Gas Prize Opens New Doors for Homelessness Awareness

[Naperville, IL, Sept. 12, 2012] Last December, outside the Naperville Citgo station on Hillside and Washington, HEAR US president Diane Nilan gassed up her motor home and sped to a Congressional hearing on child homelessness organized by Congresswoman Judy Biggert in Washington.

Nilan's gas was sort of on the house. Her one-woman nonprofit organization, with its small board, pulled off the improbable victory in Citgo's Fueling Good contest, winning $5,000 in gas cards, among a dozen winners out of over 700 agencies nationwide. On 9/20 she heads to Houston, Citgo's national headquarters, to personally thank them, sharing her videos and message about invisible homeless families and youth with Citgo employees.

This is Nilan's 8th year of backroads cross-country travel, "giving voice and visibility to homeless children and youth." Her 150,000 mostly backroads miles have given her opportunity to film documentaries and conduct presentations to a variety of audiences from Congress to California. The film she produced, on the edge: Family Homelessness in America,  aired on PBS. My Own Four Walls, her first film, continues to inspire educators, agency staff and the public about invisible homeless kids.

In December's race to DC, she stopped and picked up an 11-year-old boy, Rumi, and his mother at the Safe Harbour shelter in Carlisle, PA. This articulate child testified to Mrs. Biggert's committee, earning 2 appearances on CNN with Nilan. He shared the heartache he and his mother experienced as they've tumbled from one place to another following an outburst of violence from his father.

Citgo is promoting their Fall 2012 Fueling Good contest. On their website is a 90-second promo video featuring HEAR US. "This company has grasped the somewhat illusive concept of ripple effect," observes Nilan. "They've connected the dots between supporting the work of a nonprofit organization like HEAR US, which rarely gets grant funding, and the work that we do on awareness-raising."

Validated, she'll use the remaining gas cards to continue her mission of making sure homeless kids are not forgotten. Funding her unconventional effort continues to be a challenge. To donate on the secure HEAR US website, http://hearus.us/about-us/donate.html.

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New Film Highlights Needs of Desperate Littlest Nomads

[April 26, 2012, Naperville, IL] Crying in the corner of a church hall, the baby makes known her need for clean diapers and a bottle. Meeting that demand depends on the beleaguered parent’s budgetary struggles and the shelter’s fluctuating supply.

Hunger and hygiene are only two unmet needs facing hundreds of “littlest nomads,” homeless babies and toddlers, in affluent DuPage County. With infancy the most critical stage of human development, homelessness can ravage the future of these vulnerable babies.  This detrimental but preventable experience can be alleviated with greater awareness.

HEAR US Inc., a Naperville-based nonprofit giving voice and visibility to homeless children, will shed light on this invisible issue at a national premiere screening of their new film, Littlest Nomads, on Thursday, May 10^th, 7 p.m., at Meiley Swallow Hall, 31 S. Ellsworth St., North Central College in Naperville, as part of Film Central, NCC Professor Richard Guzman’s effort to highlight locally produced, socially significant media. 

The event is open to the public, students $3, public $5. All proceeds go to HEAR US. Donations of diapers, wipes, formula and baby food will be accepted and distributed to DuPage programs serving families with homeless babies. (PDF flier of the event)

Littlest Nomads, filmed and produced by HEAR US president Diane Nilan, with technical support from Dr. Laura Vazquez of Northern Illinois University, is narrated by Roseanne Tellez, WBBM-TV newscaster. Sarah Benjamin, a national homeless infant-family expert, collaborated on this project. This short film highlights both the plight of Littlest Nomads and offers solutions to ease their developmental trauma. 

Littlest Nomads will be available (mid-May) on the HEAR US film collection My Own Four Walls  (Order DVD, $40 +s/h), Nilan’s acclaimed first documentary featuring homeless children and youth sharing their views of homelessness.  Littlest Nomads is appropriate for educators, child care professionals, shelter volunteers and persons interested in learning more about homelessness.

For more information, 630/225-5012, or diane@hearus.us. 

