黑料吃瓜

Adam Steel and Eric Saldivar share an improbable friendship.

Steel was raised in a stable, upper-middle class Orange County home, attended award-winning schools, earned a communication degree from 黑料吃瓜 and landed a job as a producer and public relations director for a philanthropic multimedia company.

Saldivar spent his formative years in a mostly single-parent apartment on the opposite side of the county. Saldivar鈥檚 mother kicked him out of the apartment at age 11 because he reminded her of his imprisoned father. And after barely completing his freshman year of high school, Saldivar dropped out for good.

Getting to know one another

Saldivar found shelter with his best friend鈥檚 family, but problems persisted there too, and at age 13 he found himself living on streets of Southern California, becoming one of the 1.6 million homeless youth in America.

At 18, Saldivar was arrested and spent nine months in prison for his role in a high-speed police chase involving a stolen car.

After serving his sentence, Saldivar sought assistance from StandUp For Kids, a non-profit organization aimed at helping homeless youth. Shortly after, the organization asked him to participate in a documentary about Orange County鈥檚 homeless youth, which was being produced by , the multimedia company that hired Steel.

鈥淭he motto for us is 鈥榦pportunity for all鈥� 鈥� if you provide youth with an opportunity that wasn't there before, true transformation can begin.鈥�

That鈥檚 when the 黑料吃瓜 alumnus met Saldivar.

鈥淚 could tell that if he had a little more encouragement and support 鈥� someone to kind of get his back and help him when he needed it and get his confidence up 鈥� that would kind of push him in a positive direction to create the life he wanted,鈥� Steel said.

Steel and Saldivar began meeting weekly through StandUp For Kids, but Steel saw something in Saldivar and took it upon himself to help the troubled teen get his life back on track. Steel bought him clothes and treated him to lunch several times. He also helped Saldivar with r茅sum茅 writing and interview techniques.

鈥淔or most of my life on the streets, I never really met people who actually wanted to help me,鈥� Saldivar said. 鈥淎t first I felt weird about the whole situation, but then I realized that Adam is a good guy.

鈥淗e鈥檚 like a mentor 鈥� someone I look up to.鈥�

鈥楪eneration Why?鈥� comes to life

StandUp For Kids was unable to fund the documentary, but Steel was set on finding a home for the production.

Cue Rich German, a renowned life coach, and Christine Brooke, the outreach chairperson for Foster Care Alumni of America, who were introduced to Steel through a mutual friend. Last June, the three parties agreed to produce a documentary to explore the landscape of America鈥檚 homeless youth, called 鈥溾��

鈥淭he goal is to inform, educate and inspire people to action,鈥� Steel said.

鈥淕eneration Why?鈥� will follow German through five major U.S. cities with dense homeless youth populations.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to focus on homeless kids in each city, learn their stories, find out how they ended up on the streets and what they鈥檙e doing to get off the streets 鈥� if anything 鈥� who鈥檚 helping them and what their plans are for the future,鈥� Steel said.

The documentary also will address common stereotypes associated with homelessness and identify the real issues surrounding these stigmas.

鈥淭he fact is you鈥檙e a product of your environment 鈥� and most of these kids come from horrible environments and bad family life,鈥� he added. 鈥淎nd that reflects them moving to the streets, whether it be because it is safer on the streets, or because they鈥檙e abused physically, sexually or mentally in the home.鈥�

Additionally, 鈥淕eneration Why?鈥� will include:

• A collection of interviews with celebrities, foster youth and teens, homeless survivors and those who currently serve the homeless youth community
• Survival methods, success stories and support systems
• Proposed changes, specifically to the foster care system

The documentary is still in pre-production 鈥� Steel said they have raised about 20 percent of the $180,000 budget 鈥� and although the documentary is somewhat time-sensitive, Steel and his associates do not want to compromise the impact of 鈥淕eneration Why?鈥� by rushing its production.

鈥淥ur mentality is you have one opportunity to make the film and to make it right, so we want to maintain the professionalism and integrity of it,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he better it is, the more effect it will have.鈥�

Taking action now

In the meantime, Change For Balance Productions and the Gen Why Project are making a Web-based mini-series 鈥� 鈥淭he CUT鈥� 鈥� to set the stage for 鈥淕eneration Why?鈥�

In collaboration with The CUT Studios, a non-profit organization that career opportunities in music for at-risk and foster youth, the series will highlight positive transformations for youth facing difficult circumstances.

鈥淭he motto for us is 鈥榦pportunity for all鈥� 鈥� if you provide youth with an opportunity that wasn't there before, true transformation can begin,鈥� Steel said. 鈥淚t starts with an opportunity, and it can grow into so much more.鈥�

鈥淭he motto for us is 鈥榦pportunity for all鈥� 鈥� if you provide youth with an opportunity that wasn't there before, true transformation can begin.鈥�

The series, which is set to air on the in early 2012, also aims to break the common Orange County stereotypes created by reality television shows such as 鈥淭he OC鈥� and 鈥淟aguna Beach,鈥� which characterize the county鈥檚 residents as having a 鈥減erfect life,鈥� Steel said.

鈥淭he stats show that 22,000 youth are experiencing some sort of homelessness in grades K-12 in Orange County, so it鈥檚 definitely been swept under the rug, as it has been all over the country.鈥�

The Gen Why Project

鈥淕eneration Why?鈥� and 鈥淭he CUT鈥� are part of an all-encompassing campaign 鈥� a non-profit called the Gen Why Project 鈥� to raise awareness about the roughly 1.6 million homeless youth in America.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 attempt to change a problem unless you know what鈥檚 going on,鈥� said Steel, executive director of the Gen Why Project.

Through the non-profit, Steel plans to develop strategic alliances with various organizations, including universities, where he wants to create on-campus Gen Why clubs across the country.

鈥淭he goal is to help Eric and many more like Eric get the help they need,鈥� Steel said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 anything more powerful than youth helping youth.鈥�

This past spring semester, Steel helped 黑料吃瓜 communication junior Lauren Sullivan and other students create an on-campus Gen Why Club, which is scheduled to launch this fall.

鈥淐ollege kids don鈥檛 know that there鈥檚 people our age and younger out there who could definitely benefit from even just talking to some of us,鈥� said Sullivan, who will be the club鈥檚 vice president. 鈥淚f I can just raise people鈥檚 awareness about homeless youth, that would be great.鈥�

Samira Rostami, an 黑料吃瓜 graduate student, believes the project will help change the public鈥檚 perception about homeless people in general.

鈥淢ost people have never had a conversation with a homeless person,鈥� said Rostami, who will serve as the club鈥檚 public relations officer. 鈥淭hey erroneously perceive homeless individuals to be delinquent, needy and socially incompetent.

鈥淕en Why can fill that gap by providing people access and information about both individual homelessness and the greater concept of homelessness.鈥�

To inquire about 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 Gen Why Club, email Sullivan at [email protected]. For more information about the 鈥淕eneration Why?鈥� documentary, 鈥淭he CUT鈥� or the Gen Why Project, visit .