Runaways

12:38:45 AM EDT

Send me a message at www.myspace.com/runawaysthefilm  Sometimes I can't respond promptly, but I'm always happy to hear from people who care about runaways like I do...

Peace to all.

Brent

 

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3:11:49 PM EST

I worked as a volunteer at a detention camp in Los Angeles for a couple of years.  Every Saturday me and a small group of volunteers would attend a service and then spend time being a friend and listening to a bunch of kids between ages 13 and 19.  These kids come from low-income families and are exposed to gangs from a very young age.  The issue of gangs is a huge problem in L.A., as it is in many large cities.  With both parents working and often one parent families, young children are very vulnerable to the influence of gangs.  Gangs give them a sense of belonging, but in return they must participate in the gang "culture", which includes drugs and crime.  The issues for these kids is very similar to runaways because, even though they don't run away from home per se, they do leave home to participate in the gang culture.  Also, many of these kids do experience different forms of abuse at home and therefore become troubled and more susceptible to involvement with the gangs.

I befriended some of the kids I met in the detention camp.  I acted as a mentor in an effort to help them transition from a childhood of gang involvement to a new life as a productive member of society.  Not an easy transition!  Some of the kids make the transition, many don't.  It's a very difficult, complex process as you will see from the letter I'm including in this entry.  One of the kids I befriended wants to turn his life around, but he ran into more trouble.  I'll refer to him as Antonio to protect his identity.  I asked Antonio if he would write a letter for this blog.  The purpose of it is to help kids understand that at some point they need to accept responsibility for their actions, especially if they hope to change their life.  This letter will also help all of us understand the many challenges these kids experience.  Ultimately, we must offer the programs and assistance they need to make the transition to a new life.  Here's Antonio's story:

"Growing up in Mexico was tough, especially when I had to work at a very early age on our farm and in the fields.  My dad always drank a lot and my parents were always fighting.  Often times we would go to the roof so we wouldn't hear our parents fight, or I would leave to the streets and start panhandling with the poor kids in my little town.  I would also go with the circus people that came to town, I'd work for them selling popcorn until my parents would come and get me because someone would tell them.  Then my mom would tie me up to a tree to keep me from going back on the streets.  My mother was a very strict person, but she must've been worried that the circus people would kidnap me, which they often did to little kids.  Growing up my mother wasn't really there for me, instead they would pay for a babysitter to watch over me, and that babysitter became my second mother.  She took care of me when I was a little kid.

I was always tempted to drink because I always wanted to know what it felt like to get drunk.  My dad would let me drink his beer, but I didn't really like it.  We would attend parties, usually just me and my dad would go.  In our little town, we were considered wealthy and because of this I would get into fights with a lot of kids because they would tease me.  I was always fighting.

The reason we came to the U.S. was because my dad was in debt and he lost a lot of property, cars, trucks and cattle.  He even borrowed money from my mom that he would never pay back.  My mom got tired of it so we came to live in WLA.  I never found out why my dad was always owing people.

Once we arrived in the U.S. we rented an apartment that only had one bedroom and one bathroom; no kitchen or living room.  My sisters and I got enrolled in school where I got teased because I looked ragged and didn't speak English.  Five people lived in that one bedroom apartment; me, my aunt, my mom and both sisters.  I never had what I wanted and I wasn't getting along with my family or the world, and I was barely six.

My mom would work cleaning houses and people would give her clothes and toys that their sons didn't use or want anymore.  I would wear it because my mother didn't have enough to buy me anything new.  Everything was hand-me-downs.  After a year my dad came and took us back to Mexico, saying that he didn't owe anymore and that he had changed.  So we went back but he hadn't changed, he was still drinking and still owed money.

My dad was cool even though he drank, he showed  me more love at that time than any of my family memories.  After seeing my dad the way he was I wanted to stay with him and help him, but my mom and my sisters wanted to go back to live in WLA, so they left me behind with my dad.  After a year I started missing them so I also went back to live in WLA, where we were cramped into another one bedroom apartment, worse than the first one we had.  When I left my dad cried and I didn't want this, I wanted our family to be together, but I didn't know my parents were separated until I was 13.  I just thought they needed some time apart.  At this point I enrolled in school and got into playing baseball.  After I started speaking better English, I began making a lot of friends.

