The Washington Post - 29.08.2019

B2 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.THURSDAY, AUGUST 29 , 2019

media feeds in about two weeks
— showing t he epic surprise h is
parents, n eighbors and strangers
are planning for h im. O n Sept. 11,
when he turns 4 , Whitaker will
walk out of his Northern Virginia
home and find his neighborhood
filled with yellow cars, c rossing
guards in costumes and people
cheering for a boy they have
never met.
The pictures taken of h im that
day, a nd t here will be plenty, w ill
show him f or the first time
healthy on his birthday.
Whitaker’s m other shared with
me more than 6 0 pictures the
family has taken of him i n the
past three years. S ome are blurry.
Others are crisp b ut hard to look
at f or other reasons. In t hose first
birthday photos, he is smiling
and his blond hair juts out i n
curls behind his ears. His parents
didn’t p lan a party b ecause they
could tell, e ven then, he wasn’t
feeling well.
In l ater photos, he lies i n a
hospital b ed, his tiny body t ucked
under a tangle o f tubes. His curls
are gone along with the rest of his
hair.
The toddler r eceived a double
stem cell t ransplant, which h is
mother explains required him to
twice receive a nearly l ethal dose
of chemotherapy drugs before h is

VARGAS FROM B1 own harvested s tem cells were
placed back into his body t o help
heal h im.
One photo shows a table
topped with 12 syringes. They
represent the morning meds h e
was taking at o ne point.
Photos taken on his second
birthday show him s itting a t
home in a booster s eat, sampling
a dollop of green icing before
bringing t he entire cupcake t o his
mouth. He w as between
treatments and f elt crummy but
still managed to participate i n the
celebration.
For his third b irthday, t here
are no photos. His mother
couldn’t f ind any.
“I think we were just
breathing,” s he explains.
Whitaker’s s cans had j ust come
back, and they showed t he
treatments had worked. Only o ne
small, potentially concerning
spot s hows up now on h is scans,
and doctors are monitoring it as a
precaution.
He i s now healthy enough to
start preschool in September. His
elementary school, Charles Barrett,
is in walking distance of the family’s
home in Alexandria — which brings
us to those yellow cars.
Whitaker loves the
Transformer Bumblebee a nd
thinks that a yellow Camaro
parked down an alleyway off the
family’s s treet is the famous

character. “Can we go t he

Bumblebee way?” he asks each

time his f amily drives

somewhere. Because of that, his

father came up with the i dea of

asking their neighbor to park in

front of their house o n Whitaker’s

birthday so he could s ee the car

on the walk to school. His mother

says she t hen thought, “Why n ot

try to get a bunch of them?”

She posted a call-out for people

with yellow cars on a private

Facebook group for moms in her

neighborhood. Then this

happened: More and m ore people

started sharing it. WJLA

(Channel 7) r an a story about it.

And soon, Alexandria Sheriff

Dana L awhorne and a deputy

showed up at t he family’s h ouse

to play with Whitaker and, in

secret, talk to his parents about

logistics. Erin s ays the sheriff’s

office has o ffered t o handle t raffic

control that day.

So far, about 50 people have

committed to bring t heir yellow

cars. Neighbors have offered to

decorate their homes. A nd the

school crossing guards plan to

wear Bumblebee costumes.

“It’s going to be incredible,”

Erin s ays. Whitaker’s 9-year-old

sister, Lakeland, has b een in on

the planning a nd is especially

excited, Erin says. “It’s great for

her to see this b eautiful part of

the world. She’s o ld enough to

grasp this is a whole b unch of

strangers that are doing

something w onderful f or a little

boy and his family.”

Jeremy Levy, who is the voice

of Bumblebee for the cartoon

“Transformers: Cyberverse,” has

also c ontacted the family, and

Paramount Pictures, which

produces the Transformer

movies, s ent 10 boxes of toys to

the family’s h ouse. T hey plan to

donate many “because no child

needs 10 boxes of Transformers.”

