♪♪ >> Homelessness in America is a multifaceted and constantly changing issue.

The increasing cost of housing and rent makes it impossible for many individuals and families to secure stable housing.

The American economy is unstable, and this puts a lot of pressure on the working class.

Job loss, underemployment, and low wages often result in financial instability, making it challenging for people to meet their basic needs like food and shelter.

Most people's perceptions of homelessness are based on myths and often fail to acknowledge the humanity of those experiencing it.

Let's reframe the mindset of homelessness together.

♪♪ ♪♪ Welcome to Homelessness Reframed.

I'm your host, Morgyn Wood.

Today we'll talk about housing insecurities and food insecurities and how they're impacting those in the DC area.

Our panel discussion will take place in Miriam's Kitchen, located in Washington, DC.

The culinary staff is currently prepping meals to feed those in need.

Welcome.

Joining us to talk about housing insecurity is April Veney, MPA.

She is the Senior Case Manager here at Miriam's Kitchen.

We're also joined by Scottie Irving.

He is the CEO of Blue Skye Construction.

Welcome, Scottie.

And Tony Burns, my friend off camera, Tony.

He's a Guest Advisory Board member here at Miriam's Kitchen.

Thank you, guys, for joining us.

So thank you for-- >> Thank you for having us.

>> So let's talk about housing insecurity.

Let's start with what is housing insecurity?

What do you define it as?

>> So, for me, I would define it as, you know, not having a place to call home.

You can't go-- you know, somewhere that's yours is just yours, and you can do what you want to do in your home.

So it's just having a place to have to call home, in my opinion.

>> Yeah.

I 100% agree that, that transition sometimes that you might be going through and no place to go and no place yours.

You close your door or go in the bathroom, never quiet moment of -- >> Yeah.

For me, what comes to mind is when you don't have a mortgage to pay, you don't have a lease in your own name, you don't have a place to call your own, it's housing is the-- >> Let's start with you, Tony.

Can you talk to me and tell me a little bit more about your story?

>> Sure.

My story starts with actually health, physical health.

That was impacting my ability to be able to maintain employment so that I would be able to pay my rent.

So that's how housing insecurity or instability started with me.

I would say those words are interchangeable.

And it doesn't really matter what you call it.

If you don't have a place to call your own where you're the lease holder or you're-- you know, you own that deed, we got a problem.

And so I had a problem.

>> So-- it doesn't-- say that it looks like you don't have a problem now.

How do you then go from housing insecurity, housing instability?

Where does that-- what happened between then and now?

Talk to me about that transition.

>> Okay.

What happened between then and now is that I educated myself.

I availed myself to the support that was available to me being a DC resident, signing about-- finding out about decent and affordable housing, finding out about programs that came to my rescue, so much so that I'm able to tap into being a part of the team, the collaboration that shows there's various spaces of what housing insecurity and instability look like.

So sometimes, it's not always what you see.

It's actually what's going on.

And so Miriam's Kitchen was-- they were very instrumental in helping me elevate.

When I met Miriam's Kitchen, I was already housed.

I have a background in advocacy for healthcare, HIV, cancer, etc.

But Miriam's Kitchen definitely helped to elevate my housing.

I was already housed.

I am now a resident of Foggy Bottom and have been a resident of Foggy Bottom for almost six years.

So that was then, and this is now.

And I'm just happy to be here to kind of spread the word, you know.

Part of what we do here is we're trying to show the various faces of what homelessness and housing insecurity and instability looks like.

It's not always what you think.

And we're here to, as a team, a collaboration, show the many faces of what that looks like and how we partner together.

Each person has something to contribute.

And I'm just happy to be here with brothers and sisters who have a piece of this.

I'm very impressed with my colleagues sitting next to me being in construction.

And then, without a case manager, you can't get a lot done.

So I'm just happy to be here and happy to shed a light from the perspective of somebody with a lived experience.

It's worth you educating yourself.

It's worth you availing yourself, and then you may find yourself wanting to give back a little.

>> I just think when-- that the narrative has to change.

Like, we-- I'm a big believer that, if we say that everything about homeless is bad, bad, bad, we're telling that narrative.

And people get comfortable with it being a bad issue.

Now, we must sell the good side of it so people can be comfortable with that narrative, that it's being reduced, that we are building homes, that we are spending money for-- to create opportunity and homes for homeless individuals.

The problem is, once the narrative stay narrative and people get-- that narrative stay that way, people get comfortable with it so nothing going to happen, right.

So they don't push for change.

But if people fight for change and knowing that there's some good in here, that fight will continue.

It's like a football game.

If you behind by the fourth quarter and you give up-- >> Right-- >> -- you don't have a chance of winning the game.

But if you start making, you know, momentum, and the fourth quarter come and you're in the game to win and you're the underdog and you in the game, you got a chance.

You're going to play a little bit harder to win.

And I think a narrative of homelessness, as well as other things, need to change in the city so we can understand and we can really win at this game.

>> Now, housing in DC is not cheap.

