Being a professional photographer specializing in headshots becomes an opportunity to capture the essence of people, agencies, and their unfolding dreams – allowing me the privilege to witness greatness.
Over the next few months, I will be writing about different agencies and people shaping our society by either offering unique services, products and/or motivational life stories.
Today, I am writing about the Looking Glass Foundation. A BC-based charity founded in 2002, dedicated to helping people with eating disorders through early intervention, relapse prevention and support. They are all about getting to the other side of eating disorders and putting an end to this devastating disease.
“I had always dreamed of being a school teacher and then became one… Until my fourteen years old daughter suffered from anorexia nervosa and was dying. There was little in ways of assistance or programs available in Vancouver to save her. So I borrowed everything I could to send her to a specialized treatment program in Arizona, USA to save her life… She is now alive and well because I had the ability to borrow money and losing my career wasn’t a big deal considering that other parents didn’t have the same opportunities”, explained Deborah Grimm during her session.
“I co-founded the Looking Glass Foundation to support families and their children suffering from eating disorders to prevent devastation in individuals and their families…”. continued Deborah during her session.
“I suffered from an eating disorder and now I am a counsellor helping others…”, “the Looking Glass Foundation saved my life when I was a teen… Now I am a volunteer”, “one of my relatives suffered from an eating disorder and our whole family needed to support her. Being in charge of our systems allows me to do much more…”. Those are but some of the quotes I remembered while photographing the dynamic team of volunteers, staff, executives and founders of the Looking Glass Foundation.
The Looking Glass Foundation gives practical and real life guidance for intervention of those suffering from an eating disorder through an array of programs such as residential care, online peer support, summer camp, one on one support, scholarships, education and prevention programs.
While I was photographing one of the last members of the Looking Glass Foundation, I had a jolting memory of something that I had almost forgotten… When I was a child, my parents would fight all night for day’s upon days and I remember feeling unsafe, concerned and hurt by their hurting of each other. I would drift off, while at school afterwards and wouldn’t eat in spite of being hungry, I just couldn’t eat. Was feather weight as a result of my reaction. When I was a teen we didn’t acknowledge eating disorders so I never knew that I too might have suffered from a form of an eating disorder as a passive aggressive reaction to my aggressive home environment.
“In the depths of my eating disorder, I couldn’t imagine my life without it”, wrote Nicole Keay, who has since recovered and now works with the Looking Glass Foundation.
If you or someone you know is suffering from an eating disorder, reach out and ask for support. Recovery is possible. For more information on the Looking Glass, visit lookingglassbc.com or contact 604-314-0548.
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