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Check out the latest HEAR US Compassion Challenge, a 30-day calendar that connects HEAR US videos with Dismazed and Driven, Diane Nilan's latest memoir-social justice narrative. Since 2005, HEAR US has filmed and produced short videos to increase awareness of and sensitivity to families and youth experiencing homelessness. Here are links to these videos, with brief descriptions. If you'd like to show these videos to a larger audience and require a full-resolution version, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (giving ample time!).
LATEST HEAR US Videos:
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My Own Four Walls (playlist) |
Contains 4 videos-- > My Own Four Walls children/youth talking about their homelessness and what school means to them, original full-length > Life Filled With Benches (homeless youth) > Littlest Nomads (homeless babies/toddlers) > Littlest Nomads 3 min. trailer > REACH (McKinney-Vento explanation for parents, guardians, etc.) > My Own Four Walls trailer - Highlights from My Own Four Walls |
20 min. 13 min. 11 min. 3 min. 11 min. 4 min. |
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Highlights from the 7 women (including unaccompanied youth) who share their stories about homelessness. > 4-min trailer |
4min. 60 min. 12min. |
| Our Greatest Fear | Christina, a mom in Sarasota, FL, describes their once-stable family's fall into homelessness. | 4:40 min |
| PA Homeless Families |
A courageous group of kids without homes in PA tell viewers just what it's like. They are among tens of thousands (yes!) of kids without homes in PA...and among millions (yes!) in the U.S. |
4:30 min. |
| Worn Out Welcome Mat - KS |
Explores doubled up homelessness among families and youth in Kansas. (Funded by the Kansas Dept. of Education, McKinney-Vento program) |
20 min. |
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Worn Out Welcome Mat - KS shorts
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Excerpts from KS interviews. > Hector Has His Say - young boy shares his thoughts about being homeless. > Melissa: It's All About Sex - Melissa and her 7-yo daughter have bounced between being doubled up, shelter, back to doubled up, their own place and more. Her story is a brutal one to watch, even worse to live. > Marine Mama - Candace, a Marine, and her 4-yo daughter tumbled into homelessness and have doubled up with family and friends, bouncing in and out of shelters, despite her best efforts to get on her feet. > Lifeline Needed - "Maggie" and her 2 teen daughters have bounced around from state to state, homeless because of domestic violence... a desperate situation. >Daughter's Drum Not Silenced - Senta thought her daughter would not be able to continue playing drum in the band when they lost their housing. This HEAR US McKinney-Vento Minute story shares a happy note in their upended world. > Doubled Up, Desperate - Melissa and her 7-yo daughter bounced between bad-to-worse temporary places to stay in their 3 years of homelessness. |
1:30 min. 4:00 min.
2:45 min.
2:00 min.
1:30 min.
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This 7-min. video shows highlights from one week of Camp IBA (Imagine! Believe! Achieve!), a project of Wichita School District 259's McKinney-Vento Homeless Education program. Filmed and produced by Diane Nilan, HEAR US Inc. (June 15-19, 2015) |
7:00 min |
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Splash! Kids at Camp IBA got to enjoy swimming on a hot KS day. Here's a delightful look at their fun. |
:50 |
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| Worn Out Welcome Mat - TX |
Diane traveled all across Texas to interview families and youth living in doubled up situations. HEAR US Worn Out Welcome Mat TX project was funded by: The US Department of Education (USDE), the Texas Education Agency (TEA), Region 10, the University of Texas at Austin, the Charles A. Dana Center (UT Dana Center), and the Texas Homeless Education office (THEO). |
20:00 min |
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Worn Out Welcome Mat - TX shorts |
Excerpts from TX interviews > Oyuki-Hard to Explain Homelessness - How does a mother explain to her young children that they don't have a home? Oyuki shares her family's struggles with being doubled up and worse. > Ira's Story - Highly mobile, to say the least, Ira and his family are crammed in a small house with relatives. Being doubled up takes its toll on this impressive young man. > Olga: Dreams and Dusty Roads - Olga and her 8 children were crammed in a small camper with her aging, infirm, impoverished parents in Donna, TX. That was bad enough. > Leia and Family - After losing their mobile home, Leia and her children have bounced around, dependent on others for a roof over their heads. > Homeless in Donna ISD - Olga, a devoted mom with her 8 children, was living with her infirm, impoverished parents in a small, ramshackle camper. > Ellen, Ellen, Your Fans Need Your Help! - Despite their dire homelessness situation, Olga and her 8 children lit up when they spoke of Ellen DeGeneres, smiling superstar talk show host. They expressed their invitation to Ellen to visit them in Donna, TX. |
4:00 min.
