Situations that cause a person to become homeless are as individual as their stories.
Jaylene was in a toxic relationship in an unsafe home.
Mina is a new mother who has struggled with addiction.
Richard was left unhoused by Hurricane Ian and living from shelter to shelter.
They are three of the 10 current and former St. Matthew’s House residents whose portraits grace the exhibit “Faces Beyond Homelessness.” Placards under the portraits give their names and a sentence or two in their own words.
For instance, Jaylene is quoted, "I'm doing better now, but I want to be better than I am. I want to be able to come back and say I did it. And it was y'all that showed me I could do it." And Rayford's placard reads, "I was overwhelmed when I knew there was a place that was accessible for me ... St. Matthew's House has provided me with everything ... I am a blessed individual." And Judith: "People fall on hard times. Coming here is a way to rebuild your life. You just have to be willing to work at it."
Naples artist Wendy Wagner used charcoal, graphite and red chalk to draw portraits while the residents told her their stories.
St. Matthew’s CEO Ben Bridges gets to the point of the exhibit.
"We're telling the story of many of our St. Matthew's house residents, stories of hope, stories of restoration, stories of struggle that they've experienced, all with the idea of lending a little bit of humility and humanity to the stories of these folks," Bridges said at the recent opening reception at Wendy Wagner Art gallery in Naples.
Bridges and others at St. Matthew’s talk about the idea of people moving “from crisis to contributor.” Residents work with case managers, counselors, employers and others to make that transformation.
The emotion shows on their faces in the portraits.
"And I'm really just overwhelmed as you walk by and you see the faces, you hear the stories, it's really inspiring. It gives me a lot of hope for the future," Bridges added.
He said that often, people are surprised to find out the extent of homelessness in Naples.
"We couldn't go a day without somebody saying, 'I didn't realize that there were people experiencing homelessness here.' Or 'I didn't realize that people experience food insecurity in a place like Naples.' But the reality is, they're right around the corner. These are our neighbors."
Wagner, a self-described contemporary realist, visited St. Matthew’s to sketch the volunteer subjects.
"I got to hear their stories, get their energy, that kind of feeling," Wagner explained.
The subjects will be given copies of their portraits, after the exhibit travels to different sites around Southwest Florida.
"Hopefully they feel like I caught them and honored them, because that's really what I wanted to do," Wagner said.
To learn more, go to stmatthewshouse.org/faces.
