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A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION
20-283
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
October 28, 2014
To recognize the contributions and advocacy of Eric Jonathan Sheptock.
WHEREAS, Eric Jonathan Sheptock was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where at the age of 8 months he suffered a massive head injury and was not expected by doctors to develop normal cognitive functions, much less finish high school;
WHEREAS, the head injury left him an extreme stutterer often taking 3 minutes to utter one sentence, leaving Eric exhausted and causing him to walk away from many conversations;
WHEREAS, he has defeated the stuttering enough to speak at various high schools, colleges, universities, and churches, and been featured on CNN, Al-Jazeera, and other media;
WHEREAS, Eric spent 5 years in foster care, was taken in by a Polish man and Italian woman took him in when he was 5 and a half years old, and moved to New Jersey where his parents raised a family of 37 children – 7 biological and 30 adopted;
WHEREAS, the Sheptocks moved to Florida in 1985, and Eric graduated from Hollister Christian Academy in Hollister, Florida, in 1987 as a straight-A student;
WHEREAS, Eric began advocating for the homeless in June 2006 due to the coaching of the late Mary Ann Luby;
WHEREAS, Eric began as a member of the Committee to Save Franklin Shelter and was part of the successful effort to stop Mayor Anthony Williams from closing the Franklin School Shelter;
WHEREAS, fellow homeless advocate David Pirtle taught him to use e-mail in November of that year -- a day that many in D.C. government remember;
WHEREAS, Eric has gone on to become a prolific user of e-mail and Facebook and often blogs;
WHEREAS, in 2011 Eric established the advocacy group SHARC, which stands for "Shelter, Housing And Respectful Change," for the purpose of informing poor and homeless people about budget cuts to social services which would negatively impact them; and
WHEREAS, with Eric as Chair, SHARC went on to lead the beginning of a robust public conversation around the future of the 1,350-bed Federal City Shelter -- a conversation that continues to this day and could result with up to one-sixth of Washington, D.C.'s, homeless population obtaining housing or improved shelter.
IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, that the Council of the District of Columbia recognizes and honors Eric Sheptock for his outstanding advocacy on behalf of the homeless residents in the District of Columbia and declares December 31, 2014, as “Eric Jonathan Sheptock Day” in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 2. This resolution may be cited as the “Eric Jonathan Sheptock Day Recognition Resolution of 2014”.
Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in the District of Columbia Register.
