2024 Photojournalist of the Year – Community

Hassan Odeyemi, left, holds his son Dominique Odeyemi, 2, near a water feature as the two attempt to stay cool in the heat at the...

Hassan Odeyemi, left, holds his son Dominique Odeyemi, 2, near a water feature as the two attempt to stay cool in the heat at the Edward P. Thomas Memorial Pool in Frederick, Md., on Wednesday, July 26, 2023.

Bob Locicero, an assistant coach for Oakdale High School football, left, congratulates Oakdale’s Will Hodges after Oakdale High School defeated Linganore High School in the...

Bob Locicero, an assistant coach for Oakdale High School football, left, congratulates Oakdale’s Will Hodges after Oakdale High School defeated Linganore High School in the MPSSAA Class 3A State football championship at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md., on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. For the first time in history, two teams from Frederick County, Maryland played each other for the state title.

Bob Moore, left, and his wife, Karen Moore, of Harrington, Del., hold hands while sitting next to their cows during The Great Frederick Fair at...

Bob Moore, left, and his wife, Karen Moore, of Harrington, Del., hold hands while sitting next to their cows during The Great Frederick Fair at the Frederick Fairgrounds in Frederick, Md., on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. The two have been participating in the fair for several years.

Dylan Moore, 7, watches the Lucas Oil East Coast National Tractor/Truck Pull Night from the announcer’s stand at the Frederick Fairgrounds in Frederick. Md., on...

Dylan Moore, 7, watches the Lucas Oil East Coast National Tractor/Truck Pull Night from the announcer’s stand at the Frederick Fairgrounds in Frederick. Md., on Monday, Sept 18, 2023. Moore was there to watch his father, David Moore, compete.

Silhouettes of attendees are shown as they sit on the stage area during the opening ceremony the 91st Brunswick Veterans Day Parade in Brunswick, Md.,...

Silhouettes of attendees are shown as they sit on the stage area during the opening ceremony the 91st Brunswick Veterans Day Parade in Brunswick, Md., on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023.

Summary: Katie Masser, 27, and Matt Poe, 31, are both people with Down syndrome and have been dating since March of 2022. Prior to meeting,...

Summary: Katie Masser, 27, and Matt Poe, 31, are both people with Down syndrome and have been dating since March of 2022. Prior to meeting, Katie’s mother, Amy Masser, and Matt’s mother, Leslie Poe, were trying to find activities for their children as places reopened following pandemic shutdowns. After they first met, Amy invited Leslie and Matt to a dance class called the “Special Needs Dance Party.” This class would become Matt and Katie’s first date. Through chaperoning their children on dates and spending quality time together, Amy and Leslie, both single parents, have become great friends as well. Katie Masser, 27, left, holds hands with her fiancé Matt Poe, 31, as the two watch a film at Regal Westview in Frederick, Md., on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. The two visit the theater every Tuesday for their weekly “date day,” and are chaperoned on their dates by Katie’s mother, Amy Masser, and Matt’s mother, Leslie Poe.

Katie Masser, left, and Matt Poe wave pompoms during the “Special Needs Dance Party” in Walkersville, Md., on Thursday, March 30, 2023. Matt and Katie...

Katie Masser, left, and Matt Poe wave pompoms during the “Special Needs Dance Party” in Walkersville, Md., on Thursday, March 30, 2023. Matt and Katie attend the dance class every week together.

Katie Masser, left, dances with Matt Poe to the song “Love is an Open Door” in the kitchen of the Poe household in Frederick, Md.,...

Katie Masser, left, dances with Matt Poe to the song “Love is an Open Door” in the kitchen of the Poe household in Frederick, Md., on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. When Matt proposed to Katie months before, it was as they were singing along to the song “Love is an Open Door” from the movie “Frozen.”

Katie Masser, left, and her mother, Amy Masser, center, share a moment together during a basketball open gym in Frederick, Md., on Thursday, March 30,...

Katie Masser, left, and her mother, Amy Masser, center, share a moment together during a basketball open gym in Frederick, Md., on Thursday, March 30, 2023. The open gym, along with the dance class, are a few of the activities Amy Masser, Katie’s mother, and Leslie Poe, Matt’s mother, take Matt and Katie to.

Amy Masser, left, talks with Leslie Poe in the kitchen of the Poe household in Frederick, Md., on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Amy and Leslie...

Amy Masser, left, talks with Leslie Poe in the kitchen of the Poe household in Frederick, Md., on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Amy and Leslie have become great friends and are both single parents, Amy is divorced and Leslie is widowed.

Participants dance in the dance class in Walkersville, Md., on Thursday, June 15, 2023. ”I love dancing with all my friends,” Katie Masser said. “I...

Participants dance in the dance class in Walkersville, Md., on Thursday, June 15, 2023. ”I love dancing with all my friends,” Katie Masser said. “I love them so much.”

Matt Poe shares a kiss with Katie Masser as the two lie underneath a multicolored parachute during the Special Needs Dance Party in Walkersville on...

Matt Poe shares a kiss with Katie Masser as the two lie underneath a multicolored parachute during the Special Needs Dance Party in Walkersville on Thursday, March 30, 2023. At the end of the dance session, members of the class have the opportunity to dance with a parachute, and Matt and Katie choose to lie together underneath every week.

Summary: In the fall of 2023, hundreds of high school flag football players participated in Frederick County Public Schools’ inaugural girls varsity high school flag...

Summary: In the fall of 2023, hundreds of high school flag football players participated in Frederick County Public Schools’ inaugural girls varsity high school flag football season. Frederick County was the first county in Maryland to have girls flag football as a varsity sport. Urbana, a village in Frederick County, had recreational flag football leagues for years prior, and the sport soon gained popularity in other areas of the county, leading to the creation of varsity high school teams. Eye black is drawn on the face of Urbana High School’s Ella O'Connor prior to a flag football game at Urbana High School in Urbana, Md., on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023.

Urbana players practice as the sun sets at Urbana High School in Urbana, Md., on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. The team practiced on one of...

Urbana players practice as the sun sets at Urbana High School in Urbana, Md., on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. The team practiced on one of the fields by the school until dusk.

Mary Lou Moran, 7, left, and Ellie Womack, 6, two of the three girls on their team in the Urbana recreational youth football league, talk...

Mary Lou Moran, 7, left, and Ellie Womack, 6, two of the three girls on their team in the Urbana recreational youth football league, talk while watching high school flag football game at Urbana High School in Urbana, Md., on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023.

