At major intersections and SkyTrain stations, on you way home from work or while shopping this holiday season you will notice street vendors selling the Hope In Shadows calendar. These friendly folks are part of a charitable organization that aims at creating positive social change in communities impacted by poverty and marginalization. Most vendors are low-income or homeless individuals who, through the support of the program, have participated in a financial literacy workshop and received some sales training to help them make the most of their entrepreneurial venture. Vendors purchase the calendar for $10 and sell it for $20, so each purchase directly benefits the person you buy it from.

The calendar itself is the result of an annual photography contest  - coordinated by the Pivot Legal Society – which gives Downtown Eastside residents the opportunity to portray their community through their own eyes. 200+ disposable cameras are handed out to DTES residents and collected again over a single weekend. The best images are then selected by popular vote and used to create the calendar.

Because of its focus on community, the images featured can be best described as authentic. These are pictures that may not have been taken if the the photographers didn’t know their subjects. Trust, familiarity and a sense of support come across in each image.

It’s not an easy job standing in the cold for hours. A couple vendors I talked with mentioned how cold they were. I’m sure it is even more difficult in the rain. If you do plan on making a purchase, making it on a rainy day would certainly brighten up a vendor’s day.

This is the ninth year for Hope In Shadows and they have already broken their previous year’s sales record. You can see a selection of the winning photographs on exhibit at the Havana Gallery from December 11th to January 3rd.