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 […]
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 […]
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 – 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 […]
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 […]
Voices of Hope – Ansley G.
A heroin and meth addict since I was 12 years old, I was in and out of rehab and jail for years. I felt defeated and had accepted that I was going to be a lifelong addict. It wasn’t until I was arrested for a probation violation and facing 18 months of prison time that […]
Voices of Hope – Shane H.
Despite the current crisis facing our world, nothing can dim the light shining in Shane Hutto’s smiling face. Full of hope, Shane recently began pursuing a lifelong goal and enrolled in an IT program to earn his A+ certification. He said it’s “great to have motivation again!” Shane spent much of his 20’s in what […]
Voices of Hope – Tracey F.
Tracey Fisher was in her early 40’s and had a successful career but got caught up in drugs and ended up behind bars. “Even when I tried to turn my life around, my past just kept pulling me back down. Jail took something from me and left me with hopelessness, insecurity and shame.” “But Operation […]
Voices of Hope – Erica J.
After serving time for a felony fraud conviction, Erica Jackson worried that she would never find work in an industry other than fast food service. She began to believe that no one would trust her again. However, those concerns diminished after entering the Ready4Work program. “The program taught me a lot – from being on […]
Voices of Hope – Anthony B.
Following a devastating personal blow in his early twenties, Anthony Bryant began drinking recklessly and was charged with a DUI. As a result, he lost his job driving as a street sweeper. Feeling lost and defeated, Anthony was referred to Operation New Hope by his probation officer and enrolled in the Ready4Work program in November […]
Voices of Hope – Terrance P.
After serving a 20-year sentence for attempted robbery with a firearm, possession of cocaine, and aggravated battery, Terrance Platts came to Operation New Hope through the Ready4Release pre-release services at Baker Correctional. However, Terrance’s transition to the outside world was not easy. Modern advances such as computers, flash drives, tablets, and search engines were foreign […]