Faces at the Carriage House

Today, Joy Eckstine and I had planned to visit the Deacon's Closet at First Presbyterian Church.  The church opens to the public on Thursday mornings to offer clothing, toiletries, small housewares, books and other miscellaneous items at no cost to individuals with special or recurring needs.  We had hoped to find some homeless people there that would be willing to participate in our project by having their photograph taken and be interviewed for a story for the book.  However, we never left the Carriage House.

Today, we found plenty of people interested in participating in the project at the Carriage House.  Of course, as always, some people that were invited to participate chose to decline for a variety of reasons.  That's pretty understandable.  However, I photographed six individuals and one couple.  All pictures were taken within yards of the Carriage House.

This is the photograph of Eric and LeDriedre. Next week, they will be leaving the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless and moving to permanent housing.  Congratulations on their transition!

Writers' Day

On Saturday morning, Elle and I hosted some of the writers at our home and studio for coffee, bagels and portraits.  The sun peeked through following days (it seems like weeks) of rain clouds and gave us the chance to get outdoor photographs of some writers for the book.  Since not all writers could join us, we intend to hold another writers' morning in July.

Here's the photograph of Carol Grever.  Carol was one of the first writers in the project. I met Carol at a Boulder Rotary Club meeting last fall when Attention Homes was presenting the meeting's program.  Not only is Carol a past president of that Rotary club, she is an accomplished and published author, and she is a member of some local writers groups.  Carol is VERY well connected!  She was so struck with the concept for this book and the cause that it will serve that she attended our organizational meeting, recruited a number of our early writers, and has encouraged us along the way.  Carol has been a wonderful member of the project team and she demonstrates how Rotary works within the community and between clubs.

A particularly big Thank You goes to Maryjo Faith Morgan for leaving her house guests early on a Saturday and driving from Loveland to be with us.  She's a delightful and wonderfully energetic person!

Getting to meet some of our writers for the first time was particularly rewarding.  Since most of our communication has been via email, it was great to connect a face with a person, and with the story that they wrote.  And, isn't connecting faces with people a key part of what this project is all about?

Volunteer Faces

Over the past couple of weeks, I had the privilege of photographing some volunteers from the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless.  The Shelter is a key component of the homeless community, providing meals and overnight shelter in winter months.  It provides support services to the homeless in Boulder throughout the year.

Through the outstanding help of Gina Barajas, the Shelter's Volunteer Manager, I was connected with Jon and Deborah Davis, and Joe Pickett.  Jon and Deborah have volunteered for years in the Shelter's kitchen to prepare and serve meals.  Joe volunteers with Boulder County Cares and with other organizations that serve the homeless.  Boulder County Cares is the street outreach program of the Boulder Shelter.  BCC volunteers canvass the community every winter evening, distributing blankets, gloves, hats, and other warm clothing, and providing food to unsheltered homeless people who are living on the streets.

This is the photograph of Jon and Deborah, taken in the kitchen of the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless.