Just as Jason from the Little Earth Management team arrived to board up the window, a swarm of kids rushed over, demanding he buy them all ice cream.

Jason promised this boy Jimmy (real name omitted for protection) and his friends ice cream because of a wellness check we did at his house a few days prior. A wellness check is when management goes to a house to inquire about a community member’s wellbeing. Before entering, Jason subtly hinted that I shouldn’t take pictures. Inside, we found Jimmy’s mother’s boyfriend passed out on the bed, clutching a yellow BIC lighter in one hand and burnt tinfoil in the other—fentanyl.

While we whispered about the situation, debating on what to do, the gentleman woke up and opened his eyes. The situation became much less tense at that moment. It was only a few days after that Jimmy came up to Jason, excited to show a smiley face he carved into his arm with a razor blade. Understandably, Jimmy's pride in the cuts on his arm made Jason sad enough to feel compelled to buy him ice cream. He gave me some money to pick up Mountain Dew for Jimmy and his friends. When I returned from the corner store, Jimmy asked me to bring the 12-pack to Carmen’s house—she had accidentally pepper-sprayed herself after finding some near the church while wandering around the neighborhood. A side effect of boredom I suppose.