PHOTOS: Life inside DC General Homeless Shelter

This is a two-person bedroom in the shelter. Residents are given sheets, blankets and pillows.

A playground built in memory of Relisha sits right in front of DC General and in the middle of a roundabout--on one side is the shelter and on another side is DC's jail.

Room 544. This is where Relisha lived with her mother and younger brothers. Another family now occupies this room.

DC General used to be a hospital. The black sign sticking out of the wall says "X-Ray" and the doors at the end of the hall swing open and closed.

Olmos, Dori

A sign of DC General--the hospital--remains. This old oxygen hookup is still on a wall in a family's room.

Olmos, Dori

When families arrive to their room in the shelter, they receive toiletries, like deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

This is the playroom in the shelter where Relisha loved to draw and play with her friends. The Homeless Children's Playtime Project operates out of this room.

Puppets are used during playtime inside the shelter's play room.

The play room is colorful, with child-sized furniture, paintings and artwork made by the kids who live in the shelter.

Olmos, Dori

Costumes hang in a "dress up" corner of the playroom. Since kids can't hang out in other kids' rooms, the playroom is their outlet to be kids and have fun.

Children get help with homework, while also learning and playing after school at the shelter.

A look down a residential hallway. DC General used to be a hospital. Patient rooms now house hundreds of DC's homeless.

A look inside the shelter cafeteria where Relisha would eat.

A menu inside the cafeteria shows what's for dinner all month.

A menu inside the cafeteria shows what's for lunch all month.

A menu inside the cafeteria shows what's for breakfast all month.

A sign inside the cafeteria makes it clear children must be with an adult while eating. It's suspected Relisha spent time with Tatum, while her mother wasn't around, in the shelter's cafeteria.

A serving window in the cafeteria. Meals are catered and there's a cafeteria on each residential floor.

A sign in the cafeteria displays when meals will be served.

This is a community room, one of the places where residents are allowed to mingle together. People staying in the shelter aren't allowed in each other's rooms.

A sign clearly states children can only be in the room with a parent.

The computer lab in the shelter is typically staffed with someone who can help residents with their resumes and job searches.

The shelter provides a laundry facility for residents.

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PHOTOS: Life inside DC General Homeless Shelter

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