Alone is the way it is.

Many of the homeless folks I meet at the Sunday Friendship Breakfast are alone. They come in alone and leave alone so this is an opportunity for a person to sit and get a decent meal in a warm place. It is also a chance to talk with the other people at the table, maybe make friends. And sometimes it is a chance to talk with me. I am beginning to learn the names of some of the regulars and can greet them by their name. When I approach I smile and ask if I can take their picture. Some people decline or turn away but many of my subjects agree. I think they are actually flattered that someone has noticed them, probably a rarity when you are on the street. Both of us see this picture as an opportunity to connect for a few moments. This is the way it is in the church hall on Mathewson Street on a Sunday morning.

Here is a portrait of soft spoken Steve. He usually is one of the first to arrive and sits at the same place. We have talked a couple of times. He told me he lost his job with the Postal Service as they cut back. I doubt it has been easy for him. Click to enlarge, and please share this post.

The Way It Was in class yesterday.

Second session of “Seeing Well” at OLLI, URI

We watched videos and I projected pictures by three very good photographers (Ruth Bernhard, Ralph Gibson, and the incomparable Roy DeCarava) We noticed how they used the light to make dramatic photographs. We talked composition, and in particular how diagonal lines add power to a static image. We split into teams for the class exercise. I challenged students to “see the light” and use diagonals. We projected the results and massaged the images a little in Lightroom. Here’s the class favorite, a simple pull chain for a window shade in our class room. Something out of nothing… That's what I call  "seeing well".

Not quite homeless in Providence, the way it is.

For rent in Prov, unfurnished studio apartment, only $580 per month, just off a main street. Well used refrigerator and microwave included. No stove. No closets or kitchen cabinets. Ancient radiator heat but thermostat controlled from superintendent’s unit.  Must share one bathroom with 3 other units.

This is Danielle’s world, but at least she is not homeless anymore. She shares this space with her mother. A friend helps make the rent. She was eager for me to take pictures. She wanted people to see how she is making it in America.  She is looking for something better. She can always hope. 

This is the way it is for her and her mom, three days after Thanksgiving, 2014.

The way it was on Thanksgiving, 2014

Like most of us, this time of year has me counting my blessings, which are many. And like most of us, it is also about this time every year when the solicitations begin to appear in the mailbox, many of which are worthy causes. These requests are perfectly timed, for sure. There is one we just received that calls out to Kathy and I because we have seen where the money goes. It is the RI Community Food Bank.  Words cannot convey how impressed I am by this organization. 

The Food Bank’s efforts touch the lives of so many people on the edge.They truly make a difference. I’ve seen it first hand because I have been photographing for several organizations that work with the “food insecure” of Rhode Island. Here are a few pictures of people who use places like the Jonnycake Center’s Food Pantry, or the Sunday Friendship Breakfast at the Mathewson Street United Methodist Church in Providence. These centers and many others across our state distribute food from the Bank. You can go to the Food Bank’s website to read just how many tons of food goes out their door each year. Amazing work.

I visited the RI Food Bank this spring and did photos of the volunteers and the facility itself. It is impressive. I’ve included a couple of shots here. Unlike some of the organizations where I really wonder just how much of my donation is actually used to do something worthwhile, I can tell you that giving a few of your hard earned dollars to RI Community Food Bank will end up feeding hungry people and doing good works. I’ve seen the people who depend on this food. I’ve seen their smiles and heard their thanks. So after I count my blessings today, I plan to write another check to the Bank. Happy Thanksgiving.

Together is the way it is

I’m not sure but I suspect being a couple when you are homeless might make it a little easier. It least you’re not alone, and there is someone to watch your backpack. If you are sick the other person can help, if you are sad, they can give you a hug. You have someone to talk to, and two heads are usually better than one.

I’ve met several homeless couples at the Sunday Friendship Breakfast. Most seem happy to have each other. Most smile for the camera. One couple (upper left) said they were newlyweds. They were proud to tell me they were just married by the pastor at a church nearby.

Still, the difficulties of living on the street present the same problems, just times two.The cold, the hunger, the danger, it’s still there.  Click to enlarge.

Everything is on your back when you are homeless.

When you are homeless, all you own is in your backpack. That’s the way it is. Roth has been homeless for almost three years. He says, “When a person gets homeless I don’t care how much valuables they have, they are all going to disappear. You’re going to lose it in your storage, because you can’t pay the storage. You’re going to lose your car because the cops are going to confiscate it because your driving with out a tax and registration.”

