This summer I wanted to spend more time lending my skills to other people's endeavors. My friend Mike Moroski is a dyed-in-the-wool Cincinnatian: he's run for council, run non profits, and is constantly finding new ways to meaningfully engage with his community. He reached out to me earlier this year, just as he became the new executive director of Faces without Places. The non profit focused on youth homelessness was just about to rebrand themselves as UpSpring.
The average age of a homeless person in the United States is 9 years old. UpSpring is a Cincinnati based organization that works with these children to meet their specific needs in the hopes of maintaining their educational development and childhood experience. Working with social psychologists at local universities, they're continually adjusting their programming to give kids the best experience possible.
The gurus at LPK lent their branding expertise to create a completely new look for the organization, but Mike also wanted something close to a "brand video". The very idea of children being homeless challenges most stereotypes held by middle class Americans. Mike wanted a video that could both introduce UpSpring, and humanize the issues they work to address.
With little to no creative restrictions, I reached out to Dave Morrison, a killer DP/ Director in town to collaborate with. Together, we treated the UpSpring story like a documentary- investigating as we shot, constantly trying to better understand the life these kids come from and UpSpring's unique approach to their work. We also collaborated with Liz and Josiah Wolf- incredible musicians and composers- and Brandon Kraemer for color.
I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my summer- in between jobs Dave and I would spend time following the kids to the library, the park, and with UpSpring's volunteers, all while telling the UpSpring story from scratch. It was inspiring to see so many hopeful kids, and so many volunteers who aren't involved for the sake of their own ego, but in search of a genuine outcome.
For more, visit UpSpring online. Whether you're in Ohio or not, their perspective on youth homelessness sheds light on the growing inequality gap and its tragic side effects.