By Joshua Qualls Jinette Cartagena, 20, moved out of Mission Hill and into a Haverhill family shelter about a year ago. Now, at least once a week, she tries to bring her 18-month-old daughter, Nayelis,...

By Catherine McGloin For Jim Vrabel, 70, Mission Hill in the 1970s was a patchwork of local activist organizations. Each was fighting to address a separate issue, but ultimately united by one main...

By Joshua Qualls “Ask me how many drug programs [are] in Mission Hill,” said Carmen Pola, forming the answer with her left hand. “None.” After a long career in local activism and politics,...

By Riley Robinson Jim Burke, 75, says people sometimes joke that he’s the “mayor of Mission Hill.” But don’t think he doesn’t still drink beers with the college students who live across the...

By Joshua Qualls Despite only being 53, Elizabeth Torres has developed a reputation among kids in Mission Hill as the Tobin Community Center’s resident grandma. “The only one who made me [a...

Riley Robinson “When I met these people, the leaders in this church, they supported me because I was a newcomer and I was having problems [with] family and things,” said Teresa Naranjo, 75. “They...

By Joshua Qualls When Maria Sanchez first moved to Boston from New York in 1973, Mission Hill had a lot of problems. Now, she said, the neighborhood has changed from night to day. She believes it is...

By Joshua Qualls “I try not to worry about Mission Hill because I know Mission Hill is going to take care of itself,” Betty Walker said. “In the future, it probably would be better than it’s...

By Joshua Qualls Jane D’Angelo, 53, likes going community meetings to know what’s going on in the neighborhood. Although she cannot work due to disability, D’Angelo volunteers as the Mission...

By Riley Robinson Chad Rosner, 36, first moved to Mission Hill in 2001 while studying at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Unlike most students, he stayed. He’s spent years entwining himself...

By Riley Robinson Carol Barry’s most vivid memory of her 75 years living in Mission Hill is leading sing-a-longs with her husband for neighborhood kids on the front steps of their duplex in the 1960s...

By Riley Robinson Aisha Harris, 44,  was in a good mood waiting for the shuttle outside New England Baptist Hospital, where she works in surgical scheduling. It was a Thursday afternoon, and she...