What Is Exodus Transitional Community?

Exodus Transitional Community was established in 1999 as a non-profit organization in New York City. The founder, Julio Medina has gone through a lot himself, and after his own transformation he was inspired and motivated to help others to change their life, to improve it, or simply educate them to prevent any future troubles. Medina might seem to be a non-violent offender who greatly regrets the deeds he did, but not only non-violent criminals are like that. In reality, he was a leader of a Bronx gang, who was convicted of weapon and drug related offenses and served 12 years in multiple correctional facilities. One of such and the last he served in was “Sing Sing” correctional facility, where Medina got his master’s degree. In Exodus
Exodus Transitional Community considers relationships, employment, education, health, and community involvement when creating programs. One of such program types Exodus has to offer is for youth empowerment. These programs concentrate on teens and young adults who are 16 to 24 years of age. ARCHES is a journaling curriculum program for the youth on probation, which teaches participants to handle challenging situations, difficult feelings, how to communicate and be responsible for their actions. Another program Exodus offers is NextSTEPS. This program is similar to ARCHES, except it targets a different group of young adults. In this case, Exodus educates the youth living in NYCHA’s Wagner Houses on the same issues as ARCHES does, but in addition they bring up Family and Substance Abuse in their journaling program. NextSTEPS sessions are led by formerly incarcerated which
One of the first programs offered is a two-week Walking Through the Wilderness workshop, where participants are trained in various areas including writing a resume and cover letters, practicing interviews, learning job search techniques and other helpful skills. After completing this workshop, participants are assigned a Contract Coach, who helps them find and secure employment and housing, as well as other needs for each participant specifically. What I find unique about Exodus is that they also have a program for justice involved fathers called “Faith in Fatherhood”, that provides them with skills and tools needed to become better fathers and parts of the community altogether. They also get family support for up to one year, which is rarely offered in other re-entry programs. Finally, Exodus works with Hope for New York, which is an organization that matches programs like Exodus with volunteers. Thanks to Hope for New York, the participants of the Exodus employment programs get to meet with people from different career fields to gain some insight and help with their future career. Although there is no stipend, participants of the Exodus employment programs get MetroCards and hot meals as well. In addition, they have access to computer lab with computer literacy training. But not everyone can get a job, regardless of their “employment training” received or even their