On December 21, 2009, 26 CASES clients and staff attended a private screening of the Academy Award nominated film “Precious” at the Chelsea Clearview Cinemas, presented by the New York International Latino Film Festival, McCray Media + Co LLC, and Beyond Influencing Da Hood (BIDH). CASES collaborated with Good Shepherd Services, BIDH, and the FUTURE NOW program at Bronx Community College to fund this event, which was offered for free to all invited guests. The screening helped provide our clients with inspiration during the holiday season, and helped raise their awareness of the challenges faced by victims of abuse. One client described it as a “learning experience to see what other people go through in life. You know these kinds of things happen, but when you see, it means more.”

The event was attended by over 140 invited guests, including staff and clients from local organizations serving at-risk youth, and was followed by a brief Q&A with three of the film’s cast members: Ephraim Benton, Angelic Zambrana, and Stephanie Andujar. Our clients had an overwhelmingly positive response to the film, and were highly engaged in the post-screening discussion, with one client commenting that Precious “showed that no matter your situation, you can always get through it. Good things can always happen even though you feel like the world is about to end. I think this was a good movie for us to see so we can always remember that we can get through whatever life throws us.”