Roadtrip Nation's Ready to Rise Offers Inspiration for "Disconnected Youth"

An estimated 5.5 million young Americans aren't working and aren't in school. Join three of them in the Green RV as they explore the road to success.

They aren’t in school, and they don’t have jobs. An estimated 5.5 million young Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 – that’s 1 out of 7 – qualify as “disconnected youth.” Struggling to rise above troubled circumstances, they could easily become another statistic if they don’t realize that they have choices – and the power to make them.

Ready to Rise, a new one-hour special from Roadtrip Nation, focuses on the challenges that face young adults who have the desire and drive to find employment, but lack access to the education or training they need in order to compete in today’s job market. Many grew up with poverty, violence and drugs. Going back to school or getting a job is hard at the best of times, but for former gang members or survivors of abuse, it can seem impossible.

Meet Ryan, Summer and Michael, three courageous, charismatic young people who want to change their lives. No one plans on becoming a “disconnected youth.” Ryan from Oakland says, "I never thought I was going to be homeless." Summer was born prematurely to a drug-addicted mother and grew up in foster care. "I know how it feels to be unwanted," she says. For Michael, joining a gang in the Bronx was the only way to survive.

Overcoming their internal and external hurdles isn’t easy, but as they travel across the country in Roadtrip’s iconic Green RV, the trio finds inspiration, guidance and acceptance. From Los Angeles to Denver to St. Louis to Chicago to the Bronx, they interview leaders who understand their struggle, like Father Greg Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries, and bestselling author Chris Gardner, whose bout with homelessness is portrayed by Will Smith in The Pursuit of Happyness.

Many programs exist to help the country’s disconnected youth, but few can reach them like those youth themselves. For over a decade, Roadtrip Nation has helped young people find their career paths in their own way, on their own terms. Roadtripper Michael sums it up: “It’s just a roadtrip, I’m just getting some B.S. advice – that’s what I was thinking going into it. And then I’m like, whoa, this is something bigger than I thought it was.”Media Contact
Loureen Ayyoub, loureen@roadtripnation.com

Funding
Ready to Rise is made possibly by the Schultz Family Foundation.

Websites and Social Media
Website: roadtripnation.com
Education Site: roadtripnation.org
Twitter: twitter.com/RoadtripNation
Facebook: facebook.com/RoadtripNation
YouTube: youtube.com/roadtripnation

About Roadtrip Nation
Roadtrip Nation started in 2001 when three friends fresh out of college weren't sure what to do with their lives. Their solution? To road-trip around the country and ask people who do what they love how they got to where they are today. What started as a road trip sparked an annual documentary series, a number of books, online tools, and an educational organization—all dedicated to helping individuals define their own roads in life. In 2009, Roadtrip Nation expanded into education with the creation of The Roadtrip Nation Experience, a project-based self-discovery curriculum designed to help students explore their identities and find careers aligned with their interests. Today, Roadtrip Nation continues to empower individuals to create meaningful lives doing what they love. To learn more about Roadtrip Nation, visit www.roadtripnation.com. For more information about Roadtrip Nation in education, visit www.roadtripnation.org.

About KQED Public Television
KQED Public Television, one of the country’s most popular public television stations, brings the values of public media to homes around the Bay Area with EMMY® Award–winning programming that inspires, informs and entertains. KQED produces local series like Check, Please! Bay Area, This Week in Northern California, Truly CA, San Francisco Opera and ImageMakers, as well as popular programs for national broadcast such as Essential Pépin, QUEST and Film School Shorts. KQED also distributes programming, including The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, Roadtrip Nation and Joanne Weir’s Cooking Confidence, to public media stations across the country. KQED Public Television channels are KQED 9 (San Francisco/Bay Area, also available in HD), KQED Plus (Bay Area, also available in HD) and KQET (Monterey/Salinas). KQED also offers digital channels available via XFINITY and over-the-air, each with distinct quality programming: KQED World, KQED Life, KQED Kids and KQED V-me (Spanish language).

About American Public Television
APT (APTonline.org) has been a leading distributor of high-quality, top-rated programming to America’s public television stations since 1961. Since 2004, APT has distributed approximately half of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles. Among its 300 new program titles per year are prominent documentaries, news and current affairs programs, dramatic series, how-to programs, children’s series and classic movies, including For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots, A Ripple of Hope, Rick Steves' Europe, Newsline, Globe Trekker, Simply Ming, Joseph Rosendo's Travelscope, America's Test Kitchen From Cook’s Illustrated, Lidia's Italy, P. Allen Smith's Garden Home, Midsomer Murders, Moyers & Company, Doc Martin, Rosemary & Thyme, BBC World News, The Rat Pack: Live and Swingin’, Johnny Mathis: Wonderful, Wonderful! and John Denver: The Wildlife Concert. APT also licenses programs internationally through its APT Worldwide service. In 2006, APT launched and nationally distributed Create® – the TV channel featuring the best of public television's lifestyle programming. APT is also a partner in the WORLD™ channel expansion project including its web presence at WORLDcompass.org. For more information about APT’s programs and services, visit APTonline.org. For more information on Create, visit CreateTV.com.