DEMOing for NJ Spotlight News provided by the DEMOers of the New Jersey Education Association.

DEMOng public schools great for every child.

And DEMOarnabas Health.

DEMOs be healthy together.

DEMOeat music) - For DEMO than a year now, we've had the DEMOedible opportunity to introduce you to people who are DEMOributing to their communities in DEMOaordinary ways through our digital documentary film series, 21.

21 DEMOiles one person in DEMO of our 21 counties, and the series examines the DEMOle question of does where you live in the DEMOe affect how you live?

We DEMO to introduce you to several more New DEMOeyans who are giving back, and their communities are DEMO than grateful.

DEMOt up is Laura Choi.

DEMO her unwavering love and courage, she DEMOdies the change she wants to see in Warren County.

DEMOa is all about creating inclusive communities DEMOe everyone's stories are valued.

DEMOs a champion of educational equity, DEMOQ+ inclusion, and mental health.

She DEMOves for a brighter tomorrow, DEMO of conditions and qualifications for belonging.

DEMO Laura.

>> DEMOe isn't a singular story for any one of us, for any one DEMOon, any one group of people.

I DEMOk at the core of my being, I'll always be seeking to DEMOte communities, to form communities.

I DEMOk it's because I live here in Warren County and that I DEMO lived a different story and I find myself to tell a DEMOerent story, to show people that there are other stories.

And I DEMOk those stories are critically important to be told.

My DEMOdpa had a shop, a print shop, that was like DEMOt there, behind you.

DEMO around, look at that.

You see DEMO one?

At DEMO time, this was, his shop was the only DEMOese business on this block.

I DEMO to the United States when I was six, DEMO Shanghai, China.

DEMOe always been legal residents, DEMO through the immigration process.

My DEMOdparents lived in Chinatown.

DEMO learning about immigration patterns and policies and how DEMOerent groups of people came to America.

My DEMOly's part of the story of America.

I DEMO up in Queens in New York City.

DEMO up around all kinds of immigrants.

The DEMOrsity was just what I thought was normal DEMO I went to college.

It was a bit of a DEMOure shock.

All of a DEMOen, I felt like I didn't belong, and I was DEMOeived as different.

I DEMOk that's when I started to investigate and to DEMO really try to learn why some people always belonged, and DEMO people didn't.

DEMO we first arrived here in Warren County, my DEMOst was in third grade, and she was one of few students of DEMOr in the school.

It was not DEMO diverse at the time, but DEMOe's definitely been a demographic shift DEMO the past 10 years.

But I'm not so DEMO that the culture is catching up with it.

DEMO charged political atmosphere we've had DEMO the past four or five years has just been a microcosm of DEMOe things happening right here in this little community.

DEMO was a really hard year.

The DEMOts that we just Americans DEMOght we had, women's rights, and rights of LGBTQ students, DEMOts of students to be safe in the classroom DEMO just been challenged.

In DEMO, my child came out as a transgender person.

And DEMO I realized that the world just was not safe for my kid to DEMOt.

My DEMOd was no longer in the school district, but I DEMO wanted to be sure that it was safe for other kids.

So I am on the DEMOol board in our township.

My DEMOion is educational equity.

So DEMO we are at the school.

We DEMO to drive through a neighborhood to get to the DEMOol.

I saw how DEMOrtant it was that our students see a teacher DEMO looks like them or hear stories that's not generally DEMOected in their textbooks, in their curriculum.

In DEMOation, there's an analogy about windows and mirrors, how we DEMOn the curriculum that's reflected to us.

DEMO're either windows into a world that we DEMOt know and we're becoming aware of, or they're mirrors DEMO reflect back to us, that tell, you know, that we find DEMOelves in those stories.

And DEMO are necessary.

For DEMOle of color, we've only seen our curriculum DEMOugh windows and not mirrors.

DEMOe European children, they've only seen through DEMOors and not windows.

And so DEMOe we're here telling them DEMO, like, another window exists, DEMOntimes, you know, we don't get believed, right?

DEMO, they're like, "Oh, no."

DEMO these stories become normalized in DEMOybody's life and education and awareness, DEMO, you know, that's how we erase the other.

DEMO this one about a Chinese immigrant girl learning English.

I'm DEMO, "Yes, that's me."

DEMOghs] New DEMOey's only the second state to DEMOate Asian-American history curriculum, and I was DEMO of the effort to advocate and push for that.

I DEMOed to make sure that our district was safe, DEMO we have policies in place to protect kids, and DEMO, you know, have a seat at the table.

DEMO.

But maybe they'll get to DEMO each other and maybe they'll be friends.

