Photographer Terri Shaver is using her art to help local families through the grieving process.
Shaver is the founder of The Oldham Project, a nonprofit photography effort that ensures families take family portraits before a loved one dies.
“Everyone talks about having a family portrait done, but they never make the time 
to do it,” she says. “Not until someone in the family passes away that they say, ‘I wish we would have done that.’”
Hospice of Lansing and Ele’s Place refer families to Shaver who photographs them in their homes or in her studio.
“The response has been so positive from those agencies,” she says.
Before starting The Oldham Project, Shaver volunteered with the Denver-based non-profit Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep where she photographed still born babies and babies that died while at the hospital.
“It occurred to me that there was nothing in place like that for older people or even for children,” she says. Shaver says she wants to make the experience as pleasant and as easy for the families as possible, which is why she is willing to travel to take the photos and does not charge for her services.
Source: Terri Shaver, The Oldham Project
Ivy Hughes is the managing editor of Capital Gains and can be reached here.
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