Previously on Girl Unscripted.

I'm glad that I grew up and realized that I can do and be anything that I want to, and it's never too late.

All the stuff that I've been through and I have not broke down yet or gave up yet.

That's hard to find in this life that we're living.

She's my foster mom.

How long has she been living with you?

Two years.

And how many months?

About two and a half.

How many days?

How many hours?

I live with my auntie.

I don't live with my mom, like other kids.

I never had the chance to live with my momma.

At Risk Girls Behind the Camera it's a good opportunity.

And I feel that we don't really have opportunities this big like this.

I can change my life, you know?

And I think the camera -- I look pretty on camera.

Here we are in the woods.

My place to get away and hang out with my friends.

I'm about to show you my most favorite part about the woods.

I think it's beautiful, so yeah.

The waterfall.

So there's a lot of water.

And a fall so it's a waterfall.

This is just like my home.

I don't know what I'd do without this place.

I don't know what I'm going to do when they tear it all down.

I want you in particular, Jenny, more than anybody else in this room, to be able to let go of what happens outside this room when you walk.

Tell her to tell the truth.

Tell her to stop lying.

This is not the way.

How is she supposed to tell anybody that?

She was locked up with her.

You wasn't there.

You ain't in this.

No, but I've talked to her in the last six months.

You are not in this.

You just don't even need to talk to me, okay?

Neither are you, it's between us two.

You want to f * * * * * * -- you little bitch you keep on doing s * * * I'm going to slap you across your f * * * * * * face.

You think I'm f * * * * * * playing with you?

Come on Jenny.

Come outside the room.

Come outside the room.

I try not to cry, and I try to like forgive people for what they say, even though they don't know that it hurts me.

I try to forgive them and not make a big deal out of it.

Every girl, regardless of where she lives, one bad decision will send her to the wrong direction.

I personally think that it was a great idea for you to come up with it, because now as you guys are furthering and you get put out, you actually get to know that people, young teens like us, we really were going through it, you know, and see how we have improved from ten years ago.

From, you know, all the violence and all that.

Now some of us we have kids and stuff, we're in college, we're moving out of town.

You know, we're doing -- we -- how we better ourself basically.

You know, I was hoping that we could have did like a part two or something.

And I'm glad that we're doing it now ten years later.

Do you have anything else that you want to say to, like a 13 year old girl or boy growing up on the other side of this project?

Like Clarissa's words of wisdom.

Clarissa's words of wisdom Yeah.

I like the sound of that.

I do too.

No matter what life throws at you, you can accomplish and do anything you want to.

You can literally do anything you want to if you strive to do it.

And no matter what struggle you go through, which you will go through struggle, that is part of life.

Whatever struggle you go through, it will just make you stronger to build you up into a better person if you allow it to.

You guys have the choice to be who you want to be and do what you want to do in life.

And no matter what kind of situation you're living in, no what -- no matter what kind of situation you are put in, you can be whatever you want to be if you strive to be that.

That is what I would tell any child, because that's what children need to hear, because a lot of children don't get that.

They're like, I'm just like my mom.

No, you're not.

You're you.

You're who you are.

Yup.

I fell in love, like with Crista and her auntie in the -- in a, like, the deepest kind of compassionate human way.

So it means the world to me if she's reaching for the stars, you know, reaching for her goals and dreams.

I feel like I don't belong here.

Oh, why?

Why baby why?

You do.

Do you know every single person feels like you right now?

I feel like I can't do it.

I feel like.

Like I don't belong in this kind of a group thing.

Because of the group dynamics?

Just because I don't get along with girls.

As much as I want to.

(Hush now.

Don't break the silence.)

Kind of made it like, Oh, the whole world is against you kind of feeling, huh?

I'm sorry, baby.

Well, I want you to know that I'm not against you.

I'm for you.

I think that you're fantastic.

And I see so many great things being able to happen for you if you stay focused, you know?

Can you imagine like that the people, the mentors and stuff from the filmmaking program and Miss Deborah and Miss Nancy and I, we think about you every single day and they've been trying to find you for seven months.

And we finally found you.

It took us seven months to figure out where you were, because we really wanted you to come back to the filmmaking program this year.

