Theresa Grone lives in currently the most notorious drug district in the USA. Once she was herself dependent, today she is fighting against the visible deterioration of her home. How does she stand this?
It’s Saturday morning in Kensington, only eight o’clock, and Theresa Grone is already back to her morning activity: using a pair of pliers, she collects all sorts of syringes from her front door. Dirty needles. Bloody needles. Syringes with residues of the life-threatening opioid fentanyl.
“Two of my children have already had injections,” she says. “So did my grandfather.” Sometimes Grone also collects syringes on the neighboring street, E Street, and in the adjacent McPherson Square, where her children play – after just a few minutes the first bucket is full. Later that day, she leads a cleaning crew to clear the park and playground of used syringes and needles.
“Unfortunately, the next day everything is full again,” she says. “But giving up is not an option.”