How can ex-felons and ex-addicts stay clean? What will help them move forward in life? Is there any program that can make a difference? John Shepherd, founder and president of M25 Ventures, believes these captives can be set free, even when our society wants to keep them chained down. The answer, for him, is found in building God-honoring, productive lives.

A look into M25 Ventures

How can ex-felons and ex-addicts stay clean? What will help them move forward in life? Is there any program that can make a difference? John Shepherd, founder and president of M25 Ventures, believes these captives can be set free, even when our society wants to keep them chained down. The answer, for him, is found in building God-honoring, productive lives.

 

Abolition Now: What exactly is M25 Ventures’ vision and how did it begin?

John: Our mission is to end the cycle of recidivism (when a convicted criminal reoffends, especially repeatedly) for people with addiction and/or criminal histories by helping them find and pursue their unique, God-designed vocation.The M25 references Matthew, chapter 25 in which Jesus admonishes preparedness for the kingdom of heaven. In that chapter, one also finds the parable of the talents, how they can be put to good use and multiply or how they can be buried and do the Master no good. Each one possessed an ability to bring increase but cannot or will not if the resources are not used wisely.

Individuals, working through rehabilitation and re-entry into society, have been unable to generate a sustainable income source to support themselves and their families. This has been at the crux of their failure to thrive. The marketplace is the venue where the expertise to accomplish this exists. Therefore, the real mission of M25 Ventures is to bring the expertise of the marketplace (especially the kingdom-focused marketplace) to a large and growing population that needs it and is currently cut off from it.

It started as a vision to help graduates of the faith-based recovery program I worked for to successfully reintegrate into the community. The organization was founded on June 1, 2011. We began our “pilot class” with two graduates of the LifeChange addiction recovery program at Union Gospel Mission on June 4, 2012. They will complete the formal training phase at the end of July.

 

AN: What compelled you to start this ministry? What drives you?  

John: My heart broke to see so many people work so hard to overcome so much only to see them often fail to move on to full maturity and become the productive members of the church and the community that both they and God wanted them to become. This failure bothered me, in particular, because I believed the main cause of it was something the larger church, and specifically, the kingdom-minded business community, had the necessary resources to address but, for some reason, could not effectively mobilize to do so.

 

AN: At what point in life is a person sent to M25 Ventures?

John: M25 Ventures is not a recovery or prison ministry. When the rescue is over, we are the “now what?” people. When the crisis abates, we step in. We are looking to collaborate with organizations, churches and agencies to provide the subsequent phase in development work. We are the next step to moving on.

 

AN: How do you help students find jobs?

John: It takes time. We don’t just hand them the want-ads; 80 percent of positions are filled before they are advertised. It is a matter of who you know. Within the community, networking, creating relationships and gaining trust is the best way of getting to know others to develop potential, future work contacts.

They must move beyond the concept of “Any job will do” to help them find their purpose. Why did God pull them from their past?They can’t return to an unhealthy environment. An example of this would be to secure a night job for a recovering alcoholic at a liquor store.

These men and women have a tremendous amount of pent up desire to help and contribute. They are ready. However, they need extreme amounts of encouragement. Our telling them they have potential is not enough to convince them. We provide talent assessments and skill profiles, showing them their true gifts. They need to shift from “Work is for survival” to “Work helps me find my place in this world.”

 

AN: How does society view this people group and what can we do to change its views?  

John: We live in a world where society and the marketplace are wired around phobias related to criminal behavior. We live in a world of fear. Currently, most employers won’t even take an application if someone has a criminal record. Sadly, 25 percent of the U. S. adult population has a criminal record. The end result becomes, “No one will hire me. I can’t make an honest living. I can, however, make money and survive by selling drugs.”

It’s up to the church to take the lead. We need to take responsibility for them. We can’t be judgmental. We can’t fear. After all, we have all been given a second chance. We need to show society we don’t fear. We see talent. Then, we must show others that it works.

 

AN: What brings you the greatest joy in working with M25 Ventures?

John: Seeing a person discover, often for the first time, that he really does have God-given talents that haven’t been destroyed by his past and that God really does have a plan for him.

 

AN: What would you say to someone reading this who may need help?

John: Believe the work God started in you when He rescued you. He can and will finish a plan that is far better than anything you could dream up for yourself. There are people whose mission is to help you find and fulfill that plan.

 

AN: What are M25 Ventures biggest needs? Where would you hope to see this ministry five years from now?

John: We are always looking for mentors, coaches, trainers, business owners and financial partners. We are in need of a permanent training facility with flexible availability for weekday, evening and weekend use (preferably Portland Eastside or the Clackamas County area).

Our hopes and goals for the future include:

• offering state-of-the-art job search coaching and placement to hundreds of people facing significant barriers to employment each year.
• arranging professional, workforce support services in the form of training, workshops, employee coaching and hiring technology to help employers hire and retain productive workers from a large, under-resourced labor pool.
• operating a “Kingdom Business Incubator” to support the training of new entrepreneurs and the creation of new Kingdom businesses.
• providing resources for women, rescued from exploitation, working with organizations to help them with their next chapter of life.

 

Recidivism

The 2012, Indiana Post Release Study declares, on page 7, “…post-release employment was the most important predictor of recidivism and the success of an offender’s reentry into the community.” Virtually every state in the Union (as well as federal studies) make the same claim. It is time to take a path of “no return.”

http://www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/facts

 

http://www.prisonfellowship.org/reentry/ifi/reentry-resources/610