A couple of months ago, I spent the morning at the St. Agatha’s Center in Soulard hoping to make a photo showing how low-income residents were coping with high gasoline prices. The sisters who run the center have been a God send for many of the people who have fallen on hard times– as they run a food pantry and  frequently offer clothing among numerous other outreach programs. I chose to come to photograph an Operation Brightside event but with a twist, the sisters would pay off a portion of a volunteer’s high gas bill in exchange for a morning’s worth of work of either cleaning the schoolhouse or performing some much needed landscape work. I met several folks such as Angela and Henry, both unemployed with children, stretched to limits trying to make ends meet. They worked hard, loving the idea they could help out the Sisters in exchange for assistance in paying off their bills.

These images were made in May when the economy wasn’t as bad.

I can’t help but wonder in the worsening economic times, how they are doing.