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We are at 12 33 verse 34. Yeah that's what it is. Today is October 26.

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Daniel Roosevelt. Whitfield tell me where you were born Baltimore city and where you were raised Baltimore city and what brought you to the VA and that was in back in the 70s. Are you currently experiencing homelessness? Yes? Ma'am. For how long? Okay, the days of the by was whatever did they add together the

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23rd or 24th? It's not bad because I'm in this building here and 1233. Whatever that building. Yeah. It's not permit is temporary for like about 14 days so they say sorry Michael

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is that the left ma'am. All right. Why do you think homelessness? It's because it cost so much to live here for one day. The ability for people to live in the city has changed over time.

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I have to say, yeah because I used to work for Metro but then I got in trouble because I had a firearm on me and I got into a conflict as a bus driver, with a passenger overall 25-cent and he smacked me, and before I could think about where I was at and what I was doing, I pulled my gun out and shot him in the leg. Nope. I guess you can say it didn't start there. It just more. So, like I was fired from Metro because of having a weapon on the, on the bus as a driver. Was that a rare occurrence?

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Well, I was in the Southeast and I was on Nicholson Avenue when this happened. Well, that looks awesome. But Martin Luther King is what it's called now. And I I was expecting the guy that the person that I Shaq would have been the one that made the complaint, but it was a seven people on the bus that made the complaint because they claimed was a bullet. Could have ricocheted and hit them off of the inside of the building. I mean, inside of the, the bus, So with that happened, they called me down on 11th Street in I think it was 80. Something I could get to here. And told me well

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we have to let you go because of the firearm that you bought out and did what you did. So we got to let you go unless I was fine. Would you say

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that that area? High risk for violence. And that's why you had the gun. Yes, yes yes. Yeah, in a way. Yes ma'am, yes, ma'am. Now, let's ask about has your family. Your family's ability to have affordable housing changed over time over the course of your living in this area.

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Other than that fire thing that this happened. It changed. I'm I'm down in here on the well, the Red Cross is the one that got me in here for the time. Yeah. Until I can until something else to another apartment come up. Stuff. And what types of in this situation, what types of Housing and our neighborhoods are accessible to you, or people in your situation.

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I guess we would have to say, like, the one that I just was burnt out of which was I was paying something. I was paying 262 a month. Yeah, I had about you wrecked. Still do have that? Yeah. Like I say I was paying rent and that I was there taking care of and by me being at my age now, which is 74 years old and

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with that, ain't that guy can't work. It's just that I haven't seen nothing that I'm you know, I can get paid for that. I would be able to do at this time of my life. So I was paying rent behind Social Security checks. I get that I get every month. What's that entire neighborhoods are available

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that? I don't know. I mean, they got me from Sheriff rude. When I was living homeless Lee and Sheriff Rose 5002, I think that's the name, the address off of sheriff through and I'm up in that living up in there for like a vote on a couple of years. I think and, you know, but you just had to follow their instructions. But other than that, it was cool. And then mrs. I forget this woman's name, she came down, call my name in the day room that we have there and we need to see you mr. Whitfield, and she got me, put me in this gold color. Jaguar that she was driving and took me to 733 whole bar

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and Ted, I had the apartment on the third floor, and that's how I got there. And I was paying rent, there every month. I only jobs that are available to you. Would you say that it's hard to find a job? Or is the problem more than they are? Not enough jobs available? I would say might not be enough jobs available, that's what I was.

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And I'm not as young as I was when I was in my 20s and 30s. And I met, I mean, I mean, it ain't like I can't get out here in Walker, but if I don't have a direction I just don't move. I got to go someplace like this a minute ago, will come down here. If it hadn't been for her calling me, I wouldn't have came down. I just stayed up there until Jack. Job skills. You think it's hard for me to find a job or not that you're looking for a job. I'm kind of like looking like I'm retired but if I found something somebody was doing and they wanted my expertise or with you know at least I was able to handle whatever they needed to pay somebody to do. It's possible I could do that but I haven't seen nothing like that yet. Let's talk about government services. Have you what government services available or have you seen any changes of those services for people who are homeless? Not really well. Let me ask you this. Has access to public housing changed over the course of your life and has that impacted homelessness in it. Does it make people be more homeless?

