(upbeat music) Consider yourself lucky if you find one of these cute creations on your desk.

27 and counting, a New Jersey couple opens their hearts and home to abandoned and abused farm animals.

Plus, from the color palette to modern day artifacts, indigenous curators team up on Penn Museum's new gallery.

Welcome to the show.

We begin with Penn Museum's newly redesigned Native North American gallery.

From concept to creation, indigenous curators from around the country collaborated on every detail.

It's a nice representation of not just our history, but like who we are as contemporary people.

We're stewards of their culture.

And so listening to them, it is an essential part of how we do business now.

It's a new way to approach an exhibit like this because we were asked to curate and not just consult.

Over the last decade, the museum has been reinventing all of its signature galleries.

And our new Native North American Gallery is the latest gallery to open in the transformation of our museum.

Our indigenous curators were involved with every aspect of the design of this exhibition, from the choice of objects to how we conserve them, how we display them, what the labels say about them.

It was really important that they have true authority over the content, and to hear them speak to this directly was really, I think, one of the most gratifying elements of this entire process for me.

The gallery is split into four quadrants, the Northeast, the Lenape, the Southeast, the Cherokee and Muskogee, the Southwest, Pueblo, and the Northwest, Alutiiq.

Part of the reason for doing so is to show how diverse these different cultures are over a vast geographical range and the people that lived in these various regions.

Our curators are deeply committed not only to the history of indigenous peoples, but developing these types of collaborations.

They're very invested in what these people have to say about their culture today and integrating them into the storytelling of this exhibit.

We've been doing this kind of work, collaborating with native colleagues whose collections we have here in the museum.

So all of these items themselves, each one of them goes back to a community, to a place and a time.

And so in this project, that important step of inviting those individuals who have the deep knowledge of those objects, it's a very natural thing to bring them For me, this work is just vitally important because they have the ability to contribute just profoundly in ways that others can't do.

So they should be speaking on their own behalf about the knowledge that they hold and that these items hold.

We designed the exhibition space from ideas and concepts through the very end, which is kind of unusual for Native people to be involved in the exhibition process.

It's been standard practice of museums to add in voices after an exhibit is curated or designed, but Native people are beginning to become more assertive in how they're represented.

So that process of bringing those two worlds together, it's a deliberate process, a lot of intentionality that goes behind it, and what results is this awesome exhibit.

It was so cool to be able to work on a piece like this.

My mom, she's taught me a lot about beadwork.

There's a little black bead called the humility bead, and so it was cool because she taught me about that and then it's there in that piece too.

So for me it was also a better way to connect with my community members back home.

Museums have traditionally been problematic for indigenous communities in the fact of collecting items and then basically exploiting native communities in the use and display of those items.

This has been different because we've been asked to come on board at the very beginning to interpret, to see what was appropriate to display, to figure out what story we wanted to tell with the items they had and how can we flesh that out with new items, contemporary things, and how to highlight the fact that we are here, we live now in a diaspora across the United States and Canada, and that we are still practicing our traditions and culture and passing that on in the best ways we can in honor and respect of what our elders and our ancestors taught us to carry these things on.

We turn now to a few good souls.

One is making dance accessible to those who thought it was out of reach, while the other is providing resources to a vulnerable population.

I represent about 92 kids right now in their immigration cases.

And the reason that that is so important is that there is no right to a court-appointed lawyer for kids in immigration court.

A lot of people think that that's not right because they think of the criminal justice system where you can get a public defender if you can't afford a lawyer.

So nothing like that really exists for immigration court because it's considered civil and not criminal.

So children, if they can't afford a lawyer, which can cost many thousands of dollars, or if they can't find a non-profit like ours that can take their case, they will be forced to represent themselves in court.

And they're always going to be going up against a trained government lawyer, an ICE attorney, who's arguing for them to be deported.

I think it's fairly obvious why that's problematic and why that's unfair to children.

And having representation is the single most important factor in whether kids are able to stay here legally.

I'm an immigration lawyer, founder of Project Libertad.

We represent children who are either in immigration court proceedings facing deportation or who are undocumented, and that just means helping them apply for different types of immigration status that they might qualify for.

The majority of the kids that we work with come to the U.S.

as unaccompanied children, so that means that they travel to the U.S.

by themselves.

They don't have a parent or legal guardian with them, and they don't have any type of immigration status when they arrive.

So what happens to them is that they are supposed to be moved out of the adult detention setting at the border within 72 hours.

You've seen the chain link fences, aluminum blankets, those types of images at the border.

