Content categorized as Health, Physical

Online court for involuntarily committed patients may continue post-pandemic

Virtual court proceedings for District patients involuntarily committed to treatment under the Ervin Act may continue, even post-pandemic, following recent recommendations made to the DC Council’s Committee on Health.

Being vaccinated

Artist/Vendor Aida Peery discusses her decision to get vaccinated from COVID-19 and shares her gratitude to readers for their support during this difficult time.

Your health is a gift from God

Artist/Vendor Anthony Carney provides readers with an update on recent health issues and also offers perspective to think on.

Until we pay the working poor a living wage, they will still need government aid

Artist/Vendor Wendall Williams provides his thoughts on why the government should consider a living wage based on lessons learned from COVID relief.

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 Council says no to pressuring tenants to apply for rental assistance by threatening eviction

The D.C. Council voted down a controversial measure last week that would have allowed landlords to resume sending eviction notices during the pandemic, opting instead to revisit the proposal at a later date.

My biggest challenge

Artist and vendor Sheila White shares her greatest personal struggle and her concern that many others in the area will be affected by homelessness once pandemic-related eviction prohibitions expire.

Tech issues hobble US tenants fighting eviction in remote hearings

As legal proceedings shift online, many of the most vulnerable are left without the tools they need to show up in court. These problems, legal aid workers say, are affecting eviction hearings across the US.

DC’s budget

Vendor Carlton Johnson shares his thoughts on what DC’s priorities should be for reopening from COVID’s closures.

DC judge rules against eviction moratorium, but the law is still disputed 

A district court judge ruled against the CDC’s eviction moratorium, but the final outcome remains uncertain.

This program helps teen parents stay on track for graduation, and for life afterward

For over two decades, the New Heights program has played a fundamental role for teenage parents in D.C. Still, the program faces instability due to multiple proposed budget cuts and reducing the staff size.

DC Inspector General will audit Department of Employment Services over late and missing unemployment payments

The D.C. Office of the Inspector General announced it will review the District’s Department of Employment Services following months of delayed payments and technical glitches that have left many unemployed workers without income.

COVID still kills

Queenie Featherstone offers some brief but important words to remind everyone COVID-19 is still among us.

COVID vaccines

Warren Stevens shares his hopes for better days after COVID-19.

DC continues vaccinating unhoused residents through mobile clinics

Efforts to vaccinate people experiencing homelessness and not in the shelter system in the District have been underway since the end of March after low-barrier shelters received distributions in February and March. But community advocates have cited multiple complaints of vaccine inequity when distributing to unhoused populations, people in poverty, and people of color.

To address record overdose fatality rates, DC must establish safe consumption spaces and decriminalize drugs

Shane Sullivan, a harm reduction outreach worker, argues that only full decriminalization of drugs will enable the District to seriously address its increasingly deadly street supply. 

Changing people’s lives one bird at a time: Rodney Stotts uses falconry to reach youth

Rodney Stotts, a falconer in the DMV, uses his birds to educate young people beyond the classroom – which the education system desperately needs during the COVID-19 pandemic as children struggle with mental health.

2019 engulfed, swallowed, buried, and eradicated 2020

Time of thought Past.
A war versus reality. Where did 2020 go?
Hope for what is not here yet: The future, 2021.

Fight for the right to housing

Queenie Featherstone advocates for housing for all admits the COVID-19 pandemic.

DC tells medically vulnerable people sheltering in hotels that permanent supportive housing vouchers have run out

DHS is holding town halls at its PEP-V sites to tell residents that PSH vouchers have run out, so most will need to find another plan for where to go before PEP-V closes in September.