Jérôme Aoustin is a fine art photographer in New York City. He’s also an engineer and has co-founded a couple of start-ups in the broadcast media industry (tv2me.com and pnglaboratories.com).

His diverse experience in his professional life led him to volunteer with a number of nonprofit organizations over the years. Basically, he says, “When I can fill a need and have the time to do it, I reach out, get it done and move on.”

GETTING INVOLVED
Jérôme heard about Help-Portrait on Twitter after investing a lot of time into photography last year. “It was a really serendipitous find,” he said. “I could help people by doing something that I love.”

He began by creating the NYC group on Help-Portrait’s Community website, and ultimately became the organizer for the event on Dec. 14, 2009. “With the recession, I had a lot more time on my hands than I’d wish for so it worked out well,” he said.

FINDING A LOCATION
The group grew quickly and expanded to eight locations throughout the city, each with a different leader. On the day of the event he oversaw the Bronx location. He shared his advice on finding the perfect H-P location:

“Being in New York City, this has been a rather easy task. There are so many organizations out there catering to the underprivileged. It’s not hard to show them how Help-Portrait is such a great opportunity. We have served the poor, the ill, the handicapped… in a battered women shelter, an adult day health center serving the elderly, a community center… This year, one of the several locations we will go to is a nursing facility for children living with HIV. Finding people in need is unfortunately much easier than one may think.”

THIS YEAR’S EVENT
The NYC crew already has a number of locations in the works for this year’s Dec. 4 event:

  • Manhattan, a nursing facility for children living with HIV
    Contact: Jérôme Aoustin – (805) 268-7846
  • Queens, soon to be announced
    Contact: Abi Litwa

MORE INFO
There will be more locations as Dec. 4 approaches. Visit the H-P community group page or Facebook for more information, or follow them on Twitter (@HelpPortraitNYC).