06.14.2023

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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.

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VENDORS

Abel Putu, Aida Peery, Akindele Akerejah, Amia Walker, Amina Washington, 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, Dominique Anthony, Donté Turner, Doris Robinson, Earl Parker, Eric Thompson-Bey, Erica Downing, Evelyn Nnam, Floyd Carter, Franklin Sterling, Frederic John, Freedom, Gerald Anderson, Greta Christian, Henrieese Roberts, 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 Alley, John Littlejohn, Josie Brown, Juliene Kengnie, Katrina Anige, Kenneth Middleton, Khadijah Chapman, Kym Parker, L. Morrow, Laura Smith, Lawrence Autry, Levester Green, Mango Redbook, Marcus McCall, Mark Jones, Marc Grier, Mars, Martin Walker, Mary Sellman, Maurice Spears, Melody Byrd, Michael Craig, Michael Warner, Michele Modica, Michele Rochon, Morgan Jones, Nikila Smith, Patricia Donaldson, Patty Smith, Phillip Black, Queenie Featherstone, Rashawn Bowser, Reggie Jones, Reginald Black, Reginald C. Denny, Ricardo Meriedy, Richard “Mooney” Hart, Rita Sauls, Robert Warren, Rochelle Walker, Ron Dudley, Ronald Smoot, Sasha Williams, Shuhratjon Ahmadjonov, Susan Westmoreland, Susan Wilshusen, Sybil Taylor, Vennie Hill, Warren Stevens, Wendell Williams, William Mack

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Brian Carome

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Doris Warrell

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Darick Brown

DIRECTOR OF VENDOR EMPLOYMENT

Thomas Ratliff

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Aida Peery, Clifford Samuels, Chon Gotti

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

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Maria Lares

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Will Schick

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Kaela Roeder

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Athiyah Azeem

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Annemarie Cuccia

EDITORIAL INTERNS

Cole Kindiger Jessica Rich, Casey Bacot

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ARTS EDITOR (VOLUNTEER)

Austine Model

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Candace Montague

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Josh Axelrod, Ryan Bacic, Lilah Burke, Chelsea Ciruzzo, Lenika Cruz, Alison Henry, Kathryn Owens, Andrew Siddons

Editor’s Note: Inside the design of this week’s cover

VENDOR PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Street Sense Media offices will be closed Monday, June 19th, to celebrate the Juneteenth holiday.

• Street Sense Media goes to the Nationals this Friday, June 16, at 7 p.m. You must have a digital ticket on your phone to get in.

• The Street Sense Media photography book launch will be Thursday, June 22, at 6:30 p.m., at the Navy Yard Dacha Beer Garden. No food or drink will be provided.

Six weeks ago, we asked one of our many talented vendors, Akindele Akerejah, if he would be interested in designing this year’s Juneteenth edition for us. He jumped at the idea. Last week, he presented us with the finished project, an elaborate painting of three whooping cranes.

At first glance, you might wonder what whooping cranes have to do with Juneteenth. In working to develop this week’s cover, Akerejah said he reflected on the “different animals that make up the American landscape.” He eventually landed on the whooping cranes. Scientifically classified as “grus americana,” the birds are just as American as the bald eagle, according to Akerejah. And a sighting of the birds in public can be cause for excitement because of their endangered status. For Akerejah, the species called to mind the work of formerly

enslaved African Americans who, like the whooping crane, spent a significant portion of their lives with their feet planted in the mud, harvesting.

“I think a lot about what makes me different,” Akerejah said. “And in recognizing the type of citizenship that I have, that American citizenship and membership in a republic, it ultimately boils down to how you are represented beyond these shining shores… Walking on two legs is citizenship. It is what the whooping crane represents, walking on two legs and flying with a single ticket.”

The birds in this week’s cover are meant to represent freedom, and the three depicted symbolize the three branches of the U.S. government.

Will Schick, Editor-in-Chief

• The June vendor meeting will be Friday, June 23 at 2 p.m. Come for pizza and fellowship!

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

BIRTHDAYS

Phillip Black

June 19

ARTIST/VENDOR

Akindele Akerejah. Photo by Will Schick

How a rise in building costs is impacting affordable housing preservation in DC

MORGAN BASKIN DCist/WAMU

Fifty-four-year-old Earnest Wilkerson didn’t foresee leading his neighbors through the sale of their apartment building when he moved into Minnesota Commons five years ago.

One of the younger and newer tenants of the 83-unit complex in Ward 7, Wilkerson had lived there for only a couple of years before its owner listed it for sale in January 2021. Minnesota Commons is a developer’s dream, sitting kitty-corner from the Minnesota Avenue metro station just across from D.C.’s Department of Employment Services. Many of his neighbors have called the complex home for 20 or 30 years, some of them seniors whose children gently but persistently urge them to move.

But Wilkerson, who watched conditions at the property slowly decline after he moved in, felt a sense of resolve. The native Washingtonian — who also happens to work in construction — knows all too well what can happen when renters living on prime land get a notice that their home is changing hands.

“I am trying to make myself and this neighborhood a better place,” he said. “I’m fighting not just for me, but for all of these people who live here. We don’t want to go.” When the tenants of 4089 Minnesota Ave. voted Wilkerson in as their new tenant association president, he didn’t object.

The group saw their forthcoming sale, and subsequent rights under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, as a way to leverage some much-needed repairs. Under TOPA, tenants in certain apartment complexes have the right of first offer when the buildings go up for sale. They can also assign those rights to a development partner of their choice — a carrot that incentivizes developers to include tenants in rehabilitation plans or offer them hefty buyouts to move.

At Minnesota Commons, tenants wanted two things: affordable rent and clean homes. Longtime resident Christine Smith says she won’t use her bathroom sink to brush her teeth because the tap water smells like sewage – just one of three households that reported that condition to DCist/WAMU. 75-year-old Josie Thomas told us that she and her husband refuse to cook anything more complicated than boiling water because of the mice infestation that has only grown worse since all of the neighbors on her floor vacated their apartments, and squatters moved in.

