"The Light of the Village" (Season 1, Episode 3)
Prichard, Alabama

Prichard, Alabama has more drugs, more guns, and a higher murder rate than anywhere else in the state. But not everyone wants to be a statistic.
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Summary:
Earl Bridges and Craig Martin travel to Alabama Village, a small community only a few miles
outside of Mobile, but seemingly worlds apart. It is an impoverished and often violent community
largely ignored by the world around it. But not by everyone... while there, Craig and Earl meet
John and Dolores (D-Lo) Eads. John and D-Lo have a community center and church called
Light of the Village. In their 15 years serving the people of Alabama Village and the surrounding
communities they have buried more than 30 of the young people who have been through their
program due to gun violence. This is a violent, desperately poor community surrounded by
drugs, crime, and few legitimate work opportunities. And yet with the suthe pport of Light of the
Village program people like Jesse Darrington have a chance at escaping the cycles of crime and
violence. The Good Road team follows the life of Jesse as he makes his way through his senior
year of highschool and out of Alabama Village. Along the way, they meet Da’Cino Dees. Dacino
is a role model for Jesse who explains what it’s like to grow up in “The Village” and why it’s
important for Jesse to leave. The road out wasn't easy for Jesse though and along the way he
loses the most important person in his life, his mother, to the same violence he is trying to
escape. Craig and Earl are genuinely worried about what will happen to Jesse during this most
trying time. Then, Jesse and the other youth of Light of the Village show true compassion by
turning their attention to those even less fortunate than they are. They volunteer and then raise
money for a mission trip doing philanthropic work in the poor Mexican border-town of Ciudad
Juárez. This is a big moment for Jesse, and after returning home, and with the support of
Dacino, John, and Dolores, Jesse becomes the first in his family to graduate High School, and
take the first real steps towards a college education.

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THE GOOD ROAD offers a compelling look at the messy and complicated business of global charity. Hosts Earl Bridges and Craig Martin- longtime philanthropy veterans, globe-trotters, and best friends-set off around the world to places where people are doing good. Sometimes that good is several plane rides away and sometimes just off your own daily commute. Border camps for refugees, 3rd world Neonatal Intensive Care Units and fully armed anti-poaching teams with Land Rovers are only some of the impossible situations they explore in Season One.