FORT WORTH, Texas — Retired and longtime daycare owner Ossie Brooks showed WFAA stacks of photo albums with every child she babysat over the years. She keeps up with them all.
"Because I felt like all of them are going to be somebody," Brooks said.
Brooks opened her at-home daycare in Fort Worth. Her family and friends encouraged her to do so, as she tried to figure out what to do with the house her mother left her in the Stop Six neighborhood.
Miss Brooks Daycare Center got the support of hundreds of families who attended church with Brooks. In fact, she started taking care of the next generation of kids after being open for so many years.
Today, she said she is especially proud of daycare kids like Malik Earle, all grown up and making a difference.
"Malik looked out for everybody else. Everybody else was his concern. He was second on the list. Everybody else at first," Brooks said.
Earle grew up in Fort Worth's Stop Six neighborhood. Their home, a two-bedroom, one bath is still there. In fact, their old house is now his new investment.
"It's just something I want to be able to keep in my family because it's been around. It's my roots right here in this city," said Earle.
Over the years, the Stop Six neighborhood has undergone many changes. Fort Worth police focused on this area to make it safer by reducing crime.
And now safer streets is part of Earle's new job.
After finishing college, he enrolled in and graduated from the Fort Worth Police Academy.
"I am able to actually put on a police uniform, get an actual badge, and then going through the formal training process, riding with a senior officer and completing that," Earle said.
When Earle completed the police academy, it came as no surprise to Brooks. That's because Brooks said he noticed Earle was always one of the best kids at day care, especially when it came to getting along with the other children,
"I'm not surprised at anything that he does because he's like the goose that laid the golden egg," Brooks said. "Everything he touches, It really does turn to gold."
Earle's longtime barber also knows about that golden touch.
For 25 years, Ms. Nikki has cut Earle's hair. She's watched him grow up. They had thousands of conversations over the years about almost every topic you can imagine.
That's just what barbers and their customers do. So, after more than two decades of chats, it was easy for Ms. Nikki to get to know him.
"He's always been the peacemaker," she said. "The one who doesn't like conflict, is always a protector. So it kind of fits who he is."
It's a fit that Earle said he believes will help him be a better police officer.
"I always said I'm just the kid from Stop Six who became a police officer," Earle said.
Although Earle is one of the newest officers protecting and serving in the City of Fort Worth, already he's had many positive interactions with people in the community.