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August 4 - 17, 2010StreetSense.org

LIVE! Or like it...Street Soccer!

Page 6

Local Political Pundit Tim Young Comments on a Mayoral Forum

1

Jeff McNeil Reflects on His One-Year Sobriety Mark

Page 12

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August 4 - 17, 2010

Local Political Pundit

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Volume 7 Issue 20

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Remembering the Hunger Artist

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August 4 - 17, 2010 StreetSense.org Our Mission

Street Sense aims to serve as a vehicle for elevating voices and public debate on issues relating to poverty

while also creating economic opportunities for people who are experiencing homelessness in our community.

Street Sense began in August 2003 after two volunteers, Laura Thompson Osuri and Ted Henson, approached the National Coalition for the Homeless on separate occasions about start-ing a street newspaper in Washington, D.C.

A street paper is defined as a newspaper about poverty, homelessness and other social issues that provides an income to the home-less individuals who sell it. About 28 street pa-pers operate in the United States and Canada in places like Seattle, Chicago, Montreal and Boston, and dozens more exist throughout the world.

After bringing together a core of dedicated volunteers and vendors, Street Sense came out with its first issue in November 2003, printing 5,000 copies. For the next three years the paper published on a monthly basis and greatly ex-panded its circulation and vendor network.

For the first year, Street Sense operated as a project of the National Coalition for the Home-less, but in October 2004, the organization in-corporated and moved into its own office space. In March 2005, Street Sense received 501(c)3 sta-tus, becoming a nonprofit organization.

In October 2005 Street Sense formed a full board of directors, and in November the orga-nization hired its first employee, a full-time ex-ecutive director. A year later in November 2006, the organiza-tion hired its first vendor coordinator and began partnering with several service providers. In February 2007, the paper started publish-ing twice a month and to support the increased production brought on its first full-time editor–in–chief in April. As of January 2010 the paper had 72 ac-tive vendors and prints about 30,000 issues a month.

The Story of Street Sense

Vendor Code of Conduct

1. Street Sense will be distributed for a voluntary donation of $1. I agree not to ask for more than a dollar or solicit donations for Street Sense by any other means.2. I will only purchase the paper from Street Sense staff and will not sell papers to other vendors (out-side of the office volunteers).3. I agree to treat all others – customers, staff, other vendors – respectfully, and I will not “hard sell,” threaten or pressure customers.4. I agree to stay off private property when selling Street Sense.5. I understand that I am not a legal employee of Street Sense but a contracted worker responsible for my own well–being and income.6. I agree to sell no additional goods or products when selling the paper.7. I will not sell Street Sense under the influence of drugs or alcohol.8. I agree to stay a block away from another vendor and respect the space of all vendors. 9. I understand that my badge is the property of Street Sense and will not deface it. I will present my badge when purchasing the papers and display my badge and wear my vest when selling papers.10. I understand that Street Sense strives to be a paper that covers homelessness and poverty issues while providing a source of income for the homeless. I will try to help in this effort and spread the word.

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1317 G Street, NWWashington, DC 20005Phone: (202) 347–2006Fax: (202) 347–[email protected]

BOARD OF DIRECTORSLisa Estrada Ted HensonBrad Scriber Michael StoopsManas Mohaptra Sommer Mathis Kristal DeKleer Robin HellerJeffery McNeil Jordan RummelJohn Snellgrove Dameon PhilpottsMartin Walker

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORAbby StrunkEDITOR–IN–CHIEFMary OttoMANAGING EDITOR/NEW MEDIA DIRECTORLisa V. GillespieCOMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & PROGRAM MANAGERAmy VokesINTERNSMary Yost, Jon Howell, Eric Falquero, Adam Sirgany, Cathy Bueker, Priya AnandFOUNDERSTed Henson, Laura Thompson Osuri

VOLUNTEERS/WRITERSRobert Basler, Jane Cave, Robert Fulton, Steve Gilberg, Jane Go-forth, Joanne Goodwin, Roberta Haber, Erica Hall, Annie Hill, Di-ana Heitz, Phillip Hoying, Maurice King, Brenda K. Lee-Wilson, Kim O’Connor, Gabriel Okolski, Michael O’Neill, Katinka Pod-manickzy, Lisa Razzi, Diane Rusignola, Willie Schatz, Jesse Smith, Sara Kruger, Jami-Lin Williams, Marian Wiseman

VENDORSCharles Armstrong, Jake Ashford, Lawrence Autry, Daniel Ball, Donna Barber, Cyril Belk, Kenneth Belkosky, Tommy Bennett, Phillip Black, Reginald Black, Emily Bowe, Andre Brinson, Melody Byrd, Cliff Carle, Percy Carter, Peggy Cash, Conrad Cheek, Vir-ginia Clegg, Aaron Conner, Anthony Crawford, Louise Davenport, Charles Davis, James Davis, David Denny, Ricardo Dickerson, Mu-riel Dixon, Alvin Dixon-El, Roger Dove, Charles Eatmon, Deanna Elder, Richard Embden, James Featherson, Craig Fleming, Samuel Fullwood, Roger Garner, David Ger, Barron Hall, Dwight Harris, John Harrison, Patricia Henry, Shakaye Henry, Phillip Howard, James Hughes, Richard Hutson, Margaret Jenkins, Carlton John-son, Donald Johnson, Alicia Jones, Mark Jones, Clinton Kilpatrick, Hope Lasister, Brenda Lee-Wilson, Michael Lyons, Jonnie Malloy, Kina Mathis, John Matthews, John C. Matthews, Charlie Mayfield, Herman Mayse, Robert McCray, Marvin McFadden, Jermale McK-night, Jennifer McLaughlin, Jeffery McNeil, Kenneth Middleton, L. Morrow, Tyrone Murray, Charles Nelson, Sammy Ngatiri, Evelyn Nnam, Moyo Onibuje, Franklin Payne, Edward Perry, Gregory Phil-lips, Tracey Powell, Ash-Shaheed Rabbil, Ed Ross, Melania Scott, Chris Shaw, Ronald Simms, Veda Simpson, Gwynette Smith, Patty Smith, Franklin Sterling, Warren Stevens, James Stewart, Garland Stroman, Leroy Studevant, Beverly Sutton, Sybil Taylor, Paul Tay-lor, Steve Thomas, Larissa Thompson, Deborah Tibbs, Carl Turner, Christopher Walker, Jeanette Walker, Joseph Walker, Martin Walker, Robert Warren, Lawless Watson, Paul Watson, Gregory Wells, Mi-chael Welsh, Edna Williams, Wendell Williams, Susan Wilshusen, Ivory Wilson, Charles Woods, Tina Wright

August 4 - 17, 2010StreetSense.org 3U.S. Schools See Uptick in

Homelessness Among Students

Nearly one million homeless students at-tended public schools during the 2008-2009 academic year, the Argus Leader reports – a 41 percent increase over the previous two years. The report, based upon federal data, said almost 680,000 students were homeless in the 2006-2007 school year. For the next ac-ademic year, the number climbed to 957,000. Homelessness was defined as those without permanent, reliable housing.

Homeless advocates are asking Congress for $140 million in stimulus funds to help the students, but even if granted, money may not be available until 2011. But advocates say this should be a priority since schools can have a major impact on individuals’ lives.

“Schools are uniquely positioned to provide safety, structure and services for homeless children,” said Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus, which released a report with the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. Hawaii Buys Plane Tickets for Homeless Back to the Mainland

To combat a 15 percent increase in home-lessness over the past year at a cost of $35,000 per head, Hawaii is buying individuals one-way tickets to their home states, Newser.com reports. Proponents of the measure say it will help reconnect families and decrease

the homeless population in Hawaii, but some say the problem is just being moved to another state and returning to their home states does not mean someone will find his or her family.

Other states have already implemented a similar program – New York has flown at least five homeless individuals back to Honolulu.

Sacramento Mayor Disappointed in Homeless Programs

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson says he is unhappy with efforts to find housing for the homeless and wishes programs were making more progress, the Sacramento Press reports.

“I am disappointed that we are not further along,” Johnson said at a press conference. “This is not about finger pointing, this is about all of us collectively together figuring out a way that we get to where we need to be.”

About a year ago, Johnson set in motion a plan to find 2,400 housing units for homeless people over the next three years.

From October 2009 to May 2010, 833 households have received housing assis-tance through Sacramento’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said.

“ We have made ver y good prog-ress on the broader issues of home-l e s s n e s s , w h i c h a r e p e r m a n e n t

housing, but I think the pace to get a reso-lution is not the ideal pace,” Johnson said. Advocates for Homeless Struggle to Win Over Dallas Neighbors

Residents in many Dallas neighborhoods claim they have been blindsided by a move to find 700 homes for the homeless, the Dal-las Morning News reports.

Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance and Dal-las Housing Authority leaders counter that they will give neighborhoods notice about housing plans, create “good neighbor agree-ments” at each location and with help from churches, begin a citywide education cam-paign about the overall project.

“So much of the pushback is about fear and misunderstanding about the people who will live there,” said Mike Faenza, president and CEO of the homeless alliance.

O f f i c i a l s a d d t h a t t h e h o m e l e s s placed in housing will receive coun-seling and those who fail to meet the lease agreement terms will be evicted.

Man Walking from Pa. to N.Y. to Highlight Homeless Plight

Beginning Aug. 1, Sean Guiney, a Penn-sylvania resident, will trek – on foot – from Pennsylvania to New York and back over the course of 30 days, Main Line Media News re-ports. Guiney plans to raise money for and

spread awareness of homelessness. During the 300-mile journey, he will stay mostly in tents, and under a bridge on the first night.

“I’ll be essentially living like a homeless person to raise awareness of the situation,” said Guiney. “I didn’t want to do another fundraiser that just lasts a day and then it’s over.”

Guiney’s goal is to raise $10,000 to put to-ward homeless programs.

L.A. Champions Safe Overnight Parking for Homeless

In a crusade to aid the rising number of homeless people in Venice, Calif., Los An-geles is working to establish an agency to manage a “safe overnight parking” program to offer individuals safety, counseling and hopefully, housing, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Contracts and codes of conduct would be strictly applied to those sleeping in their ve-hicles in the designated areas, and hygienic facilities would also be provided. The project would be executed in the 11th district, and Councilman Bill Rosendahl has procured $750,000 to fund the program.

“This is a smart and cutting-edge program that builds on the successes of similar pro-grams in other cities and improves and tailors them for our community,” Rosendahl said.

Compiled by Dianna Heitz from previously pub-lished reports.

August 4 - 17, 2010 StreetSense.org 4

Celebrating 40 Years of StruggleCommunity for Creative Non-Violence marks its own history and remembers Mitch Snyderby Adam Sirgany, editorial intern

The struggle to end homelessness is still far from over. But after more than four decades of fasting, praying and working for the cause, the Community for Creative Non-Violence is pausing to celebrate and remember.

On Saturday, September 11, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., CCNV will hold a 40th anniversary celebration at its 1,100 bed-shelter which is located at Second and D Streets NW, a corner now known as D Street and Mitch Snyder Place. In the spirit of CCNV, the party will include free food and health care, as well as music. And of course, there will be reminiscences about Mitch Snyder.

Many people have made CCNV what it is. But it is hard to imagine CCNV without flamboyant, driven and ultimately tragic Mitch Snyder. Founded by Father Ed Guinan and a group of Georgetown University students in early 1970s, CCNV started out seeking to end the Vietnam War with peaceful protest and public education. But the organization slowly evolved with the times. It branched into working for social justice, first opening a soup kitchen; then working to find shelter for the growing ranks of homeless people in Washington. CCNV is where Snyder honed his skills and found his voice and changed the way the entire nation thought about homelessness. Gone for 20 years this summer, his story bears repeating.

He was born in 1943 to atheist parents of Jew-ish background. His father, an electrical firm ex-ecutive, left the family for another woman when Snyder was only nine. He

FILE PHOTOs cOurTEsy OF nATIOnAL cOALITIOn FOr THE HOMELEssPHOTO ILLusTrATIOn by ErIc FALquErO


and his mother, Beatrice, fell from a com-fortable middle-class lifestyle into semi-poverty, a situation which Snyder said later on brought the two closer.

However he struggled without a father fig-ure and eventually joined a street gang, quit school and got arrested over a dozen times by his 16th birthday. He was sent to a reform school, from which he dropped out in less than a year. He returned to his native Brook-lyn in pursuit of work and night school.

During this period, Snyder met future wife Ellen Kleiman, with whom he eventually had two sons. He found work selling vacuum clean-ers door to door, making a living doing what he enjoyed most: chatting with strangers.

Yet underneath it all, Snyder felt some-thing was amiss. He could not settle for a capitalist lifestyle.

“I think anyone who works for money is stark raving mad, because prostitution is bad, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re standing on 14th Street or in a boardroom for AT&T,” he once said.

In 1969, he left his family and took to the road. A year later, he was convicted of car theft in Las Vegas (though he always maintained he was innocent). He spent most of his jail term in Danbury, Connecticut, where he met and studied the Bible with radical Catholic priests Philip and Daniel Berrigan. The experience moved him to focus his political energy on opposition to the war in Vietnam.

After completing his full sentence, throughout which he participated in hun-ger strikes and other protests about prison rights, Snyder was released in 1972. He tried to reconcile with his wife afterwards but failed. At the recommendation of a friend and fellow inmate from Danbury, he moved to Washington, D.C., to join a religious pro-test group working in the city.

When he arrived, the war was ending, and factors such as a lack of transitional programs for veterans were causing the number of homeless Americans to increase dramatically. Snyder and the CCNV began to turn their attention from ending the war in Vietnam to supporting its survivors -- from a war against war to a war against poverty.

At the time, although he had never been homeless, he was well-informed about it, as his love of chatting to strangers had resulted in many conversations with homeless per-sons. He easily channeled the protest fervor he developed in prison to the specific cause of homelessness.

The shift was physically, emotionally and spiritually trying. But Snyder was an ener-getic, engaged and engaging volunteer. He worked on many tasks, from community or-ganizing to shelter management. His unique sense of creativity and ability to draw atten-tion to issues were what made him most important to CCNV and the homeless com-munity as a whole.

Years passed, and Ronald Reagan became president in 1981. For many, the years of the Reagan administration are remembered for

social affluence and a booming economy. However, those who were poor and homeless in that era remember it most for a dramatic reduction in services and constant remind-ers of their plight, like the myth that “welfare cheats” across America were at fault for their own poverty. “Mr. Reagan and Congress’ housing cutbacks are directly responsible for the homeless problem,” Snyder said of the administration. He felt more and more that it was time to intensify the protests.

On Thanksgiving in 1981, tents appeared across from the White House in Lafayette Park. A sign hung amid them read “Reagan-ville: Reagonomics at Work.” The tent city, an intentional throwback to the Hooverville encampments of the Great Depression, held 20-25 homeless persons and activists each night for the next four months.