And we think about you all the time and love you and want to send you stuff so that you know that we love you.

Did you know that?

My birthday was July 10th.

It was July 10th?

See, if I stayed in touch with you, I could send you birthday presents and Christmas presents.

If we stayed in touch.

If I can -- I can send you cards.

But you know what it would take for us to stay in touch?

That I would call you.

And then you'd have to talk to me on the phone.

You'd have to say hi.

Would you like to stay in touch?

I really can't imagine Madison not being here.

You're my joy.

I love seeing you.

I may not get to hug you first when I come in the door, but I sure want to.

Would you ever go away?

See there's that smile.

I knew it was wanting to come out.

You can't be a kid anywhere.

There's nowhere in this city on this planet right now that you're, that you can be a kid.

Will you at least let yourself be a kid for a little while in this room?

I guess.

People are afraid of you.

You know, they are.

I don't think anybody thinks that your words are an idle threat.

I think people take it pretty seriously.

You protect yourself.

You have a really -- you have learned a very good mechanism to protect yourself.

And you have a really big wall that you protect yourself with.

And I understand why.

And there's every reason that you have learned why you should have it there.

I'm not going to tell you to take down your wall.

That's ridiculous.

I can't.

It's been there for a long time.

And maybe later in your life, when you feel more safe, you'll be able to.

And I'm telling you that -- that is what happened with me.

I eventually was able to have good, good friends, and I was able to let it go.

(Hush now.)

This place is definitely different than a lot of the places we've been to so far.

Haven't seen a new Mustang other places.

Hey.

Hi.

Hi.

How are you?

How are you doing?

I'm doing pretty good.

Hi.

Well, you know Tito and David, right?

Yeah.

Hello.

Can we come inside?

Yeah.

Cool.

Thank you.

Okay, let's hear some.

It was so weird at that -- at that point in time, I was like, I want to be involved in entertainment in some form.

But of course, it was a very broken down childlike version of it.

Like, I want to be famous meow.

So I -- and my mom knew that about me.

Like she -- she'd always known that -- that I was an attention hog.

I think it's easy to be fearless before the world gives you a couple like, you know, reality checks.

What kind of stuff do you wish was in your life 15 years from now?

Probably starting up my own business called ABC, Animals Best Care, no-kill, non-profit organization.

Yeah, I've had this dream since I was like four or five.

I made it up when I was four or five, and I still dream of it because I love animals.

I'm happy, though.

I got my chickens and my husband and my kids.

So chickens are awesome.

(Voices.

Voices outside my window.)

When I grow up I want to be a vet.

When I turn 14 in December, I'm going to go down to the animal shelter and get an application.

I don't want to have kids until like, I'm in college.

I want to make good money and I have my future all planned out for me.

You're helping, you know, young females through their process.

It's giving them something to look forward when they wake up, you know, the next day, whatever they may go home to, they know that tomorrow's going to be cool.

They have something to look forward.

I think it helps them.

It helped me.

It, you know -- get where I can't say to where I'm at, but I mean, it built me a little bit and gave me more self esteem or confidence in myself that I might be able to actually do something one day.

This film, I think it's going to help everybody that is going through something.

You know, the more and more people see it, the more they're going to open their eyes and be like, Wow, like what I'm going through right now...

It's nothing.

It's nothing.

I can do this because I know I'm going to get through it and I'm going to become something.

I feel bad for those, those kids that are just another statistic and, and I mean, maybe if this gets out to the right people, then, then their lives will change the way it should.

I am extremely thankful for, for all the things I had to go through.

I'm thankful that I went to foster care and experienced all the negative and the positive things I went through there.

Because, like I said, if I stayed on that path, who knows where I'd be now.

And I think everything that happens to you forms you into the person you are right now.

And that formed me into a person that I always -- I always wanted to be.

(Everyone will stay for a while.

No one will be here long.)

People tell me I have a lot of talents.

I came up with a lot of ideas.

I was so creative.

I mean, it was just -- I remember the group I had.

Eventually they just wanted me to come up with -- they would look to me for new ideas because I just -- they just were flowing into me.

