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The Broom Lady

16 images Created 15 Jan 2022

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  • Eleanor Benbow sweeps the parking lot at Michael's Pancake House on 111th Street in Worth, Illinois, where she will have her morning coffee. Benbow is well known in the area for sweeping outside businesses and homes and sometimes earns a few dollars for doing it.
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  • Eleanor Benbow sits alone and reads a newspaper while having coffee at Michael's Pankcake House. Most of Benbow's days are spent alone as most people choose to avoid interacting with her. Because of mental health problems, Benbow mostly talks out loud to herself and interaction with others is usually hostile with profanity-laced outbursts.
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  • Eleanor Benbow (left) chats with waitress Rene Moe at Michael's Pancake House in Worth, Illinois while having coffee. Moe said she is the regular waitress for Benbow, who always takes the corner seat at the end of the counter.
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  • Benbow puts four dollars on the counter at Michael's Pancake House  while having coffee. Benbow's regular waitress, Rene Moe, refused it, but Benbow insisted she take it.
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  • Benbow crosses Route 53 in Worth, Illinois during rush-hour traffic on her way to a regular napping spot in a resident's yard.
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  • Benbow settles down for a rest in a yard near 107th Street and Harlem Avenue in Worth, Illinois.
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  • Benbow smokes a hand-rolled cigarette while resting in a yard near 107th Street and Harlem Avenue in Worth, Illinois.
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  • Benbow's dirty and aged skin clearly displays the effect of living many years on the street, as well as the effects of her chronic smoking and poor hygiene.
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  • Benbow sorts through items in her cart, including a rusty muffin pan that she uses to bake with over an open fire.
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  • Benbow sits on the window sill of the 7-Eleven store at 107th Street and Ridgeland Ave. in Chicago Ridge, Illinois and eats two hard-boiled eggs and drinks a cup of coffee that she purchased.
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  • Benbow arrives at the Chicago Ridge Village Hall on a cold night where she will sleep on the floor in the lobby of the police department.<br />
Chief Tim Baldermann allows Benbow to stay in the lobby during bad weather as long as she is out of the way and doesn't bother anyone.
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  • Upon arriving at the Chicago Ridge Police Department on a cold night, Benbow browses through her few belongings and lays out a pouch of tobacco, some Tootsie Rolls, nuts and a romance novel.
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  • A bag of free ribbons and bows sits near Eleanor Benbow as she sorts through her crafting and jewelry-making supplies while staying in the lobby of the Chicago Ridge Police Department on a cold night.
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  • Eleanor Benbow smokes a cigarette outside the Chicago Ridge Village Hall on a cold, lonely night. She will spend the night in the lobby of the police department.
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  • Benbow warms her cup of coffee and dries out some beans on the radiator in the lobby of the Chicago Ridge Police Department, where she is spending the night.
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  • Benbow settles down in the lobby of the Chicago Ridge Police Department to spend the night.
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Brett Roseman

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