extremely poor people left behind after welfare reform, when the focus of social programs shifted to the working poor, the worthy poor. Now we have a large group of people who are living on air.”

But on the other hand, Roman sees hope in the election of Obama, with his promises of green jobs, and help for poor and working people.

“We have a new administration that wants to serve people,” Roman says. She can’t help but hark back to the New Deal programs that put millions of Depressionera Americans, including her own

PHOTOs by Steve Goldenberg

By Mary Otto

grandfather, back to work.

“Yes the times are bad. But we can use this opportunity to solve problems.”

United States Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Philip Mangano also sees reasons for optimism amid the difficult times ahead. Despite the decision of the D.C. City Council to freeze permanent supportive housing funds for the coming year, Mangano believes such “Housing First” programs, now underway in approximately 650 communities across the country, are here to stay.

The programs, which offer apartments and social services to the chronically indigent, represent a new approach to eliminating homelessness. Studies show the Housing First approach is effective in helping homeless people change their lives and also saves money over simply maintaining them in shelters, jails and hospitals, Mangano says.

“The next president will sustain what has been done,” Mangano says. “It works.

It works.”

For his part, Jesse Smith takes heart in the chapter in Obama’s autobiography where the president-elect writes of his arrival in New York City as a Columbia University student, more than two decades ago. The young Obama went to the apartment where he expected to have a place to stay but no one answered the door. So instead, he spent the night in an alley on 109th Street. In the morning, he washed up with a homeless man at a fire hydrant.

“Talk about being in touch with the people,” the homeless advocate says.

Four days after the election, Smith is still proudly wearing his “I Voted” sticker on his jacket. He is African-American, and old enough to understand firsthand the dreams of the Civil Rights movement.

He sees their fulfillment in the election of Barack Obama.

“I’m so happy,” he says, beaming. “I’m truly, truly happy.”

5

6

S treetS ense.org

November 12-26, 2008

By Lisa Gillespie Denise Washington has four children, owns her own home, and works 40 hours a week.

But she recently received $28 worth of groceries from Bread for the City.

Though Washington considers herself “middle class,” she acknowledges her household budget is sometimes tight.

Sometimes, she says, “you just need the extras to not be in a pinch for the month.”

Bread for the City, a D.C. nonprofit, gave out 1,100 turkey dinners last week as part of their Holiday Helpings Program. The effort will run through the month, providing an estimated $200,000 of food.

In addition to feeding the hungry, Bread for the City, which operates the District’s largest food pantry, is joining other nonprofits in placing a new emphasis upon providing healthier, fresher and more nourishing food to needy children and adults.

“One-third of our clients are patients as well, so it would not make sense to have food high in sodium,” said Ted Pringle, Bread for the City’s food and clothing director.

Mayor Fenty made an appearance at the event, handing out five turkeys amidst a crowd of photographers and beaming recipients.

“The clients did not know the mayor was coming, so it was quite an added bonus when they showed up this morning,” Pringle said,

who buys food from the Capital Area Food Bank, local farmers and other vendors.

The average income of Bread for the City clients is $7,480 a year, well below the poverty level in D.C. of $20,000.

“You hear about the forgotten people, and a lot our clients really have been forgotten,” said Valentine Breitbarth, development associate of special events who is embarking upon her fourth Holiday Helpings. “People forget that there are D.C. residents on this side of the river.”

Washington, 44, and her husband Ned, 74, expressed excitement to see the mayor.

“It’s hard to raise three kids, keep up with the Joneses, so for him to understand where we’re coming from and that we’re in need is a big deal.”

Ned Washington, recently retired from a career of 25 years at the Metro Transit Authority, said his family is usually pinched during the holiday season.

“You don’t have to be poor to come here.

Sometimes you just need the extras,” agreed Denise Washington, a counselor at the United Medical Center. “If you need it, you need it.”

The bags included a recipe for low-sodium gravy, canned corn, black-eyed peas, cranberry relish and fresh produce.

“There is a big need, ” said Kristen Valentine, director of development at Bread for the City. “Our clients are being challenged by the economy and the need to eat healthy.”

PHOTO by Steve Goldenberg

Feeding and Nourishing the Needy

Mayor Adrian Fenty distributes food at Bread for the City’s annual event.

Help Bring the Homeless in from the Cold

CALL THE

Shelter Hotline 1 800 535-7252 Adrian M. Fenty, Mayor, Government of the District of Columbia

S treetS ense.org

`

November 12-26 2008

GLOBAL VOICES

If you could move to any country, what would it be?

Kazimierz Napieralski (42)

Occupation: Unemployed Poznan, Poland

“If I had such an opportunity, I would definitely go to the USA. When I was young, I went there for a study exchange program. Life there was completely different from life in Poland these days. I was amazed by things like their massive fridges, TVs and high buildings. Although I do believe that there is some political and economic crisis going on there today, I would still go.

I think you can become successful there in any case.”

Caroline Hungwe (40)

Occupation: Media Consultant Harare, Zimbabwe

“The English word choice is practically not applicable to someone like me from a “failed state”. What choice do you have when basic needs of human life -shelter, food, water, electricity and security- are hard to come by? When getting a European country visa demands more than going to heaven? I would like to live in a country where I am treated equally with dignity and respect. But for now I haven’t established that country, so home is the only option.”

Asbjørn Larsen (42)

Laura Owings (26)

Occupation: Manager at CafeX, a project helping people quit drugs Tromso, Norway

“Even if I could choose any country in the world, I would not go far. I would go to Denm a rk . T h e D a n e s h a ve a similar culture to us, but they seem to be a bit more relaxed.

And they are not as serious as us Norwegians, who always have to be so perfect at everything.”

Occupation: Journalist Amsterdam, the Netherlands

“I am American but moved to Holland last year. If I had to choose again to live anywhere in the world, this would be it The Netherlands. It is a country with such a unique history, particularly in Amsterdam, of people who have survived and prospered by working together and by being tolerant.

I admire that attitude.”