Play cards for Tuscarora High School are shown on the sidelines following halftime in a game at Urbana High School in Urbana, Md., on Wednesday,...

Play cards for Tuscarora High School are shown on the sidelines following halftime in a game at Urbana High School in Urbana, Md., on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023.

Frederick High School players gather by a bench during halftime in a game against Tuscarora High School in Frederick, Md., on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023.

Frederick High School players gather by a bench during halftime in a game against Tuscarora High School in Frederick, Md., on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023.

Urbana’s Molly Warner (24) attempts to get out of the reach of Middletown players in the Frederick County Public Schools girls flag football championship game...

Urbana’s Molly Warner (24) attempts to get out of the reach of Middletown players in the Frederick County Public Schools girls flag football championship game at Under Armour’s “The Stadium at The House” in Baltimore, Md., on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023.

Gov. Thomas Johnson High School players Nyah Brooks, left, and MeLani Yutuc share a blanket while trying to keep warm during a semifinal game against...

Gov. Thomas Johnson High School players Nyah Brooks, left, and MeLani Yutuc share a blanket while trying to keep warm during a semifinal game against Urbana prior to the Frederick County flag football championship at the Under Armour’s “The Stadium at The House” in Baltimore on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023.

Middletown High School flag football players celebrate after defeating Urbana High School in the Frederick County Public Schools girls flag football championship game at Under...

Middletown High School flag football players celebrate after defeating Urbana High School in the Frederick County Public Schools girls flag football championship game at Under Armour’s “The Stadium at The House” in Baltimore, Md., on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. Middletown defeated Urbana 7-6 in triple overtime to become the first high school flag football champions for the state of Maryland.

Summary: Avalyn Berry, 10, of Sedalia, Mo., lives in a house with seven of her other siblings, her father Raymond Berry and step-mom Kaylea Spain,...

Summary: Avalyn Berry, 10, of Sedalia, Mo., lives in a house with seven of her other siblings, her father Raymond Berry and step-mom Kaylea Spain, and Avalyn’s step-grandparents Craig Spain and Deyette Bragaw. Avalyn and two of her brothers previously lived with her mother, but moved into the house in July, 2023 after her mother went to drug rehab. After taking time to adjust, she looked for ways to help out Raymond and Kaylea around the house. Though Avalyn balanced her responsibilities as an older sister, she still held onto her adventurous childhood spirit. Avalyn Berry, 10, looks through binoculars while exploring the area outside of her home in Sedalia. Mo., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Although she takes on certain responsibilities with supporting her siblings and helping around the house, she still finds ways to follow her childlike curiosity and adventurous spirit.

From left, Kaylea Spain, 29, and her mother Deyette Bragaw, 54, watch as Kaylea’s son Saint Berry, 6, and step-son Adrian Berry, 9, leave for...

From left, Kaylea Spain, 29, and her mother Deyette Bragaw, 54, watch as Kaylea’s son Saint Berry, 6, and step-son Adrian Berry, 9, leave for school outside of their home in Sedalia, Mo., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Every morning, Saint and Adrian bike to their school together.

Craig Spain, 53, left, watches as Avalyn Berry, 10, prepares herself a cup of coffee in the kitchen in Sedalia, Mo., on Tuesday, Sept. 26,...

Craig Spain, 53, left, watches as Avalyn Berry, 10, prepares herself a cup of coffee in the kitchen in Sedalia, Mo., on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. Avalyn excitedly asked Craig, known in the house as “Papa,” if she could have a cup of coffee, and he agreed to help her.

Avalyn Berry, 10, runs across a canal while walking home after picking up her brothers from elementary school in Sedalia, Mo., on Tuesday, Sept. 26,...

Avalyn Berry, 10, runs across a canal while walking home after picking up her brothers from elementary school in Sedalia, Mo., on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. Avalyn walks a couple of miles each day to pick up her brothers, and usually chooses to race across the spillway for fun.

Saint Berry, 6, left, looks on as Avalyn Berry, 10, pauses while the two eat birthday cake from the previous day at their home in...

Saint Berry, 6, left, looks on as Avalyn Berry, 10, pauses while the two eat birthday cake from the previous day at their home in Sedalia, Mo., on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. Living with seven other siblings in the home, Avalyn still finds moments for herself.

Avalyn Berry, 10, holds her brother, Silas Berry, 19 months, in the living room in Sedalia, Mo., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. After learning Silas...

Avalyn Berry, 10, holds her brother, Silas Berry, 19 months, in the living room in Sedalia, Mo., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. After learning Silas was home sick from daycare, Avalyn embraced him upon seeing him. “She just helps out a lot, she just loves babies and stuff,” said Kaylea Spain, her step-mother.

Avalyn Berry, 10, touches the foot of her brother, Silas Berry, 19 months, in the living room of their home in Sedalia, Mo., on Wednesday,...

Avalyn Berry, 10, touches the foot of her brother, Silas Berry, 19 months, in the living room of their home in Sedalia, Mo., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Avalyn sat on the couch after returning home from school in order to be closer to him.

Avalyn Berry, 10, tests out a pair of binoculars in the shed outside the house in Sedalia, Mo., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Avalyn went...

Avalyn Berry, 10, tests out a pair of binoculars in the shed outside the house in Sedalia, Mo., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. Avalyn went into the shed to find something to keep herself occupied after spending time inside with her siblings, and eventually found the binoculars.

Avalyn Berry, 10, center, dances during a childcare service at the evening service at LifePointe Church in Sedalia, Mo., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. During...

Avalyn Berry, 10, center, dances during a childcare service at the evening service at LifePointe Church in Sedalia, Mo., on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. During the service, the children in the group dance, play instruments, and do other activities that center around their faith.

Avalyn Berry, 10, second from left, looks on as she waits in line to go to recess at Sedalia Middle School in Sedalia, Mo., on...

Avalyn Berry, 10, second from left, looks on as she waits in line to go to recess at Sedalia Middle School in Sedalia, Mo., on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. During recess, Avalyn spent time her best friends that are not in her class.

From left, Kaylea Spain, left, holds Silas Berry, 19 months, as her step-daughter Avalyn Berry, 10, holds Santana Berry, 8 months, in the kitchen of...

From left, Kaylea Spain, left, holds Silas Berry, 19 months, as her step-daughter Avalyn Berry, 10, holds Santana Berry, 8 months, in the kitchen of their home in Sedalia, Mo, on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. Avalyn will look for ways to help out Kaylea with caring for her other siblings.

