Would you know you were talking to a millionaire if they didn’t disclose their wealth upfront? That’s part of the premise behind ABC’s new reality series Secret Millionaire. Wealthy entrepreneurs essentially go “undercover” in disadvantaged communities, living on welfare wages and staying in budget accommodations.
At the end of their stay, each entrepreneur is required to donate at least $100,000 of their personal wealth back to the community — after they reveal their true identities.
The latest episode aired on Sunday, April 10, 2011, and featured Ali Brown of Ali International. Ms. Brown’s company teaches women to build successful businesses to better their lives. A resident of Marina Del Rey, California, a tony waterfront suburb of Los Angeles, Ali assumed she’d be traveling far to her new home.
Little did she know she’d be traveling less than five miles from her waterfront home to the eclectic neighborhood of Venice Beach.
For those unfamiliar with the Los Angeles landscape, Venice Beach has long been known for its funky and offbeat character. Cafés, restaurants and art galleries can be found next to tattoo parlors, marijuana supply shops and t-shirt stands. Multi-million dollar homes rest behind secure gates on the sand. But there is another problem in Venice as well: homelessness.
Teens, adults, men and women can regularly be found sleeping on the streets and alleys of Venice. Drug abuse and mental illness are rampant. Worst of all, no one’s quite sure what to do about it.
Ali begins her journey by moving into a rundown apartment on an almost derelict street in Venice — a far cry from her beautiful home in Marina Del Rey. She must live on just over fifty-five dollars a week, an amount she admits she would have spent on drinks in one hour. By the end of the week, Ali admits she wasn’t sure she’d have enough money to eat.
Undeterred, Ali begins investigating various charities in the Venice community. The first is Harvest Home, a shelter for pregnant and homeless women. Those admitted to the house learn life skills, job training and general financial independence so they can leave the home and take care of themselves and their children.
Ali meets several of the new mothers, many of whom admit that if it not for Harvest Home, they wouldn’t have a place to go. One mother even admitted she would have had to give her son up for adoption. Ali takes this hard — eventually breaking down into tears during her confessional.
Another memorable charity was Bread & Roses, a restaurant open to the homeless that allows them to come in, make a reservation and enjoy a free meal. The volunteer coordinator described the charity as one that provides both food and dignity, something society often deprives them of.
Ali serves the dinner guests, laughing at her mistakes. Bread & Roses can serve upwards of 150 people a day. The theme of dignity was also to be found in the next charity — this time targeting people suffering from chronic illnesses as well as their caretakers.
Beauty Bus is a beauty service on wheels, offering manicures, pedicures and more to both men and women suffering from chronic illnesses. Indeed, Ali helps a beautician give a paralyzed man a good manicure so that his nails are no longer jagged. His caretaker receives one as well.
Much like the first charity, Ali genuinely took the time to speak with the customers of the charity, asking questions of their lives, struggles and hopes for the future. She even reflects on how her own family could have used this service, as Ali’s mother was exhausted after taking care of her ill father before he passed away.
The last charity was one called Common Ground, which is a bike-based outreach organization that delivers food, medical treatment and counseling to young adults in need. It was during this segment that Ali discovered that sometimes the staff of these outreach organizations gain just as much as the general public. A young man who worked with Common Ground described how his past with drug abuse had really sent him adrift, and that by working with Common Ground he was able to get his life back on-track.
To say Ali was changed by the end of her time would be an understatement. A tall, beautiful woman who is clearly intelligent and well-educated, Ali was stunned to see so much need right in her own backyard. Previously, she’d been primarily focused on issues concerning the world — but not the local needs of her own fellow citizens of Los Angeles.
Once she revealed her identity, there were more tears — this time from the figureheads of each respective charity. In the end, Harvest Home received $50,000; Common Ground received $30,000; Bread & Roses $10,000; and finally, the Beauty Bus also received $10,000.
In the end, Ali returned to her gorgeous waterfront home in Marina Del Rey, less than five miles from the rundown apartment in Venice. Interestingly enough, Ali said that while her time on Secret Millionaire had come to an end, her philanthropic work in the community was only beginning.
There were many lessons to be learned from Secret Millionaire. The most important, however, is that charities and other outreach programs do not survive on donations from celebrities alone. They continue operations based on the contributions from “real people.” And no matter how small the contribution, it will always be welcome and appreciated.
While much of reality television exploits drunken fools for entertainment value, Secret Millionaire takes the medium and uses it for a much worthier cause: showing us the lives of people who we might not otherwise learn about.
In sum, Secret Millionaire is an excellent program, and comes highly recommended for those who have not discovered it.
