Ready4Work Orlando Celebrates First Year
To meet the critical needs of the thousands of people who return home to Central Florida every month from jail and prison, Operation New Hope opened a new program location in Orlando in September 2022 as part of our Statewide Reentry Network. After our first year of delivering our nationally-recognized Ready4Work reentry program and providing […]
Voices of Hope – Candace C.
“I’m a 38 year-old mother of 8 children who was never a heavy drug user until my husband and I separated after 22 years of marriage. I felt so scared and alone and threw myself into drugs and sex, but it didn’t get me anywhere except arrested for drug possession with intent to sell and […]
Education, Employment and Second Chances Matter!
Susan Kowalski, Operation New Hope’s Deputy Director of our READY4WORK Space Coast program location, attended the Florida Prison Education Project (FPEP) Open House last week at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Founded in 2017, FPEP is an initiative of the University of Central Florida that seeks to offer a high-quality undergraduate education to people […]
Ready4Release Team Making an Impact
Our Ready4Release team is making an impact in our communities and being recognized for their efforts! We are so proud to highlight two of their recent recognitions: Ronnie Cage our Ready4Release Program Manager was awarded Volunteer of the Month July 2023 by the Lawtey Correctional Institution. Ronnie has been facilitating the InsideOut Dads program to […]
Space Coast Ready4Work Director Honored by Florida Council on Crime and Delinquency
On August 23, 2023, the Florida Council on Crime and Delinquency honored Jarvis Wash with the Reentry Award for his impact in the field. For over 10 years, Jarvis has been connecting returning citizens with vital post-release services like housing, cognitive-behavioral intervention, health care, job placement and training. Jarvis recently joined the Operation New Hope […]
Voices of Hope – Asia V.
“Before Operation New Hope, I was drug addicted, living on the streets, in an abusive relationship, and involved in human trafficking. My environment and the risks I was taking were very dangerous. I heard about the Ready4Work program when I was in jail in 2019, and it sounded like a great starting point from which […]
Expanding Reentry Services to the Space Coast
Operation New Hope is excited to announce that we are opening our newest program location – READY4WORK Space Coast – in August 2023. After our successful expansion to Orlando last year, Operation New Hope received a significant increase in State funding to support our continued efforts to build a Statewide Reentry Network with goal of helping the […]
Voices of Hope – Fletcher
Read More Voices of Hope “Before Operation New Hope, I had a great job. I was bringing home over $2,000 per week, but I was always broke because of my $1,500 a week drug habit. I had a home, but I spent more time sleeping in my car. I was eventually arrested and spent a […]
Florida Capital Bank Donates Welcome Home Hygiene Kits
Every week at Operation New Hope, we welcome people back from jail or prison with nothing more than the shirts on their backs. That’s why we are so thankful to our good friends at Florida Capital Bank for their generous donation of hygiene products that will help welcome our clients back to the community. These […]
Voices of Hope – Janice W.
“I had a great career working as a train engineer for Conrail before a horseback riding accident left me disabled in 1998. My injury led me down a path to addiction, and a series of bad choices led to my arrest in 2015, followed by an 8 1/2 year prison sentence. I didn’t know where […]
Voices of Hope – Teresa G.
“I was born to addicts and came from a very broken, abusive home. I didn’t have hope. By the time I was 25, I had 4 kids. I had periods of sobriety, but struggled with my own addiction. My choices landed me in prison by the age of 28, and I was faced with a […]
Ready4Work Graduates from St. Johns County Reentry Center
The St. Johns County Reentry Center is up and running, and we are thrilled to report that our partnership with the Sheriff’s Office is off to a fantastic start! Our team has been providing reentry support and training to people currently incarcerated at the St. Johns County Jail for several weeks now, and as evidenced […]
Voices of Hope – Jarvis G.
“I had no idea how much the criminal justice system would impact my life. After serving 2 years in prison, the only job I could get was washing dishes. I was trying to provide for my wife and kids but having a hard time making ends meet. It was a really low point in my […]
Voices of Hope – Atticus A.
“I was 18 years old when I was sentenced to 20 years in prison. When I first went away, I was still going down the wrong path, but at some point I realized that I didn’t want to leave out of prison the same way I came in. I used to be into drugs and […]
Celebrating Second Chance Month with Boeing
The White House proclaimed April 2023 Second Chance Month, reaffirming the importance of helping incarcerated individuals reenter society. Here at Operation New Hope, we are thrilled to celebrate Second Chances with our partners at Boeing. During our weekly Ready4Work graduation ceremony, Boeing awarded Operation New Hope with a $100,000 grant to provide more second chance […]
Voices of Hope – Toby D.
“I spent time at Baker and Columbia Correctional Facilities for possession of firearms. I heard about Operation New Hope while incarcerated, but thought I wouldn’t be able to get into the program because of my charges. But the Ready4Release case managers worked with me to get me signed up. “Even though I had a job […]
