By Emma Newman
When Chris Dodds began serving a 26-to life sentence in the ‘90s, he had no hope of ever leaving prison. But as California began to pass new laws, he realized that he could one day live a life outside the walls. That was when he learned about the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC)’s Hope and Redemption Team (HART).
Since 2017, HART has entered prisons throughout California with the goal of reducing recidivism from the inside. In the program, formerly incarcerated people return to prisons as life coaches to teach classes designed to reduce criminal behavior. Beginning in seven prisons, the Hope and Redemption Team has since expanded to 27 state facilities.
A recent program evaluation released by ARC proves that the program is working, with data indicating that HART participants were less violent, more empathetic and more optimistic by the end of the program.
Specifically, the program’s design, in which participants discover their strengths and identify triggers for their violent behaviors, resulted in nearly every participant in the study taking part in fewer violent incidents while enrolled in the program. Moreover, the study revealed that HART participants improved in their relationships with other people by 13% and in their self-esteem by 11%.
Dodds is one of the individuals who has benefited from HART, as he took one of the courses, Criminals and Gang Members Anonymous (CGA), while incarcerated. Now a HART life coach, Dodds recognizes that the program helped him and other participants avoid continuing down a path of crime.
“If you look at this person’s past, how he was raised, you kind of understand,” Dodds said. “It’s not an excuse for the crimes, and all that still got to be held accountable, but you could get an understanding of how this person developed their belief system, how they started picking up their habits. It’s just to understand that, and then for that person to understand it as well so they’re able to make that change.”
When Dodds participated in the program, he drew inspiration from his life coach, David Amaya, who ended up playing a pivotal role in Dodds’ eventual release from prison 30 years into his sentence.
“Just seeing David in there and seeing him come in and share his story with us, his experiences with life, his experiences on the street, with freedom, it just kept me inspired,” Dodds said. “I was already on the right track. I was doing good for the right reasons, but this made even getting out more realistic to me.”
David’s impact is not unique, as many people surveyed in the HART report described the coaches as being vital in showing them that a better life can exist outside of prison. As an anonymous participant interviewed for the report explained, “their presence, just alone, seeing them dress different, talk different, and knowing that they had jobs and that they came back to prison after serving life in prison…motivated me to do better.”
Dodds decided to return to the HART program as a coach because he always felt the desire to help the society he had harmed in the past.
“Instead of creating victims, I want to, you know, put positive change out there,” Dodds said. “What better way than to go inside and change hearts and minds and have former lifers or people with whatever sins they may have come out and be productive citizens?”
The process of going back into prison and speaking with currently incarcerated individuals has proven difficult for many of the mentors. One life coach, Benny Tapia, explained that returning to prison forced him to “return… to the dysfunction that shaped most of my life.” And for senior life coach David Garnica, who is an original member of HART, the program has taken a toll on his mental and emotional state over the years.
“This kind of job is not for everybody,” said Garnica. “You have to allow yourself to be vulnerable to your participants as well, because you’re asking for their vulnerability as well. So, you can’t ask them to open themselves up if you’re not willing to open up about your story as well, so you have to relive all your trauma as well so they can speak about theirs.” ”
Dodds had a similar experience with returning to prison, as the experience forced him to relive many of the traumatic events of his youth and early adulthood. However, he has still been able to find a lot of joy and fulfillment from being a mentor.
“I love, like, sitting in the group with these guys,” Dodds said. “I feel almost at home. You know, we’re all the same right there, and the only thing is, you know, I have my freedom. I’m being pro-social, making good decisions for my life… and I share these experiences with the guys.”
Dodds, Garnica and Tapia all believe in the program’s positive results that the HART report reflects. To Dodds, the program is good for everyone — the incarcerated people, the life coaches, and the community as a whole.
“When people get out there… they start making good decisions,” Dodds said. “They come to recognize where the character defects come from, why their decision-making was bad in the past, and how they developed that type of decision-making. They’re not going to harm you. They’re not going to harm anybody else.”