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Us or less out. Oh, that's hard. Question to answer my welfare benefits changed. Anyway, to impact. I've seen people having welfare that I actually live in a lot better than me. Okay, say that. What about Employment Services?

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I say France is all in the neighborhood that I was living in lasted. We had with place was burned out prior to it being burnt. I saw a bunch of guys that we working doing a renovation of houses doing areas, when he met had to clean up the alley. You know, okay, we will put down poison for rats and stuff. I saw these guys doing this, I don't know how they got that kind of job to get paid for it, but they were doing it, you know, and they were mostly all Spanish or Mexican or, you know, they will deceive many black people. Yes, ma'am. I just see many blacks and I saw a lot of Spanish people doing that. So what is your analysis of the housing program? Moms that are supposed to help and end homelessness, you know, anything about that? I've seen a lot of people in that neighborhood, not a lot but I've seen a few that were homeless at the same time. They

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I will see him but they, you know, there was no big problem to me, but that the same time to you, I would hear Through the Grapevine where it is found. We can calm down and somebody beat him up and he had a sandwich or something in the bag and they took that and some change and stuff out of his pocket. I heard a little stories like that, you know, and the time that I was living at 733 hope. and that could be, you know, I mean I'm just saying that the area I would go to the store and the daytime now after like when the sun go down, And I wanted to go to a store, some verse 7, I would step out that place at night seed after 9:00 or 10:00 at night or something, to go to some all national because I mean, I'm not even sure, I don't hit it as hard as I used to I

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I don't run as fast as I used to. So, you know, if save my own self, I would stay where I'm at is safe for at home. We talk about the criminal justice system and you've already talked about the impact that it had on you. It's that to your homelessness. So let me ask you about police brutality. Does it have an impact on homelessness and has the criminalization of poverty or homelessness been an issue in the area? Because you work for or in the police brutality, only time I saw a police brutality is when I've seen a cop tell one person. Okay, I want you to stand right here in this corner and put your hands up on the wall. And the person might not say oh the first of might not do it, then the man or do you do cops or something would have to muscle him through the wall or whatever that kind of of stuff I've seen. Now what do you want to call it brutality or dim the person that they're talking to not understanding or not going along with their saying with the police is saying to them and decided to fight back at that point. Well, let's talk about what? Prisons have on

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homelessness. Okay. For some it might be good because they might be as elements in the wintertime. Now in the summertime you might not see too much of it because I mean I've seen people that made tents and stuff right in the alley where my Dipsy dumpster was sitting on these two building or sitting down at the back end of the building and meet some guys sleeping or maybe a female or something sleeping over there, between two distant dumpsters. Something that I wouldn't be to care about doing because the rat problem is really serious in that part of town or at least in DC. And I would see stuff like that. And what ways of people's you talked about this already, but it's on the survey and what ways of people's lives shaped by criminal records? What impact does that have?

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On? Some people get caught in their old habits. In other words, if they are so used to always they came up in the neighborhood. Well, Some party, some old lady's maid came out of the supermarket and say, for instance, she was digging in one of her shopping bags. At the same time. She dropped her purse or her with a little wallet or something. And the people that were sitting this homeless sitting on his feet short at and did not tell her, but after she walked off, not knowing that she didn't already dropped her money on the street. They would go over there and pick that up. Pat themselves on the chest or something, you know and this person that the lost it

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could have been you know rent money for could have been fooled some more food money or something you know. And but these folks and took it instead of returning to her, didn't I? I've seen that once. All right, let's talk about health care, the impact of Health Care on people's Health. Well, I got to be eight and I was going to the Washington area be a off a whole lot where I was living at and, which it was in walking distance for me. Now, I'm not saying for everybody.

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That was there too. It had that too. I mean the VA has it all. Is that different and better than what's available? I can't see that man, because I can't tell whether the veterans get a better treatment than civilians would. I can't say that one is better than the other. I can't say that, okay. That to yeah. Well. it's hard to say whether you got better not because you might have some folks that have super education but they just don't got somehow something happen to him if he but lost a loved one or they've been caught in something that ain't you know that they didn't see coming and that kind of left them in a point where they just became survival like an animal instead of being like A human. And some cases. Yes, ma'am. Because you can walk down the street and you might not had eight and cool for like about 20 or 30 cents a a day or two days and you're really hungry. But the folks maybe look at you because of the way you look or the way you appear to them and say, and keep on in this, ignore you, I've seen that kind of stuff happened, all right.