It does not come easy.

Talk to me about how Miriam's Kitchen can help bridge that gap.

>> So most of our clients have-- you know, they receive a voucher, a local voucher.

And the-- it's not-- it's not easy.

And DCHA has a housing payment standard that we have to go by.

And some landlords, if not most, are aware of DCHA standards because they participate in the program as, you know, landlords who house individuals that have vouchers.

And so the PSH program, we help those clients to identify those units.

We go through the process for them.

We try to go through the process for them.

Some clients, you know, excited and they just try to move forward.

But we assist them with that process and making sure, hey, this is rent reasonable, this area's rent reasonable.

This is a really nice unit, you know.

So we do-- we help them locate a rent reasonable place based on Haven standards.

>> Talk to me about that process.

What does it look like to get into the process of needing housing and where do you start?

>> Well, I think it starts with the housing authority, DHCD.

I think it start with the turner citizen director.

I think it starts with Health and Human Services.

I think it starts in all those places and having a direct conversation on how we address who's coming home.

And I think our system has to start tracking even our kids in college.

Who goes off to college?

What are they coming back to?

What's the environment that they come back to, and how can we help them?

If the city employ 30,000 people, people are aging out, so how do we incorporate them so they don't become members?

How do we create jobs for them so they don't become homeless?

I think it starts downtown, Wilson building, and fan out from there.

>> What about you, April?

>> Actually, I agree with CJ a lot.

I think that it does start with, you know, the-- those who are-- is over, you know, providing the housing and stuff, especially the subsidy.

>> Systems in place.

>> Systems in place.

Yeah.

I definitely agree with all of that.

I also think that, you know, people also, we all-- we all have to take accountability for ourselves, too, and each other because, you know, it was the same back when I was coming up.

Each one teach one.

And so help each other to understand that it's okay to have a shelter in this neighborhood because we want-- you may have something in your neighborhood that that person can benefit from and, you know, prosper.

And there you go.

You have another great person develop in there.

So I think it, along with the systems in place, everybody has to take accountability for theirselves and individuals as well.

>> What would you say someone who does not want to shelter in their community, what would you say to them because of, let's say, violence or increased loitering or, you know, any of the other things that we might want to myth bust today?

>> So I always ask people, where do you prefer to live?

Because I understand, you know, you may be homeless and on the streets in Southeast, but you may not want that to be your permanent residence.

And most people don't.

They want to go in a different area.

They want to restart their life and regain their power.

And, you know, so my job is to empower them to live a better life.

It doesn't matter what your background is.

It doesn't matter where you come from.

You can live up Northwest on the top floor in a penthouse if it's rent reasonable.

We can do that.

And so we do try to make sure that they get into the newer units where, you know, they is more modernized with washers and dryers and, you know, the cable ready, a balcony they can sit on, or they have a nice garden they can go sit in or a lobby they can go sit in and play games and entertain their families and friends.

>> It's the little amenities that go a long way.

>> Definitely.

>> Can you talk more about that?

>> So what we do at Blue Skye and what we have done, we was a part of building what's called an 801 men's shelter.

It was a 400-unit building in Southeast DC.

It was a city project that cost about $65 million.

And when we built out that development deal or that housing, we made sure that it had a kitchen in there, that it-- made sure it had a game room in there, that it made sure it had outdoor space and indoor green space, even indoor green space for individuals to be able to live.

What I love about that project that it was a day-- a section that was just for day where you get up, take your shower, go to work, come back.

And then there was another area B that was for long-term stay.

So I was really happy to be a part of that as well as what's called a New York day center that's downtown where homeless individuals can go and wash their clothes and get a meal and get a haircut.

And our latest project is what's called an Ethel.

And it's 100 units of permanent placement housing over Southeast.

But like she said, we-- the city has turned a corner.

I was born and raised here.

I have really seen it, the homeless situation at its worst.

I'm seeing the numbers go down.

I'm seeing the city spend millions and millions of dollars on reducing it.

And I think it's important that we incorporate everyone and all acts of life to make sure that we can support them, not just once we build it but the wraparound service.

In the Ethel, we have a hair salon.

We have a store where they can buy clothes.

We also have kitchens, testing kitchens in there where they learn how to cook before they go upstairs.

And in their first apartment, some of these people, this is their very first apartment.

Never had an oven.

Never had a stove.

Never had a kitchen.

So we have testing kitchens downstairs with someone come in once a month and teach them how to cook vegetables, how to do your fruit, how to cook your greens and all these things.

So the wraparound service that she provides is one of the most important aspects of it because, if you've been homeless most of your life and get your first place, you need her service.

So I think the city has moved mountains to get us to where we are with a lot of more mountains to move.

>> What are some myths about homelessness or surrounding homelessness, the topic, that you guys would like to just eradicate and bust today?

>> Yeah.

Everybody, you can't look at a person and say that, you know, you're bad or you're no good for my community just because of the way they look or, you know, everybody that's homeless isn't homeless because they don't have money.

