Operation New Hope is reintroducing offenders into St. Johns County

A new Ready4Work program location in St. Johns County is set to open tomorrow; Monday March 2, 2020.  Jacksonville-based “Operation New Hope”, operators of the Ready4Work program in St. Augustine, will open its doors at 83 Washington Street to help people returning from incarceration.

Program Director Reggie Fullwood has high praise — and expectations — for participants as well as employers who will offer new jobs to those offenders who are eligible to join for the first time.

“We basically help former inmates get employment,” Fullwood told local Historic City News reporters last week.  “We have a classroom component where they learn life skills, and we offer workforce development training.”

Fullwood says their goal at the St Augustine facility is to help people get back on their feet again after they have been impacted by the criminal justice system.

Kevin Gay is the founder and CEO of Operation New Hope, and he says the program is possible because of generous support from various organizations in the community.

“We are excited to continue to build partnerships with employers and community members who believe we are all better than or worst mistake,” Gay said in a statement.

Fullwood says the state recidivism rate is close to 25 percent of people who get out of prison commit crimes and go back to prison.

“Five hundred people came through our program in Jacksonville during 2019,” Fullwood reported. “Of those 500 people, less than 10 percent went back to prison or committed another crime.”