BECCA HAYDU

Bruce King stands in Kennedy Park in Lewiston, Maine on September 10, 2018. He explained that he doesn’t usually dress so formally, but that his new job as a career counselor at Community Concepts requires it. Bruce helps his clients find and maintain employment while facing barriers like poverty, addiction, mental illness, and lack of access to basic social services and resources.

Bruce first worked as an addiction counselor at Grace Street Recovery Services. After just a year, he says, “I got burnt out because I was burying a lot of clients.” Looking for a change, he was hired Tree Street Youth with a program that was designed to recruit immigrant students to work in local businesses. He enjoyed working with immigrant youth because he could relate to his family’s background. However, the project didn’t quite come to fruition, and just two weeks ago he switched to Community Concepts.

Silvia King, Bruce’s mother, watches as Bruce plays with his daughter Aurora at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School playground in Brunswick. Silvia was diagnosed with ovarian cancer while Bruce was in prison and he was let out on an ankle bracelet in order to help care for her. “I was so worried about her and she was so worried about me that we stopped worrying about ourselves,” he said. Silvia is in recovery from alcoholism, and she and Bruce support each other in sobriety.

Aurora means “goddess of the dawn,” and this tattoo on Bruce’s forearm represents both the Roman goddess and his youngest daughter. Bruce also described a dragon tattoo on his shoulder, to represent his oldest daughter, Kaida, whose name means “little dragon” in Japanese.

Bruce is a single parent to his oldest daughter, Kaida, who is six years old. His youngest daughter, Aurora, is 20 months old. Bruce is currently going through a separation from Aurora’s mother, Whitney, and they share parenting responsibilities. Here, Bruce takes Kaida and Aurora to Rocky Ridge apple orchard in Bowdoin on Sunday, September 23.

Following the separation from Whitney, Bruce has moved into a temporary home in Brunswick with his two daughters. With help from friends, he was able to move the plethora of kids’ toys in just one weekend. Bruce described the house as “a trailer, but a nice trailer,” and is content with the set-up while he looks for a home to buy.

Holding a crying Aurora, Bruce negotiates a recent offer he placed on a house in Brunswick. “They’re what keep me going through all this,” Bruce said of his two daughters. The separation from Aurora’s mother this summer has taken an emotional toll, but Bruce is determined to do his best for his children. Buying his own home is a big step forward for Bruce.

Kaida’s mother has been unable to care for her due to her own struggles with addiction, making Bruce her full-time parent. Here, Bruce plays with Kaida and Aurora in their neighbor’s backyard in Brunswick.

While over 20 years have past since Bruce last visited Mexico, he maintains a strong connection to his heritage. “I never had a Mexican-American identity,” he explained. Instead, he felt Mexican and American as two separate and opposing identities. Bruce recalled that it wasn’t until prison that he started to feel more connected to the larger immigrant community in the United States. Selling drugs, in an unconscious way, made him feel more connected to his idea of the Mexican-American experience.

Bruce is an advocate for criminal justice reform and is a strong opponent of the war on drugs. When he’s not involved in public speaking events or community organizing, Bruce makes his voice heard through elements like this bumper sticker.

Aurora walks down the steps of their front porch in Brunswick as Bruce follows. Luckily, Bruce’s friend lives next door and helps out by cooking communal meals and inviting the kids over to play.

Bruce turned 40 this year and feels like he is starting his life anew for the second time, the first time being when he was released from prison. Bruce is photographed in Lewiston, Maine, on September 14, 2018.

“They’re what keep me going through all this,” Bruce said of his two daughters. He pulls Kaida, 6, and Aurora, 1, in a wagon at Rocky Ridge orchard in Bowdoin on September 23, 2018.