It's Expensive to be Poor #27 Zahir's New Room by Hannah Price

It's Expensive to be Poor #27 Zahir's New Room by Hannah Price

I wanted to create a project on the costs of being poor. About how the U.S. system and bills keep the poor behind and dig a deeper hole in their life. In my research, I found a single mother of 32 years being neglected by affordable housing: Lisa McKine.

I first saw Lisa on a Philly Instagram page called nogunzone; it reposts police news and share reports from people in the community. I find it more informative than the local news, however I know several people who choose not to tune in for mental health reasons; it shows all the bad and we are currently on track to outdo last year’s homicide rate.

Days after a tragic fire in another Philadelphia affordable housing apartment (PHA) that killed 12 people, a social media trend began with videos of people sharing themselves holding burning cigarettes near a silent smoke alarm. One in particular caught my eye, Lisa’s video of her son, telling him to wake up as a bunch of flies flew off his face.

Lisa did not grow up poor, she was raised by her dad and stepmother. Her dad worked for Philly managing janitorial duties in the courthouse. Her parents separated when she was young and it wasn’t until her 20’s when she learned bad habits from her biological mother of working the system. Lisa found herself a single mother of 2 and living in her first apartment of PHA affordable housing for ten years.

Lisa’s brother, Raul Gore (Bobby, 27) is currently on probation and has dealt with his own circumstances. He told me about the decisions he made in his early twenties that put him in and out of jail. He knows he can’t change how irresponsible he was but is now enjoying life with his family and providing for them. He works during the week and his wife on the weekends, they take turns watching their children. The environment Bobby grew up in at a younger age was surrounded by cops who watched him and his friends go to and from school. He remembers having fun with the cops by making them chase him and his friends.

My first visit to Lisa’s place was at the beginning of March. There was an exterminator outside her building with hoses hooked up to an apartment on the second floor. Inside her apartment I noticed a particular odor and counted at least two roaches and one dead in the kitchen cabinet. Lisa had been complaining about the roach infestation to PHA since 2020, sharing records of failed exterminations and the summer of 2021 is when the flies started. The infestation has forced her to live out of bins and plastic bags. PHA exterminates the apartment every month and denies Lisa from moving to a new place.

While photographing Lisa, I learned she has an associate in Applied Science in Construction Management from the college I work at. We crossed paths in 2018 but never met each other. Sharing personal frustrations, we spent a lot of time together as we both needed someone to just hear us and provide emotional support. Her boys Zaahir (11) and Quamir (5) are well behaved, social and sweet. Lisa provides for them all by driving Uber, bartering with her community, making and selling her own hair and skin products, as well as providing different hair services and body contouring.

Luckily, Lisa found help to make a few months' deposit on rent for a new house outside of affordable housing. Through her 4 businesses, she plans to cover her rent of $2500. Lisa’s new house windows will help with her mood and knowing her dad is 13 minutes away in a nursing home should relieve some stress. Lisa’s dad had a stroke, causing bleeding in the brain which forced him to remove the left side of his brain. Her step mother also had brain surgery due to a horrible fall, and now both her parents are bed ridden while they recover from surgery.

Witnessing Lisa’s life, I imagined myself in her situation. A single mother unhappy in an infested home, barely getting by where the only way out is taking a huge risk renting a house not knowing she can afford it. The point of this NFT is to give back to the community, specifically Lisa so I have shared Lisa’s wallet address with you below.

The more time I spent with Lisa, the closer we became. We talked about dating and tried to provide emotional support for each other’s lives. I don’t become friends with all my subjects, but those who don’t have a problem expressing and sharing their feelings, I tend to share back. One day, I couldn’t help but break down crying and another day Lisa needed to as well. It was when we had planned to take the photograph in the window from the outside perspective that she was telling me how her dad was transferred to a different hospital. Wondering why, she demanded to see him and discovered he had a large infected bed sore that went up his back. From the photo, the scab looked at least 2’ long and 1’ wide with a fist sized faint sore. Why did they wait so long to tell Lisa? More neglect. Lisa would love to take care of him herself if she had known. In the end, Lisa still wanted to make the photograph, she wanted to keep her promise and help me with my project. I said no, but ultimately gave in even though it was completely dark out. My plan was to catch the sun setting. However, life isn’t what we plan it to be. During the photo, I could hear Lisa praying to God and her ancestors, full of sadness, hope and joy.

To keep up with Lisa, follow her on Instagram @lovelylisa215, @hollywoodglamour.co, @mckine_building_group

Donate ether to Lisa’s address: 0x0cE11858dc7f01E6c2bEB9d1f2F6cb273484076e

Edition: 1 of 1

Commissioned by Obscura