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Wire Actor Gave Back to Baltimore Projects

Sandra Sohn helped troubled teenagers

By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 28, 2012 2:47 PM CST

(Newser) – Sonja Sohn couldn't leave Baltimore behind after The Wire. So the actress who played Det. Shakima “Kima” Greggs on the HBO show started a program for troubled teens called ReWired for Change, the Washington Post reports. Meeting in a university classroom, she urged thugged-up teenagers to reconsider their life decisions and relationships. Wire writer David Simon said pityingly: "There was a part of me who wanted to put my arm around her and say, you are about to go on a journey."

The teens watched episodes of The Wire with Sohn and discussed their fractured lives. Soon enough, they were making smarter decisions—avoiding a fight here, treating a judge respectfully there. When Sohn moved to LA to act in ABC's Body of Proof, the project continued in a church-owned house where participants are pursuing better schooling and jobs. “The possibility of a different way of doing things—that’s the key piece," says a former gangbanger on staff. “A lot of them, they don’t even see another way.”

Actress Sonja Sohn, from the HBO series 'The Wire,' participates in a panel discussion at the Justice Department May 31, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)

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Wire Actor Gave Back to Baltimore Projects

Sandra Sohn helped troubled teenagers

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