Avalyn Berry, 10, rests in her bedroom at her home in Sedalia, Mo. on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. She shares the bedroom with her twin...

Avalyn Berry, 10, rests in her bedroom at her home in Sedalia, Mo. on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. She shares the bedroom with her twin sisters, Samantha Berry and Sa’Mya Berry, both 4, and decided to rest before they joined her to go to sleep.

Thomas Jefferson, portrayed by Bill Barker, left, stands nearby Abraham Lincoln, portrayed by Fritz Klein, while he’s interviewed by a reporter at the 12th Annual...

Thomas Jefferson, portrayed by Bill Barker, left, stands nearby Abraham Lincoln, portrayed by Fritz Klein, while he’s interviewed by a reporter at the 12th Annual Presidents' Day Festival at the Kennedy Library in Boston, Mass. on February 20, 2023. Actors portraying Presidents such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln shared stories with visitors while they enjoyed arts and crafts and tours of the museum.

Archbishop Williams basketball player Julian Sustache (4) jumps over chairs while celebrating their win against St. Mary’s during the MIAA Boy’s D3 Basketball Championship at...

Archbishop Williams basketball player Julian Sustache (4) jumps over chairs while celebrating their win against St. Mary’s during the MIAA Boy’s D3 Basketball Championship at Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass. on March 18, 2023.

Contestants in the Nude Olympics participate in a tug-of-war while competing at the 20th Annual Porcupine Festival on June 23, 2023, which bills itself as...

Contestants in the Nude Olympics participate in a tug-of-war while competing at the 20th Annual Porcupine Festival on June 23, 2023, which bills itself as the world’s largest gathering of libertarians. This year, more than 2,000 people assembled at a private campground in Lancaster, New Hampshire, for a week of activities ranging from target practice to lectures on police reform to knitting. The tug-of-war took place at Body Freedom Village, an area of the campground that allowed for nudists to express their freedoms.

Ballet dancers warm up on stage before the Pre-Competitive Classical Competition at Youth America Grand Prix, a multi-day competition held at Hanover Theatre & Conservatory...

Ballet dancers warm up on stage before the Pre-Competitive Classical Competition at Youth America Grand Prix, a multi-day competition held at Hanover Theatre & Conservatory in Worcester, Mass. on February 9, 2023. Youth America Grand Prix is the world's largest non-profit international student ballet competition and scholarship program, open to dance students of all nationalities, 9–19 years old.

Soldiers from the Joint Task Force Atlantic's Immediate Response Unit, 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, walk through the woods in search of hot spots on...

Soldiers from the Joint Task Force Atlantic's Immediate Response Unit, 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, walk through the woods in search of hot spots on June 11, 2023 in Barrington, Nova Scotia. A hot spot, located where the fire has already been contained but hidden in the ground, can be detrimental to the firefighting efforts if weather conditions change. The 2nd Battalion arrived from their base in New Brunswick the day before in response to Nova Scotia’s fires. The were trained on how to find hot spots two days prior.

Billy Hough, frontman for “Scream Along with Billy”, poses for a portrait with his keyboard and blonde stage wig at The Rockwell in Somerville, Mass....

Billy Hough, frontman for “Scream Along with Billy”, poses for a portrait with his keyboard and blonde stage wig at The Rockwell in Somerville, Mass. on April 20, 2023.

Makaila Boston, sister of Makhi Boston and Terry Boston Jr., is supported by family members while attending a balloon release in honor of her two...

Makaila Boston, sister of Makhi Boston and Terry Boston Jr., is supported by family members while attending a balloon release in honor of her two brothers in Brockton, Mass. on July 22, 2023. Makhi Boston and Terry Boston Jr. were driving together in Randolph, Mass. when they were involved in a car crash. Terry Boston Jr., 15, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Makhi Boston died after being in intensive care at Boston Medical Center.

Six-year-old Conner Hess plays with a piece of cardboard while resting in his hospital bed at Boston Children’s Hospital in March, 2023, weeks after receiving...

Six-year-old Conner Hess plays with a piece of cardboard while resting in his hospital bed at Boston Children’s Hospital in March, 2023, weeks after receiving a stem cell transplant to replace a defective gene that had entered his bloodstream. Conner’s treatment, which involved eight days of chemotherapy, resulted in the loss of his hair, which his parents shaved when it began to fall out. In 2017, Conner was diagnosed with an ultra-rare genetic condition, cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, or CALD. The devastating fatal disorder strikes boys, typically between the ages of 4 and 10, causing rapid loss of cognitive and physical abilities, including hearing, vision, and movement, often only months after symptoms appear. Conner is the first patient to receive the gene therapy, called Skysona, since the Food and Drug Administration approved it in September.

Andrea Royal poses for a portrait in the living room of her Boston, Mass. home on April 13, 2023. In January of 2022, Andrea lost...

Andrea Royal poses for a portrait in the living room of her Boston, Mass. home on April 13, 2023. In January of 2022, Andrea lost her six-month old baby Miles when her boyfriend at the time was sleeping with their son on the couch, laying him face down. Andrea has been struggling with the loss ever since, trying to come to grips with what she should have done, such as insisting that the boyfriend sleep with their son face up, as recommended.

The Inkwell Polar Bears do their morning exercise at Inkwell Beach in Oak Bluffs, Mass. on September 10, 2023. Every morning until Late October, Polar...

The Inkwell Polar Bears do their morning exercise at Inkwell Beach in Oak Bluffs, Mass. on September 10, 2023. Every morning until Late October, Polar Bears gather to swim, exercise and commune. Founded in 1946 as a safe space for Black swimmers, the Polar Bears of Martha’s Vineyard have a rich history.

Tara Whelan, left, and Chelsea Brayman chat with their daughters Kennedy Whelan, 7, Reilly Brayman, 9 and Rory Brayman, 13, while they ride the commuter...

Tara Whelan, left, and Chelsea Brayman chat with their daughters Kennedy Whelan, 7, Reilly Brayman, 9 and Rory Brayman, 13, while they ride the commuter line together to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. to see Taylor Swift on May 19, 2023.

REVERE, MA - 11/19/23 It was 8:43 p.m. on the night of Oct. 23, 1989. The man’s name was Charles Stuart, but everybody called him...

