Live United Hero: David Weinberg

I am excited to nominate David Weinberg as our first Live United Hero! I have gotten to know David over the last several years through his relationship with United Way, but after speaking with him today about being a Live United Hero I have an even greater respect for him. I am nominating David today for the remarkable photographic work he has volunteered in support of both United Way and one of our partners in ending homelessness, Heading Home, Inc. More specifically, David is a Live United Hero because his support is just a way of life.

David worked as a pathologist in the Boston medical community for 30 years. Through his work in research, teaching, and patient care he studied the use of new technologies to determine diagnoses and help improve people's lives. As part of this work he focused in on electronic imaging, and asked the research question: "How can we use images to determine diagnostic findings and develop techniques for improving this?" David was one of the lucky ones in the world who was able to link his professional life to one of his personal interests. Since he was a child David had a passion for photography, and merging the personal and professional worlds made sense.

About 3 years ago David became more deeply engaged in the work of United Way when he was asked to participate as an allocations volunteer - someone who would review funding applications and make recommendations. He agreed to participate and was assigned to my volunteer team to review applications from affordable housing agencies. He says he knew little about that field, but was drawn to it for a couple reasons. First, he has a natural passion for learning and saw it as an opportunity to experience something new. In addition, he had been moved by homelessness. He knew this was a socially important issue to tackle. Interestingly, his conscsiousness of homelessness was rooted in images as well. David talked to me about the Depression-era photographs of folks waiting in bread lines and of migrant workers. The work of Walker Evans, a photographer working for the federal government, documented the plight of people at that time. David found those photographs to be very powerful and helped him realize that homelessness was often neglected in the public's mind.

Fortunately for those of us working to end homelessness, David had moved on to his second career as a photographer at about the same time he was volunteering for United Way and learning more about the nonprofits working in our area. He thought he would be spending the second part of his working days focused on creating fine art, however, he realized that his skill could be used for something else - something that would could really help make a difference. He learned that many nonprofits hire photographers to capture events or other specific activities, but their budgets did not often include photographing everyday agency services and successes. David knew that was where he could help.

Since then David has been donating much of his time and talent to Heading Home, Inc. Heading Home is a long-time partner of United Way's and works to end homelessness in Greater Boston. Primarily David volunteers in their Women's Drop-In program where homeless women can come during the day for food, companionship, clothing, and can get linked in to other services. David began getting to know the women there and gained their trust to take their portraits. Two of his portraits are included in this post. Heading Home and United Way have been fortunate enough to be able to include some of David's portraits in our fundraising, education, and outreach activities. His photos have helped put a new face on homelessness. No longer do we have to rely solely on negative, stereotyipcal images of people who are homeless. Instead, David has helped our community see the humanity that exists in all of us, making it quite clear that everyone deserves a safe place to call home.

When I asked David what he would want people to know about him and his work he was sure people didn't need to know much about him at all. He wants people to know that people can donate their professional skills to nonprofits as a natural part of what they do and how they live their lives. He gave the example of carpenters donating their skills and time to help build homes with Habitat for Humanity. David's skills happens to be photography, but everyone has something to offer. Skilled labor might be most valuable in some cases, but sometimes even an extra pair of hands can go a long way for a local nonprofit. David says that he isn't completely selfless, though. He told me his experiences working with homeless women and families have vastly enriched his life. Instead of sitting alone in a studio he has been able to meet amazing people while improving his craft and helping others.

This is why I include David Weinberg as a Live United Hero. Living United is a way of life for him - something he doesn't even have to think about. David inspires me to do more and I think our community is much better off with him on our side.

The Photography of David Weinberg: