03.15.2023

BUSINESS MODEL

How It Works

Each vendor functions as an independent contractor for Street Sense Media, managing their own business to earn an income and increase stability in their life.

NO CASH? NO PROBLEM.

VENDOR CODE OF CONDUCT

Street Sense Media publishes the newspaper

As self-employed contractors, our vendors follow a code of conduct.

1. I will support Street Sense Media’s mission statement and in so doing will work to support the Street Sense Media community and uphold its values of honesty, respect, support, and opportunity.

2. I will treat all others, including customers, staff, volunteers, and fellow vendors, respectfully at all times. I will refrain from threatening others, pressuring customers into making donations, or engaging in behavior that condones racism, sexism, classism, or other prejudices.

3. I understand that I am not an employee of Street Sense Media but an independent contractor.

4. While distributing the Street Sense newspaper, I will not ask for more than $2 per issue or solicit donations by any other means.

5. I will only purchase the newspaper from Street Sense Media staff and volunteers and will not distribute newspapers to other vendors.

6. “I will not distribute copies of “Street Sense” on metro trains and buses or on private property.”

7. I will abide by the Street Sense Media Vendor Territory Policy at all times and will resolve any related disputes with other vendors in a professional manner.

8. I will not sell additional goods or products while distributing “Street Sense.”

9. I will not distribute “Street Sense” under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

10. I understand that my badge and vest are property of Street Sense Media and will not deface them. I will present my badge when purchasing “Street Sense” and will always display my badge when distributing “Street Sense.”

INTERESTED IN BEING A VENDOR? New vendor training: every Tuesday and Thursday // 2 p.m. // 1317 G

The Cover

1317 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 (202) 347 - 2006 streetsensemedia.org

info@streetsensemedia.org

VENDORS

Abel Putu, Aida Peery, Andre Brinson, Andrew Anderson, Angie Whitehurst, Anthony Carney, Archie Thomas, August Mallory, Beverly Sutton, Brianna Butler, Carlos Carolina, Carlton Johnson, Carol Motley, Charles Armstrong, Chon Gotti, Chris Cole, Chon Gotti, Conrad Cheek, Corey Sanders, Daniel Ball, David Snyder, Debora Brantley, Degnon (Gigi) Dovonou, Don Gardner, Donté Turner, Doris Robinson, Earl Parker, Eric Thompson-Bey, Erica Downing, Evelyn Nnam, Floyd Carter, Franklin Sterling, Frederic John, Freedom, Gerald Anderson, John Alley, Henry Johnson, Ivory Wilson, Jacqueline “Jackie” Turner, Jacquelyn Portee, James Davis, Jeanette Richardson, Jeff Taylor, Jeffery McNeil, Jeffrey Carter, Jemel Fleming, Jenkins Daltton, Jennifer McLaughlin, Jermale McKnight, Jet Flegette, Jewel Lewis, John Littlejohn, Juliene Kengnie, Katrina Anige, Kenneth Middleton, Khadijah Chapman, Kym Parker, L. Morrow, Laticia Brock, Laura Smith, Lawrence Autry, Levester Green, Mango Redbook, Marcus McCall, Mark Jones, Marc Grier, Mars, Maurice Spears, Melody Byrd, Michael Craig, Michael Warner, Michelle Mozee, Michele Rochon, Morgan Jones, Nikila Smith, Patricia Donaldson, Patty Smith, Phillip Black, Queenie Featherstone, Reggie Jones, Reginald Black, Reginald C. Denny, Ricardo Meriedy, Rita Sauls, Robert Warren, Rochelle Walker, Ron Dudley, Ronald Smoot, Sasha Williams, Sheila White, Shuhratjon Ahmadjonov, Susan Westmoreland, Susan Wilshusen, Sybil Taylor, Warren Stevens, Wendell Williams, William Mack

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mary Coller Albert, Blake Androff, Nana-Sentuo Bonsu, Jonquilyn Hill, Stanley Keeve, Clare Krupin, Ashley McMaster, Matt Perra, Michael Phillips, Daniel Webber, Shari Wilson, Corrine Yu

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Brian Carome

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Doris Warrell

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS

Darick Brown

DIRECTOR OF VENDOR EMPLOYMENT

Thomas Ratliff

VENDOR PROGRAM ASSOCIATES

Aida Peery, Clifford Samuels, Chon Gotti

VENDOR PROGRAM VOLUNTEERS

Roberta Haber, Ann Herzog, Madeleine McCollough, Dylan Onderdonksnow, Amelia Stemple, Tyler Bruno

MANAGER OF ARTISTIC WORKSHOPS

Maria Lares

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Will Schick

DEPUTY EDITOR

Kaela Roeder

PRODUCTION EDITOR

Athiyah Azeem

STAFF REPORTER

Annemarie Cuccia

NW

The Street Sense Media Story, #MoreThanANewspaper

Originally founded as a street newspaper in 2003, Street Sense Media has evolved into a multimedia center using a range of creative platforms to spotlight solutions to homelessness and empower people in need. The men and women who work with us do much more than sell this paper: They use film, photography, theatre, illustration, and more to share their stories with our community.

Our media channels elevate voices, our newspaper vendor and digital marketing programs provide economic independence. And our in-house case-management services move people forward along the path toward permanent supportive housing.

At Street Sense Media, we define ourselves through our work, talents, and character, not through our housing situation.

EDITORIAL INTERN

Alexia Partouche

ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE

Ariane Mohseni (Film), Bonnie Naradzay (Poetry), David Serota (Illustration), Lalita Clozel (Film), Willie Schatz (Writing), Leslie Jacobson (Theater), Roy Barber (Theater)

ARTS EDITOR (VOLUNTEER)

Austine Model

OPINION EDITORS (VOLUNTEER)

Rebecca Koenig, Emily Kopp, Bill Meincke, Candace Montague

EDITORIAL VOLUNTEERS

Josh Axelrod, Ryan Bacic, Katie Bemb, Lilah Burke, Chelsea Ciruzzo, Lenika Cruz, Alison Henry, Kathryn Owens, Nick Shedd, Andrew Siddons, Jenny-lin Smith, Rebecca Stekol

JOSH BLOCKER PLAYS HIS GUITAR OUTSIDE THE CAPITAL ONE ARENA.

PHOTO BY SOPHIA THOMAS AND DESIGN BY ATHIYAH AZEEM

‘Cussin’ Food,’ relax

FREDERIC JOHN

Artist/Vendor

Lefty, left, that “wizz dizz.” Many readers have heard this name — and not just from my pen. He is the prime reason I consider ‘meself’ an honorary Chicagoan. I’ll never forget the night my Whitman High buddy, “Lightman,” and I blew into Chig-town. On Light’s dash radio mutual broadcasting had just announced the passing of Waukegan’s own “patron saint,” Jack Benny. Jack was not “39,” he was eighty. And on Dec. 19, 1974, he died peacefully in L.A. Not protesting, “Money or your life — I’m thinking, I’m thinking!” So that same evening, when Lightman and I blew into town on the wings of Second City’s notorious Hawk wind, we found comfort in Lefty Dizz’s cozy slipcovered living room. The sofas and the lampshades were swathed in matching shades of purple and gold! (Lefty was the tuxedoed host being nudged to one side by Mick and Keith in a notorious ‘surprise visit’ video shot inside the checkerboard lounge on S. 43rd street). Mick — his hubris was unsurprising; Keith? Not so much. Even before some of his tattoos and piercings, Mr. Richards wasn’t too ‘special’ than to writhe in the low elevations with ‘Raw’ Bluesman. I always linked his fervor to that of Kim Simmonds and the manic Savoy Brown band. Wow! And my pal the “Wizz Dizz” definitely fit into that Outlaw vice… It was said the amazing Jims could fry bacon with his right hand while clouding “Red House” with his left.

