Footlite Musicals Production Raising Awareness, Money To Help Indy's Homeless

An Indianapolis community theater is raising awareness and funds to help fight the city’s growing problem of homelessness. 

Footlite Musicals presents "Brooklyn" a sidewalk fairy tale that shows the struggles and hope of five teenagers living on the street. Director Kathleen Clark Horrigan says it seemed like a natural fit to partner with CHIP- the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention.

“After the holidays I think a lot of people forget about the homeless. So we decided this would be a really good opportunity to do a show that would hopefully focus on them," Horrigan says. "Plus we found out with all of our research that there is a lot more homelessness going on in Indianapolis than there has been in a long time.”

Producer Amy Douglas says audience response has been positive. 

“The first weekend we raised over $500 just from people throwing money into our guitar case and when we pass the cup," Douglas says. "We had an event in December where we had a craft fair and all of the vendors fees went towards CHIP and that was several hundred dollars as well.”

The cast of "Brooklyn" hopes to raise at least $2,000 before the show ends next weekend.