Frontline, Born Poor
PBS Western Reserve (WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1):
Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 10 PM
Fusion (WNEO 45.2 / WEAO 49.2):
Saturday, Oct. 11, at 2:30 PM
An indelible look at the realities of growing up poor in America. Filmed over 14 years with kids from three families, from adolescents to adults with kids of their own, navigating an economy with more obstacles than opportunities. BORN POOR tells the stories of the now-grown children at the heart of POOR KIDS — chronicling their lives from childhood to the present day, and offering a powerful, personal and longitudinal look at the realities of growing up in poverty in the U.S.
The documentary is from an award-winning team led by director and producer Jezza Neumann and producer Lauren Mucciolo, who first began filming with Kaylie, Johnny and Brittany in 2011. Back then, these three kids from three families were living in the Quad Cities, a crossroads along the border of Iowa and Illinois on the Mississippi river that had been hit hard by the recession.
In BORN POOR, the filmmakers follow Kaylie, Johnny and Brittany across three chapters of their lives as they grow from kids to teenagers to adults, trying to pursue their dreams while dealing with an economy where they face more obstacles than opportunities — and trying to overcome the grinding poverty that shaped their childhoods.