“Now the roaches have decided to come down and party on this end. And the mice,” says Thomas, who moved into the building about 30 years ago when she worked for Marriott and liked being so close to a metro station. “If you throw water in [the apartment next door], it’d grow some grass.”

Todd Forster, counsel for the building owner, wrote DCist/ WAMU in an email that “prompt action is being taken to address and remedy the tenant concerns.” He added that the complaints “are being addressed and, with the assistance of the Department of Buildings, we will continue to identify and respond to all legitimate complaints.”

DCist/WAMU attempted to contact the current owner of Minnesota Commons, which is listed on D.C. government websites as an LLC and does not name an associated agent. DCist/WAMU asked Forster, who is named in sale documents, for the owner’s name. Forster did not respond to that question.

For a cool $10.79 million, the building could be owned by the tenants — or, thanks to TOPA, the development partner of their choice. They went with NFP, a local affordable housing nonprofit that promised to keep the building rent stabilized even after undergoing substantial remodeling. The pending sale was slated to close May 15, and tenants grew cautiously optimistic.

But in early May, the equity partner who planned to help finance the purchase backed out, and NFP was forced to pull its offer. The deal that Wilkerson and his dozens of neighbors worked so hard to close ultimately fell through.

Minnesota Commons is now poised to go to the seller’s handpicked buyer: a business entity managed by Sam Razjooyan, a local developer who targets rent stabilized apartments to turn profit. Razjooyan’s business model, as DCist/WAMU reported in March – and that Razjooyan himself referenced in a business proposal he submitted to tenants last year — sees him offering buyouts to existing tenants, then filling the vacant apartments with housing choice voucher holders. Housing choice vouchers, a federal housing subsidy disbursed through the D.C. Housing Authority, are reimbursed at rates that can run several hundred dollars above what some rent-stabilized buildings ask.

The sprawling rent-stabilized complex now in Razjooyan’s crosshairs is exactly the kind of project the D.C. government has talked about protecting: affordable, home to seniors and native Washingtonians and well-situated.

What should have been a rousing success story has now become a cautionary tale, as industry leaders say that worsening market conditions, coupled with dwindling public dollars for affordable housing preservation, have made efforts to preserve affordability more challenging. That is particularly true for nonprofit organizations, which don’t enjoy the same kind of access to capital as larger for-profit developers, but that prioritize lowering costs for tenants.

“The market is still moving forward in terms of favoring very, very deep pocketed developers who can afford to control their own deal without a nonprofit at the table and without other people inserting their mission needs into the transaction,” says

Josie Thomas, 75, has lived at the Minnesota Commons complex for decades. Photos by Morgan Baskin

Mitch Greenstein, a real estate executive who has worked in D.C. since the late 70s and consulted for NFP on the Minnesota Commons sale. “It also seems to [favor] smaller developers who aren’t as attuned to the needs of the local community.”

A perfect storm of conditions led to the Minnesota Commons deal collapsing: high interest rates and skyrocketing construction costs made the prospect of rehabilitating the building incredibly expensive, to say nothing of its nearly $11 million asking price. A $2 billion Amazon-backed fund intended to help finance affordable housing projects has started to run dry. Last year, for the first time, D.C. hit its bond volume cap — the amount of tax-exempt financing D.C. can award per calendar year — stiffening competition for steeper Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), a critical tool used to finance affordable housing projects. “[It] had gone from a situation where they were readily available to: they are now capped, and they became competitive,” Greenstein says.

“As all of this was going on, interest rates were continuing to climb. Subsidy dollars for affordable housing in D.C. were becoming more scarce. And the investment community was getting a little bit less enamored with this kind of real estate in the shorter term,” he adds.

And as private equity players grow skittish, chatter has pitched that Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration is taking cues from them and shying away from funding major preservation projects, too.

D.C.’s Department of Housing and Community Development administers the city’s largest subsidy for affordable development and preservation through the Housing Production Trust Fund. But the fund has not solicited any new proposals since 2021, and that year, only three projects were selected for a 9% LIHTC subsidy; none of them were preservation projects.

And of the 21 development projects to receive HPTF funds from its last round of giving in 2021, only one — Aspen Street Cooperative, an apartment complex across from the Walter Reed campus whose tenants used TOPA to buy the building — was a preservation-only project. (D.C.’s fiscal year 2024 budget, proposed by Bowser with signoff from the D.C. Council, will see D.C. cut back its investments into the HPTF.) “It does seem that new construction is taking a priority over preservation,” says Rick Eisen, a real estate attorney who represents nonprofit developers and tenant associations, as well as a member of the team that drafted D.C.’s TOPA law in the late 1970s.

Experts in affordable housing development say that public subsidies are critical for ensuring that the math works on major rehabilitation projects, like the one NFP tried to execute at Wilkerson’s complex.

“In any case, doing any kind of committed affordable housing of high quality is very expensive” says Melissa Bondi, the mid-Atlantic state and local policy director for Enterprise Community Partners, a national affordable housing nonprofit. Bondi says it’s near-impossible for nonprofits to tackle major rehabilitation projects in D.C. “And it is impossible to do preservation without subsidy.”

Complicating the math is the fact that some preservation projects obtain financing help from one pot of DHCD funds for their acquisition, only to be denied further down the road for HPTF money that would make rehabilitation of the buildings possible.

MANNA DC, one of the city’s most prominent affordable housing developers, is now selling a portfolio of 19 apartment buildings it bought in 2019 because it’s been unable to secure the financing necessary to execute its substantial renovation plan, according to sources with knowledge of the deal. It is also selling two other properties, one on South Capitol Street and one in Randle Highlands, because it couldn’t secure financing to make renovations, that source also said.

(Rozanne Look, MANNA’s director of project development, didn’t return DCist/WAMU’s requests for comment.)

Sam Razjooyan, part of the group poised to take over Minnesota Commons, has perfected a business model that hinges on buying rent-stabilized apartment buildings,

remodeling them to add additional bedrooms, and renting out vacant units to housing choice voucher holders. Tenants in buildings managed by Razjooyan report living with sewagestained carpets, bedbug infestations and pervasive mold.

