When Dan Berdusco decided to make a documentary on homelessness, he was intent on financing it himself. So he did. Once he finds a distributor, all the proceeds will be used to help the homeless and finance programs to improve lives. What’s in it for Dan? Knowing that he played a part in improving the life of somebody’s sister, brother, son or mother.
“Humanizing the homeless is the first step. The public’s perception needs to change.” Society tends to see the homeless as lazy and irresponsible by choice. This is a huge misconception. Factoid #2, the majority of homeless are a result of mental illness, exposure to trauma, neglect and abuse at an early age, as well as drug addiction in their adult life.
In order to gather as many perceptions as possible Dan sought out the assistance of the Municipality. They were essential in supporting Dan’s quest by supplying him with introductions to police, doctors, social workers and other organizations directly involved in the community.
He accompanied the police for a ride-along in the downtown beat patrol. He had lengthy conversations with a doctor that had worked in the downtown Hastings area of Vancouver for over 10 years. He met with organizations such as Housing First to understand how they help get people off the street. Dan collected between 60-80 hrs. of interviews from Nov. 2013 to Oct. 2015.
He concluded that compassion from the public, does help save lives.