So it was the very night we D.C.-Maryland boys hit the frigid shores of Lake Michigan that we wound up in Lefty’s cramped but flash crib, loading up on stray slabs of pork loin, green beans, and canned tuna to chunks. All slathered up in a hunk of pig fat, and swirled into a perfect fluid mash at Lefty’s deft and spidery fingers.

As we wolfed down this penultimate “soul stew,” Lefty clapped loudly and declared, “Boy, this is da real deal - cussin’ food! So good make you cuss out loud! Now we’ve feasted, let’s lighten up and relax a while!”

The Street Sense Media 20th Anniversary

In a flash, Lefty disappeared behind beaded portieres, then re-emerged, balancing a soap crate full of soul LP’s, most still clad in their original glossy wrappers. Little Sonny, Johnnie Taylor, Irma Thomas, even local faves like Byther Smith, Jimmy Johasch, and Mack Sims. Amazingly, he balanced a pack of Grendad short shots. Winter be gone — no Bailey’s and cream for this crew.

Couple hours later, we were all crammed into the matchboxlike checkerboard lounge, where the time-worn vocalist Lee Jackson was pumping quarters into the club’s bubbling warlitzer jukebox. “Merry Christmas baby, you sure been good to me,” Charles Brown was the first to tumble out. It was 1947 all over again, I thought. Lighty and Lefty ambled across the dim space to the bar to talk some smack with some ‘foxy ladies.’

I looked back and the playlist in the bar’s play rack, the reassuring bell-clink of Lloyd Glenn’s funky “Sleigh Ride” filled the din. Then, a sharp CLICK and my head spun around with such force my string-bean hat flew off. As I tumbled forward to retrieve my brim, I realized how lucky I was. A tiny woman with cleavage disproportionately poking out of a fake fur wrap over a blindingly blue sequin dress, blindly brandished a snap-nose revolver.

The gun barrel pointed straight up, and one round went off, through a tin panel into the ceiling overhead. Everyone scattered, screaming, crying, praying. I did a tuckin’ roll and jumped to my feet right into Lefty. “Welcome to Chicago, John boy,” he growled slyly.

Many heavy moments drew me close after this, but I’ll save those for another “Cussin’ Food” segment.

SSM FAMILY UPDATES

• The next vendor meeting will be Friday, March 24, at 2 p.m. Come for pizza and fellowship!

• Street Sense Media has lots of events coming up, including a poetry slam in April! Check out the poster in the admin office.

• The 20th Anniversary Vendor Sell-a-Thon continues in March. Get Customer Kudos for extra points. Flyers available in the admin office.

• Receive extra newspapers for referring someone you know to new vendor orientation. Every Tuesday and Thursday at 2 p.m.

• Vendors continue to receive free papers for proof of vaccination.

SELL-A-THON MARCH LEADERBOARD

HIGHEST SELLERS OF THE MONTH

A new month, a new leaderboard! The Sell-a-Thon challenges vendors to sell as many Street Sense newspapers they can in one month. The highest and most improved sellers are awarded $50 at the end of each month. We will update this leaderboard for each category every week. You can boost your favorite vendor’s numbers by giving them a “customer kudos” — ask a vendor to learn more!

M OST IMPROVED SELLERS OF THE MONTH

Gaithersburg families unsure of future after losing their homes three months ago

SARAH Y. KIM DCist/WAMU

When his condo exploded, Marc Saint-Jour could see the smoke from his law firm’s office window.

Just seconds before, he’d been on the phone with his wife. She was in their home at Potomac Oaks Condominium with their sevenmonth old baby, and had just called him twice: the first time, to ask him if he had felt an earthquake, the second time to tell him their house was on fire. As Saint-Jour was telling her to get out, the call ended abruptly.

He rushed out of the office and to the condominium, or what was left of it. There were fire trucks everywhere.

“As I got closer, I realized there’s no way, by the looks of it, that my wife and my daughter could have possibly got out of there alive,” Saint-Jour said. He was about to run in when his wife appeared.

“She’s embracing me and hugging me and telling me the neighbors are dead. There’s no way they made it. We turn around and there goes a neighbor limping, covered in ash,” Saint-Jour said. “It was a traumatic event.”

The explosion that destroyed Potomac Oaks Condominium in Gaithersburg on Nov. 16 left at least 14 people injured and one person dead. Montgomery County police said the explosion was set by a resident who made statements that

“were indicative of intentions of suicide,” and that they believe he used accelerants to start the fire.

The explosion also displaced 25 families.

While continuing to grapple with the trauma of that day, Saint-Jour and many of his neighbors said they have had trouble getting aid from Montgomery County and the City of Gaithersburg to find stable housing. In interviews, residents told DCist/WAMU that they don’t know where to turn for help, and they fear becoming destitute.

“Every turn I make is a dead end,” Saint-Jour said. He took weeks off work to find housing, and his family lived for months off of a GoFundMe.

The lack of affordable housing in Montgomery County is also part of the problem. Residents said the condo was one of the few affordable options they had in the area, and for some, finding a place to rent near their offices or their childrens’ school simply isn’t an option. A few people have found apartments but can’t keep up with the rent payments, or are counting on insurance that might expire before the condo is rebuilt. Others have been living in hotels or staying with family and friends. Those who have nowhere else to go are staying at the county’s homeless shelters.

Tiffany Kelly, a community advocate who’s been helping the displaced families, said the county needs to be providing

more individualized assistance.

“The services were very sparse. They weren’t very coordinated. And most of all, they weren’t equitable,” she said.

Residents at Potomac Oaks credit Kelly with pressuring the county to provide resources. She got involved a couple of weeks after the explosion, after seeing a social media post from one of the residents who said they needed clothing.

Soon she learned that residents weren’t always getting the money the county said it had distributed. Families told her they were getting about $1,500 – about half of what county officials told Kelly they were providing at the time, she said.

“If they would have just taken a moment to speak to these people, they would have heard the same thing that I had heard,” Kelly said.

The county’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), which is responsible for helping the residents find housing and shelter, told DCist/WAMU that it has served 23 of the 25 displaced families (two declined assistance). Each of the 23 families is getting between $6,000 and $8,000 from a community fund administered by Montgomery Housing Partnerships, depending on the family’s size, insurance status, and the level of damage to their home.

DHHS said the community fund raised $138,000 as of Jan. 19 and is now closed. The department said families have now

The ruins of the Potomac Oaks Condominium after an explosion destroyed it in November. Displaced families have been scrambling to find affordable housing. Photo by Colleen Grablick // DCist/WAMU

received all of those funds — first on Nov. 22 and then on Dec. 8 — and received a final disbursement in early February. In addition to money from the community fund, DHHS said each family also got approximately $1,000 from other nonprofits and about $500 to $800 from Red Cross for immediate needs like clothing.

Residents and advocates like Kelly aren’t the only ones sounding the alarm — the county itself acknowledges it would ideally be providing more help to displaced families.

DHHS has been struggling with staffing and recruiting, said Amanda Harris, chief of services to end and prevent homelessness at the department. Administering the county’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) — set up to help people behind on rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic — has taken up much of staff’s time, Harris said. Pre-pandemic, the department offered more “holistic case management.”

“It wasn’t just cutting checks to people. It was really identifying what their needs were, working with them,” Harris told DCist/WAMU. “We simply do not have the capacity to do that right now. We hope that once ERAP is complete and we have exhausted all our resources there that we can get back to a place where we can provide a different level of service.”

