2006 Jesse Smith, Vendor Manager of StreetSense Newspaper - talking about the STREATS Soap Opera Series  

Greetings and Thank You for taking a moment to read about STREATS. 


STREATS simply Strives To Reach Educate And Transform Society's (STREATS) views on homelessness and poverty via television and radio broadcast production, while at the same time empowering its participants (homeless, ex-offenders, low income individuals) to Strive To Reach Educate And Transform Self (STREATS) through employment, life skills, and financial literacy training.


STREATS provides an outlet for its participants to deliver a message about themselves and their situation in an effort to move them out of their situation.  With professional and peer to peer training and development, STREATS is designed to develop the esteem and well being of the homeless, ex-offender, chemical recoverers, under educated and low income. 


STREATS began in 2006 with an unprecedented objective – Enable the homeless to tell their story in a comical, satirical, yet real manner via television.  A cast and crew of homeless and formerly homeless were trained in videography and created a seven episode series; now known to be the STREATS Soap Opera Series.  These individuals directed, filmed, acted, and marketed their product in which the initial episode can be seen on this site .   The STREATS signature soap opera series continues.  With your help we will train a new crew to operate cameras and learn the art of filmmaking, with the hopes of having a STREATS camera crew of homeless individuals armed with cameras to bring you the STREATS Soap Opera Series and up to the day


STREATS News which evolved from the ongoing dynamics and heightened interest in housing our homeless in the Metro DC area.  Housing First has provided housing for many of our homeless, however many are still left in the cold.  In another unprecedented approach STREATS brought together the homeless, their advocates, and the governmental decision makers to bring forth their questions and qualms about homelessness. With your help STREATS News continues.


STREATS FAITH was brought to fruition by a man who read about STREATS in the Washington Post on Thanksgiving 2007 and decided that he would provide an unprecedented approach to teaching financial literacy.  The Financial And Investment Training House (FAITH) can best be described by a recipient of FAITH, Gospel Rescue Ministries, Director of Job Development, Ellis Hodges, “One of the best highlights of the program was the opportunity for our clients to think about risk management and related factors as they chart their futures. Financial literacy is a high priority for re-entry into the community for our clients who are overcoming addiction and homelessness.”  With your help STREATS FAITH continues.


STREATS CARE (Chemical Addiction Recovery Exchange) and LOVE (Letting Ones Vulnerability End) a Life Skills training program, is directed solely at individuals who have been delivered from chemical addiction and direction out of their homelessness. This is peer-to-peer empowerment as individuals who are “over comers” build up individuals who walk in shoes that they once wore.  With your help STREATS CARE & LOVE continues in.

Whew that’s a big bang for your buck.  We encourage you to donate what you can, and Thank you for any contribution that you can make because with your help STREATS continue.