- [Narrator] "Real
Stories Tapes: True Crime" is your new true crime podcast fix. In our first season, we'll explore suspicious
deaths at a California hospital and a skydiver landing
dead on a suburban driveway with a bag containing guns, drugs and night vision goggles. To join our investigation, search and subscribe to "Real
Stories Tapes: True Crime" on Apple podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts. (technological music) (wind blowing) (gentle guitar music) - [Girl] It puts you in a predicament where you gotta grow up real, real fast. - [Boy 1] Well, I've been homeless since I was like 12, 13. - [Boy 1] People who you were staying with start to get tired of you,
well you gotta rotate now. After a while your feet get tired, man. Feet just be moving. We don't get no sleep at all. (gentle music) - [Girl 1] I don't have any undergarments, I don't have any clothes, I don't have a toothbrush, toothpaste. I can't go to school, like is this like the life that I'm gonna live for
the rest of my life? - [Girl 2] I got put out
here on some bogus type shit, but I can't be out here like this. I gotta get better for myself. - [Roque] It's like really nerve wracking, like that moment that you don't know what's on the other side and you just hope for the best. (kids chattering) - [Teacher 1] They are
really, really skillful at hiding what's wrong or what's missing. - [Teacher 2] You guys have chapter one, you guys have chapter two. - [Anthony] I was just
still trying to make it and break through, but
how you gonna change it? How you gonna make your story better? How you gonna write the
next chapter of your life? (gentle music) - Just woke up. It's the first day of senior year and I have to get ready. So, it's about 6:11, 6:10 in the morning and I have to get dressed. That's my book bag for the day, yeah. (gentle music) I have to be my own parents. I don't need anybody to tell me to take things seriously. (dog barking) Loneliness is one of my worst enemies and I wouldn't wish it
on not even to any enemy. (gentle music) (kids chattering) (gentle music) We are in one of my teacher's houses. Whenever I need some
way to sleep or to eat or whatever I needed,
she was there for me. Ms. Rivera? - [Maria] Yes, honey? - Do you have like a
Spanish-English dictionary thing? - [Maria] Oh, I do have that,, hold on. - [Roque] What I like the
most about "Hamlet" is I felt the anger that he felt in a way. My dad had this hug
problem with immigration and he had to leave. My mom remarried pretty quick and so I felt really betrayed by them, so I could connect that with "Hamlet." - Which scene is this for? - The to be or not to be soliloquy. - Oh. - [Roque] Ms. Rivera
introduced me to Shakespeare, which was life changing for me. I had to be off of school for three months so I failed most of my classes. I need to get back on
track so I could be better in my future. - And then we'll see if that makes sense. I am the worst grocery shopper ever. What about lasagna? Could you eat lasagna? - [Child] I'll eat lasagna. - [Ms. Rivera] Maja, what is in the pot with the ramen noodles? Other noodles? - [Maja] Yeah. - [Child] She's making cake
and she's making noodles. - [Maria] You're making your bowls. - And Mom's making spaghetti. - This is mine, 'cause I'm hungry. - [Maria] Yeah, I know. - Are you good? Need help? No, okay. (family chattering) - I always joke that if I wasn't married, then I would have an attic full of bunk beds and high school students and that could still happen. Bobby's bending more every day. I knew that he felt like he
didn't have anywhere to go. He would say, "Drop me off at this place," it wouldn't be the place they were living the day before and then I started to see him circling and
so then I started circling and I was like, "He's not going home." His father is just incredibly mobile and the parents divorced long ago. The mom is remarried and
the daughter lives there, but it doesn't appear or have been offered that he live there. When we offered room,
he took it immediately and in front of me he called both parents. And there was no, "No, Roque, come here." You know... And so that was heartbreaking. - This is where I live I guess. So... (gentle music) - [Maria] It's not fair. Do you just let somebody wither? (engine revs) (gentle music) - You gotta adapt to your surroundings. That's how I see it. I could be in a worse off situation. How you doing (laughs). This my room. I ain't never had my own space. I always had to share a room with my mama, my little brother and my
sister all at the same time. This stupid CD. You do not know how good it feels to have your own bed, especially after sleeping if your grandma, especially if she like to
fart a lot, like, oh my God. This is my best friend on prom. Her name, Patrice, but I call her P-Nasty. This right here is my favorite book. It's "Othello" by William Shakespeare. Iago, he played the best part to me 'cause he was like going
between two people. He was helping one person
get the other person back, but he was friends with Othello, so he basically screwed him over and then they all like,
both of them died, though. It was so retarded. My teacher got me into this book. She was like, "You are one of the smartest people in my class. Why are you not doing your work? Why are you not coming to school?" I'm like, "It's just some
stuff you don't understand." (gentle music) The map say this ain't your
house, but this your home. - I haven't seen it. - Your words been up
here since last night. - For real? (kids chattering) (gentle music) - It was because of the way that I am that my mother, you
know, like got rid of me. - [Woman] What do you mean
the way you are, baby? - Like because, you know, I'm a lesbian and my granny finding this out like okay, I'm a take you in 'cause
you my granddaughter, but she put me down so bad that I was getting depressed, my hair was falling
out, I was getting sick, had to go to the hospital, everything. And I'm like I can't be here 'cause it's really tearing me apart. Like I would rather sleep outside than stay with my family 'cause
they bring me down so bad. Like the first two weeks, I was sleeping on the street, literally, like in a park or the police station. - People used to say oh, you stay in a homeless shelter and all that? I tell them yeah, you
know, like some people, think I don't, what? - Every young person that become homeless, it's not because they bad. This is place is so you
can get on your feet, so you can get a better place, but like you not some bad person because you ended up in this situation. It's a situation, it's not who you are. - [Child] I woke up with
my sad early this morning. - Did you go pick up medication for that? - I didn't go get it yet. - But they prescribed it, right? - Mm-hmm. - What you waiting on? - Mm-mm.