REVERE, MA - 11/19/23 It was 8:43 p.m. on the night of Oct. 23, 1989. The man’s name was Charles Stuart, but everybody called him Chuck. He was lost somewhere in Boston, calling from the brick of a car phone installed in his blue Toyota Cressida. He wasn’t alone. His wife, Carol, sat in the passenger seat next to him. She was seven months pregnant with their first child. And Chuck said Carol was in bad shape. The couple had been shot, Chuck said, by a Black man wearing a striped-running suit. Chuck and Carol Stuart’s fateful drive through the heart of Mission Hill that night would come to define so much about Boston: its identity, its politics, its problems. A photo of Charles and Carol Stuart is projected on Revere Beach, nearby where the pair met at the former Driftwood restaurant on Revere Beach Boulevard.

BOSTON, MA - 11/19/2023 A photo of a bus with broken windows transporting students to school on Sept. 12, 1974 is projected on South Boston...

BOSTON, MA - 11/19/2023 A photo of a bus with broken windows transporting students to school on Sept. 12, 1974 is projected on South Boston High School, where children were bussed during an initiative to desegregate Boston Public Schools. The program was met with strong resistance from many residents of Boston's neighborhoods, which led to a series of racial protests and riots, creating lasting wounds among Boston’s Black residents, particularly in Mission Hill.

BOSTON, MA - 11/11/2023 Louis Eliza, former president of the Boston chapter of the NAACP, poses for a portrait at Prince Hall Grand Lodge, where...

BOSTON, MA - 11/11/2023 Louis Eliza, former president of the Boston chapter of the NAACP, poses for a portrait at Prince Hall Grand Lodge, where he has been a Free Mason for over 30 years. Louis had been at a dinner of Free Masons when the Stuart shooting happened, and when he heard the details – white couple, pregnant woman, black shooter, Mission Hill – he headed straight to the Roxbury district police station, still wearing his tuxedo. When he arrived, he saw the cops already assembling with riot shields. In the days following, Eliza had almost no advice to offer. Every time his phone rang with another panicked call about what the police were doing in Mission Hill, the president of the Boston chapter of the NAACP repeated this message, “Stay inside, and lock your door.” But deep down, he knew it wouldn’t help. If the cops were coming, the cops were coming.

BOSTON, MA - 11/21/ 2023 The painful old wounds from the racial violence of busing were beginning to tear open, and Boston’s Mayor Ray Flynn...

BOSTON, MA - 11/21/ 2023 The painful old wounds from the racial violence of busing were beginning to tear open, and Boston’s Mayor Ray Flynn — elected on promises of racial healing — was squeezing the Police Department to make an arrest. In theory, the police were searching for the suspect Chuck Stuart had described. In practice, they were stopping almost every young Black man they saw, making them empty their pockets and identify themselves. Not even just Black men — Hispanic men, too. Teams of officers were conducting sweeps, picking up teenagers and young men on outstanding arrest warrants and squeezing them for information. Louis was getting calls about police dragging people out of their homes.People like DonJuan’s cousin — who was released without charges after less than 24 hours. For months now, the Boston police had “stopped and frisked” young Black males they suspected of gang activity — a flexible and expansive concept that often ensnared kids just hanging out.

BOSTON, MA - 11/9/2023 Donjuan Moses poses for a portrait next to a projection of McGreevey Way in 1990. DonJuan was an 11-year-old boy watching...

BOSTON, MA - 11/9/2023 Donjuan Moses poses for a portrait next to a projection of McGreevey Way in 1990. DonJuan was an 11-year-old boy watching his family play cards in their Mission Hill apartment back in ‘89, when the police barged in and took his cousin away because he matched Chuck’s description. Black man. Outside, police in uniforms and plainclothes walked through the tall grass in the alleyways, studied tire marks in the road, and jogged along the rooftops.His mother’s words from the night before rang in his head.These piece of [expletive] police, she’d fumed. They back at it again.DonJuan’s fear of the police has never left him. He keeps a dashcam on his windshield, backed up to his hard drive, because he’s afraid of what may happen if he gets pulled over. His trauma doesn’t come from the Stuart case alone — his father spent 41 years in prison for murder, until he was exonerated and freed in 2020.

BOSTON, MA - 11/17/2023 A photograph of Evelyn DiMaiti, mother of Carol Stuart, is projected outside of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where Carol was taken...

BOSTON, MA - 11/17/2023 A photograph of Evelyn DiMaiti, mother of Carol Stuart, is projected outside of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where Carol was taken after being shot in Mission Hill. Ten weeks after Carol’s death, information would emerge that it was, in fact, not a Black man who murdered Carol. It was her husband, Chuck, and his brother, Matthew Stuart.

BOSTON, MA - 11/13/2023 Ron Bell poses for a portrait nearby a photograph of himself as the director of the Tobin Community Center. In the...

BOSTON, MA - 11/13/2023 Ron Bell poses for a portrait nearby a photograph of himself as the director of the Tobin Community Center. In the fall of 1989, Bell was a few weeks into his new job working in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood. Bell remembered working with children who view the community center as their second home. It was safe. But after the Stuart shooting, cops smothered the neighborhood. Suddenly, the Tobin wasn’t a sanctuary – it was a building full of “young Black men wearing tracksuits” – just like Chuck Stuart’s description.

BOSTON, MA - 11/17/2023 Mission Hill looks much different than on the night of Oct. 23, 1989, when Chuck Stuart called 911 and said that...

BOSTON, MA - 11/17/2023 Mission Hill looks much different than on the night of Oct. 23, 1989, when Chuck Stuart called 911 and said that a Black man had jumped into his car and shot him and his pregnant wife, Carol. That call sparked a manhunt that swept up an untold number of Black men before police zeroed in on Willie Bennett, a notorious criminal who had, as it soon became clear, nothing to do with this crime. In the years that followed, the city tore the old brick public housing buildings down and rebuilt them in soothing baby blues and cream. Alton Court, where Willie lived at the time of his arrest, is gone, and some view this as erasure instead of progress.

BOSTON, MA — 11/20/2023 A photo of Charles Stuart's body being lifted from the water after State Police divers found him below the Tobin Bridge...

BOSTON, MA — 11/20/2023 A photo of Charles Stuart's body being lifted from the water after State Police divers found him below the Tobin Bridge in Boston, Jan. 4, 1990 is projected near the Mystic river, looking out towards the Tobin Bridge. Stuart committed suicide by jumping off the bridge hours after his brother told Boston police Stuart had planned and executed the robbery and shooting of his pregnant wife and then shot himself to cover up the crime. All across Black Boston, the rage and anguish and indignity of the last 10 weeks were pouring out. White people may have been surprised, but for the city’s Black residents, this was a rerun. Some of them had even predicted this. “Whenever a wife is killed, the first automatic suspect is the husband,” bellowed the Rev. Don Muhammad at a news conference after Chuck’s suicide. “Except when it happens in the Black community. When it happens in the Black community, the automatic suspect is a Black man. And we’re tired.”

