Working with youth who are homeless, youth who are working hard to overcome life’s challenges, and become independent, and stable, youth who maybe didn’t have a supportive family to come home to, it’s both a reminder of how lucky I am and a reminder that there are so many ways we can make a difference in these kids lives. If I’ve learned anything at all in the 8 years I was marketing and communications manager for SAY, it’s this: our kids need adults in their corner. Adults who won’t give up on them. They need a community to support them. They deserve this, and so much more.

When I started at SAY, the only photos we had were black and white images of sullen kids glaring at a camera. The images were probably stock photos. Used on brochures and online to announce our services. These images didn’t match the hope and determination I saw in our kids. They didn’t match the way I viewed our work. So I got to change that by creating images filled with color. With smiles. With action. I view our youth with a lot of hope for their futures, because that is how they view themselves.

This gallery is just a small sampling of the 15,000+ photos I took over these years. I look back at these photos and have a tremendous amount of love for every single one of these kids. I like to think that that love shows up in my framing, my color choices, my lighting.

Kiddos don’t always want to pay attention to the camera, which is exactly what I love about them, so I had a great time just letting the photo shoot happen exactly how Ethan wanted it – he got to play with mom, and climb a jungle gym, and I just hung back and captured some of the great moments.

I had a lot of fun shooting their wedding photos and am so happy that they loved them, too.

It was a great location because there are so many different areas in the park to choose from, so we were able to play with the location a lot. We spent about two hours doing the photo shoot and had a wonderful time. Elly and Joel were up for anything I suggested, and had some shots that they knew they wanted before we went. They were so happy with their pictures, too, which is always a great feeling as a photographer.