One Child's Trash, Another Child's Treasure.

While trying to make the most of a rainy summer day, I was flipping through channels looking for something to occupy my time, and thought back to last summer.  I happened upon a movie that has become constant motivation for the work I do. Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County is a moving documentary that follows several families through a summer of their life while living in a motel. Ironically, Orange County, California is one of the richest counties in the country, yet there are these kids and families that don’t have a place to call their own. Alexandra Pelosi, the creator of the documentary, says “People know Orange County for its billion dollar surf and skate industry … But I wanted to show a different side of Orange County—the working poor who don’t have a place to sleep tonight. I thought it was important for people to see the other side of Orange County.”

Most of the families are, for lack of a better word, ‘living’ in a motel less than five minutes away from Disneyland.  One of the things that was the saddest to me was the fact that these kids are living with basically nothing, no space to play or grow up or just be a kid. After watching the film a second time, I realized that my family and I stayed at the same motel almost ten years ago when we visited Disneyland. I remember feeling crowded there with my small family on a vacation, and I can’t imagine what these families have to go through “living” there full-time. In one scene that I will never forget, there’s a five-year old boy digging through a Dumpster trying to find a toy to play with. After being reprimanded to get out, the boy quickly grabs his new “treasures," a small car and a used notebook that he carries with pride.

I used to wonder if giving kids something as simple as art supplies could really change their lives.  I also used to worry that people wouldn’t think that what I do makes a big enough impact in the whole scheme of things. Thank you, Alexandra Pelosi for helping me realize that the work I do is important and that sometimes the “littlest” things can make the biggest impact.

So, for those who want to help but don’t really see the need for art supplies, trust me, help in any form is always needed. 

For more info on the documentary visit http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/homeless-the-motel-kids-of-orange-county/index.html

For more info on Hope For Creativity visit www.hopeforcreativity.org.