+
Most Shared

The inspiring reason this former foster kid is helping underserved kids make movies.

True
Extra Chewy Mints

Johna Rivers spent most of her young life with the cards stacked against her.

She was put into foster care at the age of 9, and that's where she stayed until she was a legal adult.

"Everything around me was traumatic from the time I was a baby up until I was 19,” says Rivers.


Kids in front of the housing project where Rivers grew up. All photos via Extra.

But her hardships didn't stop there. Rivers was homeless for three years after she left foster care. This is an unfortunate reality for many kids who age out of the system. According to a recent NPR study, approximately 25% of former foster children become homeless after exiting foster care. The sudden absence in shelter and support also results in much higher incarceration and teen pregnancy rates.

And, not surprisingly, very few of these young people (6%) ever make it through college.

But Rivers was determined to flip the script on foster kid statistics.

She started by making education a priority.

Even though she says her high school was rated one of the worst in Los Angeles, she pushed through it and managed to graduate by 2011.

“I was extremely blessed and humbled to make it out of the environment, and be able to not allow those circumstances to define me," says Rivers.

And, thanks to the help of her mentor, Syd Stewart, she set herself up for a success in a career in the arts.

Stewart (left) and Rivers (right).

Stewart is a filmmaker and also the founder of Better Youth, a nonprofit that mentors disadvantaged youth like Rivers in media arts.

She showed Rivers her first film set over 10 years ago. “She introduced me to a whole new world that I never knew about," recalls Rivers.

Through Stewart's guidance, Rivers learned that she had not only compelling stories to tell, but a powerful voice to tell them with. Aside from her film work, Rivers is a spoken word artist who has performed all over the world.

However, she wanted to do more than just make art for the world. Following her mentor's example, Rivers decided to help others like her reach for their creative dreams too.

She co-founded the Real to Reel Global Youth Film Festival to help raise up the voices of underserved kids.

Rivers (center) with kids from the Real to Reel Film Festival.

Launched in October 2015, Real to Reel showcases films produced by youth ages 14 to 23 that shine a light on often overlooked social issues. The foster system is one of those issues — in 2017, Real to Reel's film offerings were all produced by current and former foster kids.

Rivers hopes the festival will help kids like her realize they deserve a place at the creative table. She wants to remind them that, with a little extra effort, anything they can dream up is achievable.

"You gotta put in the work, you gotta show up, you gotta believe in yourself, because if you don’t, nobody else will," says Rivers.

Rivers working on a film.

But, of course, you'll get further with people like Rivers and Stewart standing behind you. Few people know that better than Rivers, which is why she continues to give a little extra back whenever she can.

When she's not making movies, Stewart is a foster youth outreach liaison for the Spirit Awakening Foundation, which helps underserved youth find their spiritual identity through creativity. Clearly, she's made helping kids like her tell their stories a big part of her life's mission.

After all, her own story helped her realize her purpose. If she hadn't found a way to share it, she wouldn't be where she is today.

To learn more about Rivers and her festival, check out this video:

When You Give Extra, You Get Extra: Johna Rivers

After a mentor opened up a whole new world for this young filmmaker, she wants to do the same for others.

Posted by

Upworthy on Friday, April 20, 2018
Sponsored

ACUVUE launches a new campaign to inspire Gen Z to put down their phones and follow their vision

What will you create on your social media break? Share it at #MyVisionMySight.

True

If you’ve always lived in a world with social media, it can be tough to truly understand how it affects your life. One of the best ways to grasp its impact is to take a break to see what life is like without being tethered to your phone and distracted by a constant stream of notifications.

Knowing when to disconnect is becoming increasingly important as younger people are becoming aware of the adverse effects screen time can have on their eyes. According to Eyesafe Nielsen, adults are now spending 13-plus hours a day on their digital devices, a 35% increase from 2019.1. Many of us now spend more time staring at screens on a given day than we do sleeping which can impact our eye health.