As a self-proclaimed actor, this was ex-actly what Snyder wanted. A fine line had been drawn for observers between what was real and what was theater. A master of social pageantry and what now would be dubbed “street theater,” he was famous for his insa-tiable motivation to create a public scene. His exploits include orchestrating a blood spattering on the Capitol steps; sloshing through the world’s biggest pie yelling, “It’s all mine!”; fasting—nearly to death—three times; frequently jumping the White House fence; and sitting outside the White House, in the old Irish tradition of a person waiting outside the home of one who had wronged him or her without remorse.

Snyder was criticized for protests that some called manipulative. Still, his flam-boyant activism made him a minor celebrity. News groups often covered CCNV’s Snyder-led protests, including a 60 Minutes episode featuring clips of him fasting to demand that the federal government repair the Federal City Shelter to make it livable for its 1,000-plus inhabitants. The episode aired just be-fore Reagan’s second presidential election, and the federal government budged. Regard-less of whether he was manipulative or not, Snyder was undeniably effective.

Indeed, it seems that, if not cameras, at least eyes were always on Snyder. Not only the news captured his activities: he was also the subject of books, the PBS documentary Promises to Keep and the TV-movie Samari-tan: The Mitch Snyder Story, starring Martin Sheen as Mitch.

Snyder had an ability not only to make homelessness interesting, but also to make it the topic of the day. One might say he never “went Hollywood”; rather, Hollywood “went Mitch”. Sheen and other actors were so moved after working with him that many donated time, money and resources to the homelessness cause. Sheen even protested with and was arrested with him.

With Snyder as its vocal leader, the home-less movement grew tremendously. In his time, he saw significant change not only for Federal City Shelter but for D.C. as a whole and America as a nation. His work was key

in pushing homeless rights locally and na-tionally. He contributed to such legislation as Initiative 17, which was meant to mandate shelter for all, and the McKinney-Vento Act, which originally provided federal homeless assistance and now focuses on education for homeless children. He helped ensure that the Federal City Shelter became the CCNV, which continues to provide long-term shel-ter for more than 1,300 D.C. residents.

Snyder achieved many accomplishments by the time he reached age 46. But all the ef-fort exerted took its toll. Struggling against the devolution of homelessness policy in D.C. as well as a series of personal misfor-tunes, he hung himself in his room on the fourth floor of the CCNV on July 5, 1990.

It was a rainy day in Washington, D.C. when Carol Fennelly, Mitch’s partner of 13 years, explained to a crowd of mourners that Mitch believed that good things happen when it rains. “Today,” she said to them, “he was wrong.”

July 5, 2010, the 20th anniversary of his passing, was a hot day for the District. And summer’s oppressive heat is no worse on Mitch Snyder Place than at 14th Street and

Pennsylvania Avenue. The number of home-less persons in D.C. has increased by around 5 percent in the last year due to America’s economic downturn. Jobs are slim, and many do not pay a living wage.

However, the CCNV now hums with the sound of residents returning from a day’s work, as 65 percent of the shelter’s residents are employed. The Fenty administration re-cently housed its 1,000th formerly homeless person. And the Obama administration has established a comprehensive 10-year plan to end homelessness, which it announced just two weeks ago.

Despite this, homelessness continues, demoralizing those who have lived it. Yet even within bureaucracy, Americans are in-creasingly viewing homeless people as hu-man beings with the respect they deserve. Though the work to end homelessness is far from complete, significant progress has been made. While this is to the great credit of all who have worked for the cause, it is only appropriate to give special remem-brance to a homelessness advocate who was unique in his time and will stand out as such for all time.

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Michael Stoops (left) and Mitch Snyder (right) before a 48 day protest to improve the Federal City Shelter.

FILE PHOTO cOurTEsy OF nATIOnAL cOALITIOn FOr THE HOMELEss

FILE PHOTO cOurTEsy OF nATIOnAL cOALITIOn FOr THE HOMELEss

Martin Sheen, center, who played Snyder in a TV movie also joined him on the streets sometimes.

August 4 - 17, 2010 StreetSense.org

6

Jami-Lin Williams

Teams from 20 U.S. cities and Russia ar-rived in the District last week to kick off the fourth annual Street Soccer U.S.A Cup. Only in its fourth year, the tournament featured a program that combined athletics, music and social change for an event that offered a little something for everyone.

The SSUSA Cup began on the evening of Friday, July 31, with a parade and an ap-pearance by Mayor Adrian Fenty. Players dressed to represent their respective cit-ies, while the drumming of the all-female samba/reggae percussion group Batala set an exciting and intense tone.

In the wake o f t h e F I FA World Cup, the SSUSA Cup gave soccer

enthusiasts a chance to watch live games while lending support to an organization that seeks to kick out homelessness – one player at a time. Members from La Barra Brava, known for their passionate cheering, came out for the opening match featuring D.C. and San Francisco. Complete with a pupusería stand and hip-hop and Latin beats provided by volunteer Tyler Hall, the tournament appealed to an impressive ar-ray of people. Among the audience were families, youngsters and individuals from a range of cultures.

While the rules of street soccer, played four-on-four in 15-minute games, allow for a fast-paced and dynamic game, a clear emphasis was placed on sportsmanship and camaraderie. Even in the middle of a tough game, smiles could be found on the faces in the crowd and on players alike. As many volunteers and fans said, the posi-tive atmosphere was due largely in part

to the enthusiasm of announcers Chris Lodgson and Joe Tripodo.

Though soccer was undoubt-edly the focal point of

the tournament, Sat-urday’s events in-

cluded a dance contest , sk i l ls

clinic and per-formance from

multi-platinum producer Kevin “Khao” Cates.

As much fun as the SSUSA Cup is for both fans and players, the event’s organiz-ers hope to see different faces every year. The 2010 New York team, for example, featured only a handful of its 2009 play-ers. As Andres Garvey, one of the tourna-ment’s directors will tell you, that is a good thing. When a player does not come back, it means that he or she has found a way off the streets.

“You don’t want to see [the players] next year,” says Garvey. “You want them to make it.”

The Street Soccer program provides its participants with access to a variety of re-sources, including workplace readiness, pro bono legal services and substance abuse and trauma counseling. Addi-tionally, the program’s emphasis on teamwork and goal-setting builds a sense of trust and community that many individuals experienc-ing homelessness lack. Within a year of joining the program, 75 percent of Street Soccer players will have moved off the streets – a testament to Street Soc-cer’s innovative, holistic approach.

For more information about Street Soc-cer and photos of the tournament, visit www.streetsoccer.org.

Kicking Out HomelessnessStreet Soccer tournament returns to D.C.-Russia, though, takes the win

Photo courtesy of DC Street Soccer

DC Knights team member Javier takes on a player from the San Francis-co team in the opening match for the Street Soccer USA cup over the week-end of July 30th.


Football is Happiness, Football is Responsibility.

7

PHOTO cOurTEsy OF MEgAn HusTIngs

By Cathy Bueker, editorial intern

The third and final day of the Street Soccer U.S.A Cup saw an effort dampened neither by fatigue nor rain. The weather was just another reminder that the teams were truly in D.C.

Here, a sunny summer day of only 78 degrees Fahr-enheit is prohibited from finishing as such, so it had to rain in the afternoon.