“I went and looked at a couple of his places, and it was worse than where I am right now. I’m like, nah, I don’t want to live up in here,” says Wilkerson, who sat on Zoom calls with Razjooyan last spring.

The rehabilitation proposal Razjooyan submitted to the tenant’s association states that he is the managing member of a firm that owns and manages over 54 properties totaling 600 units across Northeast and Southeast D.C. “We specialize in affordable housing and work closely with the D.C. Housing Authority for those residents who utilize various subsidy programs,” the proposal says.

DCist/WAMU asked Razjooyan in an email whether he plans on buying the building, given the collapse of the deal with NFP, and sticking with the development proposal outlined to tenants last year. Razjooyan’s response was that last year he consulted for the business entity listed as the seller’s third party purchaser and is not aware of its current intentions.

Razjooyan’s rehabilitation proposal to tenants states that while it is “NOT our goal to displace anyone … we want to help accomplish your goal of either home ownership or assist to move to another community.” The group said it would offer tenants $15,000 to vacate the building.

The Minnesota Commons tenants are now in limbo: unsure how their owner will proceed with a sale, the remodeling they desperately need even further on the horizon.

Christine Smith, the Minnesota Commons tenant, lamented the collapse of the deal with NFP. “I don’t want him. Things are bad enough around here,” Smith says. “Please, please, please Jesus, do not [let it be] Sam.”

This story was originally produced by DCist/WAMU.

A mouse hole in one of the units. The affordable housing developer poised to buy Minnesota Commons — and keep it rent stabilized — lost its financing.

Many of the vacant apartments at Minnesota Commons sit boarded up after squatters entered multiple units.

A new model for housing in Hamburg, Germany

ULRICH JONAS Hinz&Kunzt

On this particular afternoon in early April, Radoslaw has one wish above all: a quiet place to sleep.

The 40-year-old works for a horticultural company through a temporary employment agency. He gets up early in the morning, takes the tram halfway across the city and trudges over the cobblestones. If he could, he’d flop down on his own sofa at the end of a long day.

But Radoslaw, who is Polish and has a high school diploma, doesn’t have a flat at the moment. He had to move out of his last one at the request of his landlady. And he doesn’t have the money to rent something new. That’s why he has been spending his nights for the last fortnight in the Pik As homeless emergency shelter, where he shares a room with seven others. “I can’t sleep there,” he says. “One chap goes to bed at one, another at three — and I have to get up at five.”

Radoslaw was lured to Germany by a job offer. In December 2020, he read in a Polish newspaper that a company in Bavaria was looking for truck drivers to transport containers of old clothes. In his hometown of Lodz, there was no work and no income for the taxi driver — all because of COVID19. So Radoslaw applied for the job and got it. Later, he worked on construction sites, “sometimes with an employment contract, sometimes without,” he tells me. After answering an online ad, he ended up at a gardening company in Hamburg, again as a driver. Most recently, he delivered furniture for a company, employed by a subcontractor. It was a well-paid job, but Radoslaw lost it when he “allowed” himself to be sick for a day. Shortly afterwards, he found a job at a temporary employment agency. And he is happy there: “I even get my monthly ticket [bus pass] paid for.”

The muscular man with the friendly smile seems tailor-made for the city’s latest model project: “The Accommodation for Workers from the EU Project.” Since April, two locations in the Eimsbüttel district of Hamburg have been offering free temporary accommodation to people who have found themselves in housing difficulties through no fault of their own. Also targeted by the project are those the project calls “people threatened by homelessness on arrival,” the social welfare authorities add. Through this project the city is implementing an idea that Hinz&Kunzt has been fighting for many years; that is, a shelter especially for immigrants from Eastern and Southeastern Europe who are threatened with a life on the streets.

According to the city’s most recent survey from 2018, a good 40% of all homeless people in Hamburg now come from other EU countries — and the number is rising. But of the 22 places in the new accommodation, only three were occupied at the time of publication (April 18). This is because the

Radoslaw is from Poland and is searching for a place to live in Hamburg, Germany. Photo by Miguel Ferraz

to help him? She is to start work in the coming days, and her role will be to support those taking part in the program as they embark on their new start.

No low threshold offer

Those who want to secure a place in the accommodation programme first need the approval of the Service Agency for the Free Movement of Workers (“Arbeit und Leben”), the agency that is executing the project. The Labour Market Service at the Hamburg Welcome Centre then checks how the potential participants fit into the labor market. According to the social welfare authorities, the criteria for this are: a good knowledge of German (preferably at A2 [pre-intermediate] level; in individual cases good English is sufficient), school-leaving qualifications, work experience and “strong self-motivation and no personal obstacles.”

HELP! WE’RE LOOKING FOR volunteers

access hurdles are high: two counseling centers have to give the green light before a candidate can move in. The concept also raises issues in other areas: people are supposed to stay in the accommodation for a maximum of six weeks; in an emergency, an extension for another six weeks is possible. But what happens if those affected have not found a new place to live by then?

“Experience shows that the search for a flat can take much longer, so we take a critical view of the short length of stay,” says Sandra Berkling from the Hamburg Association of Independent Welfare Workers (AGFW). “Especially since there is no automatic transition to public accommodation.” The AGFW had already presented a concept for a workers’ accommodation two years ago. Anyone reading this article, however, will quickly realize that not all the wishes of the experts have been implemented. The experts considered up to six months’ stay in the accommodation necessary, rather than six weeks. In addition, there is talk of “basic counseling onsite,” i.e., in the accommodation. However, according to the social welfare services’ model, people taking part in the project are supposed to go to counseling centers. “It remains to be seen whether this structure works,” says Berkling.

It will be seen in the coming weeks who will get a chance to take a step towards a better life.

Hinz&Kunzt vendor Grzegorz is currently also sleeping in Pik As, after having found shelter through the winter emergency program months before. The 40-year-old has, he says, already done a few jobs on Hamburg construction sites. His problem is that he never received an employment contract. Sometimes he was paid badly and sometimes very badly. He didn’t ever have health insurance. “I would do any job,” says Grzegorz. He would prefer a part-time one for the time being — “the main thing is that it is legal.”