- Huh? - I don't know.
- Me either. - I'm trying to not do the medication. - Why? - [Child] I just don't
wanna take the medication. - Why not? - Ibuprofen is good enough for me. - I just wanna hear you say it. - I don't wanna take
the medication, Kalvin. - Why? - 'Cause I don't want
to take the medication. - But why? - Because? - You in pain. You prescribed medication for pain. - Yeah. - Okay, sound it out. - But then every time I get a pain, I'm on medication. - So you're saying you don't wanna get addicted to medication? - Yeah. - Okay, that's all I wanted to hear. - You just could have
said that the first time. - I did, I said why. I kept saying why you don't
wanna take the medication. - But if you already knew,
then why did you ask? - I didn't know. You had to tell me. - Ah! I be getting stuck, like I get stuck and don't know what to do. - You've been through an awful lot. School says you're not graduating. A week later your uncle passed and three days after
that, best friend, stabbed in the lungs. - I could to a lot of stuff that would put me in a really bad place just because of the
stuff that I go through. But I don't, 'cause I choose not to. - [Kalvin] Mm-hmm. - 'Cause I don't like to fall off. If I call harder than what I am now. I have to finish school. I have to finish school. That is not a choice. (gentle music) (horn blowing) (gentle music) - Is there anybody who has any place else they can go to tonight other than here? Because we're gonna have to do a lottery and everybody's not
gonna be able to get in. So if you have another place to go, we're gonna ask that you go there because we're only
allowed to house 20 people and I mean, it sucks
'cause it's raining tonight and as staff, you really
don't wanna turn anybody away. - Darian. - Darian, hi. - That was 18, two more. - Egypt. - Asia. - All right, can I go-
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. - Were you gonna go? - I don't know. - [Woman] How are you today? - I'm good, how are you tonight? I'm better now that I'm indoors. - How you doing?
- Good, how are you? - I'm okay. - Laundry and shower. Over there calmly, calm, calm. Okay, can you form some sort of line. (all chattering) - [Man] Can I get a shower? - Okay, 10 o'clock. - Death Pool. - Okay, 10:20. (kids chattering) - All right, everyone,
can I have your attention. We're about to do gratitude. I'm thank for yet being
alive and breathing and I'm also thankful
for the wonderful cooks and the wonderful food
and I'm also thankful for my hair and this hat. - Can I go?
- You're welcome, Sis. - I'm thankful for having God on my side. - I didn't know I was gonna
be sleeping under cars. Every night I slept under a car, I would pray to God please
don't let his car move. - I have no one that
wants to actually look out for me or anything like that. I'm actually all alone. - Almost every young person
has experienced physical and sexual assault. They have their stuff stolen all the time. They're constantly criminalized for just survival behaviors. These are the things that are treacherous about the way street kids lives work. We've been learning about how to safely and smoothly have 20 plus people in a very small space. We've managed to do without saying tell me why you're homeless. Tell me where you stayed last night. They don't even have to
tell us their legal name. - You sound on my case, but you don't know everything about me. (gentle music) (people applauding) - Hello, everybody. First of all, I want to thank you all for coming out today. I've been homeless for a while now since I been like 14 on my own, but, you know, I'm good, right? This poem is called "Promised a Casket." You know like once we born into life, we promised that day
when we should perish. God, you know I only got this limited about of time, but I think it's beautiful. I mean it completes
nature, you come and you go to make way for the new things. Promised the casket gave birth to madness, called crashes that
smashes, releases souls into not so eternal caskets. Stress passes to those
asking why the caskets? Look into the now life
that the sin gave birth to what is known as the end. This is reality. No comparison to pretend. Simply what life ends, it extends or shall I say it begins. So just a reminder for those who asking why the casket, just remember that you promised a casket. (people applauding) A small little piece. (gentle music) In the end, all you have
is yourself to depend on. Me, I have so many big dreams, so many things I want to accomplish and it's hard because you lose faith and you lose hope. And sometimes we go down the wrong path and we never get to see the light. I was trying to find ways to take care of myself
and I started getting into the street life and I start stealing and robbing people to get
the things that I needed. I got caught for an armed robbery, but since I was minor, it got dropped to like an aggravated robbery and a five-year probation. I end up staying in a shelter for adults and it was not the best. And I got on the TLP waiting lis and I was like this is my opportunity to make my life better. - Is it your environment that makes it to where you can't come to your highest economic success or is it your beliefs and your behavior? (gentle music) - They attack you mentally, then they attack you physically, then they attack you spiritually, then they attack you here, here, there. So it's so many ways to get
caught up in it, you feel me and then you can't even think straight because it's too much going on that's distracting you, you feel me? - That negative energy
that you came in with, it should start to shift because there are things
opening up for you. - Hey, where Kasey at? Oh, what up, Joe, grab your plate, man. - Yeah, I can't wait till
I get in school, Joe. - [Child] You gonna work? - Till January. And if things going good with the job, I might just wait a little
longer than that, you know? I feel like it was gonna be hard because I had dropped out of school. And what's them growing in the garden? You know what them is? You see like them like little circles. They always at the bottom of the ground by the shadow. - I don't know what that is. - Aw, these look like tomatoes. Yeah. Yeah, they not ripe yet, though. Oh, my God, I took one off. I guess I might as well keep it, keep it for a souvenir. Huh! Yeah. I set a couple of goals for myself, like I been working on finishing my GED and own my own apartment. You know I got a son already, I already wanna be there
for him, so I mean, I haven't seent him in a
couple of months, but... (upbeat music) I didn't even know how
to use this program. I just taught myself how to do this all in one night. Don't you look just like me now? Sound and talk just like me now? Your mother used to love
me, now she hate me now. Either way it won't break me down. Time will tell it all if you look into the stars. You will see it all. You started off a seed and you grew tree tall
and I put it on my life that I'm giving him my all. I'm trying to get my
life situation, you know, so I can be there for him. And it's a lot, I put my messages in the songs, so, you
know, he can decode them when he get old enough. (upbeat music) (computer keys clicking) - Are you gonna sign? You have to tell me what
it means or I don't know. - Father, mother. - Good job. Okay, so the 15th to the 22nd, we're going to try and
see as many colleges as we can see. Dominican and DuPaul will both outreach to people that don't have documentation, but you're gonna need your better score and you're gonna need an ID. - Damn ID. - I know. Like you can get work
study and all those things that can help pay for school, but still without the papers, we can't, they can't do that. What's that? - America. It's like this (laughs). - [Maria] Like including
everyone, is that (laughs)? - Sure. - Sometimes.
