THE HAPPY HOUSE
STREET-WISE CHALLENGE
Life, Camera, Action!

INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the STREET-WISE Challenge.

The Purpose of this Challenge is to reward individuals and groups who get out in the community as volunteers and work to make a better world for all of us.

Enter the Street-Wise challenge for your chance to win cash prizes and be a part of a documentary film.

Happy House, co-founded by Nancy ”the-Voice-of-Bart-Simpson” Cartwright and Award-winning documentary producer and writer Rose Goss, is the non-profit whose slogan is Build a Better Family/Build a Better World. Using The Way to Happiness® booklet as a focus and inspiration, Happy House has created the Street-Wise Challenge to reward groups who are helping to improve our society.

If your group is doing something to improve the lives of others in your community, simply by entering the Street-Wise Challenge you may be eligible to win. Are you making a cleaner, safer environment? Are you helping elders, tutoring kids? Are you improving conditions for your family, your group, your neighborhood, your school, your city or your country? If so, you are most likely doing something that could be part of the Street-Wise challenge.

We want the world to know what we are doing locally to improve the lives of those around us. So, each group has the option to submit a video of their project. Simply record the process of doing your project and turn in the raw footage. We’ll take it from there and your work could end up in a documentary film.

This contest is open to all US residents and there is no fee to enter.

PRIZES

There are three categories of prizes in the Street-Wise Challenge. Multiple prizes will be given in each category!
1) Cash prizes for the Street-Wise projects:

• First place $1,000
• Second Place $500
• Third Place $250.00

2) Video prizes we call “Life, Camera, Action!" Prizes: (Optional)

• First place $1,000
• Second Place $500
• Third Place $250.00.

3) MVP Community Action Prizes for team members who go above and beyond the call of duty! (Optional)

• A tour of an animation studio with Nancy Cartwright!

AWARDS

Each group that completes a project will receive a Street-Wise Recognition Award signed by Nancy Cartwright and Rose Goss.

Select Finalists will receive Community Action Recognition Certificates.

OTHER AWARDS AND PRIZES

There will be other surprise prizes and special awards. The biggest prize of all is that you help others.

You don’t have to do a Life, Camera, Action! Video or nominate someone for the MVP awards. All you need to do is a project to be eligible for the Street-Wise Challenge Prizes and Awards.

Why Participate?

Not only will you have fun doing this project, you will gain experience and knowledge as you help others. When you multiply your efforts by the efforts of other groups, you will become a part of something bigger.

The experience gained will be by doing the project but also by doing the video. You and your group will have a chance to be a part of a documentary seen around the world.

You and your group can get a lot of positive recognition.

CONTEST OVERVIEW

Who can enter?

Any group or individual is welcome. This includes public and private schools, classes, church groups, PTAs, after school groups, home school associations, boys and girls’ clubs, an extended family, a neighborhood association, etc. One can even form a group just to be a part of the Challenge.

Your youngest group member must be at least thirteen-years of age.

When is the Contest?

We will announce the next contest soon. Please send an email to adam@happyhouse.org so that we can stay in touch with you.

What does it cost?

There are no entry fees! Happy House and affiliated sponsors will cover the basic costs of administering the Contest.

Each participating group is, however, responsible for coming up with a budget and covering the costs of their particular project. It can take a bit of money, though rarely very much, to get a STREET-WISE project done. Budgets can range from $0 to several hundred. But these should not be large budget projects. Rather, they should focus on group participation and hands-on work.

Funds can be raised by approaching a business or businesses in your area and asking them to sponsor you, much as they might sponsor a little league team. Or, the money can be raised through donations, or sales of cookies, or car washes, or any other legal and fun way to find the funds to complete a small project. If the fundraising is a problem then the budget is too high!

How does the Challenge work?

The contest is based on developing a project using the book The Way to Happiness ® for inspiration and focus. Each chapter offers simple common sense guidelines to follow for a happy life. Think of it as a field guide to happy living.

Your task is to select the chapter that best approximates the value of what your group is doing or to create a project that exemplifies the value of that chapter. Many groups may already have projects in the works and almost any project imaginable fits into one or more of these chapters.

