OUR STORY
Imagine that houses make you sickdangerously sick. Common products like paint, carpeting, new building materials and insecticides are poisonous enemies. Your bones ache, youre feverish, you suffer from extreme headaches, disabling  fatigue, mental confusion, asthma, nausea and sleeping disorders. The longer you stay in toxic housing, the sicker you getand the less resources you have to deal with your desperate search for a home. Youre one of the millions of  Americans suffering from the silent epidemic of Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS).

Now imagine that youre an artist, a critically acclaimed filmmaker and singer/songwriter who lives with MCS. Susan Abod is that artist. Susan was on the fast track to musical success when she was blindsided by a diagnosis of MCS at the age of 32. Her award-winning first film, Funny, You Dont Look Sick: An Autobiography of an Illness (1995, Cinema Guild),  has been screened internationally. Ten years in the making, her feature documentary Homesick: Living with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities is the sequel.

To film Homesick, Susan hit the road with her camerawoman, learning how people around the country who live with MCS find safe housing. She interviewed people from all walks of life; their living quarters ranged from a house on stilts to tents and a teepee. Filmed over a period of ten years, the film now includes follow-up interviews with the original subjects. The trailer has been screened at the Santa Fe Film Center and at the Santa Fe Center For Contemporary Arts Megabytes 4 Festival, and has been viewed over 200,000 times on the Homesick website. Homesick is currently in post-production, with a 64-minute rough cut. Were almost there, but we need $6,000 to record the soundtrack and complete the post-production for the film. We need your help for Susan to complete her epic journey!

WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
Homesick gives a human face to a growing environmental peril, and it is the first documentation of  the long-term impact of healthier housing on people with MCS. Safe, healthy housing is the primary health-care need of people living with MCS. Its almost inevitable that anyone with significant chemical sensitivities will be either homeless or live in substandard housing at some point. Many people become homeless while searching for safe housing, and more than a few commit suicide as a direct result of not having access to safe housing. Finding or creating a safe home environment is extremely challenging, since most people with MCS have had to stop working and have limited financial resources. The impact of this film is not limited to those who suffer from MCS, because unhealthy housing affects us all. Lives may be lost if we do not finish this film.

THE HOMESICK TEAM
Weve got an impressive artistic roster. Susan Abod (Director, Writer) has been an award-winning filmmaker, professional singer, songwriter, recording artist, teacher and performer. You can learn more about Susan at her website or on YouTube. Bert Dalton (Musical Producer) is an award-winning jazz pianist, arranger, educator, composer and independent record producer; visit him here. Basil Shadid (Film Producer) is an owner of Seattle-based Dual Power Productions; he was the Post-Coordinator on the Academy Award nominated documentary Iraq In Fragments. Learn more about Basil here.

WHAT WE NEED AND WHAT YOU GET
To date, Homesick has been funded by grants and corporate funding. Now we need $6,000 to record the soundtrack and complete the post-production for the film. (The soundtrack budget includes the salaries for the producer and the musicians, studio time, CD mastering and printing; a detailed budget is available by request.) You can help by making a financial  pledge of any size. Our fiscal sponsor is The Center for Independent Documentary (CID), and all of your donations are tax deductible. Click here for CIDs PayPal link. If we dont meet our goal, we will continue to seek grant and corporate support, but we need to complete this project now! CLAIM YOUR PERK ON THE RIGHT OF THIS PAGE TO MAKE THIS PROJECT HAPPEN!


OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP
These times are financially tough for all of us; if money is not flowing freely for you, please give by passing on the word about our film to anyone you know who would be interested. You can also help by using IndieGoGos share tools. Follow our updates and comment on our progresswe need your enthusiasm!