Deanna Gerstel Harris Writer & Director of "When We Care"

All Home Care Matters and our host, Lance A. Slatton were honored to welcome Deanna Gerstel Harris as guest to the show.

 

About Deanna Gerstel Harris:

 

Deanna Gerstel Harris is a writer, director, producer, board-certified holistic health practitioner, and former creator of digital content for children with developmental disabilities. She was featured in Redbook Magazine’s “Heroes: 10 Moms Who Are Changing the Face of Autism.” A caregiver for over 20 years, Deanna has served as a Fellow with Caring Across Generations, a national organization working to transform the way we care in this country. An experienced manager of Broadway, film, and television talent, Deanna’s projects are deeply informed by her lived experience as both a caregiver and care recipient, as well as her passion for centering caregiver resilience and uplifting underrepresented voices and experiences.

 

About When We Care:

 

When We Care is an upcoming animated short film that explores the profound and urgent intersection of the climate and caregiving crises. With an Academy Award-winning animation director and a celebrated Disney composer, the film uses stunning animation and evocative music to tell a moving story of connection, resilience, and shared responsibility. At a time of deep societal polarization and ecological instability, When We Care offers a poetic reminder of the beauty that emerges when we care for one another—and for the environments we call home. Written and directed by Deanna Gerstel Harris and co-produced with Monica Lund and Marian Yeager, the film is deeply rooted in the personal experiences of its creator, who is among the 105 million caregivers impacted by America’s growing care crisis.

 

As caregivers and global citizens, Deanna and the When We Care team bring a rare, authentic lens to a story that is both intimate and universal. Their creative vision underscores the growing urgency of two converging global challenges—how we care for people and how we care for the planet—and the opportunity to build a more compassionate and sustainable future.

 

Inspired by real-life events surrounding a beloved cherry blossom tree affectionately known as “Stumpy,” the film draws on both natural symbolism and lived experience to explore themes of care, interdependence, grief, joy, and endurance, and resilience.

 

When We Care is not only a visual and emotional experience—it is a call to action, urging audiences to rethink how we define compassion, strength, sustainability, and community in the face of overlapping crises. With its compelling narrative, artistic excellence, and social impact potential, When We Care explores finding resilience amidst the caregiving and climate crises through the challenges associated with sandwich generation caregiving, aging with dignity, pediatric cancer, the unhoused and homelessness, preserving our environment, and care of our veterans, while inviting viewers to imagine a world in which care, for each other and the Earth, is not a burden, but a shared value that binds us together and helps us all to thrive.