Michael Hollinger (41)

Occupation: Program Mangager Coleruine, Ireland

“I would live in Australia, firstly because I love their sense of humour, but mainly because I believe that there is a lot of opportunity for my children. I have friends there who tell me that Australia has a different approach to jobs and education, which I think my kids could benefit from. I also think it would be a safe place to live. The weather is obviously better which means there is more opportunity for outdoor living, particularly for sports which we love.”

News in Brief

By Jon Pattee

Sydney Learning Center Targets Homelessness Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on November 6 officially opened the Ozanam Learning Centre for Homeless People, which was set up by the St Vincent de Paul Society in Sydney. The society’s president in the area, Barbara Ryan, told Nonee Welsh of ABC News that the center aims to break the cycle of homelessness through education and training, including reading, computing, the arts, and cooking.

According to Rudd, the center “is a recognition that the time for just providing a hot meal and a bed is well and truly over.” An estimated 105,000 people in Australia are homeless, an increase of 5,000 over the 2001 Census.

More Families Reported Homeless in New York The number of homeless families in New York City is on the rise, according to the Coalition for the Homeless. In an Associated Press report on October 29, a coalition spokesperson said a record 1,464 newly homeless families had entered the city’s shelter system in September, adding that the number had been rising for several months.

The coalition also said that food pantries and eviction prevention and crisis intervention services for homeless families had experienced budget cuts this year.

Coalition executive director Mary Brosnahan said “These numbers clearly show that, while both city

and state budget shortfalls require difficult choices, vulnerable New Yorkers now need more support, not less.”

nization of “employability services” (the term used to describe helping the homeless to work). The Scottish government has stated its ambition to end homelessness by 2012.

Obama Election Called Hopeful for US Homelessness Czar Meets America’s “Dispossessed” Barack Obama’s November 4 election as US presi- Colorado Springs Officials dent has been hailed worldwide as “the ultimate breakthrough for minorities, the poor, and the dispossessed, buttressing faith in American democracy and upward mobility.”

For the moment, according to a November 5 report by James G. Neuger on Bloomberg.com, Obama has been handed an unprecedented amount of goodwill.

In Tokyo, Toshio Harada, a 55-year-old homeless man selling magazines for charity, spoke of a “ground-breaking” triumph. “We discriminate about so many little things in life and I think we’ll start to change our attitudes,” he said. “People will be more accepting.”

Job Services for the Homeless in Scotland Shed Staff Scotland’s projects to help homeless people find work are laying off staff and closing services after a government funding shuffle, according to a November 6 article by John Bynorth in the Sunday Herald.

Workers have been made redundant or not been replaced at four nonprofit groups aimed at helping homeless people gain jobs or voluntary work.

The cutbacks were forced on the charities after they lost interim funding, and were due to a reorga-

Philip Mangano, the nation’s homelessness czar, met November 6 with Colorado Springs officials and nonprofit advocates for the homeless. Brian Newsome reported in the city’s Gazette that Mangano, who heads the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, arrived in Colorado Springs at a moment when the city is actively trying to address its homelessness problem.

In his position, Mangano has been making the case that it is cheaper to house the homeless than to cycle them through emergency rooms, jails, shelters, and the streets.

Sudanese Refugee’s Trek Ends at Home in Louisville Louisville community organizations are joining forces with the Ursuline Sisters and Habitat for Humanity to build a house for one of the “lost boys” of Africa, according to a November 6 report by Hailee Lampert on WLKY. After living in refugee camps for years, and facing separation from his family, he came to the US and settled in Louisville. “[This home] can guarantee me that I am belong to this country,” said Majok Reth Choul, who left behind his home in Sudan in 2001 at the age of seven. “If you are homeless somewhere, do not lose your hope.”

7

8

S treetS ense.org

November 12-26, 2008

Veteran’s day tribute

Vet Hikes Appalachian Trail for Homeless Peers

By David S. Hammond

I started planning the hike when I was in Iraq. I knew that after 15 months, I was going to be due for a long vacation.

The Appalachian Trail runs along 2,175 miles of mountain peaks and valleys, from Georgia to Maine. Iraq veteran Jarad Greeley hiked it this past summer, raising awareness and money for homeless veterans.

Greeley was hard to reach while he was on the trail, because he kept his cell phone turned off to conserve power. But one afternoon in July, when I was visiting family in Vermont, my phone rang, and it was Greeley.

He said he’d be crossing the Connecticut River in a few hours, so I drove over to interview him at the bridge between Norwich, Vt., and Hanover, N.H. Greeley was pushing hard to make a campsite by dark, so he could only stop for a few minutes.

A month later, I was able to ask him more questions by e-mail.

this hike?

JG: My chief aim was to raise awareness for homeless vets. I feel that I accomplished this by telling everyone I could on the trail, at home, and in the newspapers. Raising $3,700 was great but honestly, I would have had to raise a substantial amount to really make an impact for the homeless. But in the end I feel very proud for what I was able to accomplish.

Street Sense: Why did you hike the Appalachian Trail? And why did you do this for homeless veterans?

I thought that if I was going to be walking for five months, why not do it for a good cause? I decided the homeless vets would be a good one to give to.

SS: How much money did you raise, and where is it going?

JG: We raised a little over $3,700. And every dollar raised is going straight towards the homeless veterans.

SS: Have any of your friends from the service experienced homelessness? Is it something people are aware of?

JG: I cannot say any of my friends that served with me have experienced homelessness. And yes they are aware of this issue. Every day that we leave post you can see them on almost every street corner holding signs saying “homeless vet, will work for

SS: Do you think you’ll remain involved in the issue of homeles vets?

JG: I would like to say I will remain involved with the homeless vets. But right now I need to focus on school and work.

PHOTO by david Hammond

Jarad Greeley: I started planning this hike when I was in Iraq. I knew that after 15 months over there, I was gonna be about due for a nice long vacation. I thought about everything I had always wanted to try but never had enough time or money for. The first thing that came to mind was hiking the AT.

SS: What kind of a response have you gotten from the media, other veterans, and homeless advocates?

