A few months after leaving prison, Karen Molina enrolled in the program Ready 4 Life of the organization Creative Restorative Opportunities and Programs (CROP) that prepares people like her recently released from incarceration to reenter the workforce while helping them not only learn new skills but gain self-confidence.
“I’m about to graduate. Right now I’m taking a class to learn how to write a resume, how to look for a job, and how to prepare for an interview,” Karen says.
He adds that the program Ready 4 Life It has served her in so many ways, from the community she has built to making her believe she can accomplish anything she sets her mind to.
“It has helped me tremendously, even to have my own apartment and furniture.”
He reveals that his goal is to find a job in a corporation like Oracle to help her pay her bills, live comfortably with her son, and one day have her own home.
He says that the program definitely Ready 4 Life It has made her feel very inspired to achieve many things in her life, including helping others.
“I want you to know that if you have been incarcerated, and you think there is no community outside to support you, there is one and it is CROP”
Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs is a non-profit organization that works to reduce the recidivism rate through personal leadership training, professional development, and housing.
Meanwhile, the program Ready 4 Life is a one-year curriculum that teaches formerly incarcerated individuals skills to achieve economic mobility.
For Karen and others like her who have recently been released from prison, CROP represents a hope in a difficult landscape, with an unemployment rate of 27% for those who have been incarcerated.
This economic exclusion affects one in three American adults (more than 80 million people) with some type of arrest or conviction record, costing the economy up to $87 billion annually.
Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs’ year-long reentry program provides supportive housing and equips participants with the tools they need for a successful career while reintegrating into the communities of Oakland and Los Angeles, California.
“We are currently in the second year of operation of the program,” says Jason Bryant, CROP’s program director and one of the founders.
“Four people who came out of prison in 2020, we set to work on what we call a holistic professional development program that would address the mindset of people who have come out of jail or prison and teach them a set of skills, prepare them for employment, as well as housing opportunities.”
In 2021, they partnered with the State of California to launch a three-year pilot, which began in spring 2023.
“We are based in Sacramento, but we are working in Oakland and Los Angeles.”
He says one thing that makes them different from other organizations is that all the founders were in prison together and from there they created the CROP organization to support some of the programs in prison.
“At that time, when we were inside, we had a mission to transform the prison culture from an anti-social, racial gang-based policy to people working together to add value to the community inside.”
Upon leaving prison, they realized that the reentry system was in many ways similar to prison.
So from their lived experience they asked themselves what would be a program that was truly holistic and addressed the needs of the person at all levels.
“We sat down at the table and came up with this four-pillar program that really helps people who are leaving prison responsibly reintegrate into the community.”
She explains that they are given personal training in personal leadership, digital literacy, financial well-being; and training for a career that ideally offers them salaries that support their family.
“We make sure to obtain financing to give them housing, and guidance so they can get a permanent roof.”
To date, two groups have graduated, one in the San Francisco Bay Area and one in Los Angeles, with a total of 30 graduates.
“We are ready to launch two more groups with 30 people in Oakland, and another 30 in Los Angeles.”
It makes it clear that the program is open to everyone.
“It’s a co-ed program. It’s for men, women, and gender non-conforming people, etc. It’s also for those who have served time in state prison and must have been released within the last five years, according to our grant from the state of California.”