But is Grzegorz likely to get the opportunity to be helped by the city’s new housing project? He says that in his home country of Poland, he mainly worked in warehouses and delivered pizzas. Will that be enough to qualify him as someone working in one of the “sectors with a high demand for labor at the moment” that the model project is supposed to focus on, according to the social welfare authorities?

Happily, shortly before the editorial deadline, Grzegorz received the news that he will be accepted into the model project. And his compatriot Radoslaw was allowed to move into the workers’ accommodation before Easter — and is happy there.

“I sleep very well and can finally cook for myself again,” Radoslaw tells me over the phone ten days after moving in. As a result of counseling sessions, it’s been confirmed that he can initially stay for six weeks. Now the main question is where he will live afterwards. He says he wants to look for a room to rent and that he’ll ask the head of the horticultural company if he has any ideas. But Radoslaw wants to wait a little longer before doing so: “He should first see that I work hard,” he says.

Will the new adviser at the service agency for the Arbeitnehmerfreizügigkeit (free movement of workers) be able

Both accommodation locations in Eimsbüttel offer single and double rooms and a shared kitchen for self-catering. Accommodation is free of charge and is generally to be limited to six weeks. Those who have not found a job after three months in the accommodation will be encouraged to return to their home country. The model project is limited to three years, and after one and a half years an interim balance is to be drawn up. It is already clear that the 22 places are insufficient: according to the latest census, a good 40% of the at least 2,000 homeless people in Hamburg come from other EU countries. Almost all of them come in the hope of finding a job, but many end up in precarious jobs that often also offer overpriced accommodation – with people often losing both at the same time and ending up on the streets as a result. It is an oft-forgotten fact that the vast majority of immigrants from other EU countries work “normal” jobs here, just like most of the natives.

Translated from German via Translators without Borders.

Courtesy of Hinz&Kunzt / International Network of Street Papers.

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Almost all of them come in the hope of finding a job, but many end up in precarious jobs that often also offer overpriced accommodation –with people often losing both at the same time and ending up on the streets as a result.

“Experience shows that the search for a flat can take much longer, so we take a critical view of the short length of stay ...Especially since there is no automatic transition to public accommodation.”

Sandra Berkling, Hamburg Association of Independent Welfare Workers (AGFW)

Q&A: What’s next for Juneteenth in DC A conversation with Chuck Hicks

COLE KINDIGER Editorial Intern

Every year, the District comes alive for Juneteenth.

For as long as D.C. has celebrated the holiday, everyday citizens have organized their own events, creating a patchwork of independent activities across the District — this year, D.C. residents can do everything from jam at the Home Rule music festival to run a 5K at the 46th annual Peterbug Day.

Under the Juneteenth Commission, that might change. The

committee, which was approved by the D.C. Council in June 2022, will soon coordinate and supplement existing events, so that organizers might work together to celebrate the holiday.

As many D.C. residents have noticed, the Juneteenth Commission has not yet been activated. But Chuck Hicks, future commission member and the founder and director of the D.C. Black History Celebration Committee, is excited for it to launch.

Hicks has devoted his life to racial justice. Born in Bogalusa, Louisiana, he temporarily studied at a local university before

administrators kicked him out when they discovered his father’s involvement in the civil rights movement. Hicks later went on to Syracuse University and was elected its first Black student body president, while earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Hicks later moved to D.C., where over the last several decades, he led and acted in many prominent communityoriented organizations, like the NAACP, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Martin Luther King Scholarship Committee.

Legendary saxophonist David Murray performs with his octet at the Home Rule Music Festival in 2022. Photo courtesy of Nick Moreland

In addition to founding the Black History Celebration Committee, he founded Bread for the Soul, a group that provides support for children and families living with HIV/ AIDS.

In 2019, he was elected to the Washington DC Hall of Fame. In 2021, he set his sights on the Juneteenth Commission.

Despite being recognized locally in 2003 and federally in 2021, Juneteenth has never had an official celebration in the District. This is somewhat unusual, since the D.C. Council has created commissions to commemorate other important events, such as the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. and the emancipation of enslaved Washingtonians. Until recently, there was little talk about a Juneteenth Commission.

To Hicks and African American Civil War Museum Director Frank Smith, this was a problem.

Hicks and Smith proposed the idea for a commission to Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen. With support from fellow councilmembers, Allen introduced the bill in January 2022. The cited purpose of the Juneteenth Committee was to plan District-wide activities to celebrate the holiday and to educate people on its history, both within and beyond D.C. Street Sense caught up with Hicks to ask about the status of the commission and what to expect next year.

Street Sense edited this conversation for length and clarity.

The Juneteenth Commission was approved last year, but it hasn’t been officially named or activated yet. Why the wait?

Well, the commission hasn’t been activated because it has a monetary budget attached to it. By the time we got it signed last year, the D.C. budget had already been allocated. So that’s the first part. The next part that has to happen is that the commission has to be named — there is technically no commission, as of yet.

We wanted the commission to be independent. It would have a chairman and a board who would set policy. We wanted to have a director and a staff who would help create the activities that we wanted to see happen in D.C. So that became a very, very important piece for us.

But because the legislation attaches money to the commission, it can’t really be active until the council allocates the funds to it, and they can’t do that until next year.

You worked with Dr. Frank Smith to present the idea for the Juneteenth Commission to the D.C. Council. Can you walk me through that process?

Oh, yeah. I have been doing Juneteenth programs for 20 years. I worked at the Martin Luther King Library and it started there. But what happened more recently is that as Juneteenth became more popular, it just started to blossom again.

[Charles] Allen, my councilmember, was the councilmember that I asked to help write the legislation with Dr. Smith. After we talked about all the things that we’d like to see the commission do, the legislation was written and introduced.

All of the councilmembers signed on as co-sponsors. We didn’t have anybody who didn’t vote yes. Then it went to the mayor and she signed off on it, too.