For weeks, the county covered expenses for a room at a Comfort Inn for many of the displaced families, but by early January that flow of money had stopped. (Originally, the county gave families until early December to move out but gave an extension due to demand).

Liz Zhuang, a state clerk, lived at the Comfort Inn with her husband and two children until early January. When they learned they could no longer stay in the hotel shelter, they began to search for apartments in the area. But the more they looked, the more expensive the apartments seemed to get.

Her family eventually got an apartment, but she said it’s not in good condition. Rent is about $2,000 a month, which exceeds their budget.

“The first day we move in, the door is loose, the windows will not open,” she said. “Mice run over, around my feet. We haven’t bought furniture, so we sleep on the floor.”

On top of rent, Zhuang still has to pay $450 a month in condo fees for her destroyed home. The Potomac Oaks Condominium Association wrote in a Jan. 13 email to residents that income from the fees is “essential” to funding operational expenses, as well as funding reserves and special assessment accounts.

To pay for these expenses, Zhuang tried to get help from the county and city. It was a stressful process: She said the social workers she spoke with were “rude” and initially seemed reluctant to help. Zhuang said she was told she didn’t get homeowners insurance so she couldn’t depend on the county to pay all her fees. (Her homeowners policy had expired just before the explosion.)

“At least at the beginning you should help us get in the right direction,” she said. “We lost everything. Nothing left.”

Harris said all DHHS social workers are trained on empathetic, trauma-informed care and that she would encourage residents who had negative experiences to reach out.

After several weeks of back and forth, Zhuang said the city of Gaithersburg is now covering three months of her rent and that the county is covering one month. She’s hopeful that the aid will help her get back on her feet. That rent assistance comes in addition to about $7,000 Zhuang said she got in aid, divided over three payments.

Harris said that the county cannot readily give out housing vouchers — which pay a majority of a recipient’s rent — to those affected by the explosion, who aren’t necessarily low income enough to qualify.

However, as WTOP reported in January, families that might not otherwise qualify for a voucher could do so in the case of a fire, flood, or natural disaster, provided that they get signed certification from the county executive’s office. That criteria, outlined in the Housing Voucher Administrative Plan’s Section

6, Chapter 4, was updated in July. WTOP reported that earlier criteria did not specify that families could qualify for a “project based housing voucher” in case of a disaster, and that DHHS was not initially aware that the criteria had changed. (DHHS and the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) have since worked on getting vouchers for residents. The county executive’s office confirmed it sent a letter in late January to HOC authorizing the use of vouchers.)

Still, Harris said demand for vouchers is high, and has only grown since the pandemic began. She estimates that there are currently 30,000 people on the county’s waitlist for housing vouchers and there is not enough funding for the majority of applicants.

Traci DiMartini, a Potomac Oaks resident for nearly two decades, described her neighbors as making up an ethnically diverse, “very middle-income community.” Their neighborhood, she said, is a far cry from wealthier parts of the city with “gorgeous, multimillion dollar homes.”

As a single parent, DiMartini said she “could never really afford anything else” in Gaithersburg. Her daughter, who’s now in college, had lived in the condo since she was six months old.

She said county and city leaders have failed to show up for residents.

“There’s a complete absence of empathy, compassion, and basic common sense,” DiMartini told DCist/WAMU in January. The entire situation, she wrote in a Feb. 14 email, remains “a huge F.U.” to residents.

DiMartini spent the first few weeks after the explosion staying with friends in the area. Eventually she found a onebedroom apartment, which her insurance will cover for about a year. She said she is luckier than many of her neighbors, and she gets “good income” as chief human capital officer at the U.S. General Services Administration.

Still, DiMartini worries a lot about next year, when she may no longer be able to count on her insurance and may have to start paying rent out of pocket: $2,500 a month.

“There is no affordable housing in this county,” she said. “I just don’t see how a normal, average income family can survive in this county.”

There’s also her daughter’s college tuition to juggle, and a “never-ending list” of things to replace: her bed, her couch, her clothes, her personal computer. Her sleep apnea machine, which cost about $1,200.

DiMartini was unable to retrieve any possessions that might have made it through the explosion — the condominium association restricted many residents from going back, saying it was unsafe.

Recently, she and her daughter passed by the ruins. The building was “crumbling before their eyes.” Much of their unit was completely destroyed, but some parts were still recognizable.

“My daughter said it’s like you’re looking into a doll house,” DiMartini said. “There’s no facade, you can just see into our bedrooms.”

Adding onto her list of expenses, DiMartini has to pay monthly condo fees and a mortgage for her destroyed home. “I’m still paying $440 a month for nothing,” DiMartini said. There’s a lack of empathy, she said, from the Potomac Oaks Condominium Association.

“The attitude is basically: we’re really sorry it happened, but you’re still members of the community, so you still have to pay, you’re paying to help rebuild,” DiMartini said. “I think everyone needs to take a step back.”

The association told residents in an email on Jan. 13 that the demolition of the condo is tentatively scheduled for mid- to late- February. On Feb. 14, the condo association sent a followup email to residents, saying that the city of Gaithersburg indicated that the association would receive permits for demolition within two weeks, and that a demolition date is forthcoming.

DiMartini said she’s trying to focus on the positives. She feels lucky to be alive. She lived across the hall from the man police said set off the explosion. That morning, she happened to be working at her office. The dining room, where she would usually work remotely, no longer exists.

Material things can be replaced, she said. But some things can’t, like baby pictures.

“I lost everything,” DiMartini said. “As my daughter said, that was the only home she’s ever known. We weathered COVID in that home. We celebrated her high school graduation, her confirmation, sleepovers.”

She hopes that this misfortune will turn people’s attention to what she said have long been issues in the county: the lack of affordable housing, and a shortage of government resources for people in need. There’s “a definite division,” she said, of haves and have nots. If the explosion had happened in a “bougie neighborhood,” DiMartini suspects the response from county and city leaders may have been more swift.

“We still have a lot of need and there’s a lot of people in this county and in this area that are not financially affluent,” DiMartini said. “They deserve a voice and they deserve to live a good life in this area without paying $2,500 a month rent for a one bedroom.”

Marc Saint-Jour spent weeks trying to find an affordable place to live, but the apartments exceeded his budget. Their condo, a wedding gift from his parents, had been “a really good deal.”

“We had it made,” Saint-Jour said. “It just turns out that it ended up burning down.”

Saint-Jour said it’s been a “dark time” for him and his family. “[My daughter is] seven months, but I can see she knows that she’s not home,” he said.

Since the explosion, Saint-Jour has been staying in hotels. He had planned to cover his expenses using an $18,000 insurance policy. But he wound up spending thousands of dollars out of pocket on hotel fees due to a misunderstanding with his claims specialist.

Initially, he said, trying to get help from the county felt like “begging for something that you’re not entitled to,” and the county was largely unresponsive until after Tiffany Kelly advocated for him.

After a “slow” process, Saint-Jour recently got a housing voucher. He is expecting to move into his new apartment in March and has since returned to work.

He said there are neighbors who’ve been worse off. One neighbor had to dig her two small children out of the rubble while injured, just after a TV shattered over her, he said. Later, they had to go to a homeless shelter. They are still awaiting their voucher.