- Right. - With stipulations. When I was younger than
Roque, my parents divorced and together they weren't
great at parenting and separate they were twice as bad at it. And one of the places I stayed the longest with my friend and her parents who were just crackheads and they would sell our shoes, my socks while I was school. It was just no way to live and nobody said anything like the entire time I was in high school. No one ever said are you okay, do you need anything, can I feed you? I noticed you've been wearing the same clothes all week and so when I watch those kids, I can't just stand there and not do something. - [Roque] Like people
that I told to advise me. - Yeah. - Said this wouldn't be-
- Easy. - [Roque] At all. - Well, no, we know it won't be easy, but you have to get the
matriculate in order to apply for the deferment and so- - I can't get the matriculate because you need both your
parents to sign them for you. - Yeah, so do we think, so you think that- - [Roque] My dad. - [Maria] Do you think
that he's at all willing to deal with it or not,
it's just better to not? - Not sure.
- Okay. - [Maria] 'Cause we need
to get you some sort of ID fast. - When I lived with my dad, we never really stayed
at one place for long. We lived in this apartment
for like about six months before the raid happened. Immigration, they were looking for my dad. He had to settle down by
himself somewhere else and I had to settle down by myself in a different place. (gentle music) - [Woman] Shut up. (people chattering) Oh, my God, are you serious? Oh, my God. - What if that was the last one? I would have been so hurt. (woman whispering) Huh? - I wouldn't have let that happen to you. - I would have been so offended. - [Woman] I said, I said what you want? - I got your back, I got
your chocolate pudding. (people chattering) ♪ Yeah, everything I need and more ♪ ♪ Everything I need and more ♪ ♪ Is written all over your face ♪ ♪ Is written all over your face ♪ ♪ Baby, I can see your halo ♪ ♪ Halo ♪ ♪ Real won't fade away ♪ ♪ Dun, dun, dun, dun ♪ (gentle music) (people chattering) - Perfect. You know you got a good eye
for decor, huh, Dimitri? Ah, yes, hey, girl. I see you clean up like that. (people chattering) - I think I'm a need another plate. - One of the biggest honors is that our young people invite
parents and grandparents. - This is my grandma. Her name is Margie and this is my mama. This is Angela. She's really camera why, though. That's why she looking
at me like that (laughs). She's very camera shy. So they just went to get, you know, get a little film of us
all together (laughs). - [Interviewer] Is this
your first time here? - Yes.
- Yeah. - [Interviewer] What do you think? - It's pretty nice. - [Director] It can be sticky
because parent's don't know if you're gonna respect them and for me it's always a gift to invite them into the house and they are usually surprised that we're normal and that we're not gonna tell them about what they shoulda, coulda, woulda did. - This is my door. See my report card right there. Imagine falling from here down there. It hurt real bad. - Thank God you didn't break nothing. - Yeah. - It didn't knock any sense up there. - [Margie] This is a little
looking room for you. - Yeah, and you see them all small and got a little time. - It take a little faith. - I can fit in here.
- Well. - I really can. I've actually tried it. I've tried to- - You really special, you is
a special child, you know. (girl laughs) - I'm not special. - Yes you are. (people chattering) - [Teacher] Let's try that
and then we'll switch it up. - To be or not to be. That is the question. (speaking foreign language) Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and narrows of outrageous fortune. Or to take arms against the sea of trouble and by opposing end them. - [Teacher] I need to
believe that these thoughts are in your mind, that you are really asking
the questions of yourself. Okay, and so what are you wishing for? Sleep.
- To die. - [Teacher] Uh-huh, to
die because what happens when you die? - You sleep.
- You sleep. - [Teacher] And then you don't have to worry about anything. Right, and what are you
saying you're ending by doing that? - Troubles and pains of the real world. - [Teacher] So all that
stuff with your father and uncle and the betrayal of your mother would be gone. - Yeah.
- Mm-hmm. - Let's go from to die to sleep. - To die to sleep no more. (speaking foreign language) And by asleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is flesh is err to. (speaking foreign language) (gentle music) - Man. Yeah, Brussels grew apart. This was us. This where Kanye grew up at. - That was it, red, green and white. - Red, green and white. I remember it on the video. - On the video.
