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”.

Children react as a carnivorous theropod known as the Australovenator dinosaur walks through crowds along the Southbank, in London, Monday, February 18, 2013. The dinosaur is one of many that can be visited at the Erth's Dinosaur Petting Zoo, visiting from Australia, the creatures can be touched and fed at the Southbank Centre. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo)

School children celebrate after being rewarded for their dance performance during India's Independence Day celebrations in Chandigarh, India, August 15, 2015. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's independence day speech focused on measures his “Team India” had rolled out to include millions of poor Indians in the banking and insurance systems, policies for workers and farmers and successes in the fights against inflation and corruption. (Photo by Ajay Verma/Reuters)

A baby is baptised during a mass baptism ceremony on Epiphany day in Tbilisi, January 19, 2015. About 1000 children were baptised by the Georgian Orthodox church during the 38th mass baptism ceremony at the country's main cathedral Holy Trinity. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)

Pakistani female police commandos attend a training session in Nowshera, near Peshawar Pakistan, Wednesday, February 11, 2015. Authorities formed a Special Combat Unit after Taliban militants stormed a Peshawar school on Dec. 16, 2014 and massacred 150 children and teachers. (Photo by Mohammad Sajjad/AP Photo)

A health worker pretends to give a shot to a girl's doll to help put her at ease before giving her a shot of the Coronavac vaccine for COVID-19, at a sports center as children age 5 – 11 start getting vaccinated in Asuncion, Paraguay, Monday, January 31, 2022. (Photo by Jorge Saenz/AP Photo)

Performers dressed as superhero characters pose with a child receiving the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 at a gym in San Juan City, suburban Manila on February 7, 2022. (Photo by Ted Aljibe/AFP Photo)

Bangladeshi children from Khan Tea garden posing for photos on March 23, 2022 with their faces painted after adorning with colors like Rainbows on the celebration of the annual Hindu festival of colors, known as Holi festival marking the onset of spring. (Photo by Md Rafayat Haque Khan/Eyepix Group/Rex Features/Shutterstock)