Will Smith's Mom Makes a Difference

6ABC Action News Special Report

 By Lisa Thomas Laury

February 22, 2007 - One man who may take home one of the golden statues on Sunday night is Philadelphia's Will Smith, who is up for best actor. No one will be rooting for him more than his mother, who still lives in our area.

The former Fresh Prince of Bel Air is now a king of the big screen in Hollywood, but he and his mother, Carolyn, remember their old neighborhood. It's here that she makes an effort to give back.

"If I can help someone, I like to, particularly because they are young mothers," said Carolyn.

Carolyn volunteers with Maternity Care Coalition, which offers free hands-on services to pregnant women and new moms who need them.

The house we are visiting is just a few blocks from where she raised Will.

We walk carefully. Carolyn wears a prosthesis after breaking her left leg, and then having it amputated following a bad infection.

MCC's Cribs for Kids program provides cribs for mothers who can't afford them.

Stephanie Grant is 20, single, and 9 months pregnant. Carolyn, along with health worker Dawn Jackson, will guide Stephanie thru her pregnancy and the first year of her baby's life. Carolyn offers tips on crib safety.

She said helping young women like Stephanie make productive decisions is one reason she and Will are advocates for Maternity Care Coalition.

All of Carolyn's babies, Will, his brother and 2 sisters, are now adults, but with MCC she has found a way to relive those memories by spending time at an Early Head Start Learning Center, feeding the infants and joining story-time with the toddlers.

Carolyn said she gives a few hours in a day, but gets much more in return.

"There are probably a lot of things I could do, but it probably wouldn't be as fulfilling as working with the babies," she said.

But she also remembers another rewarding moment. The day she knew Will was on his way to stardom.

"My daughter and I were walking down 52nd Street one day and in the window is 'He's The D.J., I'm The Rapper,'" she recalled. That was Will's second album with D.J. Jazzy Jeff released in 1988.

Did she ever think Will would be a rapper or an actor?

"Never, never. He was supposed to be a computer analyst or a computer engineer," she said.

She thought Will's dabbling in music was just a phase because her kids knew education came first.

"Everybody has got to learn to read, and we sat at the table every night do the homework," she said.

And if Will's career hasn't been astonishing enough, grandson Jayden has received rave reviews for his acting debut with his dad in the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness."

Carolyn Smith said she is proud of Will's and Jayden's achievements, but she emphasizes her pride in all her children, not just for what they have accomplished, but for the people they have become.

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