Matthew O'Brien's Blog

I’m very excited to play a small role in, perhaps, introducing you to the work of Steve Fanell. You may not agree with what he says or how he says it, but you can’t deny the power of his pictures.
http://dtlv.com/2017/07/31/sun-street-photography-steve-fanell/ 

Got my name in the paper. Special thanks to John Glionna for the wonderful story and Rachel Aston for the revealing video and pics. I’m honored.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/man-who-shined-light-on-las-vegas-tunnel-dwellers-moving-on/

Here’s a KNPR interview Paul Vautrinot and I did a week or so ago. It’s an exit interview of sorts with me, and Paul and I discuss the future of Shine a Light.
https://knpr.org/knpr/2017-07/out-darkness-escaping-las-vegas-tunnels

I found a home for my Beneath the Neon and My Week at the Blue Angel notes and memorabilia: Special Collections at UNLV’s Lied Library. They plan to sort through the boxes—handwritten notes, taped interviews, email correspondence with editors, edited drafts, etc.—and eventually make the contents available to the public. (If you ever want to hear me splashing through a storm drain, babbling to myself in a nervous stutter, you know where to go.)
The best part of the experience was I got to spend some time with two warm and talented longtime Las Vegans, Aaron Mayes and Su Kim Chung. Thanks, Aaron and Su Kim!

I’m excited to announce that my Shine a Light community project, which was founded in 2009 to help the people who live in the underground flood channels of Vegas, will be folded into Freedom House’s programming. This will allow Shine a Light to more directly provide housing, counseling and other services to the people in the drains. I will remain involved in the program as much as possible from San Salvador, but Paul Vautrinot, who once lived in the tunnels, will be the point person. 
More details on the collaboration will be available in the days to come. In the meantime, please like Freedom House Sober Living’s Facebook page, visit its website (http://www.freedomhousesoberliving.com/) and consider donating to it. Thanks!

Big things are brewing with my community project Shine a Light. Sometimes you have to let go (a little) of the things you love for them to reach their full potential. More on this soon.

“I left the tunnel because I had breast cancer. I had to stay clean. I wanted to be spick and span. I’m going to see all these doctors and I had to be able to shower, wear proper clothing and have some decency, because I was not a homeless bum. I was a PhD living down in a freakin’ tunnel.” Ande, in the drains from 2008 to ’15

My interview with a bike thief:
http://dtlv.com/2017/06/12/inside-mind-bicycle-thief/

Yesterday in the tunnels, one of the residents, Steve, gave me a going-away present: a compass. He said he hoped it would come in handy in Central America. #touched

I was honored to share the stage at the Sunday Assembly with Paul Vautrinot. We had a blast and met some really interesting people—thanks to everyone who came out!—then headed into the tunnels to check on some folks down there. I'm hoping Paul (and others) will help keep Shine a Light going while I'm in Central America. With his experience, knowledge and charisma, I'm confident he could positively impact hundreds of lives in the drains. No pressure, Paul!