DEMO.

>> It wasn't until I was in DEMOnary, I went to Princeton Theological Seminary, that I saw DEMO there could be a different possibility for me.

And not DEMOoduce myself as, "Hi, I'm the pastor's wife."

My DEMOh demands that I love my neighbor, period.

DEMOh.

-You're so loved.

DEMOe's no qualification.

DEMOe's no condition.

DEMOle should not have to earn their inclusion, DEMO their belonging.

DEMOcal love comes with no conditions.

Do you DEMO a hug, too?

DEMObe I need a mom hug.

DEMO need a mom hug?

DEMO the one I don't get.

DEMO yeah, I do.

DEMOl, I'll be your mom.

-I DEMO this.

-I DEMO a different story for my kid, one DEMO's full of more possibilities and more hope.

Two DEMOr things that I identify with now DEMO is not a part of the conversation or the culture at all in the DEMOn-American community is DEMOQ inclusion and mental health.

I DEMOk I just find myself in all these spaces where, in DEMOrtunities where I can affirm people's existence.

I DEMOed to affirm my own child's existence, DEMO though at the time, like, she didn't feel she DEMOrved to exist.

And DEMO was really, really hard.

I DEMOk we went through a couple of years of me... DEMOing that my kid won't live into adulthood.

DEMOk about how much beauty can be created DEMO we move beyond the discomfort, DEMO we move beyond fear.

DEMOe I live in Warren County now definitely DEMOcts how I live.

I DEMO that this is a space that we can all DEMOe and live in together.

And we DEMO to find a different way to be a community.

DEMO we all long for is a safe community where our DEMOdren can grow up into decent human beings and have DEMOnt education and be safe.

And so I DEMOk these are common grounds that we can agree on.

DEMO, I have such good imagination.

At the end of the DEMO I wanna create communities DEMOe everyone feel like they belong and DEMO all of their stories matter.

My DEMO and my vision that I do what I do, not to DEMO for the world to change, but DEMOdy the change now, that we need to create that DEMOal within ourselves.

I DEMOk the courageous work needs to continue to DEMOte those spaces because there's always DEMOg to be resistance.

DEMOin a community, interpersonally, we can all DEMOnd that love and that grace and DEMOcal inclusion.

♪♪ DEMO down to Gloucester County, where native Laura Baldwin DEMOaced her journey with Tourette syndrome and has DEMO educating others since her initial DEMOnosis in sixth grade.

DEMOugh soccer and her local top sports program, she DEMOd refuge, a space to connect with and inspire DEMOial needs children, encouraging them to DEMOace their uniqueness.

She DEMOasizes the importance of focusing on the person DEMOnd their diagnosis.

DEMO Anna.

My DEMOt tic started when I was actually about two or three.

You DEMO, I would punch my shoulders, I would click my DEMOlders together, I would scream, actually.

So if you see DEMObody who is having tics, DEMO recognize that they're not doing it for attention, and DEMO're not doing it because they want to do it.

DEMOly just try to ignore the tics and focus on the person.

DEMOt music) - I had DEMO a great childhood.

DEMOg in Gloucester County, it's a fun mix of things.

You DEMO, we're close to Philadelphia, DEMOe not far from the beach, but there's also a lot of DEMOlands.

It DEMOly is such a great place to live.

I DEMO to stay in Gloucester County.

DEMO people hear the word Tourette's, DEMO always think of the cursing.

And DEMO's actually called coprolalia, DEMOh it's a form of Tourette.

I had it DEMOlf.

It can DEMO include what we call comorbids or comorbidities.

DEMO very common for it to come along with OCD, ADHD, DEMOety, depression, eating disorders, DEMOr things like that.

Not DEMOys, but it's likely that if you have Tourette's, you may DEMO another condition.

So now DEMOll see me blinking my eyes.

You DEMOt see me like wiggle my nose or DEMO make little clicking noises.

But as DEMO gotten older, they've definitely decreased.

You DEMO always interesting.

DEMOghing) DEMOr dull.

I DEMOd watching you kids.

I get DEMO feeling almost like when you get an itch.

And the DEMO way to scratch the itch is to do the tick.

So my DEMOle brother was diagnosed first.

We had DEMO.

I DEMOdn't understand why he just wouldn't sit quietly and DEMO, because that's what you did.

I was DEMOtually diagnosed in the sixth grade.

And DEMO not too long after I was diagnosed, my DEMOer got her diagnosis.

DEMOle with Tourette syndrome, sometimes they can DEMOress certain tics, but not always.

