The Washington Post - 26.08.2019

a few years ago, hopes the acad-

emy will “kill two birds with one

stone.” She wants to combat ram-

pant unemployment among dis-

abled people while also increas-

ing the workforce of DSPs, much

too small to meet demand.

“There is just such value in

someone with a disability sup-

porting someone else with a

disability,” said Susan Brooks, the

operations manager for RCM and

Amy Brooks’s daughter. “There’s

a level of understanding and

passion and loyalty and bonding

that occurs that’s really special.”

SEE PROGRAM ON B4

ple also living with disabilities.

Students pay nothing, because

the school — costing about

$4,000 per student — is funded

entirely by the District’s Depart-

ment on Disability Services,

which partnered with RCM on

the project. Enrollees receive a

$50 stipend each day to help

cover costs such as child care and

transportation.

The DSP Academy is the first

initiative of its kind in the D.C.

area and probably in the nation,

experts said.

RCM chief executive Amy

Brooks, who dreamed up the idea

Medicaid, serve as all-purpose

aides, helping people with dis-

abilities do a wide range of things

including dressing in the morn-

ing, navigating social events and

finding jobs.

Myers isn’t certified as a DSP,

but he will be in a few weeks after

he completes a new training

program run by RCM of Wash-

ington, a company that serves

and supports the D.C.-area dis-

ability community. The program,

dubbed the DSP Academy and

launched this year, teaches and

certifies local people with dis-

abilities to help other local peo-

trum. But he’s the only one

wearing 3-D glasses.

“I am able to see more, behind

the scenes, which enables me to

understand more of what’s in

front of me,” Myers said. “It

makes me able to see people as

human before anything else” —

which makes him “very good at

compassionate grieving or just

bearing with people.”

He will draw on both skills in

his new job: serving as a direct

support professional, or DSP, for

people living with disabilities in

the Washington area. DSPs,

whose salaries are paid through

BY HANNAH NATANSON

For Antonio Myers, life with

autism has always felt like sitting

in a movie theater.

Everyone is watching the same

film, said Myers, a 25-year-old

D.C. resident on the high-func-

tioning end of the autism spec-

little bit harder, and we definitely

would have had different circum-

stances,” Stephen Hardesty, bat-

talion chief for the Howard Coun-

ty Department of Fire and Rescue

Services, said at a news confer-

ence.

Firefighters investigating the

smell about 7 a.m. discovered a

small crater about 10 feet long

and a couple inches wide in front

of the building with natural gas

leaking from it, Hardesty said.

SEE EXPLOSION ON B4

had evacuated the building just

minutes before the explosion. Of-

ficials said it was fortunate the

blast happened on a Sunday

morning.

“If it had been a normal work-

day, the evacuation and the clear-

ing of the area would have been a

houses several small businesses

and offices in a popular commer-

cial district of Columbia, off

Snowden River Parkway, accord-

ing to Howard County emergency

officials.

Emergency responders check-

ing out reports of the smell of gas

BY LUZ LAZO

A natural gas leak is the sus-

pected cause of an explosion and

fire that destroyed a shopping

center in Columbia early Sunday,

fire officials said. The building

was “probably totaled,” but there

were no reports of injuries, they

said.

The explosion, which could be

felt several miles away, occurred

shortly before 8 a.m. at 8865

Stanford Blvd., in a building that

KLMNO

METRO

MONDAY, AUGUST 26 , 2019. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/REGIONAL EZ RE K B

Gas leak suspected in Md. explosion

BY MARISSA J. LANG

Tenant activism has trickled

its way through the District in

recent years, building by build-

ing.

Renters have organized associ-

ations, implemented rent strikes

and battled the threat of displace-

ment. They have protested,

signed petitions and contacted

city leaders.

But for decades, there has been

no centralized effort to organize

renters on District-wide issues

such as single-family-home rent-

ers’ rights, gentrification and

rent control.

The new D.C. Tenants Union is

vowing to change that.

At a launch party last month in

the All Souls Church auditorium

in Columbia Heights, more than

100 renters from across the Dis-

trict gathered to vote the organi-

zation into existence. They

weighed in on how the organiza-

tion should operate, what its

agenda should be and how best to

reach people in a city where

about 60 percent of the popula-

tion rents, according to census

data.