After dozens of matches the previous two days and several more that morning, the champions were deter-mined that afternoon. Entering the finals were San Fran-cisco, after beating Los Angeles, and Russia, after beating Montgomery County.

Russia scored first in the tense game with swift and concentrated moves, avoiding the falls taken on the rain-slicked playing field by previous players. Though San Francisco met the challenge with good offense of their own, the two teams tied with one minute before the half, Russia attained a score of 3 to 1 after two penalty kicks.

During the interval, the announcer urged the crowd to do the wave and auctioned off a pair of men’s Nike shoes after their raffle-winner failed to claim them, continu-ing the non-soccer entertainment held simultaneously with the games. The first to tweet a tongue-twister to the U.S. Cup’s Twitter account would win a pair of shorts.

The Minnesota team waved its two flags, watching from the bleachers.

The level of ferocity increased in the second half, the ball bounced more and more often over the low court walls and into the stands. San Francisco, as a team of players from one city against a team of players drawn from a whole country, could not match the skills of the Russians. At five minutes left, the St. Petersburg-based team was in the lead. When the clock reached zero, they were irrefutably number one, with a score of 6 to 3.

The closing ceremonies began at five and all the play-ers and coaches gathered on the field to reflect on every-one’s significant achievements. “We’re here because we use sports for social change,” the MC reminded them.

The tournament had agony, triumph, despair and hope, but it culminated in celebration of all the play-ers’ performance. Clinking sounds resounded as medals were handed out to almost every person.

One man in the stands told his friend, “I’d really like to get involved in this.”

Arkady Tyurin, of the Russian team, addressed the crowd. He thanked Washington, Street Soccer, “all peo-ple of the United States” and the tournament organizers. “Football is happiness, football is joy, football is respon-sibility.”

Street Sense is proud to introduce our “Vendor of the Month” program as a way to recognize the myriad achievements in our vendor community. Nominations will be ac-cepted by e-mail at [email protected]

Categories:-Paper Sales (increased paper sales or stel-

lar selling techniques)- Effort (good attitude and a willingness to

take calculated risks in selling strategy)- Personal Achievements (for example:

getting a new job, enrolling in job training or

continued education, moving into housing, clean & sober time, reconnecting with fam-ily, etc.)

- Community Involvement- Citizenship (continual compliance with

Street Sense Code of Conduct as well as ex-cellent citizenship outside of the Street Sense community)

In your written nomination, please de-scribe how the vendor has excelled in one or more of the categories outlined above.

Dear Street Sense Vendors, Volunteers, Supporters, Interns, and Staff:

Team Russia (above) won the tournament play, but offered the championship to San Francisco

By Adam Sirgany, intern

In an action on Aug 3. the D.C. City Council blocked an effort by Mayor Adrian Fenty to shift $4.3 million in federal money for poor families to a summer program that employs young people.

The vote followed a heated debate and testimony from rep-resentatives of the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) who reported their successes, as well as from providers of services to poor and homeless families, who spoke of their struggles to serve growing needs.

The discord arose over the Summer Youth Employment Emer-gency Amendment Act of 2010, in which the Mayor proposed changing the current six week program limit and adding an extra seven days of employment for SYEP participants.

The addition of seven days to the program would have required an additional $4.3 million for the program’s budget, money that would be better used for homeless services, according to City Councilman Michael A. Brown.

“To put this in context,” said Brown, Chair of the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development said, “we received testi-mony that this $4.3 million could result in more than 250 home-less families being housed for a full year.”

The funds would have been moved as part of an $8.4 million shift from the DC Department of Human Services (DHS) to the DC Department of Employment Services (DOES).

The money would have come from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds. TANF, a federal block grant pro-gram meant for work, welfare, and temporary assistance, replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Job Opportuni-ties and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), and the Emergency Assis-tance Program (EA). TANF provides funding to states and regions in order to bolster existing programs that provide services in the aforementioned categories.

In DC’s case, TANF funds can be moved within the budget by the mayor’s office. But, when Mayor Fenty proposed moving $8.4 million of those funds, which program was most worthy of receiv-ing them became a point of contention.

In testimony to the DC City Council, SYEP reported the success it has had over its 30 years of work and in its recent years. In 2009, 91 percent of the SYEP participants surveyed rated it as a ‘good’ or an ‘excellent’ program for themselves and for other youth.

On the other hand, several homeless service organizations explained their recent and increased needs.

“DHS does not have sufficient financial resources to meet the needs of the most impoverished residents of the district. To try and meet some of those needs DHS has already cut into essen-tial programs,” testified Nechama Masliansky and Kurt Runge of So Others Might Eat, or SOME. Other opponents of the shift of funds pointed to a history of cost overruns by the summer youth program. Ed Lazere, Executive Director of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute put it bluntly.

“…the Summer Youth Employment program is yet again over its budget and the plan to use TANF funds to fill the shortfall raises several concerns.”

While the council denied the Mayor’s proposal to use $4.3 million in TANF funding to extend SYEP employment by 7 days, some TANF money will go to the youth program. SYEP ran $4.1 million over its budget this year, a gap which will be filled by TANF funds.

Fenty Blocked: Funds Saved for Homeless

August 4 - 17, 2010 StreetSense.org 8

A --

Street Sense

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--

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”Vasudha Desikan,

streetsense.org /streetsense @streetsensedc

August 4 - 17, 2010StreetSense.org 9

FINA

NC

ESRevenue|$193,389

Expense|$204,650

Paper Sales|2005 - 2009

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

20092008200720062005

“I love Street Sense because it’s a simple yet powerful concept: Help the homeless help themselves. I’ve alsolearned so much about homelessness and the issues surrounding it since I’ve started reading Street Sense.”

– Marsea Nelson, Falls Church

VENDOR ACHIEVEMENTS

Chris Shaw is took writing courses at

Support Specialist course at CTI; Louise Davenport took a CPR-First Aid Course; and Carl Turner and Sammy N. Ngatiri completed computer classes offered by MLK Library.

Sybil Taylor, Lawless Watson, Donna Barber, Kenneth Belkosky, Jeffery McNeil and John C. Matthews and others obtained housing.

Vendors secured employment at the National Portrait Gallery, the Census Bureau, CSC Events and Jubilee Jobs.

Others have sought rehabilitation services at Pathways, Cataada House and the Psychiatric Institute of Washington.

HINI: Coming to a Shelter Near You? Carrie Hopper, November

DC Weighs Cost of Homeless Services Mary Otto and Bob Blair, May

N Street Village Cinderellas Ready for Ball Mary Otto, January

Back to School? Growing Number of Homeless Families Struggle to Keep their Kids in School Karen Thomas, August

Who Really Counts? 2010 Census At-tempts to Count HomelessMarcus Williams, September

From L.A.’s Skid Row to Capitol Hill Bob Blair, April

City Cuts Vital ServicesShivan Sarna, October

After War, Homeless Veterans Contin-ue to Fight Marcus Williams, July

Who’s Attacking the Homeless?Mary Otto, January

Policy Experts Address Smoking Rate Among Homeless IndividualsShivan Sarna, November

EDITORIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Top 10 News Headlines

Additional Articles of Note

Tribute to Randy Evans [using photos he took of his life] November

Homeless Speak out on City Council

Gay Marriage Marcus Williams, Novem-ber

Please Say No to Closure of Mental Health Clinic at 35 K StreetJoAnn Jackson, January

This is About Gun ControlKen Belkosky, August

Fashion Preview: Street Sense StyleVanessa Voigt, September

13% General Admin

10% Fundraising

77% Program

1% Corporate Sponsorships

33% Individual Donations

13% Contributed Goods & Services

WorkplaceGiving

1% Subscriptions

Paper Sales22%

6% Advertising

6% Fundraisers

5% Grants

13%


By Brigitta Moll, Street News Service

Vumilia, Kenya--Joseph Mburu is sitting on an empty plastic water canister in front of his tent. Since Kenya’s post-election violence of 2007, he has been living in this small shelter roughly ten square meters, al-ways waiting for donors to come and bring food or clothes, or for the government to help him rebuild a home. “There is no work for me around here. I can be glad if I get ca-sual work from time to time,” Joseph says.

