At Dupont Circle, local shops struggle with higher rents and a changing neighborhood

by Annette Birch

Like an increasing number of local businesses in Dupont Circle, Ginza recently moved. The small Japanese shop has been in the area since 1980, but due to higher rents and fewer customers it had to move to a smaller space two doors down from its original site. Its windows exhibited everything from tea cans and porcelain to stuffed animals and DVDs, all imported from Japan.

Ginza’s owner, Virginia Yoneyama, explained that she had been looking for a smaller and cheaper space for some time in order to cover expenses. For even though the regular customers who live near Dupont Circle still shopped at Ginza, the total number of customers has gone down and expenses have gone up.

“We were closing because of the economy. The rent keeps on going up in the city and now people are more careful with their money.” Yoneyama pushed her long white hair with gray, brown and black strands back from her face and walked over to help a woman in her fifties who was wearing big earrings dangling around her face.

Business at Dupont Circle is changing

Rent in Washington, D.C. has been increasing gradually over the last 10 years. Reis, Inc., a private research firm providing real estate data, estimated that in 2011 rent alone increased with 5.4 percent and rent hikes went up to 10 percent.

Ginza is not the first local business at Dupont Circle which had problems with rent going up and number of customers going down. Farther down the street, a sign shows that Melody Record Store, which had been there since 1977, went out of business in January. The shop is still empty. On the other side of Connecticut Avenue, Benetton replaced a movie theater 12 years ago and the same year Starbucks replaced an old fashioned drug store. However, Kramerbooks, a local book store which has been at Dupont Circle for 37 years, is still there.

Yoneyama remembered when Ginza in 1980 moved to Dupont Circle from 20^th and K Street where it had been since 1955.  “There was very little here, when we first moved here, more small stores.” Yonemaya, who took over the shop in 1988, explained that the shop moved to Dupont Circle, because the area provided for a large market and was very progressive and accepting.

On the other side of the street a small used book store, Kultura, has been at Dupont Circle since 1980. Standing outside smoking a cigarette, the owner and local resident Irene Caoray said the neighborhood had changed a lot.

“Before it was more urban living as opposed to restaurants and more local customers. Now it is mostly customers from outside. The area gets trashy. Lots of restaurants and bars, the quality of business decline,” she said over the noise of a police siren coming down the street, while adjusting a strand of gray hair.

However, at Dolcezza, a small coffee chain shop farther down the street, Brett Dakin, a lawyer visiting from New York with a nostalgic feeling from his high schools days for Dupont Circle, did not agree.

“Generally, I like the way things are going. It is becoming a more interesting neighborhood with more places to eat and more individual shops,” Dakin said while enjoying a cup of coffee at the large common table.

Giving back to the community

Some Dupont Circle residents worry that more chain stores could mean less business participation in the community. Bob Meehan, who for 10 years has been a Commissioner for Advisory Neighborhood at Dupont Circle, a group of elected neighborhood representatives, found that the change in the business structure could have consequences for local business participation in Dupont Circle community initiatives such as Main Streets, a government initiative to improve business opportunities.

“Local stores participate more in local initiatives like Main Streets. National firms’ branches use other criteria. For example, Starbucks national has no interest in Dupont Circle. It depends on the brand and is less cooperative in issues on trash, local community and like,” Bob Meehan said.

Representatives from Starbucks, a national coffee chain, and Ann Taylor, a national retailer clothing store which has a local shop south of Dupont Circle, had no comment. But employees of some national chains disputed that idea. Rachel Mezynski, store manager for Benetton, a national retailer shop for women’s clothes which has been at Dupont Circle since 2000, explained that most of the local shop’s customers were from the neighborhood or tourists.

Just next door to Benetton, G-Star Raw, another national retailer clothing store which has been at Dupont Circle since 2008, Gregory Lennon, who is the District Manager for G-Star Raw at Dupont Circle, added that even though G-Star Raw is part of a larger corporation, the local store takes an interest in the local community.

Lennon pointed to a recent fundraiser for the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League, which supports lesbian, gay and bisexual youth in the Washington, D.C. area.

“We partner with local charities to give back to the community,” he said.

Baby boom creates new opportunities

Though rents have increased, not all of the news is bad. Yoneyama says she’s getting more business now from young families. Population estimates from the U.S. Census, show that in 2010 there was an increase of 5.4 percent in children under 5 years old in Washington, D.C., most of it due to more children up to three years old.

