Pictures are forever

Pictures? As many in our community can see, other organizations serving the same demographic as we do have hundreds of photos and videos of their clients online, but we don't. 

Do you know why we don't? Sure, we could get their permission and have signed consent forms. Yes, those photos show the ones on the ground we work with every day, and they pull at the heartstrings. 

I see those photos, and I don't see great community work. I see those photos and think their family will see them like that, in a medical situation needing help or a problem with the police. My heart breaks because one day, they may see those photos, or someone might bring them up. They don't want to be perceived that way. They don't want their families to see them like that. 

It doesn't matter the situation or how much funding it will attract. They deserve respect. They don't want their kids to find those photos; they don't want their families to see them like that. 
You might say, "Well, it will give them a reason not to live like that." No, it won't. It might give them that final push to end it, it might give them a reason to spiral, it might say, well, it's out there now, who cares what I do. 

Some of the people we work with have reasons they don't want to be found: a domestic situation, family or people in the public who wish to hurt them, etc. 

The world uses so many filters and AI to make itself "look" a certain way, yet places that are supposed to be safe are posting clients in this kind of light. 

Programs similar to ours need to ask themselves before posting anything: Would we want a picture of us like that posted online forever?

If there is a fantastic photo of one of our clients doing something they would be proud of, we will show it to them and get permission to post it, but we will show it in a light they would be proud to have up. 

Our clients are not anything less than we are, and they deserve no less than what we would want for ourselves or our kids.