Page 8 - Fred Phillips News Today

Within and to talk about you, other than just sending a piece of paper in a black hole, its the most incredible experience, amen. >> amen. >> carl will get a job, i believe that we will do for carl what weve done for hundreds of others, and that is make sure that we exercise all our options to leverage our resources to help him find work. the short end is ill make some calls. ♪ >> reporter: fred is now in college and in debt. classes have just started. his total debt for his freshman year is n...

Works to help the jeffries pay off their debt. his solution for this high school senior may force him to acquire it. >> i want to go to school. i think school is something i need, will mature me, make me a better person. make me the person i want to be. >> i aint an afraid of you either. you know why, im not you. >> reporter: fred is an aspiring actor and his goal is to get into a college drama program. >> i will never allow a man to control me and control what i do. >> less than a quarter of fr...

So americans will pay for it. its in our economic and work force best interests to nurture the talent we have in our backyard. >> reporter: pastor sorees and christie adams at first baptist see college potential in fred despite his c grades. if fred graduates with a bachelors degree from his first choice school, he is guaranteed debt. it could be more than $50,000 worth. theres no guarantee of a job. why does it matter young black men go to college. >> high school diploma, $27,000, black males. ...

>> believe yes because of motivation. if i wasnt here or anybody pushing him, i think he would be a lot more nervous and think he would probably choke. >> reporter: has he choked before? >> yes. >> reporter: they met more than a year ago when fred auditioned for a church play. >> why do you think they believe in you so much? >> i dont know. i think god definitely has a place for it. like he didnt bring us together for no reason. for every little piece to the puzzle -- >> reporter: yes, lord, we ...

>> listen, weve always been here, we always going to be here. >> im honored to declare this years award years. awardees. >> reporter: in the end, despite a great performance, fred doesnt place in the top three and doesnt win any money. >> i dont feel bummed at all. this is my first national competition. and i will make sure i become the best in this nation. >> reporter: for fred, becoming the best means college. after this competition, the grand sum he has for school is zero. and acceptance mean...

Brunswick, fred phillips! >> take it all the way. >> reporter: all the way means the finals at the naacp competition in kansas city. >> youre doing it! >> reporter: $2,000 is at stake. but hes prepared and ready. >> i actually wanted to experience the character so some days i didnt eat, just to feel hunger, some days i cant sleep. some days i didnt shower so i could feel the nastiness. today, i wasnt going to brush

>> reporter: the college also heard from someone else. did you pull strings to get fred into college? >> pull strings? >> reporter: or whatever phrase you care to use, snap your fingers, pick up the phone? >> i picked up the phone to make sure nothing got lost in the sauce and fred didnt fall between the cracks. >> reporter: whats that mean, lost in the sauce? >> fred was not your classic college applicant. and he was not heavily sought after in colleges. fred had academic challenges, financial ...

Health aide to make ends meet. >> i happy to know he has people in his life who cares for him, people that if im not around, he has people he can really rely on, he can, you know, run to. >> this is the application. what was the s.a.t. >> reporter: christie stepped up as freds mentor. her church and now his extended family. >> im saving the application. >> the key is for someone like christie to leverage our institutional resources and my personal capacity and make it available for the young peo...

So well today. whats going on? i had to tell him what the deal was. >> reporter: was it embarrassing? >> yeah. quite. quite. >> reporter: how hard is it going to be if you have to give this up? >> well, you know what, soledad, it could be worse. its not going to be so bad. it really isnt. im all right. >> reporter: really? >> but i dont think ill have to give it up. >> reporter: okay. as fred tries to figure out his college finances he hits an unexpected bump. >> after careful consideration of y...

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