Next SW 2.0 Column Ready! I Want You To Be Part of This Experience: Kickstarter

Folks, my next SW 2.0 column for The New Social Worker can be found at the link below:

I Want You To Be Part of This Experience: Kickstarter

This article focuses on how two different arts projects are using a site called Kickstarter to help spread project awareness, connect with others, and raise funds. Here’s an excerpt:

Don’t you want to know what happens in this movie? Titled Mother’s Red Dress, this film is a:

…tragic love story about a young man suffering from amnesia who’s trying to piece together the past after seeing his mother kill her abusive boyfriend. He leaves home and moves to a small town in Southern California where he meets a young woman who inspires him to rebuild his life with her. All is going well until he receives a call from his mother who says she is dying of cancer and wants to see him one last time. She offers to reunite her son with his father who abandoned them years ago—his father wanting to convince his son that he is a changed man. He returns home, hopeful his mother has changed but finds his past waiting for him in the house where he grew up. (Official film description,http://www.MothersRedDress.com).

Mother’s Red Dress

The story itself is very personal for John Paul Rice, one of the filmmakers who worked with the director on the script. John was inspired by his mother, herself a survivor of an abusive household, to create a film where family members explore the complex relationships and choices they make when coping with abusive family situations. In John’s words, “Children are trained to love their parents. People make decisions and choices according to their environments. There is always hope that people will change. The film explores the pain of denial that each character faces, yet in the end each makes different choices to cope.”

John hopes that the film will bring to light the damaging effects of denial and help others to face their own experiences and feel hopeful for the future. He and the film’s writer, Edgar Michael Bravo, spoke with many folks and social service organizations with experiences with domestic violence. He was inspired by those who survive and try to thrive despite the trauma. He hopes that others will relate to the characters and have a positive, thoughtful, meaningful reaction, such as taking the best you can from others and giving the best you can of yourself.

Read the rest of the article here. What fun projects have you found on Kickstarter? How might you use it in your practice?