BOSTON, MA - 12/5/2023 The Boston Herald’s front page from October 24,1989 is projected in downtown Boston alongside the Boston Globe’s front page from October...

BOSTON, MA - 12/5/2023 The Boston Herald’s front page from October 24,1989 is projected in downtown Boston alongside the Boston Globe’s front page from October 25,1989. The 1989 murder of a pregnant white woman in Black-and-brown Mission Hill put the city’s longstanding race and class divisions front and center. And it proved to be a major test for the Boston media. It raised questions of whose murders matter, and whose stories resonate. It brought to the surface such issues as diversity — more precisely, lack of diversity — in the city’s newsrooms. And it made the city’s proud media establishment look at itself in a way that remains deeply uncomfortable to this day. Though the city, the police, the media — everyone, really — considers this case long closed, Veda Bennett, Willie’s sister, said they’re all wrong. “They can say that,” she said, “because it didn’t happen to them.” Every Bennett since Willie has battled with the legacy of the Stuart case. It’s a festering wound at the center of their family’s story. After the truth came out — that there never was any Black man, that Willie was innocent, that Chuck killed his own wife and child — the Bennett family never got a public apology. The Boston police never admitted they did anything wrong. The media didn’t run any corrections to its journalism. “It’s never over,” Veda said. “It’s never gonna be over. It’s never gonna be over.”

The mass shootings that tore through Lewiston, Maine on October 25, 2023 left 18 dead, at least a dozen wounded, and a city shattered. It...

The mass shootings that tore through Lewiston, Maine on October 25, 2023 left 18 dead, at least a dozen wounded, and a city shattered. It sent residents into a multi-day lockdown, as the chief suspect, Robert Card, remained at large, and obliterated any assumptions that a place like this — calm, quiet, removed from big-city crowds — was immune to this kind of violence. The shootings nearly matched the total number of homicides that the state typically sees in an entire year. And here — in a city so close-knit that some workers at Central Maine Medical Center knew the victims they were caring for in the shooting’s aftermath — the damage has been profoundly personal. The deadliest shooting in 2023 and one of the worst in recent US history, it left Lewiston, a community of 37,000, left to pick up the pieces. LEWISTON, ME — More than 1,000 people attended Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul for a vigil in Lewiston, Maine on October 29, 2023, where days earlier a gunman fatally shot 18 people. Some put their heads in their hands as the names of the people who died in Wednesday’s shooting were read. Others quietly wept.Hundreds more watched a livestream of the vigil shown on a huge screen in front of the church. Some held American flags and others had lit candles in cups marked with the names of the dead and injured. “Remember to seek healing over relief. Relief is temporary. Healing is permanent. Pain is temporary,” the Rev. Gary Bragg of the Southern Baptist Church in Lewiston said.

LEWISTON, ME — Adaline Tremblay, 7, comforts her father Keith Tremblay while sitting next him in their Lewiston living room on Thanksgiving day, 2023. Tremblay...

LEWISTON, ME — Adaline Tremblay, 7, comforts her father Keith Tremblay while sitting next him in their Lewiston living room on Thanksgiving day, 2023. Tremblay was playing corn hole at Schemengees Bar and Grill the night of Lewiston’s fatal mass shootings, which claimed the lives of some of his friends and critically injured many others. Tremblay escaped unscathed, but now grapples with the pain and grief in the aftermath of the shooting.

AUBURN, ME — Community members arrive to Faith Baptist Church for their first Sunday service following the mass shooting that took 18 lives on October...

AUBURN, ME — Community members arrive to Faith Baptist Church for their first Sunday service following the mass shooting that took 18 lives on October 25, 2023. The congregation felt the devastation personally – one of its members, Leroy Walker Sr., an Auburn city councilor, lost his son Joseph, the manager of Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston. Congregants wept as they raised their voices together in the reassuring hymn “Where Joy and Sorrow Meet.” “The Scripture tells us that when one weeps, we all weep,” said the Rev. Jonathan Case, pastor at Faith Baptist. “So all of us are definitely feeling the heaviness.”

LEWISTON, ME — Kathy Lebel, owner of Schemengees Bar and Grill, sits in the booth of her restaurant on Nov. 27, 2023 where she normally...

LEWISTON, ME — Kathy Lebel, owner of Schemengees Bar and Grill, sits in the booth of her restaurant on Nov. 27, 2023 where she normally dines with her family when they visit the bar. A gaping hole in the wall is seen to her left, where a bullet ripped through the bar when a mass shooter took the life of her bar manager and many of her friends. Schemengees, she says, should not be where you come to die. “This is supposed to be a happy place, a fun place. I mean, come on, my water broke here,” she says with a shrug. “We can clean that up. A spilt beer? That’s OK. I’d always thought there was no mess big enough we couldn’t clean it up … .” But with her friends the shooting has left her reeling. “Where’s the book on this, where’s the manual? Who can tell me?” she asks. “How do you go from a broken heart, something you love, your passion that was destroyed – how do you bring that back?”

LEWISTON, ME - A couple embraces each other outside of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, Maine while attending a vigil for...

LEWISTON, ME - A couple embraces each other outside of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, Maine while attending a vigil for the 18 people who were killed in Lewiston’s mass shootings. Over 1,000 community members were in attendance and a projector screen was set up for those who could not fit inside.

LEWISTON, ME - A casket is carried down the stairs of the The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on Nov. 3, 2023 after the...

LEWISTON, ME - A casket is carried down the stairs of the The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul on Nov. 3, 2023 after the funeral of Ron Morin, who was killed in Lewiston’s mass shooting. Friends remembered Ron Morin, 55 of Lewiston, as a welcoming, funny man who could bring cheer to an entire room in a moment. A regular in the cornhole leagues and tournaments at Schemengees and a popular adult softball umpire, Morin worked for many years at Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast. He left behind a wife and two children.

AUBURN, ME - Bethany Welch, stepdaughter to Joe Walker, sits for a portrait in her parent’s bedroom on Nov. 28, 2023 — in the the...