That's that adult detention setting that they're not supposed to be in because they're supposed to have these kind of special protections as unaccompanied kids.

Then they'll be sent to a network of shelters, foster homes, group homes across the U.S.

that are run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is supposed to be like the child welfare branch of government that takes care of unaccompanied kids who arrive.

We are seeing like the current administration make it a lot harder for kids to be released to sponsors by using sponsor information against them and sharing that with ICE, increasing the requirements for kids to get out to sponsors, and then while sharing that info with ICE, they're making people afraid to come forward.

So we have kids kind of languishing in detention for a really long time period, so we're definitely seeing fewer kids.

More recent estimates are that children with special immigrant juvenile status will wait 10 to 15 years for a green card for new applicants.

It's just the government is so slow.

Citizenship is, in general, another five years away after even getting the green card.

So it'll be quite a while until we see any of them actually become citizens.

Our ancestors who came here as immigrants would not qualify under the laws that we have today.

My youngest right now is about eight years old.

And then I work with kids, you know, all the way up to young adults, because maybe they arrive when they're teenagers and the cases take so long to go through immigration court or USCIS that many of these kids, we like watch them grow up while their case is still pending and still trying to get their status secured.

And unaccompanied kids can range from babies, infants, toddlers to 17 when they arrive.

I did not always want to be an attorney.

I knew, you know, from my college days that I wanted to work with kids, that I liked working with immigrant communities, and that I wanted to do something in, like, the nonprofit sector.

I joined the Peace Corps, and I was in Costa Rica, also working with kids teaching English.

When I came back, I applied to law school.

I ended up going to Drexel.

While I was at Drexel, I did internships at an organization called HIAS Pennsylvania, another great nonprofit in our region that does immigration work.

Going to work at HIAS was like kind of an eye-opener for me because I was like, okay here's something that I love to do that's meaningful and that kind of gives meaning to like why I'm putting myself through law school right now.

While I was working at HIAS, I had all of these clients who still had all these other needs outside the legal need.

I felt like I didn't have the resources to really meet all of those needs through any of kind of the traditional organizations that existed at the time.

That was really where the inspiration came from.

What keeps me motivated is really the relationships that I got to form with the kids that I work with.

And I love to kind of keep myself plugged into some of the more like fun aspects of our work.

Like we have summer camp programs and school programs where we're not talking about deportation and immigration court and all of that stuff.

The real good souls are the kids that we work with.

I know the stories of the people here.

I know how far they've come.

I've seen the tears.

I've seen the people come to me and say, "I thought this was over.

I thought I was never going to have the opportunity again."

I've seen them be changed.

I've seen their family be changed.

There's so many husbands who pay for their wives to come take class because they're better mothers.

The other day, a young lady paid for her mother to take class, and her mother had told her at a young age, "I always wanted to get back to dance, but you know, I got pregnant."

And that same child paid for her to come take class again.

And it's personal.

I know what my life was like when I didn't have dance anymore.

For as long as I remember, I've always been a dancer.

What dance was for me was an outlet.

It was a way of communicating.

Emotionally, I felt full.

Learning to be creative with my body in that way.

So dance was comprehensive to me.

I went to a cookout and at the cookout a young lady there said to me, "Hey, I heard you're a dance teacher.

Would you teach me ballet?"

And I said, "Have you ever danced before?"

Her first response was no.

But I couldn't really wrap my head around why she wanted to if she's never done it.

Welcome to Philadelphia's first adult-only dance floor.

Second Chance Dance.

And there were two of them that started out with me.

And that is really how Second Chance Dance started.

I took what I learned from them, the feedback I got from them, and the experiences that we all shared.

I quickly realized that there was a market and a need for dancers who had never gotten the opportunity to.

Especially minority women who were told that they weren't built for dance or dance wasn't built for them, that they weren't capable and kind of never would be.

And/or there were a bunch of women whose parents just didn't have the finances to afford it.

If you have to choose between potentially eating or bills and your child taking a dance class, you weren't choosing a dance class, so you just didn't have that opportunity as a child.

Most of them were stuck in the concept that once they passed 18, it was impossible.

Second Chance Dance was built for the people who were told that they couldn't, or they no longer could, or, you know, your time is up, this is your second opportunity to go back, and if you've never done it, this is your first opportunity, and I believe it's never too late.

I offer ballet, modern, jazz, tap, African, stretch, praise, hip-hop, PBT.

So those are the nine classes we currently offer.

We go in and out of also offering yoga, line dance, and dance fit, and then we have a Golden Grace class.

