Giving Thanks

With the holidays upon us, we want to take a moment to thank you for all YOU do. While many around the world face a challenging time, we are continually inspired by your willingness to share your time, your energy and your financial support with our participants and staff. If you're ready to get involved for 2009, let us know! We look forward to a fruitful and joyous 2009 with you and our participants!

Get Involved by Clicking Here.

Class X:
Entrepreneurs and Graduates!

PEP was proud to host over fifty executives as judges for the Class X Business Plan Competition at the Cleveland Correctional Unit on December 4 and 5. After two days of high-quality business plan presentations, the judges chose the top three finalists. In third place, Chris with Precision RV Cleaners; in second place, Ryan with Duct Pluckers and our Class X winner, Irish with his business English for Your Future.


The excitement over BPC spilled over into the Friday evening's main event, graduation. Class X, made up of 37 men who successfully completed the 16 week program, graduated in front of record numbers of family, friends and executive guests. The ceremony highlighted the extraordinary individual and group accomplishments of the graduating class, and offered inspiration to all in attendance.

One of the most touching moments of the event occurred when the participants gave their children teddy bears sporting t-shirts designed and decorated by their PEP participant fathers, uncles and brothers.

Here's what our executive volunteers had to say:
"On my first visit, some of the participants I met with said, ’I have decided I am never coming back to prison.’ All of these men made it through the program and graduated, while the others did not. The decision to succeed comes from within, and PEP challenges them to make that decision. "
- Jay Hopman, Researcher and Strategic Analyst, Intel Corporation



"I have been to many graduation events, but never have I experienced one so energized and emotional. I made an effort to meet all of the relatives and friends of the graduates and they beamed with joy and pride."
- Guy Harrell, President, The Savoy Group

To see more photos from the events, check here.
Interested in getting involved? Get more info here.

Above and Beyond

PEP offers our sincere and heartfelt thanks to several Churches that offered their time and financial support to make our 10th graduation a success. First Baptist Church of the Woodlands generously provided decorations, sandwiches, cookies and cakes for the family reception before graduation and the reception after graduation. Highland Park United Methodist Church provided Christmas presents for each of the children of Class X participants on behalf of their PEP participant fathers, uncles and brothers.

In addition, the First Baptist Church of Athens provided framed pictures of each participant to each family member that attended graduation. Church of the Holy Apostles donated generously to our graduation efforts, and held a very successful shirt and tie drive for our participants and graduates. Your generosity helped to make Class X graduation truly special for our participants, their families and our staff!

Who do You GoodSearch for?

What if PEP earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our efforts?

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

Just go to www.GoodSearch.com and enter Prison Entrepreneurship Program as the charity you want to support. Thanks for spreading the word!

Straight From the Inside

Read the latest journal entries from our Class X participants as they prepared for the Business Plan Competition and Graduation:

"We′ve been granted a second chance in life. We no longer have to run from the truth of our pasts. The darkness of our mistakes can no longer hold us back, because we have love on our side. Selfishness has transformed into selflessness. Taking is no longer the theme of our lives. We give. We embrace love."

Read More Here