Podcast: What It Takes To Be A Tent Facilitator In DC

WASHINGTON, DC — Rita Sauls lives in a tent encampment with about 30 other people in Washington, D.C.

"Before becoming a tenter, I was living in a three-bedroom house," she said. "It did catch on fire, so I was displaced."

In addition to selling the Street Sense newspaper, Sauls is also a "tent facilitator," which means she provides and helps set up tents for other homeless people in the District.

"I used to walk around and see people on the benches and in the streets and in the storefronts, and I would ask them, 'Would you like a tent?'" she said.

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In this week's episode of the "Look at This" podcast, Sauls talks about how she became tent facilitator and reveals some of the hardships and loses she and her fellows tenters face by living on the streets in D.C.

Related:
Episode 1: DC's Homeless Share Their Stories On New Podcast Series

Episode 2: DC Homeless Woman Finds Path To College Degree, Career

Episode 3: Podcast: DC's Homeless Deliver Poetry Straight From The Streets

"Look At This" is a podcast series produced by the homeless men and women who sell the weekly Street Sense newspaper in Washington, D.C. Michael O'Connell, a D.C.-area journalist, podcaster, and editor at Patch, oversees the production of "Look At This."

The podcast series is a production of Street Sense Media, a nonprofit whose mission is to end homelessness in the Washington, D.C. area. It does this by providing people with the skills and tools they need to become more confident and empowered.

In service of its mission, Street Sense Media produces journalism about homelessness issues in the D.C. area, publishing it in a variety of platforms, including film, theater, photography, illustration, and podcasting.It also publishes the weekly Street Sense newspapers, which the homeless vendors sell as a way to earn income.