Photography — Michael Martinez

Isabel

My name is Isabel and I’m an EMT. My father is a paramedic and a navy corpsman. He inspired me to help people.

Frank

My name is Frank and I’ve been an ER nurse for 8 years. I have always had a desire and passion to connect and help people in time of need. Nursing was the pathway I choose in order to achieve this and make a positive difference in people’s lives.

Kevin (2020)

My name is Kevin, and I’m a nursing student. I want to be a nurse because I want to make a difference in peoples lives.

Angelo (2020)

My name is Angelo, and I have been an EMT for nine years. I wanted to change careers so I could make a difference.

Graham (2020)

My name is Graham, and I’ve been a nurse since 2013. My mother worked in nursing, and I knew I wanted to help people.

Sam

My name is Samantha and I am nurse. I have been a nurse for 5 years. I became a nurse because I wanted to help people, but also to try to be someone they can feel comforted by and taken care of in their potentially most fragile moments.

Jennifer (2020)

My name is Jennifer, and I’ve been a nurse for 6 years. Nursing just found me, that’s why I became a nurse.

Nick (2020)

My name is Nicholas Lopes, I'm a Paramedic at Lenox Hill Hospital. I've been in EMS for about 8 years now and I started it as a way to help out the city I grew up in. Now it's pushed me to further my education and help even more.

Bill (2020)

Lyzette (2020)

Celina

Essential Workers

Maria (2020)

Maria Peyramaure is a bilingual actor and pediatric clown based in NYC who is particularly drawn to collaborative ensemble based work that tells meaningful socially conscious stories to evoke reflection and change. "Acting and storytelling have always been a tool to connect more fully with our humanity.”

Amira (2020)

Amira Mustapha is the founders and executive director of Art Defined Productions; a Bronx - based 501c3 non-profit focused on creating a platform for literary and performance artists to explore, create, develop, and see their work come to life.

People

My name is Manuel Martinez, and I was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico on January 6th, 1933. Although, I was born on January 6th, my birth certificate says April 6th. My father forgot to register my birth, and he couldn’t afford to pay the two dollar late fee, so they just made my legal birthday April 6th. I moved to NYC in 1951 where I worked in a tie factory for over 30 years. I have 15 children.