Do1Thing Blog

Photo District News writer Sarah Coleman writes about two time Pulitzer-prize winner Larry Price and his work on the Do1Thing project. A few short weeks after Larry’s photo of Antwuan McCoy was published in People Magazine, the dean of the College of Business and Public Services at the community college in Dayton, Ohio contacted Do1Thing and offered Antwuan a college scholarship. Their did their 1 thing!

In a homeless shelter in Dayton, Ohio, three young men gather nervously to pose for photographs. There’s Rob, who wears two wool caps over each other like a helmet on his head, and Antwuan, whose crisp white shirt signals his determination to rise above his circumstances. The third young man, who introduces himself only as Agent Thunder, is an aspiring poet and artist. He stares at the camera through wide, weary brown eyes that make him seem older than his eighteen years.

Young and Homeless in AmericaFor Larry Price, the man behind the camera, the shoot feels familiar. The Olympus Visionary photographer, who has won two Pulitzer Prizes, has a track record of documenting social causes in the United States. While a staff photographer at the Philadelphia Inquirer in the 1980s, he spent six months photographing inside a fetid, dangerous housing project – a story that led local government to demolish the project two years later.

Read the entire story posted on Photo District News.

A Community Steps Forward – Antwaun Fischer UPDATE

Great news out of Dayton, Ohio from one of the Do1Thing homeless youth featured in People Magazine

Sinclair officials see homeless 19-year-old in ‘People’, offer scholarship

Reprinted from The Dayton Daily News.
DAYTON — While living on the streets, 19-year-old Antwuan McCoy would walk through the night listening to jazz on his iPod, too afraid to sleep.

“I’d keep myself up just until daytime would come, when I know I’d be safe,” said the teen, who found himself homeless last year after he left home following a dispute with his mother.

McCoy now lives in an apartment at Daybreak, the Miami Valley’s only emergency youth shelter and a transitional housing program for young adults.

He just appeared in People magazine, which spotlighted him and other homeless teens from across the country who had been photographed for the Do 1 Thing project to raise awareness of homelessness.

McCoy’s picture, printed in black and white, caught the eye of officials at Sinclair Community College. Spokeswoman Natasha Baker said they are giving a scholarship to the 2008 Patterson Career Center graduate, who had been one of the leaders of the Respected Young Businessmen of Tomorrow club at his high school.

McCoy, who said he apologized to his mother and visits her on weekends, is thankful for the help he has received and hopes that sharing his story will help other homeless teens.

“Most people think they’re all alone but someone’s always watching,” he said. “As you can see, someone was watching me.”