The intersection of 18th Street and Columbia Road, NW, is the best place in D.C. for your car to break down or to have a flat tire. No, there is not an auto repair shop or a fleet of tow trucks waiting nearby to help you. Instead, there is a man who will generally stop what he is doing and come to your aid.
Ed Ross, a retired Marine, was born at an unexpected time and place when his mother was on a trip to visit her adoptive mother in New York City: the back of a bus on 42nd Street. So, he knows a thing or two about being helped out of a tough spot. After he lost his wife and mother to a house fire, however, Ed was forced to deal with the shock of the tragedy alone. With no extended family to lean on, the trauma took a huge toll, and he eventually found himself homeless and in despair.
However, if you’re lucky enough to meet Ed on the street, you will quickly realize that he is a man who has left despair behind. In his daily grind at 18th and Columbia, he works not just to sell copies of Street Sense, but to lift the spirits of the people that walk by him—whether they buy a paper from him or try to avoid making eye contact. Whether he’s imploring a passerby to have a wonderful day or joyfully asking why someone isn’t smiling, there are few people who don’t show even a reserved smile after passing him.
Years of selling Street Sense papers have given him the opportunity to get to know the people who walk by him daily. Some of them are the most generous pedestrians in the District, and they know him as the man on the corner selling newspapers and giving inspiration and humor to all who cross his path. When asked what message he would like to share with people who haven’t experienced homelessness or who may stigmatize homeless individuals, Ed says, “We’re not that different. Anyone at anytime could become homeless. If you’re homeless and want to uplift yourself, do this [become a Street Sense vendor]. We will keep you out of trouble and people will help you because they see you are trying.”
Written by Darius Graham, an attorney in private practice, author of “Being the Difference: True Stories of Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things to Change the World,” and Street Sense volunteer.
