In the District of Columbia, there are people who have gone far too unnoticed in their community. They are some of the most brilliant and creative souls in the region. They are masters of innovation with the ability to weather extraordinary situations. These are the unhoused or homeless, as people want to call them. In a city where 46% of the population is African American, the homeless are 86% African American. Dealing with housing instability is tough enough outside of dealing with health issues like the current Covid-19 Pandemic.
These men and women have a story to tell. People like Daniel Ball who not only makes the best of the situation but also has strong ties to his community. His mother used to live in DC before moving to Addison Road in Maryland.
Photo of Daniel Ball by Elvert Barnes / Flckr
As far as experiencing homelessness, “yes, some nights I stay up here in DC and some nights I stay with my mother,” Ball said. “I understand people experience homelessness. It’s a good question and going to be a good question because people are experiencing homelessness.”
Daniel Ball is just one of many who have found themselves homeless during the COVID-19 crisis gripping the globe. “Yes sometimes I sleep outside. Either I’m on a bench or either I’m up in Farragut West straight up the elevator, I sleep there,” Ball said. “Last night was an experience too. Usually the man from the food court wakes me up. Sometimes I’m already up. A girl slept beside me scheming. When I got up, I didn’t bother her because I know we going through the same change. I usually jump on the Metro. Today I rode the X2 and came up here. But I love a good question like that you asked because it’s a good question. What are you experiencing?”
Ball gave reasons why he chooses to come to the District of Columbia. “It’s like home to me. And my mama always asks, ‘why you keep running to DC?’ I keep running here, because my job is here,” he said, “and some people don’t have money to travel back and forth like that.”
Ball then described his experience signing up for programs in the city. “We do intake with the case worker. They call them caseworkers. I filed for food stamps. I applied for my housing. One thing right now with what’s happening is you can’t rush people. You can’t be going there like, ‘give me my food stamps.’ You gotta have patience. Everything has patience with it,” Ball said. “I ain’t going to knock nobody out. My name is Daniel Ball and I am not going to do that. As far as the government, there are people that are social. There are some that get involved.”
Staying in Shelter
Those living in shelter during this unprecedented emergency are also finding it hard to deal with certain conditions. Forty-four year old, DC native, Donell Lowell used to be an auto mechanic but has been homeless since July 2018. Lowell also survived a stroke which occured on April 16, 2019, “a year and a day ago today,” Lowell says. “Social distancing is pretty much obsolete here. Outside of here you can pretty much isolate yourself if you want,” he said. “I’ve met some good people but there are some bad people out here, especially, these security guards. They treat you like shit. That’s my situation. That happened to me.”
Photo by Julie Gallagher / Street Sense Media
Lowell was assaulted while staying in shelter during the health emergency. “I complained that he bullied me, threatened me. And he was still able to work here. And I sustained injuries at his hands.” The only time Lowell saw any disciplinary action came after he had been attacked by security. “After I got injured they fired him right away,” he said. “Other than that, we have no say. You gotta be hurt or something to be heard around here.”
DC officials have been telling the community in weekly calls that they were providing rooms for self isolation. When I asked Lowell if he was provided any of these other services and did officials consider him vulnerable to the disease, Lowell said,“Yeah they do but they didn’t offer me nothing.”
It may seem like during this crisis a large congregate setting may not be the ideal setting for mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Before the crisis, DC had to deal with considerable disdain for providing emergency housing and spending more per capita than any major city in the United States on housing production. Despite this, the District of Columbia has the tenth highest number of homeless in the United States.
Solutions Proposed by Unhoused Individuals
The unhoused in DC in particular are in a state of flux during the current health crisis and each day brings new challenges. It seems like they are being ignored more than others who are receiving help from agencies, neighbors and local governments. What do the homeless have to say about their situation? Are they being heard if they have a solution to address their current situation?
Donell Lowell seems to have some solid recommendations on homeless prevention and how the city could better its response during the COVID-19 crisis. Problems with the courts after the death of a relative contributed to Lowell becoming homeless. Lowell thinks now that more oversight of the probate courts would help. “That’s unfortunately how I got here,” he says. He also suggests that some people who are experiencing homelessness could benefit from better efforts from upstream services like rental subsidies and that would keep people from becoming homeless in the first place. Lowell thinks that this kind of in-depth oversight could come from government officials–the mayor, city council and governors.
