There are certain things most American teenagers don't have to worry about: the privacy to take a shower; where their next meal will come from; where they will find a quiet spot to study for an exam; what address they can use to put down on a job application so that they can afford to survive; and where they are going to safely sleep that night.
For three teens depicted in The Homestretch ( Kartemquin Films, 83 minutes ), these scenarios are anything but fiction. In fact, it's their entire lives.
Throughout the film, Kasey, Roque and Anthony brave Chicago winters, the pressures of high school, and life alone on the streets in an effort to build a brighter future than anything they have ever known. Issues of self-worth, trust, abandonment, and the stigma that comes along with homelessness are played out on the big screen for a compassionate story arc that is both tragically surreal and 100 percent honest.
According to the Forty to None campaign, there are more than 19,000 children, youth and unaccompanied youth registered in the Chicago Public Schools. There are an estimated 1.6 million young people struggling with homelessness each year. It is estimated that 40 percent of homeless youth are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender ( LGBT ). While The Homestretch is not specifically gay in its reckoning, it is a universal story that affects the LGBT and straight communities just the same.
Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Kasey spent more than a year bouncing around between friends, family members, and sleeping on the street, ultimately dropping out of high school her senior year. We meet Kasey in the film as she just enters a new transitional home and is re-enrolled in school. Kasey is a poet, a painter and is a tremendous source of support for her huge network of friends.
Due to immigration complications, Roque was forced to separate from his family and fend for himself on and off, beginning his sophomore year of high school. With an unstable family and housing situation, Roque spent several years bouncing around. One of his teachers introduced him to Shakespeare and acting and he became inspired to finish high school and go to college.
Anthony spent his childhood in the Department of Children and Family Services ( DCFS ) and went out on his own at the age of 14. After years of jumping from school to school and being homeless, he is proud to be self-taught. He recently passed his GED and was accepted into the Year Up Chicago Program where he has an internship in telecommunications. He is a poet, rapper and entrepreneur.
At the start of the story, Anthony asks: "How are you going to make your story better? How are you going to write the next chapter in your life?" These two pointed questions take on a whole new meaning when put into the context of The Homestretch.
A poignant project four years in the making, The Homestretch offers a rare glimpse into the Chicago Public School System, The Night Ministry's "Crib" Emergency Shelter and Teen Living Programs. Chicago-based co-directors/producers Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly bravely go beyond the exterior of the issues involved in homelessness and into a world of fear-based society where nothing is promised and your life is earned. As Kasey so earnestly puts it in the film, "I got to do better for myself. I can't be out here like this."
"Our goal was to not look at the just the 'situation' of being homeless. We wanted to break the negative stereotypes of what people think of as homeless youth—we didn't want to reinforce the misconception that these kids are all drug addicts sleeping under the bridge," Kelly said. "We see many people and organizations that do incredible work in supporting these youth—but they are incredibly underfunded and cannot keep up with the rising numbers of this crisis."
As if anything was stable to begin with, the transition from graduation into the real world is a shock to the students at the center of this film. Their semi-skewed high school reality seemed to offer a miniscule amount of security—hot water, friendship, structure—but they soon find out the adjustments necessary to make it in a high-functioning technologically-driven society.
Kelly's hope for the film is to bring a greater awareness to the issues involving homeless youth.
"The number one obstacle that homeless youth advocates and social service organizations face in getting more support is getting the general public to overcome negative stereotypes of homeless youth," Kelly said. "The film will bring a human face to this crisis and through the surprising journeys of these three kids—kids who have tremendous potential—it will build empathy and awareness of the realities of obstacles that homeless youth face."
Kelly added, "We hope to build momentum for local community support and national policy change. Our two-year Impact Campaign will include a series of local events and screenings with city-wide partners and include a Capitol Hill screening in September and national screenings and events across the country."
The film has been funded in part by The MacArthur Foundation, the Sundance Institute, Chicken & Egg Pictures, The Chicago Community Trust, Polk Bros. Foundation, and Pierce Family Foundation. Public donations for as little as $1 are being accepted through Kickstarter ( www.kickstarter.com/projects/kirstenandanne/the-homestretch-feature-documentary ) until March 28, 2014. With just under three weeks left to fundraise, the Kickstarter campaign has raised a total of $19,397 of its $26,250 goal.
Find out more about 'The Homestretch' online at www.kartemquin.com/films/the-homestretch .
For details on the 2014 Chicago LGBTQ Homeless Youth Summit, hosted by Windy City Times May 2-5, see chicagosummit.lgbthomelessness.com .
Photo caption: Kasey outside of Teen Living Program's Belfort House. In the film, Kasey says, "It was because of the way that I am that my mother, you know, got rid of me". Kasey is one of the 40% of homeless youth who identify as LGBTQ.
Link to video kartemquin.com/films/the-homestretch/video .