In the shop, a 3-year-old girl with light-brown hair wearing a pink striped coat looked around at the big stuffed animals, the small toy bears in pink, orange and purple, and pictures of kittens on cups and bags. Her parents, a young couple in jeans and coats, kept an eye on her.

“Customers are changing. They are getting younger and we have to change our product base towards the younger people in their 20s and 30s,” Yoneyama said and went over to assist her new customers.

Black Friday was not adoption day for Sedgwick

Sedgwick is back at the adoption center for the second time.  Photo: Annette Birch

by Annette Birch

Sedgwick was looking out from his glass cage with a thoughtful look in his yellow green eyes at the people passing by and the other cats playing in the small hallway between the cages. Elizabeth Franklin, one of the volunteers at the center, nudged him through the bars.

“He is just as sweet as he can be,” she said.

On Nov. 23, also known as “Black Friday” or the post-Thanksgiving sales, the Washington Rescue League offered a deal of its own: reduced prices to adopt cats and dogs.

Sedgwick, a five-year-old tabby cat, suffers from a birth defect which affects his balance. Dr. Janet Rosen, medical director at the center, suspects that he got the birth defect, either because his mother got vaccinated or had a viral disease called feline distemper.

“It is a little like Parkinson for humans, but with Sedgwick it is very mild. His balance is bad, but he does not have any problems mentally and seems to know what is going on. In fact, Sedgwick might learn to compensate over time,” she said.

Back for a second time

Only six months old and having trouble using his hind legs, Sedgwick was found outside a shelter in 2007 and from there came to the animal adoption center.

Mary Jarvis, program coordinator at the center, said Sedgwick was adopted by a Maryland woman who returned him to the shelter five years later when her allergies became a problem.

Let into a larger cage, Sedgwick could walk around, use the scratching board and was eager to be petted, eyes watching everything going on outside the cage.

The younger ones are adopted first

The odds are against Sedgwick, however, because he is an older cat. The Washington Animal Rescue League normally has around 50 cats and 100 dogs, most of them come from local shelters via Washington Humane Society, an animal shelter and advocacy group in Washington, D.C. Cats usually got adopted within three to four weeks. However, Jarvis explained that older cats like Sedgwick could risk staying longer, the kittens were adopted first.

“We have had cats here for a year, but eventually they get adopted. We do not euthanize unless they are very sick or very aggressive,” she said.

John Murray, who was looking at the cats together with his wife and three children, two boys of two and a half and seven years old and a girl of five, did not think the age of the cats made a difference.

“We are just looking for a friendly cat. The age does not matter,” he said.

Chris Flynn, who was there with his wife and four children between nine and 13 years old, agreed. He already had two cats, one dog and two stray cats.

However, like many other people that day they did not look at Sedgwick and the children played with the kittens.

Other cats got adopted, but not Sedgwick

At the end of the day, there were 27 applications for adoption of cats and dogs at the center. Jarvis concluded that the Black Friday reduced prizes had been a success. “We are not usually this busy during the day. We see more people coming and more animals getting adopted because of Black Friday discounts,” she said.

However, nobody had applied to adopt Sedgwick. Franklin though was confident that Sedgwick would also find a home.

“It is just a matter of finding the right person. We got another one, Checkers, who had the same condition as Sedgwick. She was adopted pretty fast,” she said.

School closings can affect kids at Dupont Circle

by Annette Birch

The school system wants to close two schools, noting that there are fewer school-aged kids in the area. But parents are upset, arguing that the schools their kids will be sent to are too full already and more kids may be coming soon.

John W. Ross Elementary School at Dupont Circle, which only has the capacity to hold 250 students and one class per grade, will be one of four elementary schools from Georgetown to Chinatown, if Francis-Stevens Education Campus and Garrison Elementary School are closed.

Melissa Salmonowitz, spokesperson for District of Columbia Public Schools, a government agency under the District of Columbia, did not think that the closings will be a problem for kids in the Dupont Circle area.

“We don’t anticipate any consequences for Ross students, should Francis-Stevens or Garrison be consolidated in the 2013-2014 school year.” On the contrary, closing the schools would, in her opinion, allow money to be spent offering more services to the remaining schools.

Timothy R. Ryan, who lives at Foggy Bottom, just next to the Dupont Circle area, does not agree. He enrolled his 3-year-old son in the pre-school at Francis-Stevens Elementary School instead of a private daycare, because he wanted him close to the community and with kids from different backgrounds.