Jarad Greeley pauses on his epic hike for homeless vets.

money or food.”

SS: Tell me about your Army service.

JG: I served a four-year commitment with the Army. I was a Forward Observer with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Battalion 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment and we deployed to Iraq from August 2006 to October 2007. Our deployment was only supposed to be a 12-month tour, but with three months left we found out that we had been extended for another three months.

SS: What was it like getting out and getting on the trail?

Every day you can see them on almost every street corner holding signs saying ‘homeless vet, will work for money or food.’

JG: Every day that I was on the trail couldn’t have been better. It really was the perfect transition for me leaving the military. Every day all I had was time to think about anything and everything. So I used the time to put Iraq and that chapter of my life behind me. Thirty days later I felt like all the weight on my shoulders was gone.

SS: You’ve mentioned a good deal of mental health, suicide awareness and other counseling as you separated from the service. Was it useful?

JG: I don’t think the screenings the military did for me made any impact on me. I believe I was in the same mindset as everyone else and just didn’t pay any attention to the screenings. It really was the last thing on my mind to pay attention to the classes. All I could think about when I got back to the states was visiting family and friends.

SS: What were your biggest goals on

JG: The response I have gotten from the media has always been good, especially the response and support from everyone in my hometown. The local newspapers always wanted an update to let everyone know where I was and how I was doing. [And] the responses from veterans saying they wished that when they were my age they could have been a part of something like this.

SS: When I saw you in Vermont you said you’d realized the importance of family and friends. Tell me about that.

JG: This hike has been hard for family and friends. After waiting 15 months while I was in Iraq, another five months wasn’t easy for them.

They understood the importance not just for me but for the cause so they supported my decision to complete this.

Some 154,000 veterans (about one in every three homeless adults) are homeless on any given night, and about twice that number experience homelessness each year, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

S treetS ense.org

`

Patricia Observed Across from me Patricia sips noodle soup all the while muttering to her angels & demons.

Last time I saw her she sat at our poets’ table napping through a discussion on street-corner verse; by the end of our hour, she came up with sage & clever rhymes.

Here she sits in her tall array of hats, warm in her creased leather jacket (cuffs rimmed with hints of fur as befits her style), Patricia sips her soup; her nose ring catches highlights of the hall’s soft flourescence Though I stare into her eyes she doesn’t notice (or so I think) that I watch & write of hershe rubs her browrings twinkle on each chocolate wrinkled fingerher red eyes & yawning mouth signal that the time for sleep creeps upon her.

She does not wish, or worry she merely is.

She sips the last dregs of soup then stands (bangles clink along her wrists) & meanders into forever.

November 12-26 2008

Dupont Circle Poems by David Harris

The Man on the Street The season rolls around once again; fall foliage in rainbow colors consists of broadsides tacked to trees, candy-coated come-ons and smiling faces, that say “I will build you a better world if you would only cash in your tiny share of America and hand it to me.”

The man on the street is bewildered by all the cotton-candy colors polluting trees and lampposts.

When the big day comes, he joins the horde of blank faces, each attached to a hand that clutches a ticket to democracy.

In a daze, he marks his preference, then wanders back to his street to await his promised better world.

The next day dawns; chill autumn breezes brace his ashen skin and blow pastel scraps of cardboard along sidewalks and gutters.

Somewhere, a smiling face is flushed with triumph.

A voice made for radio & TV proclaims the advent of that better world.

In the real world, the man on the street huddles against the cold, feeding on the scraps of yesterday’s promises, awaiting the dawn of a tomorrow just as cold as yesterday.

Twenty-Second Street gleams outside the window; caffeinated music crushes the ear the young and beautiful chatter and relax.

The scene is all the way live I am all the way alive; Dupont Circle’s ghosts don’t follow me tonight; I am hear among the young and healthy I am born again.

Meanwhile, across the street a drunk stumbles from a doorway spit dripping from his chin.

A companion struggles to hold him upright; it seems a lost cause.

The ghosts of Dupont Circle are never far away not in time or distance.

The guy puking across the streetdoes he resemble me?

It couldn’t be; I am here in safe comfort among the best and brightest.

Here, the Doobie Brothers sing of Jesus; here, I drink and write like a gentle scholar.

Yet another cab refused to carry the drunk and his companion; his shirt is plastered with rain and other fluids.

Will he get home safe tonight?

A gray stone church looms over the scene; maybe someone there will pray for him.

It is no concern to me; I am here, warm and dry among the young and sober.

The ghosts of Dupont Circle lurk in silence, awaiting their turn on the stage.

The drunk across the street has lost his companion and his eyeglasses.

His chocolate skin is wet with and tears and other fluids.

Across the street is only a few yards away; the closeness of the ghosts is measured in years or minutes I sit here, out of place among the young and healthy waiting for Dupont’s Circle’s ghosts to claim one of the own.

9

10

November 12 — November 25, 2008

S treetS ense.org

Ghost Rider

Fountain

God’s Eye

S treetS ense.org

November 12 — November 25, 2008

Milik Bottles

Cliff’s ClickS BEst Of The Best Here are what vendor and photographer Cliff “the Moose” Carle selected as his best photographs over the course of nearly three years of Cliff’s Clicks. He had thousands to choose from and he selected the most artistic ones that show his keen eye for recognizing that beauty is all around us here in D.C.

Done Deal

11

12

November 12 — November 25, 2008

Will write for food: Writer’s Group

S treetS ense.org

Writer’s Group meets Wednesdays 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Street Sense office. A new poetry after party is 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

The Japanese-inspired Haiku is a poem that uses a specific syllable count of 17 to make a statement about one particular subject. The three lines of a haiku are to consist of five syllables, seven syllables, and then five syllables. This exercise has truly been driven home by learning to select the best words, using as few as possible, to bring out the exact emotion of the poet. The Statue of Liberty was our starting point – after all, we just had an historic election, causing us to think about where this country should be headed. As a reflection, several of our poems focus on that topic.

She will greet you once.

But her protection won’t keep.

Keep you warm tonight.

