Controlled areas of the mexico became too much so she and her children came to the san diego port hoping for asylum. Translator before i came to this country, i lost three family members. Two of them were my nephews and one of them was my brother. One of my nephews was decapitated report roar the discussion often comes down to what one side things is right what the government says legal. Today in north philadelphia, a family faced that conflict. Advocate long stood at this place for justice, for equality and for human rights, and it seems quite fitting that we continue that tradition. Reporter carmella has were and in our area for two years while her case was consider but when she received notice her asylum was denied a local church won that happen. Shes a warm compassionate woman. She loves her children. I can only imagine if i were in the same situation i would somebody to work with me and to help me. Reporter the help given was to publi publicly offer sany to carmella and her kids. Theyll live in an apartment in the church with the support of the congregation who knows that they welcomed in someone facing deportation but also someone whos life is likely in danger if she returns to mexico. I did not see any other options except to open the door to receive her and her family. Reporter carmella wears an ankle monitor immigration knows where she is at all times. Reporter this is a Public Statement that carmella and the congregation are opposing immigration policy because its risking lives of people who tried to follow the rules. Translator im resolved to be sanctuary. Ice knows exactly where i am and if they come and take me out take me from here, then its up to them what theyre going to do. Reporter so following the law meant possibly putting somebodys family at risk, what should we do . Its the right thing to do many. Reporter church of the advocate believes they made the only decision they can make for goodness sake. Im Bill Anderson. A local school block just blocks from center city abandoned for 40 years has reopened. The building is getting a Second Chance to help our veterans and seniors. Heres bill. I graduated in 1978 and there was no jobs. I didnt have too much going on. Im walking down north broad street one day and i decided to go into the recruiting office. Reporter ivy clark is like too many veterans served in the navy and when he came out, things were pretty good. But when the economy dried up, says, it changed dramatically. I lived not actually on the street but i lived from post to post, partner to partner, through the years. Reporter if you think about it its a really sad but true comparison the old Spring Garden school behind me in north philadelphia and too many of our veterans have lot of similarit similarities. For years, it sat abandoned and vacant with nobody recognizing all it needed was little bit of support as they walked by. Nobody helped. Until now. Help philadelphia actually came in and we redeveloped the school and we created 37 units designated to veterans and seniors. Reporter Health Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Housing Authority creating sub si dieing family isnt a new phenomenon. Its not just building apartments watching this old school transform and provide housing to veterans, thats building hope. I see it every day for years. I see the renovation and i startestarted praying that i caa place here. Reporter walk through the building you can still see the structure of a school. They even purposely left some of the graffiti. Walking the former classrooms, now apartments, that house low income veterans and seniors for minimal rent and you see why some who were discouraged before feel like theyre getting another chance. I spent the first night here basically looking at the ceiling and, um, just thanking god. Reporter with an avenue forrable and comfortable place to call his own, even at nearly 60, ivy calls this a new beginning. Im in school now. I go to penn. Its the beginning of a lot of things i need to do for myself. Reporter a building forgotten for 40 years and people some forgotten longer than that have been given new place and a new chance for goodness sake. Im bill ant son. Texting and driving not just a bad idea. Its illegal. So how do you keep kids who are couldnt stanley texting off their phones when theyre behind the wheel . The program that to put down their phones now. If you told me a year ago where id be right now. Aah . I would have said you were crazy. But so began the year of me. I discovered the true meaning of paperless discounts. And the indescribable rush of saving drivers an average of 620. Why does fear feel so good . I fell in love three times once with a woman, once with a country, and finally. With myself. So, do you have anything to declare or not . Isnt that what im doing . Not only is texting and driving illegal, its also dangerous. But majority teams do it any way and now as Bill Anderson shows us, one local high school is trying to stop that with a reality check. Reporter weve all seen the horrific commercials. Been bombarded with stats about the dangers of teching and driving. But it doesnt seem to be working. Do you ever text and drive . Yes. Occasionally. A little bit yeah. Lets be honest unfortunately too many people have to be scared straight being personally affected tendons to influence behavior bit also means that you have to deal with tragedy. So quakertown hoy school deciderred to try somethng different. Today we have a demonstration from Lehigh Valley health network. They have a driving simulator. Its to demonstrate the dangers of not only texting and driving but distracted driving. Reporter in fairness to the students as the lines formed to try to simulator, yes, several admitted that they do text and drive. But the ones who did knew they needed to stop and several others theyve already gotten the message. Youre not texting and driving. No, no, no. Because its distracting and i dont want to crash. Reporter teens sat down and took the wheel and then were faced with many of the distractions they could face daily on the road. But what started off as joke to many a video game to others oops. Reporter began change as they saw the consequences. Wiggle your toes. No movement or sensation below the waist. It was scary. I crashed into someone. There was red light and i didnt stop fast enough. I see this happen on the roads. People crash. People die because of it. Oops. Reporter we have to remember that these are teens and as much people may judge their decisions or the decision to simulate fatal accidents it seemed to have an it pack as pretty much everyone left the simulation getting the message. Its not really worth it why put your life on the risk on the line for something so stup stupid. Definitely think twice before picking up the phone. Accidents involving death and serious bodily injury. This is a felony. Reporter hopefully showing the effects of texting and driving without actually having to experience an accident will help not only these students but everyone who doesnt seem to grasp that nothing is so important that it cant wait 15 minutes to potentially save a live for goodness sake. Im bill ant son. A birthday wish unhike any other. Young man is asking for donati donation. He wants them to help recovering dud drug addicts helping his own life story will inspire others for goodness sa sake. Heres bill. Every day using up to 26 bags of heroin. Using anything i can get my hands on. Anything to altar my mine. Reporter Brian Messick has been more than 18 year olds he wasnt sure he would make it to another birthday. This year is a little different. I expected i was going to die from using drugs. For awhile i was okay with that. Reporter after teen years filled with addiction struggles hes been drug free for nearly eight months and has a clarity on his life that was absent for some time. One day, you know, something hit me. I called my parents and told them that i needed help. I decided to turn myself in and ask for treatment. Reporter marijuana at 13. Heroin and meth by 16 and on the run for months after a drug related parole violation it finally clicked for brian. So as he approaches his 19th birthday, he decided to share his story i feel like my story could help other people. Reporter part of that help is asking anyone who sees his social media or this story to donate in honor of brians january11th birthday to a no nonprofit that helps people in recovery. Brians mom believes the donations and openly sharing the story may offer support for recovering addicts and their families to know there are people who can relate. Not knowing if im going to get a phone call a good phone call or bad phone call, whether hes alive or dead. Dreading when the phone didnt ring. Reporter even with all theyve been through the family never stopped praying for and believing in brine and hopes others embrace that message. I hope you never have to experience having a child that becomes addicted to any kind of drugs, but just just care. Brians birthday next week. A 19th birthday that he didnt expect to see. And because of that, hes asking all of us to donate to his chosen cause and try to save more lives that may also recover and pay it forward for goodness sake. Im Bill Anderson. Next, one lucky dog. A frozen lake and the Police Officer who put his life in danger to save a pups life. A puppy rescued from icy lake. A local Police Officer the hero. Bill anderson talked with not only that officer but the pups grateful family. There was snow on the ice. She was apparently running around the circle of ice looking at the ducks and fell in. Come here baby. Reporter video now going viral. A Hopewell Township Police Officer crawling on a partially frozen lake to rescue niece sell the bear oneyearold rotweiler puppy. He thought nothing of himse himself. He thought about what needed to be done to bring her to safety. A lot of us expect Police Officers to risk their lives to save ours. If you came up on this frozen pond and someone had fallen in, would you try to help them . What about if it was a dog . The water is cold and you wear out. She would have drowned, yes. She absolutely would have drowned. Reporter because of the hopewell officers the dog was back playing in her yard with her dog sister even back chasing ducks but shes only doing it because of the officers selfless actions. The dog had gone under for about maybe five seconds and came back up. Officer peterson also one of my personal best friends i trust him with my life. I said when i get this dog i just want to you yank us out. Reporter social media is exploding with thanks for the officers actions and pointing out their willingness to risk themselves for the roti but the officers, they just acted as if it comes witness territory. About 20 degrees out. Just finish snowing, and i have four month old puppy at home. So my heart was racing. Reporter public wanted to say thank you. Something they were hahn never al little uncomfortable with, but since its because the dog is okay, they humly accept. Its got to be nice people are applauding the evident. Its kind of em barring. Its nice. The highlight of this entire incident the dog okay. Reporter the question i asked earlier still stands. Would you risk yourself to rescue a dog you didnt know . Reporter theres a familiar and puppy that are happy today that officer voorhees and officer petersons answers were a strong yes for goodness sake. Im Bill Anderson. Little boy with a big dream to go viral but hes not doing anything dangerous or illegal or anything like that. Instead hes got a message he wants to spread to other kids for goodness sake. Heres bill. Reporter this rap video doesnt look all that different from many other others now grane rapper is nine but strong beats, check. Reporter flash she jewelry, check. Most of what youre used to seeing is there but the message is really different. Reporter when i first got email from jamill ollie about his son i wasnt sure why i would do the story about the nipyearold illinois rapper. He told me hes reaching out to stations across the country trying to make the video go viral, he honestly made a strong argument. A lot of stuff thats going viral today is the wrong messa message. And the more its shown around it makes the kids think that its okay to do those things. Reporter he also wanted people to see the impact that a positive message had on his own son. Cam mill or k old system nine his rap dreams are like most kids. What do you hope happens with this career. I hope i get famous. [ laughter ] reporter but the recognition that he is starting to get for his good grades hasnt changed his dreams. But how he plans to reach them. I want to tell everybody that to get good grades so you can get a degree. Because i want a degree and if you get a degree you can do anything you want report roar dad is a rapper himself he had that eye open moment he hopes goes viral when parents realize they want their kids to act right, they have to. Hes watching me and to see him like repeating lyrics and stuff like that is like, i have to change it up. Hes looking up to me. Reporter so j and k ollie convinced me that we shoud be part of spreading a messag that can empower young people regardless of the city theyre in. He told me once again before, dad how can i sing about good grades i dont have good grades . Reporter what are your grades look hike now . I got as and bs. Oh yeah. Hes leg it. Report roar you can share the song and imagine the impact we can have with a message to kids that will make good grades go viral as quickly as we know a fight video or flash mob would for goodness sake. Im Bill Anderson. Still ahead starting over a little easier. Thanks to those paying it forward. [narrator] look around. If our world isnt stuck in the past, why is Higher Education . We say, if theres a better path, you should take it. And when there isnt, well, you know where im going with that. Dont do things by the book if the book cant keep up. Take your page from one that hasnt been written. We took two renowned universities, including a premiere medical school, and created a Single University that defies convention. At jefferson, were making modern look old and making old look new and making sure new is not enough. Were adding more weight to your degrees and more meaning to your careers, going where others wouldnt dare, making connections few think to make, and setting tomorrows standards by breaking todays, because we believe the lines that are drawn are meant to be crossed. Thats where the future is born. And once you realize youre not limited to whats possible, guess what . You redefine all that will be. Starting over is never easy but sometimes its necessary especially if you want to seize new opportunities. Bill anderson shows us one local organization is giving the gift of confidence. Reporter before i can even ask the first question, i knew that talkin talking about overcg obstacles during the holiday was going tour hard for Nicole Brinson g we were together since i was ten years old. The only person i was with. When i was 27 he passed away from an asthma attack when he was 28. Reporter her life from that point on was an understandable struggle. I suffered from addiction i didnt want to be here. I felt like my kids were better off with somebody row. Reporter nicole found people who cared about her. She work with career wardrobe and this Holiday Season things are getting better. What do you give somebody whose had a rough year . Fought to overcome and looking to start 2018 on positive note . Maybe you give them hope. Im doing it because this is the best way i know how to give back. Giving a gift of beauty. Reporter dre richard and Andre Richard salon decided to give makeovers to melissa, tie rain and nicole they work closely with career wardrobe and what do you need to start that career or ace that job intervi interview, confidence goes a long way. I look good and i feel good. Im in the scared to like actually go to an interview now. I wanted to better. I know im worth so much more. Reporter tie rain wants to start a business. Melissa wants stability. You could see the transformation they went through in just few hours. Kind of just clean some of the clutter out of the way and you get to see who you really are. Reporter heres tie rain before. And after. The confidence just to get out there just to say hey, this is who i am. This what i have to bring. Reporter melissa before and after. And nicole before and after. You have to have a healthy mine, healthy heart, healthy body and then like when all of them things then you get to walk around with your head held up high. Reporter dre ya richards and career wardrobe in some small way helped these three women on their way with the gift of confidence for goodness sake. Im Bill Anderson. Thanks for joining us tonight for these inspiring stories. Absolutely. Fox 29 news at 11 00 is next. Live from center city in philadelphia this is fox 29 news at
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