> At a Glance
> – Ricki Lake lost her Malibu home in the January L.A. wildfires
> – She and husband Ross Burningham impulsively relocated to New York City
> – Lake is spotlighting Changing Minds Young Filmmaker Festival, 10 short films on youth mental health
> – Why it matters: The films-streamed on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play-amplify youth voices and aim to spark conversation around mental illness
Two months after flames erased her coastal house, Ricki Lake and her husband swapped surf for subways, landing in Manhattan with little more than resolve.
A Leap to New York
The talk-show veteran says the move felt rash at the moment.
Her husband, a San Diego native, had never spent more than a week in the city. Yet the pair now ride the subway daily and live minutes from Lake’s grown sons, Milo, 28, and Owen, 24.
Lake calls the relocation “the best thing we could have done.”
Spotlight on Community Access
Closer to family, Lake deepened ties to Community Access, the nonprofit she credits with helping her process her late husband’s bipolar disorder and 2017 suicide.
Founded in the 1970s, the group provides:
- Affordable permanent housing for people with mental illness
- Job-training programs
- Resume-writing workshops
Young Voices on Screen
This year the charity packaged its youth filmmaking contest into Changing Minds Young Filmmaker Festival. The anthology, introduced by John Turturro, showcases 10 shorts-each created by people aged 15 to 25-on topics from depression to bipolar disorder.
Lake, who entered Hollywood young herself, says the project builds empathy at a time “when there’s just so much bad news.”
> “All of us can put ourselves in the shoes of young people struggling to find their way,” she notes.
Healing Forward
Lake admits 2025 was “so traumatizing, so harrowing,” yet the city’s pace keeps her grateful.
She hopes viewers stream the compilation and enter the 2026 competition, now open through January 31.
Key Takeaways
- Lake credits perspective and gratitude for helping her rebound after losing everything
- Changing Minds films are available for rent on major platforms
- Next year’s contest invites new mental-health stories from youth worldwide
Still healing, she chooses “to find the light in the darkness,” one subway stop-and one story-at a time.