- Michelle Cappuccio

Trapped inward, nowhere to turn Look outward for that voice with the utter sound of no words - Carlton Johnson

Symbols and symbols American Dream deferred A new dream is born - Joseph Sherrock

Free, allowed to do whatever A symbol standing forever, never needing the people’s feeling - Reggie Black

The Writer’s Group got in the Halloween spirit last week with a writing exercise brought in by vendor Patty Smith, who had recently read Washington Irving’s classic ghost story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Several group members wrote ghost stories, including tales of a haunted ballpark, a homeless man resembling a famous Texan, the “Bunnyman,” a half-man, half-rabbit creature who menaced trick-or-treaters in D.C., and two women competing over the same man. Here are a few of the stories we wrote – for the Halloween that would not die, but we hope you enjoy them anyway.

Aaah! Get Out of My Ballpark!

By Cara J. Schmidt

The Nationals started off as a not-too-shabby baseball team. A few years went by and game attendance and fan support seemed to be going all right for a fairly new team. It seemed like the year was set to be a profitable one, with a brand-new stadium attracting more fans than before, but by the end of the season, the team was doing terribly and season ticket holders couldn’t give their seats away. Officially they say high prices in the stadium and blowout games are the cause, but the truth is there’s something more mysterious afoot. The new stadium was built upon cursed land. Those in the boardroom thought the empty Southeast waterfront was ripe for development. What they didn’t know was that there was a reason so much of the area remained barren. Old locals, ones who have been around for decades, will tell you the stories their grandparents told them about the rogue pirate ship that used to sail up and down the Potomac harassing local merchants and fishermen, taking what they could and killing without regard. The deadliest of the pirate gang held their secret meetings in the back of an old inn where the stadium now stands, and they buried their treasure under the floorboards below. But the gang was all killed one night in a terrible storm out at sea, never having retrieved their secret stash. And to this day their ghosts torment the site, trying to get their gold doubloons. All those missed catches, strike-outs, and fans heading home early could be a sign of a bad team and a funnel cake stand that’s gotten too pricey, but those old locals will tell you it’s more likely someone has seen a pirate’s ghost out of the corner of their eye.

Cara volunteers and creates exercises with the Writer’s Group.

The Legend of the Homeless Bunnyman from St. E’s

By Carlton Johnson This is a story of a man who is believed to be half man and half rabbit who only comes out on the night of Halloween for treats from those that have sold their souls. He had for them the trick of bagging their heads by way of an axe. So if you were to see him with an axe and a bloody bag of heads, wearing black boots, run far away, or you may be the next victim this Halloween. Run for the life of your soul. For you may never be seen. That’s the story of the BunnyMan who comes out on October the 31st, the night of Halloween.

Carlton, a vendor and poet, created the group’s logo.

These Hallowed Halls

By Jerry W.

Dumbo, the big-eared Texan, was last spotted peering over the White House fence in tears claiming to have lived there in the past. Secret Service RoboCops appeared on the scene, and charged the disheveled man muttering nonsensically with criminal trespass.

He had actually been evicted, from the bombed-out Museum of US History, Jokes Section and is now rumored to live in the tunnels and bomb shelters somewhere under the Nation’s Capital, found near a trap door to the McPherson Square MetroRail before the oil dried up.

Old Franklin Shelter ghosts, now chained to the St. E’s buildings tortured by those lobotomized on site, stray pit bulls, crack dealers and occasional visits by paid staff. The rats not withstanding, now Chihuahua-size pets, the only ones native to the Housing First era relics with little service animal vests, instead of Legally Blonde frufru replacements for someone who shouldn’t have kids. The Spin Doctors were called, but told that D.C. could not afford their GhostBuster like rates.

The full moon and concentration camp Federal Workers Union coincided with the death of MLK, Fenty’s successor and Obama’s grandson came out on Dec 21, homeless Memorial Day, the longest day of the year, to wish the ‘terrorist icon’ Mitch Snyder to bring the Bush and Reagan Republican Era slavery of our native residents to a new land, and an eerie backdrop of song sprang up “Free at Last, Free at Last.”

Jerry, a volunteer, occasionally sells in Virginia and is currently working on learning the editing and layout of the Writer’s Group page.

The Headless Horsewoman of Shaw

By Patty Smith Two girls lived in Washington, D.C. Bonita was a lottery ticket queen, and Patty was a Gospel music queen. They both desired the same young man and they were invited one evening to his father’s house. Now his father had a very beautiful spacious home filled with all the amenities. Both girls danced with the young man. They were both dressed to the nines. Patty wore bright red lipstick, and black leather sandals. Bonita wore fancy brown riding boots and her expensive leather backpack that was stuffed full of lottery tickets. And they both had the same dream – that they would live in this house with this young man. But only one girl could see that dream come true. It was getting late at night so after dancing and eating a delicious meal, they both left. Patty took the subway to Shaw. She walked down U Street, and she heard only the sound of her own footsteps. But then she heard hoof beats behind her. Hoof beats? In Shaw? Was it a mounted policeman?

Patty turned. She saw a woman on a horse, and instead of a head, the woman had a bright orange pumpkin – which she carried in her hands. Patty remembered how once upon a time, before Washington was a city, Shaw was woods and fields. And she remembered stories of a headless horsewoman. Everything went black. And all they found the next day was a smashed pumpkin, some lottery tickets, and a bright red lipstick. Patty was never seen again. And ever after, the lottery queen seemed quite satisfied that she had married the man of her dreams.

Patty, an early vendor and group participant, created this exercise.

Gregory’s Great Game

S

Football Redskins First Down Touchdown Fumble Pass Run Catch Fed Ex Punt

S

Street Sense treetvendor ense.org Gregory Martin loves creating puzzles.

gREGORY’S gREAT gAME

Simply find the following words in the grid below.

Football

Kick Score Penalty Quaterback Guard Sack Rules Huddle Coach Goal

Football Redskins First Down Touchdown Fumble Pass Run Catch Fed Ex Punt

Street Sense vendor Gregory Martin loves creating puzzles.

