Homelessness

Community leaders are calling on city officials to scale back the maximum number of people sheltered at a Ward 6 recreation center during hypothermia season amid an uptick of COVID-19 cases in DC. Advisory neighborhood commissioners and…

As Street Sense Media presents its fifth news blitz on issues surrounding homelessness in DC, we take a look back at some of the local media’s articles, columns and commentaries from the past year that stand out on the subject. —…

Activists marched to the home of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser on a recent Saturday to protest the quality of services provided to homeless people in the District. Protesters singled out the District's Department of Human Services and a…

A proposed update to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Homeward DC plan is drawing some flak over complaints about inadequate transparency as well as doubts about the city government’s ability to fulfill ambitious goals. The DC Interagency Council…

As a newborn fresh out of the hospital and the last of five children, Sandra Jackson lay in a bassinet in her family’s home on S Street in Northwest, her parents and siblings huddled around her. Jackson tears up as she recalls the story…

On Thursday evening, a candlelight procession downtown and then an overnight vigil in Freedom Plaza will pay tribute to 81 men and women who died in DC over the past year “of preventable and manageable diseases without the dignity of a…

DC has not yet met its years-old goal of eliminating veteran homelessnesss, but new permanent housing, better data and improved identification of veterans all provide grounds for optimism that it may soon do so. The District has steadily…

Army veteran David Kurtz stands in the parking lot of Shiloh Baptist Church on this brisk Monday morning. Sporting an army green hat and camouflage jacket, the veteran stands in front of a crowd of about 50 volunteers and bows his head…

Chad Jackson, a vendor for Street Sense Media and a formerly homeless veteran, served as a welder in the military from 1993 to 2000. When he returned home after his service, Jackson instantly felt the need to escape. He chose to live on…

It can take just one wrong step, one incorrect diagnosis, to change someone’s life. Xavier Justice’s time in the U.S. Army was cut short when he fell headfirst while doing vertical push-ups at his workplace. The accident left him…

Earlier this year, Mayor Muriel Bowser snatched money from the city’s contingency reserve fund. By June 30, the account was down from $279.7 million to $194.7 million, according to a report released by the Office of the Chief Financial…

A middle-aged man in a T-shirt and rumpled khakis sits on a bench in the vestibule of the First Congregational United Church of Christ at 9th and G streets NW. Looking dejected and worried, he says that he recently blacked out at a men’s…

The high cost of a self-cleaning public restroom at a Virginia Metrorail station recently garnered headlines as an example of wasteful spending, but its removal earlier this year need not disrupt the District’s own plans to pilot two…

In recent months, cities across the country have shared results of their annual homeless census, a one-day snapshot of residents experiencing homelessness that captures trends, guides strategic planning efforts and informs federal funding…

When Patty Wudel first arrived at Joseph’s House nearly 30 years ago, she relished the warmth and love she felt from the people who immediately welcomed her into their community. As she prepares to leave her longtime post as…

At a recent celebration, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson personally congratulated the most recent class of seven new homeowners for successfully completing the DC Housing Authority’s little-known Home…

On any given night, approximately 7,000 of our fellow residents — families as well as individuals — experience homelessness, according to DC’s 2018 Point in Time homelessness count. Some may see this as a welcome decrease from the prior…

Cleveland Park's iconic Uptown Theater has played host to plenty of movie premieres and Hollywood stars over the years. But Emilio Estevez, famous as a director and for his roles in movies such as The Breakfast Club and The Outsiders,…

A new day center for individuals experiencing homelessness has opened its doors on at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in the heart of downtown DC. At a Feb. 25 ribbon-cutting ceremony, DC Department of Human Services director Laura…