A national coalition of churches, nonprofits, and people working together to help returning citizens stay out — and reduce incarceration in America.
No single organization solves all of it. Returning citizens fall through the gaps in between. The Next Chance Collaborative exists to close those gaps.
The first 12 months out are the hardest. We coordinate the chain so no returning citizen walks it alone. Each stage is owned by Coalition members in dedicated working groups.
We're starting focused. Three tracks, owned well, in one regional footprint, with the discipline to scale only after we've proven the handoff works. Each member commits to one or more tracks based on the work they already do.
Connecting inside contacts to outside resources before release. Building the relationships that wait at the gate.
Trained mentors and coaches who walk alongside returning citizens through the first year out.
Churches, civic groups, volunteer days, advocacy events. The people side of the handoff.
Six other tracks (First-Day Logistics, Employment, Family Comms, Recovery, Housing, In-Prison Engagement) are part of our long-term scope as the coalition grows. For now, we're owning three.
Returning citizens don't fall through the cracks because no single org owns the whole arc. The coalition's job is making the handoffs work — pre-release through community.
Months before release, a partner inside the prison or in correspondence with the resident builds the relationship. Pen-pal letters, mentor calls, a release plan. The coalition's catalog tracks who's coming home, where, and when.
A coach in the destination geography is identified and warmed up before release. The coalition's geographic match suggests partners; the original org makes the intro. On day zero, someone is at the gate.
First 90 days, the coach and the local community walk alongside. Housing, ID, work, recovery, family. Milestone check-ins at 30, 60, 90, and 180 days flag who's still walking the road and who needs more help.
Marcus is at Lebanon Correctional in Ohio, releasing in August. The Crossroads ReachOut team has corresponded with him for 18 months — they own the Pre-Release leg. He's returning to Cincinnati, so the coalition geographic match flags Crossroads Church as the closest partner. The catalog records the intro. On release day, Four-Seven Ministries' coordinator picks him up at the gate with the housing plan already booked. At 30, 60, and 90 days post-release, the coalition records his status: still out, working, sober. If something goes sideways, the urgent flag fires an email blast to everyone with edit access on his record. That's a handoff that worked because everyone in the chain could see the same record and pick up the baton.
A live snapshot of the coalition. Tiles colored by activity: orange where partners and returning citizens overlap, peach where partners are ready to receive a handoff, and red where citizens are returning but no coalition partner exists yet — those are our recruitment priorities before October's Founding Roundtable.
Counts are aggregated; no personal information is shown. Members see the underlying records on the dashboard.
No fee. No fiscal-agent relationships. Members keep their independence. The coalition's job is making sure the handoffs work.
The orgs and people walking together. Each has staked a claim on one or more Action Tracks and committed to giving and receiving handoffs across geographies.
Want to join? Email hello@nextchancecollab.org — or if you have an invite link, sign in here.
We're recruiting six anchor founding members to the coalition — two per Action Track. Names announced as anchors confirm. Coalition launching October 2026.
Be one of the first. Join us before the launch.
The Next Chance Collaborative is led by two Co-Founders, hosted by two organizations bringing decades of relational and operational depth to a coalition that's just getting started.
Read before you join. Share with your team or board.
Mission, theory of change, action tracks, and how membership works. The primary one-pager.
One page. What members give, what they don't owe, signature lines.
Week-by-week march to the founding Roundtable in October 2026.
The first ten organizations to recruit, with talking points for each.
Logo lockups, color palette, typography, voice and tone.
If you're covering reentry, criminal-justice reform, or the church's role in returning citizens, we'd be glad to talk. Below is what you need to get started.
The Next Chance Collaborative is a coalition of churches, nonprofits, and individuals — secular and faith-based — coordinating the handoffs returning citizens need in their first year out of prison. Led by Co-Founders Grant Doepel and De'Mico Coleman; hosted by Crossroads Church and Four-Seven Ministries. Currently focused on three Action Tracks: Pre-Release Preparation, Reentry Coaching, and Community Mobilization.
For interviews, statements, or background:
Grant Doepel & De'Mico Coleman, Co-Founders
hello@nextchancecollab.org
SVG and PNG lockups in horizontal, stacked, mark-only, and monochrome.
Horizontal SVG · Mark PNG · Brand guidelines525 organizations researched · 3 active Action Tracks (6 in long-term scope) · founding Roundtable October 2026 · two Co-Founders, two host orgs, 40+ years of combined operational depth.
Coalition Charter (1 page)If your organization does any of this work, or you're a person whose voice can move others toward this work, we'd love to talk.
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