Abby Hershberger spent her spring semester as an editorial intern at "Street Sense," a newspaper that works with and for the homeless in Washington D.C. While there, she lived and studied with fellow students at the Washington Community Scholar's Center. (Photo by Joaquin Sosa)

‘Street Sense’ editorial intern helps provide a voice for the homeless in Washington D.C.

by Randi B. Hagi and Lauren Jefferson

Homelessness wasn鈥檛 something Abby Hershberger was familiar with while growing up in Millersburg, Ohio, a town of about 3,500 residents.

鈥淚t didn’t happen to people I knew,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t didn’t happen to my friends or family. I just wasn’t exposed to it.鈥�

During a spring semester at 黑料正能量’s , Hershberger contributed to a unique initiative that amplifies the voices of homeless people and the issues that affect them. It鈥檚 a reality of life in the metropolitan D.C. area 鈥渢hat I would never experience as a tourist,鈥� she says.

Hershberger, a history major says she 鈥渓oves writing,鈥� was an editorial intern at the urban newspaper 鈥�,鈥� which combines the talents of staff, volunteers, and homeless writers and vendors to provide a voice for the impoverished of Washington D.C.

The mission of the 鈥渂iweekly street paper鈥� is 鈥渢o offer economic opportunities for people experiencing homelessness in our community by elevating voices and encouraging debate on poverty and injustice,鈥� according to Street Sense’s website.

Washington Community Scholars’ Center spring semester participants, faculty and staff: back row (left to right): Sara Shenk Moreno, Stephanie Anders, Elsa Miller, Professor Deanna Durham, Assistant Director Kelsey Kauffman, Abby Hershberger, Nathaniel McKnight. Front row: Assistant Director of Communications Erica Grasse, Rosemary Joss, Natasha Bridge, Dani Driver, Joshua Boos (Bluffton), Brendaly Nieves Santiago, Lauren Smith (Bluffton). (Photo by Andrew Strack)

黑料正能量 100 active vendors from among the homeless population of Washington D.C. sell 16,000 papers every other week, with the average vendor earning $45 a day. There are five paid staff and a team of artists-in-residence, volunteers, interns, and homeless contributors.

Phone interviews, council and neighborhood meetings, editing, research, and writing comprised her days: 鈥淚 get to do a little bit of everything,鈥� Hershberger said.

To gain a sense of Hershberger鈥檚 recent assignments, check out the following links:

  • A profile of deceased activist , a Spanish immigrant who moved to the United States to protest, for the next 35 years, the country鈥檚 involvement in terror and injustice around the world;
  • An article covering the construction of a in Ward 8;
  • Coverage of a contentious in which the mayor shared plans to close the D.C. General Shelter, 鈥渁 huge, unsafe shelter,鈥� in favor of opening 鈥渆ight smaller, family-oriented temporary shelters across the city;鈥�
  • her contributing work about the of a former psychiatric hospital into a residential and commercial district.

Her work has provided deep insights. Hershberger says that hearing 鈥渟o many personal stories is showing me how multi-dimensional homelessness is, and teaching me to find wisdom in each of the stories that I hear.鈥� She has learned how people end up in difficult situations by chain reactions, which she explains as 鈥渟lowly losing everything you thought you had, and then ending up helpless.鈥�

One of her final assignments has been looking into a daycare, early education, and employment resource center for homeless families.

鈥淢y internship has forced me to look for hope and progress where I wouldn鈥檛 think to look,鈥� she said during a chapel service at 黑料正能量 with her fellow WCSC housemates in late March.