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To Be Young And Homeless In America

That’s Rotimi Rainwater, the producer of the Shawnee Smith documentary about Orthodoxy. He and his team are also working on a documentary called Lost In America, about homeless youth. The team posted this image just now from their shoot in Orlando, Florida. The caption: Rotimi took us where he used to sleep in Lake Eola. […]

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That’s Rotimi Rainwater, the producer of the Shawnee Smith documentary about Orthodoxy. He and his team are also working on a documentary called Lost In America, about homeless youth. The team posted this image just now from their shoot in Orlando, Florida. The caption:

Rotimi took us where he used to sleep in Lake Eola. The red building in the background is where his grandmother used to live… “I used to watch my grandmother’s light turn on in the morning and just know that she’s right there and I’m stuck here….”

His grandmother was wealthy. He was a young man, his mother was in the hospital dying of cancer, and they had nothing. His rich family wanted nothing to do with them. He had nowhere to live but the streets.

Yesterday Rotimi himself posted this on the Facebook page:

I’m at a loss for words . What do you say to a young woman who tells you her father started raping her at 5 yrs old and filmed it. Or that her mother helped and her sister was impregnated 3 times by her father before both her mother & father were sent to prison. What can I possibly say? I’m sorry? Don’t even know what else to write here. The weight of this project just came crashing down on me and the entire team.

Rotimi

My God.

Here’s the website for Lost In America, and a promotional clip. They’re an indie project, and can always use financial help, if you are so moved:

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