WMAR Story – Living on the wrong side of the line

SHREWSBURY, PA. — Jess fell in love with Tommy in first grade. He wanted to become a police officer. She wanted him to come home to her and her three children every night. Then one night he didn’t.

Baltimore City Police Officer Tommy Portz was killed in the line of duty in October of 2010.

At his funeral, Jess kept hearing, ‘You and your family will be taken care of’, but just a few weeks ago she read a line that threatened to derail her plans.

Her daughter Kirstin, now 18, just got accepted into Towson University to study medicine. Jess went online to apply for the Conroy and Cryor Scholarship. But it didn’t take long to realize the Portz family did not qualify.

You see, this family part of the thin blue line, lived on the wrong side of the line…Pennsylvania.

They live in Shrewsbury and the scholarship states you must be living in Maryland to be granted the money for college. Jess talked with her financial advisor who said to start a GoFundMe page, which she did.

Read more and watch the story on WMAR here.