Last month, our Board of Directors voted to make No One Leaves Alone (NOLA) a permanent program alongside our prison mentorship program and Hidden Treasures thrift stores. NOLA is a community reintegration service available to people leaving prison.
Over the past four years, NOLA has worked with over 169 people as they’ve reintegrated into society after incarceration. The transition from prison to the community can be difficult, and NOLA is designed to help people establish the stability they need to rebuild their lives without returning to crime.
“We’ve seen people turn their lives around,” said Executive Director Raymond Robyn. “Through NOLA, people who want to change have been able to access the resources they need to make change happen. We are excited to continue this part of our organization, and help more people live successfully in the community.”
Presently, NOLA has 51 participants. Some meet weekly with a group of community volunteers and staff; others meet with a single volunteer or staff member on an as-needed basis. NOLA aims to provide practical support in five areas: housing, health, employment, education, and relationships. Each participant identifies the areas they want to work on and the NOLA team helps them set goals, take action, and make progress.
“You get a sense of humanity and a sense of purpose in your life,” said a former participant. “It’s been immeasurable.”
NOLA began in 2018 as a federally funded research project. When the research study and federal funding concluded in March 2021, the Board elected to assess NOLA’s continued feasibility and relaunched it as a pilot program. After a 12-month trial period, the Board voted to make NOLA permanent.
Board Chair Bill Veenstra said, “By adopting NOLA as a permanent part of our organization, we can continue to support and care for people coming out of prison. With this decision, NOLA graduates to become a long-term, integral portion of M2/W2. We look forward to NOLA’s ongoing development and expansion via growing financial support, as we strive to end imprisonment, one person at a time.”
NOLA is currently funded by individual donors, as well as grants from the Province of British Columbia’s Civil Forfeiture Crime Prevention and Remediation Grant program, and the Envision Financial Community Endowment.