- On the video. - I always was like a
spectator, an observer. Not growing up with my
father or my mother, going through several foster homes, you know DCFS was some abuse, you know, some sexual, some mental. What happened to my crib? You see that.
- Dang, let's go in there. - I'm trying to, man. Dang, bruh, they got the
house all tore up, bro. This was the last place
that I called home. It was a little bit more
civilized then, you know. Damn.
- What's that? - [Anthony] This where I got
my baby mama pregnant at. I don't like, this is
where I had my son at, man. - [Boy] See, this is our house. - [Anthony] Damn, we didn't do this man. Yeah, this where Mike grew up, man. That's where I met Mike at, man. - Yeah, I would stay right
here in the basement though. This is me right here. My room window's right here. His room window is right here, you know. - Yep, a lot of memories. After going through the foster homes for about 7-1/2 years, I was adopted by my sister's father,
which I call my stepfather. The first day I was adopted, we was at the picnic And I was just off to myself
like in a corner, you know, because I didn't trust people and my father he didn't understand that. Man. "Why, why have you
embarrassed me like this. Why you don't wanna play
with the other kids?" And he had like a rack full of keys and he just took the keys and he just start striking me in the head, just like rah, just taking his anger out on me and everything and ever since that day I kind
of like withdrew even more and I was like, I don't like this guy. It just got worser at is
started getting older. When I'd come home, he
would take the phone and just smack me and be like if you don't like how it is in my house, you can get the fuck out. You don't have to be here. And then I would just leave. There was some abandoned
buildings on Southshore, so all night I spent time breaking the wood off the window. I, you know, squeezed through and I got up in there. Man, it was so hard because
I can't really sleep because it was so cold. I would wake up and get to go to school in the morning. At school, I would take all
those bottled up emotions and I would be kind of
like the class clown because I just felt like
I'm happy, you know, and I want to make other people laugh. And then my teachers, they got to see that there was something wrong with me. You know it was like I
be giving up sometimes because so many other things I gotta think about and where I'm a
sleep when I leave here, what I'm a eat when I leave here. (gentle music) (students chattering) - [Pat] Here you go, honey. Have a nice weekend, be careful. (students chattering) - Do you actually have a list of all the- - [Pat] I do. - Kids, 'cause I wanted to check one. Oh, she's not on it. I was wondering 'cause I just noticed- - [Woman] Hang on, hang on just a second. - She's been smelling a little bit, like when she walks by and I want to follow up, but then I wasn't sure if it was one of those situations. She's been wearing her
gym shirt I noticed. - Really?
- Mm-hmm. - And her hair is clean and stuff, like just when she walks by, I could smell- - [Pat] Like maybe she's having- - Laundry issues or something. - Yeah.
- Right. - Okay, I'll follow up with that. That happens a lot. - Okay, so, let me know if there's anything I can do about that. - Whether she's in the program or not, it doesn't matter.
- Right. - Most important thing I'm trying to do is give them stability here. Nice shirt. And I do everything that I possibly can to enable them to come to school. I'm going shopping this weekend to get you that Pro CB. I'll get you like how
many cans do you think? My list has grown considerably this year. It just feels a little overwhelming. Here you go, sweetheart. Have a good day. I have six freshman, I
have eight sophomores, I have four juniors and I have 11 seniors. Each name represents a story. And it represent a person who's going to be awesome someday. So, that's the list. - [Marcellus] Students in
Temporary Living Situations. - Hi, Mr. Summers?
- Speaking. - [Woman] I'm trying to
check on some applications I put in last week. - 120, 101. 258. 268 kids, homeless students that are enrolled at their school. They have nowhere to go. Then they fall away from school, they fall out under the
cracks is what we call and the school has so much going on with their other kids,
our kids get overlooked. - I'm getting a few more
students that I will expect, that I would get more
than I did last year. - [Marcellus] We have
liaisons at every school. - Let's go, let's go, let's go. - [Marcellus] But keep in mind, it's not a paid position at all. - Come on in, young lady. - [Marcellus] They're the school clerk, they're the school nurse, they're the school caseworker, they're the school counselor. - You'll be back after Christmas? Okay, so I'm- - A liaison called me, it's like man, these people are really, you know, they really going through this stuff. How do we, what do I do to help. - I love you, baby.
- I love you. - Do you need passes, too? No? Okay, maybe tomorrow
I'll see you then. - Tomorrow. - [Pat] Okay. There's been so many days, you know, it'll be raining or cold and I'm getting in my car in the parking lot and I look and here's
one of my kids walking down the street and it occurs to me where are they going? - [Boy] It's really, really cold. I think it said negative 16 windchill. - Laird.
- Laird? (people chattering) - This is south here. - Breakfast set up and shower. - Hi, you guys! Guess what? All y'all get to stay. (all cheering) Girl. - [Girl] It's so cold outside, so everybody got in. Sometimes we have like
almost 40 people here and almost 20 people gotta go. (gentle music) You won't catch me hit that note. (gentle music) - Today's graduation day. A long time coming. A very long time coming. My mom was supposed to be coming, but I don't know if she is or not. My dad was supposed to be coming, but I don't know if he is or not. And my best friend was
supposed to be coming, too, but I don't know if she is or not. So it's pretty much gonna
be you guys and Kalvin that's gonna be there. But, today is a good today, so I'm not even gonna think
about that kind of stuff. Yes? That was my mama. She trying to figure out
how she gonna get there. Are you ready? Okay, 'cause I'm telling you they not gonna let you in after 10. I mean, you know. Why didn't you tell me that you ain't had no bus card yesterday? I coulda just left the
bus card there yesterday? At 10 (laughs). Don't play with me fat lady (laughs). Oh, don't, Ma, don't play with me, today is not the day. Today is not the day, don't do it. She gonna piss me off if she do not come. I'm gonna be highly upset. - I like Kasey. Kasey is so cool. She's not sweatin', she's not worried. We're gonna get it done. - Yeah. (guests chattering) ("Pomp and Circumstance") - [Announcer] Angela Lee Knight. (crowd cheering) Lee Milller Kalone. (crowd cheering) Tianna Davison. (crowd cheering) Triana Lambkin. (crowd cheering) - It's working out. Mom showed up at the graduation. Dad's trying to make up for it. - I wonder how he gonna do that? - He gonna do it. - Where he at? (dog barking) - [Maria] Hey, Roque. - Hey. - Hey.