That's just not true.

Everybody that's homeless don't necessarily have a substance abuse problem.

Some have some true-- like he said, the PTSD, the military have mental health challenges where they're not able to maintain a home, and so they need services like the PSH program to assist them and help them to maintain they houses.

And it hasn't always been available.

So I think those are two of the biggest.

Like, just because they homeless doesn't mean they don't have money.

And just because that person looks real good doesn't mean that-- and dress to the top doesn't mean they aren't homeless.

So you can't look at a book and try to judge it.

You have to really get to know somebody to really understand where they came from and why they're in the place that they are right now.

>> And every year we constantly find individuals in high school and college that's homeless.

You know, they cannot afford a place to live or got into a situation at home.

And every year we constantly read those stories about the [inaudible] So I would just say that people, individuals who may turn to [indistinct] who coming home, is just looking for that job or just looking for a place for them to go, the federal government doing when mostly incarceration, incarcerated in a federal penitentiary, if they come back home and their family live in public houses, they can't return to that public house.

So those people aren't bad.

They just looking for a place to transition to.

And that's one of the things that we've been doing is making sure when individuals return, return home, that they have a job.

And I think that we have been constantly beating that door because if he get some resources, then he could try to balance out the home situation because the voucher might be slow to come, right.

In DC, if you've been incarcerated and you're 60 year old-- you're 60 years old, there's a voucher waiting for you.

But if you're younger than 60, there's not a voucher waiting for you.

So we try to make sure that we create opportunity for them to come.

Like she said, everybody isn't bad.

Some people have paid their debt to society.

They coming home on a clean slate, and they just looking for a place to move to call their own because they've been in an institution.

So they good people.

And it's not everybody bad people that became homeless.

Young, young ladies go-- went to Howard University, I read this story, became homeless because she had a baby and her parents told her she couldn't come back home.

So she ended up in a shelter, right.

And she was probably one of the first people and move into the Ethel to get her first apartment.

And so we see all different aspects of people becoming homeless.

>> What about you, Tony?

>> Yeah.

I'm just echoing what they're saying.

I think, as far as the youth is concerned, you know, we've got to look at the programs and the services that are available to our youth, particularly in DC now where we see a rise in crime.

And it really entails our youth.

Our youth are acting up.

Our youth are acting out.

And they are because they don't have what they need.

And, you know, one -- I'm glad to be a part of this strategic plan from Miriam's Kitchen because we identified issues of homelessness and housing insecurity at its root.

And what is at its root is racism.

That's at its root.

And then when you connect-- start to connect the dots, when you look at the majority of the youth that are acting up in DC, it's those youth that are coming from those places that are headed by household primarily of women.

They're primarily in public housing throughout the city.

In Wards 7 and 8, I know they get a lot of, you know, air play because of that.

But now we see it in other wards, too.

So we need-- we need the services for our-- for our youth.

And to talk about something you talked about a little bit earlier, for those areas in the wards, like I'm a resident of Ward 2.

There's going to be a shelter coming to Ward 2.

But it's going to be innovative.

It's going to be hands-on.

It's going to be-- it's going to have checks and balances.

So people who come there, they're going to get the services that they need.

There's going to be things required of them so that they could stay there.

And then you're not going to be able to stay there forever, but you have a period where you're going to graduate.

You're going to be able to elevate.

♪♪ >> Homelessness takes on many forms and affects us all.

Let's break down barriers and debunk myths surrounding it.

Myth: People who are homeless should just get a job, and then they would not be homeless.

Fact: Many people who are homeless do have jobs, sometimes two or even three.

The National Coalition for the Homeless estimates as many as 40 to 60% of people experiencing homelessness nationwide are employed.

However, a paycheck does not necessarily solve their homelessness or other challenges.

Myth: People who are homeless are dangerous, violent, and/or criminals.

Fact: A person who is homeless is no more likely to be a criminal than a person who is housed with one legal exception: camping ordinances.

People who are homeless break that law merely by being unhoused.

The reality is that most people spend their time and resources trying to survive and improve their situation.

Myth: There is nothing I can do about homelessness.

Fact: Effectively reducing homelessness will take the entire community working together around this common goal.

I hope that by keeping these facts in mind, we can work together towards our common goal of putting an end to homelessness.

Let's make a difference in people's lives and offer them the support they need to thrive.

>> So it's a lot of people, especially, like, in our specific area and outreach that we work with.

We cover 33 square miles of the city, which there are definitely like big pockets of people who are staying outside who we engage with like most often.

But it's, like, definitely a huge deal.

We are definitely seeing more people that we're coming across in outreach that we need to-- that need services and connections.

So we just do our best in order to, like, give people what they need.

So, yes.

They are called encampments.

There are multiple ones around the city.

And just in this like square mile that we have, there's at least like three or four.

So some are smaller.

Like, there's some across the street and maybe have two of them.

We have the biggest one, well, the biggest encampment in DC at this time just a couple of blocks up there, off 21st and E with about 40 people or like more than 40 people but at least like 40-plus tents that are there.