For some reason.

I was very creative.

(That big, pretty city.)

When you're 20 years old, what would you like to be doing?

I want to be in college, hopefully.

Even being adopted, you know, because they tell you that you're going to have all this stuff like free college and all that stuff, but they make it so hard to get it.

Like, I was told I had free college, so I worked hard to get you know, I graduated with honors.

I took college algebra in high school.

I graduated in the top 10% of my class and so that I could get into a good college.

And it just wasn't good enough.

Like nobody wanted to help me out with trying to figure out how to do it.

That's why I've kind of like given up.

Like I said, I have my days, but I try not to focus on yesterday or tomorrow.

Tell us about why you, how you first got involved in the program and why it was interesting to you?

Well, my dad comes home and he -- I guess he had been talking to Mr. Eric, and he goes, there's this program that he's doing that I think you'd like.

And so he told me about it, and I was like, Oh, cool, I'll try it.

I was worried at first, but then I figured out a way to do all my stuff and do the program.

So it's worked out so far.

Okay, so this is my video diary, right?

This is my sister dancing like something.

This is my father.

He's on the computer.

Say hi.

Hi.

So at that time, my dad had been diagnosed with cancer again for about the third time, I think, in my life.

So he was going through a lot of the treatments and we were having to go to the hospital a lot.

And so it was kind of dealing with that during the summer, as well as trying to figure out what I wanted to do, who I was as a person.

You seemed like you had not a care in the world.

You were very focused on track and like you didn't have a care in the world, but underneath it, you're carrying this intense stress about your dad.

I, I tried to be the happy person in my family and tried to bring the least amount of stress on my family.

So it kind of still carries over to I seem like I'm not as focused on the harder things in my life than I am with the carefree things.

(Colors in the sky.

In front of my window.)

We're about to show you a documentary of how a music video is made.

All right.

First, we're just going to start off on showing you the instruments.

This is drums coming.

One, two, three, four.

What do you think so far of the filmmaking class?

It's fun.

I mean, you get to learn how to do certain things on the computer.

You get to film and act and stuff.

I remember the girls behind the camera when it was an actual, like, an essay.

I think it was about overcoming something in your life.

I'm pretty sure I'm trying to recall it, and I'm pretty sure that's what it was about.

I kind of wrote about how teenagers are pressured to be popular and pressured to do good in school and drugs and all that kind of stuff.

And like, I also wrote that I understand that I don't have like a bad life because I don't have bad life, but I mean, I do suffer some problems and I am at risk.

And it's just.

But I mean, I go through stress every day.

How do you think divorce did affect you?

I think it's -- it's strange because it happened when I was two.

My mom's got her side and my dad's got his side.

I just, I don't know who's lying and who to trust and who to not trust.

It's hard.

That's pretty much about it.

But thank you guys so much.

And good day.

I think it's harder on the people who have that sense of family, that sense of foundational family, and then it's taken away from them.

But like any time between like 5 to 15 years old, there's no good time for a divorce.

There's no good time for your parents to split up.

So, Rachel, why don't you go through and tell me who -- introduce us to your family?

Who is everybody?

That one's Nick.

His real name's Victor.

But we call him Nick.

He sleeps all the time.

He's the older teenager.

And that one?

She's my mom.

Her name's Kathy.

And she's just my mom.

And this one right here.

His name is Alec.

He's the younger teenager.

Alex.

Alex.

I said Alex.

You said Alec.

Can you tell me about your reservations or hesitations to be videotaped at your house?

I thought that was a really helpful thing to -- to talk to me about.

That you know, you don't want people -- how you don't want people to perceive you.

Yeah.

Like, oh, some of the girls kind of live in lower class neighborhoods.

I mean, I just, like, I don't want to think, like, make them think I'm kind of rich and stuff because, like, I, I deal with daily stresses and stuff just like them.

I mean, they probably have it worse than me.

I'll give them that.

But it's like people judge you kind of by the way you're -- you live your lifestyle and stuff and how big your house is.

And like, my friends kind of judge me and say, like, you must have a pretty good life and have it good.

