For nearly 7 years I have been volunteering my photography services to the amazing organization that is Project Place in Boston.
Formally the mission of Project Place is to promote a community of hope and opportunity for homeless and low-income individuals by providing the skills, education and resources needed to obtain and sustain employment and housing. They are the total embodiment of the old proverb “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” But what so many of their clients say is that Project Place does SO much more than that, it gives them a second chance at LIFE. Some have even told me they would probably not even be alive today if it wasn’t for Project Place.
With our country facing an epidemic of homelessness more cities need to have programs like Project Place. So in an effort to celebrate what Project Place’s clients have accomplished and to bring greater awareness to the problems facing so many residents of New England, and across the country, I offered to do a free Help-Portrait session for the clients of Project Place.
Help-Portrait is a global movement of photographers, hairstylists, and makeup artists that use their time, tools and expertise to give back to those in need by taking their picture and delivering it to them for free. Some of the participants have extraordinary stories of how they have turned their lives around. After the shoot is done I hope to present a selection of the portraits in conjunction with their incredible stories in a gallery showing. Current Project Place clients as well as alumni of the program have been invited to participate.
Pam Goncalves — W.O.W. (Working Opportunities for Women), Program Coordinator/Case Manager, by Vail Fucci
8”x10” photographic prints by Miller’s lab will be given to each participant for free.
The 2019 Faces of Project Place Help-Portrait Session will take place December 3rd and 4th, from 9AM-5PM, in Project Place’s conference room located at 1145 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02118. If you would like to cover this event for your news organization please contact Rose Lovett via email at rlovett@projectplace.org.