After a while my aunt returned to Mexico, she then got sick and we left to go be with her.  She passed away and that hurt all of us, especially me because I acted up with her.  We stayed there for a couple months, then we ended up returning to L.A.  But this wasn't for good because my dad came to stay with us for 6 months, then he took me and my sisters back to Mexico to live with him.  We lived there for a year.  We went to school and I was still helping him do farm work.  I had to earn my money.

When we came back to live in WLA my mom had gotten to know this lady that was the owner of some apartments.  I found out my mom had worked for her for a long time, like way before I was born.  That lady was named Ms. B and and she was such a nice lady, I will never forget her.  Set let us rent a one bedroom apartment that had a bathroom, living room and kitchen, so it was cool.  I lived there and played baseball at the park.  I looked up to the gang members that hung out at the park, they were like role models.  My coach was a gang banger, I thought it was cool because everyone else was backing you up.  I joined a gang called ****** at an early age, but then we moved to SM, where we lived for a couple months because my mom was a caregiver to an old lady.  I had no freedom because we were staying at the old lady's house and I had to be inside our room most of the day.  I was going to school also.  My sisters were staying at my other aunt's house.

During that time my mother met someone who was a gentleman and who I thought was just a friend.  He took us out a lot and gave us presents for the holidays.  He was real nice, but I didn't want anyone to take my dad's place.  He started attending my baseball game and taking time to play with me.  He took us to Vegas, batting cages, just being there for us. 

We moved back to WLA because the old lady died.  We rented a two bedroom, one bathroom and kitchen with living room and porch for $500.  It was one of the apartments Ms. B owned.  I got along great with the kids in the neighborhood.  My mom called the cops on me once because I didn't come home for two days.  When I saw the cops at the house I called her and asked her what was going on.  She just said "come home," so I did.  She told the cop I was just around the corner and not to worry.

At this point my mother started going out with Tony and for her birthday she received a car from him, but she didn't want to drive it.  Tony was my stepdad, the only person who gave us gifts for Christmas and bought us clothes to wear.  But I got tired of wearing the same clothes so I started stealing at Sears.  We had now moved back to SM and Tony moved in with us.  I started stealing more until I got caught and they charged my parents $500 for it.  I would've gone to juvi if they didn't pick me up, but they did.  They grounded me, but I was like "FU, both you ain't my dad."

I went to live with my homie, a member of a rival neighborhood gang.  I started smoking weed and drinking.  When I went home, I was still grounded so I went along with it.  But at school I was getting in fights and in a lot of trouble.  I started going out with this one girl that I fell in love with, her name was Tammi.  she stole my heart and broke it too.  Soon, I started my own gang with three clicks.  Mostly all of us were in middle school, we were like 50 strong, with 10 older kids and me, a little kid, being the leader.

Around summer I went to Mexico to be with my dad.  I'm about 13 years old now.  I began going out with my dad and we started getting drunk together.  We got so drunk once that we even started drinking rubbing alcohol.  We got so sick, my dad even threw up blood.  I helped him in a little store and on the farm.  I crashed his only car by accident.  One Sunday I got a phone all from my mom, she tells me my stepdad has cancer, so I had to leave my dad behind.  He told me he doesn't want me to leave and he cries.  I don't want to leave, but I do because I don't know if I'll ever see Tony again.

Back in SM I started putting together my click because everyone split upafter I left, the gang was gone.  Me and my family started spending time together.  At this point one of my sisters, Marci, gets pregnant, she was staying in Chicago.  The school puts me in therapy and it was the worst.  The lady I had one day asked me if I knew my parents were separated, I told her I didn't know that.  I started acting up at home because my mom never told me the truth.  My parents took me to a psychologist who started making fun of me, so I told him I was going to stab him.  I ended up in a mental hospital for 9 months, while I was in there I was mad at the world.  I was always hitting staff and the other people who picked on me because I was little.  I was always in the Restrain Room, where they strapped me down to a bed and injected me with what we called "booty juice.  I spent most of the time in that room.

