WINNER OF SIX SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS D.C. AWARDS FOR 2022
Happy Holidays from Our Family to Yours! Celebrating 58 Years - Vol. 58, No. 10 • December 22 - 28, 2022
How Some are Finding Success While Living on Less Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
5 The 100th annual National Christmas Tree was lit by the President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill, as is the tradition in the United States since Franklin D. Roosevelt, with LL Cool J joining them for the lighting. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
Returning Citizens Rally for Affordable Housing and Jobs Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
Less than two weeks after his prison release through the Second Look Amendment Act, Ja3 Roach Brown speaks in front of the John A. Wilson Building during the Emergency Rally for Returning Citizens on Monday, December 19, 2022. (Marckell Williams/ The Washington Informer)
mal Childs experienced the perils of life on the outside. Without the close familial bonds he enjoyed as a free man in his early 20s, Childs struggled to secure stable and affordable housing. Not even District-funded hotel accommodations proved sufficient, as Childs often grew anxious about the possibility of getting kicked
RALLY Page 23
Bowser Admin. Convenes Commission to Study Poverty Goal is to Eradicate Destitution by 2036
years ago and the idea later received the support of his colleague, Elissa Silverman (I-At By James Wright and effects of poverty in the District with the Large) and Mayor Muriel Bowser. The idea WI Staff Writer goal of its eradication by 2036. became a reality a few months ago when D.C. Councilmember Trayon White Gordon-Andrew Fletcher, a Ward 5 advisory The Bowser administration has created (D-Ward 8) conceived of a governa commission designed to study the causes ment-funded panel to study poverty a few POVERTY Page 22
It was supposed to be a part-time job. But the workload, travel requirements and responsibilities made Keturah Lee’s IT program management position as stressful as any full-time job. The Northeast Washington resident was working for a federal agency less than 30 hours a week when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. “But I was doing a full-time person’s job,” she said. “It was extremely stressful. I was trying to carry all the responsibility and not drop the ball. It was a never-ending cycle. I felt I always had to be on.” A few months into the pandemic, Lee decided to become one of the nearly 50 million Americans who quit or changed jobs during what has been termed the “Great Resignation” of 2021-22. While some people didn’t have a choice due to loss of employment, many made a move in search of better opportunities. According to a recent LinkedIn survey, work-life balance was the biggest concern, topping compensation, and benefits. Lee decided to find a job with less pressure and more flexibility, allowing more time for her volunteer ministry as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. As the pandemic raged, she studied to be an American Sign Language interpreter. She earned a certificate, quit the IT job, started working part-time as a freelance interpreter and found that her prayers were answered. “I had made it a matter of prayer,” she said. “I didn’t want to be rash. I wantLESS Page 13 ed to make sure I was making the right decision.” Even without the pandemic as a catalyst for taking a hard look at
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