From my “Detroit Portraits” project. This is Reverend Deborah Jones, the director of Genesis House II, a transitional housing facility exclusively for women and their children in Detroit. It’s a safe place where women who have suffered abuse, homelessness, addiction or other major trials in their lives can get a fresh start, educational training and the space needed to transition back into the mainstream…most importantly they still have their children with them during this critical juncture in their lives.
Reverend Jones is the first person most women meet with when they are accepted at Genesis House. Reverend Jones told me that these first meetings with her inside her office are many times very emotional as broken women share their stories with her and realize that they’ve arrived at a place where they’ll be loved and restored.
During this first meeting, Reverend Jones often drapes the women with the blanket she is holding in the photographs above. The blanket is embroidered with the many names for God (or a higher power) so that each woman may feel the symbolic warmth of their spiritual caretaker. It’s a very powerful experience for many of them.
A note about the photographs: I photographed Reverend Jones last week, but had first met her the week prior when she gave me a tour of the facility that is part of Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries. After seeing the facility I had intended to only photograph her inside the very modest chapel there. But when we arrived to take her portrait I noticed her office was filled with warm, raking afternoon light…a rarity in January…so we quickly set-up the first shot there before continuing to the chapel as planned. I’m very glad it worked out that way!
