1st PLACE FEATURE PICTURE STORY: Jahi Chikwendiu, Washington Post—Paul Gayle and his daughter, Sapphire Gayle, head home after taking a fatherhood development class called Fragile Families and Responsible Fatherhood at Next Door Foundation in Milwaukee, WI. When he found out he was having a daughter, he was unemployed, single and still pursuing his high school diploma. Lately, Paul had had been purchasing his Pampers one at a time, repeating the same transaction so often at a corner store that a clerk had dubbed it the Daddy Paul Special, 75 cents for a single cigarette and a size-3 diaper.
With his daughter, Sapphire, curiously looking on, Paul Gayle explains to social worker Alphonso Pettis about being thrown out of his mother’s house after a disagreement. At 19, he possessed what few other black men in his neighborhood did: He was among the 42 percent with no criminal record; the 35 percent with a high school diploma; and the 14 percent of fathers who lived with their child. “A master at barely avoiding disaster,” his mother said of him, but she had said the same thing about Paul’s father until he was shot and killed during an argument at 39, when Paul was in eighth grade.
With his daughter in a stroller closely, Paul Gayle heads toward home after attending one of his fatherhood development classs at Next Door Foundation. Paul doesn’t have a car and relies on the bus system as his main method of transportation.
Sapphire Gayle keeps her eyes on her father as Paul searches for a place for them to live. “I can’t be your safety net forever,” his mother had told him and decided against giving him his own key to her house.
Paul Gayle entertains Sapphire before putting the child to sleep at the home of Paul’s best friend. When he graduated from high school the year before, he had been celebrated as one of the principal’s handpicked “turnaround stories.”
Skin art displays pieces of Paul’s character, a whacky tongue to the sometimes too serious world and a plant that he says helps keep him calm through it all.
Paul and Sapphire participate in a parenting exercise during a fatherhood development class at Next Door Foundation. He had pushed a creaky stroller through one of Milwaukee’s worst neighborhoods and ridden a bus across the city not because he wanted to attend a class called Fragile Families and Responsible Fatherhood, but because, like everyone else in the room, he saw no other choice. He agreed to continue coming after his 16 sessions were up, thinking he might need the guidance and the free baby supplies offered by the foundation.
Paul takes a break from his fatherhood development class to change his daughter’s diaper. In the beginning, he and Sapphire’s mother shared custody of the young girl. But when Sapphire’s mother started to visit less, Paul began to wonder if he should fight for solo custody in court.
Between job searching and fatherhood class, Paul and Sapphire wait for a city bus. His former high school counselor told him about a job opportunity in a nearby suburb, three bus transfers away.
Held in the arms of her father, Sapphire is entertained by Paul’s best friend , Sly Nixon, who regularly allows Paul and Sapphire to stay at his house and who regularly babysits his friend’s young child.
With his daughter napping, Paul sparks marijuana with friends. He had moved nine times in seven months and had been offered two jobs but failed the drug tests.
Paul and Sapphire at the home of the young father’s best friend. “I’m gonna be the best daddy for this girl,” he wrote on his Facebook page shortly after she was born. Only in the next months did he begin to understand what that would require.
2nd PLACE FEATURE PICTURE STORY: Daniel Min, Times-Dispatch—Edward Miller looks on his sister, Shakiria Miller, and cousin, David Grady, 3 (back in 2013), at his home. Edward was shot five times by another 16-year-old, with unknown reason, while walking home with his sister, Shakiria Miller, from a birthday party on March 2, 2013. “First time, I got a little shook-up. Second time, I hit the ground. Out of breath, pleading for my life,” Edward said of the shooting.
Lawanda Booker and her son, Edward Miller (16, back in 2013) spent time at their home in Richmond on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. One of the difficulties for Edward after being shot is that he needs to spend most of his time at his home for medical issues. He used to be very active and outgoing boy.
This is the last photo of Edward, standing on his two feet. Edward had taken this photo two days before he was shot five times by another 16-year-old on a South Richmond street.
Dexter Tillery lifts up his cousin Edward Miller taking a shower on Oct. 2, 2013. Simply using a bathroom for Edward is a challenging task for the family. ÒEverything now is much slower. You have to wait a lot of time on other peopleÕs time,Ó Edward said of being helped on his daily activities.
Open wounds on Edward’s feet are examined by Kim Curran, center, a registered nurse and care coordinator, Dr. Mark Solomon, a plastic surgeon, and Dr. Connie Domingo, a pediatric physical medicine & rehabilitation physician, at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Philadelphia on Nov. 5, 2013. Edward’s feet have opened wounds by pressure from his bones as gunshots paralyzed Edward from the waist down. After doctorsÕ concern of the infection, Edward has to stay at the hospital until he finds proper open wound cares back home in Richmond.
Edward Miller, (17 in 2014) left, prays with his mother, Lawanda Booker, standing next to Edward, during a church service at Crusade for Christ Christian Church Ministries in Richmond on Sunday, March 2, 2014. Edward often recites the note from his sister, Shakiria Miller, ÔGod gives his hardest battles to his strongest warriors.Õ ÓThatÕs what got me through physical therapy, those hard days and me passing out and stuff like that. ThatÕs what got me through that hard time,Ò Edward said of the note.
Edward, left, and Andre Seabrook, show off what they can do with their wheelchairs as Edward visits his friend, Andre, in Richmond on Monday, April 14, 2014. They met each other at VCU rehabilitation center as they both were shots on the same day but not related crimes, which caused paralysis for both from their waist down. ÒWhen I heard his story, it made me feel better about my story. So I wonÕt be the only one going through my situation, ÒEdward said of Andre.