So that's one we are definitely, like, keeping track of, that we're engaging those folks and making them a priority so that we can ensure that people are housed and getting the services that they need.

So I know, like, when we talk with neighbors, when neighbors have questions, we usually tell them, like, it's very simple.

Like, these are people.

They are people just like anybody else.

They have feelings, they have their home.

They have likes and dislikes.

Like, they are a person.

And they need to be treated with individual respect.

And they're just like how you are, like the golden rule of like keeping with others, treat people as you will want others to treat you.

And that is how we go about treating them while we're in outreach and in this field.

And if more people did that and just, like, talked to people, like, people are great.

People are friendly.

Everybody has their own story, their own struggles, especially ones that you can relate to.

So if you just talk to them and just say, Hey.

Like, what's going on?

They're not scary.

And they are just-- they're just people with, like, struggles just like anybody else except you can see their struggles.

And, like, people make judgments upon that.

But, like, honestly, anyone can end up in this situation at any time.

And that's one thing that I have learned, like, talking to people.

It's just like, wow.

Like, you were a professor.

You were a teacher.

You're a mom.

Like, you have, like, a complex-- you're a complex human like anybody else, and you have-- you're just like anyone else.

And so if we just move with that basis of just, like, they're just a person just like me, then I think that the understanding of, like, homelessness and people who are experiencing it would just, like, be greater.

And we wouldn't have as many judgments going on if we just treated them as, like, the basic, if you would treat them as if, like, you want them to treat you.

And they deserve to have the privacy, whether it's public or it's on land, whether you can see it or, you know, it's just like a common courtesy and privacy.

And they are human.

And, like, just like how you would not want somebody to walk up into your home, they deserve the same respect and they want that respect.

So we try to make-- you should-- everyone should make sure that they are being considerate and, you know, just having good human interactions and just, like, being a good-- a good neighbor is what we usually call it, being a good neighbor to one another.

♪♪ >> The issue of homelessness in Washington, DC, is becoming increasingly severe.

According to the federally mandated annual census of the nation's homeless population, known as the Point-in-Time Count Survey, homelessness in DC has surged by 11.6% over the past year.

It's important to note that the PIT Count only provides a snapshot of the homeless population at a single point in time.

The survey is conducted once a year across the United States on a single night during the winter.

This year it was held in late January, and volunteers went out to the streets to speak with homeless individuals.

However, some experts believe that the PIT Count may miss some housing-insecure people who are not visibly homeless.

The latest count revealed that there are 4,922 unhoused people in the district, and half of them are experiencing homelessness in DC for the first time.

To address the issue, the district has funded thousands of permanent supportive housing vouchers to subsidize rent payments for those in need.

However, many who have received these vouchers have still struggled to find housing, and hundreds of vouchers remain unused.

♪♪ Right now we're talking food insecurity with Rachelle Ellison.

She is a Guest Advisory Board Member of Miriam's Kitchen.

We're also joined by the CEO here at Miriam's Kitchen, Scott Schenkelberg and CJ Clair who founded SOS Outreach, which stands for Saving Ourselves.

Thank you guys for joining us today.

>> It's an honor to be here.

>> So, Scott, we're here at Miriam's Kitchen.

Can you tell me what's going on behind us right now?

>> We are getting ready for our dinner service.

So we are cleaning the kitchen, prepping food, doing all the work that we can to serve upwards of 200 individuals when they start arriving later in the day.

So dishwasher running.

All the noise from behind us is for a good reason.

>> So we're talking food security.

And before we get into the topic, I think it's very important that we define what food security is.

What would you say it is?

Do you guys have a definition?

>> Food security for me means having enough to eat and enough to nourish your body, enough to fill yourself up.

And, unfortunately, a lot of our unhoused neighbors do not have those options.

>> And I might also add, like, I agree with everything you just said.

But also it's about having the right nutrients.

There are-- you know, there are a lot of cheap calories out there, and they don't really do you well.

And so for-- I think of people as food insecure, not only who-- would not have enough calories but don't have the right calories.

>> Tell me a story.

Who has gone through food insecurity lived experience?

Can you tell me about your experience?

>> I was homeless for 17 consecutive years, so food insecurity was a part of my everyday life.

I came here to Miriam's Kitchen because they served meals here.

They didn't have a lot of the things they have today, but they were warm.

They were welcoming.

And they got to know me by name.

And that was really important to me, to get the nutritious meals that I needed to go out throughout the rest of my day.

And I experienced the food insecurity even-- even after I was housed because, you know, staff benefits did not cover the nutrients like he was saying and healthy foods that you need to eat to survive.

We had to pretty much survive on whatever we can-- whatever we could get.

And, at that point, like, even shopping at Dollar Tree when you only got $30 in SNAP benefits, so it's amazing that the kitchens like Miriam's Kitchen are still here to even serve the-- those that are, you know, newly housed and the unhoused population.

>> Yeah.

I mean, I agree.

