There is no nice way to say this- homelessness is a problem in The District. In fact, according to The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness, on any given night, there are over 7,3000 individuals without homes in DC, and families make up 40% of DC’s homeless population. Those numbers are pretty terrifying, but the focus has to move from how bad the problem is socioeconomically for the city to what programs are in place for those individuals. Big news came out recently that Mayor Muriel Bowser is looking to solve homelessness by putting more families in shelters year round, rather than just on nights where temperatures fall below freezing- utilizing hotel rooms are shelters for families. The year-round application process would prevent a backlog of applicants in early winter and provide more of a long-term solution for living quarters. However, this plan, in my humble opinion, in bare bones- yes, it gives families physical shelter, but it so far lacks any sort of community or extra services to the people who need it most.
If you live in The District, you most certainly have come across a Street Sense vendor, or several, selling their papers. Founded in 2003 by Laura Thompson-Osuri and Ted Henson, Street Sense’s mission is “to offer economic opportunities for people experiencing homelessness in our community by elevating voices and encouraging debate on poverty and injustice… Street Sense vendors pay 50 cents for each paper to cover publishing costs and then distribute each paper for a suggested donation of $2. Street Sense maintains about 100 active vendors, selling 16,000 papers every other week, with the average vendor earning $45 a day. Vendors choose their own sales locations, and can be found in downtown D.C. and some suburbs on busy corners and near Metro stations, usually during the lunch and evening rush hours.”
The goal here is not to simply get some of our city’s most vulnerable off the street and into a shelter, but to give them a voice and encourage economic independence. Featured on PBS’s NewsHour in on June 2nd, Street Sense is recognized as moving from a “street paper” to a “skill-building media center.” The articles are largely written by the vendors, made up of DC’s homeless and recently homeless, as well as a staff consisting of, but not limited to, journalists, students, and advocates for the homeless. Besides being a creative outlet, a chance to start a business, and a way to hone of verbal and written skills, Street Sense connects their vendors with programs to help find housing, medical care, and classes for job training and financial management.
I myself buy this paper whenever I have cash on me, and I’ll never forget the day I bought a paper from an older gentleman, who proudly showed me the piece he himself wrote that week’s issue. If you’re looking to help support this amazing organization, you can visit streetsense.org for the many ways you can donate! There are also a couple events coming up for Street Sense- an upcoming forum on child homelessness, September 16 and a Fall Gala on October 1 – which will be a showcase of the various media created by our talented homeless vendor/artists, including film clips, live theatre, podcasts, poetry readings, photography and illustration.
photo via Street Sense
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