Before I moved to New York, when I was about 19 years old I found that my life had unraveled after graduating high school. Somehow I just ended up drifting, and I found myself needing a job.
I applied and got hired to work in a group home for SED boys. SED stands for Severally Emotionally Disturbed. I had absolutely no experience working with children at that time outside of babysitting, but, I was hired to work the night shift in this group home.
My job was to make sure that every ten minutes I did checks on the room to make sure every child was in their own bed. Haunting to think back on. I will never forget the boys that were there, but there was one that stood out in particular and why my job was so important.
This child had found himself in this group home after his father shot his mother and murdered her and then killed himself in front of his little boy. The child had no other family that was willing or fit to take him in, and so he ended up in the system.
My job was to make sure that he and the other boys, weren't abused by other children in the home who had experienced other types of abuse varying from physical to sexual at the hands of the adults in their lives.
Seriously, Deep I know.
Every ten minutes, I got up and checked each room and I did everything I could to keep my eyes open at night and do my job well for the short time I was there. I saw a lot. Alot of disturbing things, a lot of heart breaking things, a lot of things that angered me and that have never left me to this day.
I knew then that one day I wanted to be sure to make a difference in the lives of children, and find a way to bring awareness to the system. This film does that from a perspective that's different than what we have ever seen before. " - Stephanie St. James (executive producer/writer)
To learn more about the making of our film "End The Cycle" visit us at www.endthecycleshortfilm.com to donate to the making of our film click HERE.