The TikToker Who Changed a Veteran’s Life

Hey there, welcome. I'm Christabel Polanco, and this is CNN 5 Good Things. Meet the two teens from Brooklyn who wanted to fix a problem grown-ups haven't. I realize that this issue isn't just affecting... you know, my own life, but also millions of others nationwide. We were like, this has to be like a better way. And what if tackling your most mind-numbing task actually became something you looked forward to?

It's not just a productivity hack. You're going to love it. Let me sell you on it. Plus, scientists have identified the age when your brain reaches adulthood. And it's not what you think. And an octogenarian veteran still working full-time gets the surprise of his life from a stranger on the internet. So just to see that, to see how much...

I don't know, it's faith in humanity, you know. It shows people care so much about the veterans. When we come back, some dads behind bars got the chance to show up for their daughters in a way they never had before. Hey, Ryan Reynolds here, wishing you a very happy half-off holiday because right now Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off unlimited. To be clear, that's half price, not...

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DC politicians want to enact harmful credit card mandates that could take away your cash back and rewards points. Perks that stretch your budget and make life a little easier. Losing these benefits means less money for your family's everyday essentials like gas and groceries. The perks you rely on could disappear, leaving you with higher costs and fewer options. Tell Congress to guard your card and oppose the Durbin Marshall credit card mandates. Paid for by Electronic Payments Coalition.

At one of America's toughest prisons, daughters dressed to the nines walked a pink carpet towards the person some have waited years or even an entire lifetime to see. And I watched a group of men. stand with pride and dignity shedding every label the world had ever put on them and for one night they were not inmates they were dad

Jake Bodine is the founder of God Behind Bars, a ministry that in part works with prisons to reunite families and restore relationships. They worked with the Angola Prison in Louisiana to host the facility's first ever father-daughter dance. Very excited I get to see my daughter. I ain't see her in three years. Nearly 30 incarcerated fathers were dressed in custom tuxedos. And they took turns waiting at the end of a pink carpet holding bouquets of flowers for their dates.

Their daughters from ages 5 to 20 walked toward them all dolled up for emotional reunions captured by God behind bars. It's emotional moment because you know that many of these little girls have had a void in their heart and mind with the absence of their father and in that moment It's being filled same thing for these men

It's a moment that I'll never forget to bond with my daughter and create a memory. I just tell her how much I love her and tell her I apologize for all the years I missed on her life and I hope she forgive me and I'll make it up to her with this dance. Volunteers turned the prison's classroom into a ballroom. The fathers and daughters made their grand entrances, and they danced the night away. Later on, the dads had a surprise of their own.

The dads wanted to surprise the girls with a dance of their own. It involved these fans and they choreographed their own dance they could perform for their little girls at the end of the night. They were fully present in the moment. And so I truly believe that some new legacies were born, but more than anything, legacies were redefined that evening.

I ain't seen a tear like that in long times. We're supposed to be the worst of the worst and the hardest of the hardest, and we walk around like that sometimes. To be able to see all of us together with our kids, man, the loves of our lives, and with no masks, that was cool. To check out photos and videos from the event, subscribe to the CNN 5 Good Things newsletter and check out God Behind Bars Instagram linked in our show notes.

88-year-old Detroit veteran Ed Bombas is still clocking in at a local supermarket. I work five days a week, eight hours a day. And you do that because you have to? Yeah, I don't have enough income. Oh my gosh. Do you have a wife? She passed away seven years ago. Seven years ago. Ed says losing his pension and the costs of caring for his wife when she was sick forced him to sell their home and keep working.

Enter Australian content creator Samuel Wiedenhofer. He's known for traveling the world filming small acts of kindness. He asks his social media followers to nominate others who might need help. Samuel teamed up with a Detroit influencer to track Ed down at the supermarket where he works. We were like, oh, we give up. We can't find him. And then we just kept walking around. It was like the biggest shop I've ever been in. And we found him on the way out.

Just seeing if I could have help scanning this. Thank you. What was your name? Ed. I'm Sam. Sammy will launch the GoFundMe to give Ed the chance to finally stop working. And it's raised over $1.5 million in just a few days. Oh, thank you. He plans to present Ed with the funds soon. It shows people care so much about the veterans because so many of them are left behind. Any small act of kindness can save someone's life, and that's been clear.

since what we've been able to do. I have to say thank you to the community and the people who share these stories and who donate a cent because it's not possible without them.

In New York City, affordable housing is notoriously hard to find. But two Brooklyn teens wondered, does it really have to be this hard? When we really looked into it, there was actually still... programs and available units for people, but just not a lot of awareness about where to find these properties. I just thought finding a home in New York City should not be this difficult. Beckett Zahedi and Derek Webster Jr. are high school seniors who built a tool to fix that gap.

