New Footing Reentry Navigation Program

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Executive Summary

New Footing Reentry Navigation Program is a nonprofit in Texas that helps people leaving prison and jail rebuild their lives. Navigators, many with lived experience, meet people before release, build a plan with them, meet them on release day and follow them for about a year, helping with ID, housing, benefits, health care and work.

Every year many people leave prison and jail with no money, no identification and nowhere to stay, and many are rearrested within a few years. A plan made before release and a navigator who has been there can change the odds.

With this grant we will serve about 120 people in Year 1 at 2 sites. We do not give legal advice or treatment, we never give cash to participants and we do not promise any outcome. We promise careful use of every dollar, respect for every person and honest records.

Our Year 1 budget is about $235,000, growing to about $368,500 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 5 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a Program Manager and two Reentry Navigators) and 9 by Year 5.

We are asking the Second Start Justice Foundation for $80,000 for two Reentry Navigators and a participant support fund. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

New Footing Reentry Navigation Program is a nonprofit organization in Texas. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. No one should leave prison with nothing but a bus ticket, and everyone who comes home deserves a fair chance to build a life.

What we do.
- Meet people in prison or jail in the months before release and build a plan with them.
- Assign a reentry navigator, often someone with lived experience, to each participant for about a year.
- Help participants replace identification, find housing, enroll in benefits and connect with health care.
- Connect participants with job training and employers who hire people with records.
- Provide a support fund for work clothes, tools, transportation and documents, paid to vendors.
- Offer peer groups and a family reunification workshop.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families and partners, safety first and a place for everyone who wants to belong.

What we do not do. We do not give legal advice and refer participants to legal aid. We do not provide treatment or counseling, and we refer to licensed providers. We never give cash to participants. We follow the rules of every facility and of supervision, and we do not promise any outcome. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of formerly incarcerated neighbors, a pastor and a lawyer began meeting people at the bus station when they got out and helping with the first days. Requests grew every week. We kept simple records of who we met and what they needed. This proposal asks for support to move from meetings at the bus station to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

Every year thousands of people leave prison and jail with little money, no identification and nowhere to stay, and many are rearrested within a few years.

Cost. A person leaving prison often has no income, and the costs of an ID, a deposit, work clothes and a phone can total hundreds of dollars before a first paycheck.

Access. Many employers and landlords turn away people with records, and agencies work separately, so people fall between them.

Safety and trust. Neighbors, employers and funders want to know that participants are supported and held accountable and that staff are trained.

Missed benefits. People who lack housing, work and support are more likely to return to prison, which costs families and the public far more.

What we hear.
- A man says he walked out with a plastic bag and no idea where to sleep.
- A mother says her son needs a job and a chance to prove himself.
- An employer says he would hire more people if someone vouched for them.
- A navigator says people believe you when you say you have been there.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that a plan made before release, a navigator who has been there and a first step into work can change a life.

Products & Services

New Footing Reentry Navigation Program gives people leaving prison and jail a safe, welcoming place to rebuild their lives after incarceration.

How the program works.
1. Before release. Navigators meet people inside in the three to six months before release to build a plan.
2. Day one. A navigator meets each participant at release with a ride, a meal and a phone.
3. Documents. We help replace ID, Social Security cards and birth certificates.
4. Housing and benefits. We help find housing and apply for benefits and health coverage.
5. Work. We connect participants with job training and employers who hire people with records.
6. Support fund. We pay vendors for work clothes, tools, transportation and documents.
7. Peer groups. Weekly groups and a family workshop help participants and families reconnect.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a staff member, settle in together, work on the day's activity in small groups and finish with a short talk about what went well. Staff praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one is left out.

Staff. Our navigators are trained, pass a background check where facilities allow, complete our training and are paid for their time. Many have lived experience of incarceration.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. Services are free. We welcome every person who is leaving prison or jail, regardless of offense, as the law and facility rules allow.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Adults leaving prison or jail in our area who are returning to our community. Eligibility is based on release plans and referral from facilities, community partners or self-referral, and no one is turned away for the nature of their past offense, as the law allows.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our meetings at the bus station we helped more people than we could follow up with and kept a waiting list. Parole officers and facilities told us that many more people need a navigator than we can serve. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 120 participants at 2 sites. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 320.

Where participants come from.
- Prison and jail staff and chaplains.
- Parole and probation officers.
- Churches and community groups.
- Participants who tell a friend.

Who else benefits. Families gain a person who is working and present. Employers gain workers. Communities gain safety and lower costs.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a person with a plan and a first paycheck. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. Parole and probation. Supervise and have large caseloads. We provide practical help and a plan.

2. Reentry nonprofits. Strong and few. We add capacity.

3. Faith groups. Generous with short-term help. We add a plan and a navigator.

4. Job training programs. Valuable and often not designed for people with records. We prepare participants and employers.

