Urban Berney Foundation

"Homegirls" Clip

2009-05-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a promotional clip from the proposed documentary Homegirls by Isabel Vega, sponsored by Urban Berney Foundation and funded by the California Council for the Humanities:

Homegirls Promo Select (click link for youtube preview)

Homegirls Project

2009-03-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

In November 2007, Urban Berney Foundation was approached by Oscar Nominated Isabel Vega to help her seek funding for a new documentary, "Homegirls."

UBF was able to secure Research and Development funding from The California Council of Humanities

( www.calhum.org) to provide fiscal sponsorship for Isabel's project.

Homegirls

With the motto of "Jobs not Jails," Homegirl Café seeks to provide a haven where girls of similar pasts can learn the skills they need to succeed in the arena of food services. It also functions as a type of gang in itself, giving the girls incentive to learn how to be productive, social and manage their lives outside of the café without resorting to anger and violence.

Homegirl Café only hires girls with criminal or juvenile records, most of them gang-related, with hopes of providing a rehabilitation and "starting over" point for those willing to make the effort. All of the girls have had violent lives and upbringings, ranging from drug abuse to rape to being shot. All of them have children, which they’d like to see have a better and safer childhood than their own. HOMEGIRLS is a documentary drama following several of these women through the café and into its effects on their daily lives.

Urban Berney Founding Directors

2009-03-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

Damon Silvester (CEO, President) email: urbanberney@gmail.com

Rachel Berney (CFO, Vice-President) email: urbanberney@gmail.com

Creation of Urban Berney Foundation

2007-09-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Urban Berney Foundation!

Urban Berney Foundation (UBF) was created on July 20, 2007 and received its IRS tax exemption status in January 2009. In between those times, we have fiscally sponsored the research and development of "Homegirls," a documentary about recovering gang women and girls by Academy Award nominated Isabel Vega. This sponsorship was awarded through a grant won from The California Council For The Humanities ( www.calhum.org ).

The primary objectives and purposes of UBF are to develop a foundation to teach and disseminate educational material to the public, including, but not limited to, material relating to contemporary urban social issues, through documentary films, online informational resources, or otherwise.

Looking forward to 2009, we plan to seek out another documentarian to help as well as start to develop our website which will include more detail about the organization and informative resources about urban social issues.

We look forward to any interest and suggestions from individuals and organizations alike and are excited to update you on our future adventures!

Damon Silvester
(President and CEO, Urban Berney Foundation)