Danielle isn't homeless now but she was for 6 years, from when she was 20 till just recently. She describes the way it was at the Providence Rescue Mission on Cranston Street. "You go in at 4 PM and the men and the women are separated. At 5 PM there is a church service together. At 5:30 the meal is served. After dinner, we are separated again. The women sleep on mats on the floor in a big huge room. The first 40 men get bunk beds, left overs get mats on the floor too."

Danielle says, "That is half fair, but not half fair. But it is safe, and warm, and the food’s good.” She continues, “You can only leave one bag there, in a closet, only about size of a back pack. If you get caught with more you get thrown out for 30 days or more."

"This wouldn’t be a problem if there was another shelter for women in the area but there isn’t. So the women are stuck now, outside. I don’t know what they can do but I don’t think that’s very fair. I was thinking there should be more shelters for women. They can go to Crossroads but Crossroads sends them to wherever, I think they call it “overflow” downstairs in their community room, only if it is an emergency and you have no other place to go." 

"You must leave (the Rescue Mission) at 7 AM and can’t go back until 4 PM. Must people just hang around because that is what they are used to doing. We don’t really have guidance out here. They tell you what to do but they don’t direct you and help you to do it. So people kinda they get careless, don’t really want to do anything. It all catches up on you. We go to the library but I don’t really like the library. We go to soup kitchens. We used to go to a church in Bristol, it was a day shelter. You could spend all day there, until 2 o’clock.They have lunch, they have bingo sometimes, couple other things. We’ll go walk around the mall. If we have money we’ll go out, see a movie or something, but that’s very rare. (laugh)"

Roth explains,  "It all happens within a really small time frame. By the time you realize you are homeless you are totally lost and depressed. You don’t know what to do. You don’t even know if there is a homeless shelter around because you have never been homeless before. Whereas these other people who have an addiction, they don’t mind being homeless. they don’t mind living in this situation where money doesn’t last." 

Daily challenges are just the way it is.

I met Vincent as he was picking through the used clothing that Pastor Jack had just piled on a table. I had seen four strong men lift his wheel chair up the steps and into the church just a few minutes earlier. He was a big man with a patch over his right eye, and a friendly smile. He had a little license plate on the side of his chair the proclaimed his first name. He was missing part of his left leg. I asked him if he was a veteran and nodded yes. I guessed “Were you in Iraq?” and he answered, “No, Granada…” Then he added that he wasn’t injured there, “even though the bullets were flying.” We small talked a while and he indicated that he didn’t mind me taking his picture as he held up a pair of pants that might fit. He was clearly more interested in the clothing than me.

I have been thinking about Vincent, and the trials he faces every day as a homeless man with a disability. Setting aside the access issues that all people in wheel chairs endure daily, being on the street, finding shelter, food, clothing, warmth, even a bathroom, all must challenge him. Yet here he was in front of my camera, with a little smile on his face. I hope the pants fit, Vincent.

“Wearing two hats” is the way it needs to be.

“Wearing two hats” meant something very different for Keith than it does for me. Breakfast was over and many of the guests were getting ready to leave the church hall. I saw Keith out of the corner of my eye. I was actually trying to make a picture of the dishwasher standing nearby. Keith had just put on one of those dark blue Navy watch caps. Then without hesitation he pulled another one over the first. For a second this seemed strange to me but then “I got it”. This was about survival. When you are on the street it’s about staying warm. This man was preparing for a cold day in Providence. 

Jack Jones, the good pastor of the Mathewson Street United Methodist Church, had just deposited a large donation of clothing on a big table. Men and women were crowded around the pile, sorting through and trying things on. Vincent wheeled in and began hunting for a coat. I asked if I could take his picture and he agreed. He was a big man with a patch over one eye, cheerful in spite of his disability. He told me he was a vet, but he said he didn’t lose his lower left leg in the war and left it at that. He told me he could always use more clothing because “winter was coming.”

As I was leaving the church I noticed an elderly woman with long white hair standing near the stairs. She was wrapped up in a large pink blanket. Her long white hair streamed out of a comical yellow ski cap with a pom-pom on top. I asked if I could take her picture but she politely refused. We chatted a bit and I asked her age by volunteering mine. She smiled and said she was a little younger than me. Maybe, but in any case she, like I, are in the “senior citizen” category. She told me she was homeless. She said this blanket and hat were “to stay warm”. She told me she spent last winter living in a green plastic tent of some sort. I just couldn’t imagine this woman living like this… in  America?

