Meet our 2022 mini grant recipient, Pastor Doug Taylor, CEO of Rebirth Community Corporation (RCC) in Birmingham, Alabama. Pastor Taylor founded RCC in 2015 for individuals and families in underserved communities who are dealing with the Justice System or at risk of incarceration. RCC provides economic empowerment, education and employment opportunities, pre- and post-incarceration support services, and preventive and post-incarceration re-entry services.
Pastor Taylor was inspired to start Rebirth Community Cooperation after trying to help redeem his own brother, who has been incarcerated for almost 30 years: “When a family member becomes incarcerated, a part of their family is imprisoned as well.”
Pastor Taylor shared that his family went through emotional turmoil seeing his brother re-institutionalized, and believes that if more empowering re-entry services and tools were immediately available to help his brother reacclimate to society, he could have changed course. “And so, I established the Advocate Plan, a program that offers holistic prevention and re-entry services to ex-offenders to be the help that I attempted to offer my brother.”
The programs Pastor Taylor offers provide a pathway from prison to wellness and prosperity. RCC offers innovative initiatives, such as their “Road to Recovery,” which offers gift cards to a car mechanic shop as an incentive for ex-offenders who may need to get their cars fixed upon release, so they can drive to and from work. Another example is the Entrepreneurship Education program, that helps ex-offenders start their own business. This program also matches at-risk teens looking for internships or summer jobs with ex-offender entrepreneurs. RCC provides the interns with a stipend, while they also receive mentorship from a person who can relate to their background.
“The 2022 mini grant has been extremely helpful to our organization,” said Pastor Taylor. “It has allowed us to print and distribute our new curriculum called Elevate, which is a free 8-week personal development course that we offer ex-offenders … [these lessons] are being taught in Jefferson County jail, and in a program that provides reentry services to high-risk probationers and parolees.” Pastor Taylor recently purchased a new facility to host his training programs. “The mini grant has helped us to also purchase furniture for the new building and tablets for participants.”
Your support of the Woodson Center is enabling Pastor Taylor to achieve his ultimate goal, which is for each participant who has been redeemed to pay the same skills, tools, and grace they received forward to the next.