ON THE EDGE: HOMELESS & WORKING AMONG US
From October 2008 to May 2009, Susan Sidebottom photographed six individuals and families in Charlotte, NC as they transitioned from homelessness to affordable housing through rent subsidies, capturing their stories from before, during and after their journey to a home. On the Edge: Homeless and Working Among Us reflects the working poor of every community and challenges the existing perception of homelessness.
She received the Arts and Science Council Cultural Arts Grant and the Foundation for the Carolinas Grant to complete and exhibit this work. An exhibition of 33 images was presented at the Levine Museum of The New South in partnership with The Light Factory in 2009 and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2010. The exhibit encompassed teachers, hospital workers, nursing aides, children and many others who perform a balancing act every day as this population is often one paycheck away from returning to homelessness.