![]() ![]() Watch the documentary and I bet you too will be touched by how Shawn and his mother, Crystal, recover from illness and tragedy. I could not get over how this teenager was so wise, brave, and decent in spite of his circumstances. I also grew up in the Midwest and was immediately drawn to 13-year-old Shawn, who was most prominently featured in the film. This 53-minute special by acclaimed director, Jezza Neumann, follows the children of families living in poverty. I first learned about the family when I happened to watch the PBS Frontline documentary, "Growing Up Poor in America." It was filmed in The Plains, Ohio in March 2020 just as Covid-19 was taking hold. Please join me in helping Crystal and her three children. The executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.Hi friends. The producers are Jezza Neumann and Lauren Santucci. The film is supported by Chasing the Dream, a public media initiative from WNET in New York that examines poverty, justice and economic opportunity in America.Ī FRONTLINE production with True Vision Productions in association with Channel 4. ![]() It will premiere on PBS stations and on YouTube at 9/8c.įRONTLINE is on Facebook, Instagram, tumblr, and you can follow on Twitter. 8, 2020, and is available to watch in full at pbs.org/frontline and in the PBS Video App starting that night at 7/6c. "Growing Up Poor In America" premiered Tuesday, Sept. “I actually am worried about the future… I just want us to be all right.” Poignant and unforgettable, "Growing Up Poor In America" is a window into the unique realities of child poverty in the U.S. “I think it does make it harder to get out of poverty,” Kyah says of racism towards Black people. Some of them participate in protests calling for an end to racial injustice. “She helps people that needs help,” Laikyen says.Īs the pandemic continues and the country also reckons with issues of race and racism in the wake of George Floyd’s death, the children share their worries and hopes about their futures. She is thankful for the food pantry down the street, where in addition to helping keep her family from going hungry, her beloved “Miss Candy” helps her with her homework. My grades - right now, my schoolwork is not very well,” Laikyen says. “We don’t have school because of the coronavirus. The documentary shows how that struggle is magnified when her school district goes remote. Schoolwork has long been a struggle for Laikyen, who has ADHD. Fantasy makes just over Ohio’s minimum wage: “In my opinion my mom doesn't get paid as much as she should, because my mom works hard and she deserves a little bit more,” Laikyen says. Twelve-year-old Laikyen, whose mother, Fantasy, works at a gas station to provide for Laikyen and her older sister, also feels her mom’s pain. “ I try not to show my feelings because I know it will be overwhelming and it makes things worse.” “What makes me the saddest about all this is seeing my mom like this,” Kyah says. As an escape, Kyah watches video tours of houses online, imagining that her family will one day have a home of their own. Now, rather than entering the shelter system, they’re experiencing “hidden homelessness”-with all three of them temporarily living in a single room at a relative’s house as Becky looks for work and a home they can afford within Kyah’s school district. And the family lost many of their cherished possessions when they could no longer make payments to the storage company holding their belongings: “I lost important things like pictures that I can't get again,” Kyah says. Becky was supposed to start a new job in March, but it fell through due to the pandemic. She, her mother, Becky, and her older sister, Kelia, became homeless when Becky became unable to pay their rent. It’s a dilemma that’s familiar to 14-year-old Kyah. He feels the need to protect his mother from his fears about the family’s struggle: “If I feel sad or something, and I expressed to my mom, that would make her feel sad, and so I just keep it to myself.” ![]() “My mom stretches the money that she gets to last out the whole month, but some things I can’t get that I want,” Shawn says.Īt the trailer where they are living through government assistance, Shawn helps to care for his toddler sister, striving to be a positive role model for her: “I mean, it’s a lot of pressure on me, but I try to do my best,” he says. Including food stamps, Crystal takes home the equivalent of $885 each month, an amount that leaves them unable to fix their car when it breaks down. ![]() Thirteen-year-old Shawn fears that his mom, Crystal, who keeps working at the local Salvation Army food pantry throughout the pandemic, will catch the virus. ![]()
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