After I got out of there, the middle school didn't want me, so I was out of school for two months.  At this time I'm trying to get my girlfriend back but it's too late.  I started smoking more weed than before and I started getting into the real gang scene.  After proving myself I got jumped at a hood party on a dead end street for 13 seconds.  There my nickname became ***** because I was drunk all the time off *****.  That gang became my second family, people I could hang out with and never be a loner or a loser because no one would mess with gangsters, which were the role models I looked up to.

After two months I get sent to a school that's full of my enemies.  I started getting into fights with people from rival gangs.  The only people I hung out with at the new middle school were people that I grew up with and two dudes from Venice that backed me up.  Since that didn't work out, I got sent back to the SM middle school, where I lasted only two months, then the district decided to send me to a group home located in Riverside.  After that things just changed forever.  I found myself in juvenile hall, a homeless runaway because the police were always looking for me.  I carried guns, sold drugs, drank and smoked weed.

After my stepdad Tony died, I turned it up a notch.  I was sad as hell.  Then my best friend got killed.  Things were real crazy and I began to realize the consequences of my crazy life.  I went to placement twice, camp twice,juvenille hall was my second home.  In placement I ran the Mexicans.  I was a leader and a follower.  My probation terminated.  I turned 18, got sent to county for a DUI.  At 19 I went back to county for obstructing arrest for some terrorist threats.  Now I'm serving a prison term of six years because I was with one of my homies when he hit and robbed someone.  I'm here for something I didn't do. 

It's hard looking back.  I had choices and I made the wrong decisions in life.

But I'm lucky to be alive.  I've been shot at and stabbed.  I've been in many situations where I should have been waisted, but God gave me a second chance to live and complete a mission.  Recently, two of my best friends I grew up with got killed in a gang related shooting.  It's sad because they won't get to live a life of happiness.  I will never see them again.

I pray that kids don't make mistakes that can't be repaired.  There are things in my life that will never be repaired.  And it's all my fault.  Instead of working and doing what I was supposed to be doing, I was causing harm to people and my loved ones, but especially to myself.  I was on a path to self destruction.

No one is perfect and no one said it was gong to be easy.  I hope things work out for all troubled and runaway kids.  Never stop trying and never give up!  Life is full of great things, don't pass it by being bad and hurting others, but by helping and loving each of your brothers and sisters.  I did not include many of the details, but I hope the little bit I wrote helps some kid turn his/her life around.  I was suicidal.  I was bad, but people like Brent helped me be and find who I truly was, a human being capable of loving and being strong in any situation.  Prison is not fun and it's not the place to be, but I have a chance that I'm going to take advantage of.  God bless every one of you. 

With love and respect,

Antonio."

God bless you too, Antonio, and thank you for sharing your incredible story!

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6:23:46 AM EST
Feeling Chillin'

Many troubled and abused kids think that fame and fortune will bring them happiness, such as the character Andy in Runaways.  They see all the attention famous people get and all the nice things money affords them.  Of course they're not the only ones who buy into this illusion.  And I'm not knocking fame and fortune, but it isn't the ultimate source of happiness.  Generally, the difference between a well balanced young person and a troubled one is that the troubled one doesn't have a clear perspective, he/she loses his/her identity in pursuit of that fame and fortune (or romance).  A well balanced young person may strive for fame and fortune, but they're not willing to sacrifice their identity in the process.  In other words, they find contentment within themselves and are not depending on something else to fill them.  The key is really for the troubled and abused young person to realize his/her value as a spiritual person and not allow the abuse they incurred to define them.  This can be challenging because it requires a radical change in attitude.  Fame and fortune can only hide the scars of discontent, it can not give fulfillment.  Obtaining material success is an accomplishment, not the ultimate answer.  Here's a Mexican parable that helps illustrate my point:

An investment banker from the U.S. was at the pier of a coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.  Inside the boat were several large yellow-fin tuna.  The investment banker complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

"Only a little while", replied the Mexican.  The banker asked why he didn't stay out longer and catch more fish, and the Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.  The banker asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, and stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play my guitar with my friends.  I have a full and busy life."

The investment banker scoffed: "You should spend more time fishing and, with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat.  With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats.  Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.  Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery.  You would need to leave this small coastal village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles, and eventually New York City where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?"  The banker replied, "15 to 20 years."

