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"I've had a drinking and drug problem all my life. I go to meetings 3 times a week. My last drinking and drugging was when I got jumped last month. They got me good, stoled all my money and pain pills," says Linda Williams on February 5, 2009 after being beat up by other residents at the YWCA in Columbus, OH.
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After spending sometime on the basketball court, foster brothers Tyler Parker (left), 16, Justin Parker, 17, and Chase Martin, 16, all of Buchtel talk to Jeremy Hine (foot only) also of Buchtel. The boys were helping Chase prepapre for his upcoming basketball tryouts.
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Elizabeth Cook (right), Butch Noel, Brandi Noel and Bryan Richards spend the afternoon hanging out in Dundas, OH, on January 22, 2009. "When I was little, it used to be a peaceful little town, now it has all gone to hell. It was a lot cleaner too," said Butch Noel referring to the current condition of Dundas.
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Norman C. Martin looks out of his window while William Skribiski takes a pause from their conversation on July 14, 2009. The two men agreed that the closing of The Eagle-Times in Claremont, NH, was the biggest news in a while. Both men read the paper daily. The Eagle-Times filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and printed its last edition on Friday, July 10, 2009.
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Josh Jones, 17, a junior at Wellston High School, rides a bus with his teammates to Friday night's game against Belpre. After losing every game last season and all games this season, the team had to beat Belpre to have a chance at going to the state championships. Wellston won
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Lucille Wines, who suffers from dementia, holds on to a baby doll at Arcadia Nursing and Rehab Center in Coolville, OH, on January 25, 2009. "There are times when she doesn't recognize you or even know your name," Connie Stahlmaker says about dealing with the effects of her mother's dementia.
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Brandon carries his father, Fredy Zepeda's, photo during his father's funeral procession in Atescatempa, Guatemala on Thursday, July 30, 2009. Zepeda moved to the United States when Brandon was only 9 months old and did not return to Guatemala until his death. Brandon never met his father.
A coffin waits in the cargo area of La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City late in the evening on Tuesday, July 28, 2009. Behind this casket is the casket of Fredy Latin Zepeda who died in July in Boston after being hit by a car. Zepeda left Guatemala 9 years ago and this is his first time to return home. His family retrieved the body of Zepeda and took it to his hometown Astescampo, Guatemala for a wake and burial.
A few hours after his body arrived La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City family members of Fredy Zepeda including brother Wilson Latin Zepeda (left to right), father Gerardo de Jesus Latin, aunt Haydee Latin and nephew Eric see his body for the first time since his death on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Zepeda was hit by a car in Boston while putting his child in the car and died the following day. This was the first time many of his family members and friends had seen him since he left Guatemala nine years ago.
Gerardo de Jesus Latin stands in his home where his son Fredy Zepeda had sent him money for things like a refrigerator and asked him to store the stove behind him so he could use it when he returned to Guatemala. Zepeda was hit by a car in Boston and he died the following day. His body was returned to Guatemala for a burial, and this was the first time many of his family members had seen him since he left Guatemala nine years ago.
Haydee Latin is held by her nephew Wilson Latin after she fainted at the funeral home where she had seen her nephew, Fredy Zepeda's, body for the first time since it arrived in Guatemala. Zepeda was hit by a car in Boston while putting his child in the car and died the following day. This was the first time many of his family members and friends had seen him since he left Guatemala nine years ago.
A hearse carrying the body of Fredy Zepeda is stuck in traffic on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 in route to his burial site in Atescatempa, Guatemala. His sister, Ana Ester Latin Zepeda sits in the front of the hearse while his cousin Claudia Vasquez and her baby wait outside of the car for traffic to start moving. Zepeda was hit by a car in Boston while putting his child in the car and died the following day. This was the first time many of his family members and friends had seen him since he left Guatemala nine years ago.
Roxanna Nineth (left to right), Janira Contreras, and Ruth Mendez take part in a wake for Fredy Zepeda. Friends and family gathered at Milvia Latin Zepeda's house in Atescatempa, Guatemala to mourn the death of Fredy Zepeda. Zepeda was hit by a car in Boston while putting his child in the car and died the following day. This was the first time many of his family members and friends had seen him since he left Guatemala nine years ago.
Family and friends watch as the casket of Fredy Zepeda is about to be sealed with cement in Cementerio General de Atescatempa in Atescatempa, Guatemala on Thursday, July 30, 2009. Zepeda was hit by a car earlier this month while putting his son in the car in Boston and died the following day. This was the first time many of his family members and friends had seen him since he left Guatemala nine years ago.
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Autumn, 17, is dealing with the emotional toll of growing up in poverty. As she comes of age in this environment, Autumn struggles to find her way. (All names have been changed to protect the identity of the people in the images.)
Autumn, 17, is dealing with the emotional toll of growing up in poverty. As she comes of age in this environment, Autumn struggles to find her way.
Autumn and her mother smoke cigarettes in front of the trailer they keep next to their home. Autumn’s parents also grew up poor. Following in the footsteps of her parents and grandparents, Autumn is growing up poor and lives below the poverty line. According to her father, Autumn's family of five lives off of $14,000 a year. In 2008 the Health and for a family of five was $24,800.
Autumn sits between a relative’s legs.
Autumn fights with an ex-boyfriend in the kitchen of her home. With in an hour things were back to normal.
Autumn prays before eating her cake on her 17th birthday after her family refused to sing "Happy Birthday" for no apparent reason. Autumn says that on her 18th birthday she wants to move out.
“I want to get out of this hellhole, there are no jobs and nothing to do,†says Autumn.
“It didn’t hurt him,†said Autumn after hanging her dog by its leash for a neighborhood friend.
Autumn’s younger brother yells in to her ear during an argument over the chair she is sitting in.
Autumn stands behind the fence of her house watching a fight down the street.
Autumn gets frustrated while smoking a cigarette on her couch. Autumn started smoking after her uncle offered her a cigarette at a young age.
Autumn and her ex-sister-in-law, Brandi, comfort each other after Brandi’s trailer burned down. Brandi and her husband moved into the shed behind Autumn’s house shortly thereafter.
As night falls, Autumn peers out of her window watching other kids in the neighborhood play.
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Tom Rose, 85, wipes a tear from his eye while reminiscing about his wife who passed away. The were married for 60 years and Tom continues to struggle over her loss.
Correspondence between Tom and his wife Mary from WWII sits tied together in an upstairs bedroom. The two were dating when Tom left for the war and married promptly upon his return.
Tom visits his wife's grave at the cemetery on Union Street. He visits her grave a few times a month. She is buried next to her family, and Tom will share the plot upon his passing.
Curtains hang in the dining room of Tom's farm house. Mary's bed had to be moved to the dining room after she could no longer use the stairs.
Tom naps on the pullout couch in his the living room of his farm house on Caanansville Road in Athens. He has not been able to sleep in the upstairs bedroom he once shared with his wife Mary since her passing.
Tom's bed sheets lay wrinkled after he tossed and turned through the night. He says he doesn't sleep well and sometimes falls out of his bed when he has nightmares.
Tom walks towards the house after a day on the farm.
Tom stands in the bedroom he once shared with his wife. He can no longer sleep in the room and instead sleeps downstairs.
A plug from the iron hangs off of the ironing board near the ironing Tom needs to do.
Tom recalls memories of his wife. "She was beautiful, just beautiful, like a model," said Tom. "She used to work in New York you know."
Tom's empty shoes sit next to his chair in the living room while he watches TV.