In these troubling times when our country has become so deeply divided across racial and urban and rural lines, EVC is doing our part to bridge those differences. We’ve launched the “We Are All Connected” project bringing EVC students from New York City to live and make media together with youth from the Appalachian mining communities of Clearfolk Valley, Tennessee. Investigating critical social problems plaguing young people in both their communities such as the opioid addiction crisis, chronic poverty, and the digital divide, they are making their voices heard through documentaries and a common website. Through their summer camp and continued collaboration remotely during the fall, the youth have learned how much they have in common and how inter-connected their communities really are. The project culminates with the Tennessee students traveling to NYC in December. They’ve generated so much interest, that they wer invited to present their work at Mozilla’s international MozFest in London.
EVC’s commitment to our students’ education and wellbeing is long standing. For over 30 years, we’ve taught youth to use filmmaking as a tool for social justice in their schools and communities, in both urban and rural America. Our Appalachian partnership today dates back to the mid 1980’s when EVC first held summer urban/rural youth video camps in East Tennessee.
So, you can see at EVC, we’re in it for the long haul. Over the decades, we’ve always been there for our students, developing them as academically curious and civically engaged youth leaders, nurturing their spirit of learning, art and activism.
But we can’t do this work without your help. So please give generously to make sure we can continue teaching students and buying the equipment needed to offer life-changing programs for youth – whether they live in the housing projects of the South Bronx or the Cumberland Mountains of East Tennessee. We need your support now more than ever to ensure that we are there for our students for decades to come.
Stay tuned for upcoming messages to meet some of the youth whose lives have been transformed at EVC. Thank you so much for your love and support!
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The Educational Video Center is a non-profit youth media organization dedicated to teaching documentary video as a means to develop the artistic, critical literacy, and career skills of young people, while nurturing their idealism and commitment to social change.