What does your program do, and what are you working on now?

“We provide academic support, financial support, and social support to women who are going to college post-release. There is a lot of attention being paid to criminal-justice reform right now. And the conversation around access to post-secondary education has ramped up, so we are working on several fronts in that area.”

Tell me a little bit more about what the benefits are. I know we've seen strong numbers about how it reduces recidivism.

“So beyond reducing recidivism, it really changes one’s perspective on their place in the world and what’s possible for them to achieve. You know, one might get convicted of a crime, go to prison, come home, not see the world any differently, and reengage in the same behaviors because they really don’t have any framework to do something different. Education provides that bigger space where you can imagine yourself to do something else with your life.”

Can you share the stories of any of the people you are working with now?

“So there’s one student we had who went to several other organizations in New York City when she got out of prison. And they asked her what she wanted to do and she said, ‘Well, I want to be a nurse.’ And the response from a lot of organizations was, ‘We can find you a work assignment. It's probably gonna be minimum wage, but you shouldn’t be thinking about being a nurse because with your background that’s probably not gonna be possible.’

“We take the opposite approach. We said to her, ‘It’s gonna be difficult, but we’ll figure out how to help you do that. And in the meantime, you know, you may have to work a job that’s not in your field or not in your — not even on your trajectory, but it will help you survive. In the meantime, you’re gonna go to school and we’re gonna figure out how to get past the barriers.’

“So we helped her get what’s called a certificate of good conduct from the state. We helped her get through the nursing program. We helped her fill out the ethics questionnaire and got the references she needed, and eventually she became a licensed registered nurse.”