Starting Over On The Inside

                               Starting Over on the Inside 

A LIFE-CHANGING PROGRAM THAT EQUIPS OFFENDERS WITH THE NEEDED CHARACTER QUALITIES AND LIFE SKILLS FOR THEIR SUCCESSFUL RETURN TO SOCIETY

52% of Colorado's released prisoners re-offend!

Without addressing prisoners' real-life issues before their release and if their hearts aren't transformed by the love of Jesus Christ, the revolving door of Colorado's recidivism rate continues.

WANT TO CHANGE THAT CRAZY STATISTIC

In 2024, we expect to see hundreds of offenders attend the Starting Over on the Inside Program and receive assistance with their aftercare (including housing,

employment, bus passes, and essential items) before and after their release date?

Imagine men and women being restored by Jesus Christ and experiencing his transforming love, peace, and purpose. Imagine prisoners receiving the needed life skills and character qualities to equip them for their successful transition. Imagine the impact this will have on their families, their communities, and the state of Colorado, not to mention helping to reduce the recidivism rate

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Due to the program's success in 2021, the Colorado Department of Correction Executive Director of Prisons, Director of Prisons, wardens, and the CDOC's Volunteer Faith and Citizens organization have granted us access to all of Colorado's Prisons.

Starting Over is available both on-site and on video for all CDOC facilities. Since we began in May of 2021, the program has been in thirteen Colorado prisons, holding 39 workshops with over 1,300 graduates. We anticipate even greater growth in other states in the coming years.

I am excited to share that we have been in talks with nationwide telecommunication companies that offer phone and video communication services to incarcerated individuals and their families throughout the US. These companies also supply tablets to inmates in specific prisons. As a result, Starting Over is now available on tablets to over 28,00 inmates in various DOC facilities in 18 different states.

The tablets provide an independent, self-paced study including a workbook, personal application questions, and short quizzes for each student to process. Since launching the the tablets, there have been over 7,000 course completions.

The good news is that through a mutually agreed-upon license agreement, there are no fees charged to us, nor do we charge these telecommunication companies. Therefore, we are reaching thousands more with the biblical principles and life skills that equip inmates for successful reentry to their families and local communities.

Each telecommunication company assesses, designs, and implements the Starting Over program utilizing its restricted Wi-Fi technology within each facility.

Starting Over has been making a huge impact in Colorado and God has been opening doors to expand into other states. In discussing Starting Over with Departments of Corrections we have received favorable responses from Florida and Texas. However, state prisons will not allow paid educational staff to provide faith-based programs. So, organizations, ministries, and churches can provide Starting Over on the Inside at their local level.

We’re hoping to help fund organizations, prison ministries, and churches that cannot afford the cost of providing the program to their local prisons. Let me know if you’d like more information about this incredible opportunity.

Worthy In His eyes

Many of us have made poor decisions and for some those choices have led to incarceration. There are good reasons for being sentenced to prison, but a prison sentence does not change that people are created in God’s image and have worth in His eyes.

Prison is, however, a dehumanizing environment for most. Many prisoners have been forgotten and disconnected from family or friends during

their time behind bars, but God has not forgotten them. He knows their names and their stories and they matter to Him. Nor have we forgotten.

Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison. Hebrews 13:3

LIFE CHANGE IS A MATTER OF THE HEART AND THIS IS WHERE GOD BEGINS TO CHANGE THINGS

Partner with us

Starting Over on the Inside is about learning from failure and the ability to overcome it and succeed. For more than thirty years, the Starting Over Workshop has helped over nine thousand people who have experienced life-changing setbacks, who learn how to start over and experience healing, hope, and a real sense of purpose. We have scheduled workshops in prisons across the state through 2024.

Please join us in asking God to bring some of the least-reached people groups in our country to Himself. We need $100,000 in 2024 to continue to expand this life-changing program. We’d be incredibly honored for you to be part of our support team that will transform the lives of prisoners, their families, our communities, the state of Colorado, and beyond. Call us at 719-499-8293 or donate now at the link below.

"Starting Over has helped me step back and evaluate all my relationships on the outside and focus on my relationship with God to put things in proper perspective." – Zane

"The program’s sincerity, honesty, and realistic application has provided what I’ve needed all my life." – Gilbert

"Starting Over answered the questions of why I’m incarcerated. My history makes more sense, and I now know that I’m valued and not alone." – Andrew

The pictures below are of recent prison graduates. Their certificates help their case managers and parole officers know that they are making intentional efforts to equip themselves before and after their release.

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