Simply find the following words in the grid below.

The solution to the last puzzle is found below.

K

E

S

N

E

S

T

E

E

R

T

S

C

H

N

F

X

N

B

R

S

U

E

F

A

U

I

D

U

A

O

G

A

L

X

I

B

D

K

P

K

C

I

K

C

E

S

R

R

D

S

E

S

L

X

A

K

S

E

S

E

L

D

F

O

O

T

B

A

L

L

T

T

E

E

D

X

C

A

P

B

R

B

D

R

U

R

K

H

E

C

E

N

U

M

O

A

T

O

U

C

H

D

O

W

N

U

W

U

Y

R

L

A

O

G

E

A

R

F

N

Q

G

U

A

R

D

K

X

F

C

O

R

N

A

L

7

P

E

N

A

9 4 6 2 8 9 5 4 7 3

L

T

Y

5

2 5

7 8 6 8 6 4 2 7 5 8 9

street suduko Fill in the numbers 1 to 9 so that each square and each horizontal and verticle lline has every number with no repeats

2 9 3

Puzzle by websudoku.com

2 7 Last Issue’s 9 Solution 8 5 3 6 1 4

6 1 3 9 4 2 7 5 8

4 5 8 6 1 7 3 9 2

9 8 4 5 2 6 1 3 7

5 2 7 3 9 1 8 4 6

3 6 1 7 8 4 9 2 5

1 3 5 4 7 8 2 6 9

8 9 2 1 6 5 4 7 3

7 4 6 2 3 9 5 8 1

Puzzle by websudoku.com

H

13

November 12 — November 25, 2008

E

Kick Score Penalty Quaterback Guard Sack Rules Huddle Coach Goal

Say It Again Answers T

R

W

A

W

H

E

N

T

E

E

M

O

E

S

H

E

I

G

H

T

S

W

I

N

K

E

L

A

P

I

C

N

I

R

P

W

R

H

W

R

B

R

E

O

K

W

R

E

S

T

I

E

U

S

R

P

N

E

I

P

R

E

E

O

T

O

O

W

O

N

N

E

I

T

F

E

W

M

F

H

T

K

I

C

G

I

E

R

P

E

N

E

R

S

P

N

H

R

F

G

B

A

K

A

T

A

E

I

T

W

O

I

R

T

E

N

I

W

R

S

K

N

O

W

E

H

E

T

A

S

E

B

R

P

R

I

N

C

I

P

L

E

H

PLACE YOUR AD HERE! With Street Sense reaching nearly 15,000 people each issue, now is the perfect time to promote your business with us.

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.

Call Laura 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.

14

S treetS ense.org

November 12 — November 25, 2008

Pretty Red’s Fiction

By Ivory Wilson

Dave’s Love for Diane

D

ave and Diane met in their first year in college. Neither one was looking for love; they, just wanted to get good grades in school. I believe love is one of the strongest forces on this earth. When Dave and Diane met they could feel that strong force, when they looked into each other’s eyes, and in their touch. Their love grew stronger. Dave married his love, Diane. Together they raised two boys who became successful men in different fields and moved away. Dave and Diane have weathered many storms in their lives together and come out of them without a scratch. They talk to each other about everything that comes up. They laugh and smile, always seeing each other as if they were meeting for the first time.

Late one moonlit night, Dave and Diane were lying on the couch together in a sweet embrace looking out the window at the moon. Diane spoke softly. She said, “Dave, my love, I have something to say. I’ve been going to different doctors for months without telling you.” Dave asked Diane, “whatever for?” She said, “I’m dying of cancer.” Dave could not speak. His eyes filled with tears. Dave could not believe his ears.

Dave thought, not his love.“God, you can’t take her without taking me with her. I can’t live or go on living here on earth without my Diane.”

Diane held Dave’s hand tightly and said, “my love for you will be with me even when I’m in the ground.”

I’m the salesman at the corner of 7th Street. I meet and greet different people who pass my way each day.

And I say with a smile, “good morning sir, good morning mam,” to each one every day.

For a long time, a man would pass two times a day, give me money every day, and buy papers . One day I stopped him and asked, “why do you stop and give me money two times a day my friend?” He smiled and said, “don’t call me friend.

My name is Dave.” He shook my hand, saying, “my wife Diane wants me to.” I said, “tell her thank you.” Dave smiled and said, “Diane passed.”

I could see in Dave’s eyes when he spoke the words about Diane. I could tell she is with him. Dave’s eyes lit up.

He stood up straight. I could tell in his voice as he was talking about her. He was seeing her and living those wonderful times in their lives.

I thought, Diane, she must have been a hell of a woman. Dave still carries his love for Diane each day.

Dave’s eyes lit up.

He stood up straight. I could tell in his voice as he was talking about her he was seeing her and living those wonderful times in their lives. I thought, Diane, she must have been a hell of a woman.

Ivory Wilson has been a vendor for two years and has written dozens of short stories. You may find him selling Street Sense at the corner of 7th and E streets, NW.

Book Review

By Robert Trautman

Africa Doesn’t Matter In Africa Doesn’t Matter, Giles Bolton offers a laundry list of what went wrong with the billions of dollars of Western aid that has gone to Africa over the past many years, why it isn’t working and what can be done about it. The story has been told before, by the developmental aid scholars Jeffrey Sachs and William Easterly, among others, but without Bolton’s down-to-earth touch and his radical remedies.

There certainly have been wide efforts to meet the need – remember the G-8 meetings to drum up more aid, the “Millennium Goals,” and Bob Geldof and Bill Gates and Bono and Tony Blair sharing a platform – but what are the results? Not much really.

Bolton dispels the myth that Westerners hold the key to development.

He says in Africa Doesn’t Matter, how the West has failed the poorest continent and what we can do about it (Arcade 2008) that while the West will set the rules both for the aid Africa receives and the system of international trade it must abide by, it’s up to Africa to move and the West to make sure its money spent wisely.

How come, he asks, that all but a few of the 48 nations south of the Sahara that got their independence in the 1960s have made any sustained progress, despite the millions siphoned off by their ruthless leaders.

