This documentary film shows a successful and inspiring government and privately funded program that transformed lives right before our eyes as we filmed. Produced, directed, scripted and edited by Sharon Janis and Night Lotus Productions, in collaboration with UCSD, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the San Diego Departments of mental health, violence prevention, and alcohol and drug services.

This film shows the detailed mechanics and heart-warming examples of what amazing transformations of the poor can happen through respectful guidance, work fairs, confidence building, classes, practice interviews, childcare, clothing purchases, and more. The main locations we filmed in were bright, beautiful, and even cheerful, with enthusiastic staff serving their clients, with alliances to deal with adjunct problems to poverty, including drugs and alcohol abuse and domestic violence.

Some of the staff could have been coaches in top-dollar personal transformation courses, and the changes in their clients after one week of “job club” were extraordinary. The program paid for and otherwise enabled some of these impoverished parents to get trained for well-paying jobs even in banking and engineering industries, and helped many into self-sufficiency.