Skull City

Verna Sam sits on her step combing her daughter’s hair. Photo by Arian Browne

Story by Jeanna Pearson

Photos by Arian Browne

Jane Cabral wakes up every morning to the smell of marijuana wafting across her small makeshift house that was once made of plastic.

Things are getting better now: she can afford to buy wood to build a better shelter for her children; she can sleep comfortably without wondering if the wind would blow down her plastic house, but mostly she can never be called a squatter again.

Skull City has been