The Homestretch（2014）

Kasey, Anthony and Roque are smart, ambitious Chicago teens. Like many their age, they struggle to keep their grades up so they can graduate from high school. What sets them apart from other teens is that after the school day ends they don’t go home. Instead, they spend their nights looking for a warm, safe place to sleep. They’re among the 19,000 homeless students in Chicago public schools, and like so many, they’ve fallen victim to issues of juvenile justice, immigration, foster care and LGBTQIA discrimination. This powerful documentary follows their stories, and those of the heroes and heroines who support them, as they work to overcome the trauma of abandonment at a very young age. They face overwhelming odds, but the courage and conviction of these three teens defies stereotypes in this story of struggle and triumph. Heather Haynes