BATON ROUGE, La (BRPROUD) — Celebrating life after prison. The Parole Project honors and celebrates the resilience of family members impacted by their loved ones facing years in prison.

Louisiana Parole Project is a nonprofit organization that helps formerly incarcerated men and women rebuild their lives.

“We provide transitional housing to individuals who are coming home so when they come home, they have a safe stable place to live,” Andrew Hundley, Louisiana Parole Project, executive director said.

James Matthews shows his appreciation to his family after being behind bars.

“Thank you to my family. I have my daughter, my beautiful daughter over there and her husband Gregory with me. They’ve been very supportive of me since I’ve been out. She has provided me with a place to live. My own home,” Matthews said.

New Louisiana law to treat 17-year-olds as adults in jails, sentencing now in effect

Matthews was incarcerated in Angola Prison for 31 and a half years for second degree murder. His daughter, Arkebia Matthews Johnson, shares how she managed to overcome her father

“The encouragement, support of my entire family, particularly my mom. One of the things that they raised us on that really mattered and carried us through was love,” Johnson said.

When Matthews got out of prison, Johnson and her husband Gregory welcomed him to a new home.

“He came home to his own home, and I didn’t know what was happening or what I was doing but I said. You know, there’s this great little, small home right around the corner we should buy it and there was no conversation other than faith that I knew my father was not going to die in prison,” Johnson said.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

BRProud Daily News

“Been blessed with good family support while I was there as well as since I’ve been out,” Matthews said.

The Parole Project helps with housing, employment support, programming, and services, so former inmates can become fully productive members in society.

Latest News

• LSU Softball to battle UL Lafayette in final midweek game

• Pro-Palestinian protests sweep US college campuses following mass arrests at Columbia

• Avocado oil recalled because bottles can break, leak

• Chief Brand Officer Cody Worsham announces leave from LSU

• You can now read daily transcripts of the Trump trial, here’s how

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com.