Going to prison is not the end of these women’s compelling stories.
“I want people to open their eyes. We are people, too. We were born into society and we belong in society. Everyone deserves a second chance.” Jackie is a formerly …
In the Media
Artists look beyond Bars and Borders at Coral Gables Museum
To produce “The Art of Compassion,” a heartfelt fusion of art and social change at the Coral Gables Museum, Starr Sariego gathered 20 fellow photographers — most of them local, …
‘Cracked Not Broken’ Formerly Incarcerated Women Are Captured In Photo Exhibit
Last month, LEAP for Ladies partnered up with Starr Sariego to create The Compassion Project. An exhibit in the Coral Gables Museum that focuses on 25 women that have spent time behind …
‘My life needed to be changed’: How this Miami thrift store is giving incarcerated women a second chance
Opened in 2018 by the Ladies Action and Empowerment Program, the Dragonfly Thrift Boutique in Miami helps train, support, and employ women who have been recently released from prison. This …
Unique Boutique In Miami Combines Mentoring And Money
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – It’s an unlikely pairing, women prisoners and entrepreneurs, but there is an organization of women that have figured out how to mentor, change lives and make money. …
These women were in prison. Thanks to an extraordinary program, they’re now entrepreneurs.
She was partway through a five-year sentence for domestic violence-related charges when she realized that something had to change in her life. Due to a particularly traumatic childhood, Brown found …
Transitioning Out Of Prison: Empowering Women to Find Jobs
Throughout the country, the women’s prison population is on the rise. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, women’s state prison population grew 834 percent over nearly 40 years — more than double …
Miami Thrift Store Gives Women Coming Out Of Prison Jobs
Shazonia Horton was released from prison a month ago and the day after her release she had a job waiting for her at the Dragonfly Thrift Boutique in Little Havana. …
Program Offers Job Training, Hope to Women in Florida’s Notorious Female Prisons
Anchelin Gonzalez was just 17 when she left the Bronx and moved to Palm Beach to give birth to her son back in 2005. She was “leading a fast and dangerous …
They did their time. Now, they’re finding a new life after prison
Rebecca Brown knows the importance of having a mentor in prison. Brown served nearly five years in jail and prison after her conviction on aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. …