Voices of Hope – Aaron F.
Drugs and doing stuff to get drugs sent me to prison. I started using when I was 13 and I went to prison 8 times. Every time I got out, it was the same thing. I’d spend 2 years in and then spend 6 months out. And when I got sentenced to 10 years the […]
Voices of Hope – Richard S.
Richard Smith grew up in St. Augustine, Florida where he was raised by his grandmother. “My mom gave us up and that lack of love led me to the streets. I had a good job, but I just got greedy. Money becomes a drug too, and I got lost in it all. There is no […]
Letter of Thanks from Ready4Work Client
Being in the business of hope is so rewarding! At Operation New Hope, we are so fortunate to witness personal transformations daily and to champion our clients’ successes. The below letter received from a client after he graduated the Ready4Work program yesterday is real proof that second chances matter! We are so thankful to Kelly […]
City of St. Augustine Supports Second Chances
Joining us at last week’s Ready4Work client graduation at our new St. Johns County program location, Todd Grant, the Public Works Deputy Director at City of St. Augustine, stated he is a big believer in second chances. “For this program, it’s obvious the participant has made a choice to change their lives and I want […]
Voices of Hope – Benjamin B.
I spent 17 and 1/2 years in prison away from my home and daughter. When I was preparing for release, I saw a brochure explaining the Ready4Work reentry program. I had initially been planning to go back home to Bainbridge, Georgia, but thought I would take a chance and write to Operation New Hope to […]
Ready4Work Continues to Match Clients with Living Wage Jobs
Operation New Hope’s Employment Services Team remains hard at work and is crushing goals! Since the beginning of the year, we have placed 157 clients in living wage jobs despite the uncertain and shifting economy. Even in the midst of a pandemic, we not only exceeded our prior years’ achievements, but we have been helping […]
Voices of Hope – Jessica P.
I was living on the streets, using heroin, and in and out of jail. I used drugs to numb the pain in my life. However, drugs erased more than just the pain – it took away everything including gratitude and joy. I was empty. The last time I was arrested, I thought, ‘That’s it. I’m […]
Voices of Hope – Michael C.
I grew up on the streets and I had been using heroin since I was 16. I got high to deal with the pain, but every time I came back down, the pain would still be there. I knew I needed to change. When I got arrested the last time, the State Attorney told me […]
Voices of Hope – Danielle P.
After three years of unemployment, with two children to support and the threat of returning to jail looming because of her inability to repay restitution totaling $10,000, Danielle Pryor felt hopeless. The memory of that difficult period brought tears to her eyes. “I had done my time, learned my lesson, and been forgiven by God, […]
Voices of Hope – Athena S.
In a classroom packed with current Ready4Work clients, Athena Swygert confessed to spending the years between 17 and 39 addicted to meth. “I took for granted everything I had. I didn’t care because I was an addict. I stole. I cheated – and they took my children.” She paused and took a deep breath before […]
Voices of Hope – Russell B.
Planting potatoes on the Farm Squad was hard. Crawling on my hands and knees in the field in the bitter cold without being paid really informed my outlook on work. Once I reached a certain level of maturity, I decided it was time to change my life. After 10 years in prison, I returned to […]
Operation New Hope’s Risk Assessment Project
In an effort to better serve our clients and community, Operation New Hope has initiated a Risk Assessment Project designed to assess individual’s risk of recidivism and develop rehabilitation plans specifically tailored to address relevant risk factors. Spearheading the initiative are our Clinical Services Director Gretchen Hamm and our Strategic Expansion Director Laureen Husband. We […]
Masks Donation to Jacksonville Jail
Operation New Hope partnered again with Desmond Meade of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition to deliver 6,000 masks to the Jacksonville Jail. Operation New Hope and Florida Rights Restoration Coalition delivering masks to Jacksonville Jail Chief Calloway Desmond Meade is the driving force behind Amendment 4, which restored the voting rights of people with prior felony convictions […]
Annual Report, Ready4Work St. Johns County Reopens, and more!
Latest News – June 2020 Operation New Hope is pleased to share our 2020 Annual Report highlighting our Vision for Hope. When we began working in the community 20 years ago to address the issues of poverty, crime, homelessness, and drug addiction, we never could have imagined that our organization would evolve into the national reentry […]
Ready4Work St. Johns County Re-opening June 29
Operation New Hope is excited to announce the reopening of our Ready4Work program location in St. Augustine, Florida on June 29, 2020 to deliver reentry services to people returning from incarceration.
InsideOut Dad Graduation at Baker Correctional
Operation New Hope’s Case Manager Ronnie Cage was onsite at Baker Correctional Institution to celebrate the graduates who successfully completed the InsideOut Dad program. While the class started in early January and was scheduled to end on March 25, 2020, COVID19 changed plans. Cage was happy to report that “The guys were really shocked to […]