Tick Tock Sheptock

On May 15 th , 2015 the Washington Post ran an article about a documentary on homeless love which was done by two French women – Lalita Clozel and ArianeMohseni . I was both their guide who helped them to penetrate the homeless community of DC as well as their subject matter expert. The documentary and article bring out what may very well be the greatest epiphany of our time: We all need love – yes, even the homeless. Who would ever imagine that homeless people like to give and receive love? As with other populations, there are good and bad people in the homeless community. Some have given their lives to save others or been the only one to show concern for a suffering person while others passed by in droves – too busy to care. The story began on Sunday, February 8 th , one week before my birthday. As a member of the National Coalition for the Homeless and its Faces of Homelessness Speakers' Bureau , I was doing an outreach run during which I led a group of university stu...

On March 31st DC Councilman Tommy Wells (Dem-Ward 6) who oversees the Dept. of Human Services (DHS) held a post-hypothermia hearing during which he intended to hear testimony from the homeless and their service providers about homeless services this past winter. As is always the case, people strayed from the intended topic of discussion. Very little was said about homeless services that are specifically related to hypothermia. Much was said about year-round problems. There were the usual complaints about dilapidated buildings. several women complained about crumbling ceilings at the Families Forward Shelter on the grounds of the defunct DC General Hospital. At least one woman described how she moved her child to a spot where the ceiling wasn't crumbling and placed herself under the hole in the ceiling as a way of keeping the child safe. She was horrified by the thought of rodents falling out of the ceiling onto her or her child. People also described the filth that one sees upon ...