“It would be horrendous. This is the community school for the Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle area. Ross is already full and there is no other walkable school option. It would have a very big impact on the community,” Ryan said.

Kids would be put in trailers

Kaya Henderson, chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools, proposed on Nov. 13 that 20 public schools, among these Francis-Stevens and Garrison, should be closed, due to fewer families with kids in school age. Both Francis-Stevens and Garrison are under enrolled and over half of the kids are from outside the school district.

However, Lord pointed out that Ross and the two other elementary schools, besides Seaton, where the kids from Francis-Stevens would be send, is already overbooked.

“There are already very few schools in ward two. Ross Elementary School is already oversubscribed, parents within the ward’s boundary cannot get in there.” She also pointed to that according to the chancellor’s own plan population projections indicate that the school-age population from 2015 may grow in the center of the city.

Ann McCloud, president of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) at Garrison Elementary School, was also afraid that Seaton Elementary School, where kids within the school district should go to, would not have the capacity to provide a proper education for all kids.

“Because of the capacity of the school, the kids would be put into trailers to provide for temporary classrooms in the school yard,” she predicted.

Ryan knows what he would do if Francis-Stevens is closed.

“I will move if Francis-Stevens closes, even though I have lived here for 20 years. I will not feel comfortable sending my son to a school on the other side of Adams Morgan, where the crime rates are higher,” he said.

Prospects for the future are still uncertain

Bob Meehan, member of the Advisory Neighborhood Board (ANC), a group of elected neighborhood representatives, at Dupont Circle, thinks that the protests will have an impact on the decision to close the schools.

“I don’t think they will close, because there is so much support for these schools from the parents and city council member Jack Evans,” he said.

Lord was not as sure. However, she admitted that there was need for reform, especially with clear cases of under enrollment, but pointed to that the central office at least should have talked with the principals and teachers before they made the proposal and do an assessment of the problems and opportunities of each school.

“I would recommend that we have a community assessment, which goes with every school. It has to be about improving performance for kids and taking into consideration the special needs of the community and each school’s personality,” Lord said.

Meanwhile, the parents in or near the Dupont Circle area will have to wait for the chancellor’s decision, which is expected in January 2013.

An unordinary drug arrest in an ordinary neighborhood

by Annette Birch

Police has indicted 34 persons on charges of selling heroin, cocaine and other drug throughout the greater D.C. area. One of them, Ricky Canty, 27, was arrested near Dupont Circle on Nov. 30. He is accused of participating in an illegal drug operation in the Georgia Avenue corridor, 17^th and Euclid Streets NW, the 1600 block of Fuller Street NW and several other areas in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Ricky Canty is presently being detained and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. William Miller, spokesman from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, declined to give further information on the case because of the pending prosecution.

Drugs are a problem, but on a smaller scale

Ricky Canty was picked up by the police at 1600 block of V-Street, a residential area surrounded by the local police station and embassies. However, arrest records from the third district of the Metropolitan Police of the District of Columbia, which spans from Georgetown to Chinatown, showed that drug arrests in other places of the third police district are not uncommon. In the last month, arrests for drug-related crimes constituted 22 percent of arrests for that district.

Most of the arrests are possession or distribution of smaller amounts of drugs, mostly marijuana, but also smaller amounts of cocaine and heroin.

Marco Santiago, who is spokesman for the third district in the Metropolitan Police District of Columbia, confirmed that this is a general trend in the third district.

“A lot of it is a little bit of crack, marijuana and 1 percent of meth,” Santiago said. Exact figures were unavailable because the police department is currently reviewing its records on drug-related offenses.

Drug crimes move westwards

However, even small drug-related crimes are much more likely to take place farther east at 11^th and 12^th Street. Crime statistics from the police showed that crimes near the Dupont Circle area are much more likely to be theft and larceny.

Kishan Putta, newly elected member for the Advisory Neighborhood Board 2B, a government group made up of elected neighborhood representatives, agreed that the Dupont Circle area is fundamentally a very safe place. However, he also indicated that the new construction area at 14^th and U-Street, an area close to Dupont Circle, were more likely to bring crime closer to Dupont Circle.

“There are many new people coming in and as there are many longtime residents there is a potential for conflicts. The new residents are buying old buildings and making them better, but at the same time there are also low-income citizens and they should co-exist together,” he said.