Joseph, forty-five, with deep wrinkles running from his nose down to the corners of his mouth, used to be a farmer in Tim-boroa, 150 kilometers further north from here. He had cows and sold their milk, which enabled him to sustain his family and to send his kids to school. But this was all before the post-election violence.

“Now I don’t have enough money to al-ways pay what the school asks me to. Right now, they want to build a new latrine, so they asked for money again.” This is de-spite claims made by the government that school fees would be taken charge of by the state. Joseph points to the eleven-year-old boy sitting a few meters away from him, his son Patrick, who the local school teacher sent home. “I usually spend my time collecting firewood or playing with my friends,” Patrick explains.

Joseph gets up from his canister and slides aside the canvas cover of the en-trance to his tent. The mid-day sun is shining high over Vumilia camp some 100 kilometers north of Nairobi. Inside the tent it is gloomy, stifling and dusty. Joseph shares this space with his wife Mary and their nine children.

In the awning, the family keeps their pots and cutlery. In the main tent, blankets are spread over the ground; a wooden cot for the youngest children stands right next to the entrance. The low height of the tent does not allow walking upright.

Outside, Joseph’s wife Mary is bent over a dirty bucket, washing clothes. She does not talk much. Will she take part in the ref-erendum that occupies Kenya at the mo-

ment more than any other event? “No, I’m not going to vote. I don’t see what should be good about voting,” she says deter-minedly.

Her husband does not hesitate either. He has not even registered on the voter list. “The last time I took part in elections, it brought me into the situation I am in now. If I vote, it will again cause me trouble.”

While he would consider voting if it was helping him to get out of his tent, he is convinced that voting would not change anything for him. Joseph says most people in the Vumilia camp think the same.

Only Phylis, his fellow camp inhabit-ant who is sitting with the Mburu family in their little courtyard, tries to change his mind. Phylis is wearing sunglasses, and she laughs a lot. “I went through the provisions in the draft constitution and I am going to vote, because I think it can make a differ-

ence for me,” says Phylis. For her, the most convincing provisions are the guarantee of equal access to land as well as the prohi-bition of gender-based discrimination in land questions.

Joseph hates to depend on well-wishers and the government. He wants to rebuild a home. But not in Timboroa. He and his family belong to the Kikuyu tribe, which is the biggest among Kenya’s 40 different ethnic groups. After the elections in 2007, a violent group from the Kalenjin tribe loot-ed Joseph’s village. “We had to flee because these people burned down our house, and they killed seven villagers.”

I cannot go back to the place where my enemy is waiting.” Joseph recalls that ev-ery five years, his property was destroyed in violent clashes after elections and he does not want another repeat of this. The government has so far not kept its promise

to resettle them.Meanwhile, lunch is simmering in a

pot over a small fire. The Mburu’s kitchen nowadays is outdoors, encircled by some sticks that are holding another plastic cov-er. Mary has cooked the typical Kikuyu dish of githeri. “We don’t always have enough vegetables to cook. So I just make do with what I get.”

The government provides 40 kilos of maize for three months. For a family of eleven, this does not meet their needs. “The children are still healthy, thank God,” Mary affirms. Neighbor Phylis says she will continue to convince the Mburus to vote in the referendum. She knows, though, that the people in Vumilia have other issues to care about first.

© www.streetnewsservice.org

No Place to Go in Kenya

A few of many tents that internally displaced people live in in Undugu Society in Kenya.

flicKr/The AdvocAcy ProjecT

10

Street NewS Service


A Dry Year...In a Very Good Way

11

By Jeff McNeil, vendor

Yesterday was my one year anniversary of so-briety. This time last year, my doctor gave me an ul-timatum: to drink is to kill yourself - either stop drink-ing or, in essence, commit suicide. My blood pressure then was off the charts, so I had to make life-altering changes. I was wretched, shaken and weighed 120 pounds.

Being told to quit some-thing you love is depress-ing, but I didn’t have to quit drinking alone. There were so many people behind me that the encouragement was awesome. I found out my true potential without being bur-dened by a drink. Today I can walk down the street and not have to apologize for my behavior the night before. I am grateful for the little things normal people do, like washing clothes and taking showers. I am in bed by 9 p.m. so I can get up in the morning to sell papers.

I kept a written journal of my year of not drinking. Here are some excerpts from my journey to this point.

August 3, 2009, 9 p.m. The date of my last drink. What I remember was that I couldn’t remember anything I had done the night before. I left a family reunion in Ohio, and on the way home I picked up a drifter and went to Wheeling, W.Va. After partying I arrived at the Greyhound bus terminal in D.C. liquored up.

I was so drunk I fell asleep in a park off of 5th and K streets. When I woke up, there were two transvestites involved in a love triangle fighting over this guy who ran off with another transvestite to smoke crack. This was the low point of a sad existence. I looked at my bottle of vodka, poured it out and haven’t been back to that park or taken a drink since.

To quit drinking is like climbing Mount Everest. Sometimes it is awe-inspiring, sometimes there are hazards. Maybe sometimes it is an inspiration, sometimes it is a struggle..but there is no worthwhile achievement without struggle.

September 3, 2009. My bunky was a junkie. I was one month sober, sleep-ing on my bunk, and I bought a pair of brand new sneakers. I was proud of them because I didn’t waste my money on my usual six-pack. I had a pair of white pants that matched the shoes. I was going to be the coolest cat at my shelter. My bunky had just been released from a penitentiary and

I could feel his negative en-ergy. I set a junkie trap.

When my trap ensnared him it was high noon time; I woke up and shrieked and then I tried to kick him. Then I lost it. I connected flush in the gut and as we struggled, the lights in the shelter went on and I got kicked out. It was unfair, but gave me motivation to never have to live in a shel-ter. I didn’t take a drink over being put out.

September, 2009. I went to see my doctor because I needed to get my prostate checked. My doctor ran a few tests on me. While I waited, I reflected on a failed life. There was no legacy; I had never been married and I prayed to God that day that I would do His will, not mine.

The doctor came out and said all I had was high blood pressure. I hugged him like I had hit the lottery. I was feeling joyous on my way to Union Station, when all of a sudden I crossed the street and a cab driver came barreling around the corner and almost hit me. I became enraged and I flipped him the bird. But I didn’t drink.

October, 2009. Two months without a drink. When I used to drink, my favor-ite ritual was throwing mail in the trash. Credit cards, I.R.S invoices, medical bills; it didn’t matter. I never read them. I was two months sober, so I decided to open my mail. I even called a few creditors. I noticed all the wonderful phrases they would use, like “if you don’t…” and “very urgent” and “you must call this number…”

Then, I made the mistake of giving my phone number out to one of these credi-tors. The barrage was relentless. I finally melted and started paying my debts, so they don’t call me anymore. But I didn’t drink over paying my bills.