What we’re hoping to do now is get the commission named within the next couple of months — we had hoped we could get it named by Juneteenth but I don’t think that’s a reality —

and then councilmembers can begin to appoint commission members.

Then we can start to talk about planning, to talk about the kind of things we want to see in the structure of the commission.

So, while you’re waiting for the council to allocate the budget for the next fiscal year, in 2024, what are you doing in the meantime?

We are starting to talk to some of the community groups that are putting on events for Juneteenth.

One of the most important things the commission should do is not ignore the many different activities going on in the city.

Last year, I learned that there is a Georgia Avenue Juneteenth Commission, and it’s been around for years. I didn’t know that!

There are all kinds of local community groups who celebrate Juneteenth. And we don’t want to ignore those voices. We want to be able to bring those voices together. That’s what Juneteenth is all about.

Could say more about what Juneteenth means to D.C. residents?

When we talk about Juneteenth, we need to understand there was a Juneteenth — widespread emancipation — before Juneteenth. But when slaves were freed in Galveston, Texas, that was the last place for news of emancipation to reach. Then it became Juneteenth.

But Juneteenth is more than a celebration. It’s an opportunity to talk about where we ought to be going, how we ought to look at ourselves as people, and how we ought to look at ourselves as a community.

And so, we want the commission to ask these kinds of questions, to look at the kinds of issues that face us today, and help build coalitions to solve them. This commission is going to make more than a parade and some fireworks. We deserve more than that.

Juneteenth is about growth, it's about understanding and building community.

Juneteenth is about all of us.

Graphic by Cole Kindiger

Smoky skies show that climate action is social justice

MAX BROAD

“Go inside,” they say. “Avoid breathing in this unhealthy air,” they say. But not everybody has the option to take refuge indoors. Indeed, the smoky skies from Canada’s out of control wildfires show that impacts of the climate crisis are not only widespread, but that they impact some populations disproportionately. The American Lung Association says that particulate matter, carbon monoxide and the release of other hazardous air pollutants from wildfires threaten our health. The organization identifies vulnerable populations as “children, older adults and those with heart disease, diabetes, asthma, COPD and other lung diseases.”

Another disparity is visible in D.C. We can see that our neighbors who are unhoused are more exposed to the smoke than others. This is a perfect example of how climate change impacts marginalized communities “first and worst.” Much like with hotter summers and extreme storms, people with fewer resources are less able to navigate out of harm’s way.

We who are blessed with greater resources have been fooling ourselves into thinking we will be somehow protected not just from smoke, but from all the other cascading calamities of climate change. Everybody in the region was impacted from

this climate experience — it was just a question of to what degree.

With the decades of fossil fuel pollution now yielding fruit, this recent experience demonstrates how global the problem is. Weather patterns do not follow political borders. Climate change requires international cooperation, seeing as both greenhouse gasses and smoke (not to mention other forms of pollution) ignore national borders. The U.S. should be leading that international effort. But in order to do it we need a game plan for carbon neutrality first, harnessing the vision set forth in the Inflation Reduction Act and building upon it to identify how we will reduce emissions.

If there is a bright side of the dark skies, it is that of people being spurred into action. Resistant to continuing without a fight, people can take this as a sign that we cannot settle for the status quo. Individuals can take public transit, bicycle and walk more, eat a plant-rich diet, and use D.C. programs like Solar for All to adopt renewable energy.

At Citizens’ Climate Lobby, we are advocating for systemic solutions in Congress like making polluters pay, planting more trees and switching from fossil infrastructure to electric. We are eagerly anticipating a bill called the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act that would make pollution

Confessions of a non-conformist

Why I never bend the knee, show remorse or apologize

JEFFERY MCNEIL

I’m a newspaper guy; there’s just something I love about the printed word. Growing up in New Jersey, I preferred reading local newspapers such as the Asbury Park Press to national publications such as the New York Times. It was easy to take for granted living in a metropolitan area. There was no shortage of newsstands or newspapers I could buy that would anywhere between 25 cents to a dollar.

Buzzfeed and Vice are the latest news platforms that have failed. It’s no secret that the printed word isn't going through a recession but is in danger of becoming irrelevant and obsolete.

There are many reasons for the decline of news. All the nationally syndicated newspapers sound the alarm about the same things: inequality, Ukraine, climate change and COVID19. Furthermore, independent and conservative voices have been shut out from mainstream conversations and forced into the dark web. They’ve alienated the very audience they supposedly support.

The beauty of writing today is that if you're frustrated trying to be published you can start a blog or learn how to create your own platform and not worry about having to write fluff pieces about Joe Biden or tip-toe around your thoughts about race. I learned how to creatively talk about elections, vaccines and climate change without being censored.

The minute influential people say this topic is off-limits, you should post articles about the subject. People should question vaccines. It is fair for people to ask whether the Jan. 6 protestors are getting due process and fair hearings. The first amendment guarantees the Klan's right to say things you disagree with. Free speech means being able to air controversial opinions about topics such as abortion, science and climate change. If you’re someone with an unpopular perspective and the mob tries to silence you, double down. Never back down from speaking the truth.

Doesn't a good writer question existing policies that benefit a few while leaving the masses in serfdom? I want to know why I need permission to write about taboo topics such as race. My life, liberty and safety hinge on the demographics of my community. I don't think people should get favorable treatment because of history.

If I was to start a newspaper business, I would find different takes on hot-topic issues such as gun control and abortion. I would elevate the conversation beyond the standard arguments between Democrats and Republicans..

I believe the reason street newspapers continue to thrive is because the vendors and writers must interact with the community. I sell to businessmen, academics, LGBTQ+ people and to people who support abortion, people with conservative viewpoints and Trump supporters.

more expensive and clean energy more competitive. Our Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) was one of dozens of cosponsors in the last Congress. Locally, great organizations like Sierra Club, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and Washington Interfaith Network are helping our city rely less on gas appliances (which are also harmful to our health) in favor of electric.

