N Street Village!

N Street Village!

by guest contributor Stuart Allen
Photo credit: Paul Kim

“I was born and raised in Washington, DC.  I had a great life, a wonderful husband, two children and a 23 year career with the Washington Police Department,” said Sherron Lee at the N Street Village 11th Annual Empowerment Luncheon at the Ritz Carlton in Washington, DC.  As a drastic before and after picture flashed upon the big screen, Lee shared that “At 36, I was at an emotionally distressed place. I turned to alcohol and then cocaine to fill the void and I lost everything. I escaped to NY and I experienced every bad thing that could happen to a woman on drugs in NY: I am the survivor of emotional, physical and sexual abuse.” Her turning point, she says, is when some police officers stopped to say hello to her and she remembered a glimmer of her past life. She got on the Greyhound bus back to DC. “When I got off that bus, I had a choice: I could go back to the place where I used to be or I could go home to my mother’s house. I chose my mother’s house and shortly thereafter I went to detox. And from there, I went to N Street Village.”

Sherron Lee

Lee’s path to recovery wasn’t easy. She recalled: “It took me six years. I stress that the first year I didn’t know who I was, the second year I didn’t know who I was. But after six years of coming back to N Street Village, I finally knew.” Her journey included participating in 12 step programs, meeting with a nurse at the Wellness Center who got her health back in order, and a new set of teeth provided by a pro-bono dentist who serves the Village community. Lee said the anchor that kept her going was something surprisingly mundane and tedious: A daily chore. “Even when I got into the residential program, I knew I still needed help from N Street Village. So, even when I got a full-time job, I still came back each evening for my chores – picking up cigarette butts. It doesn’t sound glamorous, but it was so important to me to have that chore. I just kept coming back to the Village.” In 2009, N Street Village offered Lee a position as a staff member, serving as a program assistant for residents going through the recovery program, which inspired her to go on and earn her Certified Addition Counselor, or CAC, certification.

While in recovery, she met a man who was also in recovery. A friendship blossomed, and six years later, she became his wife. Lee proudly announced, “It has been 13 years of my sobriety.”

“My biggest hope is to continue my recovery and rebuild my relationship with my children and others that I harmed.” She thanked N Street Village for playing such a monumental role in her success, sharing, “I can’t say enough about N Street Village. It’s not just a job for them. The Village staff has set a great example of how I want to live.” Each year, Lee returns to the 5th floor recovery unity where she used to work to give back. “That is how I pay it forward, I share what I received at N Street Village with the next woman who will enter looking for recovery.”

Jack Evans (far right) and friends

N Street Village welcomed nearly 400 guests, including city leaders, long-term supporters, and new friends to celebrate the positive changes we can make in the lives of D.C.’s most vulnerable women and witness the “Voices of the Village” featuring N Street Village alumnae. Notable guests included D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans, Kimberly Basset of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office, and presenting sponsors and Board Members Cindy and Mark Aron, Keith Harley of Keith Harley Hair and Scalp Design, and Thomas Dawson of TD&P Consulting. Other sponsors included Hillary Baltimore, Decker and Sherry Anstrom, N Street Village Board of Directors Chairman Peter Shields, Managing Partner of Wiley Rein LLP, and Vice-Chair, Ruth Sorenson.

Kimberly Bassett, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office on Women’s Policy and Initiatives, delivered opening remarks: “Like you, I am a proud supporter of N Street Village, a critical anchor in our city and a national model for wrap-around services and housing for women experiencing homelessness.” Mayor Bowser, DC Councilmember Evans, and others leaders from the Administration visited the Village two weeks ago to celebrate the completion of the $9M N Street Village Keeping Our Promise Capital Campaign which raised critical funds to update the facilities and expand the Village’s life-saving programs.

Schroeder Stribling, N Street Village Executive Director, celebrates with Empowerment Line women

N Street Village Executive Director, Schroeder Stribling, announced that with the help of the campaign, “We are now combined to have 5 village locations in 4 wards of DC, where we offer a continuum of housing from emergency shelter to permanent, supportive, and affordable housing.”

Last year, the N Street Village Empowerment Luncheon welcomed keynote speaker Oprah Winfrey, which Stribling alluded to in her remarks:  “We have been fortunate to have some celebrated visitors in the past few years, including Dali Lama, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Recording Artist Andra Day, Actor and Activist Richard Gere, and Oprah Winfrey. We are all here today, because along with those celebrated visitors, we share the belief that the women of our community matter.”

Village alumna, who earlier had shared their personal stories of triumph over adversity and lives reclaimed in a brief video, were then welcomed to the stage with a standing ovation. Stribling also welcomed Evelyn Green, “The North Star of the Village,” an alumna turned long-time employee that has “helped thousands and likely saved hundreds of lives.”  This Village Empowerment Line – of alumna and staff – then sang the crowd into lunch with a moving performance echoing “I ain’t going to let homelessness get me down…We know N Street Village helps us turn it around.”

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