Voices of Hope Update – Aaron H.

Founded in March 1999, Operation New Hope is celebrating our 25th anniversary this year, commemorating our legacy of transformative impact on the people and communities we serve. To mark this momentous occasion, we reached out to some of our former clients to see how they are doing now. Years after returning home, they are still […]
Creating HOPE with Indigo Art Therapy

Operation New Hope teamed up with Indigo Art Therapy Studio to facilitate a special 5-week series of collaborative Arts and Wellness Group Workshops for clients at ONH’s Jacksonville location. The goal was to provide integrative community care that gives formerly incarcerated people a new sense of self, and a voice with which to express it. These workshops, […]
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 […]
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 – 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 […]
St. Johns County Reentry Center Ribbon Cutting

Operation New Hope is pleased to announce that we will now be offering our nationally-recognized Ready4Work reentry training and support program to people prior to release from the St. Johns County Jail. This new and exciting partnership with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office is made possible because of a generous ARPA grant from the United Way of St. […]
Voices of Hope – Fred H.

“Before Operation New Hope, I was lost. I was dealing with a lot of issues and chemical dependence. As I was completing a 15 year prison sentence, I met Ronnie Cage from the Ready4Release team, and I’m so glad I did. Ronnie got me signed up for the program, and I met with him 3-4 […]
Second Chance Supporters – C Robinson Associates

The idiom “it takes a village” means many people must cooperate to achieve a goal. We certainly know that to be true here at Operation New Hope, and we are so thankful to the support from many in our village! Today we extend our sincere thanks to C Robinson Associates for their generous donation of Welcome […]
Voices of Hope – Aaron H.

“I moved out when I was 16 years old, and I got caught with armed burglary charges. I was sent to a youthful offender camp and was released in 1999. I stayed out of trouble until 2009 when I got into opiates. I was doing stupid stuff like selling pills and ending up getting caught […]
Voices of Hope – Chassidy P.

“Growing up in Tennessee, I had a good family and didn’t know struggle. But when I was a young teenager, my dad got locked up and my mom got diagnosed with breast cancer. It all started to go downhill from there. We moved to Florida so my mom could get help from family to raise […]
Second Chance Supporters – UNF Marketing Students

Students share jingle they made for Operation New Hope A wonderful finale to Second Chance Month, University of North Florida (UNF) students created clever marketing campaigns to promote the mission of Operation New Hope. Students from Dr. Courtney Azzari’s Consumer Behavior course were assigned a case study group project focused on the target markets of […]
Giving Dads a Second Chance

In anticipation of Second Chance Month, we are pleased to celebrate the dads at Lawtey Correctional Institution who are working hard to make the most of their second chances by learning how to be better fathers. Operation New Hope’s Ready4Release Manager Ronnie Cage was onsite at the prison to celebrate the men who successfully completed […]
Voices of Hope – Tanaine J.

“If everyone in America was judged only by their worst mistake, what would that look like? Where would we be? How can people be contributing citizens if they don’t have access to jobs they are qualified to do? When no one else is willing to give people with a record an opportunity, Operation New Hope […]
Voices of Hope – Robert B.

“I was a medically retired combat veteran working as a supply and logistics manager when I got into trouble. I knew better, but I broke the law trying to help my sick mother, and I was sentenced to prison. I had no idea how badly a felony conviction would affect my future. The harsh truth […]
Voices of Hope – Matt C.

Matt is building a new life for himself and his family. “Before coming to Operation New Hope, I was homeless, unemployed, and addicted to drugs. I knew I needed help, but I wasn’t sure where to turn. My daughter’s mom Kate enrolled in the Ready4Work program and told me it was helping her change her […]
Voices of Hope – Shawn A.

“Before Operation New Hope, I was hopeless. I started drinking and drugging when I was 12, and by 17, I had done everything I swore I would never do. I entered a vicious cycle of incarceration. By the time I was 19, I got put in the Matrix and thought as long as I didn’t […]