A short documentary film about kids growing up in poverty in West Baltimore, produced by Ascension’s Mission Integration team, was the topic of a recent feature story by Catholic Health World.
“The movie is stark, just like the lives of the children it depicts,” CHW said. “The setting is their West Baltimore neighborhood, where streets and alleys are strewn with trash and the windows of many buildings are covered in plywood.”
The film, “Inherit the Earth,” was produced as part of Ascension’s formation work. Bob Fish, Senior Director of Ministry Formation, said it’s the first of a series of three. One will focus on a rural area of Indiana that’s been ravaged by drugs. The other will focus on young expectant mothers living in poverty in New Orleans.
“I wanted to put some actual experiences of poverty in front of our healthcare leaders to deepen the sense of solidarity with those we serve,” he told CHW. “To whatever extent that could accelerate action, all the better.”
“Inherit the Earth” shares the experiences of five boys and girls who talk about growing up in an environment of drugs and blight.
Bob found the children with help from people at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore who connected the moviemakers with the founder of The Food Project, a training and mentorship program for young people on the city's west side.
“When Fish showed the movie to The Food Project’s founder, Michelle Suazo, she cried,” CHW said. “She then gathered children in the program to see it. ‘They just watched, and they were rapt,’ Fish recalls.”
The movie won Best Documentary Short at the Windy City International Film Festival in Chicago.
Click here for the story at Catholic Health World.
