You are wanted and needed to compile a collective article (or series) about:

poverty, gentrification (housing/business etc.), racism and related issues

(Pasted from an e-mail)

All,

The long title sums up the purpose of this missive. Linked below in this message is an article from
December 2014 which was written collectively. I got about 10 people together, served food and led a
discussion about the city's failed efforts to address homelessness. I then typed up the article, arranging
everyone's input in the best way that I could. (A couple of stats were added by the newspaper's editor as
well.)

I've attached a prospective redesign for Barry Farm Public Housing. The Barry Farm Tenant and Allies
Association (BFTAA) has yet to compare this design which was created by three architects to the different
design which was created by another architect and to pull the best elements from either. The attached
design has a bit of a story behind it.

I told a friend that I was about to make my annual speech at Catholic University. Since he and I were
already involved with BFTAA, he suggested that I put in a plug for them and make the case for technical
support, which I did. One of the students knew an architectural student who knew another student and a
practicing architect. This group of three has been working with BFTAA for several months and issued the
attached design this past Tuesday, January 15th, 2019. In a time when there is so much bad news, that
attachment stands as a testament to what is possible when people work together.

Article title: A possible article title which was inspired by a friend is "What will DC do about poverty
(and to prevent a revolution)???"

Skeleton concept for the article (or series):

The easiest and most practical way to give you an idea of what types of concerns we can include in the
article (or series) is to give you a sense of the people who've been CC'ed in this message. (I won't specify
who I'm describing, so as to protect people's jobs and other interests.) The following descriptions are in
no particular order. At least one CC'ed person can speak to:

1 -- The way that DC Government's contracting and other business practices hurt small and/or Black-
owned businesses,

2 -- How businesses that should receive contracts for HUD's Section 3 work (building affordable housing)
are being denied such work,

3 -- How proposed legislation could pit non-profits against small and/or Black-owned businesses,

4 -- The failures of DCRA and how they affect poor people (housing, business etc.),

5 -- How we can keep DC Government and the public informed about the city's prime contractors who
don't pay subcontractors,

6 -- How Marion Barry's poverty commission (of 2007 or 2008) was dismantled after he got censured and
only revived in 2017,

7 -- DC's glitch pattern in terms of addressing homelessness (which many have been paid to address
since 2004's 10-year plan was adopted),

8 -- DC Government's seemingly deliberate failure to address the issues of working and able-bodied but
unemployed homeless people,
 You are wanted and needed to compile a collective article (or series) about:
poverty, gentrification (housing/business etc.), racism and related issues

9 -- The need to learn and address the employment and affordable housing issues of homeless people at
the CCNV Shelter,

(The most likely fate of the shelter is that it will be closed by October 1st, 2022, in lieu of a possible 2023
opening of the nearby Capitol Crossing development.)

10 -- The need for more +/-$500 rooms for DC's minimum-wage workers,

11 -- How Airbnb creates a disincentive to move forward with item #10

12 -- The lack of maintenance in and the planned privatization of public housing in DC,

13 -- How the partial federal shutdown could force hungry and newly homeless people (who stop
receiving food stamps and HUD assistance) to commit crimes or take other drastic measures to
survive,

14 -- How the DC Council which created the Local Rent Supplement Program (LRSP) in the mid-2000's to
mitigate a decrease in federal funding for HUD can (and should have already) create(d) a less tenuous
system that guarantees a continuation of needed supports for the city's poor in spite of presidential and
congressional problems,

15 -- How we might create a system that gives Blacks a socioeconomic boost and makes people less
dependent on social services,

16 -- The history of efforts by public housing residents to preserve it and to do better for themselves in
other ways,

17 -- How zoning laws aid gentrification,

18 -- How disharmony and vindictiveness within the non-profit and advocacy communities is
weakening our fight against wealthy oppressors,

19 -- How non-profits that offer social services are designed to fail and/or to keep people dependent upon
them,

20 -- The difficulties involved in getting directly-affected people to self-advocate, think critically and
organize,

21 -- Smart city growth that accommodates workers of all economic strata,

22 -- Visual and statistical evidence of gentrification on H st ne and elsewhere,

23 -- The history of social services going back to the great depression and New Deal,

24 -- Social services and non-profits "keeping the lid on the pressure cooker" so that the peasants
don't revolt,

25 -- How the loss of social services without sufficient economic uplift will agitate the masses,

26 -- How social services and the stigma around them changed when Blacks got on the rolls in the mid-
1960's,

27 -- how efforts by MLK, jr., LBJ and others tie into this web of issues,

…..and much more.

 You are wanted and needed to compile a collective article (or series) about:
poverty, gentrification (housing/business etc.), racism and related issues

DATE, VENUE AND OTHER LOGISTICS:

Please let me know if you or your agency has a venue that can accommodate all of the people who might
attend this gathering. Also let me know the days and times that the venue is available. (Using a library
creates issues that I prefer not to have to deal with, though it remains a last resort.)

I'd love to accomplish this by 2/15/19 (my 50th). Tuesdays and Thursdays (my off days during the winter)
work best for me personally. Evenings (6 PM and later) probably work best for most people. That said, I
might need to create a doodle to pin down the day and time. Feel free to let me know in your e-mail
response what days and times work best for you.

As for food, I am willing to put up $100; but, it would be necessary to have other contributors or a
donations from businesses in order to feed all attendees.

****************************************************************************

Please let me know who else should become a contributor.

Feel free to forward this message to any media contacts that might be interested in covering some or all
of the topics mentioned herein.

I will create a PDF attachment of this message and make it available on-line.

Though I hope to arrange a meeting where we can eat and talk (not simultaneously), I remain open to the
prospect of some people e-mailing their input or joining via conference call.

https://www.streetsensemedia.org/article/does-the-district-really-want-to-end-
homelessness/#.XETYdvZFyhg

You will need to e-mail ericsheptock@yahoo.com to receive the prospective Barry Farm redesign
attachment that was mentioned in this message. Put “Barry Farm Redesign” in the subject line.

You should e-mail me about other matters relating to this communique too (even if you have contacted
me through social media).