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Stereotype-Buster Campaign: Final Push To Get “on the edge” Documentary On PBS Mother’s Day

[Naperville, IL, April 2, 2012] Women. Kids. Not stereotypical images of homeless persons, but a new release of a powerful documentary, “on the edge: Family Homelessness in America,” says otherwise. And if the film’s creators have their way, their award-winning creation will hit PBS affiliates’ airwaves, crumbling stereotypes about this growing national crisis on Mother’s Day.

“Until this nation recognizes this tragic, avoidable catastrophe has shattered countless women and kids’ lives,” asserts HEAR US Inc. president Diane Nilan and producer of the film, “we will continue to lose them to the streets, a lamentable and preventable outcome.” Nilan, national organizer of this grassroots effort,  considers this the most important campaign of her nonprofit’s history. She is counting on a strong reaction to this film to create a much-needed paradigm shift in this nation’s approach to homelessness.

Nilan teamed up with director Laura Vazquez, documentary maker and professor from Northern Illinois University, whose personal experience with homelessness as a young mom with a baby motivated her involvement. With 15 years running Chicago area shelters, 20 years of intense leadership to assure homeless kids can get into school, and 7 years traveling the nation’s backroads chronicling  homeless families and youth, Nilan’s seen stereotypes work against implementing viable solutions to homelessness.

The seven women’s compelling stories give viewers insights of homelessness as it affects women, teens and children. Thousands of viewers--from California to Congress to Columbia University and beyond--have been profoundly moved. But the most disappointing response has been HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “He saw it, but HUD’s policies continue to ignore this vulnerable, invisible population,” Nilan laments.

Nilan urges supporters to visit the HEAR US home page which will lead them through the simple steps to contact their PBS affiliate, which needs to happen before Friday, April 6th. The film will also be available on DVD through HEAR US for $30 (plus shipping).

The few moments to petition their PBS affiliate could cause a cumulative positive effect, finally drawing public interest to an issue that is claiming many more victims. Nothing would be a better tribute to the courageous women who shared their stories than to know their stories caused a ripple of change on Mother’s Day.   

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Great Review for "on the edge: Family Homelessness in America"

on the edge
Documentary, 60 min.
Nomad Productions, 2010
Diane Nilan, Producer
Laura Vazquez, Director
Available from HEAR US Inc.

Booklist Online Reviews, Published Jan. 2012

“After you’ve been homeless, you will do whatever is in your power to keep from being homeless again,”

remarks one of the down-but-not-quite-out subjects in this heartbreaking documentary, which puts a human face on homelessness. In candid interviews, seven women share their tales of homelessness, telling about circumstances that led to their rootless existence and their attempts to find sleeping arrangements with friends or in cheap hotels and shelters, all the while trying to get themselves back on their feet.

Experts address legal, social, and child-development issues and present staggering statistics (a single mother of two working a minimum-wage job would have to work 120 hours a week just to afford an apartment).

The film is straightforward rather than sensationalistic, making the women’s stories even more powerful. Use this in community groups and classrooms to spur discussions about this widespread problem.
— Donald Liebenson

Discussion Guide, download (pdf) http://hearus.us/pdf/OTE_DG.pdf

Oscars Awarded, Mothers' Day Plans Ahead

[Naperville, IL, 2/28/2012] "Better than an Oscar," proclaims Diane Nilan, producer of on the edge: Family Homelessness in America. She's referring to the announcement that their award-winning documentary featuring 7 women's stories of homelessness qualified to be shown on Mothers' Day on PBS stations nationwide.

Nilan and film director Laura Vazquez, Northern Illinois University professor in the Communication Department, see the Mothers' Day opportunity as one that will change the nation's perception of homelessness. Their hour-long film unfolds around the women's stories, reflecting circumstances similar to many invisible mothers and daughters who struggle with poverty, domestic violence, failed foster care, substance abuse, and inadequate housing. OTE has won major film festival awards and has been screened in communities across the U.S., including Congress, since its release in November 2010.

Mothers' Day represents both a symbolic holiday and a tremendous opportunity for local communities to  focus on this much-ignored and soaring issue. The challenge: to get PBS affiliates to schedule the film, which has received preliminary approval from the PBS pipeline, the National Educational Telecommunications Association. Stations respond to viewers' requests, something both women are confident will flow when word gets out.

