In San Francisco, the owner of Small Miracles Photography, Keri Vaca, decided to donate her talent to the Homeless Prenatal Program by taking pictures of pregnant homeless women. She said, “My goal first and foremost is to give them photos [that will make them] go, ‘Wow, I looked pretty. I looked beautiful.’ I want the whole experience to feel like something really special from start to finish. I want it to be a like a present.” Vaca explained that many homeless women struggle with negative body image and this is especially true for women living in poverty.
The Homeless Prenatal Program is a non-profit that helps impoverished women who are recovering from domestic and substance abuse. In order for these women to receive Vaca’s services, they must attend the center’s prenatal classes. According to the Daily Mail, Vaca has been visiting the center for eight years and has been conducting photography sessions on a monthly basis.
Vaca said, “I love empowering the moms [by] showing them how beautiful their pregnancy is. The women I work with are like me. They want the best for their babies.” She added, “They’re not in easy situations. I want them to feel beautiful amongst the other things in their life that might not be making them feel beautiful.”
The director of the program’s wellness center, Nancy Frappier, said, “For many of the women we work with, pregnancy can be a wonderful time but also a very difficult and challenging time. Seeing how they look in the pictures has been an incredibly positive experience for the women. They see how strong and beautiful they look as pregnant women, and it gives them a boost of self-confidence that they can be good parents.”
Vaca is passionate about helping these women because her own mother became pregnant with her when she was 17-years-old and a senior in high school. She said that even though her mother had support, she definitely wasn’t celebrated.
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