Still, he pictures what his wife went through on Nov. 16, while he was rushing home from the office. Carrying her baby, she ran out, as her husband had just told her to. Her neighbor’s door was gone. Half of the building was gone. Black smoke hung in the stairwell, so she ran to a balcony, but the balcony wasn’t there – it had fallen away from the building and lay in crumbles below. On the ground, people yelled to her: “throw the baby.” She hesitated. All she could see was smoke and debris. “Before you jump,” someone said, “try to go downstairs.” She took the neighbor’s advice, and as she made it to the stairs, a second explosion shook the building.

She believed her neighbors were dead when she saw her husband frantically searching for her that morning outside their home.

“There’s no way you go through something like that and you’re okay,” he said.

This story was originally published by DCist/WAMU.

Denver VOICE photographer Giles Clasen on using images to change perceptions

TONY INGLIS International Network of Street Papers

Photographer Giles Clasen has been taking pictures for Colorado street paper the Denver VOICE for about 15 years. Here, he discusses his approach to photographing vulnerable subjects, and how the opportunity to work with the street paper gave him purpose when a traumatic brain injury left him unable to work.

INSP: did you become interested in practicing photography, and when did you want to pursue it further as work and as an art form?

Clasen: I became interested in photography when I was in high school. Back then my family didn’t have a lot of money

and I asked my mother for a camera for Christmas. I don’t know how she did it, but somehow she scraped together about $400 to buy me a Canon single lens reflex camera. I always worked a part-time job to pay for my film and I was hooked from then on.

In college I developed my skill further. But it wasn’t until I began working with homeless families that I realized the real storytelling power of photography.

Were you aware of street papers before you began working with the Denver VOICE?

I was. I studied journalism in college and one of my textbooks mentioned street papers. I have always had the drive to fight for social justice. I believe journalism can change public perception

on issues. When I read about street papers I remember thinking, “That. I want to do that.”

I sent an email to the Denver VOICE in 2007 or 2008 asking to contribute. I remember being really nervous and excited. I was thrilled when they gave me a chance.

At the time I was recovering from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and unable to work. I was near homeless, living on the food donated to me by my church and paying rent with help from my family. When Tim Covi, then an editor with the Denver VOICE, gave me a chance to write and take photos, it gave me purpose at a point in my life when I wasn’t sure I had any future.

The TBI impacted many aspects of my life. I continue to experience severe pain and have double vision today. I can’t actually tell if my photos are any good until I see them on a giant screen.

In 2008, less than a year after the injury, it was all much more

Cheryl Osorio tells her son Jesus to turn the lights off to her home. Osorio and her family live in a house with no running water and which isn't connected to the power grid. Osorio uses a generator to power her house when needed. She uses her wood stove to cook and purify her water. This photo was part of a story about how Covid-19 had affected the Navajo community, and was published in the Denver VOICE. Photo by Giles Clasen // Denver VOICE

severe. I wasn’t sure if I would ever return to work. I wasn’t sure what life would be like for me moving forward. Tim took a risk on me, and I will forever be grateful.

It was hard to write and take photos with such limited vision. But working for the Denver VOICE, working with Tim, showed me I could still do some great things. It was both a fulfilment of a college goal and to some degree a lifesaving venture for me. I only have what I have today because of the street paper. Every job I have worked since has been in part because of what the Denver VOICE has given me.

Elisabeth, our current editor, took over four years ago and built off of our previous success. She pushed me early on in her tenure to write and develop my own articles rather than taking photos to accompany other writers' articles. Her push and encouragement changed me and my work in profound ways. I wouldn't have felt so bold to tell the stories I am telling today without her efforts.

Do you have any key principles generally when taking photos?

My driving principle is to get permission from the subject and be transparent in how I plan to use the images. I understand that in the United States photographers have a right to take photos in public spaces. There is a rich history of street photography documenting the public space. For individuals experiencing homelessness, their private spaces are public. We must respect and honor this.

I don’t care how much good you intend on doing in documenting unhoused communities. If you start out by secretly taking a photo, or taking a photo without permission, then you aren’t on solid footing.

When working with people who may be vulnerable or from marginalized backgrounds, do you alter the way your work in any way to accommodate them?

Yes. I always ask for permission, and I always show the photo to the individual before publication to make sure they are comfortable with the image. I also try to document truthfully but I don’t really know what that is beyond the abstract idea. The lens is not objective and the choices I make can sensationalize or humanize and sometimes it does both. The final goal is to force the viewer to feel something about the subject. I don’t know if it always works.

One responsibility of street papers is to impact public perception of people on the fringes of society. How do you think good photos play into that?

I think when the photographer spends time with the subject and truly cares about the subject there is a different image you get to present. It is important to take risks as an artist and to get to know the community. I want to see Denver in the way those experiencing homelessness see Denver. I want to show what the cold does to a person, what a hot summer day does to a person. I want to show the impact of public policy in personal ways. I think when you take risks to get to know and care for individuals living outside what is considered normal you begin to see a different world — one of survival and love.

This is what I try to show to people. I try to show the real-life circumstances that go unseen and are taken for granted.

Is there a particular photo or story that you’ve worked on as a photographer that has had a significant effect on you?

Every story I work on impacts me. I actually think of my life in the time periods of doing different stories. July of 2022 was this story; August 2022 was that story.

There have been a few that really hit home. My story on the impact of COVID-19 on a specific region of the Navajo community in Arizona altered me. I joined the board of the nonprofit I covered and continue to work to help that community.

The story I did in 2022 on individuals living in campers on the streets of Denver impacted me. I continue to document those communities and be a part of those communities.

I am about to publish a story on a BIPOC Roller Derby training squad in Denver — and I can’t begin to express how that story has changed the trajectory of my life.

I guess some people look to meditation or self-help books for improvement. I find communities I want to document and dig into learning, changing and growing as part of the process. These stories change the way I see and act in the world. How could I not change after someone struggling with a heroin addiction opens up to me? When someone is generous enough to share their story with me, I have to be generous enough to listen and care. Caring changes everything.

In Denver there has been a rise in the use of RVs (motorhomes or campervans) by people experiencing homelessness. Devine Carter and Cornelius Jenkin have been living in a 22-foot trailer for over 18 months. They had moved in with their son, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, to help him. They became homeless when their son lost his housing due to a mental health crisis. This photo was published as part of a feature on this subject in street paper the Denver VOICE.

Photo by Giles Clasen // Denver VOICE

What’s happening with the Revised Criminal Code Act

SOPHIA THOMAS Street Sense Media / The DC Line

On a Saturday night in Georgetown, Josh Blocker and his electric guitar take center stage near the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street NW. The faint wail of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” struggles to rise above the ambient noise of angry honks and a droning siren. In the seven years Blocker has been performing on the streets of Washington, D.C., the 26-year-old has learned that while he’d like to play louder, he would risk a noise violation by doing so.

“I had somebody come over to me, pull up in their white and red little flagged car, saying ‘Hey, we just gotta tell you to turn it down,’” Blocker said, referring to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), which regulates noise in the District. “I think they’re doing too much. We’re outside!”

Under the city’s current criminal code, anyone being “unreasonably loud” between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. can be arrested. Blocker hoped he’d be able to play louder once the Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022 took effect. Based on over six years of research and deliberation by the Criminal Code Reform Commission (CCRC), the D.C. Council and an advisory group, the bill would have modernized the city’s outdated criminal code. The CCRC recommended removing the noise provision but the council opted not to do so.

The council overrode a mayoral veto after approving the legislation unanimously late last year, but the bill succumbed to the resolution of disapproval introduced by House and Senate

Republicans. The Senate voted March 8 to block the D.C. Council legislation, which leaders blasted as “soft on crime.”