Although the effects of climate change are already here and bound to get worse if we do not make substantial changes quickly, there is still reason to act. Every increment of pollution we can withhold reduces the likelihood and severity of the next extreme weather event. There is power in optimism. The drivers behind fossil fuels and other causes of climate change rely on our self-assigned impotence to continue their unmitigated polluting — they thrive when we believe that we cannot make a difference. Fortunately, we are seeing folks prioritizing a more sustainable world, knowing that every action counts. If you believe in disrupting the inequality of climate impacts and those who cannot step inside, this is the time to step up.

I sell my articles. I do not beg for money. There’s no price someone can pay me to stand for what's right. If two plus two is four, I have no time arguing or debating someone trying to convince me it’s 100. Being a freelance writer is a business, and my success is understanding that where I’m published gives me a platform. But I also have to deal with publishers and editors that try to edit truths for their own agendas.

I’m an optimist; I believe there will always be a place for the printed word. I know many are worried about artificial intelligence. Still, many old-school people like reading the Bible from a book or buying newspapers from stands, not subscribing online.

The issue isn’t print but content; social justice writing is depressing, hopeless and despairing, or it’s about revolutionary violence.

I’m happy and don't see the government or racism holding me down. In the end, I appreciate printed papers giving me a platform but see the writing on the wall that the money-making days are over, so to be relevant, I suggest selling overcoming. Still, I learned, don't waste your time giving pearls to the sows, for they’ll only throw what you know in the mud.

Ultimately, the game's name is not to be printed but to have what you printed to read, cherish and immortalize.

Jeffery

McNeil is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

Max Broad is the co-leader of the DC Chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

Juneteenth

CHON GOTTI Artist/Vendor

Juneteenth, a day of freedom and pride, a day to remember the struggles and strides of those who fought for their right to be free, and celebrate the end of slavery.

For me, Juneteenth is a day of reflection, to honor the strength of those who fought oppression, to remember the pain and suffering they endured, and to celebrate their resilience and courage.

It's a day to remember the stories of our past, to recognize the sacrifices that were made to last, to acknowledge the challenges we still face, and to work towards a future of justice and grace.

Juneteenth is a day to celebrate Black joy, to embrace our culture and all that we enjoy, to dance, to sing, to laugh and to play, to celebrate our history in a joyful way.

It's a day to remember the legacy of those who came before, to honor their contributions and the struggles they bore, to recognize their strength and their determination, and to carry on their fight for liberation.

Juneteenth is a day of unity and solidarity, to come together as a community in solidarity, to stand up against racism and inequality, and to work towards a world of true equality.

For me, Juneteenth is a day of hope, a day to remember that we can overcome, that we can rise above the pain and the fear, and that we can create a better world that is near.

So on this Juneteenth, let us celebrate and remember, the strength and resilience of those who fought for our freedom, and let us continue their fight for justice and equality, until we reach a world of true liberty.

Directions

MARS

Artist/Vendor

Ever gotten lost?

I once had a job interview in South Houston. With Safari running on an iPhone, Google Maps running on an Android and a Tom Tom I barely made my appointment. The Tom Tom had me arriving at a 40-acre field. The iPhone landed me at a Starbucks. Google Maps finally had me at my destination — 200 Post Oak Road. The good news about being on time is I arrived sipping my Venti Americano. Oh, and I got the job!

Juneteenth

JACKIE TURNER Artist/Vendor

The first time I learned of Juneteenth was from a TV program called “black-ish,” then I started to hear more about the holiday. That was in 2018 or 2019.

I went online and I learned it is a federal holiday celebrating the emancipation of the American Black people from slavery. On Dec. 6, 1865, slavery was abolished everywhere in the United States.

The month of June

SYBIL TAYLOR

Artist/Vendor

June brings hot weather. June brings summer and more humanity. This month brings Pride Month, Juneteenth, Father's Day, Gun Violence Awareness Month, Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month, National Immigrant Heritage Month, Best Friends Day, Fresh Veggies Day, National Camera Day, Great American Picnic Day, Ice Tea Day, Lobster Day, Flag Day, Hug Your Cat Day, National Corn on the Cob Day, National Seashell Day, National Bingo Day, National Onion Rings Day, International Fisherman Day and National Take Your Dog to Work Day.

Pools and cooling centers are also open this month. June is for gardening and planting and cutting your lawn. It is for admiring the flowers, the buzzing bees, the insects and the butterflies. Birds chirp in the early morning hours. The sun rises early at around 5:45 a.m. and the sunsets late at around 8:30 p.m. The temperature changes at night. I’ve been hearing more crickets singing and seeing lightning bugs of all colors. They are so pretty when they glow in the dark. I’m also hoping to see more owls at night. I especially like the early chirping from our friendly bird friends that make beautiful-sounding music.

It’s that time of year to keep your A/C running and to turn on your fans. It’s also the time to go visit the cooling centers to relax. It’s also a great time to go fishing, to catch and fry them. Cooking out and grilling this month brings so much to do. Enjoy the month of June. I will always remember growing up as a child enjoying those hot summer days with my family.

Here are some songs to inspire you this month:

“Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince

“Summer Madness" by Kool & The Gang

"Chuck Baby" and “Block Party” by Chuck Brown

“Do Your Dance” by Rose Royce

The food you like to eat

DANIEL BALL Artist/Vendor

The word “grub” reminds me of the word “food.” So now let’s eat some good food. The word “cuisine” is the food you like to cook. So Maria said, “Let’s eat some tacos today.” The word “groceries” means letting me go shopping at Safeway.

Some people like making homemade food at their homes in D.C.

I said, “Do you like to heat up frozen dinner just like I do?”

I said, “Do you like ice cream that has nuts in it, like butter pecan?”

I’m forgiving my father

NIKILA SMITH Artist/Vendor

You're an image I never knew until now. Before I was longing for something. I'm a fatherless woman, but I'm not made of anger. I feel nothing but love for an image I can't remember. God loves me, so I love you. Why do I need my father? When you came back it was like you never left. I was always different. Now I know the image in the mirror was you. My nerdiness twin Your looks were flawless, your kindness, your worry, your pain, even your thoughts that were all over the place. I understand at a certain age you awoke in me this love for a parent. Unseen, but there. So I'm in the mirror telling you my image — I forgive

Give

MARC GRIER Artist/Vendor

Give way with a great, full heart.

