Stephen Reiss

PROJECTS: Home

Home is a portrait of a unique American family.  

According to a study by the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles, same-sex couples in the Bronx are more likely to have children than those in any other New York City borough, and perhaps more than any county in the country.  

Eshey Scarborough and her partner Paris Harris run a foster home for at-risk youth in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx, one of the poorest congressional districts in the country. The children come from families where they have been emotionally, physically or sexually abused. Some have been incarcerated for petty crimes, gang-related issues or were born addicted to drugs.  

  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - APR 2: Paris Harris, left, and her partner Eshey Scarborough in the living room of their foster home for at-risk youth April 2, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - APR 26: Surrounded by the figures of a Yoruba mobile, 16-year-old foster child Daybelis Ramirez washes her dishes after breakfast April 26, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - MAR 1: Breakfast prayers are spoken at the home Eshey Scarborough and Paris Harris share with their five foster children and Eshey's birth daughter March 1, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - MAR 1: Eshey Scarborough and Paris Harris gather with their foster children and Eshey's birth daughter for a Sunday morning meeting to discuss house chores March 1, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - MAR 1: Eshey Scarborough's birth daughter, Marshey, falls asleep on her mother's chest while watching television March 1, 2009. Marshey shares a home with Eshey and her partner Paris Harris' five foster children.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - APR 16: Foster child Karoline Harris, 17 years old, in her bedroom with her dogs April 16, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - APR 16: Left to right, Eshey Scarborough's grandaughter Naya, with foster children Daybelis Ramirez, 16, and Karoline Harris, 17, walking their dogs in St. Mary's Park April 16, 2009. Eshey and her partner Paris Harris run a foster home for at-risk youth in the South Bronx.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - DEC 7: Eshey Scarborough cooks dinner while her foster child, 17-year-old Karoline Harris, helps her answer the phone December 7, 2008.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - MAY 2:  Paris Harris shops at Home Depot May 2, 2009. Paris and her partner Eshey Scarborough run a foster home for at-risk youth in the South Bronx.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - APR 23: Foster child Shalena Scott, 18 years old, adjusts her wig in the mirror while her 2-year-old daughter Cherish plays in the background April 23, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - FEB 25: Foster child Cherish Sterling, 2 years old, plays in her bedroom February 25, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - MAY 3: Foster child Daybelis Ramirez, 16 years old, in the living room of her foster home May 3, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - APR 26:  Foster child Karoline Harris, 17 years old, in her bedroom April 26, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - APR 26:  The diary of 16-year-old foster child Daybelis Ramirez April 26, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - MAY 2: Foster parent Paris Harris unloads groceries from her SUV, with the South Bronx neighborhood reflected in the window May 2, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - MAR 30: Foster child Shalena Scott, 18 years old, registers for a GED class at Phipps Community Development Corporation while her 2-year-old daughter Cherish plays in the foreground March 30, 2009.
  • MANHATTAN, NEW YORK - MAY 2: Foster child Daybelis Ramirez, 16 years old, and 17-year-old foster child Karoline Harris, right, in the offices of their foster care agency on the Upper West Side of Manhattan May 2, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - MAY 2: Left to right, Karoline Harris, 17, and Daybelis Ramirez, 16, in front of their home with their foster parents Eshey Scarborough and Paris Harris May 2, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - MAR 1: Eshey Scarborough's birth daughter, Marshey, cries during breakfast at the foster home run by Eshey and her partner Paris Harris March 1, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - MAR 28: Foster child Shalena Scott, 18 years old, braids the hair of Naya, Eshey Scarborough's grandaughter March 28, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - MAR 7: Eshey Scarborough's birth daughter Marshey, left,  prepares to cut the cake at a birthday party for foster child Envy Scott March 7, 2009. Eshey and her partner Paris Harris run a foster home for at-risk youth in the the South Bronx.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - MAR 1: Cherish Sterling, 2 years old, looks out the window of her room in the foster home of Eshey Scarborough and her partner Paris Harris March 1, 2009.
  • SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK - NOV 10: The skyline with housing projects in the South Bronx November 10, 2010.
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