“In 2019, I was working as a caregiver for an older woman. When she passed away, I was falsely accused of stealing from her and was eventually charged with a crime I didn’t commit. I lost all faith in the justice system and felt like I’d never be ok again. I gave up hope.” “When I had trouble finding work …
“I was working as a nurse and addicted to pain meds. I was arrested on August 8, 2018 after taking drugs from the hospital where I worked. I had never been arrested before and found myself in jail for the first time, charged with a felony. I was sentenced to drug rehab surrounded by people I’d never been around. I …
“I worried that because of my prior arrest I would never amount to anything and I would never achieve my goal of becoming a nurse. But everyone at Operation New Hope has been so great and helped me realize that’s not the case.”
“I had 3 months left on my parole when I was arrested for a minor violation. I was sent back to prison to serve out the remainder of my parole term, and I was released in the middle of a pandemic with only a bus ticket. I went back to the same pre-prison lifestyle – using drugs and prostituting in …
“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 last time, I said ‘Lord, …
Richard Smith shares how Operation New Hope’s Ready4Work reentry program helped set him on the path to success back in 2008.
“I have responsibilities. I am helping others. I am setting new goals. It’s been such a long journey, and I never knew I’d make it this far, but now I know I’m gonna get so much father.”
“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 my hometown of Jacksonville and …
“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 it hit me – I …
Despite the current crisis facing our world, nothing can dim the light shining in Shane’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 he described as a “dark abysmal …