In the summer of 2015, Brian Peterson and his wife, Vanessa, had just moved to Santa Ana, California. Outside the couple's fourth-floor apartment, a homeless man was often 1 on the street corner, sometimes keeping them awake at night. Peterson, 28, would pass the guy on his way to his job as a car designer, but they 2 spoke.
One day, Peterson was relaxing in his living room, reading the book Love Does, about the power of love in 3 when his quiet was 4 by the homeless man. Inspired by the book's heart-touching
5 , Peterson made an 6 decision: He was going to go outside and introduce himself.
In that first conversation, Peterson learned that the man's name was Matt Faris. He'd moved to Southern California from Kentucky to 7 his career in music, but he soon 8 hard times and ended up living on the street for more than a decade.
"I saw beauty on the face of a man who, 9 and worn, hadn't had a shower in close to a year. But his story, the life inside of him, 10 me." And even though Peterson, a 11 of the Cleveland Institute of Art, hadn't picked up a paintbrush in about eight years, he found himself asking if he could paint Faris's portrait. Faris said yes.
Peterson's 12 with Faris led him to form Faces of Santa Ana, a nonprofit organization 13
befriending and painting portraits of members of the community who are 14 . Peterson sells the portrait for a few thousand dollars, splitting the proceeds and putting half into what he calls a "love account" for his model. Faris used the funds from his portrait to record an album, 15 his musical dreams.
