Melissa is living on the street with her husband, DJ. They are inseparable. I met them on Houston street in August 2019 and they have changed locations several times over the last months in an effort to find a peaceful stretch of pavement to call home. Melissa has been homeless or in the foster care system since she was eight years old. She has multiple outstanding warrants for her arrest for various reasons and has decided to turn herself in to authorities . Once she serves some time in jail, she will be eligible for housing and job placement programs. Her impending re-entry into the penal system is weighing heavily on her, but she is resolute and determined to see it through so that she can plan a future for herself, her adult children, DJ, and an abandoned white dog named Bella.
All images, with one exception, created using the Fujifilm X100V.