A volunteer program for former criminals is changing lives in east Idaho
Published at | Updated at
IDAHO FALLS – A program that has been implemented statewide is helping former criminals blend back into society.
“Our mission in the Department of Correction is to protect the public and provide opportunities for offenders to change. We provide them a lot of tools,” said Jeff Kirkman, Idaho Department of Correction Program manager.
Free2Succeed, a mentorship program that launched in 2016, is run by local volunteers and coordinated through the Department of Correction. There are 300 mentors throughout the state with 55 in eastern Idaho.
“We have mentors all throughout the state that are helping offenders,” Kirkman said. “Because we have offenders in all of our prisons that are returning to communities all over east Idaho, it only makes sense to have mentors everywhere.”
Stephanie Taylor-Silva, who has been pardoned for crimes committed in Montana and Idaho, said her probation officer encouraged her to mentor others. She now serves as the Free2Succeed Mentor/Psych coordinator for District 7.
“I actually mentored four females and I had great success with each one of them,” said Taylor-Silva, who recently went to a parole hearing for a mentee. “She’s come out and she’s done excellent. She graduated treatment, she’s working now, she’s back with her family and she’s getting ready to take steps to further her education and start a career in something that she enjoys.”
Krystal Kinghorn, another mentor with Free2Succeed, believes the program is successful for those leaving prison as well as the volunteers.
“A lot of these people that are coming out of prison or are out in society right now – they’ve been through a lot. They’ve been through a lot of trauma and a lot of their families aren’t real close with them anymore,” Kinghorn said.
She said most people are starting fresh in their social, family and work life.
“They can’t go back to where they were when they first went to prison because if they go back to the situations that they were in before, they’re not going to make it because they weren’t good situations,” Kinghorn said.
Kirkman said Free2Succeed is a great way for locals to way to give back, and that almost anyone can qualify to help anyone. He said mentors can help mentees either on a daily or weekly basis, or whatever is most flexible.
“I would love to see every single offender that’s coming out of prison have a mentor,” Kirkman said. “I want them to come into society again with at least one positive, pro-social person that they can reach out to. If they don’t have that positive family support, if they don’t have positive friends, or pro-social people that they hang out with, I want them to have at least one and that would be a mentor.”
If you’re interested in volunteering with the Free2Succeed program, or if you’re interested in being mentored, contact mentoring@idoc.idaho.gov. You can also stop by your local Idaho Department of Correction office.