Irene leaps to help when Andrea mentions a poor family whose son needs expensive medicine, and she immediately decides to help, donating her money to help the child. Irene is struck by the dreadful living conditions in the slums. She meets a penniless woman named Passerotto (Giulietta Masina) in a shack by a river and helps her care for a large brood of ragged kids. Irene secures a factory job for Passerotto, and even fills in for her for the first day. She's horrified by the factory's working conditions, which she sees as slavery. Irene then cares for a prostitute who is dying of tuberculosis.