A new way to view homelessness: Not as a problem but as a culture

In homeless encampments just blocks from Capitol Hill, the routine pretty much never changes. Those living in tents pitched beneath two railroad underpasses north of Union Station not only battle poverty, the pandemic and the weather; they also endure the din of every kind of train running through the District — Amtrak, CSX and Metro among them.

One recent day amid the tumult, American University researcher Aaron Howe was distributing hygiene kits, thermal underwear, flashlights, hand warmers — anything to help anyone who would accept help. Howe, a PhD candidate...