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”.

People take a selfie at the abandoned former Soviet R12 nuclear missile launch site in Zeltini, Latvia, July 22, 2016. Hidden in the forests of Aluksne, near Latvia's north-eastern border with Russia, the remains of a former Soviet nuclear missile base are a magnet for tourists now rather than a top-secret site manned by soldiers. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

A cosplayer poses for a photograph during the Comic Market 90 (Comiket) event in Tokyo Big Sight on August 12, 2016, Tokyo, Japan. Many manga and anime fans wearing cosplay lined up in the sun for the first day of Comiket. Comiket was established in 1975 and focuses on manga, anime, gaming and cosplay. Organizers expect more than 500,000 visitors to attend this year's summer event which runs for three days until August 14. (Photo by Aflo/Splash News)

Actress Bai Ling poses for a picture in front of St. Basil's Cathedral at the Red Square in Moscow, Russia, July 1, 2015. (Photo by Ivan Burnyashev/Reuters)

A vendor prepares paan, a betel nut-based chewable stimulant at a flower market in Kolkata, India, January 18, 2016. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

A jogger runs on the bank of Donaukanal channel in central Vienna, Austria, September 5, 2016. (Photo by Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters)

Russian honor guard soldiers warm up prior a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, May 3, 2017. The parade will take place at Dvortsovaya (Palace) Square on May 9, to celebrate 72 years after the victory in WWII. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

The sun rises over the River Brue on the Somerset Levels as temperatures in parts of the south west drop below freezing, on January, 20, 2015. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Wire)