Homes with Heart VC launches short film
VENTURA, Calif. - A Ventura County foster service program is making some major changes.
Foster VC Kids will now be known as Homes With Heart VC, and a short film on the program will be launching next week.
“There is people out there who have never felt real love, and I think you guys can really be there for someone who hasn’t felt real love,” said Betty Garcia, a former youth in care with Homes With Heart VC Foster System.
Garcia and a group of other teens, foster parents, and even biological parents are coming together for the first ever short film entitled “Love Conquers All.”
“It was an opportunity to dispel the myths about our children and youth that are living in out of home care,” said Jaci Johnson, program coordinator with Ventura County Children and Family Services. “These are just kids and they deserve to be loved and to be successful just like anyone else.”
The six-minute short film offers a unique look at the child welfare system from the perspective of people who went through it themselves and they explain how foster parents changed their lives.
“Everyone is worthy of love,” said Garcia. “It changed my life, love changed my life. When you love someone you weren’t meant to love it makes such a difference in the world. You guys can make a difference in the world.”
“What they are going to see is some of our youth ambassadors who have been in the child welfare systems, some have had 34 placements, and they are telling their story and how impactful it was,” said Johnson. “They also have an actual resource family formally known as a foster family who stepped in and provided them love and encouragement.”
According to Homes with Heart V-C there are nearly 650 people in the foster system ranging from newborns to 21 year olds. Ventura County Children and Family Services hopes people who watch the short film get inspired to help.
“Do it,” said Viki Pezza, who has fostered a teenager from Ventura County. “We got a 14-year-old girl, she is 15 now and it was the best decision we ever made. She is awesome.”
The short film “Love Conquers All” will be released to the public on Monday, and it can be viewed online.
