Tick Tock Sheptock

Page 54 of the October 2008 issue of Hill Rag contains an article about DC Mayor Adrian Fenty which aptly describes what I know to be true about him. As he indicated during a meeting that he held with ONE DC ( a grassroots organizer)on October 8th, 2008, he can be headstrong and assertive. (I attended that meeting as a collaborator, though I am not a member of ONE DC.)However, what stood out to me was a certain consistency that I see in how one can get a meeting with the mayor. In order to help you to better understand what I am about to explain, I must take you back about 6 weeks and explain an earlier attempt to meet with the mayor. On August 19th, 2008, approximately 30 people -- homeless people, homeless advocates and supporters from local churches and the DC community at large -- did a walk-around at the Wilson Building (City Hall). It consisted of us going to the offices of the various city council members to present our cause: keeping Franklin Shelter open for the homeless ...

NOTE: I added more details and a couple of new items to this blog on 9/14, several days after posting it. If you think that you're seeing a new detail, you are and you're not crazy. Just thought you'd want to know. First of all, I apologize for not posting more often, as I realize that many people want to keep up with the Franklin School Shelter situation as it unfolds. However, things have been quite hectic lately. Those of us who are working to keep Franklin School open as a shelter are putting in long hours (pro bono, of course) and I've been short on time. While much has been going on since my last post, things have been especially hectic for the last couple of days. Check-in for the night usually goes from 4:30 to 5:30 PM. However, as I arrived at Franklin around 7 PM on September 10th, having gotten a bed reservation, I saw that people were still being checked-in. It would eventually go until 9:30 that night. The reason for the long check-in was that resident...

Read the following message from Mayor Fenty. Make what you will of it. I think that he is vague, uninformed and detached from the process. He thinks that "Mayor knows best". Nonetheless, he has stated some promises that we can hold him to..... --- On Thu, 9/11/08, Executive Office of the Mayor (imailagent) wrote: From: Executive Office of the Mayor (imailagent) Subject: Email from the EOM (Intranet Quorum IMA00569336) To: ericsheptock@yahoo.com Date: Thursday, September 11, 2008, 10:26 AM Thank you for your feedback regarding the closing of Franklin School Shelter. I understand your concern about the closure of the facility and its impact on clients as well as the surrounding community. The District Government is committed to reducing the need for large-scale emergency shelters, such as Franklin, by providing permanent housing with a continuum of care that includes outreach, social and mental health services. This approach is intended to address the root causes of homeless...

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...

Many are they who could tell you of just how disenfranchised the homeless often feel. They often receive promises from politicians, especially during election season. All too often those promises are broken. Even the cabinet members that are appointed by elected officials tend to make and break promises. Then there is the shelter staff to deal with. Some have a genuine concern for the people that are placed under their care. Others couldn't care less about their homeless clients. Then again, there are the homeless advocates who care but have limited resources and influence. All-in-all, the homeless have good reason to feel disenfranchised and to assume that there is no way out of their predicament. I was a facilitator at a meeting which was held at One Judiciary Square on December 9th, 2006, by members of Mayor Fenty's transition team. The purpose of the meeting was to gather the concerns of the homeless community and take them to Mayor-elect Fenty. More than 80 homel...

This was my first ever blog post on June 21st 2008. I just added some hyperlinks on August 8th, 2014. Judging by the contents of this post, I'd say some things never change (or not by much anyway). ORIGINAL POST with hyperlinks added: On Thursday, June 12th, I attended the ICH meeting at the CCNV Shelter . During the first of 2 comment periods, I described the lack of effective communication between the homeless and DC Government. A colleague of mine asked me to type my words so that they can be published. I've obliged.My explanation went something like this: I attended the December 17th ICH hearing at the MLK Library. During that hearing, a man named Chris raised the idea of the homeless and DC Gov. sitting across the table from each other and having complete and comprehensive conversations. He mentioned how that the homeless come to meetings like this one or to the ICH hearings and voice their concerns. However they never get any answers to their questions or respons...