It always pays to be good to people, no matter the circumstances.

I oblige that you get what you give, so why not show love to people? Even if you help people, do not count on that person helping you back.

The Lord is a cheerful giver.

What it means to be a cheerful giver is to give out of love and kindness. Because if you don’t provide with love and kindness it’s like you did not give anything at all.

I’m forgiving my father in a poem, But I forgave him for not being there, thinking he didn’t care, leaving me scared with fear. For being absent from growth and missing my show. I’m forgiving with and through a poem. Papa always called me cutie pie. Momma said he died, and all I did was cry. My father’s spirit was clean and sober. When he passed I remembered my father walking me down the aisle, looking at me like a woman, not a child. I called myself a fatherless child. Listening to 21 shoots, I’m proud, for awhile.

Father took my smile. No, I tried to give it to him, but he gave it back I forgave my father, that’s all he wanted. I love you, father, I will get no other.

Father’s Day celebration

JOSIE BROWN Artist/Vendor

Father’s Day means, to me, a time of calmness, gentleness and loneliness, where families gather together and have picnics and celebrations with one another. Mom and dad are able to lay back and relax. Giving their time, their love and their attention by sharing in a kind presence with comfort and protection, relaxation, concentration and dedication. Checking out the situation with total consideration and determination. Leaving and dominating without consideration — but a pure restoration and justification and liberation with sanctification to recuperation and relaxation toward memorization.

We are collective

JET FLEGETTE

Artist/Vendor

We live in a world full of people from all walks of life — with different beliefs and a multitude of religious beliefs. There are so many explanations as to why any of us are here on Earth.

A human being is important for the mere part of his or her existence.

Because we are inhabitants, the creator, I believe, guides us toward perfection while we gain experience from our imperfections. My point ends with a question.

Does anybody or can anyone tell me why we put such blind faith in leaders that are subject to the same practices and flaws as any other human being?

Pain

DOMINIQUE ANTHONY Artist/Vendor

Like Tupac said, “I shed so many tears.” In pain, know there is light. After the storm and still standing, after this I learned how to take me and love myself. I’m learning how to love me and take care of me by loving myself.

Movement

CARLTON JOHNSON Artist/Vendor

Untold movement of every second with time. For every moan with time. Behold forever, hold on to life.

My image of excellence is my father

New beginnings

ABEL PUTU Artist/Vendor

New beginnings of my life

I want everyone to be unified

No more dividing on this Earth

Love, friendship, togetherness and peace

Joint nations

We are all under one God

God created the Earth

And he can destroy it

One time the sky was talking to me

I heard a heavy sigh

It was a sign to prepare for what was coming

We need a change

To bring love and happiness to the whole world

We can come together and make it better

An ongoing issue

LEVESTER GREEN Artist/Vendor

A certain company took my phone number hostage. They refused to give me my pin and account number for me to transfer it. Their equipment also failed me. There’s a problem with the phone’s charger port. It won’t even charge.

Now I need new equipment. My phone was also slow and glitchy. Although it had just started to improve a bit, this freak accident took it totally out of commission. Now I'm being held at bay. Losing my phone number has restricted my access to the internet including my ability to log in to my main Google and Gmail accounts. So by them having my number, I can no longer currently confirm my identity or any of my positioning via my phone. It’s imperative that I recover my phone number.

The company sent me enticing letters, promising me brand new pieces of equipment, to come to get them “while the supplies last.” However, I failed to act fast enough, even though I was so totally in need of that upgrade!

Anyway, this company comes off as a total fraud to me. I don’t know why my backup email doesn’t work. What should I do now, given that I do everything via email?

Getting back up and trying it again

VENNIE HILL Artist/Vendor

Well, guys, I'm going back to the program one more time. This time I'm not going alone. I'm taking my partner, my right-hand man, the love of my life — who's also known as my husband. We finally decided we are going to fight this thing together. I don't think we can do it without each other.

I've been fighting alcoholism for over 20 years and I think it's about time I defeated it. We also decided that we are going to stay in Baltimore because it's cheaper there and we have to start all over. I will miss y'all. This paper saved my life so many times. People like you have saved my life, helped me through thick and thin and through hard times and bad times. You’ve always been there and I really do appreciate it.

This time I'm trying to save somebody else along with myself. I have a friend that's going with me this time. I hope she decides to go. I've been holding onto her hand, excited as I can be, because she wants to get help too. She's like me — an alcoholic who has been drinking all her life. She's in her 60s and a nice lady, though, a real nice lady. All her kids are grown and her husband will be waiting for her when she comes out. I'm just going to try my best to get her in the right direction and hopefully, we'll help each other. We can't do it alone.

As usual, my family is going to be there for me. They're going to help me and hold my hand through these hard times. I finally caught my niece after two weeks because she was supposed to watch my babies. I have two cats — one girl and one boy. I love them both. The little girl is so bad, though. My niece told me she would keep them for me until I come home, so that is a blessing that I don't have to have that burden on my shoulders. That made me sit back and relax knowing they're going to be in good hands.

As I go do this again, my advice to you is to never give up. I'm not going to ever give up. I'm going to keep fighting this disease until I win. This path will not be easy for me. I've been down there before but every time you go back it's different. I really don't know why I love drinking so much. My problem is that all of my friends drink liquor and none of them got liver disease.

I put it all in God's hands because only he knows what my life is going to be like. As always, take care of yourself, stay safe and stay clean.

LADY SASHA Artist/Vendor

InspiredSo this picture is something that prompts me to ask about the younger generation’s view of housing instability. I feel there should be more done to help children, families and individuals that are in emergency situations. One such example is my niece. She’s 13 years old and has expressed some frustrations about her experience with a housing program.

