Help Get Jerry To Haiti

Photography saved my life... I found a passion in helping people dealing with mental illness, addiction and poverty share their own story through my photography and in turn helping me with my own recovery. It gave me purpose and a reason to do what I love. 


 First of all, I’d like to thank all of the loyal followers who support my photography and the Humans of Edmonton Experience.  Without you, my work would not be what it is today. 


 This site was created in 2014 because of my passion for photography and helping those that need it most, sitting down with the broken and forgotten humans that are so often passed by without a glance. This page quickly took a life of its own and started to focus on the lives of the less fortunate in the city. People started to empathize with the images and stories and were reaching out to help. Fast forward 4 years... I have almost 18 000 followers. I am going into schools to do presentations, I do inner-city walks, and I help put on events to support those that need it most. My photography has been used in many fundraising campaigns with Homeward Trust and Bissell Centre such as Raise the Roof, The Coldest Night of the Year, Homeless Connect and many pop-up stores with Operation: Help the Less Fortunate. This year I was nominated for a ROOPH Award, which recognizes the contributions to affordable housing and ending homelessness in Edmonton.  With my photography, I help make awareness of the issues in our city and contribute to our city’s focus on ending poverty. I am currently involved in a global project called The Inside Out Project that recognizes artists that are trying to make a difference in their communities. I have recently been chosen to do another installment of “Souls of the Street” and will be the only city represented in Canada.  I personally have traveled to Vancouver many times to document the lives of those living on East Hastings (the country’s most impoverished area). I have been to the inner city streets of New York and San Francisco. In San Francisco, I attended a street photography workshop and conference in which I had the opportunity to photograph many people dealing with many different types of issues, such as mental health challenges which mirror those here in Edmonton.   

 
All of these events, time, resources and travel have not come without costs.  All these costs have come out of my own pocket.

 
My dream is to be a photo-journalist and to travel the country and the world documenting and sharing the stories of those that are the least heard and to bring these experiences back to Edmonton; to the students, public and agencies and help teach empathy and compassion.

 
I have been honoured to participate and be the photographer in a venture to Haiti this September called the Floriana Project. This is a project that turns donated wedding dresses into income for Haitians. It helps keep families together and creates jobs for those that need it most. I will have the opportunity to visit orphanages, women's prisons, a Special Needs school, a maternity clinic and a market.  It is a week-long adventure that will be full of portrait taking and documenting the people of Haiti. Images and stories gathered during this trip will be incorporated into the school programs that are booked for this coming school year. To bring compassion into the classroom and inspire students to go out and help in any way they can to make our community and world a better, non-judgmental place. We are all humans.

 
At this time I am asking for the support of my followers and anyone else that shares my passion to help get me to Haiti and to help support future endeavors such as allowing me to continue with gallery shows to display my photography (printing images, framing, easels etc) and the time and dedication involved with going into the streets and sharing people’s stories. It will also help with the work needed to teach empathy and compassion in schools and in the mental health field in programs such as “Bridge the Gap” out of the Glenrose and Royal Alexandra Hospitals. In these programs, I will be guest speaking and together with the students preparing care packages to be handed out in the inner city. Together with your support, we can continue to help those that need it most.

 
If there are any businesses and/or agencies that are interested in sponsoring what I do please feel free to message me. In turn, your sponsorship and contribution will be recognized.

 

Thank you so much,

Jerry Cordeiro