Golden Grace is going to be all of our seniors.

Our average dancer right now is 25 to 55.

All year long you're learning, you're dancing, you're growing, you're being challenged, but your family and friends don't really know what you're doing.

And the recital is an opportunity to really show them what you've been working on, how much you've grown, how much you've challenged yourself.

We get costumes, makeup, our shoes match, our tights match, everything matches.

And we just show the world what we've been working on.

And you do this for yourself, but I think the world should know.

And then the lights go down.

When they come back up, you're on stage.

You're a different person.

You have different confidence.

You're changed because you've done the hard work.

We deserve to see you in all your glory.

I was nominated by Evan Burton.

He's one of our dancers.

I'm grateful that he sees me as a good soul, but that's what I think a good soul is.

Someone who puts others first and does the things for others that they've always needed for themselves.

(audience cheering) - We're always spotlighting communities around us.

These next stories, however, turn the lens on the WHYY community.

First, I introduce you to a colleague who crocheted his way into my heart.

Hey everyone, I'm bringing you inside WHYY for our next story.

Recently I came back from vacation and found this little guy on my desk, a crocheted chimera.

Then I looked around and noticed that almost everyone at work had one too.

[music] Oh my gosh, come and look at this one.

A mom and the baby.

So I started asking around to find out where they came from and learned they were gifts from... Hi, I'm Michael Murphy and I'm with the marketing department at WHYY.

Michael, did you make these?

I did.

Did you make one for everyone in the building?

I'm working on it.

I'm about halfway done.

Michael and I decided to take the conversation to a South Philly home where he does his crocheting.

Hi Michael.

Hi Shirley, come on in.

Thank you.

So this is what's called making amigurumi.

It took me like six months to be able to say it, but it's just making things using crochet.

Say it a couple of times.

Amigurumi.

Amigurumi.

You're good at saying it now.

I've had a couple years to practice.

I have always been crafting.

I've always been interested in making things and creating things.

I'm not a sit still person, so it's always helpful to be doing something.

Maybe three years ago, my husband, who kind of cycles through crafts, he had picked up making the amigurumi, and he started doing it, and I was like, "That's interesting, I want to try that."

And so I taught myself again how to crochet, and it was really easy.

I like to make things.

These are adorable and cute, and they have personality, and it's always fun to do that.

And they're all different, so you're not doing the same thing over and over and over again.

So there's just little nuances between the different things.

It's fun.

I started giving them to everybody, and I've just been working my way around the office giving one to everyone.

So it just makes me feel good, and it brings joy to their day, having a nice little surprise, and it just makes it more fun and makes it more community-oriented and like a great place to be.

And I'm doing my little part to help that.

Michael has to crochet about 40 more to get one to everyone in the building.

And he also makes finger puppets and look he made one for me.

I see the resemblance, don't you?

At 204 in Philadelphia with WHYY News, I'm Matt Gillum.

He's a familiar voice on 90.9.

My colleague Matt Gillum is on the move with some new looks.

Hi, I'm Sabir Peel of MenStylePro.com.

It's a men's style editorial site focused on showing men the how-to of how to stay fresh.

But my journey started when I was a little guy living with my grandmother and she worked at a dry cleaner for 35 years.

And that's where I learned how to stay pressed and fresh all the time.

And that took me from elementary school all the way through high school.

And high school was where I really kicked it off by designing clothes for friends, so doing bleach patterns on jeans and having a lot of fun.

But when I got to college is where I really took my leap.

And a few years later, started MenStylePro.com.

We're at Stick Fall Vintage to do a style refresh for Matt Gillum, and we're gonna have some fun.

So let's get started.

So are you ready for a little stickball fun?

I'm ready to be refreshed.

So when you are working with a client, where do you generally start?

The refresh begins with a whole sit-down talk consultation.

Why are you looking for a refresh?

Is it seasonal?

Do you have any style icons?

Are there any pieces that you've been looking for grail-wise?

You saw this online and you want to build a wardrobe around it.

It really comes down to a whole lot of factors.

I think a good wardrobe starts around denim.

Do you like jeans?

Are you a pants person?

Do you like chinos?

Are you an accessories person?

How do you feel about rings?

And how important are the small details?

Accessories are the finishing touch to any outfit.

I do ask because some people don't know how to add them to their wardrobe and they think it's too much, too much ostentatiousness, but I will push into accessories.

I'm perhaps a little stuck in my ways.

I found stuff and pieces that I like, sort of my look if you will, and it's been that way for a long time.

