Jorge Vazquez, Singing his Way Through Homelessness

Twenty-year-old Jorge Vazquez survived an alcholic and drug addicted mother. His family disowned home after dropping out of college when he couldn’t afford the fees. With no place to go, he ended up homeless. Covenant House PA took him in.

Produced by David Swanson.

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/

Covenant House International Features the Do 1 Thing Project

Covenant House International places do 1 thing photographer David Bergman’s video portrait of homeless youth “Perry” on the home page of their web site.

Do 1 Thing is proud to partner with Covenant House as we raise awareness for the more than 1.3 million homeless youth in America.

Join Do 1 Thing and Covenant House on Valentines Day 2009 by doing your thing!

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

Photojournalist Ron Haviv Speaks about Homelessness in the US for the Do1Thing Project

Award-winning photojournalist Ron Haviv has produced some of the most important images of conflict and other humanitarian crises that have made headlines from around the world since the end of the Cold War. A co-founder of VII, whose work is published by top magazines worldwide, including: Fortune, The NY Times Magazine, Time, Vanity Fair, Paris Match and Stern. He has published two critically acclaimed collections of his photography — Blood and Honey: A Balkan War Journal, and Afghanistan: On the Road to Kabul ? and has contributed his wide-ranging body of work to several other books. With a special focus on exposing human rights violations, he has covered conflict and humanitarian crises in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Russia and the Balkans. Most recently, he has documented wars in Darfur and the DR Congo. His often-searing photographs have earned Haviv some of the highest accolades in photography, including awards from World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year, Overseas Press Club, and the Leica Medal of Excellence. He regularly lectures at universities and seminars, and numerous museums and galleries have featured his work, including the United Nations, The Louvre and The Council on Foreign Relations. Haviv has been the central character in three films. National Geographic Explorer?s Freelance in a World of Risk explores the hazards inherent in combat photography. The Serbian-made documentary Vivisect explores Serbian reaction to the Blood and Honey exhibit. Eyes of the World, which has featured in film festival worldwide, examines Haviv as a witness to war. In addition, Haviv has spoken about his work on The Charlie Rose Show, NPR, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, CNN, MSNBC and The Best Damn Sports Show Ever. Haviv donated his time to photograph homeless teenagers for the Do1Thing project. www.do1thing.org

Martin Schoeller Photographs Homeless Kids at Covenant House New York City

Martin Scholler is on a quest to photograph dozens of homeless teens for th do1thing project. His portraits offer a study of characters rather than personalities w

hile seeking to answer the basic question, what can you read in someone’s face?

Every week, Schoeller is called upon to capture portraits of the most recognized personalities of our time, from Britney Spears to President Bill Clinton. This German-born photographer spent the last seven years collecting this series of portraits, otherwise known as his “Big Heads.”

A few early portraits from the NYC Covenant House shoot.

Mark Peterson Continues Long Term Project on Homeless Teen Shanita Stubs

Shanita, known to her friends by Knowledge, entered foster care as a baby staying in care several years until being adopted.

Photojournalist Mark Peterson has been chronicling Knowledge’s journey as a homeless teenager. His photographsenter Knowledge’s private life, her experiences on the streets of Newark, her struggles with drugs, self esteem, depression and survival. His work is stunning.

Below is a recent photo from Mark’s project. More to come…..

Do 1 Thing poll question

If a charity asked you to do 1 thing of you your choice, on 1 specific day, to help 1 specific cause, would you do it?

Kristen Ashburn and Pulitzer Prize winner Pat Davison join DO 1 THING

Do 1 Thing is pleased to welcome:

Kristen Asburn

Alan Shoemake

to join the Do 1 Thing team of photographers photographing homeless teens around the country.

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.