"Storied Streets" exposes stories of homelessness

"Storied Streets," an intimate look at how individuals cope with the challenges of homelessness, launches a new year of Second Saturday Documentaries at Niles Discovery Church, 36600 Niles Blvd. at Nursery Ave. The 1:30 pm showing on January 14, is free and open to the public.

Louis Chicoine, Executive Director of Abode Services, will moderate discussion. Abode Services is a non-profit that secures permanent homes for individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Alameda and Santa Clara Counties.

Starting in 2011, recent film school graduate Jack Robbins and several friends traveled from Los Angeles to New York, visiting 13 cities to dig deeply into the stories of people who live homeless every day. They used unobtrusive cameras and cell phones to film frank conversations.

There is the story of the high school student abandoned by his mother in ninth grade who lived under the school bleachers and continued to go to school with no one the wiser about his situation. Another story is that of a man who cannot bear to lie down on the ground so has slept upright on public transportation for 20 years. The subjects are articulate while the stories are poignant and sometimes hopeful.

Robbins released his film in 2015 with a little help from Executive Producer Susan Sarandon, award-winning actress, political activist and his mother.

The Second Saturday Documentary Series is co-sponsored by Niles Discovery Church and the San Jose Peace & Justice Center. For more information, call 510 797-0895 or visit www.nilesdiscoverychurch.org.