Hippy Feet / YouthLink Photography Project to Culminate in July Gallery Event

Article by Claudia Kittock 

Hippy Feet and YouthLink 501(c)3 are collaborating on a project that aims to raise awareness about the needs within the homeless community.

For this program, youth clients of YouthLink who are interested in additional income opportunities will be given disposable cameras and asked to take photos that document their day to day experiences as a homeless or formerly homeless individual. In conjunction with taking pictures, they will write a quick journal about each photo. When the individual has filled the entire camera roll, they'll return the camera and a copy of their journal entries to YouthLink, where they will be awarded varying forms of compensation for their work.

The Hippy Feet team will then develop the photos and prepare them for a “gallery” event. This event will be held at Lake Monster Brewing in St. Paul, and will act as a fundraising event for YouthLink and for Hippy Feet’s efforts to employ homeless youth. Tickets will be sold for this event, and each ticket will include a pair of socks, a beer, a pulled pork sandwich, and admittance to the fundraising event. The photos that are displayed at the event will be sold/auctioned off to the attendees.

The proceeds from photo sales will be divided in 3 ways. An equal percentage will be donated to YouthLink and Elpis Enterprises, a non-profit partner of Hippy Feet that provides employment and job training to homeless youth. The remainder of the proceeds will be given back to the individual artist who took the photos as a form of commission.

The goal for this project is to provide a $100 value as an invective for youth to participate in this project, and for them to return the camera in a timely fashion with a full film roll of high impact photos. This $100 per participant will be paid via gift cards, bus tokens, and a cash stipend.

The gallery event will be hosted at Lake Monster Brewing because of its convenient location next to Elpis Enterprise. Photographs will be displayed and sold, food and beer will be available, and additional items will be up for auction. Tickets for the event will be sold at the door and online via Eventbrite.

How can you help this worthy cause?

·  Learn more about Hippy Feet

·  Buy socks

·  Follow Hippy Feet on Facebook

·  Watch for tickets for the gallery event in July.

Claudia can be reached at claudia@millcitymedia.org