- Hi. - Finals? - Yeah. - I really thought he
would want more privacy and so initially I had him stay in the basement, but Roque did not want to be down there by himself. He wanted to be up here with us and we'll never know if there was a raccoon, but I'm gonna say there was
not a raccoon in the basement and that Roque wanted to be closer to the family, which was fine. (door closes) - Is that your own homework? - [Child] Mm-hmm. - Due on Friday. The big struggles this year is trying to be able to go to college. My GPA is a 1.66. - [Teacher] Okay, so everyone find a space on stage, please. Get yourself into your confident position. I hope I could tell the colleges the stories I have and
I have a lot to tell. I hope they see the change in grades and that I am starting to climb back up. I'm not, I'm not just ready to give it up. (upbeat music) (crowd cheers) - Oh, God, Horatio, what a wounded name. Things standing thus unknown
shall live behind me. If ever didst thou hold me in thy heart, draw my breath in pain to tell my story. Oh, I die, Horatio. The rest is silence. (crowd applauding) - [Teacher] Mr. Lynch. So, two days before the test. - Yeah.
- How you feeling? - Confident. - [Teacher] Okay. - Yeah, gonna knock this out the way. - Have you been putting
some study time in? - [Anthony] Man, I ain't get to study how I wanted to yesterday. - Well. - [Anthony] I just happened to go to Indiana to see my son. It was like three hours out
there, three hours back. Was out there for like three hours. - Go back to 46. So this is the one. - Without no parking, nah, no parking oil. The task force made two
itinerary recommendations and single story
retailing building without no parking or without
parking or a municipal court. I'm thinking about keeping
this as number one. - Single story retail
building without parking or a municipal- (gentle music) - I ain't worried about it. - Anthony Lynch. Hey, bro, you're seat number five. Daniel Johnson. (gentle music) (family chattering) - [Maria Hard work for
being the birthday boy. - I don't know when my
dad's gonna get here. Hey (speaking foreign language). (speaking foreign language) - Okay, bye. Yeah.
- What'd they say? - They're coming. We were trying to get my matriculate card. It's a process to get me like a state ID that would just like let me work. If you're under 18, you have to take both of your parents there
and since my dad doesn't, like I asked him to do it, he wasn't, like he didn't
feel comfortable doing it, which I was okay. (dogs barking) (speaking foreign language) (singing on foreign language) - [Boy] That's it, man,
blow out the candles. - [Man] In French. - [Boy] Wait, make a wish. Don't say it out loud. - [Man] Are you sure you want that wish? (all laughing) Are you sure? Not that one. (all laughing) Okay, now we all know you're- - [Roque] Now that I'm
18, to get a matriculate, I'd have to do it by myself now. A far better place to be at than just being invisible. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ I turn my papers in ♪ ♪ If Pops retiring ♪ ♪ This journey is epic ♪ ♪ A one-time adventure ♪ ♪ I'm poly gripped to the
roof of your thoughts ♪ ♪ Just call me ditches ♪ - That's my favorite part ♪ All I know is I'm ready for my name ♪ ♪ To be in the Hall of Fame ♪ ♪ Big dreamin' ♪ ♪ I'm hangin' 10 ♪ ♪ I'm a half pint so I'm not trying ♪ ♪ To go off the deep end again ♪ ♪ She loves me, she loves me not ♪ ♪ Let's just hope my heart
didn't just get got again ♪ I've been going through some stuff with my girlfriend lately and it's like I gotta stop focusing on the stuff that really
doesn't matter at the time. - [Interviewer] Like what? - Just a lot of, I was asked stuff that doesn't have to do with me actually making something of myself,
you know what I'm saying? Like, from what I can see
now I wanna go to school, definitely gotta get into school. I haven't decided on what
school I wanna go to yet. But lately I just been really off. It mixes in with my anxiety and everything just like
(imitating explosion). I've been doing that a lot lately. As far as coping with my
emotional unstability, I smoke a lot. It mellows me out. Man, smoking make me feel good. People don't understand. They be like oh, you a pothead. I be like, no, it calms me down especially when I'm in a rage moment. It just like, it brings
me down to a lower level. ♪ I'm feeling all the good times ♪ ♪ And I wanna be there ♪ ♪ I just get, I just get ♪ ♪ I just get control of it ♪ ♪ I just get, I just get ♪ ♪ I just get control of it ♪ ♪ 'Cause all this shit is over me ♪ ♪ I'm learning to behave ♪ ♪ Still spending every dollar ♪ ♪ They encourage me to save ♪ - Everything that I've been working on Trying to find what kind of job Trying to finish my GED And doing everything to
get closer to my son. Tonight, I get a step closer. I never had my own crib before and this is like my first opportunity to get my own, you know, mine. (people chattering) - Where do I sit? - You sit right here. We have assigned seats. - Okay. - How you doing Anthony? - I'm doing good. - You look nice.
