MPW.68 / 2016 Family Man by Youngrae Kim
Photographer
Youngrae Kim Seoul, South Korea

Team Cliff & Vi

Recipient of the Team Cliff & Vi Award
Story Summary

Anthony Young is a family man who struggles to rebuild trust from society, despite his lack of housing, family health issues and a failed marriage because of his troubled past with methamphetamine addiction.

For Young, two decades of getting high on meth cost him his happiness. He was expelled from high school, lost his home, family and friends and spent four-and-a-half years of his life in prison. About a year ago he was charged with possessing a sawed-off shotgun and must meet community service hour requirements.

Since July, Young, his fiancé of 13 years Dawn Klages, her father Ty Klages and a black lab-pei dog named Sampson have been living together in a two-bed motel room in Cuba, Missouri, after losing the house where they had lived for the past five years. Dawn’s COPD, lupus and social anxiety keep her from interacting with the outside world and Ty’s dementia disables him from living a life on his own.

Six months ago, Young finally stopped using meth to become a responsible person. Since then, he has spent most of his days caring for Dawn and Ty, working part-time to help his best friend Andy Sanozaro build a cabin, volunteering at a local food pantry to fulfill his community service hours and looking for a new home for his family.