November, 2009. Three months sober. My odyssey of being homeless and living in soup lines became a thing of the past. I began treatment bipolar disorder and de-pression. I finally moved out of the shelter and felt the love of all my customers. Many helped me with everything, from supply-ing me with furniture to helping me apply to college. It feels good today that I do not have to carry all my belongings. November used to be a depressing time because I was usually alone for the holidays, but this time I got invited to many dinners and events. It was a wonderful time for me. It was brutally cold this winter and we had a bliz-zard, so sales were shut down for a period.

I struggled and paid my bills religiously. And I didn’t drink over cabin fever. Even with cabin fever, I still didn’t drink.

March to May, 2010. As winter cold weather turns to spring, the snow melts, birds reappear and so do the junkies and beggars. Many gather on P Street by the Whole Foods. Unlike places like New York and Philadelphia, I rate Washington, D.C. at the top for having the best addicts in the world. They will wash your car, carry gro-ceries home, anything you need. One day I even dropped a couple of dollars and to my shock, one gave me my money back.

June, 2010. Life is so great. I hit sev-eral milestones, I got a date after several attempts, my doctor gave me a clean bill of health, and I am currently trying to get my driver’s license back. I was going to cash in on my newly found sobriety. I played a lottery number religiously for almost six months-one day I went to church and

heard a preacher give a fine sermon on do-ing the right thing. Tears ran down my eyes when I thought about my sinful ways, so I decided I should quit playing the lottery. To my dismay I saw on TV that my number won, and even more sickening it came out double. But the silver lining was I was now 11 months sober.

July, 2010. Life truly gets better. Since I quit drinking I have had many blessings. I became a board member for “Street Sense,” and I was invited to many events such as speaking in front of a synagogue and speak-ing to a PR firm on why “Street Sense” is vital. I became an overnight celebrity by having an article published in “The Wash-ingtonian” and doing an interview for Chan-nel 8 News. If I had known sobriety would be so joyous, I would have quit drinking a long time ago.

I am looking forward to many, many more years of sobriety.


By Tim Young,volunteer

Defeat Poverty DC’s mayoral and council fo-rum, held last Thursday night, became an arena not of challenges and criti-cal thinking, but a display of gratuitous agreement between two supposed ri-vals who only highlighted their similarities.

In attendance were just Vincent Gray, current City Council chair and candi-date for mayor, and Kwame Brown, current councilman and candidate for City Coun-cil chair. Mayor Adrian Fenty, who seems to shy away from public forums where his policies can be questioned, and Vincent Or-ange, who assigned roughly six volunteers

and lined the streets outside with his signs, were conspicu-ously absent.

While the forum was con-ceived as an open dialogue of ideas and not so much as a debate, it simply grew into a friendly conversation between current council members and colleagues Gray and Brown. They talked about their vi-sions for the future of the city and how they cannot stand the current mayor.

Both Gray and Brown spent part of the night outlining their similar plans for the city to defeat poverty and increase its residents’ employment. Each blamed unenforced First Source agree-ments as a major factor in the city’s jobless-ness. These are contracts companies from other states make with the city; the agree-ments require 51 percent of the workforce and 51 percent of resources to be hired and purchased in the District of Columbia. This is certainly one unemployment culprit, but there is no strong evidence showing it is an outstanding reason for job loss. They also agreed that in order to lower the city’s in-creasing unemployment rates, there must be a focus on expanding vocation educa-tion and reforming the department of em-ployment services.

In discussing their methods to improve the job market and lower homelessness in the city, Gray and Brown started touting

the success of their universal pre-k edu-cation program. Unique to the District of Columbia, it provides an early start on the education of all children younger than kin-dergarten age. Brown argued that along-side the pre-k program, the District needs “world-class middle schools” in order to keep children engaged in education, con-sidering how many begin to “fall off” and drop out by 8th grade.

Gray concurred, citing the pattern of homelessness among at-risk youth, which he hopes these programs will help elimi-nate. According to Gray, children in the city who struggle with poverty issues are much more likely to eventually drop out of school, which limits them when in the job market. Both candidates openly mocked the power of the mayor’s office, saying that right now it answers to the chancellor of the school system, when really it should be the opposite.

They also discussed - not debated - the state of the District of Columbia’s finances. The city’s “rainy-day” fund has rapidly de-pleted over the past few years. This dearth has threatened spending for social safety net services, such as job counseling and housing programs for the city’s poor. Both candidates agreed, once more, that instead of continuing to take money out of the city’s rainy-day fund, the council and mayor’s of-fices should consent to use a pay-as-you-go strategy, which would take limited amounts of money out of the rainy-day fund only in necessary cases, instead of pulling millions

out at the beginning of every fiscal year. But pay-as-you-go just gives the appear-

ance of higher sums in the city’s bank ac-count until the programs, which are still scheduled to occur and be paid for, actu-ally happen. This really doesn’t fix any of the city’s financial woes and only gives the illusion of still having money. The Home Shopping Channel calls it “easy-pay,” which means it’s still going to cost the same thing in the end, but you can spread it out to make you feel good about your bank ac-count.

In the end, nothing came out of the eve-ning that one could not have read on the respective candidates’ websites; the discus-sions bored the crowd, which trickled out early. There is nothing less exciting than two candidates competing in the same race acting friendly and agreeable with one an-other in a forum. Indeed, the only surprise was the announcement that Vincent Or-ange (not Mayor Fenty) would be absent.

Nothing came out of the evening that no one could not have read on the respective candi-dates’ websites; the discussion bored the crowd

12

A Reconciling Congregation

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

Homeless Outreach Hospitality: Fridays 9:00 AM

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

FOUNDRY

Debate Shows No Signs of DebateGray and Brown Vow to Work Together to Improve City at UDC Forum

(It) became an arena not of chal-lenges and criti-cal thinking, but a display of gra-tuitous agreement between the two supposed rivals


By Eric Sheptock, advocate

Everyone was excited. It started with a community block party

on July 10, attended by close to 200 people. Then, roughly 100 of the partiers marched to a vacant lot in Shaw, known as Parcel 42 to set up tents, tables, lawn chairs, beach umbrellas and a sign on the chain link fence declaring the encampment “The Land of Broken Promises.” And as of this writing, we are still taking action on the “Take Back the Land Campaign.”

G o i n g i n t o t h i s , we h a ve a t w o -pronged goal. First, we want to call out Mayor Adrian Fenty on his broken prom-ise to put 94 units of affordable housing on this vacant lot, Parcel 42, and get other local politicians to commit to making good on this promise if the present mayor won’t. Our second goal is to educate Washington, D.C. on the affordable housing crisis.

People’s greatest fears, being shut down by the police before we even got started and possibly going to jail, have not materialized. Different groups of police have stopped by repeatedly to ask the same questions. But they have yet to evict us. We think they may be fighting a war of attrition, just waiting for us to get tired and go home.

But every evening, six to ten peo-ple spend the night here at the tent city and some of them even go to work in the morn-ing. Another group of six to ten people have manned the information table during the day and engaged the public in discussion about D.C.’s affordable housing crisis.

The support and interest from the com-munity is heartening. Dozens of people come when they get off from work to spend time with the campers and project a movie onto the exterior wall of a building on adja-cent property. Many individuals, as well as representatives of Busboys and Poets and Food Not Bombs, have brought food and drink. Children come by each evening to play on the vacant lot. Some adult chaper-ones even brought their children’s summer activities groups to visit and learn about the pertinent issue.

