The 2011 Emmy Nominations were just announced and a documentary film called Invisible: the Diaries of New York's Homeless Youth made the cut! The Emmy nomination is significant because it is the first film to be nominated that was co-created by homeless youth. And, they happen to be students of the Reciprocity Foundation--the nonprofit organization that I co-founded with Adam Bucko 7 years ago. This is a huge victory for homeless youth. We have spent the past 7 years convincing corporations, government and the public that homeless youth aren't hopeless--they have enormous talent, creativity and potential.
Told mostly from a first person perspective, the film explores and demystifies the causes of youth homelessness: being orphaned, fleeing chronic physical and sexual abuse, or simply trying to escape overwhelming economic dilemmas. The Emmy nod was surely the result of the film's honesty--the homeless youth featured speak with integrity about the circumstances that made them homeless, and about the hope they found at the Reciprocity Foundation.
The youth featured in the Emmy-nominated film have broken the cycle of poverty. The Reciprocity approach combines hands-on job training with meditation, yoga, counseling, mentorship, creativity, and huge doses of love. Today, these youth are college graduates, film-makers, activists and community leaders. Not only that, they are mentors to the younger kids in our program--demonstrating how success opened their hearts to the plight of other homeless kids.
If you're inspired by this film, become a volunteer to homeless youth in your community. We can help connect you to youth who need your creativity, love and support.
Invisible: Diaries of New York's Homeless Youth from Reciprocity Foundation on Vimeo.
ABOUT US: The Reciprocity Foundation is an award-winning not-for-profit organization celebrated for it's innovative approaches to helping homeless youth break the cycle of poverty. Using an integrated approach--that combines job training, yoga, meditation, media training and whole-person counseling--the Reciprocity Foundation has helped hundreds of homeless youth reach their full potential.
Reading this post made me so interested in knowing more about the Reciprocity Foundation. I'm convinced that the integrated approach that they've been using is as effective as combining job training with Kaizen presentation, yoga, meditation, media training and whole-person counseling, which provides a venue for the homeless youth to be positive in life. Once they gain confidence and knowledge, they become prepared to mingle in the society and become responsible individuals.
Posted by: Cristal Mcmeans | February 22, 2011 at 09:16 PM