‘We take out the wall and you start to build something new’: How PACE helped one man find a pathway to freedom

Moving to a new city and starting a career can be hard. This is especially true for people whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system.

D. Frank Adams knows the importance of finding community support during times of transition. When he moved to Indianapolis in 2018, he quickly found Public Advocates in Community Re-Entry (PACE). It was a springboard to a new career, job success and financial stability.

PACE helps people who are impacted by the criminal justice system lead productive and responsible lives by ensuring they have tools and resources when re-entering the community. PACE is one of 12 accredited partners with United Way of Central Indiana to use the Center for Working Families model, which helps people and families get on a path to financial stability. These sites use a research-based model developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to coordinate support at a single location, which makes accessing resources more convenient and effective.

Since 2015, United Way of Central Indiana has served as lead investor into the Center for Working Families network. In July 2022, United Way distributed over $1.4 million in funding to 12 Center for Working Families sites, including PACE.

These investments support staff, programming and people in their communities. Supporting Centers for Working Families like PACE is one of United Way’s key strategies for helping Hoosiers get ahead.

“We aim to decrease the number of individuals and families who are living in or near poverty. One way we do that is by investing in and creating pathways of opportunity for Center for Working Families participants to obtain sustaining-wage jobs,” said Shannon Jenkins, United Way’s impact senior director.

At PACE, Adams’s goal was to find a job that could support his family. He worked with PACE coaches to plan his career and attended a workshop to strengthen his resume and practice interviewing for jobs.

Team members at PACE also prepared Adams to talk with employers about his incarceration, training that was important to him.

“Being able to know how to talk about any offenses that have occurred, being able to fill in the gaps in time, and being honest about what happened. Honesty is the cornerstone of all this. If you’re not truthful about what has occurred … chances are, you are not going anywhere,” Adams said.

His hard work at PACE paid off. Adams is now a certified peer recovery coach at a local hospital, where he supports people struggling with substance use. He has earned recognition and won awards for his work.

Center for Working Families sites go beyond helping people find employment. These community anchors provide multiple types of support “bundled” together at the same time, including income support, employment coaching and financial coaching. This combination helps people on the path to financial stability.

“If you add employment plus financial coaching, and if the individual needs support such as bus passes to get to work for the first 30 days ... you have just increased that person’s likelihood of success exponentially,” said Tawnya McCrary, a youth employment services/financial coaching consultant at PACE.

Annually, Centers for Working Families serve over 3,500 people in Central Indiana. People who participate in Center for Working Families programs report an average annual increase in net income of $972.39 and an average increase in net worth of $11,708.33.

United Way also supports coaches and staff like those at PACE who make a difference in their clients’ lives. United Way brings together these coaches and frontline staff from across the region in Community of Practice Convenings to enhance their skills and share best practices. These convenings help to maintain consistent, high-quality Center for Working Families service across Central Indiana.

Yvonne Smith, director of employment services at PACE, said the nonprofit benefits from being part of a network with other Center for Working Families sites: “When financial coaches get together, they share best practices, what’s working and what’s not working.”

For those like Adams whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system, there can be many barriers in the way of reaching financial stability.

But with the help of places like PACE, Adams said: “We take out the wall, and you start to build something new … and that thing is a pathway to your freedom.”

This story appeared in United Way of Central Indiana’s 2022-2023 annual report. For more stories of impact, view the full report online.