The Homestretch

The Chicago Community Trust and the Polk Bros. Foundation have awarded funding to Kirsten Kelly and Anne de Mare's The Homestretch. The funding will enable further production on the project, as well as resources for audience outreach and education. The Homestretch is the story of the almost 17,000 homeless students registered in the Chicago public school system.

We are delighted to learn that the Pierce Family Foundation has pledged a year-end gift of $5,000 to apply towards the costs of The Homestretch. We are honored and very thankful for their support of this important documentary. To be homeless and in high school is a challenge that no young person should have to face. Yet each year, over 1.6 million young people find themselves homeless, many without parental support. In Chicago, there are almost 17,000 homeless students registered in the public school system. The majority of them are adolescents fighting to make it through the final years of high school. The Homestretch is their story. A co-production of Kartemquin Films and Spargel Productions, The Homestretch is currently in production and due for release in 2014.

In The Homestretch directors Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly explore urban homelessness amongst adolescents enrolled in the Chicago Public Schools. An estimated 15,000+ CPS students are homeless, with an estimated 1.6 million children nationwide "with no home and very limited adult support." The in-progress film is part of the opening night presentation of the Chicago International Social Change Film Festival on October 5th, 6:15pm at the Showplace Icon theater. The first ever public preview of The Homestretch will be followed by a Q & A with the filmmakers and Beth Cuningham of Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (Get tickets).