Edward Miller, (17 in 2014), exercises with the help of Rodney Debro, a neighbor, at Debro’s backyard in Richmond on Tuesday, June 17, 2014. To prepare his spinal fusion surgery, Edward tried to lose his weight and build the muscle.
Edward, center, arrives Shriners Hospitals for Children in Philadelphia for his spinal fusion surgery to treat his curved spine on Oct. 27, 2014. Doctors planed to correct EdwardÕs curved spine, which caused by pressure from his weight after being paralyzed by the shooting.
Lawanda Booker compares before (right) and after X-ray photos of Edward’s spinal fusion surgery at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Philadelphia. A bullet on Edward’s spine was also removed during the surgery. Edward was shot five times by another 16-year-old, with unknown reason, while walking home with his sister from a birthday party. “First time, I got a little shook-up. Second time, I hit the ground. Out of breath, pleading for my life,” Edward said of the shooting.
Edward Miller checks out his belly to make sure the surgery treated his curved spine with help of his mother, Lawanda Booker, after 13-hour spinal fusion surgery to treat his curved spine at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Philadelphia on Oct. 28, 2014. Surgery marks on his belly is from his previous surgery when he was shot five times by another 16-year-boy.
Edward Miller and his mom, Lawanda Booker, share a smile on Edward’s 18th birthday at their home in Richmond on Jan. 31, 2015. Lawanda said she is grateful for God that Edward made his 18th birthday after all of struggles after the shooting. Booker said, ÒToday is a day of celebration for me and Edward.Ó
3rd PLACE FEATURE PICTURE STORY: Jay Diem, Easter Shore News—Baylee Hart steps up in her truck, which has matching eyelashes, to look over the mud hop course before the start of the Muddin’ at the Moose event on Saturday, April 11, 2015. Hart would race in one run at the event before switching gears to attend her senior prom that night at nearby Broadwater Academy.
Baylee Hart transfers her white prom dress to a nearby camper where she will prep for her senior prom after competing in the Muddin’ at the Moose mud hop on Saturday, April 11, 2015.
Baylee Hart, 18, bites her lip as she patiently waits for her turn to race in the Muddin’ at the Moose mud hop on Saturday, April 11, 2015. Hart began racing in mud hop events at age 16 and is often one of a few female drivers in the racing field.
A pair of 2X4s and some other scrap lumber help Baylee Hart push the gas pedal all the way to the floor while racing in mud hops. Hart has been racing in mudding events since she was 16 and is often one of only a few women drivers in the field.
Baylee Hart participates in her first and only race in the Muddin’ at the Moose mud hop in Belle Haven, Va. on Saturday, April 11, 2015. Hart, a high school senior, and the only female driver in the field that day, had to cut two races out for the day to switch gears and get ready for her senior prom that night.
Baylee Hart returns to pit row after participating in her first and only race in the Muddin’ at the Moose mud hop in Belle Haven, Va. on Saturday, April 11, 2015. Hart, a high school senior, and the only female driver in the field that day, had to cut two races out to switch gears and prepare for her senior prom later that night.
Baylee Hart sits back as her stylist Rachel Britton puts the finshing touches on her eye makeup in preparation for Hart’s senior prom.
Baylee Hart dances after getting dressed in the camper where she prepared for her senior prom.
Baylee Hart makes her way through the mud hop pits after getting dressed for her senior prom with an entourage of younger girls in tow.
G.W. Hart covers the seats of his daughter’s mudding truck with bed sheets to protect her prom dress from any mud in the cab of the truck as he escorts her to her senior prom at Broadwater Academy on Saturday, April 11, 2015.
Baylee Hart arrives at her senior prom in her mudding truck after completing a race earlier in the day.
Baylee Hart (right) dances with her friends during the Broadwater Academy senior prom. Earlier in the day Hart competed in the local Muddin’ at the Moose mud hop.
HM FEATURE PICTURE STORY: Vicki Cronis, Virginian-Pilot— The Last Days of Being Mr. D “Mr. D” is Robin Davenport, who has been prinicipal of Creeds Elementary in rural Virginia Beach for 17 years. As a child, Davenport attended Creeds through the 8th grade. He rode to school every morning with his mother, the lunchroom manager, who was famous for her no-bake cookies that sold two for 5 cents. He still lives in Creed, just five minutes away. For Davenport, it has been “an honor to serve my community, to serve my friends.” Principal Robin Davenport pauses in the hallway as the Pledge of Allegiance comes over the loudspeakers on May 5, 2015, at Creeds Elementary School in Virginia Beach, VA. He is the only principal in Virginia Beach to work at the elementary school they attended as a child.
HM FEATURE PICTURE STORY: Edlund-Welch Richmond TImes-Dispatch—After their mother was deported to El Salvador, Brianna Ceren and Josh Ceren were moved from Richmond to Sussex County where they live with their foster parents Harold and Connie Young. The Youngs with help from Forgotten Initiative gave Brianna a quinceanera, or 16th birthday party, which is traditionally a family affair.
HM PLACE FEATURE PICTURE STORY: Autumn Parry, News & Advance—Ruby Johnson takes the bus to the Lynchburg Department of Social Services to ask for assistance after she was unable to pay the electric bill in July. As a former resident of Miriam’s House, a shelter for homeless women and children which helped her find a full-time job and a place to call home, Ruby still struggles to provide for herself and her 14-year-old son, Cortez.
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