Tick Tock Sheptock

As it turns out, some of my most-read blog posts in recent months had to do with: why I'm homeless , my 80-year old mother having had her social security payments cut by $1,000 per month for 17 years because she adopted and the direct connection between DC Mayor "Mascara Muriel" Bowser shutting down homeless tent cities and her failing to create a sufficient amount of affordable housing (or anything that even comes close). My readers evidently like to read about my personal affairs and about local political issues for which they intuitively see the direct connection to their own lives and struggles. I've always tried to keep posts about myself to a minimum, realizing that "It's not about me" . Nonetheless, I'll indulge you yet again with an explanation of "What I Do As A Homeless Homeless Advocate" Though it may come as a surprise to many, I'm very self-critical. I think what has people confused in that respect is the fact that...

************************************************************************ You read the title correctly.  My mother, Joanne Elizabeth  (Tedesco)  Sheptock and my Father, Rudolph Peter Sheptock, Sr  (who never changed "Sr" to "I" when my nephew was born),  raised 37 children.  They had seven biological children and  adopted 30 . My brother Jonathan (whose first name is my middle name) passed away in 2007 as my eldest sister Mary Grace sat beside him in the hospital. In addition to 36 surviving sons ad daughters,  my mother has at least 46 grandchildren, 11 grandchildren and many sons- and daughters-in-law (me having asked most recently around Thanksgiving 2015). She spends her days keeping up with  over 100 people . Dad died on September 13th, 2000, with my older brother Robert having taken a leave of absence from his job at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida to help care for Dad in his last days. It also helped that Mom is a...

Washington, DC's homeless PEOPLE , with what little bit they own, are "in jeopardy" again, as the city prepares to demolish tent cities (and metropolises) all over DC beginning on June 20th, 2017. (I put the word "PEOPLE" in all caps; because, capitalists -- especially those in local government -- like to dehumanize certain sectors of society in order to gain public support for their draconian policies.) Behold the sign below which you might have seen duplicates of if you live or work in Washington, DC. It indicates that the tent city which it is near will be demolished on or after June 20th, 2017 -- thereby causing those who have very little to have even less, or even nothing. Identical signs with the same date are posted near multiple tent cities across DC. The "answer to the question" is "This can be accomplished through the creation of affordable housing.....a lot of affordable housing". The "question to the answer"...

[S]omewhere between $3,000 and $5,000 of guaranteed annual income is necessary for any homeless person to have -- while homeless. Someone recently had me read Chapter Two of a book called "Utopia for Realists" where author Rutger Bergman makes the case for a "universal basic income" or "guaranteed minimum income". It points out that government spends so much on social services with their well-paid employees who set painfully high bars for the poor who participate in these programs ; and, it suggests that maybe government should just give this program money directly to the poor -- no strings attached. When you factor in the failed plans to end homelessness -- like DC's 10-year plan of 2004 called "Homeless No More" and its failing current plan called "Homeward DC" , that only strengthens the case for a guaranteed minimum income. As far as high bars are concerned, DC has a "Rapid Re-Housing" (RRH) program wherein 45...

"Let us forgo the foolishness and ineffectiveness of friendly advocacy." "Power concedes nothing without a DEMAND....." "If the recent wave of standoffish manners of some government officials and the passive-aggressiveness of others are any indications, then that means the Bowser administration is smarting from the narrative that I'm putting forth in both written and spoken word." *********************************************************************** So much for there being political "consequences and repercussions" . DC voters need to start now creating political "pre-sequences and pre-percussions" . Voting a mayor out because he or she didn't do a good job (however one might define that) has never caused the next mayor to actually do a good job -- or even a better one. Former DC mayor Vince Gray went so far as to organize a One City Summit on February 11th, 2012 -- to the tune of $600,000 -- so that he could h...

"It's mind over matter. I don't mind; 'cause, you don't matter" (A dismissive remark sometimes said to someone who is expressing anger) So, the good news here is that I'm ever more convinced with each passing day that DC Government's ICH (Inter-agency Council on Homelessness) sees the work of advocates in general and myself in particular as posing a major threat to the status quo of costly failures by well-paid derelicts -- which the city's five-year plan called "Homeward DC" is on track to become. This is due, in part, to the impending cuts to the federal safety net programs and, in part, to major missteps by the administration of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. As we approach the two-year mark in the five-year plan with about 200 more homeless people than we started with, it's beginning to look as though this plan will suffer the same fate as the 10-year plan of 2004 which a group of poverty pimps simply ignored after three years. ...

Announcement: Street Sense -- DC's newspaper about homelessness and poverty -- will hold a meeting with journalists to discuss how media covers homelessness. See the unadulterated announcement below: PLEASE HELP EDUCATE D.C. JOURNALISTS ON WHAT IMPORTANT STORIES NEED TO BE TOLD ABOUT HOMELESSNESS  Community Meeting for Reporters & People Experiencing Homelessness Tuesday, May 23 | ​4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Church of the Epiphany sanctuary (1317 G Street NW, Metro Center) This meeting is a precursor to a June 29th event that is intended to identify solutions to homelessness. ************************************************************************** DC's current and future mayors Muriel Bowser and Karl Racine received the following. Maybe he'll learn from her mistakes and do better...starting now. Below are six ideas as to how DC homeless advocates might politicize homelessness and force the mayor to come up with real solutions. If we play our cards rig...