Santiago said that revitalization efforts would ultimately help reduce crime in the area, but in the short term they might lead to more problems.

“The baggage of the revitalization of 14^th and U-Street is prostitution and drugs, because a lot of construction workers frequent these,” he said.

District of Columbia can become the first jurisdiction to recommend the federal implementation of the DREAM Act

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by Annette Birch

Washington, D.C., is considering a resolution recommending Congress pass an act granting a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children under certain circumstances.

If approved by the city council, the resolution would be the first passed in favor of the DREAM Act by a local or state government.

Lizette Arias, who testified at the city council public hearing on Nov. 13, came to the United States from Bolivia when she was two months old and does still not have a residence permit.

“I lived a very different life than if I had been documented. As a child, there was always the danger of being deported and my parents did not want me to travel, and there was always the danger of being deported,” she said.

Arias graduated from college last year and is now interning part-time at DREAM project, Inc., a non-profit organization paying for immigrants to go to college.

“I like to think that I make a difference for people like me.” In September, she applied for deferred action, which, if granted, would give her a two-year work permit, but would not give her lawful status.

A good education is often not an option for illegal immigrants

Immigration Policy Center, a non-profit organization which provides research and analysis about immigrants and immigration in the United States, estimates that there are  1,711 foreign born persons under 30 years old in the District of Columbia, like Arias, would meet the general requirements for the DREAM Act.  Of these 94 percent are of Latino origin, 2 percent of Asian origin, 2.7 percent of European origin and 1.3 percent comes from other regions.

Latin American Youth Center, a non-profit organization which helps Latino and African immigrant youths 11 to 24 years old, believes that the biggest problem for illegal immigrants is that they cannot access the resources available.

“They cannot go to college, get well paid jobs, take English classes or access community resources, if they do not have documentation,” said Ariseli Rosenburger, a spokeswoman for the Development Communication Manager at the Latin American Youth Centre.

Arias had to fight to get into a good college, while her sister who is two years younger and born in the United States got into her dream college without problems, got driver license and could travel abroad. “It was especially hard, when I was in high school and wanted to go to college as I did not qualify for in-state tuition, even though I got straight A’s, and the outer state and national colleges were too expensive,” she said.

DC Council resolution can get the ball rolling

Crispus Gordon, legislative assistant to the D.C Council Judiciary Committee, emphasized that this action is not the same one taken by Maryland, which passed its own version of the DREAM Act. “This is an official statement from D.C. Council asking Congress to pass the federal DREAM Act.” In order to get adopted the resolution needs to be adopted by a majority vote at the DC Council Judiciary Committee in Nov. 29 and by the Committee of the Whole at a meeting to be held between Dec. 4 and Dec. 18.

However, both Arias and Rosenburger believes that it would be a strong signal to Congress, if the resolution got adopted. “The D.C. Council resolution could get the ball rolling. Hearing people’s voices might influence things on a national level,” Rosenburger said.

Local business promotes artists at Dupont Circle

Margret Kroyer with one of her pictures. Photo: Annette Birch

by Annette Birch

Margrét Kröyer has two goals: to make art and to help children learn about art. The Iceland native moved to Washington in 2009 to make a living from her art and help children and teen-agers who cannot afford art school. “I think everyone should have access to art,” said Kröyer, 45.

Kröyer’s apartment is full of her brightly colored paintings, hanging on or leaning against the wall. Some of her other paintings are exhibited at galleries in Washington, D.C.

ArtJamz, a Dupont Circle shop where anyone can paint, is promoting Kröyer at a bazaar on Nov. 18. The bazaar is being held in collaboration with ArtSee, an organization that promotes art.

Need for promoting local art

Michael M. Clemens, chief creative enabler at ArtJamz, was inspired to hold the bazaar by the local artists who work at ArtJamz and other artists who come there to paint. “One of the challenges for the local artists is to have someone to showcase their work. The goal is to get the art out to the general public, also those who do not go to art exhibitions and make ArtJamz a gateway where people can get involved in art,” she said.

ArtJamz has 12 local artists. Among them is Lindsay Routt who is also exhibiting her paintings at the bazaar. The 23-year-old juggles a full time job as an event and meeting coordinator, volunteers at ArtJamz and works as an artist. She expects to be able to meet local people and get new ideas from the Bazaar. “It is nice to sell work, but I also like to see and interact with the people, hear their stories, get ideas,” she said.

