I SHINE Info & Donations
The I Shine Project originally came from that I wanted to give back to something that really meant something to me. I was in a verbally and mentally abusive marriage and it ended with financial ruin, homelessness, and a beaten-down self-esteem and soul.
Domestic abuse and homelessness could happen to anyone. When you are in this situation you lose yourself and you feel shame, hopelessness, guilt, loss of self-esteem, and loss of hope.
I know this, I had this happen to me 2011.
I came from a verbally and mentally abusive marriage, one day my husband forced me out of our home with my youngest son, at the time he was 6 years old. I had 5 thousand dollars, no job, nowhere to live, and a beaten-down soul. I can relate to never feeling good enough— my soul had been beaten down to the ground.
After photographing so many people and hearing their stories I realized we all have a story buried deep down and that it was healing and liberating to release this story. I have filmed a documentary about each person's story that could also help and support other people going through similar experiences. So the I Shine Project expanded from stories of domestic abuse to stories of life.
The I SHINE Project gives the person an opportunity to share their story on video and it provides a full day experience in the studio of some much-needed pampering and I show them through my lens how I and the rest of the world see them. This has been very powerful to bring back self-esteem, worthiness, and most important, self-love.
I’m very passionate about making each person who walks in and out of my studio realize how special they truly are in the reflection of the best portrait they’ve ever seen of themselves and that they are seen and heard.
Please press Donate to raise money for this project.
Thank you for helping change a life and bringing SHINE back into his or her eyes! If you’d like to learn more ways to help, check out Leap to Success. An organization I personally support that helps women who have been homeless and or victims of domestic violence get back on their feet and into the workforce.
Thank you for your support.