The senior citizens in our community are a great resource of wisdom and maturity. They are the heroes for the younger generations, and now a local woman is honoring them with her camera.
Rachel Collins has set up the Granny Starr Foundation which takes of pictures of the elderly and gives them a photo to honor their contributions.
There is nothing more rewarding than working with older and gentle people who often just love to touch my hand or give me a much needed hug followed by a “thank you”. I love it! So often the elderly get left out or forgotten. It’s important to be able to go to them and bring them the gift of photography. I will brush their hair and make them feel special before the photo shoots.
This foundation was created to honor my granny, Evelyn Starr Cutler who lived in the Sarah Daft Home in Salt Lake City…hence the name Granny Starr. She passed away in 2009. I photographed the residents there while she resided there in ’07 and that is what inspired me to create a foundation which would provide the same wonderful service to our elders. My granny was ahead of her time…born in 1924…had a Ph.D in linguistics and spoke 7 languages. She was a very driven woman, as I am…and I admire her greatly.
Here is a testimonial received today from one of the homes where I recently have worked:
Thank you Granny Starr Foundation and Rachael for taking time to come to Heritage Place and take pictures of our residents.
It was so much fun watching the residents as they had their pictures taken and Rachael was so good with them. When one of our couples came in for their pictures, she took the most beautiful picture of them. Neslin was kissing Geri’s cheek and Geri was smiling. Little did we know that two days later Geri would go into the hospital never to come out. Neslin has that precious memory of the last picture they had taken together. Married 73 years and a final memory with his precious wife will be beautiful for Neslin and also for their 10 children.
It was also fun to watch the residents get excited about giving Christmas gifts to their children of their picture. The pictures turned out beautiful, the experience was very personable and professional. Thank you Granny Starr Foundation for your loving care of our residents.
Sincerely,
DaLynn Case
Life Enrichment Manager
Heritage Place Assisted Living
Bountiful, Utah
Rachel is currently hiring other photographers around the state who would like to be part of the Granny Starr Foundation. She can be reached through grannystarr.org
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