By Brian Anders, on January 2nd, 2014 
Homeless advocate Brian Anders wrote these tips for winter survival in 2013 before succumbing to colon cancer. Thanks for the tips. We miss you terribly.
Staying warm outside during the day requires wearing clothing in layers, but not in so many layers that one cannot move freely, or you begin to sweat.
Brian Anders, a tireless D.C. activist and homeless advocate. His passing on August 28, 2013 was met with sadness and the determination to keep fighting.
Using heavy sweaters, or sweat shirts made of cotton, or other natural materials will help your body retain heat. Long under ware, along with hats and gloves and a scarf/s to cover exposed areas works well. You should also wear a coat/jacket at least one size larger than your regular size as it makes it easier to add more clothing if the temperature falls. I recommend that other you limit the use of synthetic material as it sometimes over heats your skin and makes you sweat. Clothing that is restrictive makes your body work harder than it has to keep you warm. You want to also wear warm gloves and socks in layers when the weather is windy or wet. Remember if you are out all day in wet socks that at the end of the day to remove them dry your feet/hands before changing garments. Good footwear is also important. Water resistant boots, or rubber overshoes are good, Cloth shoes like sneakers are just going to make you uncomfortable. Hygiene: Hygiene is important to fight off illness. If possible shower and change your socks, undergarments daily. Use clean clothing and try and not sleep in the same clothing that you wear during the day. In a good sleeping bag you can remove your clothes and keep your self warm with blankets. Sleeping in cold weather: When setting up a tent it’s important to remember to keep your sleeping area clean and dry. If possible using a wooden pallet is a good start for a base to keep your body off of the ground. Covering it with either cardboard of plastic is a good way to keep the space dry. You want to then cover the floor space with either foam, or if possible some heavy blankets. (The best option is the heavy quilts used by furniture movers to cover furniture. They are thick, but they also retain heat.) Plastic is not a good cover for your sleeping bag or body. Plastic is a good insulator, but it doesn’t retain heat and it causes you to sweat. Use plastic to line the floor of the sleeping area, or the outside of the tent. Make sure when setting up the sleeping area that you have enough space to stretch out to prevent cramping while you sleep. If using a two person tent make sure this is the case for both persons sleeping there. Note: try to avoid eating and drinking at least two hours before you’re planned sleeping time. This will cut down on those annoying middle of the night bathroom breaks A down filled sleeping bag that has is large enough to move around in is a good choice for the long winter sleep-out. Along with long underwear this will keep you warm, and keep you comfortable. Do not sleep in your street clothing as the clothes you’ve worm during the day retain to same temperature as the weather outside. The idea is for you’re body to rest and not have to work twice as hard to keep you warm. An air mattress is helpful, but they sometime leak and can become uncomfortable.
Using snow as an insulator:
In a heavy snowfall use the snow to cover the base of your tent. This will keep cold weather from blowing into the sleeping area and keep your space warmer.
Make sure when it begins to snow heavily use sheets of plastic to cover your outside areas of the tent to keep the snow from freezing on your shell which can cause leaks or tear your outer shell.
Make sure to not allow snow to build up on your shell, or grow to deep where you will be walking. As the temperature drops it can freeze into puddles of ice which can cause unnecessary problems when walking or moving things around.
By Liane Scott, on October 2nd, 2012 
On behalf of the many friends and colleagues of longtime DC homeless advocate Brian Anders, who passed away on August 28, 2012, Empower DC Co-Founder Parisa Norouzi requested that the city council pass a resolution honoring Brian’s life. Unlike so many other requests made by members of the progressive community, the council agreed. The resolution is being sponsored by Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham and was on the Consent Agenda of the council’s first legislative session (Wednesday September 19, 2012). Unfortunately, we still don’t know when it will be presented or when (or even if) community members will be permitted to speak about Brian in memoriam.
Interview of Brian Anders by Pete Tucker on the Closing of La Casa Shelter. [haiku url=”http://www.grassrootsmediaproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Brian_Anders_2010-10-04.mp3″ title=”Brian_Anders_2010-10-04″]
As a reminder why this resolution is so appropriate, I’ve cross-postied an an audio podcast of an interview of Brian Anders discussing the closing of La Casa Shelter produced by Pete Tucker for his website The Fight Back. Following that is an article about Brian by David Zirin, that was originally published in The Nation. Perhaps after reading the article and listening to the audio you’ll find the time to call or email your councilmember and remind them to put Brian’s resolution prominently on the council’s agenda. Click here for a link to the names and addresses of DC’s City Council. Also, mark your calendar for a celebration of Brian’s life, October 13, starting at 6:30PM at the Potter’s House. More on that later.
The Last Wish of Brian Anders Dave Zirin on September 4, 2012 – 10:23 AM ET
We are all taught from birth that the world is shaped exclusively by the wealthy and powerful. The brave souls, who put their bodies on the line and organize people to pressure the powerful, are erased from the historical record. Last week, we lost one of those brave souls, and he deserves to be remembered. A man died in Washington, DC, who did more to affect change than any of the empty suits that scurry about on Capitol Hill. His name was Brian Anders, and although he’d reject this description, he was very special.
