When the pandemic shut things down, Mt. Airy photographer Rivkah Walton, 67, who has lived a block from the Weavers Way Co-op since 1978, started taking photos of the spring flowers in the area. 

“In Mid-May, I saw the virtual MOMA exhibition on the work of Dorothea Lange, the famous photographer of the Dust Bowl and Depression era, and was deeply moved to learn that her iconic portrait ‘Migrant Mother’ had brought life-saving help to the migrants in the California pea fields,” said Walton. “I decided that I didn’t want ‘portraits of flowers’ to be my response to Covid-19, so I went to Center City and see what was happening outside the Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill bubble.”

Over several trips, Walton visited Rittenhouse Square, the Italian Market, the area near Jefferson Hospital, City Hall, Love Park and the encampment on the Benjamin Franklin parkway.

“I discovered that with the workers and shoppers on lock-down, the only people visible were those living on the street, people we don’t usually notice. And not only were they sleeping and eating in doorways, but they had no way to obtain money and nowhere to wash or use a bathroom.”

Soon, she began talking to homeless individuals and asking them what their needs were. “Besides shelter and food, health and hygiene products were needed most,” said Walton, who also designs websites and is comfortable with technology. “So I built a GoFundMe page, using images of the homeless people that I had taken, and asked for money to buy supplies such as masks, hand sanitizer, toothbrushes, toothpaste, feminine hygiene products and the like.”

Rachel Falkove, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network (PIHN), a non-profit organization that helps families who are homeless or housing-insecure, agreed to sponsor the project. Rabbi Adam Zeff of the Germantown Jewish Centre made a lead donation from his Discretionary Fund, and the Summit Presbyterian Church Deacons’ Fund made a similar contribution. Then things started jumping.

“Within 48 hours, I had met my goal of $2500, but the money kept coming. My photography teacher out in California, who grew up in Philadelphia, gave a thousand dollars from a family foundation. So many donors said they were grateful for a way to help. The outpouring was incredible,” said Walton.

To date, more than $8,000 has been contributed.  As the project grew, it became clear that Walton’s original plan to assemble kits to be distributed by city and non-profit outreach workers was no longer feasible, but that the money could help many more people for much longer.

“Rachel pointed me in the direction of other non-profits who could use bulk supplies to support their homeless outreach program,” said Walton.

She started interviewing non-profits, including St. Miriam’s Church in Flourtown, after reading a story in this publication about their Blessing Bags program. “St. Miriam’s already has the assembly lines in place — one for food and the other for hygiene products — and I became convinced that the money should be turned over to the pro’s who already have an infrastructure in place,” said Walton. 

Before arriving in Philadelphia, Walton was a volunteer at the Koinonia community, a Christian intentional community in southern Georgia with a liberation theology bent. Since then, she has worked for numerous progressive Jewish and interfaith organizations and now works for the Northwest Village Network to help create community and allow seniors to age in place.

Walton has a Master of Fine Arts degree in metalsmithing from Tyler School of Art and has had her hand in a number of media through the years, including figurative sculpting. 

“The use of light and form translated well into photography and that is my current medium,” said Walton, whose website is rwaltonphoto.com. “I am very gratified that my images can make a difference.”

Over at PIHN, Falkove said there is an important message to learn from Walton’s actions. “I think that the main lesson of Rivkah’s campaign is that the important thing is to just do something. When we look around at the needs today, it can be totally overwhelming ... but these little acts of kindness and little changes go a very long way in making day-to-day differences in people’s lives.”

Walton is keeping her GoFundMe site up until after the publication of this article. It is gofundme.com/f/covid19-emergency-health-amp-hygiene-kits

Barbara Sherf captures the stories of individuals and businesses at communicationspro.com