This is WHERE I Serve

First point, I am home in Minneapolis! I had a full weekend of fun and family. I have also received a lot of questions. People here want to know about New York. All they know is what they see in the movies or in the media. Hunts Point in the South Bronx is a place you won't see in the media. The South Bronx happens to be the poorest congressional district in the country and poverty abounds. Another corps member from City Year shared this article and I really appreciated it: "People Most New Yorkers Never See."  Some of the stories are heartbreaking to read, but this is the reality people face.

Here are two people that stuck out to me from the article:


 "Sonya lives on the top floor of an abandoned building with her husband of ten years Eric. They left Rhode Island in pursuit of drugs, settling in Hunts Point five years ago. 'This is the only reason me and Sonya are in Hunts Point, because this is literally right now the best heroin in all of New York City.' 


"Chris Bishop was drinking in front of a liquor store when we met. A resident in the local homeless shelter, he told me the following: At the age of 13, Chris killed his father, stabbing him with a knife after a childhood of abuse.

The article captures the lives of 8 individuals. I definitely encourage you to read more about the two people I posted. I walk past the mural in the top picture every day, and I see a handful of liquor stores throughout Hunts Point. 

Photo credit: Chris Arnade