This is Maryanne. At 18 she was kicked out of home and became homeless. As Maryanne said, it’s actually very easy to become homeless and a hell of a lot more difficult to find a home.
I’ve always loved it when I can combine my love for photography with a philanthropic cause. Earlier this year I went to Tanzania and made a video for St. Judes, the year before that I was in Uganda supporting an school for aids orphans.
I just finished a project with Mission Australia. I photographed and made videos of four kids that either are still homeless or were homeless. It was fascinating for me how different each of their stories were. While some kids came from the stereotypical broken home, others grew up in what you would call a totally normal family.
I enjoyed photographing the kids and trying to capture something of themselves in a dignified way.
I have made small vignettes of each of their stories. If you are interested in understanding how kids can find themselves homeless, head over to my Vimeo site and check out the short videos.
This is Nate. Nate’s parents were both heroin addicts and he was kicked out of home when he was 13. He fell in with the wrong crowd and was led down a life of crime. Nate was jailed at 17 for armed robbery.
After going through rehab, he started Mission Australia’s Creative Youth Initiative where they teach disadvantaged kids art and music.
This course turned Nate’s life around and since then he’s been going to TAFE and has almost completed his Diploma in Music Production.
I really enjoyed meeting all of the students. I hope my photography and video editing help Mission Australia raise funds to help Australia’s young homeless problem.
Brent