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We often try to put a name or face to the stories you read in The Catholic Sun, especially when the subject matter concerns clients at social service agencies.

The exhibit runs through Dec. 6 at the Burton Barr branch of the Phoenix Public Library

Our vision is that readers will better connect with the struggles over statistics and find ways to help them out of homelessness, unemployment or poverty. It seems The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust had a similar thought in mind when it commissioned “Picturing Maricopa,” a community photography project unveiled yesterday at the Phoenix Public Library’s Burton Barr branch.

I checked it out this afternoon — coincidentally moments before the opening reception —  and 22 visitors had already logged their comments about the exhibit. They found the idea of portraying the daily struggle the homeless, poor and low-income around the county face to be “fruitful and honest,” especially when the same photo also portrays how 15 local nonprofits reach out to them with an array of emergency services.

Another visitor wrote, “profound, thought-provoking, insightful.”

James White looks through job leads last fall at St. Joseph the Worker.

Among those nonprofits featured include some emergency service agencies you may have read about a time or two in The Catholic Sun:

• André House of Arizona — Founded by Holy Cross priests in 1984 as an outreach to the homeless and poor. Offers daily meal service, shelter and showers. The two black and white photos on display are appropriately grainy to convey a mood that André House clients don’t always have the best of circumstances.
• Mission of Mercy — the mobile medical unit travels the Valley. Check locations.
• MOMobile — offers comprehensive prenatal care.
• St. Joseph the Worker — helps the homeless and incarcerated find meaningful work.
• Society of St. Vincent de Paul — photos in the exhibit show the family dining room (with recent additions) and the warehouse as some of its many comprehensive services.

They’re all coincidentally showcased along an L-shaped wall in the middle of the exhibit. There’s two-to-three photos per agency.

It wasn’t until I returned to the office that I realized that even though the exhibit, which runs through Dec. 6, isn’t part of the publicized events for Homelessness Awareness Week, I hope guests make a natural connection that these are the people we need to be helping and these are the agencies we can support to get the homeless and poor out of crisis mode.

By the way, if for some reason, you can’t make it to the library, The Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust has posted an online gallery of the photos.