. >> reporter: edwina sanders taught ryan how much more she had to learn. sanders was in trouble when she met ryan. >> here's the house. >> reporter: homeless for 16 years and with stage four breast cancer. you had no place to go. >> i was scared to trust anybody. >> reporter: because it had been so long since you trusted anybody? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: this is the church for the homeless in downtown birmingham whered is rye and edwina sanders first met. it sits just eight blocks from the college professor's office but the two worlds they came from are a million miles apart. >> two years ago, i would have stepped over edwina on the street. i could have been that person without the resources, and it-- it hit me in a way they couldn't-- i couldn't turn away from her. >> reporter: ryan convinced sanders to get a mastectomy and guided her through a complex medical system. >> we sat and we talked, and she told me not to be scared. you know, "you'll be all right." and i was all right. >> reporter: sanders now lives in a donate apartment. her cancer is in remis