IN TODAY'S SUPER SOUL ORIGINAL SHORT... A LIFE-
CHANGING LESSON IN GRATITUDE...AND THE
TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF "PAYING IT FORWARD..."
I FIRST MET ALEX MOLINA ON THE "OPRAH SHOW" IN
2004. ALEX WAS 20 YEARS OLD, LIVING IN LOS ANGELES
AND STRUGGLING TO HEAL THE WOUNDS OF A
DIFFICULT UPBRINGING. ALEX: I grew up in a very abusive
home. My father was very abusive towards all of us. My mother could
never show any affection towards us. AFTER YEARS OF LIVING
IN SHELTERS AND FOSTER HOMES, ALEX BECAME
LEGALLY EMANCIPATED AT THE AGE OF SIXTEEN.
FIGHTING TO STAY OFF THE STREETS OF L.A., SHE
DISCOVERED COVENANT HOUSE, A RESIDENTIAL
PROGRAM FOR HOMELESS YOUTH. THROUGH
COVENANT HOUSE, ALEX SAYS SHE FOUND SUPPORT,
STRUCTURE, AND A NEW WAY OF LIVING... ALEX: When I
was young and I first was homeless, my escape was always school. For
me, from a very young age, I knew that what was going to take
me out of my homelessness was my education. INSPIRED
BY HER COURAGE AND RESILIENCE, WE
SURPRISED ALEX ON THE OPRAH SHOW WITH A FULL
COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP... ALEX: On that Oprah show, my
life completely transformed and changed. I finally had that one person
who believed in me. And she's never stopped. THIRTEEN YEARS
HAVE PASSED SINCE THAT MOMENT, AND ALEX HAS
FOUND THE CONNECTION SHE LONGED FOR BY HELPING
OTHERS HEAL. ALEX: I got a degree in Sociology and with that I
wanted help people.
I feel like that's my calling, that's my purpose in life.
I got hired at Covenant House and became a case manager
-that's a full-circle
moment right there[LAUGHS] for me. I often had a lot of youth look
at me and say, "You don't know what it's like to have to live here. In
that moment, when I would get to be able to look them in the eye and
be like, "I slept in those hallways. I
slept in those bunkbeds and I made it to college, and I made
something of myself and now, I'm here giving back to you guys. So, I
do know." AND IT WAS THIS KNOWING THAT MADE ALEX
WANT TO DO EVEN MORE... ALEX: So, what you see here are
the same bunkbeds that I once slept on thirteen-years ago as a homeless
kid at Covenant House, but, obviously, in worse condition-it broke my
heart and I just couldn't stand by that. So, I just decided to ask Oprah
if she would come on board and maybe help. ALEX ORIGINALLY
HOPED JUST FOR NEW MATTRESSES, BUT COVENANT
HOUSE NEEDED SO MUCH MORE. SO I CALLED INTERIOR
DESIGNER JEREMIAH BRENT... JEREMIAH BRENT: I came
in, I met the kids, I met everybody that's involved in this amazing
organization and said we've got to change everything. FOUR
WEEKS, FORTY ROOMS AND 96 BEDS LATER, JEREMIAH
INVITED ALEX AND ME TO SEE THE TRANSFORMATION.
OPRAH: Hello. Hi, Jeremiah. JEREMIAH: How are you?
OPRAH: Hi, Jeremiah. Can't wait to see. JEREMIAH: You excited?
OPRAH: I'm excited. JEREMIAH: Yeah. JEREMIAH: So just
so you know where this has kind of gone now is it went from just being
beds to completely renovating all four buildings from the ground up.
New floors, no walls. Everything's been changed. ALEX: Wow.
JEREMIAH: New laundry rooms. New washers and dryers. We've
even gone and addressed this front room which before was where kids
come in off the street at night. OPRAH: Ready? JEREMIAH: After
you guys. OPRAH: All right. After you. ALEX: Wow.
OPRAH: Wow. ALEX: No way. OPRAH: Whoa. ALEX: This
looks like a home. JEREMIAH BRENT: You come into this internet cafe,
which was just a recieving lobby before, the idea is that the
second you walk through the door, you shift the possibilities.
Kids start to think 'Okay it is possible, I am seen, I am heard,
there are people that care.
ALEX: This is beyond what I ever could've dreamed of.
OPRAH: We're just getting
started. JEREMIAH: This is just the start. OPRAH: Just the start.
All right. Next stop. JEREMIAH: So next we're going to go up to
the safe haven rooms which is where on the journey on enrolling in the
program, everybody starts there. So are you ready?
OPRAH: Okay. JEREMIAH BRENT: The interior design that really
makes a difference, is when you create spaces based on the moments
that people are going to have in them. And this entire process, this
entire project of working on the Covenant House, has been about
creating moments for these kids to begin their lives in an entirely
different way. JEREMIAH: Come on in. ALEX: Come on in.
OPRAH: Gosh, I love this. ALEX: No way. Wow.
JEREMIAH: Okay. So, now, you have to -- oh. OPRAH: Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. ALEX: Thank you. OPRAH: Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. ALEX: This is home. JEREMIAH: Oh, my God.
ALEX: To the kids. This is their home. And it does not look like an
institution. Or a shelter. It looks like a home. JEREMIAH
BRENT: It's one thing to preach about making a difference, it's another
to practice. Alex was a kid in this program and now look what she's
done. Look what she's affected. The change that one kid in one
bedroom here has shifted. Now, every kid that comes in here for the
next ten years, is going to feel that change. ALEX: So this is Miss
Lon, my case manager. OPRAH: Oh, my God. I heard so much
about you. MS. LAWN: I heard so much about you. Hi, how are
you? LON VANITA USHER: I got to know Alex when she first
came to Covenant House. Uh, she was like many of our clients, broken,
uh, alone, uh, not sure what her life was going to be. It's very
rewarding to know that the hard work that she and I did together paid
off in the end. She is my daughter for life. JEREMIAH: So this room
that we're about to walk into, this wing is really important
because kids have multiple jobs throughout the evening so we really,
really tried to create home for everybody. So are you excited for this
one? ALEX: I'm excited. OPRAH: Let's go. OPRAH: Whoa.
ALEX: Whoa, stop. MS. LON: Oh, my God. ALEX: No. MS.
LON: It's beautiful. It's beautiful. They so deserve it. ALEX: It
looks like a home. My goodness. OPRAH: This looks like home.
MS. LAWN: Yes. ALEX: Amazing. OPRAH: Welcome home.
(Laughter.) ALEX: This was home for me. This was where I did
homework. This was where I cried. This was where I made
friendships. But it's become so much better, so -- amazing.
OPRAH: Okay. How you gonna top this? JEREMIAH: Well.
ALEX: Yeah. JEREMIAH: You tell me. So we're gonna go back to
your room. WHEN SHE WAS A FULL TIME COVENANT
HOUSE RESIDENT, ALEX MOVED FROM THE BUNK BEDS
TO A MORE PRIVATE, 2 PERSON BEDROOM WHERE SHE
COULD FOCUS ON HER STUDIES. OPRAH: Not a mattress
on the floor. ALEX: Oh, my goodness. OPRAH: Wow.
ALEX: Was where my old bed was. Wow. And desks?
JEREMIAH: Yes, we have -- everybody's going to have their own
desks, chairs, lockers, side tables. ALEX: This is amazing, Jeremiah.
Wow. Especially because most of the kids in this program are going to
school. And I would have to do my homework on my bed or on the
floor. But you created space for them. JEREMIAH: Yep. We tried.
ALEX: Thank you. OPRAH: This is like, really -- this is my
favorite, actually. JEREMIAH: Yeah? OPRAH: It just feels like
this could be your room. JEREMIAH: Yeah. ALEX: Yeah.
OPRAH: At home. ALEX: At home. It's hard to even, like, put --
think of a word that could justify how I feel right now. This was my
home. And to know that it actually looks like a home now? I love you.
OPRAH: Oh. ALEX: Yeah. JEREMIAH: This is the good stuff.
ALEX: Yeah. JEREMIAH: When people rise up and the space rises
up to meet them. ALEX: And that's what I hope, that this will inspire
our kids to want to stay here. The streets are there. They have to do
the work here now. OPRAH: That's fantastic. ALEX: When they
leave, hopefully they'll search for this again in their lives and maintain
it. OPRAH: Wow, hey. What a great day. I just want to say, first of all,
thank you to Alex, who I've known since she was a resident here and
made a visit to The Oprah Show. I saw that she had a light inside of her
and believed in her and wanted to support her.
And it doesn't matter, as a person who has come from, you
know, really a difficult, challenging upbringing, I know that your
challenges, your suffering, your difficulties, every single one of them,
none of them will be wasted. This will be the place that lifted you up
and gave you the wings to fly out and do unimaginable things. Because
it does not matter from whence you've come. What matters is where
you're going. What matters is where you're going. So, enjoy this with
love. Thank you. ALEX: I've been grateful for Oprah since I was a kid
because she gave me that strength. I was able to see her life and see
that somebody can actually get themselves out of what they were born
into. And if she can do it, I can do it.