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Art, Chingonas, Dreamers, Faith, Film, Homeless kids, Inocente, Kickstarter, Latinos in film, Parenting, Strong Women

Homeless at 9, Artist at 15

Mona Alvarado Frazier


1 in 45 Kids is homeless in the U.S.
What can you do for 1?

This is Inocente…

“In San Diego, a young teenage girl’s eyes stare into a compact mirror. She paints a dramatic black swirl around her eye. She never knows what her day will bring, but she knows at least it will always begin with paint.”

Inocente has been homeless since she was nine, along with three siblings and her mother. After escaping physical violence, she found shelters, but despair took its toll. Her mother took her up to the S.D. bridge where she told her and her siblings to jump with her. Inocente stopped her mother.

An award winning film documentary, of the same name, illustrates her rocky journey from violence, instability and despair to her dream of becoming an artist. Inocente tells you how it feels to be homeless, the conflicts, her fears, her hopes, and her art. 

But, there is a rock in the road. Although the documentary won awards the producers need more funds for community screenings, marketing, making free downloadable companion curricula for teachers and creating an arts workshop template for community organizations.

Homelessness among children contributes to juvenile and adult crime. We know that poorer children and teens are also at greater risk for several negative outcomes such as poor academic achievement, school dropout, abuse and neglect, behavioral and socio-emotional problems, physical health problems, and developmental delays. 

What can we do to help one kid, two, possibly more? 

The directors have placed their film project up on Kickstarter. It’s a fundraising site. Inocente is described as “Neither sentimental nor sensational, INOCENTE will immerse you in the very real, day-to-day existence of a young girl who is battling a war that we never see. This film will usher you into the secret life she returns to at the end of every day…”

The challenges are staggering, but the hope in Inocente’s story proves that her circumstances do not define her–her dreams do.

                                                                         


“I have a lot of impossible dreams, but I still dream them…I don’t know if I’m a strong person…”


Yes, I’d say she’s epitomizes a strong young woman. 

Inocente’s story has resonated with me and I hope it touches you. Her story is the story of thousands of kids who had hope and who dreamed. Some made it and some did not. I hope and pray that Inocente and her family makes it out of shelters into a home of their own and that her art and stories make it into galleries and the film watching world.  

Just so you know where your $10 ( or more) donation goes to:


“Shine Global is a 501(c)3 non-profit film production company dedicated to making films and other media aimed at raising awareness, inspiring action, and promoting change. All contributions to this project are tax deductible through Shine Global and will go to finishing INOCENTE. All profits Shine’s films make are returned to the children we document through partner organizations working on the ground.”

My hope is for Inocente’s film to be funded and spread far and wide. I’ll be on the lookout for her gallery showings. Follow  the Facebook page.

     Art inspires, so does compassion. I hope you are moved by Inocente’s story. 

Update:

 Inocente’s story has 14 days before funding closes (July 21st) and they are 50% to their goal. You can donate $, blog, or tweet any of these (or your own):

  @Inocentedoc exposes issues of immigration, youth homelessness, & arts edu in a touching story. Show support http://kck.st/My0yEZ
 @Inocentedoc exposes the issue of teen homelessness in a meaningful film. Support the story & cause on #kickstarter http://kck.st/My0yEZ
 Homeless but determined 15 yr. old artist Inocente defies her circumstances in @inocentedoc http://kck.st/My0yEZ

Amazon best sellers, Amazon Kindle, Books, E-books, fiction, GoodReads., Indie bookstores, Non-fiction, Summer reads for adults, Summer reads for children

Seven Ways to Build an Inexpensive Summer Reads list

Mona Alvarado Frazier


                                                                   “Summertime and the living is easy…” 

Remember that 1935 Gershwin song from Porgy and Bess. Well the living may be easy but if you are a book lover summertime may be expensive. The prices for most traditionally published print books have climbed. E-books and the costs for download compared to print version is almost the same.

Amazon announced its ten best books of 2012 (as far as chosen by its book editors) and all ten on the list were from big-six publishers who set their own prices for the e-books. None was self-published.

Random House published most of the books and all are priced at $10.99 or above for the Kindle edition, a price underscored on the Amazon sell page that was “set by the publisher.” The prices range from $10.99 to $19.99. The average price on the list is $13.79. For many of the books on the list, the Kindle price is ranges from .99¢ to $6 cheaper than the print price.

If you’re like most booklovers, you will read 24+ books a year. More than that if you are an E-Book reader.

The average American reader comes in at 3-5 books annually. Pew Research found that the majority of print readers (54%) and readers of e-books (61%) prefer to purchase their own copies of these books. Bottom line:

                            Ave. price of book (13.79) x 24 books = $330.96 per year

                   Let’s break it down per quarter. Six books purchased for summer reads: 13.79 x 6= $82.74


I’m pinching pennies for a while (I have a huge trip of a lifetime coming up soon) so reading has to come cheaper for the next year.

Here are 7 ways to get some good inexpensive reads this summer:
  •  Only Indie every new book starts at $0. The first 15 downloads are free and every download after that is a penny more, up to a maximum of $7.98, a number chosen by the site’s founders in response to what they see as too-high e-book prices at other retailers. If a book isn’t downloaded for 24 hours, its price begins to slowly drop per an algorithm designed to take 100 days to bring the price back to $0.
  • Shakespeare series for students and general readers alike. 
  • e-Libro announced more than 48,000 Spanish-language e-books are available on millions of smart phones, tablets, and other devices using ebrary’s dedicated iOS and Android™ apps with Spanish language interfaces. They digitize more than 800 titles every month. 
  • Amazon’s Kindle Top 100-Best Sellers. There are loads of e-books under $9. If you haven’t gotten around to reading Hunger Games and trilogy they’re $5. Many more well reviewed (4 star+ with 50+ reviews) e-books at $2.99. OrAmazon’s Top 100 Free e-books.  I found 3 pretty interesting books on the list.
  • Good Reads has a recommendations site that has some great looking books.
  • Free sites  such as E-Book.net. 
  • Used books: Almost every independently owned bookstore has a shelf or more of gently read used books. For not so gently read try the thrift stores.
 I know I did not list going to the library or swapping books with friends (both good choices, but each have their downsides) as these are given ways to reduce costs. 

There may be more sites out there to get quality reads, so if you know any, please contribute your finds to the list. Maybe we can get to “10 Ways…”

Oh wait,  I didn’t list my favorite way to find good inexpensive reads:

Clean out the bookself and re-read a favorite or find the one you missed. 

Happy reading!