FROM SHAME TO FREEDOM

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From Shame to Freedom: My Journey Through Incarceration and Redemption

I’ve been in and out of jail at least ten times… over the past thirty years.

Yeah, I said it. Ten times.

There was a time I couldn’t even whisper those words.

I was ashamed. Embarrassed.

Afraid of the looks, the whispers, the judgment.

But today… I’m no longer hiding.

Because there is freedom in transparency. There is power in telling your story. And there is healing when you stop running from your past and start walking in your truth.

Who you are is not what you’ve done.

I’ve experienced the sting of judgment firsthand—when people learned I was formerly incarcerated, or when they saw “felony” attached to my name. Suddenly, doors to opportunity closed before I could even knock. Those “premier” job options were off the table, and settling for whatever I could get became the norm.

There’s a shadow that follows you when society labels you. The stigma whispers that people who go to jail are “bad people.” But that’s a lie. You are not a bad person because you made a bad choice.

For years, I carried shame that didn’t belong to me. But here’s what I know now—there are no perfect people. My shame happened to be public, but the same people who judged me carry their own pain and secrets in private. So, we can’t allow condemnation to keep us from moving forward. We can’t let it block us from walking boldly toward a successful, victorious life.

I’ve taken a stand against shame. Today, I use my story to show how building character creates new opportunities and how healing begins when you stop hiding from your truth.

Incarceration Is Not the Solution

There’s a common belief that locking people up somehow solves crime. I disagree.

Yes, incarceration has its place—but incarceration without rehabilitation is a setup for failure. The 43% recidivism rate across the U.S. proves it.

When there are no programs, no counseling, no character development—incarceration becomes a revolving door. It wastes taxpayer dollars, destroys families, and fuels generational cycles of incarceration.

You can’t change a person’s life by simply locking them away. Lessons aren’t learned through confinement. They’re learned by transforming the mind. And it’s hard to change your mindset when your environment is filled with trauma and hopelessness.

Many people behind bars are carrying deep wounds from childhood—abuse, neglect, rejection. Those unhealed wounds shape behaviors, choices, and habits. If we don’t address the root causes, the cycle continues. That’s why programmatic content that builds character, promotes healing, and restores purpose is essential.

Freedom Is a Mindset

Though incarceration confines the body, it doesn’t have to confine the mind.

After years of revolving in and out of the system—struggling with instability, trauma, and mental illness—I was finally given a chance to go through programs that changed my life.

The Veterans Treatment Docket helped me return to the foundation of my military values—Responsibility, Honesty, Integrity, and Faith. Those became the pillars of my transformation. Through counseling, I began addressing the childhood trauma that shaped my adult struggles. I faced my addictions and began walking in sobriety.

A turning point came when I completed the “Courage to Change” curriculum through FailSafe-ERA. That program taught me to take responsibility, rebuild my character, and believe in my worth again.

But my real freedom came when I finally surrendered.

In that surrender, I found spiritual freedom and redemption through faith in Jesus Christ. I discovered peace, purpose, and forgiveness. I stopped asking God to change my circumstances and started asking Him to change me in the midst of them.

My freedom didn’t begin when I walked out of jail. It began the moment I gave God my will, my thoughts, and my emotions.

I used to think my mistakes disqualified me.

But God’s grace—His unshakable, undeserved grace—had already written my deliverance long before I ever made the choices that sent me to jail.

What I thought was the end… became the beginning of something greater.

And that’s why I share my story today.

Because somebody needs to know—

Your past does not define you.

You can fall and still rise.

You can start again.

And this time… you can live free.