From Concept to Creation

Needed Change is a seed from which "change" can grow. With the recent tumultuous political and economic situations, many adopted the slogan, "Change we can believe in." But in most instances, we found it only to be a slogan. As time has passed, the hunger for "change" has starved itself out of the picture. Like numerous others, we felt our job was done and we could wait for this so called "change" to show itself.

Personally, we have not been able to find the change and dreams recently promised. Economic stability, careers, doing what we love, and making a difference have eluded us almost completely. From our own experiences in the workforce or with personal business endeavours, we found ourselves in the same boat as many Americans and citizens of other countries, barely afloat.

Instead of wasting one more valuable minute waiting for this so called "change" we have put into place a plan to submerse ourselves in the homeless culture that millions across the world are suffering from. Our goal is not just to document problems like many before us, but to help make the needed change. By doing so, we hope to better understand and address this horrible epidemic.

By becoming one with this forgotten society we will need to learn to survive all over again. From life's basic needs such as food and shelter to handling the mental strain of life on the streets, this will be a test of will and core beliefs.

Kevin Saftner, Galen Sisco, and Drew A. Dayton are taking the first step in creating change. The first step is not words or feelings, but actions. Our journey will take us to the streets of Miami and undoubtedly many more places. With photography, film, and pen we will document our experiences in this whole new world we will be entering. Together we hope to find solutions for the Needed Change.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Begging For That Change

In it's most literal sense, I will be begging for change for the next few nights to round up some money for us to eat when we are not at the shelter and for anything else we may need along the way. I'll be hitting up South Beach, a free concert in downtown Miami, and a Miami Heat game. Hopefully people will be giving because we are getting hungry!

As we speak, Kevin and Drew are uploading a bunch of video to our hard drives to mail to Ed in San Francisco which will be posted online within the next couple of days so keep an eye out for that, should be some good stuff for you guys to check out.

This morning I was awoken by Drew throwing all of his body weight onto me and yelping, "DUCK!" Because I was already laying down on the ground I couldn't duck my head any lower so I was confused. That's when I realized it was Drew being freaked out by our duck friend who keeps company with us where we sleep. I named him Cluck Norris because his quack is more of a cluck and he's pretty flippin' tough. He's our guard duck against all those things that go bump in the night.

Monday we will be going into a program at the Miami Rescue Mission that'll take 3 days. It's for us to see what a homeless person goes through when they first enter a shelter. We will be going in undercover in the sense that we won't have any of our equipment. We figure we'll be less threatening and more authentic this way and then afterwards we'll shoot footage and interviews after meeting and gaining the trust of the people in the shelter.

We can't say thank you enough to everyone who has been helping us out along the way...Ed, thanks a million for sending us another camera and buying us a lapel mic, we're picking it up today at the mission and it will help alot. Baeckel-thanks for letting us borrow your Handycam, she's getting a huge workout but she loves it. Emma, Don, and Alex - Thanks for plugging us on the radio, that kind of exposure is really second to none. There is more I know, and we will be getting to you but to everyone else helping and following - thank you, keep up all of your hard work, it inspires us to make this project as great as possible.

-Galen
Posted by Needed Change at 8:40 AM

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