Lowell is hopeful about his plight once things get back to normal. He sees this as a way to potentially end his homelessness for good. “If the city would open back up, I wanna go to school to learn how to become an information technology specialist. With the city shut down and everything it seems like it’ll never open back up,” Lowell said. He also recommends and wishes that, ”there was more oversight for these security guards and all these shelters really. They do what the hell they wanna do. The city should be considering the fact, we don’t really have a voice as homeless folks.”
Living Outdoors
Many residents have taken to living through this crisis outdoors. Paul Infante is currently experiencing homelessness. He has been living in the region for three years and is originally from California. “I think what makes most sense is if you stay (sleep) near a safe place that has services,” he said. “You could get a meal in the morning or you could get a meal in the evening. A lot of places will give you social services and Items like toothbrushes and shaving stuff, you will need for hygiene. That is especially important if you’re trying to find a job and pull yourself out of homelessness,” he said.
Photo by Petmyrhino / Flckr
Infante also has some pretty strong recommendations in terms of how DC could be serving those who have chosen to live outside. “The District of Columbia could do more on its own rather than relying on federal aid to help residents who live on the street. I would say it makes sense, without opening like a FEMA thing, would be to open up lots with showers and outdoor cots that abide by social distancing,” he said. I think it makes more sense than the opening of shelters that don’t have a lot of space.” Infante also feels DC needs to provide more showers and bathrooms. “You will find that people in general would say that they need more bathrooms and more showers,” he said.
DC Government’s Response
Governments all over the place are trying to coordinate the best responses possible to this crisis. The District of Columbia is no exception. But the voice of the homeless and their recommendations to address their needs is currently in a state of flux. Communities that are most greatly affected by the national emergency of COVID-19 can only wonder how their concerns and suggestions will make it to the officials tasked with leading the various responses to the crisis
I interviewed District of Columbia’s Director of Human Services Laura Zelinger on March 15th 2020. She has been at the forefront of the city’s response to COVID-19 and the homeless community. Zeilinger and her team have been convening weekly calls to help agency providers understand the current state of affairs as it pertains to their respective populations. According to Zeilinger, “we have a very strong and important safety message that people need to isolate so we can stop the spread of this virus.”
When asked specifically about permanent housing placement Zeilinger said, “It’s not realistic that people can be out putting together paperwork for their housing application or in a housing search. Meaning, we can’t get people in the same room in this climate. The District of Columbia chose to suspend its full housing placement process until it feels it can conduct certain business safety. The decision by the government in light of stay-home orders implies that people who may have a housing resource such as a voucher cannot use it to obtain a unit. We are very focused on our emergency operations to keep people safe. In the immediate, as we are putting together and executing our response on our emergency activities, we are suspending the CAHP (Coordination Assessment and Housing Placement) system.”
The CAHP system uses a matrix of factors to determine which homeless individuals will be prioritized for available housing, Those factors include: age, history of homelessness, physical as well as mental health, and substance use. With that process frozen, the Department of Human Services and its providers are looking into different ways of using the data to address concerns related to COVID-19 exposure. “We are using that data to identify, as well as our understanding of medical information, to prioritize for housing, to ensure we are reaching out to and provide opportunities for safe placement and isolation of people who are most vulnerable should they be exposed to Covid-19,” Zellenger said.
Zeilinger was optimistic however, about when housing activities could occur: “If we understand that we may be in this state for a prolonged period beyond a matter of days that may be longer than that, we will look to ways we can continue that key part of our work and move people from sites that they may be in isolation and in environments that provide opportunities to social distance particularly residents who are most vulnerable and have been identified for permanent supportive housing to be able to support their transition directly into housing as best as at all possible.”
