Support Deanna Gerstel Harris

Hello and thank you for taking the time to stop by!

I’m Deanna Gerstel Harris, the writer and director of When We Care, an animated short film and impact campaign using storytelling as a catalyst to build a sustainable culture of care.

Currently in production with an Academy Award-winning animation director and a decorated Disney composer, the film explores the emotional, physical, and environmental toll caregivers bear. It reveals both the beauty and the breakdown of generational, communal caregiving, and positions the caregiving and climate crises as deeply interconnected — symptoms of a system that has abandoned care as a core value.

But this is more than a film — it’s a movement.

There are 63 million caregivers in the U.S., 61% of whom are women, providing unpaid physical, emotional, mental, and financial support to their loved ones. For over 20 years, I’ve been a caregiver to children with chronic health challenges and to a spouse living with a chronic illness. I’ve spoken on national stages, served as a Caring Across Generations fellow, and centered caregiver well-being in my work as a holistic health practitioner.

I know what it means to show up with your whole heart , even when your body, mind, and spirit are unraveling under the weight of it all. My lived experience and leadership within the caregiving community have given me an intimate understanding of its challenges, while also fueling my passion to cultivate its strength, visibility, and collective voice.

The film and impact campaign aim to address the urgent caregiving crisis. As Medicare and Medicaid are gutted, caregivers are crumbling under the weight of chronic stress, declining health, and isolation, with little to no support from an under-resourced care system. Our campaign is designed to normalize, prioritize, and destigmatize caregiver well-being and resilience. We seek to reframe how society views caregiving — shifting from an individual responsibility, to a model of communal care rooted in the traditions of our foremothers.

This project connects the collapse of the care system with the climate crisis, both stemming from a fundamental breakdown in how we care. By centering the support of caregivers, we can reimagine a world where they are empowered to care for themselves and others, organize collectively, and pioneer a culture of care that heals individuals, communities, and the planet.

At its heart, When We Care is about reaching, supporting, healing, and empowering caregivers to become a collective voice in redefining and repairing our national care crisis. The film serves as an entry point to engage caregivers through storytelling, healing-centered gatherings, and grassroots organizing. In-person and virtual screenings with talk-backs, alongside guided resilience workshops, will invite caregivers to reconnect with themselves, each other, and the environment, while envisioning a sustainable system of care.

This is Care. This is Community. This is Critical.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We are currently in active production and building our outreach and impact campaign. But to keep going, we need support from people like you. People who believe caregiving is essential and recognize that our care system is in crisis. People who understand that caring for ourselves, one another, and the earth are deeply interconnected. And quite frankly, people who just care and want to live in a more caring world.

Your donation — no matter the size — helps us:

* Fund ongoing animation production

* Host healing-centered gatherings and workshops for caregivers

* Develop outreach materials and curriculum

* Bring the film and campaign to communities across the country

Every cup of coffee, every dollar, is a step toward building a culture that values care — not just as labor, but as a life-sustaining force that makes all other work possible.

I invite you to join the When We Care family.

With deep gratitude,

Deanna Gerstel Harris

Writer & Director, When We Care

** TO MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION: https://my.filmindependent.org/WhenWeCare