Long post alert... 31 years ago was the first time I was directly impacted by the carceral systems in VA. Every single person in my immediate family had a bout with court, parole/probation and/or incarceration. In 2012, when I moved back to Richmond after graduating from NSU 🔰 and after a wrongful conviction in 2004, I looked for resources and support for someone like me. There were few. I started on a mission; in Oct 2015, my husband and I started Nolef Turns. We self funded every single initiative, every hotel stay, piece of clothing, gift card, bus ticket. I worked 3-4 jobs to support the vision. I knew nothing about running a nonprofit. I just knew my passion and love for my people would guide me through. No one honored partnerships back then because they didn’t feel I had anything to offer (financially) and let’s face it, criminal and juvenile legal systems were “accepted as norm”. Every brick of our foundation was built with a small team. Fast forward to 2020, a pandemic, life changes for our team and a nationwide racial crisis. This is the first year we’ve asked for a large amount of financial support and still, not one single participant (DOC/BOP) has returned to jail or prison. Our recidivism rate has maintained at 0% rate since October 2015. The pandemic exposed the flaws we’ve always fought against and our focus had to shift in different ways to keep people free and safe. Housing stability keeps crime down. Today, we have supported 100 families with temporary hotel stays or eviction support. That’s huge since all of our financial support has come from our community! We barely got past $100,000 but we could never leave people out on the streets , hungry, losing their cars, left in jails or require using coded words to be placed in a warm bed at night so we’ll keep supporting folks who have court and justice involvement the best way we can. We don’t have it all figured out and funds are running low but I could never be prouder of the work that we do and the relationships we’ve built. Grassroots from the top down; it’s all because of you all! Thank you #wegotus #wetakecareofus https://www.instagram.com/p/CHwGH60lZ1d/?igshid=1f90nyx58jqk5