AUBURN, ME - Bethany Welch, stepdaughter to Joe Walker, sits for a portrait in her parent’s bedroom on Nov. 28, 2023 — in the the home that Walker built with his own hands. Walker was the manager of Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston, who police say died while charging at the gunman who ultimately killed 18 people in Maine’s deadliest mass shooting. In December, Welch will graduate from University of Connecticut School of Nursing. Welch, 23, said she owes her interest in medicine to Walker, her biggest cheerleader since he first met her mother and entered her life when she was a little girl. When she heard of the shooting on October 25, 2023, she drove through the night, not knowing what to expect when she arrived. “Seeing all those nurses run in and then feeling that helplessness, like I couldn’t help, I couldn’t get in there ... you’re just frozen,” she said. In that moment, she saw trauma nursing as more than an adrenaline boost. She realized she needed to be part of the solution, even in the hardest moments. “I’m not going to let [another] daughter in America feel the anxiety that I felt,” she said.

AUBURN, ME - Bethany Welch holds her phone, displaying the text messages she sent to her stepfather on the night of the mass shootings that...

AUBURN, ME - Bethany Welch holds her phone, displaying the text messages she sent to her stepfather on the night of the mass shootings that took his life. A photo is seen below the texts, which Welch sent to herself from Walker’s phone after the family received Walker’s belongings. The photo was from the last time she spent time with him, at a Red Sox game over the summer.

STORRS, CT — Bethany Welch holds a framed photo of her stepfather, Joe Walker, while standing in line alongside other graduates waiting to receive their...

STORRS, CT — Bethany Welch holds a framed photo of her stepfather, Joe Walker, while standing in line alongside other graduates waiting to receive their nursing degree at the University of Connecticut. Bethany Welch’s graduation from nursing school was supposed to be a joyful culmination of a year of late nights, tough exams, eye-opening clinics, and more hurdles than she’d ever thought herself capable of overcoming. Filled with the buzz of celebration, a giant lunch with her family, and the long-awaited flipping of the tassel, the day was almost perfect: The only thing missing was her dad.

LEWISTON, ME - There is no blood left on the floor of Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston, Maine, but traces of death still linger....

LEWISTON, ME - There is no blood left on the floor of Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston, Maine, but traces of death still linger. On cloudless mornings, the sun reaches through a bullet hole in the back wall to cast a puddle of light on the ground, no bigger than a pool ball. In the dining room, there is a chip in the wood where a bullet grazed the countertop before flying toward the table where owner Kathy Lebel and her husband, Dave, always ate dinner. But what stops Kathy in her tracks is the light fixture hanging just above pool table number six, blasted by gunshots fired at eye level. “Faces. He was aiming for people’s faces,” she says to herself each time, and tries to imagine the crosshairs of a rifle pointed directly into her eyes. She tries to conjure a level of fear that is unimaginable, lets it rise in her chest until just before the point of panic, and then snaps out of it. No, she thinks. She cannot reopen, not here. Not where death still lingers. Now all that was left was to turn on the lights and walk around the pool hall and relive the fragments of stories they’d heard about their friends and where they died. Ron Morin dove there. Joe fell there. And the question that never stopped asking itself hovered in the silence between them: Why?

Gino Valeriani, a pyrotechnician with Central Maine Pyrotechnics, along with his son Peary, right, and Terry Varner, back center, light up product for the July...

Gino Valeriani, a pyrotechnician with Central Maine Pyrotechnics, along with his son Peary, right, and Terry Varner, back center, light up product for the July 4th fireworks celebration at the Clinton Fairgrounds on Tuesday, July 4, 2023. The 20 minute fireworks extravaganza took nearly eight hours to set up and get inspected by the fire Marshall’s office.

WATERVILLE, MAINE - AUGUST 3, 2023 Firefighters from Waterville and Winslow battle garage fire at 117 Water St in Waterville on Thursday, August 3, 2023....

WATERVILLE, MAINE - AUGUST 3, 2023 Firefighters from Waterville and Winslow battle garage fire at 117 Water St in Waterville on Thursday, August 3, 2023. (Staff Photo by Michael G. Seamans/Staff Photographer)

Ruth-Anne McLean, cuddles with Elton, right, after shooting heroin and fentanyl into her bloodstream at her tent on Hobo Row in Waterville, Maine on September...

Ruth-Anne McLean, cuddles with Elton, right, after shooting heroin and fentanyl into her bloodstream at her tent on Hobo Row in Waterville, Maine on September 29, 2023. According to the National Drug Task force, heroin use is on the rise in Maine while overdoses are declining. Using with a partner and having free narcan, the life saving overdose drug available, has helped to curb numbers.

Andy Barstow is comforted by Tanja Stone Barber (cq), left, in front of Barstow’s destroyed business, Monhegan Boat Line on Cold Storage Road in Port...

Andy Barstow is comforted by Tanja Stone Barber (cq), left, in front of Barstow’s destroyed business, Monhegan Boat Line on Cold Storage Road in Port Clyde, Maine on Thursday, October 5, 2023. Most of the historic coastal town was razed by fire.

Tim Emrich (cq) maintenance manager for Skowhegan Plaza, inspects the flood damage to the parking lot in Skowhegan on Monday, May 1, 2023. About thirty...

Tim Emrich (cq) maintenance manager for Skowhegan Plaza, inspects the flood damage to the parking lot in Skowhegan on Monday, May 1, 2023. About thirty feet of gravel is missing from underneath the pavement making the parking susceptible to collapse. The parking lot has been destroyed three times by flood waters in the past 12 months.

Oct. 25 was a normal night for patrons at Just-In-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston until gunman Robert Card entered and opened...

Oct. 25 was a normal night for patrons at Just-In-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston until gunman Robert Card entered and opened fire, killing 18 people and injuring 13 others. A two-day manhunt ensued as police searched several surrounding towns for Card, who was ultimately found dead in a trailer at the Maine Recycling Corp. in Lisbon. The shootings sent ripples of shock and sadness throughout the area. Thousands of people turned out for a vigil at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul to remember the victims. The deaf community was also hit hard by the loss of several members of the deaf community in the shootings. Three months later, Maine is continuing to seek answers as to whether more could have been done to stop Card and how the shootings could have been prevented.

Family members reunite at the Auburn Middle School in Auburn, Maine following a mass shooting in several locations throughout neighboring Lewiston on Wednesday, October 25,...

Family members reunite at the Auburn Middle School in Auburn, Maine following a mass shooting in several locations throughout neighboring Lewiston on Wednesday, October 25, 2023. Oct. 25 was a normal night for patrons at Just-In-Time Recreation and Schemengees Bar & Grille in Lewiston until gunman Robert Card entered and opened fire, killing 18 people and injuring 13 others. A two-day manhunt ensued as police searched several surrounding towns for Card, who was ultimately found dead in a trailer at the Maine Recycling Corp. in Lisbon. The shootings sent ripples of shock and sadness throughout the area. Thousands of people turned out for a vigil at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul to remember the victims. The deaf community was also hit hard by the loss of several members of the deaf community in the shootings. Three months later, Maine is continuing to seek answers as to whether more could have been done to stop Card and how the shootings could have been prevented.