Engaging in the local community

Kröyer believes that Dupont Circle presents a wide range of opportunities for new artists. “Dupont Circle is such a great place for an artist, accessible and full of small galleries and museums. It is easy to form connections if you are just open,” she said.

ArtJamz wants to take part in that tradition. “It is just natural if you have a local studio you want to support local artists,” Clemens explains. “You cannot just focus on your own business. It is like the saying ‘A rising tide lifts all boats.’ When you think about local artists, you do not just think about your own business, but help the art scene to rise.”

Jack Jackson, secretary of the Urban Neighborhood Alliance thinks that ArtJamz can help promote artists in Dupont Circle, a goal of his group. Urban Neighborhood Alliance is a local organization that sponsors the 17^th Street Festival, where local business gets the opportunity to meet local artists. Mike Feldstein, Vice Chair of Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2B, a government agency made up of elected neighborhood representatives, agrees. “It is a great idea and we would like to encourage this kind of initiative, because it could help the community,” he said.

Clemens doesn’t know if there will be another event in the future. “I do want to follow up on the bazaar, but whether it will actually happen, will depend on the success of the bazaar.”

The opening of The Huxley brings exclusivity to a diverse night life area

The official opening of the Huxley, a new night club at Dupont Circle, on Nov.15.   Photo: Annette Birch

by Annette Birch

The Huxley, a new night club Las Vegas style at Dupont Circle, opened Thursday night Nov. 15. Even a block away, it’s obvious that the Huxley is a different kind of club. The new Dupont Circle night club aims for a Las Vegas-style of exclusivity and the front door had a quiet ambiance to it which contrasted with the usual line of chatting clubgoers down the street.

The private opening was attended by 280 guests, including Vincent Gray, mayor of Washington, D.C., who did the ribbon cutting, and other people in entertainment, politics and media. Eric Lund, one of the owners of the Huxley, said the club aims for a high level of customer service.

“For example a presentation of a bottle of expensive champagne becomes an event, not just a presentation,” he said.

New combination of high style night club and event place at Dupont Circle

The night club opened for the public on Friday and will in future only be a night club on Fridays and Saturdays, while on Sundays to Thursday it hosts private events such as charity balls and private parties.

The idea of starting a combined night club and event place himself is not new to Lund, who has been producing night life events for years.

“I always wanted to have my own space and have been looking for the right location and space for it in several years. Dupont Circle is one of the best locations in the city and this place has high ceilings and venues on the ground floor which otherwise is difficult to find here,” he said.

Earlier, the night club stated that admission on opening night would be restricted to a guest list, an unusual event in Washington, D.C.’ nightlife. After a number of people complained in Internet forums, the owners announced anyone could come by reserving a table in advance or if they arrived in black-tie formal wear.

The opening is in the center of a boiling night life

Huxley Night Club opens in Dupont Circle, an area that with its many restaurants, cafes, bars and lounges, is already known for its night life and upper scale clientele. Ravi Bayankar, who works at entertainment company Panorama Productions, said Washington’s nightlife is very diverse and upscale.

“You’ll find celebrity actors, musicians, athletes and politicians mixed in with college students, artists, lobbyists, business owners, finance people, etc.,” he said.

Bayankar said the area north of Dupont Circle is known for restaurants that are quaint and gay-friendly, while the area to the south, where the Huxley is, features more dance clubs and pop music.

Usman Jack Asif from Night Life Agency, an agency which arranges events at night clubs, agrees.

“The clientele is mostly upper scale. For example at Current, you can purchase VIP tables for $ 300 a table or just pay at the door.” The clubs has a capacity for up to 600 people, some up to 3,000. The night club Current allows both guests to reserve spaces in advance on a guest list and pay at the door.

On contrast, The Huxley is much smaller, requires stricter dress code and aims for a more exclusive air.  However, Eric Lund thinks that Dupont Circle is ready for a night club Las Vegas style like Huxley Night Club.

“I have been doing events for 12 years here and have been doing 250 events here. I know what Washington is like and I think it is ready for this.”

National Chess day brings people out to play chess at Dupont Circle Park

Sidd and Rishab Kishan plays chess at National Chess Day at Dupont Circle. Photo: Annette Birch.

by Annette Birch

Sidd Kishan is only seven, but he’s played chess for three years. On a recent Sunday, Sidd, his 11-year-old brother Rishab and their father came to Dupont Circle Park to play chess. “It is fun and you learn a lot about tactics,” says Sidd, looking up from a black-and-white chess board.

