Ending homelessness requires a commitment to building more low-income and affordable housing and providing services for substance abuse and mental health issues. (Joseph Young)
Editor’s note: This photo gallery was produced in partnership with Street Sense Media, a street media paper in Washington, D.C., and is part of “The Right to a Home,” a Community Based News Room (CBNR) series that examines homelessness issues across the United States. CBNR is a project of Law@the Margins, and the series is supported by a Solutions Journalism Network grant.
Homeless tent encampments are an issue in the United States, and like many cities across the country, Washington, D.C., is grappling with them. Photographer and journalist Joseph Young shows the human side of encampments and the resilience of people experiencing homelessness in our nation’s capital.
A homeless couple lived here in this makeshift tent at 3rd and M streets NE in the NoMa neighborhood of Washington, D.C. They were told to vacate the premise. Now they live at the M streets NE underpass encampment. (Joseph Young)On this bright and sunny afternoon, the Friday before Labor Day weekend, a group of people are crowded in the shade against the storefronts of Red Bear Brewing Co. and La Colombe, which are watering holes that offer craft beer and mocha latte, respectively. To the right of these is Recreational Equipment, Inc., otherwise known as REI. It carries a large selection of outdoors apparel and equipment for men, women and children. Not far away, homeless men and women sleep in tents on the streets of Washington, D.C. (Joseph Young)A couple with children approaching the entrance to the M Street NE underpass, where a homeless tent encampment sprung up. (Joseph Young)A security camera at the M Street NE underpass. (Joseph Young)The M Street NE underpass encampment. (Joseph Young)A woman died here of a heroin overdose in her tent on Aug. 22nd at the M Street NE underpass encampment. She was simply known as Tink. (Joseph Young)
Ricky McNeill has schizophrenia and a bipolar disorder. He also has been homeless since the age of 14. He is 46 now. The “Feed The Turtle tee shirt McNeill is wearing suggests people care more for animals than the homeless. They also are making dog parks but not housing for the homeless. (Joseph Young)
Michelle Hydier, 52, has bouts with schizophrenia. She has lived on and off the streets since she was 30 years old. (Joseph Young)
Passerbys walk through the M Street NE underpass homeless encampment. (Joseph Young)
The homeless panhandle as a way to make ends meet. Michelle Hydier panhandles at the NoMa-Galludet University Metro station in Washington, D.C., which is right outside of a homeless encampment. “It’s to buy food,” she said. “My Social Security disability check isn’t enough.” (Joseph Young)“I believe that we should be getting help from the city. There is only but so many services, and they can only get to so many people,” said 46-year-old Henry Wilson. “I understand it’s gonna be a waiting process. But I’ve been waiting six years. Something has to happen.” (Joseph Young)“My drug addiction led me to stray away from them [his children],” said Butch. “So, instead of destroying their lives any more than I already have, I came out here.” (Joseph Young)
Robert E. Lee is the longest resident at the M Street NE homeless encampment. He has lived there five years. (Joseph Young)
A cleanup notice for the underpass homeless encampment. (Joseph Young)
Ricky McNeill and Michelle Hydier move their tent from the underpass, so city workers can clean the encampment. After a few hours they are allowed to return. This process takes place every two weeks. (Joseph Young)A day after cleanup, D.C. police investigate reports of screams coming from a tent at 3rd and M streets NE in the NoMa neighborhood. Some people living in the tent encampments have mental health issues. This woman may have been experiencing a psychotic episode. (Joseph Young)Homeless belongings. (Joseph Young)The homeless move their belongings from an underpass while the Department of Public Works cleans an encampment. The frequent cleanups are a challenge for homeless people with disabilities. (Joseph Young)Some homeless people see cleanup operations as a form of harassment. They said city officials do not want them to camp out there. D.C. police stand by in case there is trouble. (Joseph Young)Passerby. Throughout the city, notices of impending cleanups are posted at unauthorized encampments. Personal items not removed from the site before the scheduled cleanup are removed and trashed. When the cleanup is done, the homeless people are allowed to return to the encampments. This process occurs every two weeks. (Joseph Young)After a cleanup of a homeless encampment, the sidewalk is power washed. (Joseph Young)“Rain,” the light art installation at the M Street underpass, is funded as part of a larger $50 million grant from the city to create parks and improve public spaces in NoMa. This project is managed by NoMa Business Improvement District (BID). (Joseph Young)Swampoodle Park is part of the city project to beautify public spaces in NoMa. (Joseph Young)According to NoMa Business Improvement District, the total number of employees in NoMa is 54,000. (Joseph Young)According to NoMa Business Improvement District, the current population of NoMa is 9,300. (Joseph Young)According to NoMa Business Improvement District, there are 6,398 apartments in NoMa, including 1,595 under construction. (Joseph Young)
First Street NE Homeless Encampment
Marie Jones aged out of foster care. At 18 years old, she became homeless. “I had no place to go,” she said. She is now 22 and has three children — two boys (4 and 1) and a girl (7 months). She was housed at the DC General shelter and Days Inn, the motel shelter, for two years. Now she is sofa surfing with family. She was 8 years old when she entered the foster care system, the victim of child neglect. To make ends meet, she panhandles at Union Station with children in tow. (Joseph Young)
Marie Jones. (Joseph Young)
A homeless tent encampment in NoMa. (Joseph Young)
People who work in NoMa walk by homeless encampments daily.
Housing is the solution to homelessness. (Joseph Young)
First Street NE. (Joseph Young)First Street NE. (Joseph Young)
K Street NE Homeless Encampment
The K Street homeless encampment sits between two luxury apartment complexes: 100 K Apartments and Union Place. The cost of a two-bedroom apartment per month at the 100 K Apartments range from $3,610 to $3,850. (Joseph Young) There are 6,521 people experiencing homelessness in Washington, D.C. (Joseph Young)
The city is watching the homeless, but what is it doing to end homelessness? (Joseph Young)
The underpasses at K, L, M and First Streets shelter a fraction of the more than 600 homeless people living on the streets in Washington, D.C. (Joseph Young)Could the money spent on encampment cleanups be put to better use? (Joseph Young)
L Streets NE Homeless Encampment
This is a solvable problem. (Joseph Young)
To read more about how to solve homelessness, click here.
Joseph Young is a photographer and journalist living in Washington, D.C. His photography and journalism has appeared in The Washington Post Magazine, The Washington Times, Washington Afro-American Newspaper and The Washington Informer. He earned bachelor’s degrees from the University of the District of Columbia in art, with a focus on photography, and English. He also is a grant recipient from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for his photography series about the homeless in the nation’s capital.
Morgan Moone
