Amy Maglio

One of the ideas behind my Oak Parkers project is find the diversity of people living around me, who they are, what they do, what inspires them. Amy is a perfect person to add to the project. I first met, if you would call it 'met' Amy and her husband and son 2 1/2 years ago, the day my son started kindergarten. We were at the same school orientation, her daughter had just started school too. From then on she would say Hi with a smile in passing at school or around the neighborhood. I never even wondered what she did other than spend a lot of time with her kids, until last fall when I realized she had been a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, and then started Women's Global Education Project Their mission is to provide access to education and to develop training programs that empower women and girls to build better lives and foster equitable communities.

Here in a Mom like so many of us, spending our time taking care for our family, but here is a mother who is a Mother to so many more than just her own two children. From her dining room table in Oak Park she is caring for so many young girls and people across the world; she is helping to provide an education and a better life for so many. She proves we can all make a big difference

Spring Specials

Senior Portrait season is coming up. A free digital file with full printing rights for announcements will be given with any senior portrait session between now and June 1. A one hour lifestyle session is now just $150, with up to three looks.

Birth Photography continues to be a favorite part of my work and I am extending my $400 rate through May 20, this is a $200 discount.

Mothers Day is just a month away, give a gift certificate to the mother in you life and I will include a free 8x10 with the print order or a digital file for printing. Business Head-shots will be discounted to $120 until May 5th, studio or on location styles available.

Mini Session spring dates are set for May 4th and 5th, weather permitting. These fill up fast so contact me to set a time that works for you.

PADS

Last Saturday I visited with the people availing of West Suburban PADS overnight shelter. There is no way I can put into words how I feel when I look at their faces. Each with their own story. In today’s economy it is all too often we hear of people losing a job, using up savings only to then lose one’s home and be turned out on the streets. There are many different reasons the people there last Saturday night were there, some recently homeless, others more long term. These are people we see every day, we sit beside eachother at a cafe or in the library, we pass on the street, they work in our community.
This could be you, this could be me, this could be my child, my sibling or my parent.

One man now back in housing told of two nights during his time on the street when there wasn't room at the shelter. I asked what he did, "Walk, you have to keep walking, you just can't stop, you walk all night".

This last photo I took when this young man sat down to dinner in the basement of the church that was providing shelter for the night. The flag spoke volumes to me.
Here is one of America's youth, sitting down to his evening meal at a shelter for people who at this moment in time do not have a home.




For those of you who do not know about West Suburban PADS, they provide overnight shelters and food for those in need of a safe place to sleep.
a Homeless Prevention Program, an Interim Housing program, an “Outreach & Engagement” program with two full-time specialists working on-site in the emergency shelter seven nights a week, Employment Readiness, and a lot more. www.westsuburbanpads.org

The women and men (and sometimes families) line up outside the location of the overnight shelter which opens at 7.30pm nightly. There is a friendly vibe and people are happy to share their story. Inside local teen students lay out the 'beds' pads, blankets and pillows on the floor. Volunteers from the church bring in dinner for the clients. Others set up a table with toiletries and personal items for the clients.
Once the clients enter, they dress their bed for the night and sit for dinner, one of the students leads a prayer and then the meal is served. People chat and hang out, some nights there are showers available, sometimes a medical or legal clinic. Since 2010 there is an “Outreach & Engagement” program with two full-time specialists. Their role is to assertively outreach persons identified as chronically homeless and connect them with supportive services that enable pursuit of a housing plan. During the 2010-2011 shelter season, these efforts resulted in 36% of PADS chronically homeless shelter guests moving from the shelter into permanent supportive housing.
Friendships are made here.

Yosef Pollack

Who is next in my Oak Park Portrait Project, YOSEF POLLACK of Acupuncture Points located at Holley Court.

“There is no pain if there is free flow.

If there is pain, there is no free flow.”

Yosef works with clients to restore energy balance, and enhanced mental well being with such knowledge and energy his enthusiasm adds to the healing effects one feels after a treatment.

PADS

Last week I started work on a project with West Suburban PADS, a series of images to highlight all five area's of what they do to help their clients.

Most of us know about the homeless shelters that give people a place to eat, wash and spend the night.

We know less about the people who move through the program, get back on their feet and run with it, having a space of their own, a job and a promising future ahead. It was nice to meet with G one of these success stories, see where he is living, hear about his job training and plan for the future.

I hope to share many more photos from this project soon.

Galen Garapolo

Tucked away on the north east corner of Oak Park is Studio 736 and artist Galen Garapolo

Layering with a mix of paint and wax she spends her days with her cat in this peaceful studio.

Galen is about the 4th visual artist I have visited so far in my Oak Parkers project. Each so very different in their process and outcome. Some form an image of the final piece first others like Galen, to simplify it, go with the flow, each layer created as the medium hits the canvas.

With so many of the visual artist images of their hands are A Portrait of the Artist.