Last week Anthony and I got together to talk with a reporter from Street Sense. They’re doing a story on the one-year anniversary of Anthony being housed. Pretty cool.
Anthony uses a personal hand-held battery-operated misting fan to stay cool – on his corner and on the 42 bus!
I got to Anthony’s corner at 19th and M earlier than we had agreed that day. We often meet at the Au Bon Pain next door, so I walked over there to see if he had slipped inside to escape the blistering sun. My intuition was right.
Sporting a broad smile and walking slightly better than the last time I saw him, Anthony was in good spirits. We boarded the 42 bus toward Metro Center and got off at 13th and H.
Stepping off the bus I saw some deep purple clouds forming above. “Did you bring an umbrella,” I asked Anthony. He smiled and not missing a beat quipped back, “Nope. Just a towel and a bar of soap.” Now we were both smiling.
We sat down with Sophie from Street Sense for the interview. We talked about how we got connected and a bit about the challenges of finding Anthony housing. I learned something new in the interview. No it wasn’t a new recipe from Anthony’s cooking repertoire, it was that he had been thinking about trying to finish his education and get his GED. I think that would be great if he wants to do that. He’ll need to work on his reading and writing (and probably arithmetic as well) though.
I’m taking him to the doctor on Wednesday, so I’ll have an update later this week. For those of you in DC, please join us on Monday, July 14th at 5:30pm at Rumors to celebrate Anthony’s one-year anniversary of securing housing.