Raising Hope: The Equal Voice Story

Country: U S A

Director: Maria Bures

Runtime: 00:55:46

Category: all documentaries

Short Synopsis: Even before the current recession, 37 million people in America were living in poverty. Today, there are likely millions more. Raising Hope is the story of 15,000 low-income families who came together in 2008 to create a national platform for lifting themselves out of poverty.

Detailed Synopsis: In September 2007, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, in conjunction with its grantees, launched Equal Voice for America's Families, a family-led campaign to raise awareness of the issues affecting poor and working families across the country. Raising Hope: The Equal Voice Story chronicles the journey of the Equal Voice campaign, starting with the stories of parents and children struggling to lift themselves out of poverty. From California to Texas, five families let us into their homes to see how they survive day to day. The Equal Voice Campaign of 2008 included single moms like Charmaine Parker, whose income barely covered her living expenses, and New Orleans dad Brandon Mitchell, struggling to raise three children on earnings as a barber. Through 65 local town hall meetings, culminating in a large-scale, multiple city convening, the Equal Voice campaign gave voice to 30,000 low-income families, who are often talked about but never spoken to. Through Equal Voice, they came together and created a national family platform that proposed policy solutions to the issues affecting them. They recognized that despite different income levels, races and geographic regions, they shared a common future and common dreams for their children. Equal Voice calls on the country to do better by its families. Two years later, as the Great Recession sweeps millions more into poverty, their words are even more relevant. Hear what low-income families have to say about what it will take for the poor to make it in America.