CONWAY, S.C. (WPDE) — Two Coastal Carolina University professors are bringing light to the struggles of the local homeless population, and it’s all thanks to a disposable camera.

Dr. Sara Brallier and Dr. Stephanie Southworth have been researching homelessness in Horry County for the past seven years.

Now they’re trying to bring awareness to the troubles of the homeless community by elevating their perspective.

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The professors interviewed more than 400 homeless people one-on-one, as part of what they call the Community Change Initiative.

This spring, they turned to focus groups, where about 40 people were given disposable cameras.

The results were then turned into the Photovoice Photo Exhibit, a 32-panel exhibit that travels all over Horry County shedding light on the challenges our local homeless population faces in their everyday lives.

They go around, and they photograph their lives. Things that they want the community to know about the experience of homelessness. And then they return it to a location that we’ve agreed upon,” said Sara Brallier, Professor of Sociology at CCU. She added, “Then we meet with them again and ask them to pick which photo they like the best and give us a quote about it.

Some of the quotes are touching like this one about a man and his dogs.

I have dogs, I had them before I became homeless. The shelter won’t let my dogs come in so I stay out here. I cannot lose them too.

“The man with the dog actually sat out a hurricane in his tent because he wouldn’t find a place that would take him and his dogs,” said Dr. Stephanie Southworth an Assistant Professor of Sociology at CCU.

Other photos in the exhibit are almost poetic.

This is the long road. I just follow the tracks

The results from these photos and years of research have been eye-opening.

“People are walking around all night long because if they stop, they’ll get arrested. It’s illegal to sleep just about anywhere in Myrtle Beach or Conway. Some people were telling us stories about how they are walking and walking, and they are just exhausted,” said Dr. Southworth.

When they asked one man for a quote, he was simply too exhausted from walking.

All he had to say was this:

I’m too hot. I just can’t.

The research they’re finding is also breaking down stereotypes.

“The surprising thing, over the last seven years, is that most of the people that we talk to have an income. They either have an income from jobs, social security, or disability, or they just don’t have enough money for rent,” said Dr. Southworth.

This picture and quote say it all.

This is home. This is where I live.

The professors hope these pictures and their research will help make changes in both people’s perspectives and in public policy toward homelessness.

These are not individuals making bad decisions,” Dr. Bralier said. “These are folks facing structural problems like lack of affordable housing, lack of affordable transportation, lack of health care, lack of mental health care.

“Almost everybody we’ve talked to is doing everything they can to get out of their situation. There have only been two people, I think out of 400 that had given up. But those two people, they had tried for so long and failed for so long, that they just said forget it this is my life now,” said Dr. Southworth.

The professors have done numerous homeless outreach programs and even wrote a book on homelessness called, Homelessness in the 21st Century – Living the Impossible American Dream.

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After this project, they plan to work on opening a community resource center where people can have a one-stop shop for all the resources they might need. Things like mental health care, affordable housing resources, and identification replacement.

The Photovoice Photo Exhibit will be at Fresh Brewed Coffee in Downtown Myrtle Beach starting Saturday.

It will be there for a week. The exhibit is also available online.