Amy Murphy admits she’s never met a stranger. So in 2013, when a newspaper photo of needy Greensboro citizens stirred her heart, she marched into a nearby Church’s Fried Chicken, asked boldly for their leftover chicken, and has been serving on a downtown corner every Monday at 7:00 a.m. Murphy eschews the word “homeless,” preferring “my friends downtown,” and no matter how much time and giving she’s expanded into and taken on since that fateful request, insists that “recognizing humanity in others is the best thing I’ve done.” That, and creating her own, distinctive, chicken-lady style.

Photographed, Sunday, January 29, 2017, in Greensboro, N.C. JERRY WOLFORD and SCOTT MUTHERSBAUGH / Perfecta Visuals