Southeastern kentucky. We have a saying, around here, that every holler is a home to someones weary soul. Troublesome creek got its name, for the most obvious of reasons. In rainy times, it tears out bridges and roads. When it gets really, really angry. Well, its a pretty good metaphor for the downturn of the coal industry. Taking away all the good jobs and, of course, the open oioid epidemic. Luthery is the art of string instrument making. This county is considered by many to be the birthplace. When i first came down to establish the Appalachian School of lutheran in 2012. And then, came earl. When i did my first oxycontin, i felt like it would ease the pain and make it easier for me. The pain from failure. The not believing in myself. I was in jail for nine months. Ive been through five different drug treatment facilities. I had a love for woodwork. I knew i had a love for guitars. He said i need you to teach me how to make guitars. And i said, well, thats no problem, thats what we do. And he said, no, you dont understand. I need to come and do this. I was probably headed for death, that time. How many more chances do you get in life . There was some discussion about the wisdom of bringing people in addiction into our studios. Hes like were going to give you a chance. Dont let us down. What was supposed to have been a oneyear artisan residence turned into a sixyear relationship. I built over 70 instruments, at this point. Art releases something deep inside of you, you dont know you have. In woodworking, i was able to see the flaws but turn them into features. I grew in selfconfidence. Im still sober, eight years later. We actually took our experience with earl. And using that as a spring line, the staff of the Appalachian Artisan Center created the culture of Recovery Program which was designed to host people in recovery in our studios. Our blacksmith, pottery, and luth luthery studios. We dont do the difficult work the Recovery Centers do. We dont take people in who need to go through detox. They do that and heroically. What we do is accept people into our studios when theyve phased into a place where thats useful to them. Ive never really completed anything before in my life. And its actually turned out to be a pretty nice piece of the piece of artwork. With my drug Court Clients that participate in the program, the recidivism rate is very low. I would consider it to be 10 or less. Theyre learning skills. Theyre learning patience. Theyre building relationships. And theyre going to have a finished product in their hand. Troublesome creek string Instrument Company is an extension of our school that allow us to bring people from the Recovery Community into fulltime employment. My life, today, is bigger than i ever dreamed imaginable. I went back and got a masters degree in network security. From an addict to director of information technology. So, today, i get to work with addicts. Its amazing to see peoples lives change. Doug believed in me. He was able to show me a lot of things that i couldnt see, in myself. I feel like god put doug in this town. It really is amazing, what people can achieve if just given a chance. Everyone needs a purpose. I mean, and that troublesome creek is offering it. Right. So last year, cnns dr. Sanjay gupta introduced us to a man who survived a suicide jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. His story has, literally, saved lives. Sanjay recently met back up with the Mental Health duo kadvocatea time when the coronavirus pandemic has the whole world on edge. People may see me as the bridge guy but i am just kevin. Reporter its been almost 20 years since the iconic Golden Gate Bridge became a symbol of kevin heinz mission in life. Life. Thats the keyword here because when kevin was 19 years old, he jumped. Falling more than 200 feet. And survived. This is the place where you jumped. Yeah. This is the place where i lived. I love that. How much does that still define you . It doesnt define who i am. But i have come a long way from under the Golden Gate Bridge. Today is our gift. Reporter kevin has since become an advocate for Mental Health around the world. His motto . Be here tomorrow. Ive fulfilled ten lifetimes on this journey. I am so grateful to be here with you. But i do want to show you this clip of someone elses life that you touched. Lets take a quick look, and i want to get your reaction to this. Last year, after our story about kevin aired, jen principe and tony muscle stopped and helped when they saw a man about to jump off a highway overpass. Within, like, seconds, that interview with dr. Sanjay gupta and kevin heinz just came back to me and i said we have to turn back. Oh, wow. Thats beautiful. Thats a life saved. Oh, my gosh. Its pretty emotional. I mean, its emotional for me. Yeah. I can it is. Reporter but now, during this pandemic, were not always able to reach out and physically help someone. I remember, even in the beginning, the terminology that people were saying. You need to be socially distant. I hate that terminology. Me, too, right . Physically distanced. Socially connected. Makes all the difference. Yeah. What should people do . Right now, people are watching saying you know what . I know somebody who is probably kind of lonely out there. Theyve been cooped up at home. So if you know someone that is going through it mentally during this period of crisis, please, reach out to them. Dont wait for them to reach in. You know, be that person that lends that hand through that video call. Because you can help someone, literally, change their life. And sanjay joins us, now. Sanjay, its so true. Particularly, now. Everybody needs to be connected. And if we want to reach out to somebody, do you have best advice for how to do that . Yeah. You know, its there is a few things kevin told me, which ive already started adopting in my life. First of all, you know, you may want to, even today, just make a list of a few people that youd like to reach out to during this time, in particular. And then, find the time to do it. These may be people you havent spoken to in years, even. Also, you know, when when youre when youre talking to them, this expert who sort of focuses on loneliness said a couple things. One, dont accept the first answer you receive. How you doing . Im doing fine and it can end up a very superficial conversation. But just take the time to probe a little deeper and then listen. Also, very interestingly, and again i have started doing this, have the conversation be directed in a way that, maybe, even, youre asking them for help or guidance in some way. Kevins story and your relationship with him, sanjay, have been so inspiring every time i hear it. Its just remarkable. One of his goals has been to get a suicide net around the Golden Gate Bridge. Whats the progress there . Yeah. So this is this is happening and this has been his lifes work. Things have slowed down a little bit because of the pandemic, like so many other things. But the net, itself, is basically constructed. They have started to put up the support brackets around the bridge. And they say, now, by 2023, that net, which is about 360,000squarefeet, should be all around the bridge. Basically, as a as a safeguard to to keep people or or at least protect them if if they do decide to jump. I mean, there are still, to this day, you know, three people or so, every month roughly, that do jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. So this net will go a long way. Oh, my gosh. What an accomplishment. Sanjay, thank you, very much, for that great update. You got it. Thank you. Okay. Ahead on champions for change. A young inventor floats a simple way to clean trash out of our oceans. Welcome back to champions for change. Each year, tons of plastic float into the oceans. That do not go away by themselves. But a dutch inventor created a promising system that can intercept trash, before it gets to the ocean. Research has found that just 1 of rivers is responsible for 80 of all plastic thats entering the ocean around the world. The intercepter is a fully solarpowered and autonomous cleanup system. Which basically uses the current of the rivers to collect the plastic. We have three intercepters cleaning rivers. One in indonesia. One in malaysia. And one in the dominican republic. Getting out tons of plastic, every single day. It is so cool. The organization is called the ocean cleanup. In addition to its fleet of river craft, the group is working on technology to skim away those massive garbage patches in the ocean. Good for them. All right. So wyoming, in the dead of winter, not where you would expect to find groundbreaking agriculture. But earlier this year, we caught up with this champion for change, who reimagined farming and also found a new way to cultivate dignity. Jackson hole exists at 6,200 feet. We are surrounded by Yellowstone National park. And Teton National park. We came together to look for an outofthebox solution. We wanted to employ as many people as possible, and do both year round. And thats where the idea to go up came from. Vertical iris is really an evolution. None of us set out to be vertical farmers. I am an architect by trade and i have always believed in the power of architecture to be a vehicle for social change. On a tenth of an acre, we grow now the equivalent of ten acres worth of food. We grow tomatoes, lettuces, micro greens. We serve four Different Grocery Stores in our town and over 40 restaurants. Its a very cold, snowy place, which poses a lot of problems for getting fresh produce. The way nona has approached it is bringing something unique to those chefs that they can use, and feature all year round. Creating a local source of produce was the inception of the project. But then, as we came together, we realized that there was also a big problem. People with physical and intellectual disabilities in our town who want to work, who want to find consistent and meaningful work, were not able to do so. I have a brother with disabilities, and i think ive been an advocate for this population, before i even understood what the word meant. Were pairing innovation with an underserved population, and really creating a sea change of perception of what this population is able to do. And weve created amazing, committed, loyal crew of unexpected farmers. Im a micro green grower. I take some seeds. And i lay em on the medium. One layer. No more. No less. Johnny is a graduate of the university of wyoming. And really, we count on him to accurately seed every type of micro green. He is the person that we trust, most. I am grateful for nona for hiring me so i can work at this job. And help grow produce. Shawn washed dishes for most of his career. And the thing is that shawn never had an opportunity to really show to his employer what he can do. Shawn is incredibly unique, in that he knows how to make this ecosystem run. And while, before, he had a job, now he has a purpose. We can empower the most underserved in our communities, just by giving them a chance. Everybody here is a champion, and everybody here is dedicated to change. And everyone here has shown their ability to change things, profoundly, in our community. As if jackson could be even more awesome. Young inventors to some old friends, after the break, well catch up with some seniors social distancing, in perfect harmony. Stock slices. For as little as 5, now anyone can own companies in the s p 500, even if their shares cost more. At 5 a slice, you could own Ten Companies for 50 instead of paying thousands. All Commission Free online. Schwab stock slices an easy way to start investing or to give the gift of stock ownership. Schwab. Own your tomorrow. Heres a choice you dont have to make ses are always making choices. The largest 5g network. Awardwinning customer satisfaction. Or insanely great value. Now, with tmobile for business, theres no compromise. Network. Support. Value. Choose. All. Three. Tmobile for business. Ready when you are. Dthats nothing new. T . But if you want dennys for dinner, you can have that too. Come get all your favorites, whether its day or at night. And delivery is free, whichever you decide. See you at dennys. Com the last year, i spent time with the young at heart chorus. This is an Inspiring Group of senior citizens, who perform rock hits for audiences across the country. They were my champions for change. Dont give up when you get older. Dont be afraid of getting old because you have so much to offer. You have so much to give. Now, the covid19 pandemic has forced the chorus to cancel all inperson rehearsals and performances. Everybody, at home. Everybody, on the phone, youre going to singalong. But thanks to technology, they have not let it stop the music. Watch. Whats that sound, everybody look whats going down it was really quite a task to get 25 people, whose average age is 85, to be on zoom but we did it. If you want time to go slowly, at this age, then live in a pandemic because the time has just crawled by. Without having young at heart and the structure of that and new music and learning new lyrics has just been incredibly helpful and very stimulating. I swear, every time i am with them or even hear them, i just want to sing with them. I just want to sing. I agree with you. I mean, music is so healing but i also feel like they have officially adopted you. Thatd be great. Awesome. Id get nonstop cookies. Things like that. No. Theyre wonderful and the way they found a way to work on, is so important because they need this. They need this outlet and they have so much more to provide to all of us so visit young at heart chorus dot com to join them for their next live, virtual concert thats on october 3rd. Just terrific. I love all their songs, and they have mastered zoom. I imagine which is the hardest part for seniors. Im not kidding. For all of us. Were going to introduce you, now, to a plumber who knows a few things about smashing through walls and joining pipes. Her name is cassidy and her program, tools and tiaras, empowers girls to break barriers. When i arrive at a plumbing job, most people do not believe i am the plumber. Sometimes, people doubt what you are capable of. Thats what im trying to change. That stereotype. So when i first started tools and tiaras in 2017, my goal was to give little girls the exposure to different careers in the trade. We have a free, monthly workshop for women and girls. And then, a free summer camp, where girls can come and be exposed to all of the awesome careers in the building trades. This is the bottom of your bird feeder. Our instructors are women. We had to order different kits and ship it out in boxes to the girls. My mission is to really just put tools in girls hands, and let them build a world that they so desire. Americans are doing a lot of soul searching when it comes to race and taking action. But even before this time of reckoning, tony weaver was fed up with the discouraging portrayals of black people he saw in the media. So he literally put on a cape, tapped into his own, creative powers, and set out to change the message. The United States is in a place of reckoning and that what some people interpret as rising, racial tensions, that are recent, are actually things that have been present in our country for a really long time that, i believe, are actually woven into the fabric of what this country is. Black students are dealing with something especially stressful right now. They see pictures and videos of people that look like them being killed and assaulted by police around the country. When i think about kids, right now, it makes me realize that there is a lot of work that needs to be done. When i was younger, i was dealing with a lot of bullying. And i wanted nothing more than to not exist. I cant rest knowing that there are kids that look like me that want nothing more than for somebody to look at them and say i believe in you, youre worth something, and they dont have it. When i started weird enough, in 2014, i was struck by the fact that media portrayals of Michael Brown were having a tangibly negative impact on the way i, as an individual, was treated on a predominantly White College campus. So i had a thought process that, maybe, media representation can have a positive impact as well. My work is rooted in creating a new world of diverse and original stories, featuring characters and heroes that help young people find the hero in themself. The weird enough team is scattered around the globe. Our thought was what if we could take that same, amazing feeling that you get when you watch an anime, and translate it, scientifically, to the way that young people behave in school and the way that they develop . So we have a program where we take an original comic series we create called the uncommons. And we partner it with lesson plans and curricula that can be used in school. But also, any kid or any parent or caretaker can access from home, too. Roman has very, very, very great power. What i like most about the uncommons is that it is about black heroes that save the day. My favorite character is iris because she is mostly curious and funny. She is a black girl and a hero, kind of like me. Our characters do fight giant monsters but theyre not the type that are the size of buildings. Theyre different types of monsters. Insecurities. Fears. Past failures. Things that people spend their entire lives running from. This doctor approves of tony weavers message. When we have books that can speak to what messages we are trying to encourage in our children. Theres one thing for me to say it, as a mommy. But there is something completely different when my daughter can look in a book, and see herself and the messages speak to some of the challenges that she has, as a little, black girl, growing up in this country. There has not been, in my speerpt experience, a curriculum that represents our black and brown kids in a positive way. When tony introduced his literacy program, in 2017, he also just spoke to the kids about being a young, black entrepreneur. So they were inspired that this young kid, with a cape, whos supercool and has a high top, you know, haircut, looks like them. For me, my cape is a way to unapologetically bring myself into any space i enter. My way of saying that im not going to allow any people to minimize who i am. But whats a cape for me might be different, for a different young person. So i encourage them to find the thing that makes you feel empowered, and dont let anybody take it away from you. Up