“Thank you for giving us a chance. You showed us that we are worth it and to believe. It was an amazing experience.” J.B.

Those words came from an incarcerated child, a child locked away from family, community, and society—a child who now has a sense of something positive he or she might do and be in this world.

In Release the Fear workshops Youth discover that they can turn their Pain into Possibilities, take the new found Possibilities and find their Purpose in their life. In 2011alone, through our Inside Out: Bridging Possibilities workshops, Release the Fear reached out to nearly 600 youth ranging from eleven to nineteen years of age. These youth discovered both fear and hope within them, and they gained confidence and inner strength by releasing one and embracing the other. These 600 were helped, but there are thousands more who need our program and the life-skill tools it offers. And, seeing our impact in these detention and treatment centers, we realize the need to reach out to youth before they get to that point.

The Maricopa County Juvenile Probation Office released a 2010 report demonstrating the value of Inside Out: Bridging Possibilities workshops on their juvenile population. Thirty percent of incarcerated youth recidivate—meaning three out of ten will again find themselves in conflict with law and society and back behind bars. For the incarcerated youth who participated in just one Release the Fear workshop, that recidivism figure dropped by 23 percent. For those who were able to benefit from multiple workshops, it dropped by 46 percent—nearly half. That is an impressive impact on any child’s future. Release the Fear programs offer the hope of fewer dollars spent and more youth saved—a win-win program. We can do this with your help. Thank you for letting them know they are worth it.