On a hand-drawn map hung

from the wall of the auditorium,

residents sketched landmarks

and apartment buildings that re-

sembled the ones they live in.

They swapped phone numbers

and bonded over shared experi-

ences. Speakers bragged about

victories — successful rent strikes

and lawsuits — and led the crowd

SEE TENANTS ON B3

High rents

spawn new

D.C. union

for tenants

JOHN KELLY’S WASHINGTON

As he tries to lose weight,

John does it the hard way

— and gets some

presidential inspiration. B3

THE REGION

Braille might seem like an

odd addition to a rental

scooter, but there’s a good

reason for it to be there. B3

OBITUARIES

Sidney Rittenberg, an

unlikely radical from the

Deep South, became an

67 ° 74 ° 76 ° 73 ° adviser to Mao Zedong. B5

8 a.m. Noon 4 p.m. 8 p.m.

High today at

approx. 3 p.m.

78

°

Precip: 30%

Wind: ENE

8-16 mph

BY CORTLYNN STARK

Sara Carnochan plucked an

orange Sungold tomato from its

vine and popped it into her

mouth. It was perfect.

“These guys are ripe!” Carno-

chan said before propping up a

tomato cage that had probably

fallen during the previous eve-

ning’s storm.

The garden where Carnochan

found this deliciousness one re-

cent day is on the grounds of

Thurgood Marshall Academy, a

charter school in Southeast

Washington. And it is where

Carnochan spent the summer

helping to make sure the garden

flourished — even in the heat of a

D.C. summer.

It is a job she is accustomed to.

She has worked part time at the

school, helping to care for the

garden for four years. But this

summer, she had extra help.

Thanks to a program created

through a partnership between

the Office of the State Superin-

tendent of Education and the

Department of Parks and Recrea-

tion, Carnochan was joined by a

resident from the neighborhood

to help keep the plots producing

while school was out of session.

And in return, her volunteer

got a chance to practice her

gardening skills and take home

some summer produce.

Through the program known

as Shared Roots, 30 volunteers

fanned out to eight school sites,

one community garden and two

private residences in the District

to help keep things growing and

to provide fresh fruits and veg-

etables to community members.

The program is in its second

year and has changed names and

scope. It began as Growing Food,

Growing Community and served

SEE GARDENS ON B6

Seasonal work, with benefits

Shared Roots volunteers tend D.C. school gardens and relish the results all summer

PHOTOS BY MARVIN JOSEPH/THE WASHINGTON POST

TOP: Sara Carnochan collects produce from the garden

at Thurgood Marshall Academy, a school in Southeast

Washington. She and a volunteer from the

neighborhood have maintained the site this summer

while students are on their break. ABOVE: Some of the

garden bounty, which is given to residents and others.

HOWARD COUNTY FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICES/ASSOCIATED PRESS

An explosion Sunday morning destroyed a building on Stanford

Boulevard in Columbia that housed several small businesses.

BY LUZ LAZO

This summer’s string of steamy

90-degree-plus days has created

the perfect conditions to turn two

of the District’s busiest Metro

stations into underground sau-

nas. And riders shouldn’t expect

relief anytime soon.

The problems are at the Farra-

gut North and Dupont Circle sta-

tions, where the chiller system

that pumps cool air into the sta-

tions remains broken and efforts

to repair it have been plagued by

delays.

Metro stations don’t have air-

conditioners, but rather mechan-

ical air-cooling systems. They in-

clude components called chiller

plants and use water, pumps and

fans to lower the temperature of

outside air and push it across

station platforms. The process

makes the platforms about six

degrees cooler. The chiller system

SEE METRO ON B4

In record

heat, Metro

chiller is

still broken

‘There’s a level of understanding... that’s really special’

System for Dupont,

Farragut North stations

hasn’t worked in 4 years

D.C. program trains

people with disabilities to

care for those like them

NO INJURIES REPORTED IN COLUMBIA

Early-morning blast could be felt several miles away