Included are:

• Take Care of Yourself
• Be Temperate (Don’t overdo things)
• Love and Help Children
• Honor your Parents (treat them with respect)
• Seek to live with the Truth
• Don’t do anything Illegal
• Be Worthy of Trust (Keep your word)
• Fulfill Your Obligations (Do what you promise to do)
• Be Industrious (Work hard)
• Be Competent (Do good work)
• Respect the Religious Beliefs of Others
• Safeguard and Improve Your Environment

The Goal of each Group is simply to:
Improve the condition of some aspect of the family or community through the application of one of the chapters. That’s all there is to it!

Here’s just one fun example:

Honor Your Parents:
A group chooses this one because they have seen that there is a lack of communication between generations. Their idea is to create a Pot Luck Picnic for Parents in a local park and invite everyone from the neighborhood. Through this, they honor their parents.

YOUR STREET-WISE PROJECT SUBMISSION

Each group will receive a checklist with easy, step by step procedures for entering, doing and delivering your project. Each group will be responsible for completing the checklist on time and for completing their submission. (Be Competent! Be Industrious!)

Happy House may review your progress at certain points and is available to assist by answering questions.

As one of the chapters states: Don’t Do Anything Illegal. You are responsible for following all of your community’s rules, laws and regulations. Don’t block the street and cause a road hazard in order to pick up trash!

Documentation
Each Submission Must Include:

• The checklist fully completed and photos of your project and team
• A short success story on the experience of doing your project

OPTIONAL CATEGORIES:

• A Life, Camera, Action! video documenting the progress of the project
• A nomination for the MVP award

The Video Life, Camera, Action! (OPTIONAL)

When you submit your final entry you can submit raw, unedited, footage of your project.
You must submit at least One Hour of raw footage to be eligible.

Your video can include the planning stage, fundraising, project day or days, final product, interviews and community reactions, etc. You can do as much as you like!

There are certain skills you may need to learn to use the camera, but this is not difficult. When we have our pool of participating groups in place we are going to have a fun day of orientation on the use of the camera for those groups doing a video.

If your group does not have access to a camera Happy House may be able to provide one to your group. If we provide a camera, it must be returned to Happy House at the end of the project.

Your work will be reviewed by an independent Review Panel of entertainment industry professionals. Keep your eye on the Happy House website for new names as we add them. They will judge each video submitted for quality and cast votes for the best. The top three videos will receive cash awards.

Happy House may edit this material for promotional or other use. We may choose to create a documentary of the Challenge, or use it for promotion of future Challenges, or use parts of it on our, or another, website. The videos recorded will belong to Happy House.

Your group could be included in this documentary!

If we edit from the raw footage and complete a documentary project, each participating group will receive a copy of the finished product when it can be made available.

MVP Community Action Prizes and Awards (Optional)

Each group can appoint a Captain who can nominate a group member who went above and beyond the call of duty in completing the project or the video.

The top three nominees will be given a very special Prize: a tour of an animation studio with Nancy Cartwright. They will also be honored as MVPS with special community recognition awards.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

How do we win?

In general, winners in each category will be determined through independent review. Those projects, videos and MVPs receiving the most votes will win the prizes.

Street-Wise Project Awards and Prizes
The winners will be chosen by independent review for their practical application of the chosen chapter in The Way to Happiness ® booklet.

Life, Camera, Action! Awards (Optional)
Happy House will also recognize excellence in the videos submitted with the projects. These will be determined by the votes of an Independent Review Panel.

MVP Awards (Optional)
Three individuals nominated by their Group Captains will be recognized for their contributions above and beyond the call of duty. These will be determined by a neutral committee review.

Each group that enters will receive 10 TWTH booklets with Happy House’s Custom Cover.

That’s it! Please fill out the electronic entry form today or email or call us at 818-882-7483 for more information. Also, each group has to read the Official Rules and the Privacy Policy.

Happy House: Build a Better Family, Build a Better World

The Way To Happiness Foundation