In my office at the Homeless Center I have fifteen black-and-white portraits hanging on the walls. I took them about seven years ago when I was wandering around in downtown Manchester looking for great faces to capture on film. Some of them were homeless people, and some were people who live or work downtown. I display them on the walls in order to convey to the homeless here that people like them are part of the general population, that they are not marginalized or invisible people, as some might feel, that even homeless people are worth "immortalizing" in a nice, large portrait.
Over the months I have been here, quite a few visitors and homeless guests have commented on the pictures, and I have heard more than a few stories about the people on my wall. I was some what taken aback, however, when a new homeless guest, sitting in my office for an intake conversation, looked at the pictures and said, "Are they all dead people?"Whoa!
Now, truth be told, one or two have in fact died since 2004, but the rest are very much alive, to the best of my knowledge. This is not a Memorial Gallery, nor is there any sign or marker to indicate even remotely that the portraits are of deceased people. But she did ask, "Are they all dead people?"
So I’ve been thinking. What associations with portraits does she have which would make her ask this question? Where has she been that such a question would seem natural and appropriate to her?
In many public buildings, City Hall, for example, the gallery of portraits does chronicle history, and many deceased mayors are displayed. But my gallery showcases very ordinary people. So, what was she thinking?
I didn’t ask her, but I am brought up short by the fact that sometimes people look at the same object and draw drastically different conclusions.
Maybe her arrival at a Homeless Center, a new experience for her, feels literally like a dead end.
Maybe she wonders if this is the end-of-the-line for her. Like people who go into a nursing home expecting to leave only on a funeral director’s gurney, maybe some of my people feel like the Center is their last stand.
Since I am committed to the power of hope and compassion in this work, the idea that someone might see this place as a dead end is a powerful possibility, one I need to take seriously.
After all, how can I re-ignite a hope for life if death is on their minds? That newcomer’s unexpected question has become an important question to ponder.
Over the months I have been here, quite a few visitors and homeless guests have commented on the pictures, and I have heard more than a few stories about the people on my wall. I was some what taken aback, however, when a new homeless guest, sitting in my office for an intake conversation, looked at the pictures and said, "Are they all dead people?"Whoa!
Now, truth be told, one or two have in fact died since 2004, but the rest are very much alive, to the best of my knowledge. This is not a Memorial Gallery, nor is there any sign or marker to indicate even remotely that the portraits are of deceased people. But she did ask, "Are they all dead people?"
So I’ve been thinking. What associations with portraits does she have which would make her ask this question? Where has she been that such a question would seem natural and appropriate to her?
In many public buildings, City Hall, for example, the gallery of portraits does chronicle history, and many deceased mayors are displayed. But my gallery showcases very ordinary people. So, what was she thinking?
I didn’t ask her, but I am brought up short by the fact that sometimes people look at the same object and draw drastically different conclusions.
Maybe her arrival at a Homeless Center, a new experience for her, feels literally like a dead end.
Maybe she wonders if this is the end-of-the-line for her. Like people who go into a nursing home expecting to leave only on a funeral director’s gurney, maybe some of my people feel like the Center is their last stand.
Since I am committed to the power of hope and compassion in this work, the idea that someone might see this place as a dead end is a powerful possibility, one I need to take seriously.
After all, how can I re-ignite a hope for life if death is on their minds? That newcomer’s unexpected question has become an important question to ponder.
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