Donte Kirby

Staff Reporter at Washington Business Journal

I write stuff both Fictional and Nonfictional

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Articles

With rates of homelessness on the rise, the death toll is rising too

Jan 1, 2025 | streetsensemedia.org | Donte Kirby

On the longest night of the year, over 60 people marched through D.C.’s streets. They followed a group of six pallbearers carrying a bare, wooden coffin. The coffin itself was empty, but it represented the very real deaths of dozens of D.C. residents experiencing homelessness. At least 120 people died while experiencing homelessness in D.C. over the last year.
At one building, the fight for better housing conditions never ends

Oct 11, 2024 | streetsensemedia.org | Donte Kirby

How many maintenance requests can go unanswered before a tenant should get the city involved, sue, or withhold rent? The process of making sure a building is up to D.C.’s housing code can be arduous, a fact the tenants of one Southwest building know all too well. Luis Macias-Montenegro has lived at Capital Park Tower on G Street for nine years, the last two with his husband, Bill Townsend.
DCHA board votes to prioritize the families exiting Rapid Rehousing

Jul 17, 2024 | streetsensemedia.org | Donte Kirby

The D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA) Stabilization and Reform Board voted during its July 10 meeting to prioritize 1,300 families exiting the Rapid Rehousing (RRH) program for federal housing vouchers. Detractors worry the move will delay housing even further for the 40,000 people currently on the city’s voucher waitlist, some of whom have been waiting for decades.
NAEH conference is back as fight to end homelessness intensifies

Jul 17, 2024 | streetsensemedia.org | Donte Kirby

In the backdrop of the Supreme Court decision that gives states free rein to criminalize homelessness, the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) held its annual conference and reasserted its stance to organize and build more coalitions in the fight to end homelessness.
D.C. budget funds 600 vouchers. Advocates say it's not enough.

Jun 18, 2024 | streetsensemedia.org | Donte Kirby

The D.C. Council finalized the city’s $21 billion budget for the 2025 fiscal year on June 12, 2024, reversing some of the largest cuts made in the mayor’s proposed budget. But housing advocates warn it’s still not enough. The council approved the budget last week, funding 619 housing vouchers.
2200 families must exit Rapid Rehousing. Where will they go?

Jun 5, 2024 | streetsensemedia.org | Donte Kirby

Over 2,000 families may be back in shelters or out on the streets as the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) begins removing families from the Rapid Rehousing (RRH) program, local homeless advocacy groups warn. RRH is a short-term subsidy that pays a portion of a family or individual’s rent for a market-rate apartment over a year, with the possibility of a six-month extension.
DC, NPS close encampments across Foggy Bottom

May 22, 2024 | streetsensemedia.org | Donte Kirby

DC.’s Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services (DMHHS) and the National Park Services (NPS) closed encampments across Foggy Bottom in mid-May, displacing at least 50 people in the largest encampment closure since McPherson Square. The main closures occurred near San Martin Memorial on May 16. D.C. and the federal government were originally scheduled to remove two encampments on May 15, but postponed a day due to inclement weather.
Edtech CEO looks back on the promises of summer 2020: 'It never rang true to me'

Apr 29, 2024 | technical.ly | Donte Kirby

Felix Lloyd is no stranger to the 15 minutes of fame the summer of 2020 provided Black-owned businesses and their founders. The CEO and cofounder of DC edtech startup Beanstack, learned a long time ago to be pragmatic and take advantage of whatever time you have in the limelight — because it always fades.
Proposed DC budget cuts funding for eviction prevention

Apr 24, 2024 | streetsensemedia.org | Donte Kirby

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser released her $21 billion proposed budget for the 2025 fiscal year in early April, cutting funding for eviction prevention and homeless services and providing no new funding for housing vouchers. In committee hearings since the budget unveiling, D.C. councilmembers and housing advocates have said Bowser’s proposed budget cuts are unfairly balanced on the backs of D.C.’s most vulnerable residents.
Meet Street Sense’s new deputy editor

Apr 8, 2024 | streetsensemedia.org | Donte Kirby

First, let me introduce myself to the Street Sense Media community. My name is Donte Kirby, and I’m honored to be your new deputy editor. I was born and raised in Philadelphia. After a stint in the Peace Corps teaching English in Rwanda, I came to the DMV as a digital equity reporter during the peak of the pandemic in 2020. For anyone unfamiliar, digital equity is a lot like equity in housing, health care, or education.