With President Joe Biden saying he will sign the disapproval resolution, the council is starting to discuss how to proceed and whether the Revised Criminal Code Act can be revived by addressing concerns raised by congressional opponents as well as Mayor Muriel Bowser. Many of their objections focused on the bill’s reduced penalties for some violent offenses, as well as its resumption of a right to jury trials for most misdemeanors.

The bill’s proponents say low-income residents and residents of color, particularly Black residents — who comprise over 80% of the people the District incarcerates — would have benefited most from the provisions in the updated criminal code.

Most proponents of criminal justice reform believe the bill would have led to largely positive outcomes. Local advocates have praised its elimination of most mandatory minimums and decriminalization of aggressive panhandling and illegal vending. Still, advocates of reform point to missed opportunities in elements of the bill such as the continued criminalization of unreasonably loud noise, public urination and defecation, and possession of open containers of alcohol. The council’s approved version also increased some penalties and fines beyond the recommendations of the Criminal Code Reform Commission.

Experts say an overhaul is long overdue. Many states revised their criminal codes in the 1960s and ensuing decades, but

the District’s hasn’t been comprehensively revised since its adoption in 1901. The 122-year-old code is unclear and riddled with racial inequality, according to a Council Office of Racial Equity (CORE) assessment.

The revision process began with approval of the Sentencing and Criminal Code Revision Commission Amendment Act of 2007. The Sentencing and Criminal Code Revision Commission analyzed local and national sentencing data, policies and practices and then made recommendations for more equitable sentencing. In 2016, the CCRC and an Advisory Group were created to kick-start the revision process. Their main goals were to clearly define the District’s criminal laws and establish a penalty structure that’s proportionate and rational, CCRC Executive Director Jinwoo Park explained. In most cases, the new maximums reflect the actual sentences for violent offenses that judges hand down under the current code, a point that council members made frequently in discussing the bill.

The CCRC’s recommendations comprised the introduced version of the bill, which went to the council in 2021 but was adapted by the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety after public hearings and later by the full council during deliberations. Objections raised by Mayor Bowser and MPD heavily influenced the changes seen in the committee print, Park said. Although they ultimately weren’t enough to prevent Bowser’s veto, the changes were met with mixed reactions among reform advocates who thought they went too far in many cases.

Josh Blocker performs outside Capital One Arena. Photo by Sophia Thomas

The introduced version removed the current code’s noise provision, which restricts street performance for those that rely on it to make a living. The committee print reinstated the provision with no definition of “unreasonably loud noise.” DC Justice Lab Executive Director Patrice Sulton considered the provision too vague, although she nonetheless wanted to see the council-approved version become law.

“When you write something that way, it allows police officers to basically arrest someone for raising their voice,” said Sulton, who was previously a senior attorney adviser to the Criminal Code Reform Commission. “It doesn’t tie it to anything like a decibel level that we see in our civil regulations for noise.”

Blocker, whose main source of income is busking, said he can make more money playing for the crowds that emerge from Capital One Arena after late-night basketball and hockey games than he does during the day. The provision makes that more complicated than it might have been.

The committee print also eliminated the planned decriminalization of public urination and defecation. Under the introduced version, a person would not have faced a criminal conviction for relieving themselves outside as long as they didn’t expose their genitals to anyone or destroy property, Sulton said. Under the committee print, going to the bathroom in public is an arrestable offense, as it is under the current code. Experts say this will most impact Black people, who make up the vast majority of D.C. residents experiencing homelessness.

Gerald Anderson, 54, sells newspapers for Street Sense Media and experienced homelessness in the District for 18 years. He’s all too familiar with the bathroom struggle.

“Some people be having it bad,” Anderson said, shaking his head. “I know I’ve wet myself because sometimes I can’t make it. I’ve gotta do what I’ve gotta do.”

Many businesses restrict their restrooms to paying customers, and the city has few public toilets, according to a People for Fairness Coalition study. As the result of a multiyear advocacy campaign, a pilot program will soon produce two public restrooms in high-traffic areas of the city, but some feel it isn’t enough.

“For misguided advocates, it’s going to seem like a win to get two bathrooms,” said 72-year-old Wendell Williams, who experienced homelessness for years starting in 2013. “I don’t consider that a win. I consider that disrespectful. I think the question should be, ‘Why don’t we have more than two proposed public bathrooms?’”

Criminal justice reform proponents also criticize the penalty enhancements in the committee print. The introduced version maintained most of the current code’s enhancements but eliminated the “three strikes” penalty. The committee print mirrored these changes and increased enhancements for burglary, robbery and carjacking beyond what’s found in the current code or the introduced version, although the end result would not necessarily be more prison time than currently allowed by law because of the reduced maximum penalties. Longer sentences don’t definitively lead to less crime, experts say. They do disproportionately impact Black District residents, who have a shorter life expectancy than residents of any other race, making them more likely to die in prison or live out most of their lives before release.

Other changes to the introduced version — such as the narrowing of sentencing and a delay for the expanded access to jury trials — could exacerbate this injustice, according to the council’s own racial equity assessment. The committee print also complicated the classification structure of the introduced version by making exceptions for certain offenses. For example, first-degree burglary carries a maximum imprisonment of six years and second-degree burglary carries four even though both are categorized as Class 8 felonies. A complicated code, the CORE assessment stated, makes it harder for non-English speakers to understand the law, confuses jurists and can

ultimately lead to racially inequitable outcomes.

The CORE assessment also identified issues common to both the introduced version and the committee print. Both versions, while narrowing the scope of the District’s open container law, maintained it as a criminal violation and applied it to any vehicle on a public road, even if the open container isn’t in the grab area of the driver. Experts say this law would primarily impact Black residents living below the poverty line, who are less likely to own property where they can drink while congregating with friends and who constitute approximately 80% of open container arrests and convictions.

Both versions of the bill increase certain penalties. Based on a “limits on fines” provision that prevents courts from imposing fines that could prohibit someone from paying family and living expenses, anyone found guilty of certain crimes who cannot afford to pay a fine would receive jail time or an alternative, like probation. Again, the CORE assessment found that poor Black residents would be most deeply impacted by this law.

Despite these concerns, reform advocates say there are many aspects of the bill that are racially equitable. The revised code’s decriminalization of aggressive panhandling would be a major step forward, said Brittany Ruffin, the director of policy and advocacy at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.

“It was just another way to criminalize people experiencing homelessness for trying to fulfill basic needs,” Ruffin said of the existing law.

Sulton pointed out that, under the revised code, a panhandler would still have been subject to arrest for any behavior that constituted assault, such as spitting on someone.

The council-approved bill would also decriminalize illegal vending. Given that District vendors of color are often confronted and jailed by police, this change would help decriminalize poverty and minimize racial inequity, the CORE

assessment noted. Street vending could also be decriminalized under another bill that passed first vote on March 7.

Advocates say the revised code’s elimination of most mandatory minimums — apart from one for first-degree murder — represented another win. Research shows that mandatory minimums don’t deter crime and do disproportionately impact District residents of color, particularly Black men. The change is widely endorsed locally: 77% of District residents surveyed support eliminating mandatory minimums, according to a poll commissioned by D.C. Justice Lab and FWD.us.

The council-approved bill isn’t perfect, many reform advocates say, but it’s more equitable than the current code — enough to make adopting the revised criminal code far preferable to maintaining the status quo.

“Until we have a new code, we continue to live under laws that are vague, overlapping gaps in law, and just a penal code that the District didn’t make itself,” Sulton said in an interview with The Guardian. The DC Justice Lab is calling on Biden to veto the resolution.

In a statement following the Senate vote, Amy Fettig, the executive director of The Sentencing Project, echoed the sentiment and denounced “bloated prisons and broken communities with no benefits for public safety” under the current code.

