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Nominated for an Academy Award, The Collector of Bedford Street is a short documentary that follows Larry Selman, the film maker's 60 year old neighbor. A community activist and fundraiser with developmental disabilities, Larry raises thousands of dollars for charity every year while he lives at the poverty level. Because of Larry's 20 years of service to his neighborhood, the community created a supplemental need adult trust fund for him. This was the first time that a group, rather than an individual's family did this. The film humanizes the story behind the abstract statistics of mental retardation, revealing how a community builds tolerance and understanding.

Despite his success at fund-raising, Larry, like many other people with disabilities, confronts a time of crises. He experiences life on the front lines of government assistance. Citizens with developmental disabilities are often faced with housing emergencies, prejudice and rejection. The acronym NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) is the rallying cry for those who want to exclude and isolate people with mental retardation and other disabilities. According to Kathleen McGinley, director of advocacy for The National Disabilities Rights Network, a national organization that advocates for people with disabilities, “The greatest difficulties facing individuals with mental retardation today are community acceptance and housing needs”.

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