5. Legal aid. Essential for record clearing and not for daily needs. We work together.

What makes us different.
- Planning that starts before release.
- Navigators with lived experience.
- A support fund paid to vendors.
- Employer relationships for people with records.
- A year of support after release.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve people who can already pay or who live close to them. The people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with facility staff, parole officers, employers and other reentry programs to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Facilities. We will meet chaplains and counselors and receive referrals under written agreements.
- Parole and probation. We will share a short referral form and a named contact.
- Employers. We will present to business groups and invite hiring tours.
- Churches and neighborhoods. We will talk with leaders who know families.
- Word of mouth. Participants tell friends.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Recruit navigators through reentry programs, social work schools and faith groups.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety, privacy and respectful practice.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what they said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for those with the greatest need and for people new to the program. We keep a waiting list when the program is full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, plans made, jobs found and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the staff, buy equipment and materials, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Sign agreements with facilities and begin pre-release meetings.
- Months 4 to 10: Meet people before release, meet them at release and follow them for a year.
- Months 11 and 12: Survey participants and employers, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. Navigators meet people inside facilities with permission, and meet participants in a small office and in public places.

Safety and privacy.
- Navigators follow each facility's rules, meet participants in public places or at our office and work in pairs for home visits.
- Support fund payments go only to vendors and are reviewed by two people.
- Every staff member and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Staff work in pairs or in view of others whenever participants are minors or in a vulnerable situation.
- We keep an emergency plan at every site, and participants complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a participant's permission or as the law requires and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $7,000 of equipment once at the start: laptops and a secure case management system ($3,000), phones and a small supply of loaner phones for participants ($2,500), office furnishings and locking storage ($1,500). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Program Manager, paid $46,000 a year, supervises navigators and partners. Two Reentry Navigators, each paid $38,000 a year, work with participants. We add navigators as we add sites.

Management & Organization

Anthony Burns, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work after spending years in prison and then years working to help others make it home. I will complete the training we require of our navigators so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The Program Manager supervises navigators and partners, and the navigators work with each participant. Each passes a background check where allowed. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a formerly incarcerated leader, a pastor, an employer, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney and a parole officer. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A reentry researcher, a facility chaplain and an employer who hires people with records give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $54,000 a year; program Manager, paid $46,000 a year; reentry Navigator, paid $38,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 120 participants at 2 sites.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 170 participants at 2 sites.
- Year 3: About 220 participants at 3 sites.
- Year 4: About 270 participants at 3 sites.
- Year 5: About 320 participants at 4 sites.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 53 percent of our budget, down from about 61 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $80,000 from the Second Start Justice Foundation for two Reentry Navigators and a participant support fund, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Reentry Navigator salaries, two positions, $76,000.
- Other: Participant support fund paid to vendors, $4,000 (other funds add $2,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 56% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $235,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $9,600 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $143,000; state Reentry Funding $60,000; county and Corporate Partners $22,000; individual Donors $10,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $54,000; program Manager $46,000; reentry Navigator $38,000; participant Support Fund about $18,000; employer Outreach about $4,000; training about $4,000; transportation about $6,000; legal Aid Clinic Partnership about $6,000; administration and Insurance about $10,000; about $3,400 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $17,500 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,000 for laptops and a secure case management system; $2,500 for phones and a small supply of loaner phones for participants; $1,500 for office furnishings and locking storage; $3,000 for attorney review of the consent form, support fund policy and privacy policy; $1,800 for banners, flyers and a simple website; $2,700 for navigator training and background checks; $3,000 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($17,500), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $56,000, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $73,500. We start with $8,000 from our founding board and $68,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a local employer, $76,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $235,000 in Year 1 to about $368,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $143,000, $126,000, $149,500, $173,000 and $196,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: state Reentry Funding from $60,000 to $100,000; county and Corporate Partners from $22,000 to $46,000; individual Donors from $10,000 to $26,000. Our surplus is planned at about $9,600 in Year 1, about $10,000 in Year 2, about $12,800 in Year 3, about $15,400 in Year 4 and about $17,900 in Year 5. We grow from 2 sites to 4 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $70,600, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $9,400 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per participant. In Year 1, our total costs are about $1,878 per participant served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more participant served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $1,096 per participant.

After the grant. State reentry funding, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free reentry option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of participants and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $143,000 in Year 1, growing to $196,500 in Year 5.
- State Reentry Funding: $60,000 in Year 1, growing to $100,000 in Year 5.
- County and Corporate Partners: $22,000 in Year 1, growing to $46,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $10,000 in Year 1, growing to $26,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $54,000; program Manager $46,000; reentry Navigator $38,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: participant Support Fund $18,000; employer Outreach $4,000; training $4,000; transportation $6,000; legal Aid Clinic Partnership $6,000; administration and Insurance $10,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $7,000 at the start, then $2,000 to $3,000 a year.
- Startup costs: $17,500, paid once from $76,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 120 in Year 1, growing to about 320 in Year 5. Sites: 2 in Year 1, growing to 4 by Year 5. Navigators meet people year-round, and each participant is followed for about a year.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs