FAQ: What you need to know if you’re single and experiencing homelessness in DC

The DC Line and Street Sense Media talked to various homeless service providers and with homeless and formerly homeless people who have navigated this system to ask how to secure permanent housing.

The resulting guide is specific to the resources available to single individuals. The resources available for families differ significantly.

By Will Schick | Read the full story

D.C. Council makes bid for homeless anti-discrimination protections

There’s a new push to give more rights to unhoused people in D.C.

Driving the news: Lawyers, housing advocates, and people experiencing homelessness are getting behind another D.C Council bill that would formally make homelessness a protected class.

Why it matters: The legislative effort comes as D.C. is experiencing a surge in unsheltered people where just this week efforts to clear a tent encampment were paused after a bulldozer injured an unhoused resident in a tent.

• Yesterday’s council meeting was the third time a bill to make homelessness a protected class has been introduced. It stalled out in both the 2017-2018 session and again in the 2019-2020 session, Street Sense Media reported.

By Chelsea Cirruzzo | Read the full story

The Church for the Hood

The Stones House is not like your typical church — it proudly calls itself “the church for the hood.” On a street corner in Southeast, services start with performances from live DJs, groceries are distributed to the community, and hip-hop and go-go music are incorporated into worship.

The Stones House asserts that it is “Where the Stones Live that The Builders Rejected” and welcomes those who may be excluded from other church services, including people with substance abuse disorders or those impacted by the justice system. And the space provides much-needed community outreach, as D.C. launches policing initiatives to be “tougher on crime,” and makes parole and clemency more difficult for those who are incarcerated in the district.

730DC learned more about the community service organization and faith community from Pastor Curtis Thomas III, who co-founded the church.

By Sahar Roodehchi | Read the full interview

Casa Ruby Forced to Cut Services After DC Pulls Funding

Casa Ruby is being forced to slash key services, including its low-barrier shelter, after the Washington, D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) pulled an $850,000 funding grant that sustained its operations. Because the DHS canceled funding, Casa Ruby can no longer offer overnight stays at the Georgia Avenue shelter nor maintain 24-hour drop-in services for those seeking services. Following the Sept. 24 DHS announcement, Ruby Corado, the shelter’s founder, resigned from her role as executive director.

By Paige Kupas | Read the full story