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 waitress displays a plate of animal penises and testis at the Guolizhuang pen*s Restaurant on September 7, 2007 in Beijing, China. The restaurant offers more than 30 types of animal-pen*s dishes which can cost from 500 yuan (76.99 USD) up to 90,000 yuan (13,857.67 USD). It is believed that eating an animal's pen*s can strengthen a man's sexual ability. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)

A rebel fighter celebrates as his comrades fire a rocket barrage toward the positions of troops loyal to Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi April 14, 2011 west of Ajdabiyah, Libya. Rebels exchanged artillery and rocket fire with loyalist troops west of Ajdabiyah April 14 as the confict engulfing Libya continued. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Sunset is seen through smoke from the Wallow fire June 8, 2011 in Springerville, Arizona. Hundreds of thousands of acres have burned in eastern Arizona prompting evacuations by residents. Smoke loomed over the twin towns of Eager and Springerville, home to about 7,000 people north of the fire. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

Mike Branch helps customers shop for a Halloween masks at Fantasy Costumes on October 28, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The store, which had long lines at the registers at 4 AM this morning, is open around the clock through Halloween to help keep up with customer demand. Retailers nationwide are expecting record sales for Halloween merchandise this year with shoppers spending close to $7 billion dollars to celebrate the holiday. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A competitor scrambles in the mud under barbed wire during the Tough Guy Challenge 2009 at South Perton Farm on February 1, 2009 in Wolverhampton, England. The biannual event to raise cash for charity challenges thousands of international competitors to run through a gruelling set of 21 obstacles including water, fire and tunnels after a lengthy run at the start. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

A Burmese monk feeds the seagulls at a Yangon river jetty February 8, 2012 in Yangon, Myanmar. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

A protester throws a stone towards a burning police bus in front of him, during clashes with police, in central Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, January 19, 2014. Hundreds of protesters on Sunday clashed with riot police in the center of the Ukrainian capital, after the passage of harsh anti-protest legislation last week seen as part of attempts to quash anti-government demonstrations. The violent scenes further escalated this ex-Soviet republic's political crisis and showed a rift among opposition leaders, one of whom fought bravely to stop the violence, while others condemned the events from afar. (Photo by Evgeny Feldman/AP Photo)