On the way home I reflected on how the homeless people must dread the coming cold. One reads about it every winter as an abstraction… temperature drops, homeless people desperate for a warm place to stay the night, shelters full, etc., etc. Here however, at this church, for these people, staying warm is very real.

I’m thinking I will go through my closet today and see if there are some things I can part with this winter. Jonnycake accepts clothing donations…

This is the way it is at the Mathewson Street Methodist Church.

Pictured at left: "Norman, the man who pours bottomless cups of coffee"

Scott Budnick and his band of merry volunteers are amazing! These good folks at the Sunday Friendship Breakfast “soup kitchen” serve way more than soup. By 6:30 AM the place is humming with sounds of pans banging, knives chopping, potatoes frying and people laughing. The radio is on and some sing along. The spirit of camaraderie and good intention is in the air. They work hard. It’s controlled chaos, maybe even a mini miracle when it all comes out. The troop delivers a hearty breakfast of oatmeal, eggs, home fries, and sausage to hundreds of hungry homeless people. And yes, they also serve up friendship. Not only does this meal provide sustenance but also is an opportunity for human contact and conversation. It is a chance to make friends and talk with the volunteers and among themselves in a safe, warm place. The Sunday Friendship Breakfast has become a refuge for the many homeless men, women and children in Providence, due in no small part to the hard work of these volunteers and Pastor Jack Jones. Click to enlarge photos below and hurray for volunteers.


The Way It Was With Vernon

I met Vernon at the Sunday Friendship Breakfast recently, a place where I have been shooting. (I hope in some small way my photos help to raise awareness of the hunger/homeless problem in RI). He wanted to tell his story, perhaps so others would not go his way. We met a few days later. He was proud that he had a job now, laying floors and installing appliances in a fixer-upper on Princeton Street. He showed me his work, and it was good. We had a sandwich at a fast food place of his choice on Broad Street and he shared a sad story of growing up without much, raised by a single mother in Hartford, CT. His dad was long gone. He began abusing alcohol and drugs as a teen and became an addict and pusher.  Eventually he was arrested and put in prison where he spent many years. After release he had difficulty adjusting, and landed back to jail again. He said he made many mistakes along the way. Fast forward to the present; he has reconciled with his father and found a good woman to love. He is still homeless but hopes to get into subsidized housing soon. Things seem to be looking up for Vernon. But it isn't easy. Below, Vernon while he tells me his story.

The Way It Is In Rhode Island

Below are just a few of the faces of people in need, many homeless, most hungry. These pictures were made in the  Mathewson Street Methodist Church hall in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. The large room is filled with men and women at long tables, waiting for the morning meal. They are being served up a hearty breakfast of porridge, sausage, eggs, and home fries by an army of volunteers. There’s a big coffee urn but no buffet line. They are being served their meal with dignity. I met and photographed both the church volunteers and the recipients of this meal on two successive Sunday mornings. It was an real eye opening experience, almost surreal. I found the old church by following the long line of people heading down Mathewson Street. There were so many, some so young, and others so old. So many women. I had no idea of the need. When Scott Budnick and Pastor Jack Jones invited me to visit, I expected to find maybe fifty or sixty people, instead I found hundreds, many just like me but for bad luck, addiction or illness. The room was bursting with hungry people. It makes one thankful…

I arrived at Pastor Jack’s breakfast by following a trail of volunteers that help “food insecure” Rhode Islanders. I began my journey at the Food Pantry in Peace Dale, then to the Rhode Island Food Bank, then the Master Gardeners plot at URI and on to the Potato Peelers at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Kingston, with other stops along the way. (Pictures of these good people and some they serve can be found in earlier entries in my blog.)

Driving home, I had many questions. Why so many? Where do these people sleep? How do they get by in the winter? What happens when the shelters fill? What do they do when they get sick or run out of medicine? How do they get around? And the big question, “Why is there such poverty in our state?” I haven’t any answers but maybe I can raise awareness of this acute need with my camera. Please help by sharing this post with your fiends. Thank you.

To see a short movie at the Sunday Friendship Breakfast go here.

Filling empty bowls.

Thanks to the good folks who volunteered for the Jonnycake Center in Peace Dale, Rhode Island, and the delicious vegetable soup from Belmont Market, the Empty Bowl fundraiser was a huge success. Many thanks to all who lent a hand! The way it was...

More photos here.