Dynamic, charismatic and razor sharp, Brian could have done anything with his life but was compelled to be a fighter for social justice on the streets of DC for nearly thirty years. The bulk of his work was focused on fighting for the rights of the homeless and affordable housing by any means necessary. If there was a protest, a speakout, or an occupation, Brian Anders was there. Brian was also an African-American Vietnam War veteran who wrestled with his own PTSD for decades and always, particularly since 9/11, made every effort to connect imperial wars abroad with the war on the poor at home. He saw the connections and put his passion, his pain and his personal history at the service of getting others to see that connective tissue as well.
Brian always reminded me of Julian Bond’s line about Muhammad Ali: “He made dissent visible, audible, attractive and fearless.”
Brian Anders worked with everyone but was associated most closely with two remarkable institutions. In the 1980s, he was at the heart of organizing at the homeless shelter CCNV (the Center for Creative Non-Violence) and over the last decade sat on the board of the social justice organization Empower DC. Both entities, due in no small part to Brian, have distinguished themselves by the fact that they don’t fight on behalf of people but organize affected communities to fight for themselves.
As his friend Kirby ably described in her remembrance of Brian, CCNV became in the 1980s “a vibrant community of anti-war and social justice activists, who succeeded, through direct action, in forcing the federal government to hand over the massive building at 2nd and D St. NW, so that CCNV could turn it into a shelter and community center for people without housing.”
CCNV’s activism was at the heart of the passage of the 1987 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, one of the precious few federal actions that has actually aided the homeless. He showed all the professional politicians what real politics could look like when removed from the lobbyists and big-money donors, and reclaimed by the people.
But Brian’s most lasting contribution was how he affected those closest to him.
Fellow Empower DC board member Farah Fosse said at a service/rally for Brian after his death, “He spoke truth to power, motivated people, worked tirelessly for justice, provided direct services . . . → Read More: Resolution Honoring the Life of Brian Anders
By Guest Contributor, on August 29th, 2012 
Brian Anders in 2011. Photo by Daniel del Pielago.
HEALTH CARE AND HOUSING FOR ALL! By Kirby, longtime friend of Brian Anders
Longtime DC activist, Brian Anders, passed away in the early morning hours of Tuesday August 28, 2012. (Look for announcements for a speak-out/ memorial for this Thursday, prior to his memorial at Joseph’s House at 4pm). Brian was a devoted advocate on behalf of people experiencing homelessness in Washington, DC. He was one of the core members of Community for Creative Non Violence, including when it was at its most active in the 80s. CCNV was a vibrant community of anti-war and social justice activists, who succeeded, through direct action, in forcing the federal government to hand over the massive building at 2nd and D st. NW, so that CCNV could turn it into a shelter and community center for people without housing. The group also held dramatic actions at churches in the city, to get them to share space and resources with those who needed them most. Their organizing gained national momentum, and spurred passage of the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act, an important Federal bill that provides funding to programs to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness. CCNV coupled their work to end homelessness with anti-war actions, always making the connection between the need to end imperialist war and suffering abroad, and to redirect those resources to helping those economically marginalized at home. While lacking its former community and activist spirit, the CCNV shelter still stands today. Brian went on to advocate for justice for low-income and marginalized communities in DC for the next decades.
Prior to his work with CCNV, Brian suffered PTSD as a result of serving in the military during the Vietnam war. He worked on healing throughout his life, channeling his energy into compassionate service and fiery advocacy. He was part of veterans’ peace organizations, and told me once that he spent months in prison in Texas for taking part in an action to block a weapons shipment. Over the decades, he worked at various organizations, helping get people into housing and helping people access needed services. He believed strongly in serving others in any way he could, in living in community, and in treating all people with dignity and respect. He had a healthy dose of disgust for politicians who rest in the pockets of the wealthy, and for the nonprofit industrial complex, which he understood to be wearing away at the true spirit of community and resistance in which many service providing organizations began.
Brain closely mentored young advocates, including members of a series of local groups who conducted direct actions to end homelessness, such as housing occupations, since the early 2000s. He was a down-to-earth human being, and he touched many lives. Brian apparently wanted people to memorialize him by taking action, speaking out on, standing up for justice and compassion. I hope we can honor his memory in this way.
Two excerpts from the Journal of Brian Anders, which he started writing in July 2012.
Page 1
Living in joy. What exactly does that mean? When do we ask the question what prevents us from living in joy? Is it the need to blame others for our mistakes? Is it the inability to learn from our mistakes or forgive ourselves for any pain we caused to them or others? Could it be something as simple as being afraid to love ourselves?
Page. 5
Now is the time to be grateful and accepting of gifts I’m receiving from the divine. What is self love? What is the key to seeing oneself as worthy of being loved and giving love? How- when can we learn self acceptance? With all of our weaknesses? How do we move past self hatred and learn to live in love? Unconditional love? Begins within not from outside of us. Not looking for some religious answer, or even a scientific explanation or believe that it takes a form of trust. Giving in to your higher self. Ending the way within.
By Liane Scott, on September 24th, 2010 
Empower DC set up the PEOPLE’S SOAPBOX for the first time at last weekend’s Black LUV festival. In our first edition, Brian Anders has some ideas about how to deal with homelessness and DC’s affordable housing crisis. Do you agree with him or not?
Expect more from the PEOPLE’S SOAPBOX soon.
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