I was homeless for only four years. I was fortunate. So many D.C. residents were homeless before me. And many have remained homeless even after I received a housing voucher. My plight with homelessness, though not with poverty, ended around March 17, 2017, yet, there are still far too many who are not yet housed.
My first place after homelessness was in a particularly rough part of the Congress Heights neighborhood. I was assaulted in broad daylight by teenagers who knocked me down, causing my phone to become unusable. They said they were just having fun. Wasn’t fun for me. Cost me $100 to replace my phone. My dear friend, Alice Carter, was assaulted on at least two occasions. I begged her not to come to visit unless I was with her. Some damn young kid smacked her in the head with a baseball bat just because she failed to immediately hand over her purse as demanded. The incident of my assault happened within 6 months of my living there and within just a few days, I was begging to move.
It took four years living in a scary neighborhood, but at last, in December 2021, I finally got my lifelong dream. I moved into a 10th-floor unit of a 10-story high rise in D.C.’s Waterfront neighborhood. I love everything so much about my new home, but the thing I love and enjoy most of all is the angular bay window in the living room. I find it kinda odd that my journey through homelessness is what it seems to have taken for me to get a million-dollar view from my bedroom, which I’ve placed in the living room rather than the bedroom of my one-bedroom unit. The view from the bedroom isn’t bad, just not as grand as from the living room.
My wonderful window is about seven feet wide, including the 45-degree angled sections on each end and the flat section in the middle. From the middle of the window, I can see in the far distance the Wilson Bridge, as well as the confluence of the Anacostia and Potomac rivers. Off to the left, I can see the Frederick Douglas Bridge and Audi Field. On the right, I have a great view of the backside of the National Airport and can clearly see planes taking off and landing. Lots of helicopters, too. Rolling puffy clouds and frequent flocks of birds are also part of the view from my bed through my wonderful window. Fort McNair is immediately across the street, and it’s comforting to hear the buglers play four times a day. I also enjoy hearing the crowds roar at soccer games. I love everything about my new neighborhood and new apartment, but more than anything I love my wonderful window. The shades remain all the way up day and night. I really don’t care if anyone can see inside. I insist that I always be able to see out.
I must offer sincere thanks to the Street Sense staff who helped me with some last-minute modest financial and genuine moral support that made my long-awaited move possible. I was supposed to have originally moved on Aug. 1, 2021, but due to dropped balls at the apartment leasing office, Pathways to Housing and DCHA, the move didn’t actually take place until Dec. 16. But, a 4-and-a-half month delay was well worth finally getting my wonderful window