"But what then?" the fisherman asked.  The banker laughed and said, "That's the best part.  When the time is right you would float your company on the market and sell your stock to the public and become very rich.  You would make millions."

"Millions... then what?"

The investment banker said, "Then you would retire.  Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your friends."

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9:12:19 AM EST
Feeling Happy
Hearing Top 11 video countdown, currently on #3, Kelly Clarkson's Because of You

It's been an incredible year with Runaways reaching an increasingly wider audience, but a lot more work still needs to be done!  Many thanks to all those who have supported the movie!  Let's make 2006 a year that sees more troubled and abused children getting the support and guidance they desperately need.  My movie will continue to be a part of the campaign of awareness and support for these kids!

God bless you all!!

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9:27:38 AM EST
Feeling Chillin'
Hearing The sound of the airplane in flight...

I'm on my way to Europe for the Holidays...  I have an appointment with Mary, the Mother of God, in Lourdes.  I will be stopping in a couple other European destinations, but I will be in Lourdes, where the Blessed Mother appeared, for Christmas.  Many believe that not only did she appear but that she has a continual presence there.  I will go to her with all my prayers, fears, worries, dreams and sins.  She takes it all to her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, where all sins are promptly forgiven and all prayers are answered by God's divine love and mercy.  Heady stuff, even for a believer...

So, in my last entry I told you about my runaway story.  Now that it's almost Christmas, I'll tell you a brief follow-up story.  First, I should explain that I'm a "guilty" person.  By that, I mean, I often feel guilty.  Of course, like all of us, sometimes I should feel guilty but other times, I feel guilty just because I'm a "guilty" person.  I'm certain this came from my mom's constant badgering about this being a venial sin and that being a mortal sin.  According to her, everything was either a sin or a sin in the making.  I got over most this guilt stuff, but not all.  In fairness, not all her pronouncements were negative; when I was little my mom would also tell me I'm a prince and other grandiose designations.  As much as I wished they were true, and maybe at first I would believe them, I would see our life and then I instinctively knew this couldn't possibly be true, no matter how badly I wanted it to be.

Anyway, I ran away for numerous valid reasons, but I've always felt slightly guilty about how that affected my mom (remember she's not well mentally) and my grandmother, uncle, cousins (you get the picture), mainly because I left just before Christmas and they were expecting me.  I wanted to make it up to all of them.

I suppose for most families, visiting for Christmas is "normal".  With my dad and his fifth (and likely final) wife, it has become normal.  But since my mom lives in a different state and isn't altogether there, I've been remiss about making a regular trip to visit her for Christmas.  I've visited close to Christmas and at other times of the year, but it's been since I was little that I spent time with her on Christmas Day.

After years of having it in the back of my mind, I finally decided to go and visit my mom for Christmas.  My wife was very supportive.  She knows about how my mom is crazy and was abusive, but she also knows that it's important for me (and helpful to my mom) to have a positive relationship, at least to the degree that is possible.  To me, it always feels like I'm the one making the effort to mend the fence when others are the ones who smashed it.  I guess this mainly applies to my parents and my siblings.  It seems most of them do not wish to take responsibility for anything they've done in their life.  I'm the opposite.  I want to take responsibility for everything, to the point of feeling (you guessed it) guilty.

So, over the years, I've made a consistent effort to establish a relationship with my now-sober dad and my well-medicated mom and let them know I forgive them for the abuse they inflicted on me as a child.  This could only be possible if I have truly forgiven them, and I have, or least I'm constantly working on it.  My wife has been helpful to this "process" because forgiving is a process.

I booked the trip to Kansas City.  However, on the day of travel, there was an issue with the airline and the only place we could land was Wichita, which was over 3 hours outside of our destination.  We would have to rent a car and drive nonstop to be there on Christmas Eve, so that's what we did.  I was determined to arrive on Christmas Eve, the way I was supposed to years ago.  I got there around 9:30pm and was able to spend time with my mom and then I went to my uncle's and was able to spend time with him and my cousins, all the people I missed that Christmas many years before.  It was great!!  The only person who wasn't there was my grandmother, who passed away years ago, but I said a special prayer for her and I wished her a Merry Christmas from my heart and I know she heard me because I've had good dreams about her... I'm not sure they all understood the significance of my visit, but it didn't matter because all of us were happy...

