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”.

A Tibetan man stirs butter tea made for the arriving guest during the function organised to mark Losar or the Tibetan New Year at a Tibetan Refugee Camp in Lalitpur February 19, 2015. Tibetans across the world marked the arrival of the New Year with prayers and festivities. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

A man wears a sweater covered in Irish themed pins as he stands with thousands of spectators to watch the 254th New York City St. Patrick's Day parade up 5th Avenue in the Manhattan Borough of New York, March 17, 2015. (Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters)

A woman smokes marijuana during the annual 4/20 marijuana rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, April 20, 2017. (Photo by Chris Wattie/Reuters)

A reveller dressed as Spider-Man takes part in a presentation at the top of a building during an annual block party known as “Enquanto isso na Sala da Justiça” (Meanwhile, in the justice room), one of the many carnival parties taking place in the neighbourhood of Olinda, Brazil February 7, 2016. (Photo by Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

Miss Earth 2016 candidates wearing environmental statement sashes lineup during a press presentation in Manila, Philippines, 11 October 2016. Eighty three young women from around the globe converged in Manila for the international beauty event. Miss Earth is a pioneering beauty pageant that serves as a vehicle for environmental advocacy. (Photo by Mark R. Cristino/EPA)

A BASE jumper is pictured against the skyline shrouded in a thick haze during the Kuala Lumpur Tower International Jump in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 02 October 2015. More than 100 BASE jumpers take part in this extreme sport event, which enters its 15th year. The haze hovering over Malaysia is caused by the ongoing plantation and forest fires in the nearby Indonesian provinces of Sumatra and Kalimantan. (Photo by Fazry Ismail/EPA)

A jogger runs along Bregagh Road at Dark Hedges, Armoy, Northern Ireland, Wednesday, February 10, 2016. Road markings have been painted by mistake on the world famous road that features the Dark Hedges tree lined road which was made famous by the Game of Thrones and is now a massive tourist attraction. (Photo by Peter Morrison/AP Photo)