Back By Popular Demand in Naperville: Documentary About Homeless Women

A record crowd showed up to watch “on the edge: Family Homelessness in America” last week at the Naperville Independent Film Festival. Because of this reaction, festival organizers have invited the film back for a screening at Center Stage on Saturday, 10/1, at 7:30 pm.

This opportunity thrills Diane Nilan, founder of Naperville nonprofit HEAR US Inc., one of the partners in this film project, who stated, “We welcome getting the word out about the real story of homelessness, the one affecting millions of invisible women and children in this country.” Poverty and homelessness are realities in affluent Naperville, DuPage County and the Fox Valley according to Nilan. “Just take a look at the statistics about the growth of poverty. Where you find poverty you’ll always find homelessness.”

Nilan teamed up with Laura Vazquez, a media professor at Northern Illinois University to film and produce “on the edge,” an in-depth look at the lives of seven women who’ve experienced homelessness. Nilan, who left this week for her 7th cross-country HEAR US journey to give voice and visibility to homeless children and youth, will be screening this film in New York, Washington DC and Atlanta, GA in the next few weeks.

Vazquez will finish the technical refinements to make the film available for television broadcast. “We know how powerful this film is,” declared Vazquez. “The women’s stories reflect the painful reality of a growing number of families in this economically-ravaged country.” This hour-long documentary was released almost a year ago at a national premiere event in Naperville, a tribute to long-serving legislator Mary Lou Cowlishaw who championed the issue of homeless children.

Center Stage Theater is located at 1665 Quincy Ave., Suite 131, on the far west side of Naperville.

Both women hope that greater awareness leads to a compassion epidemic and to systemic changes to alleviate poverty and homelessness. And perhaps Naperville will be ground-zero in this uphill campaign.