Photography For Your Soul

During last fall after my early morning physical therapy session I would hang out in the down town Riverside, so I could shoot some street portraits. I would park where I would have to pay for parking, so the short walk to the main street area took me past the library. I knew the homeless use the certain areas to sleep because of the warm concrete walls. I was surprised that this guy was still sleeping when I came around the corner. Riverside has taken up a similar policy to LA. You can use locations around public buildings but you can occupy the space until after the business closes it’s doors and you have to leave before they open up for business. If you don’t follow the terms then they write a ticket or worse arrest you.

 

Since 2007, the annual number of people using homeless shelters in principal cities has decreased 17
percent (from 1.22 million to 1.02 million), and the annual number of people using homeless shelters in
suburban and rural areas has increased 57 percent (from 367,000 to 576,000).

 

Once upon a time, I used to handout money to homeless people: drug addicts, alcoholics, or those with mental illness who approached me at a gas stations, in parking lots, or wherever. I’d give a couple dollars; hopeful it wouldn’t be used buy alcohol, or drugs, but rather food.

My perspective about the homeless graduated from a limited understanding to something much broader when I earned my masters on displaced Americans, which took five years, beginning in 2002. That said my education didn’t take place within the confines of a university, but instead on the streets—with the homeless. Allow me to explain.

I began to cook a meal (once a month) for approximately a hundred homeless: men, women, and children. The food was served in a local park one Sunday a month in the afternoon. There was one caveat; myself, and the team I worked with, encouraged the men, women, and children to listen to a short sermon, before the food was served. Most welcomed the message, sharing that they didn’t attend church because they felt they wouldn’t be welcomed. Others patiently waited for the meal, but didn’t appear interested in the message.

I’ll never forget the first time I handed a person in line a plate with beans, sliced hot dogs, and a piece of bread; that was the day God changed my perspective. I no longer saw a drug addict, alcoholic, or person with mental illness. I saw a person in sustained crisis.

From that day forward I began to prepare food that I would serve my family. I planned my menus around what was available in my church pantry, which was mostly starchy foods, but I knew they needed meats and vegetables, too. I prayed for provision. God met the need through donations to the local food banks, and volunteers from my church stocked the refrigerators with an assortment of meats and vegetables. I soon began preparing: Beef Stroganoff, pulled barbecue pork, fried chicken, lasagna, and meatballs with spaghetti. I wanted them to know I saw them as people, not an addict. Every Sunday for a year, I would cook, serve, and then hang out with them afterward.

The course of my life changed, when cancer struck a blow to two of our family members. My “free-time” was redirected to caring for those members. Then my life changed again. I became a statistic, I was laid off due to the “economic down turn” as they call it. I consider it felonious greed, which brought about the collapse of the home mortgage industry. Living in Riverside, California, at one point in time third highest unemployment area in the nation, the possibility of finding employment was slim, at best. I could now personally relate to how many of the homeless wound up on the street. The harsh reality is many of us are only a couple paychecks away from being on the street. Once your home is foreclosed on, or you are evicted—what are your options? Throw in a repossessed car and the street is the only place left. As if those realities aren’t unforgiving enough, the bitter truth is that many cities are trying to make it illegal to be on the streets, i.e., homeless.

Homelessness is a complex problem, and while eliminating it may not be possible in my lifetime; there is hope for change. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention those individuals who live on the street by choice; this section of the homeless population say they don’t want to be a part of the “normal society” and that they are choosing to live an unfettered life, responsible to no one. However, many more would welcome a helping hand—if one were extended.

 

In an effort to bring awareness to plight of displaced Americans I started “On the Street” a photo documentary project. When I began working on the project, in the summer of 2009, my intention was to be the narrator for a series of photographs that told a story about the homeless. That story, about people in sustained crisis, birthed a bigger project. The expanded project will cover topics like: treatment options to deal with drug, and alcohol addictions; keeping in mind the path to addressing an individual’s issue is an individual one.

On occasion I am criticized for photographing the homeless, when this happens I take a moment to share about my journey. I will also give the person one of my business cards and encourage them to visit my website.

“On the Street” remains a work-in-progress as the cast of characters come and go. I’d like to predict a happy ending, but that will require many heroes and heroines.

If you would like to participate in getting the story of “On the Street” told, please consider making a financial gift to the project via PayPal. All gifts go directly toward production costs. At this time, gifts are not tax deductible; however, if you provide your name and address (once the project enters the editing phase) I will send you a memento from “On the Streets”.

 

I also encourage you to consider contributing to feeding the homeless via a local church; that has an established program to provide food and clothes by means of an outreach pantry.

 Thank You