Organizers hope to humanize homeless people with new exhibit at Santa Rosa church
Salvador “Pocho” Sanchez-?Strawbridge understands what it feels like to be ostracized. When he was 12, he said he “lost hope” and joined a gang to find meaning. Decades later, he photographed nearly 40 homeless people as part of an exhibit on display in Santa Rosa to urge others to accept all community members.
“Until we are in solidarity with the most disenfranchised of our community, we’re never going to be free,” Sanchez-?Strawbridge said.
FACES, which will run at the Santa Rosa Unitarian Universalist Congregation’s Glaser Center until the end of October, is a collection of photographs Sanchez-Strawbridge took of unsheltered people who live in Santa Rosa. Each photo is accompanied by a plaque with the individual’s first name, age and their answer to the question: What would you like to say to the world?
The exhibit humanizes people who are often ignored by the community, said organizer Kathleen Finigan.
“These images bring humanity to these people we walk by ?everyday,” Sanchez-Strawbridge said to a crowd at the exhibit’s opening Friday night. “I hope that we have compassion inside ourselves (and) start loving all people.”
The exhibit was organized in partnership with Homeless Action, a grassroots group that lobbies for homeless people, and Justicewise, a community collaboration consultancy. It was also sponsored by the Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights, and is the first part of the Festival of Belonging, a series of events about belonging to a community.
The focus of the festival this year is homelessness and social isolation. Justice founder and festival organizer Gillian Haley said she hoped the festival encouraged people to ask each other what they need and how they can help one another.
Homeless Action co-founder Adrienne Lauby said many homeless people feel invisible and ignored by people who are housed. She added that FACES is a way to bring people together and introduce them to each other.
“We want to show the homeless people we know as valuable human beings who have dignity in the face of adversity and deserve our compassion and our respect and our help,” Finigan said. “We want to open up people’s minds a little bit.”
Many Santa Rosa residents attended the exhibit’s opening night to learn more about how they could support the homeless community. Ginger Ghigliano said she sees so many homeless people every day, but felt “helpless,” and came to the event to learn how to help.
Lauren Quong called the photographs “incredible.” She said people often make assumptions about one another, and the photos will make everyone realize that homeless people are just fellow human beings.
“They’re beautiful,” said Tia Starr, who also came to the opening night. “Every face clearly has a story.”
You can reach Staff Writer Chantelle Lee at 707-521-5337 or chantelle.lee@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ChantelleHLee.