Five years ago, she was a homeless high school valedictorian. Saturday, she got a degree from George
When Rashema Melson first walked across Georgetown University’s campus as a freshman in the fall of 2014, she told herself she was smart enough to be there, had worked hard enough to be there, deserved to be there. But she didn’t always believe her own pep talks. Georgetown is an idyllic campus populated by many students who come to the Northwest Washington school from some of the nation’s wealthiest Zip codes. Melson had arrived from just across town, where she lived in a si
Homelessness drops for third straight year in DC, city officials say
The number of homeless people counted on the streets and in the shelters of the nation’s capital has dropped for the third straight year, D.C. officials announced Wednesday. There were 6,521 homeless people in the District, a 5.5 percent decline from last year, according to the annual count performed by the city. The trend was driven by a 15.6 percent reduction in family homelessness, while the number of homeless, single adults increased by 2.8 percent. The results were welco