Sunday, Oct. 14, is National Chess Day. Dupont Festival, a nonprofit which promotes cultural activities, is working with U.S. Chess Center, which teaches chess to schoolchildren, to arrange chess games at Dupont Circle Park. “We want people to have fun. Dupont Circle is such a great place to do it,” says Gavin Francis, executive coordinator for U.S. Chess Center.

Like Rashibh and Sidd, several kids and adults with or without experience in chess sit down on a sunny day in the middle of October for a game of chess at tables with chessboards in black and whites, which surrounds the statue at Dupont Circle Park. “It is not every day you get a chance to play chess,” says Jennifer Hicks, who sat down at a checkered table while out for a walk.

Chess teaches skills to kids

The U.S. Chess Center teaches kids in the D.C. metro area to improve their academic and social skills. It started in 1992 and has taught over 30,000 kids how to play chess. Francis looks around at people sitting at the chessboards. “Chess is so much more than a game. It helps kids to develop their problem-solving skills, academic performance and how to prioritize.” Gregory Achelonu, a senior chess master at the U.S. Chess Center who is teaching people in the Circle strategies of chess agrees. “It is fun and it builds your character. Students who have problems and do not do well in school, are isolated, find through chess a way to be part of a chess society and be successful in life.”

Ryan Jones, who teaches kids chess every Saturday at the U.S. Chess Center, shows Rashibh, Sidd and other kids how to move the individual pieces, adding more pieces for each game. “That is what we are trying to do,” he said. “Teach kids the moves one by one, then put it all together. It is like in life where everything also have different roles, limitations and parts and must work together in order to succeed.”

Jones, playing against the clock, almost lost to an eight-year-old girl. “It has been a good day for us. A lot of people came out to play, both adults and kids,” Gavin Francis concludes. Aaron Deny, Dupont Festival, agrees. He hopes to make this an annual event, maybe even more.

Friendship, second chances and rock ‘n’ roll

Ernest Coleman (right) with his friend Erskin Gregory, relaxing and listening to music

at Dupont Circle Park.    Photo: Annette Birch

by Annette Birch

Ernest Coleman is 62 years old, living in a homeless shelter, without a job or much money. But for now, that doesn’t matter. Right now, he is just sitting on a bench in Dupont Circle Park with his friend Erskin Gregory, blasting Chuck Berry’s version of “Roll Over Beethoven” from a tiny portable stereo.

“I come here every day, play music and make people happy,” he says. “It helps us and it helps them.”

The two men are a common sight in the park, sharing their love of rock ‘n’ roll of the 1950s with the people walking by. Some may find it a distraction, but on this day Coleman is happy, because in two weeks he gets an apartment and he is no longer addicted to alcohol and drugs.

Gregory, who has just turned 66 years, nods, making the Redskins chain around his neck rattle. “I met Ernie out here at Dupont Circle. Three years ago. He is my buddy. We play music and dance with people.”

Some people passing by stop and listen to the music. “I come here every day. I love the old rock ‘n’ roll,” Kenny Auster says and sits down at a nearby bench. He is supervisor at DC Main Streets, which is a local governmental program that supports retail investment in the District through the retention and expansion of existing businesses and the recruitment of new businesses.

Michael Kay agrees. He works nearby as an architect and comes here every day with his yellow-orange dog Rosie, a mix between a golden retriever and Australian cattle dog.

Steven Oliver, who manages the small park for the National Park Service, believes the music makes a difference for the people in the park and people passing by. “The music is good for the area. It reduces a lot of stress around here. Some people stop and listen. Some stop and dance.”

Gregory pops another tape into the stereo and Carl Perkins begins singing “Blue Suede Shoes.” Coleman dances a few steps and then sits down with Gregory. “Erskin is my friend. We want the same things like being drug-free, having a good time, talking about positive things. I can always talk to him about problems I am having and he gives me some good advice.”

Coleman and Gregory met three years ago in the park, where Gregory was playing music and Coleman used to come with his father. Both Coleman and Gregory enjoyed listening to rock ‘n’ roll from the 1950s and they found that they could talk about everything. It was also Gregory who supported Coleman, when he decided to stop drinking and join a rehabilitation program for men at the Oxford House, which is an umbrella organization with connections to treatment facilities for houses established, supported and run by recovering individuals. “He is a pretty good influence, because he does not drink or take drugs,” Coleman says about his friend. Although Gregory used to drink and take drugs, he stopped when he realized it was getting him nowhere. “So he is doing pretty good now. Since I stopped drinking and doing drugs, I have been doing pretty good,” Colemna says.

