Award of Excellence, fps - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Renters”Ajaunae, 8, returns to her home in Westwood on Tuesday, February 4, 2020, after making dreamcatchers with her sisters at an after-school art program. Two weeks before Christmas, Ajaunae's mom, Page Berry, returned home from work to find an eviction notice taped to her door. Cincinnati has one of the largest per capita populations of renters in America among big cities, with renters accounting for 62% of all households. Like Page, almost half are considered burdened renters because they spend at least 30% of their income on housing.
Award of Excellence, fps - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Renters”Page Berry, 27, drops off her three daughters at school in Northside on Tuesday, February 4, 2020, after working the third shift at the airport. Before the girls leave the car, Berry asks, “What are we going to do today?” They reply in unison, “Be great! And do great things!”
Award of Excellence, fps - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Renters”Page Berry helps her three daughters Angelina, 7, Ajaunae, 8, and Amariyonna, 9, with their homework in the girls' bedroom in their basement apartment in Westwood on Tuesday, February 4, 2020. About 88,000 Cincinnatians – almost 1 of 3 city residents – are in danger of losing the roofs over their heads every month. And every year, about 4,500 are forced out by eviction.
Award of Excellence, fps - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Renters”Amariyonna measures Ajaunae's height on the doorframe of the bedroom of their Westwood apartment on Wednesday, February 26, 2020. The girls have been making their growth with a blue marker for months.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Renters”Page Berry makes dinner with the help of her daughter Ajaunae, 8, in their Westwood apartment on Tuesday, February 4, 2020. Page works at the airport, moving freight on the tarmac throughout the night. She makes an extra dollar an hour by working the third shift. Page makes $17 an hour, more than she's ever made in her life, but as a single mom and only provider for her daughters, some months, it isn't enough. When she gets off work in the morning, she takes her daughters to school and then comes home for a nap. Page picks up the girls in the afternoon, helps them with homework, and makes dinner. Before she goes back to work, she drops her daughters off at her stepmom's house to sleep. This is her routine Sunday through Thursday.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Renters”A "Bless Our Home" sign decorates the top of the stove in Page Berry's home in Westwood on Tuesday, February 4, 2020. Page takes a lot of pride in decorating her apartment. She wants the basement apartment to feel like home for her daughters.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Renters”Amariyonna, 9, prays before eating dinner with her sisters and mom in their apartment in Westwood on Tuesday, February 4, 2020.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Renters”Amariyonna, 9, brushes her teeth in the bathroom with her sisters on Wednesday, February 26, 2020. “This is not where I want to be,” Page Berry told herself before signing the lease in January 2019. “This is where I got to be.” The apartment building’s security door didn’t lock and the light in the hallway didn’t work. The kitchen sink leaked and the ceiling over the shower was in the early stages of collapse.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Renters”Angelina, 7, puts toothpaste on her toothbrush while her sisters brush their teeth in the bathroom on Wednesday, February 26, 2020.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Renters”Amariyonna, 9, hugs her mom Page Berry before Berry leaves her Westwood apartment to go to work moving freight on a rainy airport tarmac on Wednesday, February 26, 2020. Page is working with Legal Aid to fight her eviction. She has been evicted before, years ago, and never forgot what it was like to be without a home. She now keeps a mental checklist of where she and the girls might go if it happened again. It’s why she usually makes the car payment a top priority. If they have to, they can always sleep in the Camry.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Renters”Angelina, 7, snuggles her cat, Bobo, before bedtime on Wednesday, February 26, 2020 in Westwood. Page Berry's daughters have asked for a pet for years. She could finally get the 4-month-old kitten because the apartment complex didn't charge for pets.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Meg Vogel / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Renters”The lights outside Page Berry's apartment complex glow on Wednesday, February 26, 2020 in Westwood.
