Rachel Ellis
Visual Journalist

Weston Jenkins, 5, left, and Alex Cain, 8, play together in Blue Springs Creek during Memorial Day Weekend outside of Bourbon, MO Monday, May 25, 2020. 

Hayley Gregorius, 29, poses for a portrait at her grandparents home in Aurora on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020. Her grandparents, Graham and Mary Davies, both died of COVID in May, about a week apart from each other and shortly after their 67th wedding anniversary. 

Paula Hendrix holds her two-year-old son, Lian, as they blow our her 22nd birthday candles in their home on March 18, 2020. Paula and her sister, Monica, 24, right, were working in the food industry until their job security became unknown in the midst the coronavirus. This was also Paula’s first birthday without her fiancé, who passed April, 2019. 

Garrett Hester, 22, left, and Tim Hester, stand together dressed as World War II soldiers for Veterans Day, 2019, Holly, Mich. Garrett later left for the Navy that December. He has wanted to serve his country since he was three-years-old. "I can't wait to go and serve my nation," he said.

Brooke Dryden holds her daughter Berkeley Hughes, 7, in their hotel room at Winter Park Mountain Lodge on Friday, Oct. 23, 2020. Dryden and her two children evacuated from their trailer home in Granby, CO on Thursday due to the East Troublesome Fire, the second largest wildfire in Colorado history, which burned through almost 200,000 acres throughout the Rocky Mountains. 

An aerial view captures the Mississippi Lime facility in Ste. Genevieve, Missour. The plant is one of the main attractions of the town, and brings in a significant number of jobs for the community. 

A portrait of Kimari Coleman from Saginaw High School  on top a car during the pre-prom celebration on Ojibway Island in Saginaw, Michigan. 

Amelia and Jose together, eating on the porch during the Bavarian Festival in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

The Abandelwa family in their home Friday, May 15, 2020. Yusufu, right, his wife, and their four children are a refugee family from The Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their recent arrival to St. Louis in March has left them incredibly isolated because of the coronavirus. The transition to a new country as a refugee is already an overwhelming and difficult process, but the virus has placed an even greater barrier between them and their ability to embrace a new life here in America. Unable to speak English and only having virtual access to local resources makes it especially hard for this family of six to know how to lead a better life when they remain confined to the four walls of their one bedroom home.

Gerardo Garcia plays handball outside The Salvation Army Denver Red Shield on High Street in Denver on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. 

Pastor Doug Hollis releases three doves into the air following the release of several balloons in honor of the late Fourth Ward Alderman Samuel L. Moore at Sumner High School on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2019. Moore passed away early Tuesday, Feb. 25. "[Moore] always fought for justice and equality," Hollis said. "He was one of the greatest mentors in my life." 

 A lone horse makes its way to the corrals during an early morning wrangle at The Zapata Ranch in Mosca, CO on Friday, July 31, 2020. There are about 50 wild horses on the Zapata. 

Heritage High School's first football practice of the season on Monday, Aug. 12, 2019, Saginaw, MI.

Members of the Ndangamira family play outside their apartment in St. Louis on Friday, May, 15, 2020. Originally from The Democratic Republic of the Congo they came to America from a refugee camp in Rwanda, unable to receive help from the International Institute due to the pandemic. 

Linda Caldera-Padilla swings her grandson David, 3, around in their living room after coming back from work on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020 in Denver, CO. 

Cherry Creek senior James Walker II (5) holds up his state trophy with his teammates as they celebrate winning the 5A state football championships against Valor Christian at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl in Pueblo, CO on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020. Cherry Creek won 21-0.

Sandra Gonzales, right, holds her nephew Jacob during a 16th birthday party for her son, Santana, at their home in Saginaw on March 16, 2019.  

Midland Dow girls swimmers sit together at their bench during the Saginaw Heritage Swim Triangular on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019

Catching waves at Myrtle Beach.

Robert Wilson (left), Antwon Love, and Ernest Macklin help distribute cases of water to Flint residents during a water distribution on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018 outside of Metropolitan Baptist Church in Flint, Michigan. Elon Baptist Church in Burlington, North Carolina donated 594 cases of water to the city, so people volunteered their time to distribute six cases to those in need. 

Sahra Bashir shops at The Global Grocery Mart on Yosemite Street in the East Colfax neighborhood on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020. Bashir, like many people, travel from different neighborhoods in Denver to get unique, international goods.

North St. Louisans received free meals from The Salvation Army as part of the pandemic response on Saturday, April 11, 2020 in St. Louis, MO. Roughly 1,2000 meals were distributed. 

Antujane Cooper fans money in the air for people to pick-up during pre-prom at Ojibway Island for Saginaw High senior prom on Thursday, May 23, 2019. Cooper recently lost his mother, but during prom, he wore a necklace with a photo of her around his neck, and embraced part of prom culture which is showing up with large stacks of money that he decided to throw in the air surrounded by his peers. 

A man lets two dogs out of a fenced in area where camels are kept during sunrise at the Bedouin Tents in the Negev Desert in Israel on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. Across the Negev Desert in southern Israel there are farms that offer a ‘Bedouin hospitality’ experience, where visitors eat traditional Bedouin meals, take camel rides, and stay overnight in Bedouin tents. The villages are intended to provide people insight into the history and lifestyles of Bedouins in Israel.