A basic failure has been a lack of accountability of the spending.

Bolton writes that, “In sum, the people who have a real interest in how aid works have little influence, while the people who have a real influence have little interest. This may be neither surprising nor easily remedied, but it goes a long way to explaining why the structure and content of so much Western aid isn’t delivered in the interests of the people it is supposed to serve.”

Internationally, who assures us that World Bank aid is really working?

And how many times have presidential candidates or Congressional candidates or Congress itself debated he effectiveness of aid? The same is true for non-governmental aid groups. “After All,” Bolton says, “when was the time any of us chose to give money on the basis of project evaluation reports rather than heart-tugging leaflets?”

So, how have we gone wrong?

The reasons include over-enthusiasm by donors, including especially the World Bank, for the “free market”, which developing countries may not be ready for; too many aid staff sit in offices far from Africa and visit only infrequently, and while there stay in four-star hotels far from the people they are assigned to help; and too little of the aid in grants instead loans that require onerous repayment schedules.

And, now, what would Bolton have the donors do?

Western governments would bind themselves to spend more on aid, of course, but more importantly, control of official aid and aid by individual donors would be abolished and all aid, national and international, would be channeled through three or four professional international aid agencies. This would end duplication of aid programs and rationalize them into more efficient operations. The idea would be to steer funds into global agencies with special expertise, such as health, education, agriculture.

To boost the sale of their commodities, African countries would be given 100% tariff-free, unlimited access into Western markets for everything they produce. Now, such access is given only by the European Community, and then only to the poorest countries.

A timetable would be set for the end of all agricultural subsidies for the produce that is most important to the poorest nations. The end of such subsidies on cotton and sugar, for instance, would open many developed world markets to the produce of the developing world.

Food aid would be abolished, and food would be procured as locally as possible or money simply be given to improve local production of the needed foods.

Bolton concedes that implementing such programs faces uphill battles, but argues the present arrangements aren’t doing much good, so there must be change.

“We cannot get Africa out of poverty,” he writes, “Yet we can help give Africans a better chance to do it themselves.”

S treetS ense.org

November 12 — November 25, 2008

How a Small Loan Changed a Woman’s Life

By Eugene Versluysen

Eugene Versluysen

A woman member of Grameen Bank and her family in front their dwelling.

trines and a communal tube well with safe drinking water. It takes more than one hour to walk to the nearest town. Even as a member of Grameen, Jotsna still only had the barest essentials. A small adobe hut with an earthen floor and thatched roof that leaks, patched with banana–tree leaves.

Inside there is a bamboo bedstead, a quilt, some clothes, and a few pots and cooking utensils.

There are no windows and the doorpost is so low that it keeps most daylight out and one must stoop to go inside. Still, as the Chilean priest would say, that hut offers a modicum of privacy and, since everyone in the village is poor, hardship is more tolerable.

A group of women who are members of Grameen Bank wait to get their loans approved.

Like her mother Jotsna When she received a second loan, Jotsna began makmarried when she was barely a teenager. Her elder ing plans, dreaming of sending her children to school sister’s husband, a rickshaw driver, arranged her mar- and of living in a house with solid walls, a metal roof, riage to one of his friends who was also a rickshaw and more space to sleep and make rice cakes. But that driver. As tradition demands, after her marriage she would have to wait. was confined to doing household chores and bearing Even so, Jotsna had become a local celebrity. Bechildren, and rarely ventured outside the village. The cause she had shown how, with a small loan, a poor, couple had to make do with the pittance her husband illiterate village woman could improve her life, earned with his rickshaw. A few months after she be- Grameen decided to make a video about her. Late came pregnant for the second time, Jotsna found out one afternoon, after a full day’s work, the manager of that her husband already had another wife and fam- the local Grameen Bank, two of his colleagues and I ily. Though polygamy was tolerated in the past, it is went to Jotsna’s village to show the video. We piled into frowned upon nowadays, and Jotsna felt bitter and four bicycle rickshaws, laden with a TV set, a VCR, and debased by his betrayal. To make matters worse still, a heavy–duty car battery. We arrived in the village at her husband deserted her and the children and went dusk. When we began unpacking our boxes, dozens of to live with his first wife. Soon thereafter, he was killed giggling children began pushing and shoving around in a traffic accident. us. At first, they seemed more intrigued by my presPenniless and already seven months pregnant with ence than by what was about to happen. But, as soon her second child, Jotsna turned to her neighbors for as the TV set flickered into action, children, young consolation and help. They comforted her as much as women, and mothers with babies sat in tight rows on they could, and even gave her food. When her daugh- the ground, their eyes glued to the set. The men tried ter was born, the neighbors looked after the baby so to look nonchalant, milling around in the back, smokthat Jotsna could recover from her difficult pregnancy. ing, but could not resist peering at the screen. Most vilBut there was only so much the other villagers could lagers had never seen a TV show, let alone right there, do to help. They too were utterly poor, and before long, in their very own village about one of their neighbors.

Jotsna had to fend for herself. Feeling abandoned, That made it really special. A bit shy and overcome she lost all hope and began begging in the bazaar in a by all the fuss, Jotsna sat at the back of the crowd. But nearby village. She had reached rock bottom. That is, what a smile when the audience hooted and clapped until the manager of a nearby branch of the Grameen at the end of the video presentation!

Bank came to her village to talk about credit programs What surprised me most was that this outing was for landless women. After a week’s induction train- nothing exceptional for the Grameen branch manager ing, Jotsna and four of her neighbors were formally and his colleagues. It was part of their commitment accepted by Grameen and they each received loans to the bank’s members, which is the quintessence of equivalent to $40.