But it's like, kind of like when we have family fights, I feel like I don't really -- I just I, I think I have a bad life and I'll say stuff like, I hate my life and stuff and I just I, I reflect that.

And then I look at myself and I say, Why did I do that?

Let's hope I make this one.

Okay.

Well, tell them, what you're doing?

That wasn't it.

I know that since I've really been on Facebook ever, I mean, I'm never on it, but I know that we connected a long time ago just to say hi briefly, you know.

So one day I -- I'm going in and just looking at the events, I see this incredible photo.

Like, really, the photo itself is just so beautiful and it's of you.

And I believe it's of you and your girlfriend.

Yeah.

And it is just the photo itself is just so touching.

It really just got me like, whoa, this is a gorgeous, gorgeous photo.

It's a surprise that she was in front of the photo.

She's a photographer.

So it's -- usually she's the one taking the gorgeous photo.

But yeah.

I was in middle school, I, I started liking girls like the grades she's going into.

I definitely started becoming attracted to girls.

And I got my first serious girlfriend that I was with for about five years.

So, I mean, I -- I'm excited for her, like to become involved in something like that.

I think she's so much more mature than most of her friends that she'll make the good -- she'll make good decisions on what to do and what not to do.

It's a tough transformation for anybody.

I mean, not really transformation because I feel like I had that, like I had to figure it out that I was more interested in the human in a person rather than the sex of that human.

And that was in high school.

You know, when you kind of like, start figuring that out.

But there have been girls that I had dated between high school and college and like the actual time where I came out to my parents about Ana and she was like the first person I was in a serious relationship that I like felt comfortable actually just confronting my parents about it.

I don't know.

I've changed for the better by being with a person who is -- who reflects the compassion and the intelligence and just the ability to love people on the spot and just to be there for people on the spot that I wish I could see in the world right now.

You feel like it's for a reason?

I feel like St. Joes more f * * * * * up, so we had a whole lot more screwed up people in that.

So I think it made it more like we had more to say, you know what I mean?

There was a lot of people who had seen a lot and done a lot in those short 14 years.

And so when did your mom and your dad split up?

A long time ago.

Like when I was like.

I don't know.

Like nine, I think.

My dad used to seriously, like, seriously beat my mom, like, so bad.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

He'd, like, throw her up against the wall and, like, choke her and, like, throw me in my room.

Throw my little brother in his room.

Yeah.

Where is your sister now?

In...in Texas.

She's just running amuck, running amok.

Stripping.

Living her life.

Yeah.

We raised our kids to love each other and love us, and we love them.

And Alisha went off into a part of her life after she got.

What?

Mom?

About 14?

13, 14.

And it was totally destructive to herself, to the family unit, and to her sister and their life.

And it was hard on their sister.

And it's going to take a lot of healing in order to heal up to.

Very abusive to her sister.

Rachael has -- she has bipolar disorder and she had something really terrible happen to her when she was four years old.

And she has post-traumatic stress syndrome, too.

She throws temper tantrums and if she's told no, she really doesn't like that at all.

And sometimes she has mood swings and -- and she cycles, which means that sometimes she has times where she's really, really hyper.

And then other times she has really, really low.

I have to be more patient with her.

And the boys they, they don't understand that.

What kind of drugs were they doing, do you know?

I don't know.

My mom told me she was doing meth.

Stopped that.

But I don't know.

They were drinking and everything.

When's the last time you saw your real Mom?

Since I don't know, I don't know how long it's been.

A while huh?

They kept sending her to Spofford and Crittenton.

Crittenton and they kept shooting her up with medicine, and there was nothing wrong with her.

I had a broken ankle and she didn't take me to the hospital for.

So when I did go to Crittenton, they took me.

So I had my crutches after they kept yelling at me.

So I threw it at the door.

But then he just so happened to walk in right when I threw it and it hit him.

So I was in the bubble room.

I wouldn't -- I wouldn't stay still for him.

So they gonna shoot me with the needle.

I was mad.

And my mom was very rude.

You know how they say meth makes them nice?

No, it makes them so mean.

She was always yelling.

I mean, she told me I was the reason that everything's bad happened to her.

Like I was the blame.

I hated it.

It sucked horribly.

