Charlie has been let down by all of the adults in her life starting with her father who kills himself to her mother who grieves so selfishly that she starts to abuse Charlie. Forced to live on the streets and struggle to find shelter in the freezing cold Minnesota winters, Charlie starts cutting herself to release her emotions. Obviously this creates circumstances that might require medical attention that Charlie won’t find while sleeping on a sewer grate, under an overpass, or in drug houses; places where she often found herself following her addict street friends to find their next fix.
One morning Charlie wakes up in a hospital-like room to discover that she was abandoned on the steps of an institution for suicide survivors and mental health issues. This is where Charlie starts to find her voice and starts her recovery. However, without insurance or a stable parent, she can’t stay there forever. Luckily for her, though, one of her former street friends is also recovering and stable. He helps Charlie leave that old life in Minnesota behind and start new in Tuscon, Arizona. Can she leave her old demons behind and utilize her new coping mechanisms to get back on her feet at 17?
Charlie’s story is not that of a Disney princess or a lottery winner. She does not find immediate happiness and new found purpose from Prince Charming or a giant personal check. What she does encounter is caring, compassion, friendliness and accountability to her new job and to herself. This is raw and real.