"Chris Bishop was drinking in front of a liquor store when we met. A resident in the local homeless shelter, he told me the following: At the age of 13, Chris killed his father, stabbing him with a knife after a childhood of abuse. He spent the next 18 years in correctional facilities. 'When he was drunk and mad he would hold me out the apartment window and threaten to drop me to the street, eight floors below. He beat me and my mother all the time. I have been drinking ever since. To forget.' When I asked how he wanted to be described, his eyes teared up and he said, 'I am human, like everyone else.'"
"Vanessa, 35, had three children with an abusive husband. She 'lost her mind, started doing heroin,' after losing the children, who were taken away and given to her mother. The drugs led to homelessness and prostitution. She grew up on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, but now spends her time in Hunts Point, 'trying to survive every day. Just doing whatever it takes.' She was standing on the cold street corner looking for business, wearing only flip flops and smoking with her two friends. When I asked her how she wanted to be described, Mary Alice jumped in and said, 'She's the sweetest woman I know. She will give you the shirt off her back, if she has one on.'"
"Beauty, 21, was born and raised in Oklahoma, and was brought to New York City by a pimp who promised her she could 'make some mad money.' She has since had nine pimps. 'I have been through nine nigg*s. Got my first black eye from one, another punched me in mouth, but this guy is good to me.' Her mother was an addict. 'She started using crack. That's when it all started, the walls started coming in on me. Now she is incarcerated. I can't blame my mom, she's my mom. I smoke weed, but not crack. I don't like that peppermint burning smell. I want to get out of this stuff, but I am scared. I guess I could stop at any time. Some of the guys tell me I could be a model. Money wise it's good, but otherwise, fuck Hunts Point. Maybe I can become an RN, or go into childcare.' When I asked her how she wanted to be described, she said, 'I'm a good person. I don't like to see anyone down. I like to make people happy.'"
"The 'brickyard' is a vacant lot on an otherwise industrial side street in Hunts Point. It's where many of the local addicts spend their time, gossiping and smoking. They bring their carts filled with what they can collect to sell to the adjacent scrap metal shops. It's where I found Clarence, who has lived for 40 years in Hunts Point since moving from North Carolina as a teenager. I spoke with Clarence, a former truck driver, for a long time. He told me all that his addiction has wrought: job loss, homelessness, health problems. Never once did he sound angry, bitter, or depressed."
