Wednesday, November 30, 2011

What changed my mind!

Our assignment was to shoot a photo story as a class. We had to work as a group to tell a story. On November 16 our class went to the Cherry St. Mission Ministries to photograph the story.
In order for my readers to fully understand this assignment, you need to know a little bit about the Cherry St. missions. The ministry sponsors 10 different houses. The houses we visited were Sparrow’s Nest, Madison Food Services, Education and Career Center, Caleb House, LifeBridge Center and South Toledo Community Center.  The Cherry St. Mission Ministry operates solely on donations and volunteer work. The Cherry St. Mission helps individuals who are down and on the outs.
Our class split up into groups of two or three and went to as many of these houses to photograph the people that stay there. The group that I was in went to the Sparrow's Nest. The Sparrow's Nest is the women’s shelter. This shelter homes women who are poor and homeless.
Going to the Sparrow’s Nest and seeing all the women who are on the outs made me realize all the things other people and I take for granted. All the little things that I don’t realize are that important to me are the very things that these women need. While these women just hope they can take a shower today, I continuously walk by my clean shower with a curtain on it and never think twice.
It was a little nerve racking at first to go up to the women who stay at the Sparrow’s Nest and ask them if I could photograph them. I admit I was a little scared to go to the shelter because of what could happen there. I come from a little town and grew up a little on the sheltered side. I always thought that the people who stayed in a homeless shelter were bad people that would hurt me. But I realized I was very wrong after going to the shelter. Once I got over my fear, I went up to the women and started talking to them. They are harmless, just like me.
I am very thankful I got this experience to photograph at the 
Sparrow’s Nest. 

Residents socialize outside the Sparrow's Nest as a gurney awaits another resident at the Cherry Street Mission on November 16.
Ready for life resident Salene Gile, of Louisville Kentucky, folds her clothes at the Sparrow's Nest sponsored by Cherry Street Mission.

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