Christian Bale was “stunned and mad” when he found out how many kids in California are in foster care, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The discovery inspired a project that Bale worked on for the past 16 years. This week, the actor’s plan to build 12 foster homes is finally coming to life.
“After our daughter had been born, I found myself trying to imagine what it would be like if we weren’t around. ... I was stunned and mad to learn that we have more foster kids here than anywhere else in the country. I was also kicking myself for not knowing that before so I thought, well, this is it. Let’s focus on this,” Bale told The Hollywood Reporter.
“My wife and I decided that we were going to do everything we could in our power to change that.”
The English actor admitted he had “the very unrealistic idea” that his plan to help foster kids would be executed within a year. Now, 16 years into the project, Bale understands how “complicated and tough” it can be to help kids, per The Hollywood Reporter.
“When I started this, I had a beautiful 3-year-old daughter, she’s now in college,” Bale told The Associated Press.
On Thursday, the “Dark Knight” actor led a tour around what will become a village of 12 foster homes, two studio apartments and a 7,000-square-foot community center.
Together California, the organization behind the project, was co-founded by Bale, his wife Sibi Bale and Eric Esrailian — a professor at UCLA and longtime friend of Bale’s. Located north of Los Angeles in Antelope Valley, the new community is intended to keep siblings together while in foster care.
“Imagine the absolute pain and the trauma of losing your parents or being torn from your parents, and then losing your brothers and sisters on top of that. That’s no way to treat kids,” Bale said during the tour on Thursday, per The Guardian. “And so, we will be the hub for that. I hope that this village will be the first of many, and I hope that people, Californians and Angelenos, know to come join us in opening our eyes to what’s happening right under our noses. These are our children, and we must help our children.”
The project will cost roughly $22 million and is expected to be complete by 2025, per The Hollywood Reporter. The foster care village will be the first of its kind in California.
Bale credited his philanthropy-minded father for endowing him with a desire to help his community.
“I grew up with a dad who was always very active and altruistic, and we would be headed to protests and shouting at Maggie Thatcher and stuff. As a kid, I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I loved it,” Bale told The Hollywood Reporter. “We were always having other people coming and living in our house who didn’t have homes, etc. That’s just the guy that he was.”