From left, Anais Phillips, 16, Imani Phillips, 14, and their mother, Tammie Jenkins, were recently featured on an episode of the OWN Network's television show ‘The Trouble Next Door.’
UPDATED THURSDAY AT 10:45 A.M.: The show will air Sunday, Jan. 27 at 2 p.m.
UPDATED WEDNESDAY AT 11:30 A.M.: The show did not air Jan. 14 and is currently not scheduled to air, but will air at an undetermined time, according to OWN spokesperson Jessica Boyer.
Tammie Jenkins never thought her girls were “trouble,” but somehow she and her Sandy Springs family ended up being filmed for the Oprah Winfrey Network reality show “Trouble Next Door.”
The premise of the show is to let your neighbors help you with whatever family problems parents may be having.
“At first I discounted myself, but at the time [I applied for the show], I had just taken both the girls’ phones because they were being disrespectful,” said Jenkins, mother of Imani Phillips, 14, and Anais Phillips, 16. Network representatives reached out to Jenkins the day she applied in April and did the initial taping about a week after at the family’s home.
“It’s about teenagers and the different things they go through as far as peer pressure is concerned, how neighbors may have good ideas for issues I was dealing with to help out,” she said.
The family’s episode aired Monday night and will most likely run again throughout the course of the eight-week show.
“When you think about different situations that the normal teen is involved in, there is always something secretive they don’t want to tell everybody, because they’re afraid of judgment,” said Anais. “I feel like we can be role models. My mother is a single mother — there are people to help.”
Imani said the show helped her to realize other families’ struggles, as well.
“I learned that throughout everything, there are different struggles in every household,” she said. “But there’s always a way to fix it if you’re willing. It takes a village to raise a child.”
The girls went to volunteer at a community center during the taping, and Jenkins said the family has continued to help out in its community after the show.
“Back in the old days, everybody knew their neighbors,” she said. “Now, nobody knows each other or what someone else is going through. When they went to volunteer, they realized how fortunate they were, and that they’re part of a greater community.”
Jenkins said she hoped others would be inspired by the show and its realness.
“I’m human and have issues just like you,” she said. “I hope people will tune in and be able to relate. We’re all in it together. Although some people may judge me as a parent, so be it. My community was there to help me out during a difficult time. Without them, it’d be much, much harder.”
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