Press Gazette - Images of Hope

Green Bay Press Gazette December 10th 2010

'Images of Hope' exhibit at Neville Public Museum puts local face on poverty's struggle

Exhibit tells the stories of eight people  By Warren Gerds

A photo exhibit designed to bring awareness about poverty in the Green Bay area is on display at the Neville Public Museum of Brown County.

Included are photographs and the stories of the eight people who took the photographs.

Text describes a person's or family's situation and what led to their struggle or poverty, including medical bills, drug use and being a single parent.

"Those are their words," said Bobbie Lison, budget counselor at Catholic Charities.

The participants were chosen through local agencies that include Catholic Charities' financial health program, the Salvation Army's transitional living program and Integrated Community Service's Leaving Homelessness Behind program.

"It does take a lot of courage, and actually one of those stories in the exhibit is my story," Lison said. "From my own personal viewpoint, it's a scary thing to do. It's a scary thing to kind of admit. You're opening yourself up.

In her panel, Lison describes herself as a single mother of three who at times held two jobs to try to make ends meet and spent time in a domestic abuse shelter.

"A lot of the people had some concerns, but we look at it more as an empowerment thing to say, 'We can use our stories to enlighten the community about what life is really like and the struggles that we face and use those stories to bring about change," Lison said. "So it's about advocacy and empowerment."

Included in the exhibit is a seven-minute clip from "The Hidden Homeless," a locally made documentary that recently won a national award.

The exhibit is a joint effort of the museum and Seeds of Hope, a community initiative.

"Seeds of Hope has been in existence for a little over two years, and we kind of used the Bay Area Community Council's white paper on poverty that identified eight areas that people need to kind of overcome or do well in and succeed and move away from poverty," Lison said.

The exhibit project is all-volunteer group that contributed to the project, including making the graphic art designs in a brochure and the display.

"The objective is to bring community awareness about poverty in our community but also to try to get people involved in helping solve the issues surrounding poverty," Lison said.

Three free events will be held at the museum in coming months in association with the exhibit.