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Mentors Marlon and Tonia Brown Give Ga. Teens 'Hope' on HGTV's Home Town Kickstart Presented by People

Mentors Marlon and Tonia Brown Give Ga. Teens 'Hope' on HGTV's Home Town Kickstart Presented by People

Tonia Brown's life changed one afternoon two decades ago, shortly after being laid off from her job. Some friends told her about a group of girls at a local alternative high school for teens with disciplinary problems who needed someone — besides a teacher — to talk to and give them a few words of encouragement. Tonia quickly volunteered and before long she and her husband Marlon had begun mentoring local kids of all ages around town in their spare time.

"Neither one of us," Tonia, 45, tells PEOPLE, "has ever been a sit-on-the-couch-and-watch-TV kind of person."

Today, the couple has made a name for themselves in rural Thomaston, Georgia (population 8,700) — a community still reeling from the economic nightmare that unfolded after the closure of its textile mills two decades ago — for their dedication to helping local kids who are struggling or just need a little extra support.

As seen on HGTV's Home Town Kickstart, homeowners Tonia and Marlon Brown pose in their newly renovated basement living space in Thomaston, GA. (Portrait Home) January 21, 2022 Credit: Courtesy HGTV
As seen on HGTV's Home Town Kickstart, homeowners Tonia and Marlon Brown pose in their newly renovated basement living space in Thomaston, GA. (Portrait Home) January 21, 2022 Credit: Courtesy HGTV

Courtesy HGTV Marlon and Tonia Brown

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On any given day, Tonia and Marlon can be found helping hundreds of students with their math homework, teaching them how to fill out a college application, visiting incarcerated teens or taking kids to eat for the first time at a sit-down restaurant.

"We're just always looking for a way to help when we see someone broken or hurting," says Marlon, 45, who appears with his wife in an episode of Home Town Kickstart Presented by People, the new Ben and Erin Napier HGTV series honoring people who make a difference in their small-town communities. Adds Tonia: "Our door is always open to anyone."

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The high school sweethearts, who have raised two kids of their own, are convinced that the hundreds of young lives they've touched over the years will ultimately end up helping to strengthen Thomaston.

"I feel like if we don't step up and help our community," says Tonia, "then it's just gonna hurt the community because these children won't reach their full potential educationally or financially — and then they won't be able to give back. We want to see them thriving and get to the next level in life."

The episode airs Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on HGTV and streams on discovery+.