Our Program Graduates
A few of our success stories.....
Roland-Bey (2020)
Can you imagine being in prison from age 14 to 44? Can you imagine 30 years of imprisonment for being convicted of a crime committed by those you were with? Can you imagine overcoming the bitterness of this injustice?
Patrick Roland, who goes by Roland-Bey, is a remarkable man. While in prison, some older men (who were “lifers”) helped him see the wasted life he would have had if he stayed connected with the gang life. He spent his last 10 years in prison taking every educational and improvement class available, and eventually helped teach some of those classes.
At age 44, our job application was the first application he had ever filled out! His aunt lives in Marion and when he was getting out of prison in Illinois, she connected him with Hope CDA. Once he got out of prison and began our program, Roland-Bey had to learn many practical, daily life tasks that we all take for granted, such as learning how to use a cell phone, how to care for a vehicle, etc.
This is one area where his coach (mentor), Mike, has helped tremendously. Mike and his wife Tamara have spent a lot of time with him on weekends, including him in family activities such as biking and working around their acreage. They even had him stay at their house and take care of their dogs while they were away for a period of time.
Roland-Bey is Muslim and there is a deep mutual respect between those of us who are Christ followers and him. He knows the Bible quite well and often shared great comments during the daily devotional time at the worksite and during life skills class on Friday mornings.
Since graduating from the program, Roland-Bey has started his own cleaning business called Master Shine Services, which can be found here.
Trent (2019)
Trent’s early childhood was marked by constant change and instability. His family moved 23 times before 8th grade. His parents divorced and his mom remarried when he was young. His stepfather, a hired farm hand, was a positive role model for him, instilling a good work ethic.
However, Trent began doing drugs at age 12 and drinking heavily in high school. Now over 30 years later, he has never had a driver’s license. He lost his school permit for speeding, then was caught multiple times for driving without a license and 7 OWIs.
At age 27, while in the Larry Nelson Center, someone took him to church where he eventually asked Jesus to be his savior. However, when he got out of the halfway house, he stopped going to church, started hanging around old friends and fell back into drinking and drugs.
After a probation violation, he went back to the Nelson Center where an employment specialist told him about Hope CDA’s construction jobs training program. Trent entered our program in July 2018. When he got out of the halfway house that September, he moved into our Program House. Trent attributes this positive environment with helping him stay away from the negative influences that historically had taken him down.
Through our matched savings program, he was able to save up for a security deposit and get his own apartment, and subsequently, has purchased a house. Trent re-committed his life to Christ in 2019, and is engaged to be married in October 2020. He and his fiance have spent time reading God’s word daily and praying. They also attended 90 Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous meetings and Bible studies in 90 days. That was a crucial time for Trent, since July was typically the month he ran into trouble, having gone to prison every 3 years since he was 17 years old.
Currently, Trent works as the construction supervisor here at Hope CDA.
Rashaan (2017)
Rashaan grew up in Chicago and got off track in high school. While working as a manager at a pizza shop, he was shot during a robbery. He moved to Cedar Rapids in 2015 trying to get a fresh start. He and his wife have three teenage daughters. They struggled with finding housing initially, so Rashaan went through our training program to help land himself a better job and a path towards being able to provide financial stability to his family.
He is now employed for an individual who is buying, fixing, and selling houses.