So I actually told my counselor that I wanted to leave, and so we left.

My dad has always been an alcoholic.

Tuesday I have court, So I'm going to bring up a couple of the issues up with a judge and explain to him that visits with my dad have not happened yet.

My dad knows when court is and it's open court so anybody can go and he's going to go and I'm supposed to cause a scene, he says, and I'm supposed to listen to him when he says to go sit back down and listen to the judge and stuff.

But just hopefully that I can prove to the judge that I do listen to my dad and they can do something about it.

And now I realize, looking back, I didn't understand the cycle that I was seeing.

I didn't know that the cycle I was seeing was amazing people exactly like you guys were.

Right.

You get to be about 17, 18, 19, 20, have kids, get on meth, and then the cycle starts all over again.

Foster care, f * * * * * up, trauma, abuse.

Cycle starts all over again.

And the only difference I think that with me is that I've seen me starting that cycle and I stopped it.

So, I mean, yeah, I started at the bottom, but you got to start somewhere to get to the top.

Yeah, I've had a pretty s * * * * * life.

I don't think I would go back and change anything.

I really don't, because going through everything that I've gone through has made me a better parent.

And it showed me what I don't want for my kids and it's made me the person that I am today.

I don't think that I would be anywhere as emotionally strong as I am had I not gone through it.

What impact did a little three week camp have on your life?

We all came from very different backgrounds, but everybody came from something that wasn't exactly easy.

Like you heard other people's stories about growing up and you know your own story and you obviously when you're in a space together for a while you kind of start learning about other people's stories and, you know, you gain -- even at that age when you're kind of still developing like your empathy brain, you gain a sense of respect of like, wow, this is the other people go home to kind of a mess, too.

Everybody's got their own hell they have to return to sometimes.

So it's good.

Sometimes it's very healthy to be able to relate to some people on trauma because it help -- it makes you know you're not alone in any sort of situation.

(People dance how they learned when they were innocent.

They move how they know.

Nobody sets out to waltz to the river bed and tie their happiness to a stone.

You can come and sit down now.

We won't ask about the dust on your shoes.

But you can dig in your bag for jokes.

While we tie up the balloons.

Welcome to family.

We're all trying to get by.

Welcome to family.

We're all trying.)

Girls along with their families are here at Hollywood Theatre.

The girls are ages 11 to 14.

They participated in an intensive three week summer filmmaking program.

Tara Veneruso created the program.

She and her team have been documenting the girls for a feature film.

She wants these girls to learn there's more to life than doing drugs and getting in trouble.

I think it was the idea of just having a creative outlet like it was something to do where you were creating something.

And just the idea of that at a young age can change you as a person and developing relationships with people who are going through the same experience.

And we're like learning and growing and, and creating together.

I think that is probably a big part of why I -- my answer is still the same as it was when I was a kid, when I said I wanted to be a rockstar when I grew up.

I mean, I'm fulfilling all the clichés of working at a record store.

So all the musician clichés and every year I think I'm starting to feel more at one with the things I create and write, like I'm getting closer and closer to my craft and like developing a sense of letting go, of that insecurity, of that thing that puts a wall between you and everybody else.

But yeah, it was, it was, it was a beneficial experience.

It was extremely necessary.

So at 13, I was kind of a wild child, so I was everywhere.

I didn't know what I wanted, really.

I could tell you things that I wanted to do, but I wanted to do everything.

I wanted to be an actor.

I wanted to run track.

I wanted to do everything.

So I was kind of all over the place, still growing into myself.

I was just at a stage in my life where I was learning about different things, so I was learning that maybe that's what I wanted to do.

Maybe this is what I wanted to do.

In the years since I graduated college with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, went to school to play violin.

I wanted to originally teach, but decided I wanted to do arts nonprofits instead.

So now I am an AmeriCorps vista with Connecting for Good, which is a digital literacy organization.

I'm their volunteer coordinator, so I'm spending this year learning how to work in a nonprofit.

My next steps are to get my master's degree, hopefully in public administration.

So figuring out what I want to do in the long run.

This is amazing.

This is just like I feel like my heart, like vibrating.

I'm so happy, you know, for her.