I think our experiences -- for me it wasn't so much we didn't have food.

It was just the quality of the food that we had.

I'm an inner city kid.

I grew up on subsidies, and I'm grateful for subsidies.

It fed us.

But, you know, I like cheese and milk.

Not the cheese that don't spread or the peanut butter that won't spread.

And, you know, so I just-- I believe sincerely that there are a lot of individuals who are eating but are not eating good at all, even with some of our subsidy programs.

They're still not eating good food, kind of what prompted me to get into the grocery drop off and then partnering with some of these major chains because I wanted people to eat the same thing I would eat.

If I wouldn't eat it, I wasn't going to serve it.

So I see food security as not just being truly but the types.

>> Absolutely.

>> I agree.

>> And that's, you know, for Miriam's Kitchen, you know, I don't-- I've been very fortunate in my life.

I've never dealt with food insecurity on a personal level.

You know, for us, you know, it isn't just, again, about getting caught-- getting any old calories in people's body.

You know, we actually have what we call our plate score.

And a plate score is really about the nutritional elements that go into each meal and making sure that, you know, all the nutrients that are required in each meal are present and which sometimes is a real challenge for us as an institution because the cheapest foods are the ones that don't have a lot of nutritional density to them.

>> Usually taste the best too.

>> They usually taste the best too.

You know, like, you can make great food that tastes really good, but it's going to cost more.

And, you know, so we believe that our guests, and that's how we refer to people coming in Miriam's Kitchen, deserve that quality because it isn't just about feeding someone's physical body.

It's also about giving them dignity, giving them choice, you know, as they come through and get their meals, like saying, hey, I want that vegetable.

No, I don't want that vegetable.

Oh, I'd like that dessert.

No, that [indistinct] because, in their day-to-day lives, they have so little choice.

And so, again, it comes back to this kind of wraparound.

You know, giving people -- you know, food isn't more than-- more than just calories and more than just nutrition.

It's also about memories, how we connect and how we identify ourselves and what we talk about and how we build community.

You know, so all those pieces play into it.

>> Absolutely.

If someone is facing a food insecurity, where would you suggest they start?

>> I start with Miriam's Kitchen.

Then I start with Bread For the City so places that can deliver food to those that are homebound.

Even they-- even people that can go out, you get-- if you're a single person, you get three pounds of meat and vegetables.

And you get to choose, as Scott said.

You get to make choices on what you put in your bag.

So Bread for the City and Miriam's Kitchen, places that actually serve food that people can actually go and get or get delivered to them.

>> I absolutely agree.

First of all, I would say that, you know, if you're unhoused, cooking your own food isn't really an option.

So coming to a place like Miriam's Kitchen where you literally get a box of food that you've chosen and it's ready to eat is, you know, the best way to do it.

If you're moved into housing and still food insecure, you know, a food pantry like Bread for the City where you have choice about the kinds of ingredients that go into that bag, which of those provisions, I mean, those are-- you know, I think those are really good options for folks.

And in an imperfect world where you have to have those options, I think those are good options.

>> Scott, can you elaborate on that and how Miriam's Kitchen operates?

And, you know, how do you decide who has a food insecurity, and how do you service them?

>> Sure.

I mean, Miriam's Kitchen welcomes anybody.

We do not ask questions as you come in the door.

Anybody could come in.

We do not ask you for proof of income, for your ID, any of that information.

If you show up and we are-- everybody is welcome to have a meal.

Everybody is welcome to have a meal.

And, you know, so we don't make those determinations.

I truly believe that, if people are showing up at Miriam's Kitchen, it's for a very good reason, you know, that they are trying to take advantage of a system or anything like that.

And frankly, you know, I don't care.

If they want to come in and get a meal, come in and get a meal.

For us, it's about meeting the need of people coming through the door, right.

You know, in the last six months, our numbers have been up probably anywhere between 35 and 40% in terms of the overall food demand that we've seen coming through this dining room.

We'll be serving-- we serve for an hour, and the line will literally be out the door, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, top of the hour when we stop service, and we keep going because we want to meet that need.

And so, you know, we always do it.

We've never cut corners on quality.

We've always done well even with increased volume, been able to produce really healthy, really appealing meals for folks.

And when people leave, they have this like nutritious meal.

And either they sit in the dining room and eat it, or they, you know, weather's nice outside, they take it outside.

Or they take it wherever they want.

So that's for our unhoused folks.

And, for the housed folks, you know, we have-- we produce extra meals here at Miriam's Kitchen.

We freeze those meals.

We deliver them to people.

We have groceries that we've gotten donated from various institutions that we then deliver to people as, you know, supplemental food.

We connect them with agencies like Bread for the City that have a more established program through Pantry Program.

So that's kind of how we attack it, kind of on a couple of different levels.

>> That sounds amazing, but I can't imagine that this work happens without challenge.

So what are some challenges that you face?

>> Well, a lot of it has to do with-- you know, I would say there's twofold.

One is, you know, this program is entirely paid for through donations.

