Three Days

Once we got to Washington D.C. we had to wait for the news station to get to us to tell everyone that we were finished. So NBC came out to talk to us and they did a short interview along with some extra footage. Day one was now over, we had decided that we would wait for tomorrow to start everything so that we could rest after 9 hours of walking.

After resting up, we started Day Two which consisted of going to the Covenant House in the Washington D.C. area to learn about what they do and see their director. So we got there and entered the lobby area, which we were greeted by two guys, one the director Dan and the assistant director The Candy Man. After small talk about the trip we headed up stairs to take a tour of their facility. This place was full of programs that were focused on helping older teens and young adults with education and job training. One class was dedicated to educating about construction and woodwork, which is great because no matter what people will need others to build things for them. After our tour we went to the conference room to talk about our journey in depth and our ideas that could help with the homeless situation. Afterwards we left, but were stopped by Brazilian News, who wanted us to go back to the White House to go another interview, but we said that we would wait until tomorrow to do it, because traffic in D.C. was just starting to pick up. They happily agreed, thus ending day two.

Resting and not walking for a whole day was not helpful, actually very painful. I don’t understand why, because you would think that not walking would make my feet happy, but no it was painful. This is the start of Day Three, the biggest day yet. On the list, Go to meet Congressmen and Senators, go to the Sasha Bruce House (it was the day they were having a party for the volunteers) to meet volunteers and staff, take a tour and learn about what they do and then do a small speech about what we did and telling the volunteers thank you. Then do the interview with the Brazilian News, before rushing home to get back to school.

The Rayburn Building, this is where we went to see Congressmen John Mica’s staff. Russell Robertson, Chief of Staff for John Mica, was our tour guide and meeting set-up guy. This man is one of the coolest guys we’ve met so far. He told us about what happens in each of the buildings and talked to us about our journey. John Mica was in Florida on his home time, so we told Russell about how we can fix some problems with youth homelessness and how we can get the communities involved. Afterwards we left to go see the Senators for Florida, with Russell. You would never think about how confusing the senate building is. Even Russell got lost, so we didn’t feel too helpless. After we found our way to Mel Martinez’s office I went to take a few pictures with him and talk for a few minutes. We talked to one of his assistants; she was really cool and wanted to know about the weird details about the walk. Then we went to see Bill Nelson’s staff and one of his main people. We talked for a good while about the trip and how they can help with the homeless youth situation.

Next on the list, Sasha Bruce House. We pulled up near the Sasha Bruce House, and went to speak with the director of the Organization. We found the head of the volunteers and spoke with him about what they do. After taking a tour around the facility and doing a short speech we talked to people individually. We talked to many volunteers and staff about homelessness and how to combat the problem of homelessness. The News crew was there to do their interview, so we did our interviews and talked about the stories that they do. This interview was different from the others, and they asked to see our feet and blisters, so we showed them. After all of that was over we said our goodbyes and headed out of the city to start our journey home.*

*In a car not on foot, not enough time.

Thank you,

David Ashby
TNB