Vanessa, thirty-five, 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 everyday. Just doing whatever it takes”.

Boats of fishermen are seen on the dried Poopo lakebed in the Oruro Department, south of La Paz, Bolivia, December 17, 2015. Lake Poopo in Bolivia, the Andean nation's formerly second largest after the famed Titicaca, has dried up entirely. With the water now gone, animals have died off in the millions, according to studies. And the local families, having lost much of their sustenance, have been forced to migrate. (Photo by David Mercado/Reuters)

A veterinarian kisses an 8-month-old cat, wearing a prosthetic two-wheel device, at a veterinary hospital in Chongqing municipality, March 16, 2015. The cat's rear legs lost the abilty to walk after falling from the ninth to fifth floor of a building last November, its since undergone four major surgeries which included removing parts of its organs, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

The Vietnam Slide Project was created by photo editor Kendra Rennick, who began collecting photo slides after a close friend lost her father, a Vietnam veteran. Her friend found a box of slides that her father had taken while in Vietnam and from there Rennick has continued to collect photographs that Vietnam veterans took during their tours of duty. Here: A photo taken from the collection of D.Thornton, who served in the First Air Cavalry division of the United States Army. (Photo by D.Thornton/The Vietnam Slide Project)

The Anthem Veterans Memorial was created in Anthem, Arizona, in order to commemorate the service and sacrifice of the US soldiers that have lost their lives in order to bring peace and democracy to many nations throughout the world. Without these brave souls so many countries around the world would not be able to enjoy the fruits of Western Democracy. These pillars serve as a place of honor for military veterans, their friends and family, and to those people who want to pay their respect to the courageous men and women who continue to serve the United States. (Photo by Anthem Community Council)

A student of the department for aritificial intelligence at the Freie Universitaet Berlin steers a converted Dodge minivan remotely with an iPhone during a demonstration at Tempelhof Airport on November 2, 2009 in Berlin, Germany. The car, whose design was led by professor Raul Rojas, is outfitted with a variety of laser sensors, GPS antennae and computers. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A three-week-old chihuahua puppy named Tom Thumb poses in a tea cup on April 7, 2009 in Renton, Scotland. The pup, which measures eight inches long, is thought to be one of the smallest dogs born in the UK and is just two inches short of a world record. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A British inspired Transformer, made from original bus parts is displayed in front of Tower Bridge on November 28, 2009 in London, England. Twitter fans voted to see a London “bendy” bus made into a Transformer to celebrate the DVD & Blu-ray release of “Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen”. (Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images for Paramount Home Entertainment)