Correctional Officer Appreciation Week – Thanks to our partners at Gadsden Correctional Facility
National Correctional Officers Week is recognized in the first full week of May. As a way of saying thanks to some of our great partners in corrections, we would like to showcase the work and talents of some of its best employees during National Correctional Officers Week. We are thankful to the entire team at […]
Kevin Gay to Serve on Citizens Advisory Committee of the Florida Bar
We are pleased to announce that Operation New Hope’s Founder and CEO Kevin Gay has been appointed to serve as a member of The Florida Bar Citizens Advisory Committee for a three-year term beginning July 1, 2021 and ending June 30, 2024. The Florida Bar Citizens Advisory Committee is an advisory group of 12 citizens […]
Second Chance Supporter – Hope Enterprises dba The Original Granite Bracket
We continue to celebrate Second Chance Month this April by spotlighting our local Employment Partners who support second chances by hiring our Ready4Work graduates. We had the opportunity to visit Hope Enterprises dba The Original Granite Bracket and sit down with Roger Kaman, the National Accounts Manager, to learn why he is a Second Chance […]
Voices of Hope – Johnathan N.
After incarceration it’s very difficult to try and reenter society. When you get out of jail, try to reintegrate, and do things on your own, you get so disheartened. You get this sense of not being able to do it because it feels like the world is against you. It was even more difficult for […]
Voices of Hope – Shelby M.
I’m from Gulf Shores, Alabama and I’ve been working in the service industry since I was old enough to work. I started bartending at 21, and it was a lot of fun, but I got into a lot of trouble. When a friend came to visit me and saw the life I was living, she […]
Voices of Hope – Jeremy S.
After years of struggling with drug addiction and unemployment, I was finally ready to make a change in my life. While serving time at Baker Correctional Institution, I heard about Operation New Hope’s Ready4Work program, so I decided to enroll at their St. Augustine location when I got out. The Ready4Work program helped me so […]
Voices of Hope – Caleb G.
My mom and dad partied a lot when I was growing up, and I didn’t know any different. I just thought that’s how you lived. As a teenager, I started taking pills that led to harder and harder stuff, and I ended up a junkie. I was homeless and in and out of jail. I […]
Voices of Hope – Michael J.
I was at the Columbia Work Camp serving my 6th year in prison when I hear about Operation New Hope. I wrote to get more information and was accepted into the Ready4Release program. It was such a relief to know that my housing was arranged prior to my release, so I knew I had somewhere […]
Second Chance Supporter – Council on Aging
In the United States, one in three adults has a criminal record, which limits their access to education, jobs, housing, and other opportunities necessary for a productive life. Even after they have completed their sentences and have been released from prison, these men and women face more than 48,000 documented legal restrictions in addition to widespread […]
Voices of Hope – Kory L.
When I was release from jail, I was staying at St. Francis homeless shelter in St. Augustine. I didn’t know what I was going to do or how I was going to do it. I don’t have an education and my rap sheet isn’t the best, so I knew I needed to do something. But […]
Second Chance Supporter – St. Johns Housing Partnership
In honor of Second Chance Month, Operation New Hope continues to spotlight our outstanding Employment Partners who support our mission by hiring our Ready4Work program graduates. We are so thankful to Second Chance Supporter – St. Johns Housing Partnership for their commitment to improving the community. For the past 25 years, St. Johns Housing Partnership […]
Second Chance Supporter – Bozard Ford Lincoln Dealership
April is Second Chance Month, a time when we celebrate those in our communities who are committed to helping people make the most of their second chances following incarceration. As President Biden recently stated in his Proclamation on Second Chance Month, 2021: “America’s criminal justice system must offer meaningful opportunities for redemption and rehabilitation. After […]
Second Chance Supporter – Ashley HomeStore
For more than 20 years, Operation New Hope has been helping people with a criminal history get the support and training they need to connect with living-wage work and break the cycle of incarceration and poverty. But we are not doing this work alone. Creating opportunities to realize second chances requires support from employers who […]
Voices of Hope – Katie M.
I served 3 1/2 years at Gadsden Correctional for grand theft. The day I got sentenced I cried so hard because my daughter was almost 4 at the time. I was so sad to leave her because her father didn’t even know her allergies and had never even given her a bathbefore. As I was […]
Voices of Hope – Kedra C.
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 […]
Celebrating InsideOut Dad Graduates 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. Cage stated, “This was the longest InsideOut Dad class ever offered since it was stopped on two occasions due to the COVID restrictions at Baker. The class started on June 25, 2020 […]