Safehouse Outreach: The day I first visualized the homelessness problem in Atlanta
For my final journalism course at Georgia State University, I had to create a proposal for a project that would include writing, a multimedia piece and a photo essay. At the start I couldn’t figure what type of issue I want to cover for this project. Then one day hit me, homelessness. If you live anywhere in downtown Atlanta you know the many faces of homelessness. I thought this would be a great issue to cover and one which I could get a lot of support for. (The United Way is across the street)
I contacted numerous places to see if they wouldn’t mind me coming to their workplace and learning about the issue. After lots of tries and a few actual interviews no one still wanted me to photograph the problem. They thought I would exploit the issue which I wasn’t planning on doing because I wasn’t going to see any monetary gains from this project.
Well I finally got in touch with Drew Benton of Safehouse. After my interview with him he said I could photograph a feed the homeless operation that Tuesday at Safehouse. This was a great opportunity for me to learn about this non-profit and Drew himself.
When I got there there were over a hundred people standing in line outside waiting to get in. It was when I got inside that I saw there were another hundred sitting inside listening to a sermon from a local Methodist Church. The pastor was “Pastor Jim” that’s what he wanted me and everyone else to call him. He talked about helping the homeless and how much it meant for him to be able to do so. He really enjoyed what he was doing and you could see that from the way he was interacting with people.
the homeless were fed once the sermon was finished. The staff, which consisted mostly of volunteers, moved and worked seamlessly and with giant smiles on their faces.
Drew worked constantly and did everything from moving chairs to guiding the line. The food operation ended later that night and many people stuck around to talk to some of the volunteers and others left to find a place to sleep.
The people at Safehouse were very nice when it came helping me with this project and I want to express my gratitude.
Hassan