I was DEMO to suppress it and kind of hide it, but it DEMOd only make it worse when I eventually did let all of the DEMO out.

But in DEMOol I tried to do that and my grades suffered as a DEMOlt because I was so focused on suppressing the tics that I DEMO't focused at all on anything happening around me.

It DEMO a lot of energy, a lot.

I was in the DEMOh grade, and that was actually the first time DEMO I did a presentation and spoke publicly about having DEMOette's, was that same day that I got diagnosed.

I DEMOed everyone to have the full understanding and the full DEMO of what Tourette's actually is.

So I DEMOe a little speech, and I presented it to my class.

I DEMOed them to recognize that I'm not doing these DEMOgs because I want to.

My DEMOn is making me do these things.

I DEMOt have any control over it, but at the end of the DEMO I'm just like any other kid.

DEMO they understood what it was, they were fine.

DEMO were like, "Oh, yeah, you know, it's no big deal."

I'm so DEMOd that I took that step.

DEMOg that first presentation really changed the DEMOse of my life.

DEMOre my diagnosis, I was very, very shy and DEMO self-spoken.

And DEMO after the diagnosis, now I have this ability to DEMOect with people and also advocate for DEMOlf and my needs.

One of my DEMOions has always been soccer.

DEMOever I would play it, it really helped with my tics.

My DEMO were the worst my freshman year and my DEMOomore year in high school.

And at DEMO point, I actually was pulled out of school for a DEMOle bit of time because of how severe it was.

My DEMO was exhausted.

I was DEMOally exhausted from all of it.

But DEMOg out and playing soccer kind of was my escape.

On the DEMOer field, I would hardly tic at all because I was so DEMOsed on playing the game and what I was doing that it DEMOally, it calmed my body.

I got DEMOlved with Top Sports because Coach Troy started this DEMOram three years before.

So if DEMO athlete does not play soccer today, but they learn DEMO name and you learn their name, and you get them to DEMOle one time, success.

DEMOIC PLAYING] TOP DEMOds for The Outreach Program.

And DEMO we do is we get paired up one-on-one DEMO an athlete who has some sort of special needs.

- DEMOre the best.

- DEMOre awesome.

- I DEMO you.

>> We DEMO the kids where they're at.

We DEMO sure that whatever it is that they have going on, DEMO're still able to participate in the sport.

All DEMOt, you going out?

DEMOs see it.

I DEMOa see those soccer moves.

>> I DEMOted working with the most amazing kids and DEMO just been in love with it ever since.

One of my DEMOt athletes that I started working with, his DEMO is Nick, call him my Nicky.

He is the DEMOest kid ever.

DEMOugh working together, we really started to DEMOlop a relationship, and we really developed a DEMO.

The DEMOt sentence he ever said to me was he asked me to be his DEMOntine, and I cried like a big wuss, because I DEMO loved this kid.

He DEMO me to his prom.

I DEMOt have enough good things to say about him.

DEMO just incredible.

DEMOuse of the Tourettes, I want to help other people because I DEMO what it's like to feel different.

- DEMO's up, dude?

>> I'm DEMO to relate to these kids on a deeper level.

I can DEMOrstand not everything that they're going through, DEMOously, but I can understand a little bit.

- You DEMO it?

- DEMO.

That's awesome.

>> DEMOing them know, hey, I understand challenges.

DEMO're more willing to open up to you and connect with you.

And it DEMOtes a safe environment for the kids.

- All DEMOt, I won't shake my head.

- I go.

DEMOic playing] >> DEMOation makes such a huge difference DEMO it comes to Tourette's.

DEMO always wanted to be a teacher.

I'm DEMOg to school right now to be a special education teacher.

I DEMO with kids every day that have differences.

And I DEMO them to know that they're valued and that DEMO can accomplish things.

So I DEMOys say, ignore the tics, focus on the person.

But DEMO goes for so much more than just the tics.

DEMO makes them unique?

DEMO makes them themselves?

I DEMOd want them to know that they are so much more DEMO their tics and their diagnosis.

I DEMOnitely believe that where I live affects how I live.

I DEMO such a strong sense of community here.

DEMOybody here in Gloucester County is so DEMO and understanding.

In the DEMOh grade, I wasn't sure what a job was DEMOg to look like.

I DEMO't know if I was going to be able to be DEMOessful in college.

I DEMOd not be where I am today without the amazing support DEMO I've found here in Gloucester County.

DEMOything's working out so far.

I DEMOt want to jinx it.

[ DEMOc ] Now we DEMO to Middlesex County where Celmira Cordero DEMOrstands the challenges faced by Spanish-speaking DEMOdents in New Brunswick.

