On Sunday, April 3, 2016, former Street Sense vendor William Mack had the honor and pleasure of interviewing R&B singer Raheem DeVaughn outside of the New York Avenue homeless shelter in Northeast Washington, D.C.
Mr. DeVaughn, what brings you here today?
As a part of my humanitarian efforts in partnership with Black Celebrities Giving, the LoveLife Foundation (my foundation) and in conjunction with my good friend Tony Lewis Jr. This event is the very first event with the organization named Sunday Soul DC, an origination giving back to their communities. The organizations provided the men with a four-course meal, a non-alcoholic bar, hostess/host service provided by the volunteers, haircut stations were on hand to provided for the bothers to get a fresh cut to boost their confidence.
Mr. DeVaughn, have you ever experienced homelessness or do have any close friends or family members who have?
I have never experienced homelessness, but I have experienced hard times coming from a single-parent home. Watching my mother struggle, and not having my father in the same city at the time. I see a lot. You do not have to be a victim of circumstance to care about people or to talk about homelessness, domestic violence or education, which are the main three components of the LoveLife Foundation. It is about coming together and taking care of our own. These things are colorblind. It’s not about black/white, especially when it comes down to social class. It’s all about the have and the have not’s. The average American citizen is three to four paychecks away from homelessness. This is a testament to me, as a Black man in America, in a Black community. I am not going to wait on someone else to come save my people. We are to rally around my people to help take care of my community. We have the sisters who provided the toiletries, we do not have enough people to partake in all of this.
As for me myself, I had a pleasure to get a fresh haircut and save the dollar that I did not have. You have a full menu, your volunteers are doing a wonderful job.
We had wonderful sponsors such as Target and the ACOMA foundation.