In June, the 17-year-olds launched Realer Estate, a website that pulls in public data and real estate listings to help people find below-market and front-stabilized apartments. The service is free with an option to pay for early access to curated listings. we estimate the market value of every single listing that we get based on you know price per square feet beds baths amenities building type building age building condition so we can give you a rough sense of how much

this would be worth to tell you if it's currently listed. The inspiration for Real Air Estate came to Beckett after watching his dad's grueling hunt for an affordable apartment in the Big Apple. I realized that this issue isn't just affecting, you know, my own life, but also millions of others nationwide. Then Beckett met Derek in school and they taught themselves how to code. And since launch, they say about 60,000 people have used the site.

We just found out that last week, one of our first users actually found and closed a property that they found on our site. I would say the most rewarding part has been just seeing all this feedback from people and just seeing that we could even make...

Like a 1% difference in that has been great to see. If you've ever felt like you didn't quite become a real adult until your early 30s, turns out there could be a reason for that. Scientists at the University of Cambridge in the UK recently mapped out five phases our brains go through. It's a first-of-its-kind roadmap that could help identify when the brain is most vulnerable.

and in turn, could lead to earlier intervention for issues with memory, attention, or language. The study published last week in the journal Nature Communications found that on average, Human brains are in adolescence from the age of 9 until the age of 32, which suddenly makes my 30s make way more sense. They analyzed MRI scans from more than 3,800 people ranging from newborns to 90-year-olds.

to see how the brain's wiring changes over time. The first phase they measured is childhood, when the brain is rapidly building and trimming neural connections until we hit nine. Then comes the brain's adolescence, when it's fine-tuning the pathways that help us think faster and communicate information more efficiently. In our early 30s is when they say the brain settles into adulthood, the longest, steadiest era lasting until about 66.

Then the brain reorganizes again as early aging starts. And the last stage is late aging, which they found starts from about 83. More research is needed to confirm whether these ages, 9, 32, 66, and 83, represent universal turning points. But the researchers say this is the clearest picture of the brain's life cycle yet. and could help identify the moments when the brain needs the most support. Okay, admin night is the next big thing in your life. You're going to love it. Let me sell you on it.

Coming up, how to make the digital chores of adulthood not suck as much. Stick around. Corporate megastores are spending millions lobbying DC politicians on one-sided policies that send small businesses tumbling. They want to enact harmful credit card mandates that take resources away from your local credit union and community bank.

leaving Main Street businesses with less access to credit, making it harder for your family to pay for everyday goods like gas and groceries. Tell Congress to guard your card and oppose the Durbin Marshall credit card mandates. Paid for by Electronic Payments Coalition. I set out to understand how he became one of the most famous Black men in America and how his life and our family unraveled. From Vanity Fair, this is Tough Cookie, the Wally famous Amos story.

So many portals, so many bills, so many forms and forgotten passwords were all bogged down with bureaucratic tasks that we keep pushing off. A few years ago, journalist Chris Collin from San Francisco realized he and all of his friends were quietly drowning in the same administrative chores. We'd all gotten weirdly busy, not just with work, not just with family stuff.

but with this weird new category of busyness. It was dealing with insurance. It was filling out school forms, figuring out your airline miles, getting some claim submitted. It was all so much more than it used to be. And I realized it wasn't just depleting us, it was making us kind of isolated.

Like, all this stuff is so boring. We don't really talk about it. We just sort of put our heads down and soldier on through it. So he thought if it had to get done, might as well at least try to find a way to enjoy it. So I fired off an email to some friends. And I said, come over next Tuesday, grab a six pack, bring all of the stuff you've been putting off for weeks because it's so boring and we'll do it together. Chris calls these gatherings admin night.

Once a month, he and his friends get together on a weeknight and work in short 30-minute bursts from 6.30 to about 10 to 10.30 p.m. They take 10-minute breaks in between to socialize or swap tips to solve certain problems. And the only rule is you can't do work work. Forbidden, strictly forbidden. You got to do personal admin stuff. It's not just a productivity hack. Yes, we do get a lot more done.

But it's also just kind of acknowledging this thing together that we've been suffering alone. The last part of AdMidnight, this is the nerdiest part, but it's also the funnest, is we go around the table and we each name one thing. that we are psyched to have accomplished. And that everyone cheers, no matter how big or small you cheer for that person, because it's a minor victory.

All right, that's all for now. Thank you so much for listening. And if you like the show, please give us a good rating or review wherever you listen or send the show to a loved one. It helps us spread the good vibes. And if you have any good news that you're excited about, whether personally or happening in the world, give us a call and let us know. 404-981-2293. Don't forget to join us tomorrow for the next edition of CNN One Thing, wherever you get your podcasts. Take care. Till next time.

DC politicians want to enact harmful credit card mandates that could take away your cash back and rewards points. Perks that stretch your budget and make life a little easier. Losing these benefits means less money for your family's everyday essentials like gas and groceries. The perks you rely on could disappear leaving you with higher costs and fewer options. Tell Congress to guard your card and oppose the Durbin Marshall credit card mandates. Paid for by Electronic Payments Coalition.