Posted by ryan widger: 
it's supposed to inform and hopefully add to a process of healing, i guess i feel kinda of weird getting paid to do it.

I'm tempted to say you just feel wierd because getting paid to do something so unexploitive happens so infrequently.  My advice is to go do beautiful/effective/informative images and accept the payment as the windfall of particularly good karma. 

Posted by Reese: 
what the?!

What the what?

Glad to see Miss Reese.   Look at that beautiful smile.

Posted by ryan widger: 
i know that their intentions are good and it is a serious topic but i can't help but feeling expolitive.

Anything with an agenda is going to be "exploitive" or manipulative. I think the question you're dealing with is whether it's an agenda you can get behind, or not. There's some great photography out there that was produced because the photographer put himself artistically behind the agenda - Ansel Adams' Yosemite photos, Eugene Smith's Japan photos, James Nachtwey's war photos, etc.

The only place I'd have trouble with it would be if the subjects didn't ALSO share the agenda you and your principles shared. I.e.: if you were going to a concentration camp to do photos of how happy the prisoners were, then you'd be committing propaganda. If your subjects share your agenda, then all you need to do to make them comfortable is tell them, "I share your agenda, let's do this."

If you can adopt, accept, and internalize the agenda, then your photos will be much more powerful. If you can't adopt, accept, and internalize the agenda - then don't do it.

mjr.