Credit: ManifestWorks

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Four years ago, Leslie was on the edge of homelessness. “Everything was going wrong. I was sleeping on the floor of relatives’ living rooms with my two kids,” she remembers.

Then, Hollywood called.

It wasn’t a talent scout or a casting director that brought her into the industry. It was ManifestWorks, a unique program that guides people from homelessness, incarceration and foster care directly into entry-level jobs in film and TV.

“When I started the ManifestWorks program, it was more than just learning the steps. It was really therapeutic for me,” says Leslie. “It was uplifting during a time when I was really not in a good place.”

By the third week of classes, Leslie (who prefers to only give her first name) had secured her first gig as a production assistant. The same person who hired her brought her back for the next two years and seeded additional relationships that led to more work.

Some 71 percent of ManifestWorks’ trainees are on welfare when they start the program. After a year, that number drops to seven percent. Credit: ManifestWorks