“Today’s bipartisan Senate vote rejecting common sense criminal justice reform signals a widespread abandonment of racial justice and evidence-based policy in favor of political posturing,” Fettig said.

This article was co-published with The DC Line.

Gerald Anderson is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media, and the author of the book “Still Standing: how an ex-con found salvation in the floodwaters of Katrina.”

Photo by Will Schick

OPINION Front line

NIKILA SMITH

Note from the author: I wrote this to elevate the conversation about homelessness in D.C. I want people to get angry over this issue and stop acting as if it is not going on.

Who’s on the front lines risking their life? Most people might think of doctors, nurses and delivery drivers but I think of people who are homeless. Most of them here are people of color. We are being hit hard. We didn’t ask to be on the front lines. We were volunteered. This is not a conspiracy theory, this is a fact. Homeward DC reports that D.C. used to be a “chocolate city.” If you don’t believe me check it out for yourself. In 1970, over 70% of D.C. residents were Black. By 2015 the number dropped to 48%. I’m thinking every Black person should get a medal of honor. Everyday, we are fighting a war we don’t want to be in. I understand the anger a lot of people have, and I know love because of anger. I don’t want to be angry. But we’ve all been marked with the seven deadly sins of envy, lust, greed, sloth, gluttony, wrath and pride. My beautiful Black people are suffering with wrath. It’s okay, but it’s not okay.

McPherson Square

You know you are on the ground and sleeping in corners! Never forget, you are people!

You are fighting for a cause you think you can win, all you’re doing is living, but it seems like you have no life or fight within.

Let me explain, I’m homeless. I’m not looking down on anyone. I want answers. I came though McPherson Square and was devastated. I just want to make you see there are different ways to look at this. Is it a political statement not to get help?

If you can, so is it a political statement to deny yourself a better way to live? You have the right to scream, so do it. You

have the right to write, so do it.

I don’t understand how sleeping in that park was a happy place for anyone. I was so sad looking at tent city. It was not a place for my kings and queens. When did it become okay to have people outside with rats running around their heads? If you lived in a house that was condemned,you would be relocated by the city, so why is McPherson Square any different?

People in power should be ashamed. I’m not going to name names, but if you care so much about Washington, D.C. looking beautiful, why don’t you take care of the people who live here? I feel as though a lot of politicians just don’t want Black people to grow. We are a strong race. I love my beautiful Black brethren. D.C. is not going to be beautiful until my beautiful people are off the streets.

This situation with the park didn’t happen overnight. Do you see where the park is located? Are there people at the White House pulling the curtains back everyday saying “I just love this view, it’s beautiful”?

People lose their wits when they don’t interact with others. Keeping to yourself slows down your wits, and you tend to go in your own head. And that can be misconstrued as having a mental illness. People have the right to be in a healthy environment. When you read this article, I would like you to know these are my feelings and they come from my life experience. If you agree or disagree with me you can always contact me through the newspaper at editor@streetsensemedia. org.

Remember kindness is a good thing. We all can show it. Some of us choose not to. Watch out, one day you may be on the ground sleeping in front of your favorite store too, waiting for a blanket, food and toiletries.

How Scott Adams reinvigorated the race economy

JEFFERY MCNEIL

It’s been a few weeks since Scott Adams, the author of the comic strip "Dilbert,” gave a white male perspective on race relations, which riled people.

In case you missed it, Adams, the host of the popular YouTube podcast “Real Coffee with Scott Adams,” spoke about a Rasmussen poll where people were asked if they were comfortable with the phrase “ If it’s ok to be white? “ Although 53 % were okay with the statement, Scott Adams was alarmed by the 26% that weren't. Another question asked in the survey was whether Black people could be racist. While 66% of African Americans said yes, 27% said no.

The Dilbert author then concluded that African Americans are a hate group and recommended that white people move away from Black neighborhoods. He officially said that he would no longer help African Americans and that he has moved intentionally to a place where there are no Black people.

I’m not here to defend Scott Adams because what he said was absurd. But liberals are not making me hate Scott Adams. He has a right to his own opinion. As a Black man, I’ve met thousands of white men who thought like him, and only through

conversations did they ever reconsider their views on race. I have close relationships with many conservatives because I also am against policies such as affirmative action. I want to get ahead using my brains and skills, not because of my skin tone.

As an African American, I was surprised by how many white liberals who work in predominantly white spaces immediately spoke out against Adams. As a Black writer, I believe the liberal media forces people to close their eyes to the real issues. They never suggest that problems in cities such as Chicago or Baltimore may be because of ignorance, promiscuity, laziness, or bad seeds. The mere suggestion of such ideas could brand a person as a bigot and probably ruin their career in finding lucrative writing gigs.

It’s confusing. Before Scott Adams's crude comments about African Americans, CNN host Don Lemon stirred his own controversy by saying women past thirty are not in their prime.

Until Adams one-upped Lemon this was the Big Weezy of all outrage to cancel culture. Don Lemon told the dirty secret of what some men think about women running for office in private. This was a no-no to feminists and cancel culture.It deteriorated into pulling Don Lemon off the air and calling for him to be fired.

However, despite the full court press from liberals to fire Lemon, he’s back on the air. Americans still continue to watch with bated breath to see what new offensive statement another public figure might make.

But I’m afraid it’s a different story with Scott Adams. He has had no chance to respond or apologize for his comments. His famous comic strip Dilbert has now been canceled, and now Adams’ name will forever be branded in the same category as that of David Duke, George Wallace and Joseph Goebbels as the face of hate.

Ultimately, Scott Adams went through what all writers have to deal with: do you take the money while selling your principles or say, “I won't cheer for abortion, Black Lives Matter, vaccines, but instead I will promote traditional marriage, fatherhood, and patriarchy.” Scott Adams made a bet, and in the end, while he lost one audience member, many people stood up cheering for him.

Nikila Smith is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

Jeffery McNeil is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

A National Park Service worker throwing a blanket into a garbage truck at the McPherson Square clearing, on Feb. 15, 2023. Photo by Athiyah Azeem

The meaning of Degnon

GIGI DOVONOU

Artist/Vendor

Degnon is a baby that was born on the 17th of Nov., 1978

This name has been given to him according to:

The condition of pregnancy

The time and situation of his delivery

The way he’s expected to grow up, and so on and so forth.

Let’s talk a little bit about this baby. Degnon has been conceived and the family has many stories from the pregnancy to the day until his delivery. When the boy was born, he didn’t cry for hours as all newborn babies do. Twenty-four hours and he didn’t cry. Nurses declared him a still-born death. They were about to send him to the morgue when his father decided to consult the Fâ. He went to the traditional chiefs and guardians of the temple before granting nurses the permission to execute the decision to send the baby for cremation. The father gave the nurses seven hours, enough time for him to go and come back. Before the father had returned, the baby had already started crying.

In Africa, consulting in the Fâ is always important for anyone facing a critical situation, such as when dealing with a newborn child.

Degnon means “anything is worthy.” Everything God gives is welcome.

Round and round

Artist/Vendor

Round and round inside my head I have to get these words out

Before I go to bed

Once upon a time a touch was All I wanted. Love was like A beautiful badge I would wear, Making love without a care.

Now that I’m older I know Real love, real passion. It’s not About touching for temporary bliss. Real love is as easy and simple as a Dog’s kiss.

