In 1992, Dr. Jim Withers began doing night rounds on the streets of Pittsburgh, offering medical assistance and support to the homeless. Fifteen years later, the organization he founded, Operation Safety Net, is a pioneering model in a growing movement to provide healthcare to the homeless. Dr. Withers and his team navigate riverbanks, bridges, and alleyways to bring medical help and social justice to those who have fallen through the cracks of society.
The complex condition of the chronically homeless is depicted through vivid characters - a 70 year old former architect, a laid-off steel mill worker, an ex- drag queen failing from cancer. In a time when our national healthcare policy is under increasing scrutiny, this story illuminates the committed efforts within a single urban area to create a humane society and dignity for those on our streets.
(31 min, 2008)
Directed by: Kim A. Snyder
Produced by: Kim A. Snyder and Peggy Rajski
Director of Photography: Greg Poschman
Editors: Shilpi Gupta and Li-Shin Yu
Inspired by the one million people who live on America's streets, many of whom have no source of healthcare, BeCause produced One Bridge to the Next. The film documents one doctor's efforts to make a difference.
- BeCause helped establish the international Street Medicine Institute, which has created curriculum that is impacting this problem around the world.
- The American Medical Student Association is screening the film in over 150 chapters.
- The film helped raise $500,000 to create new street medicine programs in the United States.
- The film was selected as one of the best in contemporary American documentary filmmaking by the U.S. Department of State and will be screened in nearly 30 countries.
- The film has garnered awards from the Producer's Guild of America, Aspen Short Filmfest, and Palm Springs International Short Fest.
Help us get this film into the libraries of all the medical schools throughout the country.
