I am a co-creator of a non-profit that provides aid to unaccompanied homeless youths — teenagers unhoused, not living with a parent/guardian, and not in foster care. Aware of these independent youths, I celebrate the loving relationships in my life. I painted portraits of my chosen family, all people with which I share an intimate connection. Working from my own spontaneous photographs, the portraits represent authentic moments between myself and the subject. The paintings offer affirming representations meant to equalize and humanize. My optimistic and cheerful art practice challenges the symbolic violence of pain narratives that pervade discourses around oppressed groups. It directs attention to the prosperity of intimate relationships, an undervalued wealth.