The high level of invisibility has kept women and children out of the nation's conscience and thereby inadequately assisted by federal housing resources, according to Nilan, a former shelter director. "Congress, for the most part, does not know we have millions of women and children without homes."  For the past 7 years, she has traveled the nation's backroads, chronicling homelessness of families and youth, and she's developed a sizable following of educators, college students, and parents and youth without homes through her nonprofit, HEAR US Inc.

"We've done everything we can to get these women's stories heard and seen. All we need is people to take a few moments to connect with their local station," urges Vazquez. The HEAR US website (http://hearus.us) has all the information and links needed.

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Homeless Kids Offer Reality Check to Congress

Photo (C) Pat Van Doren, HEAR US

[Naperville, IL 12/13/11] Domestic violence. Poverty. Poor housing conditions. Disaster. These and other critical issues will be front and center on Thursday to members of the U.S. House of Representative's Financial Services Subcommittee, chaired by Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-13,IL) as members consider barriers for homeless families and youth seeking help.

Children and youth who have experienced homelessness will be the key testifiers as the committee considers the implementation of new HUD regulations that many advocates feel will cause even more hardship for homeless families and youth. HEAR US Inc., a national Naperville-based nonprofit, will participate in the event. Diane Nilan, HEAR US president, invited an 11-year-old boy to share the story of his family's nomadic existence.

Mrs. Biggert has championed the cause of homeless children and youth since being elected to Congress in 1998, leading the way for passage of comprehensive legislation, based on the IL Education for Homeless Children Act, that removes barriers commonly encountered by homeless kids trying to get an education. She's introduced HR 32 to change the way HUD defines homelessness. She and Nilan have worked together on this issue for over a dozen years.

Since November 2005, Nilan, under the banner of her nonprofit HEAR US, has been on the road chronicling homelessness, concentrating on non-urban families and youth. She and Professor Laura Vazquez, NIU School of Communication, have made several documentaries on this issue. Nilan will again set off, stopping in DC on Thursday, then heading south for her 7th cross-country journey. Nilan lives in, works out of and travels solo in her road-weary motorhome.

An uncharacteristic amount of attention is being focused on the soaring growth of homelessness and poverty. The National Center on Family Homelessness released their report homeless families indicating at least 1.6 million children now experience homelessness. 

And Thursday, 12/15, the U. S. Conference of Mayors issues their assessment of homelessness and hunger. Nilan led a campaign to strengthen this highly-cited report, which according to her, relies on abysmally inaccurate data that complies with the very narrow HUD definition of homelessness. "It will be the same old, same old report," she fears.

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Big Victory for the Little Folks!

[Naperville, IL, Dec. 9, 2011] Over 1,500 agencies from across the country competed for the $5,000 CITGO gas card in their Fueling Good contest. Naperville-based national nonprofit HEAR US Inc., likely the smallest of them all, certainly the one most needing this tailor-made prize, claimed victory along with 11 other organizations. On Weds., Dec. 14, CITGO officials will present HEAR US with the prize.

"We are ecstatic," exclaimed Diane Nilan, HEAR US president and founder. Nilan, for the past 6 years, has traveled over 130,000 mostly backroads miles chronicling the plight of homeless families, living and working out of Tillie, her gas-hungry motorhome. Nilan and her board rustled up over 2,500 votes to win the gas prize. "We have lots of friends nationwide, and people believe in our mission," giving voice and visibility to homeless children and youth.

The CITGO contest was brought to Nilan's attention by a Naperville friend, Melanie Swiger Murphy, who figured this would be a perfect fit. Nilan hammered reminders on the HEAR US Facebook page. Her board enlisted, well, nagged, family friends and associates. "We're not the type of agency that can pull off huge fundraising events," said Nilan, "but we're scrappy and hard-working! And people love what we do and are willing to help."

After CITGO reps present Nilan with the gas cards on Weds., Dec. 14, at 10:00 a.m. at the Highland CITGO, 702 S. Washington St. in Naperville, Nilan will hop behind the wheel and make tracks to Washington, DC for a hearing on child homelessness organized by Congresswoman Judy Biggert. She'll gas up first, powered by the surge of support of countless people across the country.

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