Benny Villanova has seen things.

He is a Sicilian immigrant, a Vietnam veteran, a former sanitation worker, and most recently a “certified” garbologist. Benny scours the neighborhood, collecting what others throw away, then selling these treasures from his storefront garage. He and his friends like to hang out there, shooting the breeze and smoking marijuana.

Benny’s charismatic, irreverent, and sometimes really funny.

He is also at war with his family. Here is a man sharing a house with his wife but living as a stranger. This is a household on the edge.

“Benny [is] a good person in one sense,” says a friend and neighbor. “In another sense, he’s crazy.”

For an account of the challenges faced by the workshop team, see the accompanying essay Unanswered Questions.