SLIFF movie #2 was The Homestretch (trailer), a documentary about three homeless teenagers in Chicago trying to finish high school.The three kids are Roque, the undocumented son of an undocumented immigrant, Kasey, who was thrown out by her family for being a lesbian, and Anthony, a refugee from the foster care system trying to make it on his own.
Each kid's status as "homeless" is different. Roque was taken in by a big-hearted teacher who noticed his plight. He lives with her through his last year of high school and into college. He still does. Kasey got a plumb spot in a great homeless shelter, but it doesn't last. Anthony finds himself at the same shelter as Kasey, and is able to move from there into a small apartment.
The kids get some support from their schools in the form of bus passes, school supplies, and a "homeless coordinator" (it's that big of a problem) to keep an eye on them. The kids get little to no support from their own families, and varying amounts of support from adults they meet along the way. It's up to them whether to take the help that's offered or not, but it's not as easy as it sounds to accept. They have a lot of baggage.
The screening of the film was followed by a Q&A with one of the filmmakers and the Homeless Coordinator for St. Louis Public Schools. (Yes, we have one too. SLPS has one homeless coordinator for the entire school system, despite having a higher percentage of students who are considered "homeless" than Chicago does. But the Chicago schools were doing such a bad job taking care of their students that they were sued, and now have to have someone in each school building as a contact for the homeless kids.)
Bottom line: eye-opening, sad, but more hopeful than you might think.
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