Photo exhibit focuses on women, poverty

By KELLY URBAN

JOHNSTOWN — Sarina Hardison will tell you she has had some struggles in life, but those hardships motivate her to push on and work to provide a better life for herself and her son.

“The Bible says not to despise small beginnings, and this is a beginning for me,” the 32-year-old Johnstown woman said. “You do hear about people on welfare living off the system, but I don’t see myself on welfare in two or three years – I will get beyond it.”

Hardison is one of 50 Pennsylvania women who were asked to participate in the Witnesses to Hunger program created through Drexel University’s School of Public Health. The program gave the women cameras and asked them to take pictures of what life is like for them and their children.

The women also spoke about their experiences with poverty and shared ideas for change. Their photographs and stories became a part of an exhibit that is traveling around the state.

The photos cover a wide range, with some women choosing to take pictures of their families or themselves. Others photographed empty refrigerators and bare kitchen cabinets, while some took pictures that depict the challenges their neighborhoods are facing.

The exhibit will make a stop in Johnstown and be on display Feb. 6-24 at the Community Arts Center of Cambria County. It is free and open to the public.

Charlene Hunt, the Johnstown chairwoman for the Witnesses to Hunger committee, said she became involved with the program in 2008 after being asked by Drexel University to do some transcription work of the women’s testimonials.

“I own my own transcribing business, and this project sounded interesting and something that I’d like to take on,” she said. “After hearing some of these stories I felt compelled to do more. I couldn’t put it down.”

Hunt said the university initially focused only on women in Philadelphia.

“What I was hearing and seeing was amazing,” she said. “These women were all strong, determined and intelligent and wanted to make a better life for their kids, but for one reason or another they just couldn’t get ahead.”

As the exhibit grew in popularity, it was decided to expand the project statewide.

“Johnstown is much smaller than Philadelphia, but we wanted to see how people are living here,” Hunt said. “We started to get witnesses in Scranton, central Pennsylvania and Harrisburg, so we have women from every corner of the state.”

In Johnstown, Hardison and her two sisters, Aletha Triplin and Artrese Taylor, were asked to be witnesses and photograph what life is like for them and what they observe in the community.

“I was the only one who wasn’t willing at first to do this because I didn’t want to be exploited or seen as someone who is taking advantage because people don’t know what I’ve gone through in my life,” Hardison said.

At age 25, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was paralyzed for eight months.

The disease affected her vision, and she was unable to do anything for herself or her son, Treviaun. She had to live with her parents until she was 31 and able to get a place of her own.

But now, after taking the pictures and telling her story, Hardison believes it is important to be involved and show people that poverty is a diverse problem that is not limited to one group of people.

“It’s a situation that touches everyone’s life,” she said. “I hope people will see this and it will encourage them to keep moving forward and work to better themselves.”

Hardison now is self-employed and owns a wedding business.

Hunt added that a hunger forum will be held at 1 p.m. Feb. 6 at the arts center, with the opening reception to follow.

“This forum will bring people in the community together where we can talk about issues facing women and how we can make policy changes,” she said. “Just because we don’t see people in Johnstown living on the streets or digging through garbage cans doesn’t mean that hunger and poverty problems don’t exist.”

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