DC's Homeless Share Their Stories On New Podcast Series

WASHINGTON, DC — "Look At This," a new weekly podcast series debuted on Tuesday, sharing the stories, struggles, and triumphs of the homeless men and women who sell the Street Sense newspaper in Washington, D.C.

"Look At This" is published by Street Sense Media, a nonprofit whose mission is to end homelessness in the D.C. area. The first need that Street Sense provides for its vendors is employment.

"Men and women who come here are looking for a chance to make a living, to earn some money for themselves and we can give that to them pretty much on the day they arrive," said Brian Carome, CEO of Street Sense Media.

In addition to employment, Street Sense provides the vendors opportunities to express themselves in a variety of platforms, including illustration, film, theater, photography, writing, and now podcasting.

Since 2017, Street Sense has also offered its vendors access to case management, to help them navigate the many bureaucratic hurdles in order to obtain housing, healthcare, and other services.

"It's a very horrible feeling. It's a feeling that makes you feel like no tomorrow, depressing, demotivating," Street Sense vendor Marcellus Phillips said, when asked to describe what it waslike to be homeless. "They have helped me by helping me gain structure, helping me with providing income, a way to make money and network and help me survive.”

Phillips is one of Street Sense's many success stories.

In the premiere episode of "Look At This," vendors like Phillips and John Gotti share stories on how Street Sense has helped them turn their lives around and become more self sufficient and independent.

"Street Sense is like life to me," said Cohn Gotti, who has been a Street Sense vendor for over five years. "It brings people back to life. We all come from the bottom. Being homeless on the street is tough, so Street Sense has been a form of life for me. It helped me to change my life in a positive way.”

Future "Look At This" episodes will share other stories of success as well as examine some of the day-to-day hurdles someone faces living on the streets in Washington, D.C. New episodes are published every Tuesday.

"Look At This" is a podcast series produced by the homeless men and women who sell the weekly Street Sense newspaper in Washington, D.C. Michael O'Connell, a D.C.-area journalist, podcaster, and editor at Patch, oversees the production of "Look At This." The podcast series is a production of Street Sense Media, a nonprofit whose mission is to end homelessness in the Washington, D.C. area. It does this by providing people with the skills and tools they need to become more confident and empowered. In service of its mission, Street Sense Media produces journalism about homelessness issues in the D.C. area, publishing it in a variety of platforms, including film, theater, photography, illustration, and podcasting.It also publishes the weekly Street Sense newspapers, which the homeless vendors sell as a way to earn income.