A Georgetown University professor was making arrangements to bring her class of 20 students, studying about inner-city is-sues, to the tent city to learn about D.C.’s affordable housing crisis.

City Councilman Michael Brown visited our campsite on the evening of July12, but apart from that, we haven’t had much luck with politicians. Nonetheless, we’ve gar-nered plenty of media coverage. We’ve been interviewed by ABC 7 News, Blue Lagoon (grassroots media), WPFW and the Associ-ated Press.

Some of the media outlets that have in-

terviewed us have posted those interviews on their websites, which has given way to some rather crass, uninformed remarks from readers, most notable among them: those who can afford a cell phone or iPod should be able to pay rent. Some would go so far as to say that gentrification is a good thing or that their tax dollars shouldn’t go toward helping the poor to live in the city.

Yet residents of the Shaw neighborhood have praised our efforts.

ONE DC and the mayor have haggled over the degree of affordability this property should have for some time now. The Wash-ington, D.C.’s area median income presently stands at $103,500 for a family of four be-cause it includes the salaries of people in

the surrounding counties’ suburbs. City of-ficials originally planned to make this hous-ing affordable to those making at least 60 percent of the AMI, or $62,100. That would seem like a kind gesture, until you consider the fact that residents of the Shaw neigh-borhood generally earn $25,000 to $35,000 per year.

Building a property in this neighborhood that is affordable for those making $60,000 or more would raise the value of surround-ing properties and the property taxes would follow suit. This would raise rents, and peo-ple who have lived in the neighborhood for many years would be priced out of their homes. Such a move would constitute gen-trification.

We have requested a meeting with the mayor and are awaiting his response. We aren’t certain we’ll realize victory by having affordable housing built on Parcel 42. But we have raised people’s social conscious-ness and we see that as a victory in and of itself. We plan to remain here until the po-lice shut us down.

We won’t see the closure of the tent city as the end of our direct action, but rather as the beginning of something much bigger - a renewed culture of speaking truth to power and of making demands on our politicians. No matter how it ends, we win.

Top, Shaw Tent city stands proudly against a backdrop of despair on the affordable housing climate where Shaw residents make on average $25,000 to $35,000 a year. Bottom, residents of the city scurry by the tent city, while some stop to show support.

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VENDOR NOTES

13

A Letter From Parcel 42’s Tent CityShouldn’t the Poor Be Able to Live in D.C.?


By Mary Otto, editor

Street newspapers, dedicated to news of poverty and nearly always sold by home-less men and women, are of-ten shoestring operations by nature, and, like their vendors, simply strug-gling to survive.

This year, the nonprofit trade g r o u p re p re -senting more than 30 street papers through-out the United States and Can-ada is also going through tough times. At its annual confer-ence, held in Chicago from July 29 to Au-gust 1, North American Street Newspaper Association board chairman Israel Bayer announced the organization was forced to lay off its sole staff member.

Citing the nation’s ongoing recession and fundraising difficulties, Bayer told delegates that due to a lack of funds, the board had no choice but to lay off executive director Andy Freeze at the end of August. Freeze, whose office is in Washington, D.C., was hired in late 2008, but grant money that paid his salary has been spent and no new funding is on the horizon. Prior to hir-ing Freeze, NASNA, like many of its mem-ber papers, was run through volunteer efforts. Bayer, who is executive director of the Portland street newspaper, Street Roots. said for the time being, NASNA’s member services will be provided out of Oregon, from Street Roots offices.

NASNA has 31 members, 23 in the United States and eight in Canada. Several more are in various stages of development. These small publications comprise a di-verse group. Chicago’s StreetWise, which helped host the conference, is a glossy weekly magazine with plain yet comfort-able offices and professional staffers. But others are humble tabloid newspapers, published twice a month or monthly. Some have no paid employees at all and a few do not even have an office to call their own.

All, however, see their mission as inform-ing the public about issues of poverty and homelessness. And nearly all the publi-cations are sold or distributed by poor or homeless vendors who, with the help of their newspapers, are trying to work their

ways off the streets. The journey is seldom easy for the vendors, or for the papers themselves.

At the conference, newspaper directors, editors and vendor managers exchanged stories of hard luck and success, strategized about how to keep their publications alive and readable and how to assist their home-less salespeople to reach their goals of self-sufficiency.

Host publication StreetWise nearly closed last year due to declining revenues, but ultimately won a second chance after

rallying community support. At this year’s NASNA conference, StreetWise Executive Director Bruce Crane outlined his hopes for the magazine’s continuing survival through aggressive reorganization and fundraising. He said he has been busy cultivating “an-gels,” who donate everything from office supplies to food for the vendor’s lunches to help keep StreetWise offices open.

“We even have a paper towel and toilet paper angel,” said Crane.

14

Clinton KilpatrickVENDOR PROFILE

By Mandy Toomey, volunteer

On his way to the Street Sense office, Clinton Kilpatrick always passes by the White House, his favorite historical land-mark and a monument that inspires admi-ration and respect.

Kilpatrick’s proudest moment came at a time in his life when he went by the names “Mr. Clinton” and “Mr. Kilpatrick.” During this time, he worked as, in his own words, “an ambulance chaser,” and helped injured clients claim money for accidents. In this position, he made good money; but more importantly, he was treated with respect.

Since that time, Kilpatrick has faced many hardships and spent a number of years on the street. He now works a num-ber of odd jobs around D.C., including home improvement, cleaning and street promotion for a stage theater. Even though he feels he has begun to pick himself up, he still wishes for the respect he once had.

Kilpatrick enjoys working with people and feels his strength is in communi-cations. He dreams of one day being a broadcaster or a voiceover announcer. Sitting just outside the Street Sense office, he demonstrated his skills as his voice in-stantly took on a smooth lilt while intoning the advent of an upcoming show. He said-people know him around town because of his “trademark” voice.

Kilpatrick, who has been a vendor on and off for two years, sees Street Sense as a means to an end. It is “a stepping stone to earning respect.” He hopes that the in-come earned through selling Street Sense will help catapult him into better-paying positions.

“I want to be a productive citizen and bring positivity by showing love to people,” Kilpatrick said.

Street Papers Scraping By

PhoToS By Am

y voKeS

Top, executive director Abby Strunk and editor mary otto stand in front of Buckingham fountain in Grant Park for the North American Street Newspaper Association annual conference. Bottom, otto and community development & program manager Amy vokes glory in an art installation.

Street Sense goes to Chicago for annual conference

August 4 - 17, 2010StreetSense.org the DistrictSHELTERCalvary Women’s Services110 Maryland Ave, NE (202) 289-0596 (office)(202) 289-2111 (shelter)www.calvaryservices.org

Central Union Mission (Men)1350 R Street, NW(202) 745–7118www.missiondc.org

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

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

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

John Young Center (Women)119 D Street, NW(202) 639–8469www,catholiccharitiesdc.org

My Sister’s PlacePO Box 29596Washington, DC 20017office (202) 529-526124-hour hotline (202)-529-5991shelter and other services for domestic violence victims

N Street Village (Women)1333 N Street, NW(202) 939–2060www.nstreetvillage.org

801 East, St. Elizabeths Hospital (Men)2700 MLK Avenue, SE (202) 561–4014

New York Ave Shelter (Men 18+)1355–57 New York Avenue, NE(202) 832–2359

Open Door Shelter (Women)425 Mitch Snyder Place, NW(202) 639–8093

FOODCharlie’s Place 1830 Connecticut Avenue, NW (202) 232–3066 www.stmargaretsdc.org/char-liesplace