Towards the end of 2014, almost 10 years ago, my daughter Eboni and I were in the DC General Family shelter and faced the very real possibility of being on the street. But in an amazing twist, the phenomenal Street Sense Media community, along with a spectacular social worker named Julie Turner, and former D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham managed to give us the help we needed to get through this situation.

But after all this, we are still living and still learning and seeing more of what needs to be done. For me, it’s really deep and powerful that my daughter Onyx took these pictures, even though her experience with housing wasn’t the same as what Eboni and I went through.

I just want to say I am thankful for having Street Sense Media as an outlet. While I grow and heal from my journey, my daughters have picked up some things from the workshops along the way. But the community has also been really supportive of us for all these years, even before I became involved here.

Onyx will be 6 in September. We’ve been in housing from 2015 to present.

Anyhow, the event on June 3, 2023 was a nice day to support and contribute to the People For Fairness Coalition.

The event was held at Franklin Park and was nice but also it is important. We are all people and I think when we stick together, it makes a difference.

Lady Sasha’s daughter, Eboni. Photo by Lady Sasha’s youngest daughter, Onyx

CROSSWORD

Hey! What’s with all the 4-letter words?

Puzzle by Patrick “Mac” McIntyre

FUN & GAMES FUN GAMES

Across

1. Thompson of "Sense and Sensibility"

5. Music genre related to reggae

8. Paul, in Italy

13. Epitome of thinness...or an anagram of

14-. 29-.42-. 61-, and 62-Across?

14. Practitioner of prevarication...or an anagram of 13-. 29-. 42-. 61- and 62-Across?

15. Keith ____ (country singer with a cityishsounding last name)

16. Wheel shaft

17. Monogram unit (abbr.)

18. Make fun of, but in an affectionate way

19. Presiding over, as a judge

21. "Bali ___"

23. Goat's cry

24. Introspective music genre

25. "Uh uh on 180s at this intersection!" (2,1-4)

27. The A in U.S.D.A. (abbr.)

28. Tony of "Who's the Boss?" and "Taxi"

30. Old Italian money...or an anagram of 13-, 14-, 42-. 61- and 62-Across?

31. It's how enterprise begins and talent ends

32. Tin can's target

34. Uncritically enthusiastic, colloquially (3-3)

37. A good alternative title for this puzzle?

39. The Temptations 1965 blockbuster and first #1 hit (2 wds.) (2,4)

41. Dapper

42. Wide shoe specification ltrs.

43. Seed coat...or an anagram of 13-, 14-, 29-, 61- and 62-Across?

45. Pommel ____ (apparatus use primarily by male gymnasts)

49. Communication syst. for hearingimpaired, briefly (initialism)

50. Appease by making conciliatory gestures toward

52. Gov't grp. with a name aptly found in its mission to "keep air clean"? (abbr./acron.)

53. "Thar ___ blows!"

54. Stumblebum

55. Natives of Sana'a

57. The "L" of B.L.M.

59. Ramadan observance

61. Fruity pastry

62. Makes level (with "out")

63. Wolf's hideaway...or an anagram of 13-, 14-, 29-, 42-. and 62-Across?

64. Iranian money...or an anagram of 13-, 14-. 29-, 42- and 61-Across?

65. Soothing ointment

66. Period of history

67. "Enchanted" girl in a 2004 film

Down

1. Cleared, as a blackboard

2. Popular Nissan model

3. "Paradise Lost" poet

4. ____ serve (In tennis, server's effortotherwise good - that hits the net, strap or band) (2 wds.) (1,3)

5. Unique; one of a kind - as an example

6. Chiang ___-shek

7. King with a Round Table and a sword called Excalibur

8. World leader who's a judo black belt and plays hockey

9. "What ___ the odds?"

10. Period that saw sisters Malia and Sasha

as White House kids (2 wds.) (5,3)

11. Layered trattoria order

12. "Lord's Prayer" phrase before "...as it is in heaven" (2 wds.) (2,5) (NO HEART anagram)

14. Prefix with type

20. Where one may find candy, soap or sots, perhaps (3 wds.) (2,1,3)

22. Ancient debarkation point mentioned in the Bible

26. James Cameron's 1997 film which won awards for Best Movie, Best Director and Best Film Editing

29. New Mexico Indian

33. Sioux tribe to which Crazy Horse belonged

35. "National" tune that's often played before playing

36. "____, Silver" (catchphrase for the Lone Ranger)

37. This requirement for drinking and/or driving varies from state to state (2 wds.) (3,5)

38. Kuala Lumpur's country

39. More common name for a reddish rash-producing children's virus known as Rubeola

40. Talmudic school

44. Kind of ticket you might buy at a fundraising event

46. Fix a loose board, say

47. Football pass that corkscrews through the air to its target

48. So. Calif. home of the Latino Walk of Fame (2 wds.) (4,2) (incls. abbr/initialism)

50. An entourage, in street lingo

51. Four: Prefix

56. Raison d'____ (justification for existence) (Fr.)

58. The E in SASE (abbr.)

60. River to the Rhine

insp.ngo.

*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

AKINDELE AKEREJAH Artist/Vendor

All

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

Downtown Day Services Center 202-383-8810 // 1313 New York Ave NW https://www.downtowndc.org/program/the-center/

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 Locations throughout the city.

Wanda Alston Foundation 1377 R St. NW // (202) 733-3643 wandaalstonfoundation.org

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

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

Janitor

DC Touchpoints // 7th St. NW

Full-time

Dust and mop floors, collect and dispose trash, clean windows and furniture.

REQUIRED: N/A

APPLY: tinyurl.com/compass-janitor

Laborer

US Architect of the Capitol // Capitol Building

Full-time

Load and unload heavy boxes and supplies, collect and sort recyclable material and operate powered floor machines such as vacuum cleaners.

REQUIRED: N/A

APPLY: tinyurl.com/labor-capitolarchitect

Server

Silver Diner // 1250 Half St. SE

Full-time // Part-time

Serve food to guests at this new location across the street from Nationals Park.

REQUIRED: N/A

APPLY: tinyurl.com/server-silverdiner

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