WASHINGTON: On a hot June night, revelers descend on Washington s Adams Morgan neighborhood, a nightlife and dining hotspot in the US capital. But they aren t the only ones profiting from the good weather.
The District of Columbia consistently makes the top five list of America s rattiest cities, a problem made worse by warming winters, a rising population, and outdoor dining areas made permanent after the Covid pandemic.
In the first 14 months of the pandemic, nearly one in five American households adopted a cat or dog. But as COVID precautions shift and inflation takes its toll on the economy, many of those pets are going back into shelters creating a crisis of capacity.
The Downtown Engagement Center, at 222 4th St. N., offers homeless people many services, including mental health assistance, help with housing applications, job searches, identification cards, health care, and the Syringe Service Program, which provides clean needles to drug users. The center has a laundry room, private showers and toilets, lockers for storing personal items, and a space for arts and crafts.