To all, Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!!!

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11:41:00 AM EST
Feeling Chillin'
Hearing MTV

What makes a kid run away from home?  There are many possible reasons, but the simple answer is abuse.  Abuse can take many forms: verbal, emotional, physical and sexual.  Neglect is also a form of abuse.  I'll tell you my runaway story.

I wanted to run away a long time before I did, but for years I was afraid and didn't know what to do or where to go, which made me feel even more trapped.  When I finally did get the courage to change my circumstances, I ran to a place that was far from the ideal environment, but it was better than where I had been.  For many troubled kids the only alternative is the street.  That's why youth drop-in centers and shelters are so important.  There are many teens/youths that need help but don't have a safe place to go, so they accept the abuse because they don't want to end up on the street.

As far as my situation, my parents were rarely around, so my brothers and sisters and I had a great deal of independence.  Essentially, we raised ourselves.  We needed discipline and structure.  We needed someone to go to when there was a problem.  We didn't have any of that, so we made our own rules and created our own solutions, and often the results were destructive.

So that's the background, greatly simplified, but there it is.  Okay, at about 14 my siblings and I were split up.  My two older sisters were long gone, my oldest brother was staying with a friend.  My middle brother was living with my dad and his fourth wife, but that brother never seemed to be around when I "visited".  I was living with my dad's secretary.  Previous to this, all of us boys lived alone in a house my dad rented for us in Encino.

My stepmother du jour was not interested in having children in her house.  I mean, I suppose if I was the perfect child.  In fact, I always tried to be, but with this stepmother, my effort wasn't enough.  I felt I was interrupting her and my dad's lifestyle (which I was!).  The turning point came when I wanted to have a little fun and took my stepmother's Mercedes for a joy ride.  Her teenaged daughter had opened the door to the idea by taking me out on a joy ride of her own.  But I couldn't blame her when things went wrong: As I descended the steep driveway, the back of my stepmom's car slammed against the pavement.  In that instant, I knew there would be serious consequences.

I was right.  A few days later, I got a call from my dad who was clearly upset, "Did you drive Jane's car?!  The fuel tank is damaged!"  I couldn't lie, so after a brief, guilty hesitation, I told him the truth.  The next morning I met with him, it was one of the few occasions he actually had a conversation with me, and it was to inform me that I had to go to boarding school.  Of course I was hurt, but at this point in my life I was numb.  Besides, I saw it as an adventure because I thought maybe I could find a place to call "home".

I liked boarding school but the restrictive lifestyle didn't work out for me, so I was back in front of my stone faced dad.  He wanted to put me back in boarding school, but I had a brilliant idea, "I want to stay with mom."  He agreed so easily that it seemed he also thought it was a good idea.  Of course, I could've suggested living with a stranger and so long as they would take me in, he would've agreed.

My runaway experience occurred at my mom's.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, my mom suffers from a mental illness.  It was a family secret.  All the adults knew but didn't discuss it, not even with each other.  Therefore, explaining to the children why she would have psychotic episodes and then mysteriously disappear was out of the question.

By the time I moved in with her, my mom was living a calm, well medicated life with my grandmother.  At first everything seemed okay, but then things got very strange.  My mom began reading from a journal she wrote which she claimed was dictated to her by God, Christ and different saints.  In fact, she called the journal her "dictations".  Now I have to say, for as long as I can remember, I knew something was not totally right with my mom, so this new development wasn't surprising to me.  But her insistence that I believe what she had written and the bizarre nature of it caused me to be very uncomfortable.  No one explained to me what was going on with her, so I finally ran away to live with my sister and her husband.  They seemed like the ideal family from a distance, but moving in with them created a whole new set of challenges for me, mainly because my sister's seemingly perfect life was actually in a state of virtual chaos.

