CLOCKWISE
FROM TOP LEFT
I talked with this
woman about her life
on the streets and
looked at photos of
her from an earlier
time. After she woke
up against a wall where
she’d been dozing,
I watched her peer into
a mirror shard to apply
mascara. I caught a
glimpse of the woman
in those old photos.
This young man told
me he started using
Percocet when he
was about 18 and then
switched to heroin.
He was jailed for steal-
ing to pay for his habit.
His mother lives nearby,
but, starting to cry, he
told me he couldn’t go
home while he was still
using. “I don’t want her
to see me like this.”
Kensington Avenue
runs for many shad-
owy blocks under
the elevated tracks
of the rapid tran-
sit system. The cross
streets, like this one,
thread through one
of the city’s poorest
neighborhoods.
Volunteers from many
organizations seek to
help those who are
addicted. On this
day, members of The
Table Philadelphia,
a Christian community,
pray after distributing
food and drinks to
the homeless.anished.