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.

Saturday Morning by the Creek

Joy Eckstine, Elle and I met yesterday for another of our morning photo expeditions. Our goal was to capture about five photographs of Boulder's homeless. We came away with three pictures and agreements for stories to be told after an enjoyable couple of morning hours along Boulder Creek.

Different from our visits to Pearl Street Mall, the Boulder Library and the Band Shell, yesterday we toured Boulder Creek - the location of the inspiration for this project. (See the early blog posts for that background.)  Turns out that a higher percentage of the homeless population on the creek early in the morning are less inclined to be photographed than those where we have earlier worked.  That's the reason that we had hoped for five participants and getting only three.  It wasn't because Joy didn't greet her friends along the creek!

While there will be three interesting stories coming from the two morning hours along Boulder Creek between the library and the Justice Center, I'll introduce one of them here.

I photographed Mark and Elle interviewed him. Mark just arrived in Boulder a couple of days ago after having traveled from Alaska and Texas.  To help him carry his possessions, Mark has designed an attachment for his backpack to which he can lash bags of clothing.  The attachment has wheels so that it can be towed when Mark is walking.  Mark believes the idea is worthy of a patent.

A memorial to Mark's mother can be found at the San Jose Rose Garden.  She started the nation's largest food bank during a career that included work in a circus (as a lion tamer!) and sheltering indigent women that could not qualify for public assistance.  As a testimony to his mother's passion for others, Mark wants to do work that somehow helps the homeless while he stays in Boulder.

Terri at the Library

Had a quick portrait session with Terri at the Boulder Library yesterday. Thanks to Tomas deMers, a writer with the Denver Voice (www.denvervoice.org) for connecting us.

Terri's history includes playing violin professionally in concert settings in Boulder and San Francisco.  However, when her locker at the Boulder Shelter was cleaned out according to schedule a couple of years ago, and Terri wasn't present, her violin was discarded.

She is no longer homeless and has an apartment. Terri works with the arts program at the Carriage House.

Terri is in the process of writing her story. Like the stories of so many others, I am very eager to read it.

Two New Faces

Yesterday I met two new friends at the intersection of homelessness and mainstream.  I photographed Lisa Morzel in the Boulder City Council Chambers, and I photographed Anna Maria Pirone in her Stand Up for Kids facility.

A longtime resident of Boulder, Lisa has been a member of the Boulder City Council for years.  Starting in 1995 and continuing through today, with time away from the Council from 2003 - 2007, Lisa has represented Boulder citizens with a particular focus on environmental, social and economic issues.  When not working on city business, Lisa is a Research Geologist for USGS.  She has a particular awareness and knowledge of homelessness.  Sharon Monroe is Lisa's writer.  What an inspirational story Lisa has to tell via Sharon!

I then walked from the city Municipal building at 1777 Broadway to the Masonic Lodge at 2205 Broadway and the basement facility of Stand Up for Kids.  SUFK leases the space from the Lodge in order to help homeless and street kids.  As part of the national SUFK organization, the Boulder program focuses volunteers' passion for kids through food drives, street outreach, counseling, and providing a safe environment for kids without homes.

Anna is Executive Director of Boulder's Stand Up for Kids program. Her story is being written by Beth Bartel.  While I haven't yet seen her story, Beth has a wonderful opportunity to capture Anna's passion for kids, and Anna's amazing story of challenges while growing up in New York.

Here's a photograph of Anna Maria Pirone.

A Surprise Opportunity

Yesterday, I met Jade Beaty at Naropa University's Alan Ginsburg library.  Jade is now, as she has often been, between lodging locations.  Generally, she stays with friends in homes that are compatible with Jade's chemical sensitivities.  Jade works in the Denver/Longmont area and is an Intimacy Consultant through her business, Sensual Wisdom.  She's applying to become a student at Naropa.  Although she doesn't believe that she is very photogenic, I am quite pleased with yesterday's photograph of Jade.

After wrapping up at Naropa, I stopped by Zing Hair Style on Spruce Street to visit with Joy Douglas, Zing's owner.  Formerly homeless, Joy is now a local businessperson.  I photographed Joy a couple of weeks ago but did not have a model release card at that time.  Yesterday's visit was to get Joy's signature on the release card.  I'm also happy to have provided a digital file of that photograph to Joy for her use on Zing's website.

While in the area, I stopped by the Carriage House Community table to connect with Joy Eckstine, its Executive Director.  After a conversation about a tragic and senseless hit-and-run fatality involving a Carriage House guest and member of Boulder's homeless population, I was introduced to "Paul" and learned of his willingness to be included in our project.  It was a surprise to connect with Paul and have the opportunity for an unexpected photograph.  But, my years of working in sales whispered to me to take Paul's photograph now despite an afternoon of commitments, rather than trying to schedule time with Paul for some point in the future -- some time that might be more convenient for me.

Paul is a long-time Boulder resident although his college years were spent in Santa Cruz, California.  Paul's contact information will be firmed-up with access to email and a phone number in a few days. Until then, I have only a photograph and assurance from Paul that he has a VERY interesting story.  I'm sure that one of our writers will relish spending time with Paul and hearing what he has to say!

Here is "Paul's" photograph, taken just across the parking lot from the Carriage House.