I am blessed that I have never been homeless. I am also blessed that I got to spend the last few years (before I quit to make this and the mom thing my full time gig) working with the homeless population. Specifically homeless families. And the thing I learned above all else is that these families are just families - like mine, and probably yours. Do they have unique challenges because of their housing status? Of course! In addition to that do they face the same challenges, the same highs and lows, and want the same things for their families as everyone else? Yep.

This is exactly why I was so excited to partner with Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County to shoot some family portraits for some of their residents. Now of course a nice family picture is not going to fix their challenges right now, but luckily all of these beautiful families also have the services at Union Gospel Mission on their side. So why a family portrait, isn't it trivial in light of all their other needs? Sure, maybe it is. But the thing is that regardless of where you are living, as a parent you are watching your kids grow up and they won't stop just because you may not be right where you want to be. And you don't want to forget it - any moment of their growing up. For a lot of us we can document that through pictures (professional or otherwise). We create a record of who our kids and our family is at any given point in time. But what if you couldn't, if that was a resource you just didn't have?  Some of these families shared with me that this was the first time they had ever had a family picture taken. Some shared that they had lost many of the pictures they had once had in the process of losing their housing. For these reasons I am so thankful that I got to work with them and hopefully give them something they can take with them on the next part of their journey!

Each family received professional prints of their images as well one framed 5x7. Special thanks to my generous mother and sisters-in-law for providing new frames for all the families!