Here is my family’s quarters. Six people sleep here: my husband, my four children, and me. Two children sleep in the crib – my seven year old and my one and a half year old. On the lower bed, I sleep with my two other children, ages 4 years and 6 months, and my husband sleeps in the bed above. We also have all of our personal belongings stored in this room. The space is very small and we are tired of having to live stacked together. We feel overwhelmed and stressed. I constantly think about how I can organize the room to make more space, but it is not possible. The poor ventilation, the infestation of cockroaches and rats, and the lack of privacy and security all affect the mental, emotional, and physical health of my family. The way that we live, in this discomfort, is the result of how difficult it is get the basics to survive. Through these pictures, I tried to communicate the injustices of housing in order to educate the community about what is happening in the homes of their neighbors.

—Melissa