The Pikes Peak Library District’s newest gallery tells the story of those in the community who are often overlooked.

“We Have a Story: Homeless in Colorado Springs” is a photo exhibit completed by youth experiencing homelessness and people who work with the homeless, providing a glimpse into the lives of teenagers who don’t have a home.

Guided by professional photographer Brian Tryon, participants met every week for a month last summer to receive artistic guidance and talk about their work. For the past three years, the library has used the project to explore and document homelessness across the city.

“This is the first time that the focus has been primarily on homeless youth,” said John Jarrell, the library’s program coordinator for regional history and genealogy.

“I think that, especially with homeless youth, they get talked about a lot, both good things and bad things. And this is an opportunity for them to tell part of that story for themselves.”

Community members gathered at the East Library for the exhibit’s opening reception Saturday morning — a chance to view the collection of pictures and speak with the individuals behind the cameras.

Karen Henschel, an inpatient therapist working with youth at Cedar Springs Hospital, has been involved with the project for the past two years.

“The year before, I wasn’t really involved,” Henschel said, explaining that she felt there was a lack of follow-through with the youth population in years past.

In 2023, she decided to work alongside the participants.

“This past year, I did it with them. It just made more sense that we went together, and we worked together,” Henschel said.

Tae and Nette, the two teens whose photos are featured in this year’s installation, were unable to attend Saturday.

Henschel spoke of the two fondly, praising Nette’s powerful self-portrait titled, “Just another person,” with the caption, “Nothing to see here, just another person living her life just like everybody else.”

“To see them realize how creative they were, that was the joy for me,” Henshel said.

“I think the fact that other people are interested in what they have to say really boosted their self-esteem and self-worth. It was an opportunity for them to feel good about themselves.”

Previously working at The Place, a youth homeless shelter in Colorado Springs, Henschel has over six years of experience working with homeless youth and mental health issues.

She said she hopes the exhibit sparks empathy and allows the community to see past the negative stigmatization of the homeless population.

“Our state has a crisis in terms of placement (for the homeless) and teenagers seem to be the last ones that really get attention in regards to being housed or being moved out of an unsafe environment,” Henschel said.

“It’s important to realize that there are unhoused youth, and how can we as the community help them out. I think they can feel invisible at times and that they aren’t seen. And so accepting them for who they are and helping as much as we can is very important.”

Henschel’s photo titled “Carting it around” received a great amount of attention from viewers. 

The image, featuring two shopping carts filled  with blankets, clothing and toys, put into perspective a powerful reality of someone’s private possessions being tarnished by a rainstorm.

“It’s so wild to me that someone’s whole life can be pushed into something so small,” viewer Patrice Schnierle said.

“For me, if I left my purse somewhere it’d be no big deal. I’d replace my belongings and move on. But seeing all of someone’s possessions left outside and destroyed in that cart, (that’s) someone’s livelihood, that’s their whole life in that cart.” 

Volunteering her free time in client services at the Marian House, a local charity providing services and meals to the unhoused, Schnierle said the exhibit is a great opportunity for viewers to gather a new perspective on those experiencing homelessness.

“It (the exhibit) is a way to humanize them. So many of the people experiencing homelessness feel invisible. Just to be seen for what they create and not what they look like or their situation I think is very powerful,” Schnierle said.

The exhibit will be at the East Library for the rest of January. It will then travel to the Rockrimmon Library in February, and then to the Manitou Arts Center in Manitou Springs in March.

The digital exhibit and complete collection of “We Have a Story: Homeless in Colorado Springs” can be viewed through the library’s website by Clicking or Tapping Here.