Life can be full of moments where how you treat someone could change the course of their entire life. Sometimes, we might not recognize these moments. But for some people, how they choose to rise to that moment when it’s presented to them, makes all the difference.
For city councilman, Ralph Rodriguez of Harrisburg, Penn., that moment came in the form of a robbery. And it ended with a young man getting another chance at living a better life. When Rodriguez was at the non-profit he runs, he wasn’t expecting to meet a robber. Seldom few are prepared for that. After Rodriguez confronted the would-be thief, the person took off. The thief might have actually gotten away with it, too, since the security footage was nothing but a nearly unusable image from a doorbell camera.
If not for the remorse of 22-year-old Rashawn Turner, this would have just been another case of an unsolved attempted robbery. But the young man couldn’t keep the secret, and after Rodriguez had posted about the incident on social media, Turner reached out, confessing. Turner said he was ready to face the consequences, and told Rodriguez his name and why he had broken into the offices.
After agreeing to talk to CBS News, Turner (his face obscured to keep his identity hidden) explained that, “I made a severe lapse in my judgment that night. My father was struggling with basic needs and I was like, I can’t sit here and just wait for what little we still have to be taken away. I have to do something.”
When Rodriguez heard from Turner, he said he didn’t want to see another young man go to jail, especially one with no prior criminal activities. He talked to Turner, trying to determine why the young man had tried to rob him.
“I actually took the time to hear his story, see the environment in which he lives in,” Rodriguez said. “And I get it. Poverty has a way of pushing you to do things that you would have never imagined you were even capable of doing.”
So Rodriguez decided to do something different. He began to send money to the young man. “Making sure he’s financially good and has some clothes on his back,” Rodriguez said. “Because what he doesn’t need any more is any more disappointments. I’m pretty sure people have told him things in his life and dropped the ball 10 out of 10 times. It’s just not what I’m prepared to do.”
He even gave the young man a job – painting the building he had attempted to break into. Rodriguez also made sure the young man would get job training, as well.
“I thought there would be no one willing to help me, but you never know, you just have to ask,” Turner said. “But I wasn’t willing to ask.”
Turner told Rodriguez that he would mess up this chance being given to him. “You just need a shot,” Rodriguez said. “And I’d be remiss if I didn’t try my best to give you that shot.” Watching the amazing story below.