You know, so-- and, you know, before the pandemic hit, we had also been able to get a lot of in-kind produce and other donations.

And we're still able to do so, but across the-- I mean, that just dried up.

You know, it was completely gone.

Like there was this month after all the restaurants closed that we got all this produce, stuff that was still good and were able to use it.

But, you know, as the pandemic wore on, that was not the case.

And even with the increased demand, getting the amount of donated food to be able to meet that increase is not always possible.

So we rely on, you know, monetary donations from people to not only pay for those things that we can't get donated but for all the amazing chefs that we have that prepare the food and coordinate our work with volunteers.

Another challenge across the pandemic was we had to limit the number of volunteers that were engaged in the program.

And that was the lifeblood of Miriam's Kitchen for most of its 40 years was having volunteers helping prepare meals as a way of keeping cost down, bringing people to the community, really engaging in their issue.

And we had to really curtail that across the pandemic.

So even though the pandemic is over, we are still in a process of rebuilding our volunteer pool and getting people back in the kitchen.

It has not been helped by the fact that people, a lot of people do remote work.

And so they would stop before they went to work or after they went to work to do a shift in the kitchen and help out.

And if you're not coming into downtown DC to do, you know, your office work, you're less incentivized to stop by Miriam's Kitchen before or after.

So it's been a little bit of a challenge kind of reestablishing what the new norms are.

>> Talk to me about what it's like here in Miriam's Kitchen.

What is the environment here?

>> The environment here is warm, inviting.

You know you're going to get a nutritious meal.

Now they have case management services.

They're amazing when trying to get you from match to lease out in the shortest amount of period of time.

And everybody, and I can say everybody being hired and worked here has the same spirit, that is inviting, warm, will treat you like you're on equal footing and equal ground.

You're not beneath anyone.

They're not going to talk to you like that.

You're not going to have any reason when you walk in this door, it's like you just get carefree because you already know you're in a place of love.

It's not only going to give you a healthy meal, but it's going to treat you like you're a human being.

And they're going to call you by name.

And that's so important.

>> Yeah.

You keep mentioning that.

That's like a reoccurring thing that you're mentioning about being seen, being called by name.

How important is that?

>> That is so important.

I was chronically homeless for 17 years, and people stepped over top of me and no one called my name.

No one hugged me.

No one touched me.

So I became this angry defensive person all the time because I felt so alone.

I felt invisible.

But when you walk in these doors and they start calling your name and knowing you by name and saying, Hey, Rachelle.

How you've been today?

Are you coming to get some food?

Do you need anything?

Do you need a birth certificate?

Do you need any kind of services?

It was an amazing feeling to have someone recognize me as a human being.

And then I knew I wasn't invisible anymore.

And that was the beginning of my journey out of the homeless population.

And I actually worked here not too long ago as the advocacy fellow.

So coming full circle here with an amazing group of people has been an amazing experience.

>> Talk to me about the youth and how schools can provide food for some of the youth.

But also, outside of school, how can food insecurity impact some of the-- >> To piggyback off of what Scott was saying, there's a term, "You are what you eat."

I didn't know the impact of food and how it affects your credit your brain, you know, how you curate things in life.

So a lot of young people, I love places like Miriam's Kitchen as well as, you know, some and those places that feed the homeless.

But the challenge that I've seen with middle school, high school aged kids, after, you know, the elementary is the pride factor.

Some young people will go hungry when we have resources like this, because they don't want to be seen coming to a quote, unquote, soup kitchen or whatever, what have you.

So, in the schools, what we begin to do at SOS is give those groceries.

Take those groceries to school.

Put them in book bags.

Hide them in rooms so the kids don't have to come to somebody and get it if they're having challenges at home.

They don't have to really be exposed to say, hey, we don't have the food that we need.

So we kind of just put them in bookbags.

Everybody knows that you go into that room and get the bookbags, they know they will have decent food to take home without the shame or the embarrassment of not having what they need to get those.

A lot of times we have food places that really cater to the homeless, and those individuals that don't have a challenge with coming to the place to eat.

But when you have people, a prideful people, not in a negative connotation but I just don't want people to know, you know, I'm bleeding or I'm hurting.

>> Yeah, yeah.

>> They'll go to school angry.

We see that.

And, you know, they'll get diagnosed as being belligerent or not wanting to comply, but they can't hear what the teacher is saying because the rumbling of their stomachs are too loud.

So how do we then get them the resources and the food that they don't know that they need because we prefer the quick thing.

A lot of our challenges in a community is learned behavior that was burned -- I eat what my momma eats, what my grandmother told her to eat, which was pretty much making the best out of nothing.

So that becomes a habit.

Now, you know, we love soul food, but we have hypertension and high blood pressure.

So I think along with providing food for individuals, we need to begin to educate them on the importance of food and the types of food that you're eating.

And, you know, we don't like vegetables, right?

However, I didn't know the chemical reactions to certain vegetables, you know, to certain foods, how it makes you feel-- how it makes you feel.

