Christian Bale, a child actor who grew up to take on iconic starring roles — like playing Batman/Bruce Wayne in “The Dark Knight” trilogy — is now working on an entirely different project: providing homes so siblings can remain together when they enter foster care.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Actor Christian Bale has been moved by the plight of foster care children for 15 years, and is finally realizing a longtime dream of providing a place for siblings to remain together through a charity he created.
- Bale said he believes it is important for a society to take care of its children, and he will be “proud” of doing this good work as the legacy he one day will leave behind.
THE DETAILS:
An organization Bale co-founded — Together California — is working to build a foster care village in the state that will keep siblings together, ensuring that they aren’t separated and sent to different foster homes. The village, which is being built on land purchased by Bale east of Los Angeles, will reportedly include foster homes, two studio apartments for independent living, and a 7,000-square foot community center. The space will allow siblings to live together in individual apartments or homes, where they will be cared for by foster parents whose only job will be to look after them.
CBS News “Sunday Morning” recently highlighted the project, which Bale said has been a vision of his for the past 17 years. In an interview, he was asked how often siblings get separated.
“It’s approximately 75% of the time,” he explained. “So you imagine the trauma of that, you know? The absolute tragedy, no matter what the circumstances are … the added trauma of being taken from your parents, and then you lose your siblings, you know? That’s just something that we shouldn’t be doing.”
Bale explained that people don’t need to have a connection to foster youth to feel compelled to help them.
“It’s the basic understanding that as a society, how can we not take care of our children?” he said. “It just requires having a heart.”
THE BACKSTORY:
According to The Right Way Foundation, Bale was “moved by the plight of foster children in California” after his daughter was born in 2005. (Bale and his wife Sibi Blažić Bale have two children together and have been married since 2000.)
The group added:
Bale’s passion for helping others stems from his upbringing. He credits his late father, David, for instilling in him a sense of altruism and compassion. David Bale was also an environmental activist and often took in people without homes. This instilled in his son a sense of duty to help those in need too.
Bale’s father was also an animal welfare activist, and his third wife was pro-abortion feminist activist Gloria Steinem, who stated that her husband had “great empathy for all living things.” David Bale died in 2004 of brain lymphoma.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Despite his many notable acting projects, Bale said he’s particularly proud of this specific project.
“When I close my eyes for the last time, I want to think about, ‘Did I do some good? Did I make any changes in the world that were useful?’ And this will be one of the things that I’ll be most proud of when I draw my last breath.”
Though the project is still under construction, organizers hope that the foster care village will open its doors and welcome the first children early next year.
