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SJSU Grad's Life Journey Fit For Movie Script; Cannes Entry Helping Foster Youth

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- When Melissa Lewelling graduated Summa Cum Laude from San Jose State University, the one person she wanted to share it with – her mother - wasn't there.  "I think I lived in the fantasy that she would just always be there. Sick - but there," said Melissa. "And then one day, she wasn't.

"She was all I had in a neighborhood of crime, and a budget that was always being pushed miraculously beyond its means. My whole life, the only income I have ever known came from my mom's disability check and my welfare check," wrote Melissa, in her personal statement in high school. Her great dream was to go to college."

Melissa grew up in a single parent household in downtown San Jose. When she was 14, doctors told her mother she only had one year to live because of an immune disorder.

Tammy Lewelling began to make plans and foremost in her mind was to keep her daughter out of the foster care system.

Lorna Loera remembered, "Melissa's mom came to the church and she was really looking for a family for her daughter. And when we heard about it, we had already gotten to know Melissa a little bit through our daughter and she had already stolen our hearts."

Tammy Lewelling found that family for her daughter in Lorna and Javier Loera and their children. "The one thing I remember about her mom is that she loved her daughter so much, that she wanted to make sure that Melissa was going to be okay," said Pastor Javier Loera. "We're just thankful we were able to step in."

As it turns out, Melissa had years to get to know her adoptive family before moving in, because her mom lived much longer than doctors expected.  And her mother had time to prepare her for life on her own. "She would tell me over and over again that you have to let people in. You have to let people help you because they don't know how," said Melissa.

Tammy Lewelling lived long enough to see her daughter graduate from high school.  Melissa entered San Jose State to stay close to home, but in her freshman year, her mom's health went downhill. Melissa became her caretaker.

"'I've never seen anything like that," Lorna Loeras says, "where someone her age, she was 19, she was in San Jose State, 4.0, and she was literally doing the hospice care for her mother.  She's amazing and I don't know how else to say it."

Tammy Lewelling died in 2011. "She was my best friend," says Melissa. "That was the worst day of my life."

Melissa moved in with the Loeras. "It meant the world that a family would take me in and love me as their own."

She was an easy kid to care for. "She knew how to manage her money, she knew how to manage her time, she knew how to manage relationships," said Lorna. "We were blessed because Melissa acclimated right in with our family and she was just great."

In her senior year, Melissa entered a film contest called Campus Moviefest.  Students are given equipment and one week's time to shoot and edit a five-minute short.  Because she was carrying a heavy load of classes, Melissa hesitated at first, then she took a step of faith and went for it. Her short film was about the troubling college dropout rate of foster youth. Half drop out in high school, and only about three percent graduate from college.

It was a topic she empathized with. "It broke my heart," she said, "On a deeper level, that could have been me. I could have been homeless, I could have been the 97% that didn't graduate from college."  She called the film, More Than a Number.

The night the film was shown on campus, they announced they were only giving out four jury awards, out almost 60 submitted. Hers was the third one announced. "I blew a gasket," she said. "I had never felt joy like that." Later, she got an email saying her film was submitted to the national Campus Moviefest in Hollywood. But the capper was the news her film was to be shown in the "Short Film Corner" at the Cannes Film Festival in France. "I almost dropped my phone," said Melissa. "This can't be real life. This must be a mistake!"

It wasn't. She had just graduated and started a new job at a public relations firm and was afraid to take the time off. Her adoptive mother remembers talking through the decision with her. "When she got notified that she was going to [Cannes] … we said to her, 'You need to tell [your boss] with the same enthusiasm you just told us.'" said Lorna. "Her boss was happy to give her the time."

"Cannes was amazing," said Melissa. "The experience of a lifetime."

Melissa is back at work now. She has her own apartment and is completely self-sufficient at 23 years old. She's done things she always wanted to do: finish college, get a job, and helped others by making a film that will enlighten.

"That's what we're here for," Melissa said. "There's no meaning in life if you're not helping other people."

Melissa is taking life one step of faith at a time. So far, that's worked out pretty well.

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