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.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

The Greatest Loss

A friend, lover, a moment in time, a dollar, or even a car...everybody has lost one of these.  The ways it could have happened are endless.  The fact of the matter is they no longer are there.  It is impossible to compare a life to a TV, but it is always easy to compare your loss too somebody elses.  We have lost money and felt terrible about it and we also have had friends lose money and allow it to slip into a distant memory almost instantly.

During this project, we ran into a rough patch that we're sure most of you are aware of but to those who don not know, all of our equipment was stolen a week ago. To most, if ever there were a time to quit this would be it, and we can understand that stance but it's not one we can align with.  If it were not for an encouraging, supportive, and ambitious group of friends and family, we probably would mail it in. We must also take into account that so many people on these same streets have lost so much more than we have such as jobs, families, lives, security, identity, connectedness or love but you know what, they've kept going.

We can never truly understand the feeling of what they have been through, and very few others could either because what we have lost is just a miniscule amount that pales in comparison.  Today we realize this occurance has turned out to be more of a blessing than it has been a loss of monetary/materialistic value.  We may have less equipment, but we now have more passion and understanding of what it means to try to make it with nothing. And yes, acquiring more equipment is essential to the completion of this project, but we have faith enough to know that when the heart of a project is for the greater good, things work their way out.

Yesterday, we teamed up with Rescue Earth, an extraordinary non-profit which hails from Miami, to help preserve, restore, and expand upon a garden in the art district of Miami. Our intentions were to just lend a hand to a great cause, clean up some garbage, and help spur on a project that has hopes of boasting a solar-powered outdoor internet cafe as well as producing some great organic food products such as mangos, papayas, avacados, watermelon, and many other fruits and vegetables. Through helping Rescue Earth, we met some incredible individuals, in particular, the founder Jose Rivas and board members Dean and Fin.

Dean and Fin want to help us with our project and we want to help with them with their ideas. Isn't that what life truly is about when it comes to business? Helping others achieve their goals so it can produce a greater good. We think so. Please hope on over to their website, http://www.rescueearth.org/ and check out what they are doing. They are all dedicated to preserving earth's resources and making this planet a cleaner and more efficient place, and that is a cause we all can stand for. We look forward to sharing the news with everyone following us on how they are going to be helping us because it will be in a big way as they have already offered us use of their production equipment and more importantly, their time. Nothing compares to the rewards of helping one another, nothing.

Hopefully, within the next 2-3 days, we will be using the equipment we need to get the project rolling again in the realm of interviews. The Flip cam just isn't the best in the world for interviews with the homeless and other people we meet so hopefully that gets taken care of soon.

Yesterday we were able to take showers at the mission which was awesome to get cleaned up for it has been awhile. Few experiences compare to showering with 6 other homeless people in a community shower. It taught us that even something so simple, such as bathing, is taken for granted far too often. To such is life for those who do not have the resources to bathe in the comfort and secludedness of their own home though.

For now, we are going to get some more footage with our Flip and then meet with the guys from Rescue Earth tommorow morning. As always, thanks for following.

P.S. Galen awoke with bird "droppings" on his sleeping bag this morning.

-Kevin, Galen, & Drew
Posted by Needed Change at 11:47 AM

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