What does a refresh mean versus an overhaul let's say?

So a refresh will be taking things that you know you like and know you look good in and giving you an elevated version of that or just a slight twist on that.

Trust me in this, I'm not going to make you look crazy, but I might throw some crazy in for you just to get you ready to try something on your own.

All right, well, hey, let's see what we got.

All right, let's do this.

All right, what do you think?

First look.

I'm into it.

I never thought I'd be double denim, but this is working for me.

Double denim, I think one for fall, it's great.

I chose this particular look for a layering piece.

So, trucker jackets are inherently tailored, but people don't think about them that way.

So when you pair them with a flannel, it gives a little bit of like 90s grunge, but with the pieces being tailored, not oversized, it shows your body more.

And then I call this piece the blank canvas.

So if you look under here, there's a Henley shirt, and I went with the white.

It has that vintage white to it.

We're in a vintage store, so it looks appropriate.

So when you put them all together, this is intentional.

All right, let's go for look two.

Let's go.

This is what I'm talking about.

This is the step out of your comfort zone top.

Yeah, this is very much not in my wheelhouse.

When I put this look together, it was about playfulness, fun, and functionality.

Get back in there.

We got one more look to go.

[MUSIC] Look three, here we go.

This was my grail outfit.

What do you think?

>> I love this.

This is like perfect cool fall going out to a night on the town.

Could also do daytime.

I love the jacket.

I'm feeling it.

>> It's two things happening here.

You have on two grail type pieces.

You told me you love leather jackets.

And when I walked in here, the stick ball was like, that's for Matt.

And that's going to be my surprise look piece.

When you turn around, because it has this painted factor to it, it says "Stay True" and it's heart on the back.

This is what you look for when you look for something vintage.

It has personality, it has pop, it has power.

I like the pants, too.

There's some pink splatter on here.

And what I like-- I won't say the most, because I love the whole outfit-- is the shirt that's under here.

So it's a distressed denim shirt.

And in-house here, they have a whole rack of-- They've got the patches and stuff in there.

Yeah, they have patches and things that they've fixed in-house.

So it's all mended pieces in-house.

If you turn around a little bit so you can see it a little bit more right here.

I love that idea.

So it's worn, it's purposeful, but it's getting new life.

So look three.

- Big fan.

- Big fan.

- Total knocked it out of the park.

- Love it, love it.

(upbeat music) - Thank you for coming.

- Thank you.

- My personal favorite was outfit number two, but Matt looked great in all of them.

Now we turn the spotlight on a New Jersey couple who's living their dream, caring for abandoned or abused animals on their sanctuary farm.

- Welcome to Jen Lane Farms!

- I've always had a love of animals.

I used to bandage up my stuffed animals and it led me to where we are at today.

I have a love and passion for animals, especially those that are neglected or in cruel situations.

And so this was an opportunity to be able to give animals that were just in a terrible situation a really good life.

My passion for animals grew after I met Krista, who is my animal inspiration.

We wanted to move to a place that we can raise farm animals.

It's three and a half acres.

We have eight cats, two dogs, nine chickens, two donkeys, two pigs, three goats.

We started with chickens.

And the goal is to have all hens.

One day, one of them started giving a cock-a-doodle-doo.

[LAUGHTER] So that chicken turned out to be a rooster.

And his name is Roo.

We brought two donkeys down from Barnyard Sanctuary.

Up north, it's a rescue.

Generally, the animals are taken from cruelty cases or neglect.

They are just lovely donkeys.

And then we moved on to goats, and we have three.

We have Romeo with blue eyes, and Rory, and Fred.

And we then went on to rescue two pot-bellied pigs.

They were abandoned in the woods.

We have learned to care for all of them.

Each require different types of feed, different types of care, different types of veterinary care.

And overall, it's been a learning curve for us, but we're doing well.

- I'm an early riser.

I get up at 5.30 in the morning.

The day starts with a cup of coffee quickly and then shopping vegetables, two big bowls for the pigs, two trays for the chickens.

And for the goats, they like lettuce, cranberries, walnuts.

We give them some pumpkin puree.

The donkeys, they eat hay.

We buy 25 bales of hay at a time.

And of course, the dogs and the cats eat dog and cat food.

Every morning, it takes about an hour to get everybody fed.

We are a partnership.

I have the morning shift.

She has the afternoon shift.

And we do this together.

These are our pets, all 27 of them.

All 27 have names and they are part of our family and they'll stay here forever.

- And that's our show.

Good night, everyone.

[music]