The Peelers

This is the way it was at the Good Shepard Lutheran Church last night. These are some of the  "Peelers" who help feed the hungry. These potatos end up as home fries at a Sunday breakfast for homeless people in Providence. The volunteers I photographed are yet another example of people helping people.

More on the hunger issue here.

Click to enlarge Thumbnails... 

The way Abby was yesterday, for her birthday.

Abby The Angel

Abby The Angel

Time flies. Here's Abby way back in 2004 and this summer. Suddenly she is a teenager, transformed in the blink of an eye. She is an A student, awesome athlete, and great kid. I'm lucky to have her, my oldest granddaughter. along with 7 other wonderful grandkids! It's real crazy when we get together.

Back to school with new backpacks from the Jonnycake Center

Volunteers at the Jonnycake Center help happy kids get off to a good start by providing brand new back packs and lots of school supplies. Pictured here are volunteers Yasmin, Evan, and siblings Callie and Tim stuffing the backpacks with school supplies. On site in the back lot, Mike distributes bags to parents and kids. Further along, Josh and Glen hand out books to the children. Once again the teen volunteers help make the Jonnycake go, doing good things in the community. Click to enlarge thumbs and be sure to share on Facebook.

The Way It Was in Fall River yesterday.

The good folk of Fall River, Ma, hosted The Great Feast Of The Holly Ghost yesterday on a perfect summer day. The Bodo de Leite and Ethnographic Parade ran from the Gates of the City to Kennedy Park. It was a delightful display of Portuguese pride. Sweet bread and milk was distributed to all present, in honor of the Holy Spirit. Needless to say, the wine also flowed and Chiorizo sandwiches were everywhere. These are a gentle and hardworking people celebrating their heritage.

Again, I used my "Nifty Fifty" millimeter lens on my Canon D6, Aperture preferred, set to F/5.6 for all. The camera is light and relatively unobtrusive, very good for street photography. The focal length means I had to zoom with my feet. To some photographers this is scary because it means you have to get close. But closer is often better. (Robert Capa's quote comes to mind, "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough.") Well, I was pretty close. I could smell the sausage cooking and almost felt as if I was in the parade, not just an observer. I do like the look of these images and would appreciate your comments.

Click to see more, and please "share" if you like.

The way it was at the Washington County Fair

Joe and I shot the Washington County Fair on Friday afternoon. It was a perfect day, and the place was humming, rides, animals, and especially the people. Boys meeting girls, old folks, 4 H kids, etc, etc. It was a street photographer's paradise. I used my old Canon 50 mm F/1.8 lens, (too cheap to buy the f/1.4). It was the first time I had done any street photography with this lens, in the past I relied on either my tele zoom or the wide angle zoom, both of which are fine but yield different results. The 50 necessitates getting closer, and it has a different point of view. Shooting at f/4 means you have shallow depth of field, and nice bokeh which is a double edged sword. Lots out of focus but I managed to nail some too.These remind me of my pictures from the 60's, with the NikonF that was built like a tank. I really like the look of these but I am glad I'm using a digital camera with Lightroom. Couldn't have done it as well had I been using film. I would have been in the darkroom for days, and would never been able to explore the many possibilities, or tweak like I have done with these. Below, two favorites, and if you care to see more go here:

http://www.armorphoto.com/wash-co-fair

The Way It Was— Giving and Receiving

 As I continue to meet and photograph people on both sides of this project, I am beginning to really appreciate the hunger crisis. It is real, and deserves our attention.

I saw the giving and receiving again yesterday. First, I photographed the Master Gardeners at East Farm as they harvested their plants. These veggies are destined for Jonnycake’s Food Pantry and elsewhere, fresh produce that eventually winds up on someone’s dining room table. 

Pictured here are Master Gardeners Colleen, Liz, Sally, Martha, Sue, Judy, Pam, Karen and Pat and also two teen volunteers at the pantry, Portia and Yasmin. These volunteers are all making a difference. I also photographed a few of the folks who are on the receiving end of this food. They will be serving it up to their families tonight and throughout the week. They are glad to have it.

This continues to be an eye-opening  experience for me. There is a real need. This is a Rhode Island and nationwide crisis. Click to enlarge the thumbnails, and please share this post on your Facebook and Twitter pages.


Another way to give...

 I visited a lush "Giving Garden" today and photographed some of the Master Gardeners and volunteers who tend it. The focus is on learning, but much of the produce harvested is donated to various food pantries including Jonnycake in Peace Dale. These vegetables help feed the hungry,  yet another example of people helping people. Click to enlarge and be patient...