Safety Net to host 'Short Term 12' showing Sunday

Foster teens inevitably age out of the system, going out into the world on their own, with no family to help them establish their new lives as young adults.

That's where Safety Net Inland Northwest steps in.

"It's rough," Ellen Travolta, actress and Safety Net advocate said Tuesday. "It's a hard situation."

To help people understand the difficult journeys many foster children experience, Safety Net Inland Northwest will present the film "Short Term 12" at 2 p.m. Sunday at Regal Riverstone, 2416 N. Old Mill Loop, Coeur d'Alene.

"Short Term 12" follows teens in a group home who will soon turn 18 and no longer be eligible for foster care. Grace, played by Brie Larson, oversees the group home, but has her own troubles to overcome as she looks out for the teens.

Rami Malek's character, Nate, is based on writer and director Destin Daniel Cretton's own foster care experiences.

"I saw this movie with Brie Larson and Rami Malek before they were ever known," Travolta said. "I thought it was such a realistic view of what happens to foster kids or kids that have been difficult to place, when there's nowhere to go, what happens to them."

Travolta said "Short Term 12" can help open people’s minds and give them a better understanding of the struggles foster kids go through.

Tickets are $25 and include popcorn and soda. All proceeds will support the nonprofit Safety Net in its mission to provide basic living items such as food, household goods and furniture for teens who are no longer in foster care, as well as connect them with resources to help them succeed as adults, such as driver education classes and college assistance.

Safety Net Inland Northwest was founded by radio host Molly Allen and Coleen Quisenberry.

Info: safetynetinlandnw.org