May love and grace shine upon our dwelling place” The Dwelling Place of NY opened its doors in 1977, it houses and feeds women over 30.
The shelter relies 100% on personal donations. One such donation came in the form of shampoos, conditioners and bathing gels from a man who buys them at the 2 for 1 stores and gives them to the shelter.
The Dwelling Place has 15 beds in the shelter. There is often more beds needed on any given night, the Sisters usually tell those women to go the the Open Door, a drop in shelter not too far from The Dwelling Place.
“Jane” having lunch. She has been homeless off and on for ten years and only recently made her way back to The Dwelling Place.
At one time The Dwelling Place fed more than 150 women on a given night.
“Dorca” has been at The Dwelling Place since April when she left her live-in partner after arguing over her disability checks.
At the Wednesday night dinners for homeless women they are often given toiletries such as toothbrushes, toothpaste and moisturizers.
Sister Pat (background) a volunteer at the Wednesday night dinners, Barbara (partially hidden) a staff member and Carmela (foreground) also a staff member preparing the Wednesday nights meals when the shelter opens up for dinner to all who want a hot meal and some fellowship.
Thanksgiving Dinner at the shelter.
The women often become each others support system and often go out in the city to sight see and shop.
On Wednesday nights some women who are homeless and need a hot meal choose not to eat at the shelter. In these situations, the staff prepares “take out” meals for them and gives hands them out at the door.
“Charlene” (on the left) and “Dorca” are roommates at the shelter. Both are in day treatment programs in order to keep them busy throughout the day.
“Sandra” was a former resident at the shelter, she is now part of the staff. She cooks, cleans and takes care of the women.
“Ruth” She holds a BA in History from Bob Jones University and has been homeless for two months since arriving to New York from Atlanta with only bus fare.
There are strict rules at the shelter. The women have to be up by 9 AM, breakfast ends at 10 AM and they are expected to go out at this time and return for dinner at 5:30 PM. Many go shopping with their disability checks, go to day treatment programs or sight see in the city.
Dorca’s drew this self-portrait at her treatment program. She says the lines represent all she has been through.
I have always been interested in identity and sense of place. Who do people think they are? What is their story? Where does one belong? These are all questions I ask myself as an aspiring journalist. I asked myself these same questions for this project – “Capturing Communities in Words and Images.” But there were other questions invariably on my mind: What shapes a community? What keeps a community together? Who belongs? Why do communities form? In trying to illuminate a community these questions need to be asked and answered.
I chose a non-traditional, often misunderstood and marginalized community to document – homeless women in a shelter. In documenting these women I want to give an anonymous population dignity, humanity – a face for others to care. There is a stereotype that exists: the bag lady. She is often dressed in tatters, with multiple plastic bags, picking through garbage collecting empty cans and is often pushing a supermarket cart. We have seen her. We have looked at her. We have ignored her. Yet in my search for this archetype I did not find her. Instead I found: “Dorca,” “Charlene,” “Ruth,” “Sandra” and “Jane” a community of women who shared with me their stories of loss – in not just a place to call home but in identity. To some they are just statistics however, they are real people and they let me into their community.
I discovered women who have often a mental illness but are released from state hospitals anyway without proper follow-up care or medication; many women that because of bad decisions and situations are forced into the streets and married women with jobs and husbands that divorce and then are left in precarious economic situations.
The statistics in the United States on the homeless are sobering, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Coalition 3.5 million people (1.35 million of which are children) will experience homelessness in a given year; 43% of the homeless population are women; 40% of these women are unaccompanied; 1 in every 5 homeless persons has a severe or persistent mental illness and 25% of the homeless nationwide are employed.
Why this community? This is a question I often asked myself, in my quest for an answer I turned to the community itself. Continue reading “A Place to call Home”