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Are you aware that could do something positive for yes ma'am. Okay. If the world could go back to the way we say st. Francis, you got a village in the middle of a jungle,

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but the whole village of people are all living as one, but they are all looking out for each other but they're in a jungle and the village and the outside of that Village, like big animals that are carnivorous animals. And what have you? You know, they are protecting each other from what's on the outside of if the world could give back in terms of that kind of lifestyle, or that way that Society start looking out for

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the smallest, Minor person that's in the, in the facility lame about. Where is you getting mixed up? What? This is like all of us out of here now. Just one person is puts up a say, look, I haven't eaten up in two days, I'm hungry and all of us turn around our backs on that one person. Instead of the ones that's in the village, he might say, oh she might say I haven't had food in two days and everybody said, okay, and they would help him do it. But in our case, it doesn't happen like that,

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if you join together to do something to end homelessness, but would you have those people do? What would I have? You had 50 people. Uh-huh. That you could bring together. Yeah. And homelessness. What would you have those 50 people do? Look

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at the idea that we are all. Different in terms of where your mother is not my mother, okay? But your mother and my mother knew each other as children. And yet as time went on my mother went, this way, your mother went that away and the connection that they started off having.

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Did not survive and they became. You don't know what I've been through so

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dead, not as close as they were. And that and the offsprings is almost the same way. You think that's a big barrier to making change and shit? The human race needs to get closer and start looking at each other. We all are human. In other words that can see your tribe of lions or tribe of its signal lines in Africa. Those the

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mail, he might be sitting up here looking like big king and the females are the hunters and gatherers and in the little young ones they probably hang around to be king. You know what have you and play, you what's up? But The a group. which is something that you don't see on The Human Side anymore, like it used to be The group of 50 people.

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The see something that needed to be done. And I knew that I could do it. Yeah, I will get involved and especially if I hate did for me to see something that in and just what's in my line of wet. What kind of work? Or for instance, I became a driver from the United States Service Army driving douching to have Chuck driving jeeps and Stuff like it. And once I got out there stuck with me and that became even got even better, which is how I became a Metro app. If it hadn't been for the little small stupid incident that I let myself get caught up and even though what's a smack, even though he smacked me, I should have had time. I had time, but I did stop to

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use the time to think You see, we don't say. Yeah. Yeah. If you could build a better world, I think you've already talked about this. What would it look like? And what would your community look like the to. But live in, we would look at each other where we see each other today.

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I mean, the community would be. Yeah. Hey, how you doing over there? I haven't seen you since two days ago, but I still remember you and that's even because You see these, he became that little small village that I was talking about in Africa with the people. Got that outside of that Village, you know. So now DC is a village within America. Of all of us folks in this

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Village became more entwined and close together. They would know, it wouldn't be as much hot well it wouldn't be as much. Not do that. Don't have it in the other, dude, it wouldn't be much of that, okay? So if you could design your own housing solution, what would it look like? I could wake up in the morning. And walk out and see my neighbor that lived for five block 10 blocks up the street here, and I haven't seen them in a couple of maybe a year or so, but yet, I dunno. They live 20, some blocks up the street or ten blocks of the speak. Are you doing with the see that kind of stuff?

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Whatever it takes to keep the dad, going group doing with what it is that keeps them alive, healthy and

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mentally and physically. They got the food, I mean we all looking out for each other. So therefore, it wouldn't be too much heartbreak or too much heartache. And

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in order for another person to wake up and say, who am I going to rob? Just wanted? Maybe it's a personal wake up in the morning. Saying, who am I going to help today? It's hard to get whatever I want. I'm not a religious man but I can think that falls in the hand of God.

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Okay, is there a question? I should have asked you doing this interview? Not that I can think about it. Thank you for wonderful interview and there were several areas. I could have talked to you for several hours about thank you and it's okay for me to contact you again. If I need ya, you got my phone number is on there. I don't think so. What is this?