Erin s ay t he f amily feels

immensely grateful. S he has also

thought a bout why her r equest

resonated with so many people.

“I think the idea of a yellow c ar,

it’s a simple idea,” s he says. “ It

costs time, which is valuable. But

it doesn’t c ost anything to

brighten up a 4-year-old who has

gone through hell.”

The treatments c aused her son

to lose s ome of his hearing and he

now wears hearing aids. He a lso

undergoes scans every three

months. His next one w ill take

place 12 days after h is birthday.

“I think the more time that

passes, t he more we focus on the

future instead o f what might have

happened,” s he says. “In the

beginning, y ou can’t h elp but

plan a funeral for your kid

because i t’s there, there’s a chance

he’s n ot going to get through this.”

On his birthday, t he f amily plans

to wake u p, have a normal morning

and step outside at 7:20 a.m. t o

make the w alk to the school.

They e xpect there might be

many cameras, from the media

and strangers, pointed at

Whitaker.

His mother h opes t his is what

those photos of his fourth

birthday capture:

“I hope a lot of people come,”

she says. “I hope t hat all those

people that come connect with

each o ther, too, because they’re

seeing something great. They’re

seeing something great in each

other. I also w ant them t o see this

survivor, this kid w ho is smiling

and healthy and happy. And I

want him t o feel l oved and like

he’s a lways got a circle a round

him. No matter what the f uture

holds, he’s l oved.”

[email protected]

THERESA VARGAS

For the first time in his

life, Whitaker will be

healthy on his birthday

borhood from H Street to Florida
Avenue i n Northeast.
Advocates for the homeless
condemned Jasper’s letter, which
was d ated Aug. 21.
Aaron Howe, a PhD candidate
in American University’s anthro-
pology program who has inter-
viewed people in the encamp-
ments, said while the letter raised
some good points, its tone was
“very d ehumanizing.”
“It just treated them more a s an
annoyance than as actual human
beings,” he said. “It seems like a
fear campaign — a way t o increase
citizens’ complaining.”
In a statement, Patty Mullahy
Fugere, executive director of the
Washington Legal Clinic for the
Homeless, said the letter ad-
dressed important issues but “dis-
counts the u nderlying cause o f the
problem, which is the District’s
affordable-housing crisis — a cri-
sis that in great measure has been
fueled b y redevelopment o f neigh-
borhoods like NoMa.”
Jasper said in an interview that
she was “overwhelmed” by the re-
sponse to the l etter, which she said
has been “mostly supportive.” She
said advocates are more focused
on encampment residents than
safety in public spaces.
“More outreach and more h ous-
ing just won’t solve the issue,” s he
said. “There’s a genuine public in-
terest in people being able to get
through t he neighborhood safely.”
Drew Courtney, an Advisory
Neighborhood Commissioner
who represents the area, said one
of his constituents was spat on in
an underpass amid a spike in ag-
gressive panhandling and sexual
harassment. He called the situa-
tion “unsustainable.”
“I think it’s complicated,”
Courtney said. “I think the D istrict
needs to make sure that we’re pro-
viding real support for folks that
are dealing with crises of housing
and substance abuse and mental
health, and ... we need t o be a ble t o
guarantee safety when folks walk
through these spaces.”
In her letter, Jasper wrote that
public dialogue around solutions
to homelessness often centers on
affordable housing, even though
improved drug rehabilitation,
more mental-health programs
and better enforcement of drug
laws would b e more e ffective t ools.
Brian Carome, executive direc-
tor of Street Sense Media, a non-
profit that publishes a newspaper
focused on poverty that is sold by
the city’s homeless, said ending
homelessness requires a commit-
ment to building more affordable
housing.
“The men and women in these
encampments are more often vic-

HOMELESS FROM B1

tims than victimizers,” he said.

“This is a cold, callous l etter.”

Not all business improvement

districts in the city handle home-

less outreach i n the s ame way.