Grameen’s work ethic and philosophy. Far from being In most situations that would be too little to provide dedication beyond the call of duty, going to a distant working capital for any kind of business. Yet, in small village after a full day’s work, and walking back in tovillages in Bangladesh it could, and small loans from tal darkness, pushing heavily laden rickshaws was all the Grameen Bank have already changed the lives of part of the bank’s commitment to reach out to poor hundreds of thousands of women. As for Jotsna, she women. used the money to buy rice, oil, sugar, and a few cooking utensils, and began making rice cakes which she sold in her village and to market vendors. With what Eugene is a retired economist with the World Bank she earned by doing that she could at least buy food and a Street Sense volunteer. He has written several for her two children and look after her ageing father. books including Defying the Odds: Banking for the Eugene Versluysen

T

his story is about a young Bangladeshi widow who overcame a lifetime of hardship thanks to small loans from the Grameen Bank. By now, the Grameen Bank (which means ‘village bank’) is known worldwide and its founder, Muhammad Yunus, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. From its inception in 1976, Grameen has been a pioneer, not least because it lends only to poor women who have no other access to credit; it offers them microfinance, a type of lending that is now commonplace in poor communities around the world.

Before she joined Grameen Bank, Jotsna’s hardship was all the greater because she was one of the poorest of the poor, living in one of the world’s most impoverished countries – Bangladesh. That country’s misfortune is that most of its land area consists of the alluvial lower Ganges plain. More than 700 rivers in five major river systems – including the Ganges and the Brahmaputra – that converge into the huge Ganges delta and drain in the Gulf of Bengal. Rivers and waterways are the country’s principal natural resources, as well as the greatest threats to the land and its people. Every year during the monsoon season the normally placid rivers become raging torrents that wreak death and destruction. The devastation is made worse by deforestation in the Himalayan high plateau, which causes river silting and huge floods downstream. Tropical cyclones are even deadlier, regularly claming tens of thousands of lives, and destroying entire villages, as well as crops and livestock.

Bangladesh is vastly overpopulated. Barely the size of Wisconsin, it has a population of close to 150 million. That, and regular calamities, trap the country in a vicious circle of poverty, which is felt all over the country, from the vast slums in the capital, Dhakka, to small towns and villages. There daily life revolves around the bazaar and the mosque. The bazaars, always incredibly crowded, are the places where buses stop, and where barbers, scribes, rickshaw drivers, teashops, craftsmen, and merchants ply their trades. Because of the deforestation, there is hardly any firewood and the main fuel for cooking is dried cow manure. When women begin cooking the evening meal, villages all over the country are enveloped in acrid smoke from the dung fires, making the air almost un–breathable.

At night the bazaars too are shrouded in smoky darkness, lit only by the kerosene lamps and small fires of market stalls and food stands.

It is in one such village that I met Jotsna. She had two small children, a daughter of three and a son of five. Her village has no electricity, but there are la-

15

16

S treetS ense.org

November 12 — November 25, 2008

Maurice Speaks

What Obama’s Election Means

By Jeffery McNeil

E

lection day has come! The people voted and it was decided. We have a new president. I say with great emotion “Barack Obama!”

This historic moment is the biblical equivalent of Moses parting the Red Sea. What made this event so powerful was the people coming together. Not just one group or faction or ideology got Obama elected. It was a message to our government – we want change! Real change.

The last eight years tested America like no period in our history and Americans decided we needed to move out of the mess that had been created. We needed to quit pointing fingers, quit running smear campaigns to bring people down.

We need more leaders like Obama who want to really fix the real issues that Americans are concerned about.

The outgoing Republican leaders need to really look at themselves and see how angry the country is. Do they have a conscience? Is financial wealth all that matters to them?

Do these politicians feel anything when they see elderly people sleep outside, or disabled people beg for food, or millions of people going without health care? Is it all about money or the bottom line, or is there something human inside them saying “I’m doing okay.

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone can get that same opportunity?”

There are Republicans who want to make their party viable again – the Teddy Roosevelt party who tackled corruption and went after those whose only motive was to enrich themselves. The party of Earl Warren who voted for desegregation and is the most loved Supreme Court justice. The party of Nelson Rockefeller.

You need to get rid of the conservative think tanks and learn from the bottom, talk to the young people from all walks of life and include them, regardless of their views.

Becoming the party of Lincoln again doesn’t start on K Street or with the intellectuals from Wharton or Yale. It starts at the factory in Ohio, the plant in Pittsburgh, the waiter in New Jersey the worker the regular Joe. Make no mistake – history was made and I am very proud of America, but in the midst of this great achievement, we have to remember why we elected Obama in the first place.

America didn’t elect Obama because he was black, or a Democrat or some socialist who wants to punish the rich. We got Obama because we saw something in him that was rare and authentic, that only comes around once in a lifetime.

Obama has the same traits as Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy and King. They attacked issues, had purpose to get something changed.

They didn’t try to get something done, they got it done and made the world much better. They not only got something done, they paid with their lives, so the young like me can enjoy the liberties that many of my elders weren’t privy to.

Obama’s victory does not belong to black people alone. It sends a message to the world – America is really the land of hopes and dreams.

If you have a sense of purpose you can accomplish anything.

No longer do I call myself a black or African American. I call myself an American. No longer willI say I can’t get anywhere because of my color. Thank you Obama for opening my eyes and paving the way.

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

By Maurice King

The Election is Over

I

am writing this prior to Election Day. I can’t help but wonder what it will be like when the election is finally over. The thought keeps turning in my mind.

I voted early to avoid the crowds on Election Day. I knew that I would never be able to stand in long queues to vote and then commute a long distance after that. The event passed by without incident. I was glad to have it behind me. The experience sort of reflects my feeling about the entire campaign, one in which I felt too much ambivalence to become enthusiastic.

I won’t write a long dissertation about my voting choice, nor will I prompt others to guess who I voted for. What matters is that I voted at last. I wasn’t happy with the choices before me, and in choosing, I felt a certain amount of gloom, knowing that my beliefs really were not represented by any of the candidates. I would have to say that it was not a good year, I would have to say, and yet more than ever, the nation needs leadership to resolve the massive problems before it.