- Very nice. - Thank you all. - Well, we wanna welcome you to the CASA interviewing process. - You have reached sort of this milestone, which is a place that
not all of your peers are gonna get to. - [Man] We're gonna
ask you some questions, personal growth, life skills. (gentle music) - Is the door still open? - I wanna welcome everyone to our graduation ceremony this evening honoring Anthony Lynch, who is going into CASA from Belfort. (audience applauding) - Me and Lynch, we had this conversation. We were saying how like
collectively everybody came to this house for a reason. I feel like me and you connected on a level that was higher
than human comprehensive. Whenever I was like having a bad day or something like that, we'll sit down and we'll talk, you'll
flip that negative energy and turn it into something positive. You're the type of person that presidential candidates need to be. (people chattering) - So I gotta tell y'all that Anthony Lynch is a real asshole. Like he really is, but he is one of the coolest people I have ever, ever, ever met in Belf House. This man got two jobs, working on his GED and
trying to get his child. Now, what kind of- - [Girl] That's a dream man. - Right. Right. If I was straight, I would marry this man. (audience laughing) - Say I'm good dirt, you could plan at seed
in me and it'll grow. - This my G all day. (audience applauding) - I got some words to say to everybody. I felt like I always was a king since I was little and I found out as I grew older to be a king is really to be a servant because you gotta serve your
while tribe or whatever. - [Man] Great. - Y'all got it. I mean, y'all got that divine spark just as well as anybody else in here. I wish Ozella could be here, but it's something that she always said, we all got a date with destiny. - [Woman] May the road rise to meet you. - [Together] May the
road rise to meet you. - [Woman] May the wind
be always at your back. - [Together] May the wind
be always at your back. - [Woman] May the sun
shine warm upon your face. - [Together] May the sun
shine warm upon your face. - [Woman] And the rains
fall softly upon your head. - [Together] And rains
fall softly upon your head. - [Woman] And until we meet again. - [Together] And until we meet again. - [Woman] May you be held
safely in the hands of love. - [Together] May you be held
safely in the hands of love. - [Woman] And all the people said. - [Together] And all the people said amen. (audience applauding) (phone ringing) - [Kasey] Hello? - [Woman] Hi, Kasey, we got your texts that you're not at Belfort anymore and just wanted to see how you were and see what's happening in your life. - [Kasey] Well, I had
to leave Belfort House because of curfew violation and my momma was like really mad when I got kicked out, though. I just sleep on the couch over there or spend a couple of nights at one of my friends' houses. I get $200 in stamps
to get groceries with, like, you know, I can't give you no money, but I could put some food
in your refrigerator. I just come in when it's almost time for me to go to sleep. It's pretty much like that. (gentle music) (people chattering) - [Woman] Hey, Kenny. - Antoine. - [Woman] You're Christian? - [Man] Man, how are you, they called me. - This crib got some
fuckin' memories, girl. - As of today, we're not gonna be here in this crib no more,
so we have to at least be thankful for what we have. - Here is what I where I
meet my family through. (gentle music) - I'm thankful there was
a place like The Crib for people like us to,
you know, not be judged, not be knocked down,
not to be pushed around just because, you know,
just because we're younger. - It's shelter that you
don't get what you get here. Being gay is hard as hell and it's a lot of motherfuckers
that's gonna be migrating out south and everything
to other shelters, potentially getting all
type of bad treatment, you feel what I'm saying? And then they're gonna have
to box themselves back in in order to feel comfortable to have a fuckin' place to sleep. You feel what I'm saying? It's so much stuff you gotta do to be homeless, it's ridiculous. - [Woman] Blue eyes. - I, you know, have
been trying really hard for a long time to
eradicate youth homelessness and it's not working, so,
but sometimes it works for a few minutes for a
few young people, you know. It's the right thing to do to be with someone and welcome them and support them, even
if that's all you can do in that moment. You know, it's really hard to explain that to people who are so
obsessed with outcome measures and expect that we're gonna give a young person a sandwich
and then immediately they're gonna live independently in their own apartment and get a job and complete college and enroll in therapy and never smoke pot again. For the most part, those
things don't immediately stem from the delivery of a
sandwich to a person. (people chattering) - We all got shit walk. That's just how it go. Now I know. (gentle music) - Goodnight everybody.
- Goodnight. (tense music) (tense music) (tense music) (gentle music) - This hospital is boring. I've been in here for almost two days now and I don't know what's going on. (gentle music) (Will knocking) - [Anthony] What's up Will? - Sir Lynch. How you doing, man? - [Anthony] What's going on? - Oh, this is the place. - This is my kitchen.
