Hope for Prisoners is a group that aims to help people exiting prison through all stages of reintegration. The nonprofit equips people to develop employable skills and take on leadership roles within their families, workplaces, and communities.
Jon Ponder, the group’s founder, was inspired to start the group after he served time. He knew there had to be more to life. Ponder began creating programs after his release that would help prepare people for reentry. He began working within prisons to help change the culture.
“We go in and teach people how to interact with each other in team building exercises — to interact with people of another race or with someone who has been a lifelong gang member — to really address trauma, heal the damage from the past and then help them to transition out,” he tells Stand Together.
Reentry services are available 18 months before release and up to 18 months after. Hope for Prisoners members have one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country.
The police are helping, too. More than 125 officers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department participate in Hope for Prisoners’ mentoring process. Through uniformed officers sharing their stories with a group of formerly incarcerated people it allows incarcerated people to see officers as fellow humans.
They also participate in one-on-one mentorship, covering community safety and rules. Police try to teach the same tools they learned in the academy to help the formerly incarcerated learn what they need to do and need to become in order to become community leaders.
Successful reintegration is needed for reducing incarceration and recidivism rates long-term.
