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Faceless and often forgotten, Detroit’s homeless people pass among us like fleeting silhouettes
On a mission to raise awareness of the poor and homeless among us, Father Bob McCabe, pastor of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Southgate, spent seven years focusing on the desperate need that exists just outside the headlights of wage-earning commuters.
“You’re in a car driving, and almost in your peripheral vision you see people who are homeless,” McCabe says. “They’re almost like shadows in society.”
Father Bob, as he likes to be called, says he hopes his photos will inspire people to support community organizations, shelters, and soup kitchens with time or money. What the homeless also need, he says is a connection. “They’re poor in a lot of ways,” he says. “They’re hungry for a lot of things, including human respect.”
The people pictured on these pages were primarily homeless, though some said they have shelter and get by with threadbare lives. The following photos (just a small sample of the images in Father Bob’s portfolio) depict no faces and include first names only, protecting pride and echoing the anonymity of those who spend their days and nights without basic human comforts.
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Reader Comments:
Father Bob is a wonderful photographer and an even better person. He is deeply sincere about is concern for the welfare of others. There could have been no better person to show the plight of so many while maintaining the self respect of those he seeks to help. I hope that Father Bob finds more space in Hour magazine in the future for his passion to help and special ability with a camera.