Zeillenger also provided an overview of the city’s response to people who are currently homeless and what services they can expect to receive. “First and foremost what we want is that people are in a place that is safe and their exposure to this virus is limited. So what we have done is taken our low barrier programs that were just overnight and made them 24 hours at all of our shelter sites. We are providing full meals. And we have added additional outreach and meals in community so that people can have their needs met without having to travel and without having to congregate in lots of different places where we could increase the spread. We’ve instituted screenings in our shelters and if people are showing any potential symptoms we’re moving them into spaces where they have the opportunity to social distance and have medical attention as well as testing when warranted,” Zellienger said. The District of Columbia has also considered making hotel rooms available for people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 crisis. “We have secured 3 hotels for use that we are using for people who that have tested either positive so they can be in isolation and don’t need hospitalization, where they can be checked on by medical professionals same as people have homes would be isolating at home and have a nice place and not returning to shelter,” Zeillenger said.
With housing placements frozen and public input at a stand still, people who are currently unhoused, could remain homeless for the duration of this unprecedented emergency. Under these circumstances, can the District government call mitigating the spread of the Coronavirus amongst the homeless a victory? It seems like we’re just cruising forward. Without the input of those who are experiencing homelessness, we are being encouraged to normalize COVID-19. As far as homeless people go, the CDC guidelines don’t seem to apply. Doing this may lead our community into believing that what looks like success is success when it’s actually failure.
The District of Columbia is just one of three or four jurisdictions in the nation that even have laws requiring emergency shelter. It may not be the best setting in a crisis, but it is better than the alternative where most services for the poor are provided by churches which are also closed during this crisis. People need housing to advance their lives. If housing was not such a commodified asset and considered a privilege rather than a right, we would not be in this situation. Housing is healthcare. If this country and this region believes that to be true, then more needs to be done immediately. If COVID-19 and the experience of the homeless has taught us anything, it would be that we have to do right by the poor.
For decades, the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless has worked to break down the barriers that widespread poverty has created. Since our inception, we have worked to affirm housing as a fundamental right—not a privilege. Perhaps no moment more critically highlights the crucial importance of and need for housing and safe spaces than the current public health emergency. COVID-19 has ravaged the most vulnerable communities across this nation. It has directed a spotlight onto the many injustices and inequities faced by those existing in spaces that society has cast aside, exacerbating the real and deadly effects of poverty and white supremacy. It has pushed to the forefront conversations around health and economic disparities, income inequality, housing insecurity, and the inequitable allocation of resources.
While the disastrous effects of this pandemic are being seen throughout the country, people experiencing homelessness and in congregate settings are among those most heavily impacted. With a lack of access to widespread testing or safe spaces to socially distance, these communities are seeing a massive spread of infection. Simply, streets and congregate settings are not appropriate environments to contain or control the spread of this virus.
Despite this widely accepted fact, there are still far too many DC residents on the street and in crowded congregate shelters. Out of approximately 4,000 single adults currently experiencing homelessness in DC, less than three percent have been relocated to private spaces where social distancing can actually occur. Tragically, nine homeless DC residents have died from COVID-19 and 152 have had confirmed positive results as of Sunday, April 26th. During a five-day period last week, the spike in cases among the unhoused community was 2.5 times higher than the increase among DC’s general population. Without access to universal testing, the numbers of those affected are undoubtedly higher than the reported data reflects.
We know that the containment of this virus is a global undertaking. Community members, nonprofit organizations, and local government officials have been working hard to figure out ways to protect the community with limited federal funding and constantly evolving public health guidance. However, the District is certainly not alone in the challenges it faces to protect its homeless population. When confronted with startling data, other jurisdictions shifted gears in order to respond with urgency and creativity in ensuring that shelter and street populations are widely tested and moved to non-congregate settings. Many other jurisdictions have already placed thousands of homeless individuals in hotels. Meanwhile, DC’s current hotel occupancy rate is less than ten percent, leaving nearly 30,000 rooms empty, in addition to thousands of vacant dormitory and housing units throughout DC.
Unfortunately, DC’s current initiatives are not enough to protect DC’s homeless community. The time has come to shift the DC government’s approach.
The Legal Clinic recommends that the DC government:
Immediately offer a COVID-19 test to every person who lives on the street or in a congregate setting.
