InvestigateTV+: Program provides training, support to help reduce repeat offenses
(InvestigateTV) — A program aims to break the cycle of violence by helping former inmates from returning to prison.
InvestigateTV+ profiles the organization, giving people the tools to rebuild their lives, and introduces you to those seeing success.
Plus, we explore rising rates of early-onset cancer and reveal one potential solution for those fighting the deadly disease.
Goodwill program helps ex-offenders break cycle of repeat offenses
More than 10,000 people a week are released from America’s jails and prisons with the hope of starting a new life.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, most ex-offenders will be re-arrested within three years. During that time, about half will return to prison, according to the ACLU.
A program through Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Louisiana is working to change this statistic and help those who have been behind bars find success.
New data shows a rise in cancer rates in young adults
Twelve years ago, Brittany Auclair and her son Brayden’s lives became entwined in a way few ever experience.
“I like to call him my little superhero,” Auclair said.
It was a time when Auclair helped start Brayden’s life. And when Brayden saved hers.
“It makes me feel pretty good that she’s here because of me. I brag on it a little bit,” Brayden said, smiling next to his mom.
Brayden was just eight months old when Brittany first noticed something while breastfeeding.
“He decided that he favored one side over the other, but I did notice that while I went to work when I was pumping, there was a lump,” Brittany said.
Auclair followed up with her doctor, who happened to also be a breast cancer survivor.
“She said, ‘I’m not waiting to make an appointment, I want you to come in as soon as possible,” she said.
Thinking it was a clogged milk duct, Auclair underwent scans and tests. Then, just a few days after her 29th birthday, she got the news.
“I remember kind of hitting a brick wall, hearing her say, ‘You have cancer,’” she said. “I shut down.”
The new mom was facing triple-negative breast cancer.
Once-homeless North Carolina man becomes unlikely foster dad
The sounds of children at play are common in the Mutabazi household.
Competition can get tough, but it’s one of the ways this blended family bonds and breaks the ice with newcomers.
Over the last eight years, there have been 47 newcomers, each placed in the home through the foster care system.
But Peter Mutabazi is not like most foster parents. As a single man, he is one of only 3% of foster care parents. He makes up an even smaller group as a Black immigrant.
“I really wanted to make a difference,” Mutabazi said. “I knew what it meant to be unloved.”
Mutabazi grew up on the streets of Kampala, Uganda, after running away from home at 10 years old to escape abuse. It’s an upbringing that convinced him he’d never become a parent.
“I thought that if I became a dad, I would just do the same. So I never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be a dad now,” Mutabazi said.
Since becoming a foster parent, Mutabazi has opened his home and heart to dozens of children from all racial backgrounds.
“When kids come to me, they’re not looking for a white dad or a black dad. They’re just looking for someone who cares and loves them,” Mutabazi said.
He currently has six children in his home, including two foster children and three children he adopted.
Mother-daughter duo make every Friday ‘good’ by giving back
A Michigan woman and her mom made giving back a part of their weekly routine, bringing hope to their community through a simple but powerful mission.
If it’s Friday at noon, the welcome mat is out at Bread House South Church on MLK Boulevard in Lansing. For two hours every Friday, from noon to 2 p.m., this small church becomes a sanctuary for those in need.
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