Residents of Burke Park and Samuel Gompers Memorial Park packed up what they could carry from their tents after last-ditch efforts to cancel their eviction failed. Advocates are worried that the evictions will make their journeys to permanent housing more difficult.
Content categorized as Living Unsheltered
Park evictions disrupt housing placements and send residents scrambling
Ward 2 residents fight attempt to displace a homeless encampment near Safeway
After wooden planters were illegally placed in front of a Ward 2 Safeway following a scheduled encampment clean-up, advocates and housed residents fought back against this attempt to keep the unhoused residents from moving back.
Encampment cleanup at 7th and P St NW bus shelter sparks debate over public space
Two full encampment cleanups at the 7th and P St NW bus shelter and in a neighboring empty lot add to the debate about D.C.’s public space.
Unhoused Washingtonians need places to shower and do laundry. Could sanitation buses be the answer?
ANC commissioners are asking for money to fund mobile showers, laundry facilities, and bathrooms for unhoused residents.
Winter 2021-22 hypothermia plan submitted for approval
The Interagency Council on Homelessness Shelter Capacity Subcommittee submitted a draft of recommendations for this winter’s hypothermia season. The recommendations include the use of PEP-V beds, despite the program’s closure by Sept. 30.
Vigil honors Jose Navarro and 42 other individuals who died on D.C. streets in 2021
One month after Jose Navarro died on the steps of Foundry United Methodist Church, a vigil honors his life and the lives of 42 others. Advocates for the homeless community now push for wealth taxes to end chronic homelessness in his and their honor.
Unhoused residents unite with local ANCs to prevent eviction
U.S. Park Police is planning to “move on” tent communities in Burke and Samuel Gompers Memorial Park after neighbors complained to them, accusing the unhoused of several federal code violations.
Cooling options limited in DC during summer heat emergency
We called all of the city’s heat emergency resources for people who need to get cool. There were less options for homeless people than advertised. Not everyone knew they were part of the plan.
Look at This a Street Sense Media Podcast: Episode Four
Street Sense vendor and artist Rita Sauls lives in a tent encampment with around 30 other people in Washington, D.C. “Before becoming a tenter, I… Read more »
What a park redevelopment reveals about a community: Beyond the city’s plans to renovate the park at NJ Ave and O St NW
This fall, the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) will begin renovating the park at the corner of New Jersey Avenue and O Street NW, permanently displacing an encampment of about 30 residents, and adding to their uncertainty.
DC removes Q St encampment while Ward 5 residents wait for more affordable housing
The Eckington property is supposed to be developed into affordable housing by Mi Casa, an affordable housing developer. In the meantime, the belongings of encampment residents were thrown away.
Who is Franklin Square Park being renovated for?
Artist/Vendor Colly Dennis provides opinions on what the Franklin Square Park renovations means, as well as its impacts.
June 8 Dupont encampment cleanup downgraded to trash-only following criticism from activists
The originally scheduled full cleanup of two encampments would have displaced homeless residents from one site to make room for a “streatery.”
Franklin Park to reopen in August
Franklin Park is scheduled to reopen in August this year. Unsheltered residents who live in the area share their views about Franklin Park’s closure and reopening.
The DC region’s homelessness figures declined in 2021, but effects of COVID remain to be seen
The DC region experienced a decline in homelessness figures over the past year, but the true impact of COVID-19 remains to be seen as pandemic assistance programs expire.
DC encampment ‘cleanups’ largely rely on free labor to temporarily move residents’ belongings
On May 13th, the DC Government exercised protocols to “cleanup” two encampments near Union Station and NoMa that caused substantial displacement of a number of residents.
Panhandling permits are a bad idea
Vendor Jeffrey McNeil offers his opinion on why Montgomery County’s consideration of requiring permits to panhandle is extreme and only furthers stigma.
Montgomery County weighs panhandling permits for ‘safety’
Montgomery County Councilmember Craig Rice is reintroducing efforts to require permits for soliciting money or donations near roadways for “pedestrian safety.”
Housing activism turns confrontational in face of deepening housing crisis
Tenants and housing advocates are using more confrontational tactics to fight eviction and displacement as the national affordable housing shortage intensifies.
As its more comprehensive report on homelessness lags years behind, critics question HUD’s data
HUD’s latest report on homelessness statistics is out now, but some advocates say they are underreporting the scale of the crisis.
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