Kelly Anderson

Robert Turner used to use the bathroom at Starbucks locations and public libraries in the heart of D.C. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Turner, who is 41 and has lived on the street for five years, was shut out of his usual spots. “It’s been harder, and you ain’t got no resources during this,” he said while standing outside of Union Station on a recent day, holding his tent in one hand and his sleeping bag in the other. Turner sleeps in different places around the city on different days. He pitches his tent in parks, near office buildings, and outside Metro stations. For Washingtonians experiencing homelessness like him, the pandemic has made it even more difficult than normal to find public restrooms and places to wash oneself — at the very moment these residents need them most. In the spring, the public health emergency forced private businesses and government buildings to close for more than two months, limiting bathroom access for everyone. But the shutdown especially affected ...

Mizanur Rahman, 47, has been going to East Potomac Park three times a week since losing his job in March due to the pandemic. There, instead of watching planes land at Reagan National Airport, as many visitors do, he angles for catfish in the Washington Channel with three different rods. “If I get a big enough fish, I take [it] home and then we cook,” says Rahman, who emigrated to D.C from Bangladesh. He says he turned to fishing over the spring to help feed his three children and spend time outdoors. “We have a lot of fish in my country, so I enjoy the fish — all of them,” Rahman says. Rahman is among various area residents who’ve taken up fishing during the pandemic, whether as first-timers or return fishers. It’s let them get out of the house while complying with social-distancing guidelines and, at least for now, seems to be growing in popularity, according to local fishing businesses and environmental experts. Sometimes, as Rahman well knows, it even results in dinner. Upper North...