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This gallery includes work
from a personal project I
recently did on homelessness in
Greenbelt, Md. This photo is of
Rick Calhoun, a longtime
Greenbelt resident. His
longtime partner Justine was
struck and killed accidentally
by a car late one night after
she left the tent they were
living in to get a pack of
matches. I met Rick at a
memorial service for Justine,
which is what started me on
this project.
Rick wears a butterfly-shaped
bracelet to remind him of
Justine, who loved butterflies.
These memorial signs were
created by the friends and
family of Justine after she was
accidently struck and killed by
a car in 2005. Justine was part
of a large community of
people who consider Greenbelt
their home. The Roosevelt
Center in the heart of old
Greenbelt is the epicenter for
that community, many of
whom are now or were at one
time homeless, like Justine at
the time of her death.
This was one of several tents
setup together in the woods
near Greenbelt where dozens
of people lived together.
Police removed the tents and
destroyed the campsites
several months after this
photograph was taken,
according to Rick and other
people who lived there.
Rev. Bobbi Troyer runs the
Streetlights of Bethany
program, which does outreach
and support work for people in
need. She started her ministry
two decades ago in the
Carolinas, but recently
relocated to Greenbelt and has
restarted her ministry here. As
a young woman, she found
herself with two children and
working in the sex-industry to
support her family. “I went
from go-go dancing to
stripping to prostitution… I was
a mess.” She says it was her
religious faith that saved her.
She often shares her story with
those she helps.
Rev. Bobbi and Rick look
through the tent that he and
Justine shared in the woods of
Greenbelt until her death.
After her death, Rick was
taken in by a friend.
Rick took me through the
woods to a spot where he once
lived and where several other
campsites were then located.
Along the way, he reminisced
about living in the woods. He
remembered finding his way
through pitch black woods in
the middle of the night back to
the campsite, dealing with a
lack of basic necessities like
electricity, and living in the
natural environment.
Sometimes you needed to
drink, he said, to calm your
nerves enough to get to sleep.
We came across a the leg of a
deer partially eaten. Rick
recalled how deer often
walked through their campsite
and, when spooked,warned
them that other people or
animals were nearby.
Mr. Wolf spent many hours
waiting for the bus in
Greenbelt. When I met him he
said he was going to work and
get off the streets.
Several weeks later, after
seeing photographs of himself,
he remarked half-laughing
how his weathered face and
beard gave him a stereotypical
homeless look. He seemed
unsure if he was ready to leave
the streets at that point. It
was Spring, and the weather
was improving and sleeping
outside wouldn’t be so bad for
the next few months.
Jessie and Travis came to
Greenbelt after Jessie was
forced to leave her mother’s
home. They came to Greenbelt
because of Travis had family
roots there. But it took the
couple more than six months
before they could find the help
they needed. At first they lived
on the streets and in the
woods. “It was really hard
because I didn’t know where
my next meal would come
from,” Jessie recalled. “You
live day by day, hour by hour.
Eventually, they moved to an
unheated shed behind the
home of a family member in
Greenbelt. Around that time,
they found the Street Lights of
Bethany. The ministry helped
them find more permanent
housing.
Emery lived in his own home
and enjoyed spending time
with his family on his boat
until he was injured in a bus
accident and left unable to
work. He lost his home and
was forced to live on the street
because he didn't have medical
insurance to repair the damage
to his back and hip. Two
weeks after I interviewed him
for my project he died while
sleeping on his mother's couch.
Those are her hands holding
his photograph.
At 16, after years of physical
and emotional abuse, Zach
dropped out of school and left
his mother and stepfather to
live on the street. “I preferred
to be homeless than get beat
every day,” he said. He spent
nights in a utility shed during
his first winter. After a few
years of living on the streets of
Greenbelt, Zach is trying to
get his life back order, to find
steady work and permanent
housing.
This photograph is of Faith
McHale on the night her child
was born. She was in a
recovery program in Baltimore
when she met her husband,
John. They eventually made it
back to Greenbelt--John's
home town--but they had no
place to live and no money so
they lived in a tent in the
woods. They eventually found
temporary housing through
Streetlights, a ministry for
people in need.
Faith and her husband John
wait for the arrival of their
first child.
Faith's hand.
email: chris@chrisandersonphoto.com | phone: 202-640-1753
All images copyright Christopher Anderson, 2007