But it has not always been like this. Coleman has been drinking since he was 17 years old, a habit he picked up from his father. The drinking escalated when he went to Vietnam for three and a half years. He also got into heroin in order to deal with the shock of seeing his friends getting killed and the daily fear of being destroyed himself.

Back home, Coleman lost his job to alcohol and heroin, and after he lost the woman he loved to sickle cell anemia, things just went from bad to worse and in the end he left where he was living and went to the streets. For over 15 years Coleman lived from day to day on the streets, sleeping in the parks, drinking out of open containers and getting food where he could find it. “The truth is, it is a living hell being homeless. Because you know you sleep on the outside, you don’t know if someone’s going to hurt you or not, you cannot really sleep, because you have to have one eye open and one eye closed all the time.”

Sitting on a bench at Dupont Circle Park with his friend Gregory beside him and Bill Haley and the Comets singing “See you later, alligator” in the background, it seems like a long time ago, and yet the consequences remain. Coleman still needs to move into his new apartment and find a job. But for now, he is sitting in the park on a nice day with his friends, blasting their favorite songs.

Walkathon at Dupont Circle raises money for homeless Latinos

by Annette Birch

Carlos has seen firsthand what homelessness does to a person – and to a family. He had a family and a job as a deputy court clerk, but he lost it all when he started using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. After several years he got back to his family and now has a job as a security officer. Carlos joined other advocates for the homeless walkathon in Dupont Circle on September 14 to raise money for homeless Latinos.

“2003 I was in the street. I had abandoned my house because of drugs and personal matters. I lived in the parks.”  Carlos volunteers together with his wife and daughter for DC Doors which is the beneficiary of the walkathon and helps homeless Latino women, children and families. Each year DC Doors helps over 80 individuals to move from homelessness to permanent housing. The walkathon is one of several walks for the homeless in Washington, D.C. It was held by Fannie Mae, a government-supported  company which backs home mortgages.

The homeless situation in Washington, D.C. has not improved. There were 6,546 homeless people in Washington, D.C in January 2011, according to the latest count by the Community Partnership for the  Homelessness. Twenty-two percent of them are Latinos. This is a 9.3 percent increase since 2008-2011.

The Executive Director of DC Doors, Janethe Pena, has seen how the problems for Latino homeless persons have gotten worse since 2009. “The economic crisis has made everything worse. Recently we have seen that people who got homeless can be well educated, but cannot hold a job. The Latino community takes care of its own. But it gets to a point where there is no more options,” Pena said.

Back from the streets

Over half of homeless people in Washington, D.C, a total of 3,553 persons, are single, predominantly male like Carlos. But he decided to change his life – and he got help from a homeless shelter, ‘La casa’, the Spanish word for “house”, which like DC Doors is one of the few English-Spanish bilingual initiatives for people who are homeless in Washington, D.C.

It happened on one day where, like so many days, Carlos wasn’t sure where he would sleep until he stumbled on a shelter. “Walking in the Latin quarters of Mount Pleasant, I saw a sign which said ‘La Casa,’” he said. He was accepted into the men-only shelter after a process that included a seven-day detoxification at a nearby hospital.

Life at the shelter was not always easy. There were no individual rooms, only rooms with bunk beds. “It was a strange living. We were 24 regular people registered, but at 6 p.m. they opened their doors for other homeless people who could come in from the street, get food, being washed and stay till 6 a.m. in the morning. It could get very crowded at night,” Carlos said.

There was a strict procedure about no drugs and no alcohol at the shelter. The first seven days nobody was allowed to go anywhere, watch TV or do any form of recreation. After seven days they could share their experiences with others. Everyone got a specific task, such as cleaning toilets, washing dishes or cleaning the kitchen and everyone had to make sure their bed was in order, they were clean and their clothes washed.

“I learned a lot. I learned to respect others and not violate their space. And I learned how to behave and how to communicate. It also taught me that I should return to my family and tell my wife and my children that I was sorry,” Carlos said and had to look down to hide the tears in his eyes. After 6 months Carlos got a space at his mother’s house and visited his family. Gradually he gained the trust of his wife again and now they are back together.