Homeless in Seattle, with beauty & strength

Lutheran, The, Feb 2004

Joyce Riggins says the worst thing about being homeless is the way people look at her-or that they don't look at all. So Riggins and other homeless women in Seattle posed for the "Beauty & Strength" calendar (above), a project of Seattle's Church of Mary Magdalene and Mary's Place day center, housed in First United Methodist Church (www.churchofmarymag dalene.org). They want people to look closely at their pictures and see their beauty and strength so it won't be so easy to look the other way.

Riggins and others in the church choir are also honorary Lutherans after bringing the house down with their singing and stories at Holden Village, a Lutheran retreat center, last june. Several photos in the 2004 calendar chronicle their time at Holden.