Ward 2 | Street Sense Media

A photo of a group of protestors holding umbrellas

DC Circulator employees protest for equal pay

A small crowd of employees from WMATA and DC Circulator gathered in downtown D.C. on March 17 to demand equal pay and benefits for the city’s transit workers.

Thank you

Julienne Kengnie writes a thank you to her clients and sends best wishes to everyone.

Two officers stand in the encampment. While the black metaling fencing acts like a boarder around the two officers.

DC evicts more than 30 homeless residents from park at New Jersey and O NW, surrounds the site in fences

The second encampment closure occurred on Dec. 2 at the New Jersey and O Street park. Thirteen people obtained leases, while 15 others are engaged with outreach services. However, people fluctuate in and out of the park, some are given little time to connect with services.

Aldo Richardson stands in front of a Fairmont hotel also working as a PEP-V hotel

Aldo Richardson, homeless veteran, moves into PEP-V hotel with hope for permanent supportive housing

The CARE pilot program closes four of the largest encampments in D.C. The program offers housing for one year to those who made the by-name list. Those not on the list were forced to relocate. Aldo Richardson was one of the many who needed to relocate to New Jersey and O Street park encampment in hopes of qualifying for housing.

Homeless Truxton Circle residents brace for early December eviction amid pleas to halt encampment clearings

Meet some of the people living at Allen Park in Truxton Circle who will either be displaced by the upcoming Dec. 2 clearing or placed into housing accommodations through the city’s new encampment pilot program.

Two photos side by side, one of a woman in a library and holding a tablet. The other of a man walking outside.

Meet the neighborhood commissioners of Foggy Bottom who advocate for people experiencing homelessness

Meet Yannik Omictin and Evelyn Hudson, two ANC commissioners in Foggy Bottom, who have used their elected office to advocate for the rights of their constituents experiencing homelessness.

A housed resident speaks with Chandra Brown, a homeless woman that interrupted Mayor Bowser's Franklin Park press conference.

“Black lives are going to hell,” says resident flipping off DC’s Mayor

D.C. opened a renovated Franklin Park in September. An unhoused resident pushed out of a nearby encampment interrupted the ceremony & was quickly whisked away.

Franklin Park green space and trees in front of tall buildings

Franklin Park opening in September with public bathrooms and improved accessibility

Franklin Park, long a gathering place for homeless residents, will open in September with new public bathrooms, improved accessibility, and overhauled greenspaces.

Photo of a homeless encampment on a sidewalk.

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.

James sits at the front of the photo facing the camera.

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.

Displaced residents sit on park benches with their belongings and watch as officials "clean-up" Franklin Square.

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.

Ode to Franklin Square Park

Artist/Vendor Jackie Turner provides her opinion on the redevelopment of Franklin Park, with a hint of nostalgia.

Photo of City employees loading a tent into the back of a garbage truck.

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.”

Photo showing the park fenced off, with large amounts of greenspace cleared for redevelopment.

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.

A photo of the Patricia Handy Center for Women.

DHS is using the Patricia Handy Place for Women as an active men’s shelter after closing it for repairs

The Patricia Handy Center for Women, which closed earlier this year to repair long-standing plumbing, power, and air system issues, has actively been used by the DC Department of Human Services as a shelter since March 2021.

Phtoto of the church building. A sign in front of it says "The Church of the Epiphany, Episcopal/Anglican, All are welcome!"

Church of the Epiphany is opening its doors for shelter space through July

The Church of the Epiphany will be opening its parish hall and mission center as shelter spaces, which will be able to host up to 35 individuals from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., at least through the end of July.

William Maggi of Washington, DC, dies at 58

William ‘Bill’ Maggi was a force of personality in Dupont Circle for decades. His death is still a mystery, and his daughters mourn his loss.

A rendering of the outside of the library and new cafe patio.

DC Central Kitchen to run new cafe in MLK Library

The nonprofit has trained people with high barriers to employment for the past 30 years and will now expand to run a new cafe in the renovated Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in downtown D.C.

King of the Road: Saul Aroha Nui Tea’s path to healing through puppeteering

Street Sense Media vendor Saul Aroha Nui Tea explains how puppeteering came to play the role of therapy in his life and breaks down his latest folk opera.

What reopening the Martin-Luther King Jr. Memorial Library means for the homeless community

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial library reopens after a three-year renovation. COVID-19 has affected it, but the library is still trying to help the homeless community.

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