Do 1 Thing Animated Short Trailer – Do1Thing to Help Homeless Youth

Pasquale Chieffalo, a graduate student at Parsons, The New School for Design produces short animated promo for the Do1Thing project. Chieffalo animated the short as well as composed original music for the project. Using Aftereffects software to convey a simple but clear message, Do1Thing to help homeless youth.

A NATIONWIDE CALL TO ACTION www.do1thing.org There are more homeless people today than at any previous time in U.S. history. Right now, more than 1.3 million of them are children. Do1Thing is our call to action to make a difference. We believe that by focusing our efforts on highlighting 1 Cause while asking people to do 1 Thing for that cause, great change will come. More than 30 Pulitzer-prize winning photographers and some of the most recognized names in photography have come together to put a face on teenage homelessness while asking you to put a face on activism and do 1 thing to help. Why focus on teenage homelessness? Three out of every 10 homeless adults admit to a history in foster and with 25,000+ children aging out of the foster care system each year, many will end up experiencing homelessness. The issues surrounding homelessness are gigantic. The solutions offered are endless. But what if everyone did 1 thing on 1 day to help this 1 cause?

PROJECT PARTNERS It is the goal of Do1Thing to not only raise awareness for teenage homelessness, but also to promote and support the work of those non profits who have a long history of providing education, health care, job training and temporary housing to them. Through sustainable projects they are moving children from a life on the streets to permanent housing and a future. We are proud to partner with the following organizations. Covenant House International www.covenanthouse.org The largest privately funded agency in the Americas providing shelter and other services to homeless, runaway and throwaway youth. Stand Up For Kids www.standupforkids.org Their mission is to help homeless and street kids. They do this, every day, in cities across America through volunteers who go to the streets in order to find, stabilize and otherwise help homeless and street kids improve their lives. All facets of their mission are guided by the mandate that their volunteers tell kids they care about them and then, at every point, prove it. Do1Thing is a project of The Heart Gallery of New Jersey, a unique not-for-profit dedicated to raising awareness about foster children available for adoption. Through the volunteer efforts of some of the country’s most prestigious photographers, portraits are taken that help capture the individuality and spirit of each foster child who is eligible to be adopted. www.heartgallerynj.org To view more of Pasquale Chieffalo’s work, visit his website: http://www.pasqualechieffalo.com/

David Bergman Talks About How He Made his Video Bio on “Perry”

David Bergman used the new Nikon D90 to produce his video doc on homeless teen “Perry”, as aspiring piano player in NYC. Go to David’s blog and read all about his work on the Do1Thing project.

http://www.davidbergman.net/blog/2009/01/09/will-you-do-1-thing-on-valentines-day/

Homeless Teens at Covenant House Houston Share Their Stories

Pulitzer-prize winning photojournalist David Leeson filmed homeless teens at Covenant House in Houston as they shared their struggles of life on the street. Filmed for Do1Thing (hyperlink to www.do1thing.org), Leeson introduces us to teen after teen, as they tell their heart wrenching stories as they are thrown into adulthood.

For more about David Leeson go to www.davidleeson.com

Covenant House + Heart Gallery + Do 1 Thing = A Call to Action

The first image that comes to mind when talking about “homelessness” is a middle aged drunk lying on the side of a street. What you might not know is the history behind the person lying there. While many homeless have emotional and mental illness others have been forced onto the street because of circumstance. The majority of the homeless population is not compromised   “types” of people Covenant House International is the largest privately-funded agency in the Americas providing shelter and other services to homeless, runaway and throwaway youth servicing more than 65,000 youth yearly.

“Aging out” is a nationwide phenomenon.  Every year in the United States, approximately 25,000 children
age out of the foster care system.  Statistics show that more than 25%of them will experience homelessness in the next five years. Already 3 in every 10 homeless adults admit to a history of foster care and unless action is taken to assist these teenagers, the next wave of homeless in America could very well be teens who were never adopted.

Do 1 Thing hopes to stem the tide of “aging out” teens by highlighting their need for adoption by introducing the public to waiting children. View these kids at Heart Gallery of New Jersey

For those kids who never get adopted, Covenant House provides food, shelter, clothing and immediate crisis care to homeless, runaway and throwaway youth including medical care, educational and vocational programs, drug abuse treatment and prevention programs, legal aid services, recreation programs, mother/child programs, transitional living programs, life-skills training and street outreach.

It all comes full circle when the public joins us on February 14th, 2009, Valentine’s Day to raise awareness for homeless youth and does 1 Thing to make their lives a little easier.

Do 1 Thing – Planning Stages – Official Launch Date

An official launch date has been set for the nationwide rollout of “Do 1 Thing”. February 14th, valentines day is the nationwide launch.

On Febraury 14th, 2009 we’ll be asking tens of thousands of people across America to “Do 1 Thing” to raise awareness for homeless teenagers as well as to take a few minutes in their day to actaully “Do 1 Thing”. We’ll be listing thousands of things people can do. It will take an army to make this day a success but we’re on our way!

Introducing Do 1 Thing!

1 Thing, 1 Cause, 1 Change

Do 1 Thing is our call to action to make a difference. As photojournalists we’ve spent a lifetime on the sidelines documenting history. Now, it’s our turn to help shape it.

We believe that by focusing our efforts on highlighting 1 Cause while asking people to do 1 Thing for that cause, great change will come.

We lead Do 1 Thing by innovating, inspiring and designing new solutions to highlight critical social problems.

Join us in doing 1 Thing on February 14th, 2009 when we partner with Covenant House to raise awareness for the tens of thousands of homeless teenagers who need our support.