Maria Wilson speaks about the unknown status of her loved one, Arthur Strout, at the reunification center at the Auburn Middle School in Auburn, Maine...

Maria Wilson speaks about the unknown status of her loved one, Arthur Strout, at the reunification center at the Auburn Middle School in Auburn, Maine following a mass shooting in several locations throughout neighboring Lewiston on Wednesday, October 25, 2023. The shooting left 18 people dead, including Strout.

A tactical team from Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, searches an empty residence on Amalfi Street in Lisbon, Maine for the suspect in a mass shooting...

A tactical team from Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, searches an empty residence on Amalfi Street in Lisbon, Maine for the suspect in a mass shooting on Friday, October 27, 2023. The suspect, Andrew Card, was found later that day blocks away in a storage trailer with a self-inflicted gunshot wound ending a two day manhunt.

A member of the Maine’s Warden Service and the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms search the Brown Bear II Worumbo Station Hydroelectric Plant on the Androscoggin...

A member of the Maine’s Warden Service and the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms search the Brown Bear II Worumbo Station Hydroelectric Plant on the Androscoggin River in Lisbon Falls, Maine for the suspect in a mass shooting on Friday, October 27, 2023.

An overflow crowd gathers outside the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul for a vigil in honor of the 18 people killed in a mass...

An overflow crowd gathers outside the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul for a vigil in honor of the 18 people killed in a mass shooting on October 25 during a vigil at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, Maine on Sunday, October 29, 2023. The city was in lockdown for over two days as a manhunt ensued. This was the first opportunity for the city to come together and mourn the heavy loss.

Members of the deaf community sign the word love honoring the 18 people killed in a mass shooting at the Basilica of Saints Peter and...

Members of the deaf community sign the word love honoring the 18 people killed in a mass shooting at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, Maine on Sunday, October 29, 2023. Of the 18 victims, four were from the deaf community.

Elizabeth Seal holds her daughter, Sephine Seal, 9, as they cry in front of a memorial honoring her husband and the father of Sephine, before...

Elizabeth Seal holds her daughter, Sephine Seal, 9, as they cry in front of a memorial honoring her husband and the father of Sephine, before a vigil at the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston, Maine on Sunday, October 28, 2023, for the 18 people killed in a mass shooting on Wednesday, October 25, 2023.

People gather at Worumbo Park in Lisbon Falls on Saturday, October 28, 2023 to mourn the loss of 18 people after a mass shooting at...

People gather at Worumbo Park in Lisbon Falls on Saturday, October 28, 2023 to mourn the loss of 18 people after a mass shooting at two locations throughout Lewiston on Wednesday.

Dan Beazley, of Northville, Michigan, carries a crucifix he made back to his truck after standing at a make-shift memorial memorializing eight victims of a...

Dan Beazley, of Northville, Michigan, carries a crucifix he made back to his truck after standing at a make-shift memorial memorializing eight victims of a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine on Sunday, October 29, 2023. Beazley made the drive from Michigan to honor the victims with his 10 foot crucifix.

Kevin Horton is comforted by one of his long time support team members, Kimberly Whittemore, as he says goodbye to his apartment of 25 years...

Kevin Horton is comforted by one of his long time support team members, Kimberly Whittemore, as he says goodbye to his apartment of 25 years in Waterville for the final time on Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Stressful situations like this can be detrimental to Horton’s psychological and physical well being. Horton suffered a major head injury at the age of 15 when his mother hit him in the head with a cast iron frying pan. Since his head injury, Horton experiences grand mal seizures during times of extreme stress.

Kevin Horton, 64, packs his belongings as he moves from his apartment after 25 years of paying rent on time in Waterville on Tuesday, September...

Kevin Horton, 64, packs his belongings as he moves from his apartment after 25 years of paying rent on time in Waterville on Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Horton, like many, was thrust into homelessness for no fault of his own. The landlord who had a special relationship with Horton, died in August. The landlord’s son inherited the building, put up for sale and all tenants were given a month the vacate.

Kevin Horton turns off the lights for the last time as he leaves his apartment that he called home for the past 25 years for...

Kevin Horton turns off the lights for the last time as he leaves his apartment that he called home for the past 25 years for a bed at the Mid Maine Homeless Shelter in Waterville on Wednesday, September 8, 2023.

Kevin Fortin hangs out at Head of Falls with friends Cletus Jennings, back left, and Samantha Clark, left foreground, in Waterville on Thursday, August 31,...

Kevin Fortin hangs out at Head of Falls with friends Cletus Jennings, back left, and Samantha Clark, left foreground, in Waterville on Thursday, August 31, 2023. Fortin spends much of his time with the homeless community. His income keeps him in poverty. His daily visits to the park and the soup kitchen have him on first name basis with the homeless community like Samantha and Cletus. The two are aware of Fortin’s predicament and vow to help him if he ends up on the streets.

Kevin Horton enters the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter for his first night of homelessness in Waterville on Thursday, September 7, 2023. Horton had been living in...

Kevin Horton enters the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter for his first night of homelessness in Waterville on Thursday, September 7, 2023. Horton had been living in an apartment for the past 25 years until the pending sale of his apartment building forced the occupants to move hastily.

Kevin Horton lays down on his cot at the Mid Maine Homeless Shelter in Waterville on Wednesday, September 7, 2023. It’s his first night as...

Kevin Horton lays down on his cot at the Mid Maine Homeless Shelter in Waterville on Wednesday, September 7, 2023. It’s his first night as a homeless man. During times of extreme stress, Horton is susceptible to grand mal seizures. Horton received his disability when he was only 15 years old. His mother hit him in the head with a cast iron frying pan.

Kevin Horton does his laundry with the help of his personal aid worker, Evan, at the laundromat in Waterville on September 13, 2023. Basic tasks...

Kevin Horton does his laundry with the help of his personal aid worker, Evan, at the laundromat in Waterville on September 13, 2023. Basic tasks can frustrate Horton like clothes not drying fast enough. Evan is there to help calm him and make sure the task is completed.

Kevin Horton celebrates the news of his apartment passing inspection with one of his support team members, Kimberly Whittemore, at Horton’s former residence in Waterville...