Years later I was thankful I spent that time with my mom because despite her craziness, she's truly a great lady.  Obviously, her illness caused her to be abusive to me when I was little and it prevented us from having any semblance of a normal relationship.  Luckily, my dad removed me from her custody when I was 6.  It should've happened a lot sooner, but custody laws were more complicated back then, and besides living with him wasn't that much better.  Anyway, when I lived with my mom as a teen she was in a "controlled" environment so at least I got an opportunity to spend time with her.  After almost a year it became overwhelming for me, but ultimately I was grateful for the experience.

Another family secret was that my dad is an alcoholic.  This "secret" can be attributed to the deceptive nature of the "disease" http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/info2/a/aa022697.htm.  I learned about this years later after my dad had been sober for a while.  My dad suffered many losses due to his alcohol addiction.  When I discovered he was a functioning alcoholic during my childhood, it helped explain a lot, like the reason I didn't have a dad, at least one that was physically and emotionally available.  Years ago we reconciled, and it's good to finally know him.

It helped me to understand my parents' conditions so I could forgive them.  As angry and hurt as I was, I still wanted to forgive.  I knew that was the only way out from the pain.  But forgiveness is a process that takes time, and it's something I work on everyday.  It's worth it though because by letting go I have found a sense of freedom I never knew before.

And that point brings me to Runaways.  In the movie, I include the message that troubled teens need to let go of the past and move on with their lives, no matter how difficult it is.  That message is embodied in the line "One step at a time", which is the motto used by the counselors at the shelter in the movie.

Another story and more on Runaways later...

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6:38:10 AM EST
Feeling Chillin'
Hearing MTV

The other day I got it into my head that I wanted to contact this friend I worked with years ago in Beverly Hills.  Not sure why all of a sudden I wanted to reach this person, maybe because he was a friend during a rough time in my life.  I just wanted to see how he's doing and say "hey".  So I went through a bunch of my old things looking for the number of that friend I used to know.  I searched and searched, going through one dusty, moldy paper and book after another.

As I was going through my stuff, I came across some of my old journals and began reading them.  It was very interesting to see how I dealt with things back then.  After reading some of the journals, I realized that in some ways I'm the same as I was years ago, and in other ways I'm very different.  I guess I have similar likes and dislikes as back then, some dreams I've already accomplished, other dreams I'm still working on, but what really changed was my attitude.  I have more hope for the future and more trust that whatever problems I have aren't so bad and will work out.  And that gave me comfort.  Despite my achievements, my life is essentially the same, but it has improved because I have learned to be more optimistic.  It's all about attitude.

Finally, I found the old address book that was supposed to have the number of my friend, but the number wasn't there.  And then I wondered why I felt it was so important to find it in the first place.  Funny.  Maybe from some subconscious point of view, it was meant for me to have that epiphany, to gain that perspective of life that hits us once in a while.  But also the experience gave me the idea for this blog!...  And about the old friend?  I'm sure I'll run into him again someday, but until then I wish him well...

Now, I want to thank some more of the people who helped make Runaways the success that it has become, although success is a relative term because we still have a lot more work to do!...  There's Esteban Powell, whose performance captivates people.  Joseph Aguilar, who not only gives an awesome performance, but also helped promote the movie.  Dominik Hauser who created a subtle but extremely effective score, and Todd Robinson who lent his talent in many ways.  Lili Ungar who handled the PR during production.  And of course thanks to all my family and friends, especially my wife, who were so supportive...

Next time I'll share another story and talk more about the film...

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1:11:36 AM EST
Feeling Chillin'
Hearing Die Another Day!

Being so close to Thanksgiving, it's the perfect time to express gratitude!  Yeah!  Not that I don't do that during the rest of the year, but I want my readers to know about some of the people who helped make Runaways a reality.  There are many, many people who contributed to the success of the film, and I'm grateful to them all!  By the way, we're still working hard to reach our audience, so please tell your friends and family about the movie and encourage them to see it!

My primary goal with Runaways wasn't for personal gain; my intention was always for this film to reach teens/youths so they can benefit from its messages and to increase awareness of the issue.  The more awareness, the more people who will lend a helping hand to teens/youths in need.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want teens who read this to reflect on the good things in their life and be grateful.  If things aren't good right now, I encourage you to reach out for help.  There is always the worry of knowing who to trust.  I've been there!  But if you look around, you'll find someone who can help, like a counselor at school, a local youth center or shelter, or even a teen hotline such as National Runaway Switchboard, www.1800Runaway.org  Point is, reach out!

