Next I saw Rainbow House a local documentary about six homeless teenagers who were the first inhabitants of Rainbow House, a shelter for homeless and runaway teens.
Three of the teens were female, three were male. Five were gay, one was straight. Two were black, four were white. All had been on the streets for some time before the shelter finally opened.
Calling it a shelter is misleading. It is a fully furnished home in a middle class neighborhood that caters to a maximum of 8 youths. It is well staffed with professional social workers and psychologists. The kids have to sign a contract agreeing to the house rules which include that they either have to go to school or get a job.
Rainbow house is the third such facility in the country.
The film was pretty even handed, given that even making it showed where the filmmaker's sympathies lie. By the end of the film, three of the kids were doing well and there seemed to be hope for them. (Two of the kids were in attendance and answered questions after the film.)
However, three of the kids were back on the streets by the end of the film. Two of them were girls that just makes you cringe. These two girls were back into alcohol, prostitution and one of them was trying to get pregnant.
Sad, but after watching them and the choices they made, I had no sympathy for them. They were given a very good chance and blew it. Good riddence.
