Alumni from Connie Maxwell Children’s Home in Greenwood, along with three other homes across the country, tell emotion-filled stories of growing up in “Homecoming,” a documentary airing this month on SCETV.
(To see a preview of the documentary, visit http://www.homecomingmovie.org/).
Ren?e, a student at Connie Maxwell Children’s Home, visits with Connie Maxwell alumnus Frank Davis at this year’s homecoming.They relate how the homes taught them to be successful in college, careers and family life after suffering childhood hardships that caused them to be placed in orphanages, now called children’s homes.?
Nora Dean Mahaffey said of her coming to Connie Maxwell, “I was glad to come to Connie Maxwell … that’s the best suitcase I ever packed.”
“Homecoming: The Forgotten World of America’s Orphanages” is an award-winning documentary. Richard McKenzie is the executive producer of the film and a North Carolina orphanage alumnus. Today, McKenzie is a professor in the Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine.
Prior to and since beginning work eight years ago on the 72-minute documentary film, McKenzie conducted a survey of more than 2,500 orphan alumni from 14 orphanages. He found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, they have outpaced by wide margins their age counterparts in the general population on almost all social and economic measures, including education, income and attitude toward life.
In the film, Scott James of Columbia said, “Connie Maxwell was the answer … there’s no question about that.”
SCETV will be airing the documentary Sept. 28 at 10 p.m. George Cawood directed the emotionally powerful film, putting in more than 20,000 pro bono hours.?The film won Best Documentary at one film festival, packed the theaters in just about every other festival where it was shown, and received a 10-minute standing ovation at one festival.
Patrick Schweiss, executive director of the Sedona International Film Festival, described “Homecoming” as “truly uplifting … a brilliant piece of independent film making.” Jan Tilmon, vice president for programming at KVIE, the PBS affiliate in Sacramento, Calif., said, “Homecoming is exquisite.?The filmmakers have?captured?a heartwarming, honest, and endearing story – a moment in time in American history?that?I’m certain?has not been otherwise recorded and?won’t ever?be repeated. Bravo.”
Ben Davis, president of Connie Maxwell, said, “We are honored to be included in this important documentary, and I encourage our friends around the state to watch it on Thursday, Sept. 28th.”