Tianna Gaines

Tianna Gaines is a low-income mother who is a part of the Witnesses to Hunger Project, which utilizes the personal photographs and life experiences of mothers to inform policymakers of the need for legislation to put an end to hunger and poverty.

At 29 with three children, Tianna is a wise and articulate chronicler of the ghetto, a keen observer of hard times. One of her favorite photos is a shot she took of her year-old twins in their stroller, eating cheese curls on a sunny day. "That picture," she said, "represents happiness." She wants her children to be lawyers, doctors, engineers.

Tianna talks extensively about the way social programs work at cross-purposes: how, if you're on public assistance but babysit for a friend for $40, you could jeopardize your entire welfare check. It's all because of strange rules that don't seem to take into account what it's really like to live poor in Philadelphia.

It takes a toll. "I am tired," she said. "And a lot of mothers out here are tired, too. Women out here live in unbearable conditions, and all of them are struggling. There's so much violence. Our youth is lost. We need more programs for teens with babies, for the elderly who are afraid to go outside.

"We're all hoping for a better house, a better neighborhood, a better life."