- Check it out. - I know it's not that big, but it's enough for just me. Yeah, and I got a cool alarm system, see like when I open the door it makes this like... (bell rings) - Nice. - [Computer] Kitchen door. - [Anthony] It's pretty cool, right? - How's life? - It's been coming long. Just work pretty slow right now 'cause you know, it's
right after the New Year's. - [Will] Right. - So the catering events slow down around this time of year, but they should be picking
back up next month. - [Will] Are you still
doing the dish washing? - No, they haven't been
calling me to do that lately, so I'm a keep the job, but it's like if I can get into Year Up, and just spend that year like developing
my skills, you know, like communication, like speaking right and, you know, presentation. - Right. - But I was thinking about
the process with my son. It might be in the best
interest for me to get him. So they basically looking at me and say you a suitable parent. - [Will] How much have you
met the foster parents? - She seems pretty
cool, but she was having some concerns with him
because kind of like basically he's conscious of the fact that he's not with hi smother. - [Will] Got you. - So he's kind of more
like, you know, like- - [Will] Right? - Yo, where my mama at. - How's he responding to you? - Oh, I come around, like clap, smiling, playing with his toys and everything, so he's pretty cool. I just can't wait till I get a visitation, you know, to come to
the crib unsupervised. - [Anthony] Well, I think you're gonna be a great role model, man as
you probably already know. - Just trying, man, just ready. I'm just trying to be ready, so. - [Roque] College trips. - Whoever has Norton anthologies, that class is gonna be boring and I'm just saying that, but if you look in the book section, look who's got novels and then which ones, but you
can go in there and look. It's my favorite. But, yeah, that's so
you can tell who's got- - Psychology. - An interesting class and who doesn't. And this is jobs. Which will happen eventually. - Yeah. - [Maria] I think that
you should go in there and ask if they have anything for like undocumented students. - [Roque] Like what? - I don't know . See what they have. Say do they have any information for you. - Okay. All right, what do I, I
wanted to ask you like if there's anything I should know about like since I'm an
undocumented student. - So this is super important because I can't always be there and Roque has to be
able to talk to people, go into offices and these are things that his family has
avoided like the plague his entire life, so
doing anything official, putting your name on anything official is a really big deal, even if it's only asking for information. So this for him is really uncomfortable and he looks like he wants to throw up, but I'm having a very good time 'cause it's kind of a very
good first official step and he can do it. - Thank you. - [Woman] You're welcome. You're good to go. - The lady said that my
ACT scores were really good and she was really happy with that. - Yeah, coming out of a city school, as 20 is a really good score. - [Man] What's going on, how are you? - Hi. - How are you?
- I'm good. - I really wanna go to college either for psychology or theater arts, but like my GPA right
now is like really low. - [Timothy] How low is the GPA? - The last time I checked, it
was the last quarter's one, it was 1.6. - 1.6.
- Yeah. - You know, I'm not sure what
our baseline GPA here is. I know it's not extraordinarily high. The applicant must have
an overall C average, which I think would be a 2.0. So, it seems like it's an issue, so the question is will
admissions just look at the number or will they
take into consideration what you did in later years. Here, admission through petition. Undergraduate applications wherein, I didn't even know this existed, 'cause I haven't read this book. Undergraduate applicants who
are not granted admission may submit and admission
portfolio for reconsideration. Well, I feel confident we can get you in. (Ms. Rivera laughs) - [Roque] Well, I feel great about that. - Damn, that's a big ass bag. Shit. Yeah, I never thought I would end up in a mental institution. That is one place I never
though I would end up. It's a little piece of
me that's different now. I think that's it. Hey, there's my granny. I need to move that paper. - Get that paper, all of it. Bring my walker. - Look. - Got all your stuff outta here? - Yeah. I'm gonna put you out. - You ain't puttin' me nowhere. I'm so happy, like this is the best news since I got out the hospital, like you don't even know. Lady. I'm not used to not being south. It's about maybe an hour and
45-minute ride from here. (gentle music) Feels like I'm on my way to
L.A. or something (laughs). I'm feeling like a big person right now. I'm feeling like a real big person. (gentle music) It's right there. - The lighter's on the stove don't work. - The burners? - The burners are gas, they turn on, but the ignition source doesn't work, so I don't know what to do with that. - Well, they said they'd
get all that fixed anyway. It is gonna be some couches, some chairs, we gonna get a TV and it's gonna be decent. We just gotta work with it for a minute. We just getting in. We got plans, we just gotta make it work, we must gotta make it work. Okay, I think that's it, that's it. All, she said she had gave
you a copy of the key. Oh, thank you. Cool. All right. I need to find somewhere to put this. And this I my room, yay, my room. The most important part
of the house (laughs) 'cause it's mine. Back yard, it's a back
yard, man I'll tell you. Helm. I wonder what's that about right there. Yeah. We gonna have to get that fixed up. This is interesting to me. I don't even know what to
do with myself right now. (gentle music) I'm gonna put this one down. This my Belfort cover, I love this cover for some reason and I know it's gonna fit my bed 'cause this is a twin cover. I'm gonna lay that right there and then I'm gonna put this little cover on top of everyone for a
little extra something, you know whatever, make
a little mess, wider bag, 'cause this actually
comfortable to lay on. I actually like this
comforter, this is nice. This is probably how I'm gonna sleep. I have a ceiling to stare at
that's mine, yay (laughs). I'm definitely gonna put something up on that window, though. Definitely gotta do that. - [Maria] Open the letter. For the past month, we have been waiting on pins and needles to see what the answer from Northeastern was gonna be. Go. - [Child] (indistinct). (Maria laughs laughs) - [Maria] It's okay. I'll get you a letter opener
one day when you're old. - [Child] I have to open it. - [Maria] What does it say? - [Roque] It's a, a no. So we do have to do something. - [Maria] Yes, okay, so
I'm glad we opened it. I think that today you should call Tim. - You did your company
presentation already? - Actually, yeah, we did it, we did it yeah. - I did my dry run today, but I'm a need you to email me some more information on the Nintendo. All right, brother, see you tomorrow. - For your Outlook
quiz, you are sending me a meeting request and we're
gonna have this meeting every Thursday for the
entire month of February. - The 9th and the 10th. It was recurrent for the
rest of the year, right. - No, for the rest of the month. - Oh, I got that, too. - That's not how you send messages. - Year Up's everything I expected. Starting here with zero
technical knowledge. Now I'm probably like a third way in, third, I'm doing all right. It's kind of difficult
because I got so much other stuff going on like work. With my son, I really haven't made any contact with him since
I've been in Year Up, but he's walking now, you know. So he's eating meat now, like, I'm missing all that, but a growth area for Anthony will be in
maintaining his professionalism at all times, not just in the classroom or meeting spaces like that. But I don't know, man. I know they trying to get us ready for the corporate America, but I'm not in love with
corporate America that much. - [Woman] Yeah. - You know, like- - It's a hard, it's a
hard balance, too, right? Because you don't wanna lose yourself and your identity right and just become just kind of this corporate- - I think that's kind of
like what's special about me. They told me I need to start
being more professional where outside of the meetings and groups. They say you just be
chillin' and whatever. I'm like, man. - [Woman] There you go. You gotta pull it up. - That's up.