So my belief is, if we can educate on how to prepare some of this, you know, I don't know how to cook greens, right?

And so, with education, as far as school we're doing things and teaching them how to prepare healthy meals, not just giving them the food but here's some things you can eat.

Here's some things that you could enjoy outside of noodles and noodles.

You know, cheeseburger and hamburgers.

Our go-to meals, hot dogs, things like that, nothing against them.

I love a good glizzy, what the young people call them.

I love glizzies.

However, I can't live off of them.

And coming from the community that I come from that has some of these food disparities, it's the glizzy, the hot dogs, the noodles, and the carryout.

That's their options.

So not knowing that what you're eating is causing the attitude that's making you angry, that's raising the violence that's raising the altercations, and people never connect it to the food or you are what you eat.

So my approach has been first, let's curb that pride.

Let's get them some things anonymously.

And then let's begin to educate them on how to cook these things.

So those produce, as well, you know, sit in the refrigerator and the tomato done gone bad and you got a bottle of mayonnaise and some water, and that's your food.

So, you know, it's pretty much education and being sensitive to the mindsets of young people that's been joked on, bullied on as a result of them just not having -- >> Yeah.

>> Truly love that approach.

>> You touched on a good point there about how the food can impact, you know, how you feel.

And that can turn into violence in the community.

Why do you think that?

>> I mean, you know, since we were babies, you're angry when you're hungry.

You didn't get a bottle, you're upset, you know?

So it goes on through life.

And a lot of these young people are dealing with challenges that they didn't have a breakfast this morning.

But I come to school with an attitude because I'm hungry.

And nobody ever asks why I have an attitude.

I'm just diagnosed as he's bad or she's bad.

And then that creates the issue.

So, you know, it's a lot of how to process your emotions.

You know, everything we do is really tied to mental health.

But I didn't know the food and the connections to bad mental health.

>> Talk to me about how can some urban gardens and other local food resources help communities especially in food desert areas?

>> I myself actually have a card that $40 a month comes on and I still have it today, where I can get fresh fruits and vegetables from the fresh farm markets.

So that's available.

And I can go pick what I want, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, fruit, whatever I choose, you know.

And it's an awesome feeling to be able to have a choice, like Scott was saying.

When they're cooking here and they're choosing a meal to choose the vegetables you want.

So the Produce Plus card is out there, and they put $40 a month on there.

All you have to do is apply and get accepted.

>> Now, we have some our-- you know, in Pennsylvania, I work with different school districts across the country.

What I'm trying to do is teach healthy meals, how to make, prepare healthy meals.

So connected to some of the schools and some of the resource buildings that we have, we do community gardens.

So we teach the young people how to plant nutritious, how to plant turnips, how to plant tomatoes, so forth.

And from that community garden they can go from garden to table.

So it's a wild experience for a young person to eat a tomato that he planted.

So those are some of the things that we're trying to do here at SOS to get young people-- to get people in general connected with just produce.

We also have a lot of partners here, like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, those places' produce sections where they bring us the groceries.

I deliver about 3,000 pounds of groceries.

Like, in communities, people we know, people we don't know.

We set up on Georgia Avenue and just come get what you want.

But I've been fortunate and blessed, actually, to had some great corporate partners that's able to give us the food and knowing that we're going to give that to the community.

And I love, you know, our Whole Foods connection and Trader Joe's especially.

You don't just get the packaged food but we also get the premade food.

So we have-- DC, you know, has the highest homeless rate amongst teenagers in the nation.

So there's a lot of couch surfing that's going on.

There's a lot of young people eating a chili and cheese from the 7-11 out of the box, and that's their meal.

They're not concerned about any produce or anything then.

So I'm just grateful for our community partners in neighborhoods that we go into to be able to get those-- get them the meals that they need.

But I'm even more excited about the community gardens and things of that nature.

I want to get into farmland.

I want to raise some chickens.

I want to raise, you know, cows or things of that nature so we can really begin to feed our community by educating them.

You teach a man to fish, they can go get some fish.

Or we can keep giving them fish.

So, you know.

But you can't fish without a rod and those type of resources.

We need donations.

We need those funders to help you be able to equip your people to do for themselves because we don't want people to stay dependent on us.

We want you to eat, but we don't want you to stay dependent.

We want to teach you how to do those things.

And I think those of us that know, my work is based in my faith, right, So when I read the Bible and it's talking about, you know, [indistinct] hunger, like, I don't know about you go, like, you walk past these people probably that everybody is somebody.

I never want to step over anybody regardless of their condition, simply because I don't know how they got in their condition.

I do know right now that he's hungry, and I don't want to give him $5 for some nachos from 7-11.

>> Yeah.

>> And I'm going to ask you, CJ, you talked about being prideful.

What's your message to those who are-- just have a little bit too much pride but they hungry and they hangry?

>> Well, pride goes before fall.

So you're going to stay hungry, keep your pride and stay hungry, or you can drop your pride and get full.

You know, it's as simple as that.

