Street Sense Media

Sounds From the Street: Ron Dudley on Hip-Hop & Fatherhood

“When you’re homeless, you have kids, you have bills, you have family, friends, responsibilities,” Ronald Dudley said. “The only thing separating you from the rest of the world is a lease.”

Dudley, aka Pookanu, is a musician on a spiritual mission — a mission to make sense of life, God, and fatherhood. It’s a lot to examine when you consider he’s relentlessly working to not only provide for his family but also find permanent housing. His life hasn’t been easy and you can hear it in the hard-bitten, sermon-like lyrics on his recently-released album, Father’s Day. Pookanu joins Sounds from the Street to discuss music, family and his experience with homelessness.

You can read more in this feature interview and his music is available at pookanu.com.

A full transcript of this interview is available here.

Sounds From the Street: Wendy Oxenhorn on Founding the Street Paper Movement

As a girl, Wendy Oxenhorn aspired to become a professional ballerina before a tragic injury shattered her dream. But that twist of fate catapulted her into a life of social work that eventually led her to co-found the first street paper and spark a global movement. Today, there are 112 street papers in 35 countries employing some 11,000 homeless vendors at any given time.

But Wendy’s work didn’t stop there. She eventually landed a dream job saving musicians’ lives at the Jazz Foundation of America and was recently named a 2016 NEA Jazz Master, the nation’s highest honor in jazz.

Wendy shares her incredible journey in her own words.

A full transcript of this interview is available here.

Sounds From the Street: Patty Smith Sings the Blues

Born in Mississippi, raised in Pennsylvania, Patty Smith now calls D.C. home. It’s here where she’s spent the last decade selling Street Sense. She started in 2005, two years after the paper was founded. Her life, like many struggling with housing stability, was steeped in unexpected setbacks, bad luck, bad relationships, and bad health. The one constant through the tough times has been music — Patty looooves music. She’s always singing, taking the pain and the grief of life — the blues –and transforming it into song.

A full transcript of this interview is available here.

Sounds From the Street: Middle Schoolers Discuss Homeless Activism

On June 3, 2015, a group of students from Alice Deal Middle School organized a rally to support homeless anti-discrimination legislation. Guided by their teacher, Michael Martini, then-sixth graders Nico Foxley and Sofia Giorgianni worked with The National Coaltion for the Homeless and the People for Fairness Coalition. The capstone event was part of a year-long service-oriented curriculum where Alice Deal students explored the issue of homelessness. Tune in to hear two of the youngest activists ever, and their teacher, Mr. Martini.

A full transcript of this interview is available here.

Sounds From the Street: Advocate Kate Coventry on the D.C. Winter Plan

Though Snowzilla and the dark days of winter are fading from our memories, it’s technically not spring yet. In fact, the Interagency Council on Homelessness’s [ICH] plan to protect the homeless from hypothermic injury lasts until the end of March.

Analyst Kate Coventry of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute is on the show to share her knowledge of the Winter Plan. She’s joined by artist and advocate Reggie Black, who has firsthand experience on both sides of the Winter Plan. Formerly homeless, Reggie is now a member of ICH and is on the diverse team of policy makers and citizens tasked with designing the multi-layered plan.

A full transcript of this interview is available here.

Sounds From the Street: Adam Motiwala on Digital Training for the Homeless

After weeks of walking past a Street Sense vendor selling newspapers, online marketing expert Adam Motiwala eventually asked the vendor if he was interested in an experiment. What began as a one-on-one digital marketing tutorial developed into a weekly workshop at Street Sense called Digital Hope. Adam discusses how his workshop has evolved into a groundbreaking income-generating model for homeless individuals.

A full transcript of this interview is available here.