2:30 min.
4:00 min. 2:30 min. 4:00 min. 4:00 min. |
| Shelter You | The beautifully haunting music by Marybeth Saunders, I Will Shelter You, inspires viewers to respond compassionately with homeless families and youth. | 4:00 min. |
| We Had It One Day - Lupe's Story | Lupe shares her story of loss of housing and belongings, including having their belongings auctioned, including sensitive personal items. As millions of households fall into homelessness, storage facilities can be the solution, or add to the problem. | 4:00 min |
| Demise of the Oglethorpe Inn | Ousted Oglethorpe Inn (GA) tenants empty to the street in Feb. 2011. Part 2 is a March 2013 look at what happened. For more of the story, check out Diane's blog at AlterNet. http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/diane-nilan/peach-state-legislators-accomplished-causing-homelessness | 7:00 min. |
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Many Faces of Homelessness shorts |
Exploring invisible homelessness--families and youth--in support of the campaign to align HUD's definition of homelessness with that used by the US Department of Education (www.helphomelesskidsnow.org) > Ayele and Family Near Disney World - On a neon-lit strip near Florida's Disney World, homeless families mix with tourists in the same motels. Those homeless, like the 6 people in Ayele's family, cram together, eking out an existence that's easily upended. See the turmoil of millions of families and youth who will find themselves stuck in motel-homelessness. > Brandy, Kenny and Kids - Brandy, Kenny and their 4 kids bounced around since Oct. 2011, stuck in the cycle of motel room after motel room, like countless homeless families. Determined to survive, they tough it out, but homelessness is taking a toll on their family life, shredding their marriage and upending their kids' stability. HUD wouldn't consider them homeless. > Alexis - Alexis found herself without a place to stay when she was 17. She examines what that meant to her and how she survived. She's one of millions of kids without a place to live. And her living with others is not considered "homeless" by HUD. > April - April and her family found themselves homeless and had to turn to a friend for a place to stay. That created hardships for her children, and would exclude the family from HUD housing assistance because they were not "truly homeless." > Pass Homeless Children & Youth Act - This short film shows why we need to pass HR 32, the Homeless Children and Youth Act. > So They Say - Homelessness for families and teens has long been ignored by Congress and HUD. From what they're proposing for the DEFINITION of HOMELESS, it's obvious that they don't understand the realities facing over 1.5 million homeless teens, children and families. > Preschool In Motels - Families, with no place to turn, sometimes end up staying in cramped motel rooms instead of living on the streets. This family, a mom with 5 children, struggles to make the best of their situation, which could be worse, and could be better. |
4:00 min.
2:30 min.
2:00 min.
2:30 min.
3:00 min.
2:30 min.
1:30 min. |
| Life Is But A Dream | The pitter-patter of little feet, the cooing of babies...not sounds typically attributed to homelessness, yet almost 50% of the over 1.5 million [now 2.5 mil+] children in America are under the age of 5.
The Campaign to End Child Homelessness invites people to speak out on behalf of children in America who, with their families, have no place to call home. Life is but a Dream (music by Sara Thomsen, used with permission) provides the inspiration.... |
4:30 min. |
| Held By Angels | The comforting song, HOLY ANGELS, by the Three Altos (www.threealtos.com), wraps itself around HEAR US kids in My Own Four Walls (www.hearus.us). | 3:30 min. |
| Becky Blasts Homelessness Stereotypes | Homeless, with no shelter other than a small pop-up camper, Becky and her family in central Michigan endured months of brutally cold weather and multiple challenges to survival. This didn't stop her compassion and courage. | 3:45 min. |
| We Didn't Ask to be Here | The story of one desperate family in Idaho--in 4 minutes you'll hear how bad things can get and how little help is out there. | 4:38 |