I'm from a place that's referred to as the hood in the hip hop culture.

But I'm not from the hood.

I'm from a neighborhood.

And the simple word in neighborhood is neighbor.

So I would say to the viewers-- where the camera?

Where's one of them?

I would say to the viewers, be a neighbor, you know.

Our company is called Saving Ourselves.

I didn't have partnerships with Whole Foods and Trader Joe's and things of that nature when we started the company.

I had some food in the freezer, my own freezer, you know, that at the bottom that you don't want that's too cold.

It will take too long to thaw out.

Well, give that out to your neighbor.

You know, there's some people next door to you.

There's some kids that go to school with your kids, you know.

>> And even the elderly, too.

>> Elderly, you know.

Even Little Caesar's got pizzas for $5.

So be a neighbor.

You know, it doesn't take a lot.

It just takes some.

And if we can save ourselves, I think we're in a condition of SOS.

We all know SOS.

Save ourselves.

This is a last ditch effort.

I need your help.

And I'm not comfortable knowing that someone next to me is hungry when I have their need in my refrigerator.

So I would say to anybody that's watching, you know, do your part.

We all have a part.

With one body that still can join together.

I might be a head and might be some fingers, but together we're a body.

So I think we can eradicate a lot of homelessness, eradicate a lot of food disparity just through partnerships.

You know, I would love to partner with a Marriott Hilton.

You know, we have vans.

We have volunteers.

We're in the neighborhoods anywhere.

But if we're not a neighbor and everybody has a hood mentality and not a neighborhood mentality, then we're going to continue to see the inequities and continue to see the violence rise.

So we can stop a lot just by being neighbors.

We know it takes a village, so let's become that place.

>> What's your message to some people that may be like on the outside to let them know that you are human and you do want to be seen?

You do want to be hugged and, you know, revered as a person.

So what are some immediate changes that, you know, people can make to close that gap?

>> I think the changes that they can make is changing their thought process about being in a soup kitchen and just knowing that this is a family feeling when you walk in here.

When you walk in here, you're not only going to see people that recognize you, but the staff are going to treat you as a total human being.

And let your guard down and let someone help you.

And if you let someone help you, you start see yourself in a different light because they're going to believe in you, and you can start to believe in yourself.

Everyone has a backstory.

No one is homeless because they want to be.

They are homeless because of a reason.

And no one knows that reason.

My reason was early childhood trauma and then co-occurring disorders.

And I didn't have a home.

And instead of trying to get help into, like, Miriam's Kitchen, I was on the street unhoused until I learned how to say-- so let someone believe me, such as the people in Miriam's Kitchen.

I learned to believe in myself.

And when you're out there in the streets homeless, you just feel like you're invisible, like no one can see you.

As I said before, no one calls your name.

So my message would be realize you're only one paycheck away from being unhoused yourself.

And never judge a person because you can never judge a book by the cover because the title is never what the story's about because today I'm a totally different person from the unhoused person for 17 consecutive years.

And every person out there, there's so many creative people, people with such gifts and talents in the homeless community that are never realized because people are being judgmental or there was a stigma around homelessness, [indistinct] >> The first time I came to Miriam's Kitchen was actually as a volunteer five and a half years ago.

My church ministry came here on MLK Day, and men take over.

It was all Black men took over the kitchen and dining room.

We did everything.

And then I was hooked from that moment.

I've been here now as Executive Sous Chef for four and a half years, and it's the most fulfilling job I've ever had in my life.

Our guests eat better than most people eat at home five days a week.

We provide breakfast and dinner five days a week for those that are homeless or those that are working poor.

This, the past two weeks, we have not done under 200 meals at any point, breakfast or dinner, with a high of 250 and a low of 200.

We have a very diverse team here at Miriam's Kitchen.

Chef Cheryl Bell, the Executive Chef, is on sabbatical right now, which is well-deserved.

We have myself as Executive Sous Chef.

We have two sous chef from Latin America who bring a great deal of diversity to the meals that we serve our guests.

We have one kitchen prep person.

We have one gentleman that does our donations for us, and we have two dishwashers in the kitchen.

Have you ever watched Chopped?

Well, working here is like an episode of Chopped.

Instead of open up a basket, you open up a van, and it has full of donation.

You have to figure out what you're going to make out of what you got in today.

We plan based on what donations we get in the van, and we do it a week in advance.

To see the look on everyone's face when they come in and get a hot meal that's restaurant quality, you know, we may be categorized as a soup kitchen.

But there's nothing soup kitchen about what we do for our guests.

♪♪ >> Thank you for watching Homelessness Reframed.

I'm your host, Morgyn Wood.

And my key takeaway from today is that we have these discussions and more of these discussions so that way we know how to engage with people who may be going through something.

You never know what somebody's going through.

And by having these discussions, we can further bridge the gap between us and respect our fellow man.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> This program was produced by WHUT and made possible by contributions from viewers like you.

For more information on this program or any other program, please visit our website at whut.org.

Thank you.