Project New Hope gives grads a new lease on life

Project New Hope: Refuge Intervention’s graduation was held at the First Presbyterian Church of Washington Friday — a fitting place for the ceremony heralding ten lives turned from negative to positive.

“It is not often I get to help celebrate successes,” said Second Judicial District Attorney Seth Edwards, who acted as emcee of the event.

Ten graduates were congratulated and welcomed to the community by ministers and local dignitaries. It was the tenth such ceremony since the roots of the program grew from a Washington Housing Authority meeting in 2007, and a community effort to invest in those who didn’t have the tools — vocationally, academically, socially — to move away from a life of crime, especially those who’d been convicted of felonies. Project New Hope, according to one of the speakers, Linda Logan, provides the support system for those who wish to turn their lives around and become productive members of society.

“A lot of folks — especially the ones with felonies — don’t have a lot of options, but this program provides those options,” said Beaufort County Commissioner Jerry Langley. “If they commit to the program, they can be quite successful.”

Langley, an officer with Community Corrections, said it is through the partnerships, from employers to judges, made by Bishop Samuel Jones Jr. and Mother Regina Jones, directors of the program, that make Project New Hope a success. Often judges will require enrollment in Project New Hope as a condition of probation, he said.

“That lets you know the judicial system believes in it as well,” Langley said. “They (the Joneses) are a partner for us.”

In addition to Edwards and Langley, Washington Mayor Archie Jennings, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Russell Davenport, Habitat for Humanity’s Frank Belote, N.C. Senator Bill Cook’s wife, Holly, and Betty Jo Shepheard, U.S. Senator Richard Burr’s eastern field representative were on hand to offer words of encouragement. N.C. Senator Bill Cook, was his wife, Holly.

Jennings praised the Jones’ work, saying, “Certainly every city in the country would like to have a program like this.”

Jennings pointed out the reasons why the program is successful: the coordination between the city, county, law enforcement, district attorney’s office and future employers of Project New Hope graduates. More important, and what many believe to be the cornerstone to Project New Hope’s success is the role God in the program. That it’s based on faith is non-negotiable, Jennings said.

Bishop Jones addressed the graduates — Kelvin Byrd, Tito Collins, Anthony Freeman, Mary Hardy, Steven Harper, Fernando Jackson, Bobby Jones, Troy Roelefs, Reginald Watson and Patricia Weist — telling them the door to Project New Hope, and its parent, Purpose of God Annex Outreach Center, will always be open, especially when they need a positive and encouraging word.

In addition to a new lease on life and a plaque commemorating their graduation, the graduates each received certificates from city and county officials, from state and national legislators, in a certificate from Sen. Bill Cook and a letter from Sen. Richard Burr.

Langley had these parting words for the graduates: “Make sure your turnaround is a 180, and not a 360. Make sure you turn your back on your life before.”