What will people talk about once the election is over? I have to say that I’ve really found many of the exchanges on political topics that I heard, both in person and online, to be appalling and disgusting. I don’t know how these same people will interact in the future, but they certainly did not do an admirable job during the campaign. What’s worse, with the way that they would sling around epithets at one another, I often questioned if they really understood the issues well enough to have an intelligent discussion, or if they were just covering up their lack of knowledge with arrogance. Somehow I don’t really want an answer to that question.

So we have a new president. Half the nation rejoices; the other half mourns. What pmatters is what becomes of the country, and to know that, we can only wait and see to find out. Just so that everyone knows, none of the candidates has a magic solution for the nation’s problems, so don’t expect miracles to happen overnight. They won’t. With the system of checks and balances in effect in the American government, the president alone cannot make all the changes, no matter what the campaign rhetoric may say. Thanks to a lot of overuse and misuse, certain words such as “change” and “maverick” will never again have the same meaning as they had before; enough is enough already. As one person wryly commented, no matter who gets elected, in a year we will probably be complaining about the job he is doing, so why all the nastiness?

I heard plenty of jokes during the campaign, some of which were funny, but most of them seemed to continue the theme of bashing one candidate or the next. There is only so much of a constant barrage of negativism that a person can listen to without some psychological damage taking effect. From some of the conversations that I have had, I am not the only one who feels that he has had more than enough of this election.

I’m just glad it’s finally over. It really hasn’t been fun.

Don’t expect miracles to happen overnight.

They won’t. With the system of checks and balances in effect in the American government, the president alone cannot make all the changes, no matter what the campaign rhetoric may say.

Maurice King has been writing for Street Sense since January 2004.

E–mail him at benadam@cyberdude.com.

S treetS ense.org

November 12 — November 25, 2008

Arugula Salad

By James Davis

Making New Friends at the Lincoln Film Festival

By Patty Smith

O

G

ive me your filthy rich, your wealthy, your CEOs, your Wall Street financiers, your entrepreneurs, your inheritors, your Lotto winners, your “Old Money,” your “meltoffs” And I will give you your tax exempt status, tax shelters, trips to Diamond Beach and the South of France, company stock, private jets, Rolls Royces and luxury health spa weekends while you enjoy the view from your Fifth Avenue penthouse and say, “I think I’ll have the arugula salad today.”

Give me your middle class, your two–earner families, your “I’m getting bys,” your McMansion dwellers, your small business owners, your average Joes And I will saddle you with the greater tax burden, $4 a gallon gas, foreclosures, budgeted vacations, over–burdened student loan payments, subprime mortgages while you stare at your depleted 401k quarterly earnings and ask your spouse, “Have you seen the price of arugula lately?”

Give me your poor, your hungry, your underprivileged, your impoverished, your homeless, your vagrants, your low–income, your refugees, your destitutes And I will give them food stamps, subsidized housing, minimum wage, insufficient health coverage, McVouchers, no vacation While they stand in the unemployment line asking, “What the hell is arugula?”

James had been a vendor for Street Sense since its first issue and serves on the board of directors. You can often find him selling the

Your thoughts and editorials are welcome.

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

n October 19th 2008, Patty Smith who usually walks up Ninth Street NW to where she usually sells her papers suddenly encountered two white guys. She followed them to the Lincoln Theater.

She then saw a large crowd and began to sell her newspapers. After a few sales, Patty learned that the event in the theater was in fact the gay and lesbian film festival.

After expressing her interest and moving a customer to buy her a ticket and also giving her a ten dollar tip, Patty entered the event. She said all in all it was fun and had good taste.

Patty, a longtime vendor, attends the Street Sense Writer’s group.

Scanner Freak

By Kenneth Belkosky, Vendor #225

W

elcome to “Scanner Freak,” a column about my hobby, listening to public safety radio scanners. Listening to scanners is a really big hobby, in all nations on earth. Listening to scanners can keep you up to date on things and on top of the weather. You can also hear NASCAR and Ham radio.

The “Scanner Freak” column will talk about the interesting stories and information heard on a scanner. The column will not list addresses, just what the call was.

I have a friend that will help me write, or hear calls that I have missed. His name is Barry Freeman Jr., and people call him Rabbit. He is a good friend of mine and he wants the column to go well.

The column may come out once a month or more. I just hope all you readers like it. Please let me know if you like or dislike it.

I would like input on how often to write the calls. I just hope it goes well!

Kenneth can be contacted at kenbelkosky@hotmail.com.

17

18

November 12 — November 25, 2008

S treetS ense.org

S treetS ense.org 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

November 12 — November 25, 2008 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

CCNV (Men and Women) 425 2nd Street, NW (202) 393–1909 users.erols.com/ccnv/

Christ House 1717 Columbia Road, NW (202) 328–1100 www.christhouse.org

Community of Hope (Family) 1413 Girard Street, NW (202) 232–7356 www.communityofhopedc.org

Unity Health Care, Inc. 3020 14th Street, NW (202) 745–4300 www.unityhealthcare.org

Covenant House Washington (Youth) 2001 Mississippi Ave SE (202) 610–9600 www.covenanthousedc.org Housing, education, job development

Whitman–Walker Clinic 1407 S Street, NW (202) 797–3500; www.wwc.org

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

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 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 Foundry Methodist Church 1500 16th Street, NW (202) 332–4010 www.foundryumc.org ESL, lunch, clothing, IDs Hermano Pedro Day Center 3211 Sacred Heart Way, NW (202) 332–2874 http://www.ccs–dc.org/find/services/ meals, hygiene, laundry, clothing 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 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

FOOD Bethesda Cares 7728 Woodmont Church, Bethesda (301) 907–9244 www.bethesdacares.com Community Place Café 311 68th Place, Seat Pleasant (301) 499–2319 www.cmpgc.org 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

19

(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

Shelter Hotline: 1–800–535–7252

The

Sept. 17 – Sept. 30, 2008 • Volume 5 • Issue 23

Street Sense 1317 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20005

Nonprofit Org US Postage Paid Washington, DC Permit #568

Mail To:

Interested in a subscription? Go to page 2 for more information.

Vendors All Vendors remind customers to only buy from badged vendors and not to give to those panhandling with one paper.