Immediately offer a placement to every person who lives on the street or in a congregate setting into a private and non-congregate setting, such as a hotel room, a private dormitory unit, or a vacant housing unit. Develop a system to screen and place people who become homeless during this time into private settings. In these non-congregate settings, provide food, staffing, other basic needs, and medical assistance, as appropriate. Ensure that those residents are checked on regularly.
Retain non-congregate placements until COVID-19 is no longer a pandemic or epidemic and has been nationally contained by widespread access to a vaccine. Simultaneously work to quickly place people into safe, affordable housing to limit the number of individuals who will eventually return to congregate settings.
Last Friday, the Legal Clinic sent a letter to Mayor Bowser detailing the aforementioned concerns and recommendations for protecting the lives of community members experiencing homelessness and in congregate settings. People experiencing homelessness in DC are more likely to be elderly, Black, and suffer health conditions that place them at high risk of death or serious complications from COVID-19. DC must act immediately to protect the lives of its vulnerable communities. DC must also further its expressed commitment to racial justice by creating and maintaining housing that is deeply affordable for those who need it to survive here, now and post-pandemic.
December 21st. The winter solstice. I’ve come to look forward to this day with both relief and dread….relief that we have reached the point of maximum darkness and we’ll start squeezing a few more moments of sunlight out of each coming day, and dread that we must once again gather to celebrate the lives and mourn the loss of our brothers and sisters who have passed in 2017 while experiencing homelessness. December 21st holds both promise…and pain.
When I was a kid, my mom received a phone call on the morning of December 21st, 1970, from her older sister, with whom my grandmother – my beloved “Nanny” – lived. Nanny, who had spent the evening of December 20th sitting at the kitchen table with her cigarette, her pilsner glass and her crossword puzzle, went to bed, and then never awoke. She had passed unexpectedly during the night…in the warmth of her own bed, after going through her treasured routines, and, if I know my Nanny, after kissing my aunt and uncle good night and getting down on her knees to ask God to bless us all. It was, in a sense, a perfect, dignified, passing.
Placard bearing the names of people that died while homeless in the District of Columbia.
There were 45 deaths this year of people who lived unhoused in the nation’s capital that were very far from perfect passings…deaths of women and men who had no kitchen table, no warm bed, no family members to kiss goodnight, and for some, not even a floor to kneel upon for a prayer at the end of the day.
How is it that this continues to happen? Last year, we read out 51 names. In 2015, it was 41. In 2005, there were 34.
How is it, that in this nation’s capital, in this progressive city that has declared itself to be a human rights city, in this community that has committed itself to “making homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring,” how is it that we can continue to let this happen?
The D.C. Office of Planning is amending the Comprehensive Plan, a long-standing document that outlines priorities for D.C.’s future growth and change. In a statement from the Office of Planning, Director Eric Shaw encouraged residents to read the Comprehensive Plan and make suggestions for changes.
“‘Planning an Inclusive City’ is the guiding vision for the DC Comprehensive Plan. An inclusive city is one where every member of the community feels welcome wherever they are in the city, and where everyone has a fair and equitable opportunity to live a healthy, successful and fulfilling life,” Edward Geifer, associate director of the Office of Planning, wrote in an email to Street Sense.
A heterogeneous coalition was born out of the Office of Planning’s call to the public. Community organizations, for-profit and nonprofit developers, faith groups, tenant advocates and other local organizations have formed a loose coalition of interested parties to identify priorities for creating more affordable housing and community support for under-resourced communities in D.C. The coalition met over several months to reach an agreement on a series of priorities that are listed on their website at www.DCHousingpriorities.org.
According to the 2016 annual census done by the D.C. Council on Homelessness, 8,350 people experience homelessness on any given night in the city. Coalition members want to see growth in the city but also want the Office of Planning to know that growth does not mean pushing marginalized people further to the margins.
“It is possible to build new housing, including a good measure of affordable housing, and grow the District’s tax base in a way that makes business sense and advances the public good. The result can be a combination of new housing and amenities for residents and increased revenue for the city so it can continue to enhance quality of life,” said Aakash Thakkar in the a news release. Thakkar is the senior vice president of EYA, a real estate development firm that is part of the coalition.
