Our next stranger’s bright clothes and beautiful skin caught my eye as I strolled through The Green. As I set up to take her portrait, she said, “I’ve always wanted to be a model.”
Meet Donna.
Donna was in Charlotte for a conference and came all the way from St. Clair Shores, Michigan. “About thirty miles outside of Detroit, so I actually work in the city of Detroit for the mental health agency there.”
She’s been working in the field of mental health since 1997. “Twenty years working in the field of mental health research. I first started out working with people who have developmental disabilities and now focused more on people with mental illness.”
What do you do when you’re not working? “Hanging out with the grands.”
How many grandkids do you have? “Eight. So, the oldest is eighteen and the youngest is two. Yeah, we have them at every grade level.”
“The other thing that we’re doing is looking at starting a housing project for people who are under-resourced. I’m hoping that part of it can go through my job, but then we’ll also have our own business venture where we house people who are under-resourced, but not as desperately as some of the people I work with. So we’re planning, reading, researching that end of it.”
She and her husband are looking to relocate to a warmer climate, possibly in Western North Carolina. Their general plan is to find a log cabin near a body of water.
Technical Notes: This photo was taken in the direct sun creating a warm, bright feel.
Dan Russell-Pinson 