When you realize — really realize — that Joy Doesn’t have to undress to keep you Warm. Suddenly, you realize you Were happy, and it wasn’t about making Love at all, but about how much You took for granted and nothing Lasts forever

What I think about

COREY SANDERS

Artist/Vendor

As I sit here by the ocean and watch time go by I can’t help but to think of my mother and I begin to cry. She is no longer here with me in flesh but through me, her spirit lives on, though it seems I’m too weak to manage. I know she would want me to stay strong and for that I need H2O

The new times in life

JOHNSON

CARLTON

Artist/Vendor

I have been in touch in time, needing something for life in the creativity for all times, looking for the new times in life, my time has come for sitting, off to a new line in life with nothing to run from times are to be held in hand for life.

The crow who was blind

CAROL

MOTLEY

Artist/Vendor

He depended on different stenches to give his fight a new origin, away from the smells of burned and charred flesh but with the wind of the southern brush, wings with air in between. Look — the crow makes flight unseen.

Did you know? No, you didn't!

QUEENIE FEATHERSTONE Artist/Vendor

Fun Facts:

1. Civil right activist Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. birth name was really Michael.

2. Avon's Skin So Soft bath oil is also an oil lubricant for filling pipe joints and can remove chewing gum from hair, skin and floors.

3. A tiger's fur is striped, this we know, however its skin is also striped.

4. A shrimp's heart is in its head.

5. In the world famous painting of Mona Lisa, she has no eyebrows on her face.

6. The roller coaster was invented to distract people from their sins.

7. Noise comes from the Latin word nausea which means sickness.

9. Black History Month is recognized during the month of February here in America. However in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Holland, it's recognized during the month of October.

9. The dot over the lowercase i and j has a name called tittle.

10. Oranges are actually green naturally.

St. Patrick’s Day

ROCHELE WALKER Artist/Vendor

When St. Patrick died on March 17, in 465, his death date became a national religious holiday in Ireland. On a global scale we Americans celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17 as a national holiday.

We celebrate the heritage and culture of the Irish in general.

Celebrations generally involve public parades, class festivals, balloons, cakes and green cupcakes.

We wear green attire or shamrocks. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in New York City. The color for the holiday is green.

Shamrocks are usually green, but you can collect purple, or white clover. What’s good luck, a four-leaf clover.

ANDRE BRINSON Artist/Vendor

Freedom

VENNIE HILL Artist/Vendor

What is freedom? Freedom is when I have a choice to pick and choose who I want as my friend. Freedom is when I have a choice to pick and choose who may love me today and be a part of my circle. Freedom is when I know who will be there for me to guide me on the way to a greater journey. Freedom is me.

What is freedom? Freedom is when I can walk past a liquor store and not even look into it and keep walking. Freedom is walking past old friends that have nothing good for me. Who chose to be free? I chose to be free.

Freedom is when you choose not to pick up that drug or alcohol that will make you another statistic. To willfully make being clean and sober my goal for the rest of my life. Freedom is enjoying and living my life as fully as I can.

I choose the love myself today with freedom. I choose to make all the right decisions for myself today with freedom.

Finding a job

RONALD SMOOT Artist/Vendor

I would go to pieces for a second chance. I am waiting for my gift card but that is taking time, so I have to wait. I need a job, so I left my resume with the job coordinator. He turned it in to some construction companies so I can get picked for jobs. But no one has called me yet to start working.

I will feel a whole lot better when I am working in my community. I also am trying to move because I’ve been in Northeast D.C. for three years and I want to go uptown on Wisconsin Avenue. I also want to live by myself.

I have to go to work soon so I can pay my amenity fee so I can have access to a gym and swimming pool.

I’d do better by myself because my house would always stay clean.

Sadness

LAWRENCE AUTRY Artist/Vendor

It came to my attention that a lot of young teenage girls are experiencing sadness and depression. And I realize that more people, not just young folks watching TV or who are on the internet, may be seeing more tragedy than they saw before. Some of these people are seeing this all at once, and it makes sense to me that this can lead to depression and sadness. It took me many years to realize that worrying about stuff was by choice. Just like anything else, it takes practice. My advice to you all is you can choose to watch something that makes you sad, or you can choose to see something that makes you glad. That's my advice to the world. Take care.

These dry bones shall live

MICHELE ROCHON Artist/Vendor

As we approach the upcoming birthday of a journalist, editor, intellectual, activist, Communist theorist, community leader and human rights advocate

Good times

SASHA WILLIAMS Artist/Vendor

I’ve been enjoying the encouragement and support here at Street Sense Media. I like writing. I enjoy the different outlets of expression and support. Over the years, I’ve gone to many workshops and they’ve helped me to rebuild. They have helped me take control of insane situations, and also allowed me to record my thoughts along the way.

Street Sense

GRETA CHRISTIAN

Artist/Vendor

Street Sense is the best place to work. I didn’t know about Street Sense until my friend came and told me about it. His name is Andre. He told me about it. Street Sense gives you nice money. It helps you get through the day.

People like Street Sense. They like the paper. People ask about Street Sense and the app because they want to put more money on your app.

It’s fun if you look at it. It’s fun when you’re out there, giving papers to the people.

I love it.

Claudia Vera Cumberbatch Jones women are still addressing oppression, gender inequality, low Gini coefficient and gender discrimination against females having their own bias against other females. These dry bones shall live. I will not embrace oppression, will refuse to entertain ignorance, will not fall for lies, will not blend and change my value system to make others comfortable. These dry bones shall live. This new chapter can be a time of refreshing, new perspectives and empowering ideas.

Ladies, ladies, ladies: please elevate your self-confidence and self-esteem. Your definition of “others” can sometimes expose the emptiness you have! These dry bones shall live. From my vantage point, my future looks bright. These. Dry. Bones. Shall. Live!

The month of March is here

SYBIL TAYLOR Artist/Vendor

Soon it will be time to say goodbye to winter and hello to spring. Hello to daylight saving time, hello to the blooming of cherry blossoms and fresh spring flowers. The grass is starting to grow and the trees are developing buds. The air is changing, birds are happier as well as the squirrels. People are taking walks more. It’s St. Patrick’s Day the Aries and Pisces month. It’s National Craft Month and Women’s History Month. People are flying kites and doing spring cleaning. More yard work, taking our dogs and cats out. Maybe unexpected snow and another round of cold weather. Also, cherry blossom parades down by the Tidal Basin. March offers a lot. Enjoy the upcoming weather changing pretty soon.

Playlist songs:

“She’s Fresh” and “Let’s Go Dancing” by Kool and the Gang

FUN & GAMES

Across

1. E-mail (abbr.)

5. Culturally or affectedly pretentious

9. Parts of Kimmel’s and Meyers’s monologues

13. Gillette Trac II successor

14. Red-bearded Norse hammer-wielding god

15. In accordance with what’s deemed appropriate

16. Popular nickname for American infantrymen during WWI

18. Propelled using a paddle

19. Kind of band or show (3-3)

20. Curry powder ingredient

21. Ctrl-____-Del (common simultaneous key combo)

22. Most-used edition (Abbr.)

23. Beats by Dre items (DAUBERS anagram)

25. Docking or fishing spot

27. Highly popular and successful desktop that started out having a gumdrop or egg-shaped look (2 wds.) (5,4)

29. Fixes a soundtrack in a way (RED BUS anagram)

32. “Deary me!”

33. Sibilant library silencer (var.)

34. Popular fundraising events for PTAs (2 wds.) (4,5)

37. Pvt.’s superior (abbr.; acron.)

40. Interest-lowering mortgage adj., briefly

41. Wishbone or slingshot feature (2 wds.) (1,5) (SHY

APE anagram)

45. Vehicles for moving large warehouse items

48. Any one of five Norwegian kings

49. Events for 60’s flower children (4-3) (NO LEVIS anagram)

50. “___ we having fun yet?”