Coalition members believe that more affordable housing and targeted support for D.C. communities should be in the Comprehensive Plan. Philip Stump-Kennedy told Street Sense that Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) joined the coalition in hopes of using the Office of Planning as a tool for their mission. Stump-Kennedy is the regional tenant organizing manager at LEDC. He said he is tasked with the preservation of affordable housing in D.C, which is one of the priorities the coalition wants addressed. He referred to the lack of affordable housing in D.C. and said it is important that subsidized housing like Section 8 housing is maintained in the District.
Stump-Kennedy also believes rent control is an important part of affordable housing preservation. The rest of the coalition agrees and lists the protection of tenants as a priority. Stump-Kennedy said that the LEDC focuses on organizing tenants, connecting them with attorneys and other tenant associations. Stump-Kennedy said there is strength in numbers and organization.
“We need policies that preserve the affordable housing we already have as the District develops. It’s clear the city needs more units to meet the demand of the people coming here, but we also need strategies to protect tenants who are struggling to stay in the city. Those goals don’t have to be in conflict,” said Rob Wohl, a tenant organizer for the LEDC, in a news release.
The coalition members believe that the development of affordable housing and equitable economics requires the participation of all D.C. communities in order to move toward a solution. A full list of organizations and businesses in support of the D.C. housing priorities can be found on their webpage.
Residents can get involved by signing up for updates at plandc.dc.gov and submitting proposed amendments during the open call period for amendments.
Cross-posted from the Washington Post By Rochanda Hiligh-Thomas and Chinh Le
Eviction “is a cause, not just a condition, of poverty,” argues sociologist Matthew Desmond in his book Evicted. A recent report released from the D.C. Consortium of Legal Services Providers suggests that the two — seemingly intractable poverty and the struggle for safe, affordable housing — are inextricably linked here in the District. Housing instability and the fear of homelessness are the greatest worries of our most vulnerable neighbors.
But that list of anxieties is long, according to this new report. We dubbed the nearly three-and-a-half year undertaking that led to its issuance the “Community Listening Project” because we wanted to capture more than just impersonal data on the needs of individuals living in poverty. We wanted to hear about the problems they face and the strengths of their communities in their words.
Led by Faith Mullen, a clinical law professor, and Enrique Pumar, a sociologist, both at the Catholic University of America, the study is an exhaustive, qualitative analysis of focus group and survey responses from more than 700 D.C. residents whose household incomes are at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guideline. (By 2013, roughly 228,300 people, or 35 percent of the District’s population, met this standard.) Its findings paint an illuminating, complex portrait of the lives of those among us struggling, and too often failing, to make ends meet.
Survey participants reported difficulty satisfying basic needs. Two-thirds worried about finding and maintaining adequate, stable shelter, and one in three said that keeping a roof over their heads was the most serious challenge they experienced in the past two years. Those who had housing reported enduring horrendous conditions — lack of heat or hot water, broken appliances, electrical hazards, mold, rodents — just to stay in it.
“There was a leak on the roof for two years that ruined my furniture,” said one survey participant. “I want to move out but can’t afford to.” Like so many others we met through the project, she undoubtedly knew if she gave up this home, she may never find another that fit her budget. And that meant she might end up with no home at all. Who knows where a complaint to the landlord or withholding rent might lead, but it usually isn’t worth the chance. Affordable housing in the District is too scarce.
Food insecurity is also a profound problem for D.C. residents living in or on the cusp of poverty. Almost half of survey participants reported “frequently” or “occasionally” worrying about whether they would have enough food for themselves and their families. Full-time employment was no insulation from these hardships; large numbers of working adults (and their children) experienced anxiety over food and housing.
Jobs remain elusive. Those that are open seem unattainable to the people who most need work. “I can’t find a job,” said one survey participant, “because I have no place to live, no place to get ready for an interview and no money to get to an interview.” These bleak realities, however, don’t keep those who are unemployed from continuing to try: Many survey participants who were homeless identified finding work — not housing — as their greatest challenge.
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