Kevin Horton celebrates the news of his apartment passing inspection with one of his support team members, Kimberly Whittemore, at Horton’s former residence in Waterville on Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Fortin relies heavily on his crew of state appointed aid workers. Fortin is lucky to have several people looking for an apartment on his behalf.

Kevin Horton racks a game of pool with the Kevin Joseph, owner of You Know Whose Pub in Waterville on Friday, September 28, 2023. Horton...

Kevin Horton racks a game of pool with the Kevin Joseph, owner of You Know Whose Pub in Waterville on Friday, September 28, 2023. Horton loves to play pool and drink beer. Fortin is finally in his new apartment and out for his one hour of pool and beer per week.

Kevin Horton cuddles with his stuffed teddy bear named, Buddy, on his bed at his new apartment in Waterville on September 13, 2023. Moving into...

Kevin Horton cuddles with his stuffed teddy bear named, Buddy, on his bed at his new apartment in Waterville on September 13, 2023. Moving into a new apartment after living in the same place for 25 years is scary and jarring process for Horton. Buddy helps him to calm down much like a pet would. He’s had Buddy for 35 years. The only nights during that time that didn’t have Buddy were the 5 nights he spent at the shelter on a cot.

Sarah Juliano, 38, facing, argues with Sarah Wallingford, 31, during a dispute about missing drugs at the homeless encampment they share in the South End...

Sarah Juliano, 38, facing, argues with Sarah Wallingford, 31, during a dispute about missing drugs at the homeless encampment they share in the South End of Waterville on Aug. 26, 2022. The two women met at the encampment. Juliano has been living in a homeless community in south Florida for the past 5 years to return to her hometown to be near her daughter and granddaughter. Wallingford is originally from the area and has been homeless since March. Sara Juliano made her way back to Maine after living in a large tent city in Florida. The nearly 1,500 miles of hitchhiking brought her to Waterville to be closer to her daughters. The life is the same though. Juliano, 41, arrived alone with nothing. She found an empty spot in a vacant tent in a homeless encampment on an island on the Kennebec River in central Maine. Juliano, at barely 5 feet tall and weighing maybe 100 pounds, was no stranger to homelessness. It’s been a part of her life for as long as she can remember. Independent and wise to the streets, she’s very capable of taking care of herself. She needs assistance, however, to inject herself with drugs. A friend has to perform that task. Soon after the colder temperatures arrived in October, Juliano was the first person to leave the encampment for a spot in the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter. Since she escaped the island, Juliano has been sober to the day this caption is being written. Her path from the clutches of addiction and poverty is improbable and an outlier. A bout with Covid that put her in the hospital for 30 days was enough for her detox from heroin, fentanyl and crack. She had a choice upon discharge from the hospital. Go back to her old life on the streets or enter a sober living program at Cory’s House. She chose the latter.

Sarah Wallingford, 31, injects a speedball containing heroin and Fentanyl into the neck of Sara Juliano, 41, at lunch time in the homeless encampment on...

Sarah Wallingford, 31, injects a speedball containing heroin and Fentanyl into the neck of Sara Juliano, 41, at lunch time in the homeless encampment on the island along the banks of the Kennebec River in the South End of Waterville, Maine on September 15, 2022.

Sara Juliano, 38, sleeps off her high after shooting up a mixture of heroin and fentanyl at the homeless encampment on the Kennebec trail on...

Sara Juliano, 38, sleeps off her high after shooting up a mixture of heroin and fentanyl at the homeless encampment on the Kennebec trail on the island located in a wetland along the Kennebec River in the South End of Waterville on Sunday, September 11, 2022.

Sara Juliano, 38, holds her ‘rig’, also know as a syringe loaded with heroin and fentanyl, as the camp fire illuminates the campsite she calls...

Sara Juliano, 38, holds her ‘rig’, also know as a syringe loaded with heroin and fentanyl, as the camp fire illuminates the campsite she calls home on the island in the wetlands of the Kennebec River in the South End of Waterville on Monday, September 12, 2022.

Sarah Juliano, 41, rides her bike down Elm Street as she visits her favorite dumpsters for treasures in the south end in Waterville on Wednesday,...

Sarah Juliano, 41, rides her bike down Elm Street as she visits her favorite dumpsters for treasures in the south end in Waterville on Wednesday, September 14, 2022. Juliano is no stranger to rummaging through trash for food and clothes. “I raised three daughters doing this. “ she said about her dumpster diving techniques. “It’s amazing what people throw away.”

Sarah Juliano, 41, rummages through in Waterville on Wednesday, September 14, 2022. Juliano is no stranger to rummaging through trash for food and clothes. “I...

Sarah Juliano, 41, rummages through in Waterville on Wednesday, September 14, 2022. Juliano is no stranger to rummaging through trash for food and clothes. “I raised three daughters doing this. “ she said about her dumpster diving techniques. “It’s amazing what people throw away.”

Sarah Juliano leads two women back to the farmhouse that serves as the sober living home, Cory’s House, a recovery home for addicts on Turkey...

Sarah Juliano leads two women back to the farmhouse that serves as the sober living home, Cory’s House, a recovery home for addicts on Turkey Lane in Winthrop on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.

Katie Cushing, house manager at Cory’s House, a sober living facility for recovering addicts, hangs a heart sticker on the mirror with the help of...

Katie Cushing, house manager at Cory’s House, a sober living facility for recovering addicts, hangs a heart sticker on the mirror with the help of Sarah Juliano, left, on April 11, 2023. Juliano was the first resident to move in to the newly opened sober living home in Winthrop.

Sarah Juliano puts on some jewelry as she looks in the mirror in her room on the third floor of Cory’s House, a sober living...

Sarah Juliano puts on some jewelry as she looks in the mirror in her room on the third floor of Cory’s House, a sober living home for recovering addicts in Winthrop on Sunday, April 16, 2023.

Sarah Juliano and Cassie Quinn hug in the kitchen of Cory’s House, a sober living home for women recovering from addiction and homelessness on Sunday,...

Sarah Juliano and Cassie Quinn hug in the kitchen of Cory’s House, a sober living home for women recovering from addiction and homelessness on Sunday, April 16, 2023.

Sarah Juliano celebrates during the 11am Central Church service in Augusta on Sunday, April 16, 2023. “It makes me feel good to come here. It...

Sarah Juliano celebrates during the 11am Central Church service in Augusta on Sunday, April 16, 2023. “It makes me feel good to come here. It makes me feel strong. It makes me want to stay clean.” She said after a service at Central Church.