The city's sauce

I produced this video on D.C.’s semi-famous Mumbo Sauce, also known as Mambo Sauce to some. Most of the home-grown folks I talked to have known about the sauce for years and grew up getting it from their favorite Asian carryout restaurant. But the transplants who have only moved to D.C. in recent years have never even heard of the stuff. Arsha Jones, who recently launched a business making a bottled version of Mumbo, makes the point that if she were moving in from a different place, she probably wouldn’t go to the seedy carryout joints either. And those are the places where the sauce is found. And the sauce is always different depending on where you go because most of the carryout restaurants make it themselves from a secret recipe. It’s a story about a funky sub-culture that thrives in this city but remains a secret to so many.

House for homeless GLBT youth

The Wanda Alston House in northeast Washington is a transitional housing space for homeless gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) youth. Eight to nine people between the ages of 16 and 24 live in the house at any given time and there is wait list of 10 to 25 more all the time.  I produced this video story about the house, focusing on a transgender woman named Sarah Feliciano. Sarah moved to the house in March after staying at Ronald Reagan National Airport instead of sleeping on the streets or in a shelter. She was initially shunned from her mother’s home after revealing her desire to live as a woman, as Sarah, instead of as a man, named Guy. This story tries to take a look at the struggles these GLBT youth face, especially those who are transgender, and the solutions that this house helps provide for them.

Closure never comes for 9/11 survivor

Though Kathy Dillaber survived attacks on the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, her sister did not. Dillaber recalls seeing her sister at work that morning where they discussed the attacks on the Twin Towers they had just learned about on the news. Almost ten years after that day, Dillaber considers what the death of Osama bin Laden means for her while visiting her sister's memorial bench at the Pentagon Memorial. See the video here.

Race and the recession: How Americans are getting by

African Americans in Prince George's County, Md., grapple with how to get by as they face increasing unemployment and foreclosure. See the video here. 

Keeping hair during chemotherapy

Breast cancer patient Katherine Klein brings a team of people to her oncologist's office, including her husband, to assist her in the cumbersome process of putting cold caps on her head during chemotherapy treatment. The caps are worn in an effort to prevent Klein's hair from falling out. See the video here.