People ask me, "What can I do to help troubled teens?"  I encourage you to be more sensitive to the teens/youths around you.  Let them know you care by listening to them, even if you don't like what you're hearing!  A little patience and understanding goes a long way!  Get involved with your community youth centers and shelters, either by giving time or money.

For those adults who know a teen or youth that is experiencing some type of abuse, reach out to help them!  The worst thing we can do is pretend nothing is happening; use all reasonable channels to end the abuse, even if it requires you to make some sacrifices.  It could be one of the most important things you ever do, and it will change a life!!

All this may sound like common sense, but too often we allow fear to cause us to remain in a state of inaction, this applies to kids and adults, so let's have courage!...

Okay, now to the people I want to thank.  I'll mention more as we go along in this blog, but I'll start with...  Ethan Black, who was there in the very beginning.  He helped me produce the movie, not only because he liked the story but also because we share a passion for the issue.  Susan Johnston, a great friend who gives a dynamic performance in the film and has been incredibly supportive with promotion.  Richard Arlook, who is one of the coolest people I've ever met!  Austin O'Brien for his phenomenal portrayal of Steve Moore, a kid on the edge.  Gloria Morrison and Eric Louzil of Echelon Entertainment for their tireless commitment to me and Runaways.  Gloria, you know I'm crazy about you!  Also, there's Demetrius Navarro, who is very talented and has helped in many ways.  Arif Kinchen and Meg Maryatt, between the two of them we got most of the cool music in the movie.  Above all, I want to thank God!!

Like I said, there are many, many others and all of them are awesome so we'll continue this later...

 

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10:45:04 PM EST
Feeling Chillin'
Hearing Meteora

A good friend called yesterday and said straight-out "I didn't know you were a runaway."  At first I didn't know how to respond because it's true that it's not something I talk about.  So I explained to him that I don't normally feel comfortable talking about some of the experiences I went through as a kid because I'm not proud of them.  But now I'm hoping by sharing my experiences, it will help teens/youths know that they're not alone, that others have gone through what they're going through, and I want them to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel!  Truth is, the challenges I was confronted with as a kid made me a stronger person because they forced me to find the strength within myself to overcome them.

Now let's talk about the movie...

A lot of people ask me if the movie is based on my life, actually that's a good question!  But, no, the movie isn't about me.  Of course, I can relate to some of the things these characters go through, but mostly the characters are based on kids I met when I did research in shelters, and one of the characters is about a good friend of mine.

The teen characters are...  Steve (Austin O'Brien), Sally (Arielle Paul), Mike (Demetrius Navarro), Andy (Esteban Powell) and Marcus (Arif S. Kinchen).  In this entry I've included some stills from the film which have these characters in them...

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3:51:17 PM EST
Feeling Hopeful
Hearing Soundtrack from The Bourne Supremacy

Hi, my name is Brent and I was a runaway.  Coming from a troubled background, I can share many stories with you, but this isn't about me.  This journal is for all the runaway and abused teens/youths that remain voiceless.

I was fortunate enough to get the support I needed to turn my life around, and if not for the caring people who helped me, things could've turned out a lot differently.

Tragically, some teens/youths are not fortunate, their story doesn't have a happy ending, but for the vast majority of them, their story is still unfolding.  Each of us can make a difference in their lives.  Not only can we help them, but we can empower them to help themselves.

This journal is about giving a voice to the teens/youths who can't speak for themselves.  And it's about representing those who are not yet able to speak for themselves.

With my film Runaways I wanted to make a difference, to increase awareness of this vitally important social issue, to let teens/youths know that someone cares and that their life can change.  Countless people have supported me on this journey.  Together we have made a difference, but our work has only just begun.

When will we be done?  The day every runaway, abused and homeless teen/youth has a place to call home, a nurturing environment, free from abuse and indifference.

Please join me in reaching out to this forgotten segment in our society, join me in letting them know that someone cares and that there is hope for the future.  After all, they are our future.

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