People need this people need physical touch, people need help or even just support in their own healing process.

The structure of our facility program, “The Challenge” is 32 week long course, which begins with soft skills in which we offer a range of skills from emotional self-awareness to building self-confidence.

From there, we take that into career readiness and reentry planning, in which people can write resumes for the first time or practice interview skills so that they are best prepared for reentering the community.

I want to be held accountable I want to be held accountable.

So if Im slipping, Its really been a progression, its really been a progression.

I'm learning how to be a better team player and how to be more open to other people's suggestions and ideas.

I think what's most exciting is when we have people come in who are extremely nervous and shy at first and then step into feeling empowered and in their own voices and what they have to say and knowing that their perspective and opinion is valuable and matters.

I also really just love to see the friendships build over the course of the challenge.

The final half of our program is the entrepreneurial mindset in which folks learn all the skills needed to start a business.

We start with those soft skills so that people have the foundation that's necessary to be successful on a team.

So in this portion of the program, everybody comes up with business ideas, they practice design thinking and they learn about finances and plug all those things into a 90 second elevator pitch.

Really being able to see them grow and realize that they're not what they once were, They're not limited by what they thought that they were in the past.

But now they have options and they've got the confidence and they know how to do this.

I'm really excited.

Its awesome.

individuals can do this programing.

They can elect to do this programing.

They don't necessarily get time off their sentence.

Then there are programs in prison facilities where people take classes and then they get time off their sentence.

So I think it really speaks to the character of individuals that apply to be in breakthroughs for program, that they really want this change for themselves.

They really want to learn.

The graduation is coming up and I am so, so excited to get to celebrate that day with our participants.

Some of them have never worn a cap and gown before and to get to showcase their ideas and their skills not only in front of the volunteer community who we bring in, but also to get to bring in their families.

It's such a joyous day.

It's always a really emotional day for me to say goodbye and to celebrate this big milestone achievement.

I am here today at Breakthrough as a participant, a graduate.

So today, when the volunteers come in, we're going to, you know, celebrate them and appreciate them and try to network with them so that we can kind of lean them in our direction to choose our business pitch.

Five different people are going to be presenting a business stage to the audience and may the best man win.

We have businesses advancing that cover a wide range of topics from social impact to, you know, technical skill development to dog training.

And it is so fun to get to see.

I'm so excited to see.

I'm so excited to see what happens.

We have to be so innovative and strategic to kind of piece product like artwork and things like that together.

And so it took so much support from so many people, like in our unit to bring this thing together, but to like, feel like it finally came, it fell into place.

It was just very harmonious.

I feel really at peace.

It's been 32 weeks of two two and a half hours every week.

You know, putting in time, energy, effort, hard work.

It is nice to have it coming to an end.

But then it was kind of a little sad because we've put so much into this and we've gotten so much out of it.

Both Vanessa and Jay are such bright lights in the breakthrough class, but I've really seen Vanessa come into herself and feel, you know, confident in the way in which she interacts with everyone.

She has really stepped up as a leader in the community and really raises her voice whenever we have questions.

Jaels Spirit is is so bright.

She comes in each class, she is so welcoming to everybody and uplifting of everybody.

So reaching that finish line with everyone who's here today, I think we all feel proud of ourselves for sure.

I would hope that we do.

And just knowing that, like we set a goal, we committed and we completed, you know, I think that that's something to be really proud of.

I want my daughters to want to emulate their mother and so although they know, like in the back of their head, my mom's in prison, they can see what I'm doing in here and they can say, this is this isn't what you know, what I see on TV?

My mom is an entrepreneur and she has a business.

And so that's why I think she would be like class president.

So and she's a leader.

She's a very smart.

Smart, smart woman.

Exactly.

A really intelligent woman.

And a really loving mother and a really great wife.

I am so inspired by her.

Yes, exactly, shes my inspiration.

Women experience incarceration very acutely, As participants are involved in the breakthrough program, you can just watch their confidence build as they are stepping out of their comfort zone, as they are learning to give themselves empathy and grace and step away from feeling defined by a past mistake.

I haven't had a graduation since 2010.

That's when I graduated high school.

And so it's something about that graduation song when it comes on and then my mom's going to be here.

I think I'm almost crying now because that always makes me cry.

It's like, so emotional.

Sorry, am I messing up the interview?

[laughs] Its really, its really powerful how things like kind of come back around and success is still success and a celebration is still a celebration regardless of like where you are prison and all, and opportunities like this, I just don't pass them up because it builds you in a powerful way, you know?

And it's like I'm here to build like any position that I'm in.

I'm never going to stop building.

I'm never going to stop fighting for my legacy because I know how I want to go down in the books.