The Golden Triangle Business

Improvement District, which

serves 43 square blocks roughly

from Dupont Circle to Pennsylva-

nia Avenue, has a $250,000 an-

nual contract with Pathways to

Housing DC — a nonprofit that

advocates for ending homeless-

ness — for three full-time outreach

workers.

The NoMa BID is a Pathways

donor, but homeless outreach is

handled by its own “hospitality

ambassadors,” J asper said.

“I sense the frustration of peo-

ple living in a community togeth-

er,” said Christy Respress, Path-

ways’ executive director. “By the

time someone is living on the

street, they’re desperate. They

have no other option. They aren’t

choosing t o live on the s treet.”

Carome said the NoMa BID

could do more to help those living

in encampments, such a s building

permanent restrooms, w ider side-

walks and a mental health clinic.

Jasper said addressing prob-

lems in encampments a re “not o ur

thing at all, financially.” She said

the BID pays to pressure-wash

streets after the city clears en-

campments every two weeks but

can’t address public safety issues

handled by police.

The District defines an en-

campment as “ a set-up of an abode

or place of residence of one or

more persons on public property

or an accumulation of personal

belongings that is present even

when the individual may not be.”

Once an encampment is identi-

fied, the city deploys outreach

teams and eventually removes its

inhabitants.

Despite the regular cleanups —

which have increased citywide,

from 29 in 2015 to 100 in 2018 —

Jasper said more people seem to

be living in the NoMa encamp-

ments.

D.C. police statistics show the

immediate area has seen a recent

increase in crime. The number of

violent crimes — such as robbery

and assault with a dangerous

weapon — within 1,000 feet of

First and K streets NE has in-

creased in the past y ear, from nine

to 15. Property crimes increased

from 108 t o 136.

In some cities, lawmakers are

moving to decriminalize such en-

campments. Austin rescinded re-

strictions on public camping this

year, a nd Seattle has some permit-

ted t ent c amps.

In NoMa, s ome t ents sit on con-

crete, sporting the names of their

owners. Others rest on wooden

pallets so residents can avoid get-

ting wet when it rains. The noise o f

cars and trains is constant, as is

the threat of mosquitoes and ro-

dents.

On Wednesday, many living in

the encampments were unaware

of the BID’s letter.

Standing in the L Street under-

pass beneath elaborate light

sculptures installed a s part o f a $2

million g rant, 58-year-old M ichael

Zanders said a friend suggested h e

move there after finding him

sleeping o n a park b ench. Zanders

said a home would help him con-

quer his drug addiction.

“I think housing will be a posi-

tive step,” he said. “It gets me

stable. I’m not stable here.”

Cowanda Gresham, a 41-year-

old Washington native, has been

homeless for five years, living in a

tent beneath an underpass for s ev-

en months. S he stakes out her s pot

to maintain contact with case

managers t rying t o get her a hous-

ing v oucher.

She s aid she spends s ome of the

money s he m akes panhandling on

bleach and cleaning spray to keep

her f ew s quare feet o f public space

spotless.

“I have a broom. I clean up

faithfully,” she said. “A ll I can do is

hope someone comes and lifts me.”

[email protected]

NoMa residents debate how to respond to encampments

FAMILY PHOTO

Whitaker Weinburger, who his mother says “has gone through hell,” is now healthy enough to start

preschool. About 50 people have pledged to bring their yellow cars to the Bumblebee lover’s birthday.

PHOTOS BY CAROLYN VAN HOUTEN/THE WASHINGTON POST

Some NoMa residents have criticized the District’s response to the homeless encampments in the neighborhood’s many underpasses.

William Harrison drags large pallets down Second Street NE. He

plans to use the pallets as a base for his tent in a homeless

encampment on an underpass on M Street Northeast.

Mi chael Zanders, 5 8, stands for a portrait in a homeless

encampment on an underpass on L Street Northeast. Zanders said

having a permanent home would help him beat his drug addiction.

washingtonpost.com/postpoints

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