As an DEMOgrant herself overcoming language barriers and DEMO living conditions, she now educates and DEMOwers residents with resources DEMOugh a local program called New Brunswick Tomorrow.

DEMOs all about community-driven transformation, and I had the DEMOrtunity to talk with her about her mission.

DEMOira Cordero, thank you so much for DEMOng us some of your time.

You DEMO really become the voice of tenant activism in DEMO community.

I DEMO it really touching that you decided to go DEMO this work because you yourself needed help DEMO you came here from Peru, not speaking English and not DEMOing your rights as a tenant, but also as a community DEMOer, right?

DEMO is correct.

DEMO information is correct because when I DEMO to this country, like all of the immigrants DEMO here, we have to learn as soon as quick everything in DEMO country.

So DEMO I had a bad experience like a DEMOnt.

My DEMOtment was in bad conditions, but DEMO that, I didn't know that I have rights.

And DEMO of the time when I talked to the DEMOlord, they treated me about the evictions.

DEMOlly, I found New Brunswick Tomorrow with Esperanza DEMOect with Charles Bergman.

DEMO person is very passionate with the community.

I DEMOned too much with this project.

DEMOlly, I executed my rights, and now I'm sharing all of the DEMOrmation with the families with the same experience.

Do you DEMO like you're giving hope to other DEMOers of your community?

DEMO esperanza means hope in English.

And DEMO simple word for too many people means a DEMO because the families experience depression, DEMOal issues.

DEMO not only with the other persons, or DEMOusive with the kids.

DEMO do you want to do next?

- If God DEMOws me, I would like to stay working.

If one DEMOly can learn something from the DEMOnts, right?

I DEMO they can share to another family's relatives or DEMOrkers.

And DEMO that voice passed around all of the people, and I DEMOantee in the future, this community knows DEMO they have to do if something happen with DEMOgal evictions, for example.

- And DEMO of course, are raising your son and DEMO family in New Brunswick, DEMOng a house there where you could have chosen to leave, but you are so DEMOcated to your community.

DEMOira Cordero, thank you for taking part in our 21 series.

- DEMOk you so much for giving me the chance, the DEMOrtunity to share my experience, DEMO I learned in all of the years DEMOng in this blessed country.

I DEMOd like to see more people giving the outreach to all of the DEMOlies with this bad experience DEMOt the tenants, especially in these crisis DEMOes that we are living in these in those years.

DEMO well said.

DEMOira, thank you so much.

DEMOk you.

We DEMOe you tonight by giving you a sneak preview of our DEMOl changemaker in the 21 series.

DEMOn County's Kashinda Marche is living DEMO HIV.

She DEMOggled with mental health issues, but DEMOg the way discovered her authentic self.

DEMO fueled her mission to combat the stigma and DEMOte her passion for community outreach in Rahway, DEMOwering others through daily affirmations and self-belief, DEMOing that resiliency defines us, not always the challenges we DEMO.

DEMO's Kashinda.

DEMOk about all the others, all the other DEMOiors out there, right?

DEMO's fighting their way through.

And it DEMOs you to know to keep going, right?

DEMO Kashinda, keep going.

I DEMOse to define myself as more than a diagnosis.

I DEMOd not allow any diagnosis to become a DEMOier in my path.

I was DEMOnosed with HIV.

DEMOe was a time clock on my life.

I'm DEMOht between I have to raise this kid, but I'm DEMOa die at any moment.

And I DEMO I had to get up and be whatever it was DEMO I could be for my daughter.

- You can DEMOrience all the other DEMOaordinary Jersey Residents profiled in the 21 DEMO series at mynjpbs.org/21.

DEMO's gonna do it for us tonight.

I'm DEMOna Vannozzi.

♪♪ >> NJM DEMOrance Group, serving the insurance needs of DEMOdents and businesses for more than 100 years.

DEMOzon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, an DEMOpendent licensee of the Blue Cross and DEMO Shield Association, and by the PSEG Foundation.

>> DEMOr funding for the 21 film series is in DEMO provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

DEMOtional funding is provided by the PSEG Foundation.

♪♪ >> DEMOre not texting your symptoms to your old DEMOmate again, are you?

You DEMO real answers.

DEMOzon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey has over DEMO00 doctors you can ask and 24/7 virtual care.

Oh, so I DEMOt have to scroll forums or keep texting Sheila?

DEMOtly.

Because when it comes to your health, you deserve DEMOers that you can trust.

DEMOlly, advice I don't have to fact check myself.

A DEMOthier you, covered by Blue.

DEMOic] DEMOic]