53. Tax prep. expert (abbr./acron.)

54. Property encumbrances

55. Symbol of sudden, brilliant success

57. Pooh’s creator

58. Simple...or a good alternative title for this puzzle? (3 wds.) (4,2,3)

61. Skye and Capri

62. Plumlike fruit used to flavor gin

63. Drawing of grass?

64. She plays Grandma Ruby in “Mamma Mia! Here We

Go Again” (2018)

65. Pigs’ digs

66. “Aw, c’mon. Be ____ and help me out” (2 wds.)

(1,3)

Down

1. Like some scientists

2. Modern-day whistleblower, in old gangster movie lingo

3. Made a pig-like sound

4. “Parsley, ____, Rosemary and Thyme” (Simon & Garfunkel song phrase)

5. Up, in baseball (2 wds.) (2,3)

6. Girl whose help was sought in a Beach Boys chart topper

7. Item aptly hidden in “Common birthday gift given to youngsters”

8. Usual divs. of high school annual photos (abbr. acron.)

9. 2000 A.L. M.V.P. Jason (I AM BIG anagram.)

10. Central open building spaces, often with glass ceilings or completely open to the sky

11. Two-time Best Actress Award-winner Jackson, and old Hollywood blond bombshell Farrell

12. Barrett of Pink Floyd

15. A person who wears glasses, in old, somewhat disparaging slang (4-4)

17. Gilbert & Sullivan’s “ ____ Pinafore” (abbr./ initialism)

20. How old TV’s Mr. Rogers would undoubtedly deal with any catastrophe or disaster

21. Taxing mo. that gets off to a silly start (abbr.)

23. Hebrew unit of dry measure roughly equivalent to a bushel (HEAP anagram)

24. P.T.A. meeting place (abbr.)

26. “Ay, there’s the ____” (Hamlet)

28. Put forward, as a plan or solution

30. Additions to a musical staff, or a response to “drinks are on the house” (2 wds.) (LEAN RIBS anagram)

31. Balls of yarn

35. One-third of fifty-five?

36. HBO alternative

37. Org. with mbrs. that take hikes? (abbr./acron.)

38. Kinda chilly

39. Big name in aviation or popcorn history

42. Sweetish portmanteau drink popular with teenagers (POLO CAP anagram)

43. Deviled egg topper

44. Longoria of “Desperate Housewives”

46. Sharper, as an appetite or sense of taste

47. Bible figure known for having a bad hair day?

51. California’s Point ___

52. Possible subj. of a “Delayed” sign (abbr./acron.)

56. “Como ___ usted?” (How are you?) (Sp.)

57. Karaoke need, familiarly

58. Clairvoyant’s gift (abbr./acron.)

59. Many a draft selection

60. Slithery swimmer

*This crossword puzzle is the original work of Patrick “Mac”McIntyre. It is provided to us courtesy of Real Change News, a street paper based in Seattle, Wa. Learn more about Real Change News and the International Network of Street Papers at realchangenews.org and insp.ngo.

Academy of Hope Public Charter School 202-269-6623 // 2315 18th Place NE aohdc.org

Bread for the City - 1525 7th St., NW // 202-265-2400 - 1640 Good Hope Rd., SE // 202-561-8587 breadforthecity.org

Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Good Hope Rd., SE calvaryservices.org

Catholic Charities // 202-772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

Central Union Mission // 202-745-7118 65 Massachusetts Ave., NW missiondc.org

Charlie’s Place // 202-232-3066 1830 Connecticut Ave., NW charliesplacedc.org

Christ House // 202-328-1100 1717 Columbia Rd., NW christhouse.org

Church of the Pilgrims // 202-387-6612 2201 P St., NW food (1-1:30 on Sundays only) churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach

Community Family Life Services 202-347-0511 // 305 E St., NW cflsdc.org

Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

Covenant House Washington 202-610-9600 // 2001 Mississippi Ave., SE covenanthousedc.org

D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 202-347-8870 // 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW dccfh.org

Father McKenna Center // 202-842-1112 19 Eye St., NW fathermckennacenter.org

Food and Friends // 202-269-2277 (home delivery for those suffering from HIV, cancer, etc)

219 Riggs Rd., NE foodandfriends.org

Foundry Methodist Church // 202-332-4010 1500 16th St., NW ID (Friday 9am–12pm only) foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities

Friendship Place // 202-364-1419 4713 Wisconsin Ave., NW friendshipplace.org

Georgetown Ministry Center // 202-338-8301 1041 Wisconsin Ave., NW georgetownministrycenter.org

Jobs Have Priority // 202-544-9128 425 2nd St., NW jobshavepriority.org

Loaves & Fishes // 202-232-0900 1525 Newton St., NW loavesandfishesdc.org

Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org 2375 Elvans Road SE

2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE

Miriam’s Kitchen // 202-452-8926 2401 Virginia Ave., NW miriamskitchen.org

My Sister’s Place // 202-529-5991 (24-hr hotline) mysistersplacedc.org

N Street Village // 202-939-2060 1333 N St., NW nstreetvillage.org

New York Avenue Shelter // 202-832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave., NE

Patricia Handy Place for Women 202-733-5378 // 810 5th St., NW

Samaritan Inns // 202-667-8831 2523 14th St., NW samaritaninns.org

Samaritan Ministry

202-722-2280 // 1516 Hamilton St., NW 202-889-7702 // 1345 U St., SE samaritanministry.org

Sasha Bruce Youthwork // 202-675-9340 741 8th St., SE sashabruce.org

So Others Might Eat (SOME) // 202-797-8806 71 O St., NW some.org

St. Luke’s Mission Center // 202-333-4949 3655 Calvert St., NW stlukesmissioncenter.org

Thrive DC // 202-737-9311 1525 Newton St., NW thrivedc.org

Unity Health Care 3020 14th St., NW // unityhealthcare.org

- Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500

- Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699

1500 Galen Street SE, 1500 Galen Street SE, 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE, 1660 Columbia Road NW, 4414 Benning Road NE, 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 555 L Street SE, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, 1717 Columbia Road NW, 1313 New York Avenue, NW BSMT Suite, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 828 Evarts Place, NE, 810 5th Street NW

Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless 1200 U St., NW // 202-328-5500 legalclinic.org

The Welcome Table // 202-347-2635 1317 G St., NW. epiphanydc.org/thewelcometable

Whitman-Walker Health 1701 14th St., NW // 202-745-7000 2301 MLK Jr. Ave., SE // 202-797-3567 whitman-walker.org

Kitchen Team Member

Sweetgreen // 221 Pennsylvania Ave. SE

Part-time

Prep hot and cold food items, ensure all food meets food safety and quality standards to eliminate cross-contamination

REQUIRED: Physically able to lift up to 25 pounds and stand for long periods of time.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/sweetgreenkitchenmember

Restaurant Team Member

Potbelly // 2301 Georgia Ave. NW

Part-time

Responsible for operating the cash register, restocking food, using the automatic slicer to prep food items, and providing an excellent customer experience.

REQUIRED: N/A

APPLY: tinyurl.com/member-potbelly

Turndown Attendant

The Hay Adams Hotel // 800 16th St. NW

Full-time

Clean and restock guest rooms and keep all work areas organized.

REQUIRED: Physically able to lift up to 30 pounds and stand for long periods of time.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/hayadams-turndown

For further information and listings, visit our online service guide at StreetSenseMedia.org/service-guide

Hiring? Send your job postings to editor@StreetSenseMedia.org

All services listed are referral-free