Portraits of Home (in 56572)

Families in search of shelter in Greater Minnesota
A statewide photo exhibit
Exhibit remarks by curator George Slade
Sponsored by the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund

"The concern these pictures evoke for the individuals whose lives are subject to these conditions are manifest by the absence of something many of us take for granted — confidence that a warm bed, a solid roof and dependable utilities will be present tonight . The tenuous and sometimes broken connection between temporary housing and real home is apparent in the faces of these individuals who live a life less secure and safe than most of us care to imagine."
George Slade - Curator



This Somali immigrant, age 19, lives in a mold-infested two bedroom apartment with four other Somali men. Although all the men work or attend school, they find it difficult to afford better housing. Mold covers the windows, ceilings and floors, turning the apartment's wood jet black.



New immigrants to Minnesota face daunting challenges when trying to find affordable housing. A
rental apartment, that houses four Somali immigrants gets so drafty and cold that the small kitchen stove is occasionally used for warming the apartment.



Eight-year-old Denise and three-year-old Susie live in this mobile home along with four more brothers and sisters and their parents. With only two bedrooms, her parents are forced to sleep on the couch every night.



Branislav brought his family of 11 - nine children, his wife and mother - to the United States from Bosnia in 1996, first landing in Des Moines before moving to Pelican Rapids, where the family purchased a used mobile home in 1998. The family runs the water 24 hours a day so the pipes don't freeze. Three girls sleep in one bed and the boys have a bedroom with frameless beds. Parents sleep on a couch. Confronted with a difficult situation, Branislav shrugs and says "what's a guy to do?"



Inadequate, overcrowded housing is often an overlooked problem. Denise sits on the edge of the rusty bathtub in her
family’s mobile home. She lives with 11 family members in a mobile home so crowded her mother and father sleep on the couch every night. The family immigrated from Bosnia in 1996 and eventually landed in Pelican Rapids. Denise’s father, Branislav, works at a local turkey processing plant but barely earns enough to meet the family’s basic needs. The family runs the water in the tub full blast day and night in winter so the pipes do not freeze.

Above photos by Stormi Greener

Stormi Greener has been a staff photographer at the Star Tribune since 1977. With an interest in social issues both at home and abroad, she has covered issues such as child abuse, aging, cancer, physical disabilities and poverty as well as handling assignments abroad in more than 15 countries. She has won many state, national and international awards including the Canon Photo Essayist Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Photojournalism Award, the Oscar Barnak Award, the World Press Photo Award and several awards from the Inland Daily Photo and the Minnesota Associated Press. She has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist twice. Greener frequently lectures at National Press Photographer Association educational seminars and teaches at the University of Missouri Workshops.


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