- This is no secret. - Yeah. This one called the Tony knot. I ain't doing, I'm a do it one more time. - No, you messed it all up. It's gonna be extra short.
- A baby tie. - [Woman] It's a baby tie. (triumphant music) (audience applauding) - Thank you, thank you. I appreciate that. - Just tell us to go please. - [Man] One, two, three. - I cheated, I cheated. - [Man] Get an automatic GQ. - [Woman] Come on, Eric, you got this. (audience cheering) - [Man 1] Collar must be
down, collar must be down. - [Man 2] Y'all didn't say that. - Five interesting facts about our company is that we have expanded
to Australia and Thailand. We have worked with many other companies such as Eccentra. - Shimo Monagi, it's a
pleasure to meet you. - Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, man. - Maria.
- Nice to meet you, Maria. - Shimo Monagi, it's a
pleasure to meet you. - Nice to meet you, Shimo. - The team that is
representing the company that we have a corporate partnership with and that you may or may not be able to go on internship at and the maybe after that
if you do really well like maybe you'll work there, Chase. (audience applauding) - [Man] Good job, good job, good job. (slow music) - Hello. - Hi. How are you? - Rubi. Oh, my God, it's been
so long, how you been? - I wanted to get you all more focused on your goals and what
you need to be doing. One of the biggest things is like what I've always been kind of saying to you all is that resources are limited and so that's why I've been pushing employment, employment, employment because we won't always be able to supply you all with bus cards and different things. - [Rubi] Are funds being cut? - We're getting an influx of people that need service and so we're trying to make sure that everybody gets something. Right now, I wanna switch gears and I want for you all to tell me what you're doing. - As far as school, I wasn't able to do a whole semester because I had a hold on my account
when I tried to register. - What else is going on? - That back door like
really needs to get fixed. - [Tennielle] What's wrong with it? - We don't, from when Rubi
locked herself out last time, the deadbolt never been fixed from that. And the- - [Tennielle] Well, Rubi
broke the door essentially, so that's the issue. - I don't really sleep in the night. I be like wide awake. I get anxious and be like
oh, my God, it's so silent. (somber music) - [Roque] There it is. Dear Roque, congratulations on your admission to
Northeastern Illinois University. I thought I wasn't in, but I'm in. - When we got the no letter, I immediately texted Tim at Northeastern and so Tim went from office to office, like I wanna see this kid's record and it was a mistake. They didn't have his most recent score up. They get some letter that's wrong. You don't have that person who knows and understands how all those
things work, then you're done. - I was really heartbroken, yeah. - [Maria] If you do things, be persistent, things can go right. He can do that for somebody else now because he sees how powerful that is. - What he wants, to stay here. - [Maria] I think so, as long
as everyone is fine with it. - I'm fine with it. The girls like it. I think if he's goes the girls
are gonna be sad, you know. - A long time ago I told them like I don't need anything from you. We want you here because
we want to help you and that's our goal and
then a few months ago I told him I need to rephrase what I said to you before because I
was thinking about it, like, I am extremely grateful to you and I do need you. I need for you to be a part of my family, like you're not just somebody, I don't have an empty
room I'm just waiting to fill all the time, right? Like this room is for you. This is where you go and that's different. - I'll do it right now, okay. - You know you're trying to do the right thing by people and you hope that they understand the commitment that you're making to them. You have to give if freely, right. But I wanted him to know
that he is giving back just as much to our family. We're all like (laughs). (gentle music) - I got a liking for technology now 'cause I didn't know nothing
about it before Year Up. I see my life totally different, like it's really like a new me, so, I'm just trying to like
get rid of all the things that's gonna hold me back,
like doesn't fit me anymore, so if that's like old friends that doesn't help support me get to where I'm trying to go, then that's kind of like
I got to let them go because I'm meeting a lot of new people I can help, you know,
like aid to my succession, like where I really wanna be. So I'm loving it really. Like I like being, I
wish you guys wasn't here right now so I could be
working, working, like what. (gentle music) - Feel good, just woke up. I been trying to get
on my things and stuff. I know I got a long way to go to do it but, you know, it's a process. (gentle music) (gentle music) - It's not that far, it's looks far, but it's not that far. Well, go to a service desk and ask them hey, my card doesn't work. - [Woman] Stormy. - [Woman] I'm coming doll baby. (gentle music) (gentle music) - Do you need any school
supplies or anything 'cause I have a whole cabinet full. If you do, come see me, okay? All right, sweetie, see you later. Hi, you. (gentle music) (kids chattering) (gentle music) (gentle music) (upbeat guitar music) (gentle music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (gentle music) (gentle music)
