Tick Tock Sheptock

Mayor adrian Fenty avoided us like the plague for as long as he could. Those of us involved in the effort to save Franklin School Shelter thought we'd never get our chance to speak with the mayor about the issue. Then, about 2 dozen of us protested outside of his house on the evening of August 21st, 2008. He arrived a half hour or so after we did. He was visibly upset by our visit. However, he agreed to a meeting with a few of us. On Monday, August 25th, 4 homeless men met with the mayor and his director of the Dept. Human Services, Clarence Carter. They were myself, Skip Hawkins, Orlando Smith and D'juan Bean. The mayor had 2 others with him who were obviously not highly influential people. They both sat against the wall, while the 6 of us sat at the board room table. I had been informed prior to the meeting that the mayor might play with his cell phone or blackberry as a show of disinterest in the meeting. He actually didn't do that. We kept him engaged througho...

Councilwoman Carol Schwartz and Candidate Michael Brown spoke to a room of approximately 100 homeless men and 1 homeless woman this morning at the Father McKenna Center which feeds homeless men out of the basement of St. Aloysius church on North Capitol. This speaks volumes to the fact that DC homeless are being recognized and respected by their local government these days. After all, we work, pay taxes and vote too. Ms. Schwartz emphasized the fact that she wants to keep Franklin School open as a shelter, at least until better living arrangements are available to the residents. She also took some time to explain the complicated, if not crazy, way in which committees have been assigned to the various council members. For example, Carol Schwartz's Committee on Government Operations oversees the surplussing of public property. However, Councilman Kwame Brown's Committee on Economic Development oversees the disposition of public property. Therefore, you end up getting sent fr...

I was just about to post information about recent developments at Franklin School Shelter when I ran across the messages of a friend from the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. These 2 messages explain that many of the men were told that they couldn’t return to the shelter tonight and that the decision was later reversed in the nick of time. WLCH took affidavits that were filled out by 2 dozen homeless men and filed them with the court. The court issued a temporary restraining order reversing the phasing-out process that would’ve left dozens (not all of them having filled out affidavits) with nowhere to go. This would've been grossly irresponsible and inhumane on the part of DC Government in general and DHS in particular. It would also be reason to alert the public via the mass media. It is a good thing that it was stopped. The men are safe until about the 1st of October. I have an idea. Let's involve the homeless themselves as we seek to end homelessness. Let's hav...