New Documentary Sheds Light On Current State Of Homelessness In America (Video)

A new documentary shines a light on the current problem of homelessness in the United States.

Filmmaker Jack Ballo produced a documentary titled Destinys Bridge which focuses on a homeless community in Lakewood, New Jersey, started by minister Steve Brigham, who lives among dozens of others in the same situation.

The film follows Brigham, who dedicates his time addressing the emotional needs of other homeless people, and believes that its the first step in helping them adjust to life back into society, according to a fundraising page for the film.

In the fundraising campaign video for the documentary, Ballo brings attention two major concepts: Understanding why homelessness exists in the hope of finding successful solutions, and changing U.S. laws to make it legal for poor Americans to build small homes that are affordable for minimum wage workers.

"There are tent cities all over the country, and they're not going away," Ballo says of the makeshift communities built outdoors and consists of homeless people in mostly urban and suburban communities. "We need to come up with new ideas to manage the homeless crisis and find solutions, instead of having people suffer needlessly while we're wasting taxpayers' money.

Earlier this year, CNN reported that the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty estimates that there are currently over 100 tent cities in the U.S., including in Wisconsin, New York and Texas.

According to the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness, more than 3.5 million people experience homelessness every year. Thirty five percent of these people are families with children, the fastest growing type of homeless people in the U.S.

Twenty three percent of homelessness is comprised of military veterans, 25 percent of homeless people are children under the age of 18 years, 30 percent have experienced domestic violence and 20-25 percent suffer from mental illness, the campaign reports.

Destinys Bridge has completed filming and the documentary has been shown at small screenings.

Ballo created an IndieGoGo fundraising page to pay for music licensing costs, and says in the campaign video that additional funding after the $38,000 goal has been reached would go toward small-scale homes for the homeless across the country.

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New Documentary Sheds Light On Current State Of Homelessness In America (Video)