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”.

American actress and singer Bella Thorne attends the GQ Mexico Men of The Year Awards 2017 on October 26, 2017 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Victor Chavez/Getty Images)

US rapper Megan Thee Stallion performs on the main stage of the Rock in Rio music festival at the Rio 2016 Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 11, 2022. (Photo by Mauro Pimentel/AFP Photo)

British singer-songwriter Rita Ora seen attending Jonathan Ross Halloween party at The House of Koko on October 31, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Ricky Vigil M/GC Images)

Children walk past the partially collapsed boundary wall of a school and a Buddhist shrine that were damaged during the earthquake earlier this year at Khumjung, a typical Sherpa village in Solukhumbu district also known as the Everest region, in this picture taken November 30, 2015. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A flock of Adjutants storks sit on a garbage dump at Borgaon in Guwahati, Assam, India, 17 October 2019. Wildlife activists and environmentalists have protested in the past for shifting the garbage dump to another site since it is situated near the Deepor Beel Bird Sanctuary. (Photo by EPA/EFE/Stringer)

A group of teachers and their student use makeshift raft as they cross the street during flood that hit Ranomeeto Barat village in Konawe Selatan, Sulawesi island, Indonesia, July 10, 2018. (Photo by Jojon/Reuters/Antara Foto)

In this Thursday, March 19, 2015 photo, workers in outfits made from scrap material parade through a farm on the rooftop of a door manufacturer in Chongqing municipality in southwest China. Employees of the company designed and modeled their garments as part of an environmental sustainability-themed fashion show, which was held by the firm as a morale-booster for employees. (Photo by AP Photo)