Normally, you blink around 15 times per minute, however, focusing your eyes on computer screens or other digital displays have been shown to reduce your blink rate by up to 60%.2 Reduced blinking can destabilize your eyes’ tear film, causing dry, tired eyes and blurred vision.3

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

18-year-old took her college savings and bought the restaurant where she was a dishwasher

Samantha Frye, the newest owner of Rosalie's restaurant, is proving there's more than one way to invest in your future.

Canva

There are many way to invest in your future

Eighteen year old Samantha Frye has traded college life for entrepreneurship, and she has no regrets.

Frye began working at Rosalie's Restaurant in Strasburg, Ohio at 16 as a dishwasher, working up the ranks as a kitchen prep, server, then line cook. All while working a second job, sometimes third job.

After graduating high school, Frye started college at Ohio State with plans of studying business or environmental engineering. But when she came back to work a shift at Rosalie’s for winter break, an opportunity arose—the owners had planned to sell the restaurant.
Keep ReadingShow less

She is simply the best.

The explosive, soulful, magnetic Tina Turner has died at 83. Though the cause of her death was not disclosed, a statement on her Instagram announced that the prolific singer and legendary live performer has passed away at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland, near Zurich.

News of the devastating loss has prompted an outpouring of tributes on social media, including celebrities sharing how much Turner’s work has influenced them.

Angela Bassett, who portrayed the music icon in the 1993 biopic “What's Love Got to Do with It,” said in a statement that she was "honored to have known Tina Turner."

"Through her courage in telling her story, her commitment to stay the course in her life, no matter the sacrifice, and her determination to carve out a space in rock and roll for herself and for others who look like her," Bassett wrote on Instagram, "Tina Turner showed others who lived in fear what a beautiful future filled with love, compassion, and freedom should look like."

Keep ReadingShow less
via Pexels

A woman sitting cross-legged on a yoga mat

Everyone wants to know how long they will live and there are many indicators that can show whether someone is thriving or on the decline. But people have yet to develop a magic formula to determine exactly how long someone should expect to live.

However, a doctor recently featured on the "Today" show says a straightforward test can reveal the likelihood that someone aged 51 to 80 will die in the near future.

NBC News medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar was on the "Today" show on March 8 and demonstrated how to perform the simple “sit to stand test” (aka sit-rising test or SRT) that can help determine the longevity of someone between 51 to 80.

Keep ReadingShow less
via Twitter

Everyone's childhood is different. But there are common objects, sights, sounds, smells, and memories from elementary school that most Gen Xers and Millenials share.

Personally, when i think back to being in elementary school in the '80s, I remember the taste of the chocolate ship cookie we got on Fridays (with the pizza). The humiliation of getting nailed in the back during nation ball. And the grumbling, grinding sound that happened when you slipped a disk into the drive on an Apple IIe computer.

Keep ReadingShow less
Health

Women are shocking their boyfriends by showing them how  tampons actually work

The viral videos are a great way to educate men on a sensitive topic.

via TikTok

Menstrual taboos are as old as time and found across cultures. They've been used to separate women from men physically — menstrual huts are still a thing — and socially, by creating the perception that a natural bodily function is a sign of weakness.

Even in today's world women are deemed unfit for positions of power because some men actually believe they won't be able to handle stressful situations while mensurating.

"Menstruation is an opening for attack: a mark of shame, a sign of weakness, an argument to keep women out of positions of power,' Colin Schultz writes in Popular Science.

Keep ReadingShow less

Editor's Note: Upworthy earns a fee for products featured in this article. All products featured meet Upworthy's standards for ethics and quality.


Superfoods have been stealing the spotlight in the health and wellness scene for quite some time now. But did you know their magic isn't just confined to your smoothie bowls or salads? They're making a grand entrance into the beauty industry, with their nutrient-dense powers promising radiant, glowing skin from the outside in.

Keep ReadingShow less