Church of the Pilgrims (Sundays only)2201 P Street, NW(202) 387–6612www.churchofthepilgrims.org

Thrive DC (breakfast Mon-Fri,

9:30-11, all welcome/dinner for women and children, Mon-Fri, 3-6 pm)St. Stephens Parish Church1525 Newton St, NW(202) 737–9311www.thrivedc.org

Food and Friends219 Riggs Road, NE(202) 269–2277www.foodandfriends.org

Miriam’s Kitchen2401 Virginia Avenue, NW(202) 452–8089www.miriamskitchen.org

The Welcome TableChurch of the Epiphany1317 G Street, NW(202) 347–2635http://www.epiphanydc.org/ministry/welcometbl.htm MEDICAL RESOURCESChrist House 1717 Columbia Road, NW(202) 328–1100www.christhouse.org

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

Whitman–Walker Clinic1407 S Street, NW(202) 797–3500; www.wwc.org

OUTREACH CENTERSBread for the City1525 Seventh Street, NW (202) 265–2400 AND1640 Good Hope Road, SE(202) 561–8587www.breadforthecity.orgfood pantry, clothing, legal and social services, medical clinic

Community Council for the Homelessat Friendship Place4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW(202) 364–1419; www.cchfp.org housing, medical and psych care, substance abuse and job coun-seling

Bethany Women’s Center1333 N Street, NW(202) 939–2060http://www.nstreetvillage.orgmeals, hygiene, laundry, social activities, substance abuse treat-ment

Father McKenna Center19 Eye Street, NW(202) 842–1112

Green Door(202) 464–92001221 Taylor Street NWwww.greendoor.org

housing, job training, supportive mental health services

Friendship House619 D Street, SE(202) 675–9050www.friendshiphouse.net counseling, mentoring, educa-tion, youth services, clothing

Georgetown Ministry Center1041 Wisconsin Avenue, NW(202) 338–8301www.georgetownministrycenter.orglaundry, counseling, psych care

Martha’s Table2114 14th Street, NW(202) 328–6608www.marthastable.orgdinner, education, recreation, clothing, child/family services

Rachel’s Women’s Center1222 11th Street, NW(202) 682–1005http://www.ccdsd.org/howorwc.php hygiene, laundry, lunch, phone and mail, clothing, social events

Sasha Bruce Youthwork741 8th Street, SE (202) 675–9340www.sashabruce.org counseling, housing, family ser-vices

So Others Might Eat (SOME)71 “O” Street, NW(202) 797–8806; www.some.orglunch, medical and dental, job and housing counseling

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESAcademy of Hope GED Center601 Edgewood St NE 202-269-6623www.aohdc.org

Bright Beginnings Inc.128 M Street NW, Suite 150(202) 842–9090 www.brightbeginningsinc.orgChild care, family services

Catholic Community Services 924 G Street, NW(202) 772–4300www.ccs–dc.orgumbrella for a variety of services

D.C. Coalition for the Homeless1234 Massachusetts Avenue, NW(202) 347–8870; www.dccfh.orghousing, substance abuse treat-ment, employment assistance

DC Food Finder Interactive online map of free and low cost resources.www.dcfoodfinder.org

Community Family Life Services305 E Street, NW

(202) 347–0511www.cflsdc.orghousing, job and substance abuse counseling, clothes closet

Foundry Methodist Church 1500 16th Street, NW(202) 332–4010www.foundryumc.org ESL, lunch, clothing, IDs

Gospel Rescue Ministriesdrug, alcohol program (Men)810 5th Street, NW(202) 842–1731; www.grm.org

Hermano Pedro Day Center3211 Sacred Heart Way, NW(202) 332–2874http://www.ccs–dc.org/find/ser-vices/meals, hygiene, laundry, clothing

JHP, Inc.1526 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE(202) 544–9126www.jobshavepriority.orgtraining and employment

Jubilee Jobs1640 Columbia Road, NW(202) 667–8970www.jubileejobs.orgjob preparation and placement

National Coalition for the Homeless2201 P Street, NW(202) 462–4822www.nationalhomeless.orgactivists, speakers bureau

National Student Partnerships (NSP)128 M Street NW, Suite 320(202) 289–[email protected] resource and referral agency

Samaritan Ministry 1345 U Street, SE , AND1516 Hamilton Street, NW(202)889–7702www.samaritanministry.orgHIV support, employment, drug/alcohol addiction, healthcare

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church1514 15th Street, NW(202) 667–4394http://stlukesdc.edow.org food, counseling

St. Matthew’s Cathedral 1725 Rhode Island Avenue, NW(202) 347–3215 ext. 552 breakfast, clothing, hygiene

Travelers Aid, Union Station 50 Massachusetts Avenue, NE(202) 371–1937www.travelersaid.org/ta/dc.htmlemergency travel assistance

Washington Legal Clinic for the

Homeless 1200 U Street, NW (202) 328–5500www.legalclinic.org

WVSA Literacy for Life1100 16th Street, NW(202) 296-9100www.wvsarts.orgGED preparation and work force education

MArYLANDSHELTERInterfaith Works114 W. Montgomery Avenue Rockville(301) 762–8682www.iworksmc.org

The Samaritan Group Inc.P.O. Box 934, Chestertown(443) 480–3564

Warm Night Shelter311 68th Place, Seat Pleasant(301) 499–2319www.cmpgc.org

FOODBethesda Cares7728 Woodmont Avenue Bethesda(301) 907–9244www.bethesdacares.com

Community Place Café311 68th Place, Seat Pleasant(301) 499–2319; www.cmpgc.org

Manna Food Center614–618 Lofstrand Lane,Rockville(301) 424–1130www.mannafood.org

MEDICAL RESOURCESCommunity Clinic, Inc.8210 Colonial Lane Silver Spring(301) 585–1250www.cciweb.org

Mobile Medical Care, Inc.9309 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda(301) 493–2400www.mobilemedicalcare.org

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESCatholic Charities, Maryland12247 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring(301) 942–1790www.catholiccharitiesdc.orgshelter, substance abuse treat-ment, variety of other services

Mission of Love6180 Old Central Avenue,Capitol Heights(301)333–4440

www.molinc.orglife skills classes, clothing, house-wares

Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless600–B East Gude Drive,Rockville(301) 217–0314; www.mcch.net emergency shelter, transitional housing, and supportive services

virGiNiASHELTERAlexandria Community Shelter2355 B-Mill Road, Alexandria(703) 838–4239

Carpenter’s Shelter930 N. Henry Street, Alexandria(703) 548–7500www.carpentersshelter.org

The Arlington–Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless3103 9th Road, North, Arlington(703) 525–7177www.aachhomeless.org

FOODALIVE!, Inc.2723 King Street, Alexandria(703) 836–2723www.alive–inc.org

Our Daily Bread10777 Main Street #320,Fairfax(703) 273–8829www.our–daily–bread.org

MEDICAL RESOURCESArlington Free Clinic2921 11th Street South Arlington(703) 979–1400www.arlingtonfreeclinic.org

ADDITIONAL RESOURCESAbundant Life Christian Out-reach,5154 Eisenhower Avenue, Alexandria(703) 823–4100www.anchor–of–hope.netfood, clothing, youth develop-ment, and medicines

David’s Place Day Shelter930 North Henry Street, Alexandria(703) 548–7500www.carpentersshelter.orglaundry, shower, workshops, hy-pothermia shelter

Shelter Hotline: 1–800–

535–7252

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