Hannah's Story

Hyper-articulate Winnipeg, Manitoba grade-schooler Hannah Taylor might not be able to vote, but the 11-year-old has been an active advocate for the homeless since kindergarten, even writing and illustrating a children's book entitled Ruby's Hope, in which a ladybug befriends a homeless bee. As she tells students in a middle-school auditorium during a Q&A session (that serves as a framing device for the film), “I first saw a homeless person when I was five, and I started raising money when I was about six.” Today, Hannah's organization—the Ladybug Foundation (according to Hannah, “Ladybugs are good luck, and we need good luck helping homeless people”) has raised over a million dollars in support of the homeless. In director Juanita Peters' portrait, it's unclear whether Hannah truly understands the underlying problems such as substance abuse and mental illness, but she does allude to the fraught domestic situations that send some adults packing (i.e. “their families aren't so nice to them”), and—arguably—even if she may not fully comprehend all of the reasons people end up on the street, she knows that they still deserve respect. Although this short documentary will appeal to general viewers, the primary audience may well be educators looking for a way to discuss homelessness and human rights. Nicely illustrating how one young person has made a difference in her community, this is recommended. Aud: I, J, P. (K. Fennessy)