Antwone Fisher and Rick Miller will present The Soul, Science and Culture Of Hope at Vero Beach High School.

VERO BEACH – Antwone Fisher, award-winning writer and filmmaker, knows what it’s like to grow up without hope, not having anyone in his life who cared about him. It wasn’t until he joined the Navy at age 17 that he realized there were good people in the world.

“I never looked for good people when I was younger, because I was too busy looking for the people who would hurt me,” he said.

The award-winning writer, poet and filmmaker, whose life was the inspiration for a major motion picture starring Denzel Washington, has now partnered with Phoenix resident Rick Miller, founder of the organization Kids at Hope, to spread awareness about the importance of believing that youths can succeed.

Together, they will present THE SOUL, SCIENCE AND CULTURE OF HOPE at Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center on March 28, 2017 at 7pm.

Michael Kint – Exec Director of United Way of Indian River County and Jerusha Stewart, Founder of the Vero Beach Wine + Film Festival, will host the evening which explores Antwone’s journey of hopelessness to hope. The Executive Roundtable of Indian River County and School District of Indian River County are thrilled to be partnering for this upcoming symposium.

“Everyone should hear how HOPE can be used as a strategy to achieve success for all children and youth,” says Dr. Mark J. Rendell Superintendent, School District of Indian River County who secured the event date. “Forging a public/private community partnership gave us the perfect opportunity to present this powerful message.”

Kids at Hope is an international organization that studies family, school and community cultures to better understand how children succeed or struggle.

Rick joins Antwone on stage for an interview and discussion about the themes in the movie and their relationship to the dynamics of HOPE. Clips from the film will be shown, followed by a discussion around those themes and how they relate to the science of HOPE. The symposium concludes with a discussion about the culture of HOPE and how families, schools, youth serving organizations and communities can implement a strategy that models how all children can succeed, No Exceptions.

Kids at Hope also reminds adults that they’re not just there to direct and teach children and have them sit quietly, they’re equally there to make sure every child knows someone cares about him, Rick Miller explains.

“There might have been some hope for me when I was a kid if I had come in contact with a person like Rick early on,” Fisher said. “Later, I had good people, but my foundation was really cracked and not steady.”

The event is free, but registration is required. To register, visit https://kids-at-hope-verobeach.eventbrite.com. For information, call (772) 226-0566.

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