And was happy that you came into her life, you know, and my life too.

Y'all make me, y'all make me tear.

And I don't do that.

You know, so that meant -- and you just caring so much, you know, for the girls.

You know wasn't just her, you know, she was only one, you know.

But you cared for all of them, you know?

So that was the thing for me.

I would describe faith as just believing.

And not someone -- letting them tear me down.

But just believing.

Okay, I'm gonna be happy and I'm gonna move on and I'm gonna reach my goal.

I believe I'm gonna have faith that I'm gonna get to the top like I want.

So you just have to -- I think I would have to believe that to believe in yourself and believe me or go and meet it.

Like, you can't just, Oh, okay.

That's what I want to do.

But you still over here trying to get there.

You got to actually fill in the potholes that connect, connect the road so that you can walk over there and get it done.

How do you imagine yourself, like in ten years?

I'm in California being a physical therapist for the little burnt kids.

I don't know what that'd be called, but for them.

And then adopting.

I did go to a little bit of college.

I dropped I got really sick.

I had like, I still have -- like 4 tumors.

But like, I think mind over matter.

Like, I don't want to know because people live 19 years with cancer, you know, not knowing they're, you know, been living 19 years.

They find out and bam.

Madison, what about you?

What's your -- you're going to be a teacher?

What are some other ideas that you have for career goals?

I don't have any other ideas.

If you could tell your your 13 year old self something like a message.

Like a message in a bottle.

What would you tell yourself you think?

Like if you could tell yourself anything.

I don't know.

If I could tell myself, if I could give myself any advice.

It's that your, your happiness is the most -- is a very, very important thing.

And you should not be afraid to share that with other people.

That is such a silly thing to be afraid of.

And you shouldn't have to hide these giant parts of yourself from the rest of the world because that's such a terrible way to live.

That's not, that's not a healthy way to live.

Never lose your focus.

My vision got clouded.

(Those thieves have taken you, and all they've left are questions.)

Whenever I knew I was going to come to Kansas City the other day to meet with you guys.

I don't know, for some reason, you had said something about how theres other girls there, you know, who are going to be doing a camp.

And so I kind of just wanted to, I guess get a really important message to them, like about how they do not have to be stuck with these feelings forever.

Like they can move forward as life and not become a statistic, you know?

And I just like very strongly want not just the girls, but everybody in the world to know whatever the problem they're facing that they can, they can come out of it.

You know, they don't have to be stuck with it forever.

You know?

At the end of the day, hope will win out because the pain won't last.

Even if you feel like this is the end of the world, the pain won't last.

There's hope that things will get better.

They will get better.

(I won't let you feel alone.)

Hearing that for one or two people, maybe more.

I don't know.

That moment, those moments, those days were the happiest they felt, the best time of their life.

That's, that's really hard for me to understand.

Don't let it hurt you.

Be proud of that.

You brought those people joy, when they didn't know what joy was.

Now, you gave them that feeling.

They should have been able to go out and seek that by themselves.

You can't let the fact that their choices later in life made them unhappy.

You need to be proud that you gave them those happy moments, because if it wasn't for you, they wouldn't even know what those feelings would be.

(Voices.

Voices outside my window.

Louder as the day gets longer.

Scratches in the air.

Faces, millions divided by corners.

The great human migration scattered, frantic, fast.

That big, pretty city.

Buildings, curtains to the horizon.)

I don't now about you but I'm tired of sitting here.

It's 10:00.

Yeah.

Okay.

Before we wrap up, just one last question.

Very simple.

Very simple question.

I don't know.

Is it a total trip to see each other in person after 10 years?

Is it bad or good?

It's good.

It's really good to see you.

Seems like the boys have less heartache or hard, you know, life troubles.

It seems that they all turn out decent.

I don't know why that is or what.

But they're able to not have to fill those voids all the time.

Filling up the voids you know?

Yeah.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

The journey continues.

Yeah.

Cut.

(I wouldn't say I'm prepared for this.

Well, tomorrow I will miss.

Can't set you on the shelf.

To keep you only for myself.

It's time to go.

It's time to go.

We loved and we let go, and now, it's time.)