CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLERIGHTNOW) – A local criminal justice nonprofit is launching a new national platform to connect incarcerated people to professional mentors who can help them prepare for and then adjust to reentry.

“We were really trying to figure out how we could have the biggest impact, how we could reach the most people, and how we could have the most meaningful impact,” Second Chancer Foundation founder Jesse Crosson told Charlottesville Right Now, explaining that he surveyed formerly incarcerated people who have succeeded in various fields after release. “The universal thing was that they had a mentor or a teacher or a guide or someone who helped them along that process, helped them not only navigate the experience itself, but helped them see themselves in a different light and help them become the person they are. So I said, ‘Okay, well how can I do that?’”

The answer, Crosson and the Second Chancer Foundation board determined, was to create an online platform called Second Chancer Connect that matches mentors with incarcerated people who are interested in the mentors’ fields.

“We built an automated process that works with a virtual mailbox and also can integrate with the prison for-pay email system because people in prison basically don’t have internet access,” Crosson explained. 

The new platform provides mentors with resources and suggestions to help guide them in the process, and they don’t ever have to visit a prison.

“We’re creating a situation where someone can actually help change the life of somebody who’s incarcerated with as few barriers as possible,” Crosson said.

Crosson, who is a personal friend of this reporter, has experienced the reentry process himself. He served 19 years in Virginia prisons for crimes he committed when he was 18. He was released 10 years early after receiving a conditional pardon from former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam in 2021.

Unlike many others released from prison, Crosson had support from his family and community and still struggled.

 “I remember when I got out, I didn’t know who to call or where to go,” he said.

The Second Chancer Connect platform is launching with a pilot program in Texas for incarcerated women and Crosson says several other pilots are also in the works.

“We really want to focus on the small scale,” Crosson said, to allow the mentors and the incarcerated people to provide feedback so the platform and the onboarding process can be refined.  

Crosson said the goal is to serve 500 people by the end of the year and to make the service available to every incarcerated person in the country in 2025. 

To make that happen, Crosson said the Foundation is applying for grants and seeking other sources of funding as well working to grow the pool of mentors. 

“We’re really looking to partner with local businesses, we’re looking for donations, we’re looking for any kind of support we can get because it’s really about a holistic approach to making sure people have their needs met when they get out so they’re able to be productive citizens,” he said.

Listen to the full interview with Jesse Crosson here.